Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Yesterday I saw two biopic films: “ Amy ” about the life of Jazz sensation Amy Winehouse who died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 and “ Montage of Heck ” about the life of Kurt Cobain , the grunge-rock generational voice who died of an overdose of heroin and valium at the age of … 27.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. What do we like about OpenTable? The company was called Red Beacon. Nice sweep! MyTime personally vets each merchant.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and I called an (ex) LP to tell him about her and my goals for her. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up. Or, maybe it’s just about getting out of the way and watching what they can achieve.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 19, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010 -- OCTANe and Cleantech Open: 2010 Competition Breakfast Briefing. Enter the 2010 Cleantech Open Business Competition. Join us to learn about entering the Competition, get the scoop from a Cleantech Open Alumnus, plus hear how you can get involved as a mentor or volunteer.

Competition 100

Competition OCTANE Mentor Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. Most successful business leaders, including Richard Branson and Bill Gates, regularly called on their mentors, Freddie Laker and Warren Buffett, to test their perception of the right questions to ask, and the right issues to tackle. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers will wait. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Rethink or reframe the challenge. Marty Zwilling

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. They can also connect you to area businesses.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Workship - Advocate. Workship - Trailblazer.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

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. It starts with documenting and communicating a real purpose and mission in terms everyone can get excited about. Neither is good.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2013

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Workship - Advocate. Workship - Trailblazer.

Startup 99

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Competition 99

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). Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Custom Customer 118

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Most of you business professionals that I know have at least thought about or talked about starting their own business, to get more control, make more money, or to get more satisfaction out of their life. As a mentor to young aspiring entrepreneurs , I often get asked for tips on a strategy to get started.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2023

Don’t immediately talk about your business problems or needs, but get acquainted first with common connections or even non-work topics or hobbies. Nothing kills a potential relationship quicker than immediately complaining about your problems or other people. Quickly seek common interests from new relationships.

Networking 104

Networking Mentor Conference Summary 104

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Nobody cared about our valuations any more. If they didn’t care about him they certainly didn’t care about me or Jason Lemkin or Jason Calacanis or any of us. I wrote a post in 2015 that memorialized at the time how I felt about all of this, titled, “ Why I F **g Hate Unicorns and the Culture They Breed.”

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2021

She speaks from years of experience mentoring and facilitating independent contractors and helping large companies, since well before the term “gig economy” was even coined. As a new business advisor and mentor myself, I enjoyed her recommendations on many of these issues. Know your competitive value.

Pricing 149

Pricing Mentor Entrepreneur News 149

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2023

These days, building a new business is all about visibility and marketing, no matter how great or innovative a solution you bring to the table. The best startups give everyone business cards and encourage team members to talk about the business with anyone who should be interested. Empower engagement. Give credit.

Startup 95

Startup Coach Mentor Social Media 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

Then we do our very best to make sure that they build a broad set of relationships that will be continuing sources of interpreted information, that they have a full complement of Mentors to assist them as they make tough decisions Well, here’s an important follow-on story. What’s special about these operations?

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

As a long-time mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’ve been convinced for some time that good entrepreneurs have the right mindset, and the right attributes, to be good at anything they want. Brown, who has been studying and writing about business leaders for many years for Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Inc.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Mentor Competition Study 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Utilize outside expertise and mentoring. No matter how much energy, experience, and passion you have, there is always more you can learn from an Advisory Board of external experts or a mentor. Track competition to stay ahead of copycats. Track competition to stay ahead of copycats.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

All businesses these days are too complex to be one-person shows, so you need all the complementary held you can find to keep up with customers and competition, fill your expertise gaps, and scale the market. Maintaining an insatiable curiosity about change. Marketing your personal brand and your vision.

Startup 113

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2022

People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock. In my years of mentoring and working with startups, I’ve seen and read about some amazing disruptions, as well as recoveries, and I’m sure each of you could add your own. Engage a qualified and diverse team, staff, and advisors. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 98

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. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing the results of your mentoring and leadership. Love that sustainable competitive advantage.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers will wait. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Rethink or reframe the challenge. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2023

They are rightly thinking about a strategy to be better prepared for future challenges , recognizing that more are coming in this age of accelerating change and global competition. It leads to better team member retention and will ultimately give you a competitive advantage, more productivity, and fewer customer crises.

Training 86

Training Resource Competition Satisfaction 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

One of the things I’ve learned over my years as a business mentor and investor is that life isn’t fair when it comes to succeeding in business. Street smarts are largely about people skills, which require emotional insights. Use friends and mentors with extensive experience to gauge both. Focus on business as an expertise.

Help 130

Help Mentor Paramount Technical Review 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2019

A few years ago I read a classic book “ The Rudolph Factor ,” by Cyndi Laurin and Craig Morningstar, which is all about finding the bright lights that can drive innovation in your business. The core message is that real innovation and competitive advantage are more people-based than product or process-based. Passionate and inquisitive.

Mentor 101

Mentor Competition Ideas Organization 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. The competition will improve, the market will change, and your customers will demand more. If you do it right, you have a huge opportunity for long-term success.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Custom Customer 133

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). Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Custom Customer Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2021

Over the years I have spent mentoring entrepreneurs and startups, I often notice the similarities between successful professionals managing their careers and successful entrepreneurs building a business. Regularly assess and refine your competitive advantage. But we are not all equally intelligent about how we do it.

Startup 143

Startup Entrepreneur Demand Competition 143

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

In my role as a business mentor and advisor, I now always look for a culture and recommend team roles that nurture collaboration rather than contention, communities rather than silos , and transparent communication at all levels. Discourage internal team competition and silos. Simplify the feedback sharing process for you and them.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2020

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. Workship - Advocate. Workship - Trailblazer.

Mentor 135

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2021

If you are one of the many professionals still trapped between jobs by circumstances outside your control, or are about to dump the loser job you have now, you should be actively defining and starting your own business, in parallel with looking for that ideal job. Let me explain why this is a win-win deal, no matter what the outcome.

Startup 156

Startup Social Network Activity Ideas 156

socalTECH

OCTOBER 7, 2010

The University of Southern California and wealthy engineer Fariborz Maseeh , now a hedge fund manager in Newport Beach, is announcing this week a $1M endowment, which will fund an annual, $50,000 prize for a business plan competition for the school's engineering students. affiliated event focused on spreading innovative ideas. READ MORE>>.

USC 214

USC Southern California SoCalTech Competition 214

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. So a better question than asking about the quality of an idea, is asking about the quality of your plan to implement the idea. All the evidence says that over 99% fail to make that leap.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2023

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Competition Press Commerce 82