Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2023

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 85

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk. Operational.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk. Operational.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 153

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2021

Most entrepreneurs expect to face the “normal” challenges of starting a business, which include finding the right opportunity, building and executing a winning plan, and financing their venture. Sometimes entrepreneurs are so set on creating a successful business, they forget to create one that they love to work on every day.

Startup 152

Startup Training Entrepreneur Course 152

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. These questions, which manifest themselves in numerous forms, all share a common underlying objective: to divine your motivations, expectations and desires.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. Word-of-mouth is great, but it’s not a launch strategy that stands alone. Marketing alone cannot make a product great.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. A question I get from time to time is “Can I ever expect any backing from my bank for a great opportunity?”

Equity 121

Equity Technical Advisors Funding Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. Word-of-mouth is great, but it’s not a launch strategy that stands alone. Marketing alone cannot make a product great.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing are destined to be left behind even in the best of times. If you as an entrepreneur are not “listening” to your online reviews, and not moving quickly to make changes, you are losing ground. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve heard and seen hundreds of pitches from entrepreneurs, and the majority of founders are convinced that if you will just give them an hour or more time, you will love their business. Great ideas solve big problems, preferably painful needs that people will readily be willing to pay money for a solution.

Startup 96

Startup Education Ideas Customer 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

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.” The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Great relationships are key to every leader.

Ideas 149

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 149

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve heard and seen hundreds of pitches from entrepreneurs, and the majority of founders are convinced that if you will just give them an hour or more time, you will love their business. Great ideas solve big problems, preferably painful needs that people will readily be willing to pay money for a solution.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

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.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2015

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active Angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk. Operational.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Startup Marketing Customer 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. A question I get from time to time is “Can I ever expect any backing from my bank for a great opportunity?”

Technical Advisors 162

Technical Advisors Tips Startup Equity 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Others may indeed make good family businesses, but are usually deemed not worth investment.

Startup 126

Startup Sites Technical Review Social Media 126

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

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

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? Find a recognized billion dollar and growing market.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 106

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. These questions, which manifest themselves in numerous forms, all share a common underlying objective: to divine your motivations, expectations and desires.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2020

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. A passionate entrepreneur I met a while back had found that a certain algae could be grown cheaply, and could end world hunger.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2017

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.” The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Great relationships are key to every leader.

Entrepreneur 67

Entrepreneur Ideas Startup Resource 67

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. Greathouse: Great products and companies that came out (of) Santa Barbara. We both made personal investments in the company.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. In the real world, most angels are regular business people like you and me.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. Read our guide to the best VoIP desk phones to check out its competition.

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Investors are very focused on diligence, on business models that make sense, and those companies that have a definite competitive advantage and defensibility to what they're doing. Mike Napoli: Actually, we are seeing entrepreneurs. Mike Napoli: I think it was the entrepreneur.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. In reality, there isn’t much overlap between the business pitch I expect, versus a product pitch. This implies high odds of a scalable business, simply needing an investment to lead to success.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

Most aspiring entrepreneurs are convinced that their idea and passion are so great that failure is not a possibility. If there is no competition, there is likely not a market. Every potentially successful product has competition, or an alternative, or customers with no interest in change.

Startup 99

Startup Competition Examples Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing are destined to be left behind even in the best of times. If you as an entrepreneur are not “listening” to your online reviews, and not moving quickly to make changes, you are losing ground. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Tips 126

Tips Technical Review Organization Social Media 126

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

We’re all socially connected (so great businesses spread faster). The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398