Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

As an angel investor, I see plenty of startups focusing on building an innovative product, but I’m looking for the few who are also leading with an exponential growth strategy, to put them in the category of the next Amazon or Google. Sponsor some friendly competitive events with prizes.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

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.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2016

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

Competition 62

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 62

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Since I fall into the expert category, my belief is that you should be pretty open with me. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9. Entrepreneur: Following is an email describing my idea.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. Since I fall into the expert category, my belief is that you should be pretty open with me. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9. Entrepreneur: Following is an email describing my idea.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

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.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

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.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Here is my own priority list of key risk drivers that every entrepreneur and every investor should evaluate and minimize in starting a business: Team experience and depth risk. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. Patents filed, even provisional, as well as trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets count as barriers to entry and sustainable competitive advantages.

Startup 71

Startup Patents Invest Blogging 71

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Tanz has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine “Young Millionaires of 2011 Special Report.” They have built proprietary ad serving, video serving and image recognition technology, complete with patents, and invented in-image advertising. They have 15 channels of categories with publishers like Alloy Digital, U.S.

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Here is my own priority list of key risk sources that every entrepreneur and every investor should evaluate and minimize in starting a business: Team experience and depth risk. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 89

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 89

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups - Steve Blank , May 27, 2010 Startups need to have a great lawyer, accountant, patent attorney, etc. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. In many of them I get asked similar questions, including the inevitable “what makes a great entrepreneur?” If you’re an entrepreneur, the glib answer is “no.”

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2010

Pretty much anything that goes into a business plan falls into one of these four categories: Opportunity : Every successful business exploits an opportunity. Have you patented it? Execution: Execution - the hard task of turning ideas into products that people will buy - is what separates successful entrepreneurs from dreamers.

Startup 91

Startup Oracle Entrepreneur Ideas 91

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He invented the category of sponsored search. At the time when you did a search on Lycos, Alta Vista or similar for a category such as Cars you ended up getting 9 spam results and 1 proper website to meet your needs. Too many entrepreneurs focus on dilution. We talked about patents. It was a pleasure to write them myself.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

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. Many might say Donald Trump epitomizes this category. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Mentor Framework Web 96