Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. Let me show you a demo rather than a business plan.”

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I seek out great entrepreneurs. I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. Let me show you a demo rather than a business plan.”

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Email readers, continue here…] Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally-generated funds. And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Visit reference customers, partners, and vendors.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I’m comfortable with introductions and then getting into the demo.&#. I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Just jump into the demo after intros.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

We just had the demo day for our third batch of companies. I do think the way we work with companies is a little different from other programs, in that we view it much more like the wasyI personally think about investing and venture capital. It''s not a three month program, demo day, and folks move out or move on.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. Let me show you a demo rather than a business plan.”

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product. I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Act III – The Demo.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. For entrepreneurs there’s too much money sloshing around. We are experiencing a frenetic time. For investors life is no different.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors invest in the jockey, more than the horse. Let me show you a demo rather than a business plan.”

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. Describe technology and features, not competitiveness.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Packaging, pricing & discounts – In the early days of my first company we always had “list prices&# we quoted to customers and of course we were always willing to negotiate based on who the client was, how important the business was to us, who the competition was and how well the deal was negotiated. We called it PUCCKA.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Visit reference customers, partners, and vendors.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

And a few teams of super talented, educated and bright entrepreneurs make a few mill. Get yourself in a big demo day competition. I know I’m supposed believe in acquihires to bury my investments that aren’t working. I don’t blame entrepreneurs who go for an early exit when it comes up.

Press 357

Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Partners make investment decisions. Trust doesn’t come from one 45-minute Powerpoint pitch or 30-minute demo. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Do they have money to invest?

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2012

After struggling to create your business plan for months, every entrepreneur likes to think that their document is inspirational and will reach someone who is smart enough to see the brilliance of the idea, intuitive enough to recognize their business acumen, and enthusiastic enough to offer the money required to make it happen.

Summary 97

Summary Technical Review .Net Ideas 97

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

You can cash out whenever they want or just save as an investment. Here is a demo of our trading platform: Do you have plans to launch an offline-say SMS-based bitcoin? Any competition? We have lots of competition. The CoinMKT then becomes their trading account so that they can begin trading cryptocurrencies.

Southern California 76

Southern California Startup Platform Santa Monica 76

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

The first attention we started getting was after we launched the company publicly at Demo on September 25th of this year. A number of VC’s stopped by our booth or watched our demo on the DEMO website and we had about 5 proactive inquiries. The first VC I met with came from attending DEMO. Page 3: Competition.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

After struggling to create your business plan for months, every entrepreneur likes to think that their document is inspirational and will reach someone who is smart enough to see the brilliance of the idea, intuitive enough to recognize their business acumen, and enthusiastic enough to offer the money required to make it happen.

Summary 97

Summary Technical Review .Net Ideas 97

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

million led by GRP Partners, with participation from Baroda Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Daher Capital, Double M Capital, Karlin Ventures, Clark Landry, Andy Rankin, and Launchpad LA. . · YieldMetrics has already raised $1.7 The founders previously ran another company together.

GRP Partners 96

GRP Partners Startup Tech Coast Angels Bertelsmann 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? What is the timeframe of return on investment?

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2020

How did you get investors interested in investing in such a large project like a new operating system? Usually, investors like to invest in people who are taking an existing platform and extending it into a market. Are Android and iOS then your competition? David Smith: That's a very good question. It's all working.

Platform 168

Platform Startup Examples Web 168

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

How To Pitch A Product - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , August 4, 2010 I've said a bunch of times on this blog that the perfect pitch is a very short intro to provide context followed immediately by a demo. He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? What is the timeframe of return on investment?

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry. What equity is the company willing to give in return for the investment? What is the timeframe of return on investment?

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

People tend to overvalue past investments when making forward-looking investment decisions. Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. You’re Not a Real Entrepreneur - Steve Blank , June 10, 2010 Who is an entrepreneur really?

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Oh, and Demo charges the startups $18,000. Given a choice of your marketing person or talking to you (the founder) there’s no competition. Help them better do their job – I’ve always been a big believer that relationships with journalists are a long-term investment. Robert’s article is worth reading.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

We will be bringing you some of the hottest startups around to give you a quick rundown about their companies and get to know the entrepreneur behind those companies. This Panel is filled with investing super stars who will be going over must have content for all the startups and entrepreneurs out there. Adrenaline Fueled Angel.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

Most people under estimate the challenge of winning “share of mind” the least understood concept with tech entrepreneurs. But there are other reasons people churn – low product quality, inability to understand the value of the product, costs, competitive products, etc. At 99 cents they’re disposable. In 6 months? In 3 months?

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Custom 346