Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

As a VC with scores of startups in our portfolio we have ringside seats to many, many fund raising processes plus I had to raise money across about 5 different rounds of capital as an entrepreneur so I’ve developed some thought on the process that I hope can be helpful to some of you before you start. just don’t lead with them!

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2013

While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. The entrepreneurial wunderkinds who find success without higher education "are exceptions to the rule," says Robert Litan, Vice President of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

By Mahesh Raj Mohan Writing a business plan can be a difficult process. Even if you know your product/service suite down cold, understand the strengths/weaknesses of the competition, and have built pro forma financials that are sane. you still have to write the plan for a particular audience. Hi, I’m writing this plan because.”

Writing 97

Writing Summary Ideas Research 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2011

While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. The entrepreneurial wunderkinds who find success without higher education "are exceptions to the rule," says Robert Litan, Vice President of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We started looking at the landscape, and as I was getting my MBA at the time, ended up writing the business plan for ConsumerTrack. We are constantly learning, doing research, and networking with other entrepreneurs, and people in our business who are the best at what they do.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2012

Tech Reporters: These individuals will write and edit informative and practical articles on a range of topics including Startups/Entrepreneurs, Gadgets, Mobile Tech, Tech in Entertainment, Gaming, Apps & Software, productivity, and cover breaking tech news. Think you may be interested? Take a look below and give us a shout. Contributors.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Software Review Writing News 71

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. As an early stage investor you’re often planning around 10x your investment at the time your write your first check so in this case you’d be going into your investment expecting an exit of $800 – $1.2

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Tech.Co

MAY 9, 2024

We also offer some advice for writing your application, to make sure your proposal is as competitive as possible. The competitive program is open to select small businesses and specifically encourages participation from women and socially or economically disadvantaged persons.

Outsource Development 91

Outsource Development Technical Review Research Writing 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. The entrepreneurial wunderkinds who find success without higher education "are exceptions to the rule," says Robert Litan, Vice President of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation.

Technical Advisors 90

Technical Advisors Startup Course Entrepreneur 90

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Now, you’re handling payroll and doing writing as well. You may even discover that you enjoy writing more than crunching numbers. Piaw Na, who spent over six years at Google, writes on Quora that she recommends fresh grads to join a startup instead of big companies. This allows employees to become more versatile and productive.

Startup 102

Startup Social Media Writing Google 102

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 6, 2012

DreamSwapp is an Android-based mobile application to help users record their dreams and share dreams with friends using social media. Research has shown that people can remember only 10% of their dreams when they wake up, and also that dreams have uses and meanings for psychological research. Competition?

Template 82

Template Social Media Media Research 82

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself." They also internalize their professional failures while externalizing their team’s successes.

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2010

As of the last four months, we've had about 200,000 plus downloads, a bunch of great write ups, and a lot of mom bloggers who have been reviewing the app and writing stories on it. Al Eisaian: We spent all of 2009 doing research with moms, having moms come into our Pasadena office and researching what things they wanted in the app.

Mobile 168

Mobile .Net Pasadena Software Review 168

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. At this stage, you should start recruiting, hiring, paying, and training others to help you run your business.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

I was happy to see a real focus on preparing for tomorrow highlighted in a new book, “ Start a Successful Business ,” by Colleen DeBaise, who has made a career of studying and writing about entrepreneur challenges. In addition, most advanced CRM systems will help you analyze your specific customers for directional behavior.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. But having no process does not make you more competitive.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

As you know, a lot of what is involved in social and digital media is figuring out how to build brands, and help brands reach an audience in the interactive world. If you look where people are spending their time right now, and if you look at how they buy products, a huge percentage are researching online before buying--around 86 percent.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. But having no process does not make you more competitive.

Startup 95

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. At this stage, you should start recruiting, hiring, paying, and training others to help you run your business.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Training Outsource Metrics 92

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. The A’s are the firms you’re going to work hardest to research, hardest to find high-quality introductions to and make the most effort to engage with.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 23, 2012

Once you’ve decided on an idea to move forward with, you’re ready to start deciphering the data you’ve compiled on the existing competition and choosing what to do with your own app. If you forget everything else I write about creating an app, remember this: every app needs a hook. What makes them stand out from the competition?

