Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2019

Yet I find in my business advisory activities that busy entrepreneurs and professionals, especially the introverts like me, find it hard to spend the necessary time networking and nurturing the relationships they need to get ahead. That’s more than enough to put you ahead of your competition. Make the investment today.

Social Media 96

Social Media News Tool Email 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2020

I heard it again recently from a technical entrepreneur who should know better than to believe the old “ Field of Dreams ” sports fantasy movie theme in today’s Internet information overload environment. Encourage networking. “If we build it, they will come.”

Marketing 130

Marketing Develop Development Startup 130

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2010

Do you think men make better entrepreneurs than women, and why? First of all, it is evident that there are fewer women entrepreneurs today than men. First of all, it is evident that there are fewer women entrepreneurs today than men. Here is a summary of observations from this and other studies: Leadership style.

Entrepreneur 49

Entrepreneur Study Competition Summary 49

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Define some intellectual property.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

A popular myth these days is that successful entrepreneurs must attract investors to get their businesses going, when the reality has been that more than 80 percent of new businesses are started and grown with no outside investment at all. Organic growth at this stage may be non-competitive. The need to hire staff immediately.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity Summary 101

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. Link has a summary of his argument plus a great video). If you have NO network of promotion for your story? Everything we were taught pre-Internet is still relevant.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2010

Startups and entrepreneurs need to be realists. Personal networking is key. Unless you know a VC personally, the chance of getting them on the phone and pitching them, before they have had a chance to look over some kind of summary, is zero. Hone your executive summary. Marty Zwilling.

Venture Capital 90

Venture Capital Capital Startup Summary 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs a value proposition statement for his or her startup that can hook potential investors and partners in less than a minute -- the short time you might join them in an elevator on the way to their offices. Your second sentence should acknowledge competition, but highlight your added value.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

Use it in every networking situation and business conference introduction. The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Investors expect energy, conviction, and commitment from entrepreneurs. It won’t work.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Build an investor presentation and summary. Define some intellectual property.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

Use it in every networking situation and business conference introduction. The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Obvious passion - Investors expect energy, conviction, and commitment from entrepreneurs.

Startup 93

Startup Competition Summary Patents 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2014

Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads. This doesn’t work well with “nice to have” offerings, like social networks, but does work for new drugs and medical devices that solve critical health problems. Subscription model. Feature pricing.

Startup 114

Startup Pricing Customer Custom 114

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

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. Every customer has a sense of what a solution should cost, based on competition, and the cost of doing nothing.

Product 95

Product Case Study Customer Custom 95

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). When you think about the trends of faster-growing startups due to social networking, credit card enable and mobile first consumers – the reality is that many startups are becoming very large financially before needing to go public.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Build an investor presentation and summary. Define some intellectual property.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 8, 2018

Steven Johnson, author of How We Got To Now , analyzes technological breakthroughs, looking for patterns that allow entrepreneurs to identify “How We’ll Get To Tomorrow.” Modern-day entrepreneurs use Evernote, Google Keep, etc. You’re As Smart As Your Network. This is a lead up into an executive summary.

Ideas 69

Ideas Startup Technical Review Santa Barbara 69

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2013

Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads. This doesn’t work well with “nice to have” offerings, like social networks, but does work for new drugs and medical devices that solve critical health problems. Subscription model. Feature pricing.

Pricing 116

Pricing Product Customer Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2016

I heard it again yesterday from a technical entrepreneur who should know better than to believe the old “ Field of Dreams ” sports fantasy movie theme in today’s Internet information overload environment. Encourage networking. “If we build it, they will come.”

Marketing 89

Marketing Coach Mentor Social Media 89

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. Executive Summary. If you want to watch the video version summary of my advice on fund raising it’s here. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Don’t believe otherwise.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2012

Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads and critical mass. This doesn’t work well with “nice to have” offerings, like social networks, but does work for new drugs that solve critical health problems. Competitive positioning.

Pricing 112

Pricing Competition Customer Custom 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

Put Serious Effort Into Your Pre-Game I find most entrepreneurs put all of their effort into creating a perfect deck and then asking existing investors which VCs to talk with but they put almost no effort into the real “pre-game” work. The best VCs follow up but then so, too, to the best entrepreneurs. So GET BACK IN FRONT OF THEM!

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2011

These are variations on a “crowd-funding” theme to raise money for a startup through social networks and voting at public events. Certainly both of these crowd-funding approaches provide the entrepreneur with an opportunity to hone his pitch, and get some real consumer feedback on the idea. Intellectual property is jeopardized.

Funding 92

Funding Startup Social Media Sample 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Sure, there will always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. So what can entrepreneurs do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue and position their startup for a winning IPO? Line up a winning team.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 101

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I don’t intend either, Burstly has respectable and strong competition. He has many of the attributes I look for in an entrepreneur and importantly he has deep domain experience in ad management. He knows the ad management and ad network businesses. What does it do? it has built in iPad support from Day 1.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I was mentoring some graduate students at a local university recently, and I sensed again that profit seems to be a dirty word these days to many aspiring entrepreneurs. This doesn’t work well with “nice to have” offerings, like social networks, but does work for new drugs and medical devices that solve critical health problems.

Pricing 66

Pricing Customer Custom Advertising 66

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2010

Here is a summary, with some of the pros and cons or special considerations for each: Product or service is free, revenue from ads and critical mass. This doesn’t work well with “nice to have” offerings, like social networks, but does work for new drugs that solve critical health problems. Competitive positioning.

Pricing 98

Pricing Product Startup Competition 98

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 5, 2010

The conversations bleed into the sales messages the next time, they wend their way into software designs and form the plan of attach against competition. For me one of the tell tale signs of a real entrepreneur is that they know how to network well enough to find technical talent to join them. What about offshoring?

Technical Advisors 335

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Offshore Startup 335

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping. All of these are false.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

Sure, there is always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. This means build a plan that hits all the hot buttons; problem/solution, executive team, competition, business model, reasonable financial projections, and what’s in it for the investor.

Venture Capital 93

Venture Capital Startup Capital Seed Funding 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2010

These are variations on a “crowd-funding” theme to raise money for a startup through social networks and voting at public events. Certainly both of these crowd-funding approaches provide the entrepreneur with an opportunity to hone his pitch, and get some real consumer feedback on the idea. Intellectual property is jeopardized.

Funding 59

Funding Startup Social Media Sample 59

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

There are now a second generation of entrepreneurs and companies that have learned from their last successes and are producing great new companies like TopSpin Media , Sometrics and GumGum. As should Eric Sikola and ExpenseBay who won the “Showoff&# judges competition ( Photos featured here taken by (cc) Kenneth Yeung – [link] ).

Twiistup 228

Twiistup SoCal Southern California Yammer 228

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Given a choice of your marketing person or talking to you (the founder) there’s no competition. You can say something like, “I was thinking that you might cover a story like, ‘why today’s mobile ad networks don’t benefit most application companies’ and then work me into that story line.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307