Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

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

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. No-one challenged this number, and it became an unattributed source of the metric for market size for years. Or cost estimation.

Metrics 239

Metrics Startup Marketing Demand 239

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. I started feeling panic attacks.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. I start to notice when bad behavior creeps into the system as a whole. I remember just a decade ago in 2003 when we all laughed at how dumb people in the 90′s were talking about the race to “capture as many eyeballs as possible” before your competition. I have said so for years.

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. .” Who else does Clayton pray for? Stay Out of Jail.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

In case you hadn’t noticed, the key elements of a competitive advantage for your business have changed as businesses move online, and your domain is instantly global. As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. Emeril Lagasse is always ready to “kick it up a notch!”

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 1, 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010 -- California Clean Innovations Fast Pitch Competition. Part business plan, part live presentation, Clean Tech startups will compete in this exciting event by presenting their case to a panel of Venture Capitalist judges who rank the business attractiveness using a variety of performance metrics.

Competition 100

Competition Metrics Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

How did they end up with such an irreverent site and what was their objective? Should you have 7 people doing your seed round and why Ron Conway is the S&P 500 of Venture Capital (this discussion starts at minute 59). Company grew by more than “400% each year” for past few years [assume growth metric = revenues].

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

TechEmpower

JUNE 6, 2018

Not just in measured results per second (several metric crap tonne), but in number of tests measured (~1830), number of framework permutations tested (~464), number of languages included (26), and total execution time of the test suite (67 hours, or 241 billion microseconds to make that sound properly enormous). More on that later.

Framework 378

Framework TechEmpower Platform Metrics 378

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I just had to line up behind him. We then started talking about Dave McClure. At first I was cynical about his ability to have 500 startups (or some fraction of that which is still larger than any VC has). I started to realize that Dave is able to do it because he approaches VC differently. I appreciate it. Show Notes.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I got a call a few years ago from a well-known investor up North. Competition is fierce. He opted for two big VC funds up North who split $1.5 He called me 15 months later excited to show me his metrics and wanted to talk about his A round. Please call me early when you start your next company. Startup Advice'

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

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. Even the strongest relationships are often tested and broken by the stresses of a new startup.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2022

As a startup, you need to use your limited resources to excel at a few core things for your best customers, in order to stand out and get the momentum going. Pick a single metric that is the focus for all growth. Revenue and competitive position followed. Revenue and competitive position followed. Less is more.

Startup 144

Startup Social Media Metrics Customer 144

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. When you look at how much median valuations were driven up in the past 5 years alone it’s bananas. Please follow him & welcome him to Upfront!! <== And reset they must.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

socalTECH

JULY 23, 2013

Think that the only metric that matters nowdays is the number of users you have or downloads of your mobile app? Mark Suster , venture capitalist at Upfront Ventures, and a widely followed blogger, disagrees, in our latest Insights and Opinions post--where he argues that you still need to make money as a startup. Continued.).

Metrics 157

Metrics Venture Capital Competition Mobile 157

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

They decide to wake up early to read the materials. In town board members also only scan it because they, too, have morning meetings before the board meeting starts. The meeting starts. It probably starts late. If you put up 5 slides on “what should we order for lunch today” the board will spend 30 minutes debating that.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Change is about the only thing constant in the world of startups. The solution is to establish and maintain a culture and processes that don’t view change as a discrete event to be spotted and managed, but as an ongoing opportunity to improve competitiveness. Increase change agility. Expedite change reaction.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

It’s important to define your growth strategy, document it, communicate it to your team, and align metrics and employee rewards to target goals. Track competition to stay ahead of copycats. Build a strong employee culture focused on growth.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Almost any startup can start with Excel, and move to open-source data analysis tools, including Python or RStudio. Based on many years of HR leadership at SAP and elsewhere, these authors start by highlighting the risks of not leveraging data analytics. Use data analysis and metrics to measure for results.

Metrics 98

Metrics Tool Statistics Entrepreneur 98

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. The number of startups being created has increased by an order of magnitude. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin!

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should you start a company? What company should you start? Most startups die. Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. When should a VC invest? Most VCs don’t make money.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2020

Many experts will tell you that you can’t succeed as a part-time entrepreneur, as any good startup will require a 100 percent commitment of your time and energy. But not many of us have enough savings to live for a year or more without a salary, fund the startup, and still feed the family. Get better at saying ‘no’ to your friends.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Metrics 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

While you all recognize that reacting to weak market signals is critical to staying in business and staying competitive, I find that many don’t have the skills and focus to trigger change decisions on a timely basis. Establish and evaluate metrics at multiple levels. Don’t dismiss any new thing as a “flash in the pan.”

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

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. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. Failure is the best teacher. Ownership.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. In today’s highly competitive ad environment, both content and data are kings. But these days, ground up is tougher. The key takeaway?

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results. Concentrate your efforts on two to three platforms to start.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

In my own work as an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I see many who are focused on that single big disruptive innovation that will change the world. It’s a good start, but that’s not the continuous flow of smaller innovations required to survive, thrive, and win in today’s rapidly changing world. Ideas are the beginning.

Develop 135

Develop Development Startup Metrics 135

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

My friend Ethan Anderson put it best to me after the panel, “You probably shouldn’t have been up there. I wrote about it here (mostly starting at point 7) and Chris Dixon wrote a great post about it here. So in the past we needed VC to really get a startup going. I said almost nothing in the 30 minutes.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

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. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. Failure is the best teacher. Ownership.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Seek out complaining and lost customers for the most important input.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Vanity metrics will make you feel good about site traffic of SEO over conversion rate or purchases of your product will get more attention than retention. To do the right activities you need to start with a top down assessment with what you’re trying to achieve in your organization. You get a lot of traffic — not always results.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Team building status and plan.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131