Marketing 84

Marketing Software Review Tips Competition 84

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2010

Let me be clear – a product or consulting startup today without a blog, even with a static website, risks not being competitive in cost and time to reach and hold that critical mass of online customers. Blogs help because sites that update data frequently get higher SEO rankings. An informal writing style is generally recommended.

Blogging 48

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Startup Writing 48

socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2009

Our startup interview this morning is with Josh Stomel , founder of ResumeBucket (www.resumebucket.com), a new web site that is focused on helping people share their resumes with the world. I went on to Oversee.net, and helped to build that company from 60 to 250 employees. Is this at all competitive with LinkedIn?

Startup 140

Startup Yahoo Sites Oversee.net 140

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully. BUT … try doing proper restaurant research on a mobile device. Try writing long reviews of a restaurant. Use that as a source of competition. That’s why Yelp is effective.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Yet I can’t help thinking there are many predictable failures that come from a lack of basic planning. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. But not doing basic research makes no sense. Market Size. How much ad revenue does TripAdvisor make?

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

InfoChachkie

APRIL 3, 2012

Did you just meet the shy boy who spent his High School years writing in his journal or the boisterous verbal bully who used her wit to hide her insecurities? Did you play any team or individual sports competitively? What do/did your parents do as a vocation? Did they enjoy their jobs? What were their dreams? Do you still compete?

Entrepreneur 219

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Journal 219

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

A number of teams have recently been looking to turn that vision into reality, as a result of the Qualcomm Tricorder Prize , a $10M competition being run by the X Prize Foundation to create a real life Tricorder. That''s essentially how the Tricoder competition was formed--it''s time for this to happen. It was announced in the 90''s.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

If you research the backgrounds on some of the most successful entrepreneurs, you will find some, like Mark Cuban , espouse the “go for it” risk everything approach to give you the motivation to keep going, while others recommend a more measured approach. Write a business plan for your desired new business.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. Call out your top competitors, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantage, including patents, trade secrets. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

Some data like those in the studies I mentioned above might help influence our thinking but the answer is, in the end, subjective. I wasn’t going to write about it since he had just covered the topic and echoed my point of view. So it is with entrepreneurship. Fred Wilson said as much on his blog also. Or at least 73.6%

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 22, 2014

Through simple design, extensive sensing mechanism research, and behavioral science principles, Moving Analytics is carving out its own innovative niche in a heavily competitive space by providing a simple solution for highly sedentary people. HV: Our current focus is helping people get up and move more, and that’s why we created Movn.

USC 104

USC Southern California Activity Study 104

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Journalists don’t know enough about your company before the show, don’t have time for proper research, and you will be competing for their time afterward with 49+ other companies that want them to write about you. - The more she got to know more the more she called me for help with stories. It started socially.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 25, 2014

Noor Siddiqui – Remedy On Glass , helping doctors collaborate using Google Glass. Susan Etlinger – Altimeter , research and consulting company for business disruption. Morgan Intrator – Yoursigma, combining technology with classroom learning. Mike Norman – WeFunder , bringing crowd investing to the world.

Entertainment 99

Entertainment Google Entrepreneur Course 99

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2009

I am someone who likes to interact with my Representatives and Senators, by way of writing letters, emailing, and what not. When I was listening, I made a point to try to do that, but when I did, I found I had to go to twenty sites to find the information I needed--whether that was to write a letter, send an email, or whatever.

Startup 100

Startup Writing Southern California Email 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. It is an LA-based company that was recently acquired by Amazon, which you can read more about in this incredibly well-researched article.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

With public interest in artificial intelligence technologies on the rise, five of the world’s largest corporations—vying against each other in so many spheres—are banding together to support research on the ethical and societal issues raised by machines with increasingly human-like capabilities.

Artificial Inteligence 40

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Technical Advisors Research 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

She did a bunch of research on it and finally found a small number of safe brands. He has set up an office, a process & people around him that are helpful to entrepreneurs in need of hands-on skills in a mass service way. Helped get the first security to ever be sold over the internet with a credit card.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292