Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. A competitive advantage to a non-problem or tiny niche is not interesting to investors.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Custom 86

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. Both provide entrepreneurial “head start” programs for aspiring entrepreneurs, free legal guidance, and access to experienced staff members.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. But none have any lock on success. Opportunist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements about them to their own team, investors and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

Competition 107

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. All the evidence says that over 99% fail to make that leap. Now get real (cook it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. There is no such thing as a world-wide patent.

Patents 53

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 53

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? Check for intellectual property barriers in your way. Martin Zwilling

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2010

One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition, not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. The concept is called “sustainable competitive advantage.” That implies competitive now, and the potential to stay in the lead.

Competition 89

Competition Patents IBM IBM 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Incorporate, register your domain name, trademarks, and copyrights, then patent if possible.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Overcoming obstacles and learning is one of the biggest inspiration for most entrepreneurs. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Seek innovation that begets invention. Failure is an option.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Metrics Coach Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2018

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early.

Competition 60

Competition IBM IBM Startup 60

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 Customer 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early.

IBM 131

IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Overcoming obstacles and learning is one of the biggest inspiration for most entrepreneurs. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Custom Customer Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Accountability.

Metrics 144

Metrics Coach Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. They tell these entrepreneurs to sell themselves, execute well, and grow organically.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

InfoChachkie

MARCH 21, 2019

Ida wasn’t even the first modern-day entrepreneur to offer women brassieres. In 1917, Mary Phelps Jacobs was granted patent 1,115,674 , which states, “This invention relates to improvements in brassieres.” (sic). She was an entrepreneur at a time when entrepreneurial women were few and far between.”.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Design Customer Custom 100

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. Marty Zwilling.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Access to intellectual property and current research.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Access to intellectual property and current research.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on product direct costs, and underestimate marketing and sales costs, overhead costs, and support costs. Competition.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. They tell these entrepreneurs to sell themselves, execute well, and grow organically.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

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. They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119