Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2022

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Positive inspirational communication.

Ideas 149

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 149

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

As the entrepreneur, business owner, or leader, your message must never be “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” He lived the philosophy that companies must be paranoid in order to survive, and continually disrupt their own markets to prevent overrun by competition. Every good entrepreneur I know has a “ proactive mindset.”

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Custom 148

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point. For those of us who’ve invested in early-stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem.

Invest 306

Invest Startup Email Competition 306

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2022

Most people think innovation is all about ideas, when in fact it is more about delivery, people, and process. They take you step-by-step through the innovation execution process, in the context the ten most common myths about innovation, which I think makes their approach particularly instructive: Innovation is all about ideas.

Ideas 135

Ideas Startup Resource Research 135

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Only one component of running a business is managing technology, but it is a critical component, so no entrepreneur can afford to ignore it or totally delegate it.

Competition 174

Competition High Tech Startup Social Media 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Most people think success depends on first having that innovative and unique idea, but I would beg to differ.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. Most colleges have now added classes in entrepreneurship to include the necessary business focus to technical majors that usually drive innovative ideas.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. The reality is that good ideas are always challenged, so you need to expect it.

Ideas 126

Ideas Case Study Mobile Resource 126

Berkonomics

APRIL 24, 2014

Often I see executive summaries from entrepreneurs who have never managed any form of business, or even managed employees in their past life, and who don’t know the first thing about business formation and managing for growth. I used to tell them to find a partner with knowledge in business creation and management.

Coach 250

Coach Seed Funding Summary Incubator 250

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Most of the time, I’m all about providing encouragement and inspiration to entrepreneurs. They need it and they deserve it, because entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. Many people think that innovation is easy: You sit around with your buddies and magical ideas pop into your head. The reality of innovating.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Sample Guide Ideas 174

Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

One thing I have learned the hard way in business is that implementing new ideas is usually much more difficult than conceiving the idea in the first place. That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

A few months ago I wrote about an entrepreneur, Sam Rosen, whom we brought on as an EIR at Upfront Ventures. His ideas to date hadn’t totally resonated and of course ideas matter, too. Now remember that Sam is an entrepreneur. He had ideas. Within a few weeks he was an EIR in our offices in LA working on the idea.

UCSD 340

UCSD Startup Ideas Course 340

Berkonomics

APRIL 11, 2019

An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. We have no competition.”. Professional investors laugh when they hear an entrepreneur come out with that one. It is a failed litmus test for the entrepreneur, even if the plan is for a totally new device or service that could take the world by storm.

Competition 120

Competition Slides Research Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 31, 2013

The core idea behind the event is to tap into the hacker spirit in each community in a way that leverages the latest tech and open data to strengthen our democracy and communities across the country. Tech leaders from NASA JPL, to the Census Bureau will share inspiration and ideas. Not a coder? Register at [link] eventbrite.com/#.

CTO Coach 295

CTO Coach Startup Mentor Ideas 295

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. This benefits you, the entrepreneur. Rinse & repeat. You have a hunch.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge. Even the best college degree is not a substitute. Neither is good.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. Team building status and plan.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Positive inspirational communication.

Ideas 101

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2023

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Look for double-digit growth data from Nielsen, J.D.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Many entrepreneurs still believe they need a traditional multi-level organization to handle growth and scaling, so they start hiring career managers to populate it. Leveraging the global network will improve your odds of a highly skilled match, and bring diversity, as well as more innovative ideas and thinking to your team.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Mark Cuban is a lifelong serial entrepreneur, launching his startup career with a variety of teenage schemes, including buying and selling collectable stamps to pay for college. I easily could have included 50-comments that provide insight and inspiration to entrepreneurs. Mark’s view of risk is common to most successful entrepreneurs.

Tips 274

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Ideas 274

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2022

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” If you are dreaming of an opportunity to get rich quick, the entrepreneur route is not for you. A startup is no place for the Lone Ranger.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Sample 121

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Design together, the course that introduced the idea for brightblu, they were concurrently taking three other classes: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Art of the CEO. Each week he brought in passionate and successful entrepreneurs to speak to his students and give advice about the different facets of creating a startup.

Class 231

Class Startup Santa Barbara RSS 231

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. The result, called resourcefulness, allows entrepreneurs to create opportunities in the face of scarcity. Every entrepreneur needs to avoid locked-in ways of thinking.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Even though I’m a big proponent of becoming an entrepreneur, it is definitely not for everyone. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. Test your entrepreneur instincts through crowdfunding.

Sample 126

Sample Entrepreneur Ideas Startup 126

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But you also vastly expand the universe of those who will discover the topic and want to do a deep dive, learn more and then spread the idea to others. Rebelling is simply a form of snobbery.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

In fact, for the past 27-years, he has specialized in bringing exotic travel destinations to those of us who are healthy and active but whose competitive sporting days are long behind us. If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? Ever fantasized about climbing Mt. but we don''t.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Advertising 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. People need to see you as an “influencer,” who is able to sell your new ideas, as well as communicate the future.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Examples Blogging Custom 129

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2020

In the competitive realm of business, you only get one chance to make a great first impression. Since we all lose when an entrepreneur with a great idea is held back by a failure to communicate, I would like to offer a quick summary of business writing basic strategies. You can’t afford that competitive disadvantage.

Writing 125

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point. Sound Idea (basic value, product risk) $1/2 million. Strategic relationships (reducing market risk and competitive risk) $1/2 million.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Too many entrepreneurs think that expert external advisors are suspect, or will slow them down.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Custom 131

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2018

They soon learn that they are entrepreneurs who will launch a magical venture that involves a restorative meal, a communal celebration and reassurance that better days are ahead. Every entrepreneur is faced with making something out of nothing. When a venture is conceived, it is merely an idea.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Ideas 153

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2021

In my role as mentor to many of you aspiring entrepreneurs, I often find you convinced that all you need to start is a unique innovation or idea , and now you are ready to jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride. Remember that being an entrepreneur is all about starting and running a business, after the initial invention.

Satisfaction 135

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 135

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317