Both Sides of the Table

MAY 31, 2013

A special thanks to Jason Lehmbeck , founder & ceo of DataPop , a great LA startup of which I have been a long-standing fan, for championing this event and bringing it to my attention. But, as in every civic endeavor, real change starts with the people. Startup Advice' Fortunately the LA tech community and Angelenos agreed!

CTO Coach 295

CTO Coach Startup Mentor Ideas 295

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right? Probably not.

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. In any job you either find leadership opportunities for your best people BEFORE they ask or other people start asking them to become leaders somewhere else.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

He lived the philosophy that companies must be paranoid in order to survive, and continually disrupt their own markets to prevent overrun by competition. Start small and move quickly to test new approaches that can be scaled up later, with an understanding that some will fail. Be proactive rather than reactive to market change.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA ([link] The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. For readers, LaunchpadLA is all about?

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Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. Techpreneurs. Share and Enjoy.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.

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Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Start even before the product is ready.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

So do you think the environment still tough for startups? 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: It's quality versus quantity. Interestnig. Mike Napoli: Obviously, it's still tough.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

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. How many times have you actually made up work to keep an idle person busy? Marty Zwilling.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

” Let’s start with “oversight.” ” Most VCs view it as their responsibility to mentor, debate, cajole and generally assist with investments they make. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage. “ Startup Advice' Local knowledge runs deep.

Venture Capital 365

Venture Capital Marketing Santa Barbara Startup 365

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The Los Angeles startup community is joining the rest of the world in mourning the death of NBA superstar, entrepreneur and investor Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., shortly before 10 a.m. Together with Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant helped make the Lakers the dominant team in the NBA in the early 2000s.

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I got a call a few years ago from a well-known investor up North. He’s an incredibly smart investor and somebody that I actually consider to be a mentor to myself. Competition is fierce. He opted for two big VC funds up North who split $1.5 Please call me early when you start your next company. Fair enough.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Why is it that only the most successful entrepreneurs , including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson, admit to having a mentor and actually use them? Starting a new business is tough, and the last thing you need is to suffer the same mistakes that have killed businesses like yours before you.

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Mentor Coach Metrics Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

You have to be extra tough mentally to start a new business venture. He spent many years with the SEALs, but has since started and built six multimillion-dollar business ventures. To be an entrepreneur or a Navy SEAL, you must first have vision, focus, and the courage to step up to lead. Set your targets high.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Training 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2023

In this context, even “satisfied” is only a “meets-minimum,” and does not put you ahead of your competition. Feedback from the field shows that a successful collaboration , whether with customers, employees, vendors, or other business partners, will make your company stronger and more competitive in the marketplace.

Competition 109

Competition Services Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. Angel and venture capital money always comes with ownership and management implications, starting with the obvious ones outlined in the term sheet for the deal.

Funding 173

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. I just finished a new book for entrepreneurs, “ Secrets to a Successful Startup ,” by Trevor Blake, which makes the same points, based on his own real-life experience with three successful startups.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

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. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

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

socalTECH

OCTOBER 3, 2011

Three local universities, plus a Pasadena-based startup, have received a $360,000 grant to promote student entrepreneurship in clean technology. Department of Energy to help foster student entrepreneurs via a business plan competition run by the group called First Look West. OnGreen said it is the commercial partner for the effort.

CalTech 165

CalTech UCLA Southern California Pasadena 165

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

Kevin O'Connor: I've been doing venture since my first deal in 1995, and have been investing on and off since I moved to Santa Barbara in 2001, under the name O'Connor Ventures, and did that full time until 2009, when I started Graphiq, and switched back into doing another company. It's just hard to work 80-hour weeks when you're 57.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

In my consulting work, when I ask team members in startups and small businesses how they know whether they are doing a good job, the typical response I get is “Nobody has yelled at me today,” or “No news is good news.” A little competition for results is always a good thing. Show confidence in their progress and future.

Startup 133

Startup Mentor News Coach 133

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 20, 2011

I was having a chat with an entrepreneur who I really like and who I try to mentor from time-to-time. But I tell people up front when I think the idea won’t work, the team is wrong or the strategy is off base. Mix my views into the pot and make your own mind up. One problem. He’s struggling to raise money.

Pricing 284

Pricing Venture Capital Competition Startup 284

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (Fargo, ND).

Startup 137

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 137

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 3, 2015

The rest of our partners, principles, associates and EIRs can weigh in with commentary on their views of the quality of the entrepreneur, the market, the product, competition and so forth. Sometimes this feedback is sufficient to start to erode his confidence in pursuing the deal. The same is true at startups.

Startup 150

Startup Venture Capital Invest Framework 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

In my many years of experience in business, and recent work as a mentor to entrepreneurs, I have seen the business world change, and can relate well to his five success practices paraphrased here: Build the team from people with a shared obsession. Teams must openly deal with their own weaknesses and take action on underperformers.

Class 155

Class Develop Development Startup 155

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. I saw these addressed well in a new book, “ The Startup Community Way ,” by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway.

Resource 131

Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

One startup, SwoopThat (www.swoopthat.com)--started by a recent college grad Jonathan Simkin --has made it much easier to buy books for student, by pulling up books based on a student's schedule. How did you come up with the web site? They act as mentors and help companies grow. I graduated in May of 2010.

UCSD 185

UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2021

Thus, in my role as mentor to young entrepreneurs, I always recommend that you first take a hard look at your own values and priorities, before jumping into any new startup, as the founder, or even as a side hustle. Timing is critical for every startup. Of course, if you wait for the perfect time, you may never start.

Startup 159

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Equity 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

There is no substitute for diving into the key details of a new startup. These executives won’t survive long in a startup environment. A diligent entrepreneur should certainly work the important details for his or her startup, especially when it comes to assessing any negative fluctuations in the business.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Template Mentor 103

InfoChachkie

MARCH 10, 2014

Never give up when you truly believe. Find a job you like and you add five days to every week - I often tell my children), "I never worked at day at my startups because we were having too much fun." Admittedly, not every day was a carnival, but I certainly enjoyed the majority of my startup workdays. Fight fairly. Laugh loudly.

Competition 274

Competition Mentor Entrepreneur Startup 274

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2010

The group--which was started by Richard Koffler and John Morris , two well known investors in Los Angeles--has been trying to help connect CEOs with interesting university and other technology projects. It's trying to determine if there is a viable way to go to market, and also deal with competitive issues.

Networking 215

Networking Research Startup USC 215

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Career survival today requires thinking and acting like an entrepreneur starting a business, staying nimble and resilient, willing to pivot, and supersensitive to the market realities of supply and demand. Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, helped me crystallize these similarities with his new bestseller “ The Start-up of You.”

Startup 108

Startup Entrepreneur Demand Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2022

As with most investors and advisors, I always look first at some key personal characteristics and leadership strategies that I find often make you a more likely survivor and winner in the highly competitive world of businesses, both new and mature. In my view, too many businesses fail, simply because founders give up too early.

Startup 143

Startup Competition Coach Satisfaction 143