Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2022

In the old days, every entrepreneur planned on taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is finally up from the dead zone of the last two decades, and is now double the rate back in 1999. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

Startup 98

Startup Report IBM IBM 98

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2019

According to an unconfirmed report on Wednesday, Santa Monica-based on-demand scooter rental startup Bird is in the midst of talks to acquire another, on-demand scooter company, Scoot. According to the report, Scoot was last valued at around $71M, and had raised $47M in total funding. READ MORE>>.

Report 113

Report Santa Monica Demand Competition 113

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.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

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. Visit the university library for access to otherwise costly business reports. Access to intellectual property and current research.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. In stead of doing my typical big long post with 10 PR tips (like I did there), I’m going to break them up into individual (I hope more digestible) chunks.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

Keeping up with the competition: You’re a market leader in a fast-growing field. Newer, nimbler competitors keep introducing new features before your team can catch up. Outgrowing your stack: Your tech stack was just right for your startup. What’s keeping you up at night? But what does the right team look like?

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review TechEmpower 260

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no no surprise?—?that’s

Product 424

Product Platform Advertising Acquisition 424

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

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.

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side. Both are required to stay competitive. I have added my own insights, based on my experience advising and working with entrepreneurs and startups: Pay for results, rather than pay for work. In the U.S.,

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2020

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. According to TheStreet , US IPO market results in Q2 2020 posted a strong bounce-back from Q1 with 58 IPOs, after a slow start due to the Covid19 pandemic.

Startup 127

Startup Technical Review Acquisition Study 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2019

In the old days, every entrepreneur dreamed of easily taking their startup public, and making it big. Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate back before 2000. Startups going public are laid open to competitors and critics.

Startup 84

Startup Technical Review Report IBM 84

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2018

Neither Uber nor Lyft currently have electric scooter operations, although Uber recently acquired a bike sharing startup. According to The Verge, both companies have applied for electric scooters in San Francisco, and are hoping to operate electric scooters there. READ MORE>>.

Competition 100

Competition Demand Equity Los Angeles 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2021

A spin-off is merely a startup spawned by a mature parent (company), and conventional logic would dictate that it has a survival advantage over the lowly startup. Contrary to popular belief, according to a report by A. Mingle and learn from the startup culture and new technology – without losing control.

Company 125

Company Companies Startup Examples 125

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. Extremely talented people are ultra competitive.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

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.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 26, 2022

Many grocery delivery startups begin small, in one city, building up locations to cater to a certain neighborhood. At the time, the company raised $2 million, and Alexandrov said about the perceived competition, “The level of competition in this market in the U.S. We are creating new habits of customers.

Funding 246

Funding Demand Los Angeles Competition 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

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. Visit the university library for access to otherwise costly business reports. Access to intellectual property and current research.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

.” The most recent was 18 months ago or so called The Kauffman Report. It had an influence on the people who fund our industry in a negative way as many asset managers who fund our industry read this flawed report. Startup Lessons' Think DropBox, Airbnb, Pinterest, Maker Studios, SnapChat, Tinder).

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2013

In what is a fairly unusual move, last week, Tradesparq (www.tradesparq.com), a Chinese startup in the area of B2B trade information, said it was planning on setting up its operations here in Southern California, as part of an expansion and scaling of the company. Michael Kleist: We started in 2010. What is Tradesparq?

Southern California 170

Southern California Startup SoCal CTO Hire 170

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

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

We started with our financial statements. Then competition. So I changed things up and became much happier with my results. But they were in a slide and people asked you questions so it ended up chewing up 30 minutes. We then walked through our sales pipeline and discussed major campaigns.

Startup 331

Startup Slides Guide Writing 331

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. As your organization grows and you hire senior staff where you are no longer managing every employee directly the issue of how to manage people that are not your “direct&# reports arises. A quick example.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

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

TechCrunch LA

MAY 17, 2019

Meanwhile, Quibi is reportedly looking to raise another $1 billion to keep up the pace of spending big dollars for big names to draw new audiences to its service. In some cases, Esola said, it’s as easy as picking up shows from the cable companies that can no longer afford them. “It will never happen from the dinosaurs.

Services 167

Services Report Netflix Content 167

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. I’ll start with an obvious one – I talk with the entrepreneur about competitors. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit.

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

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., billion investment vehicle that was launched in partnership with the private equity fund, Permira, according to a report in USA Today.

Venture Capital 359

Venture Capital Los Angeles Legalzoom Calabasas 359

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

Reporting has made much of urban areas attaining visibly cleaner air — featuring before shots of global cities with smog and after shots of clear skies since COVID-19 forced traffic off the roads. The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Image Credits: TechCrunch.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

Each week, TechCo features tech startups that can help streamline your daily life. Cybriant is a holistic cyber security service startup which enables small and mid-size organizations to deploy and afford the same cyber defense strategies and tactics as the Fortune 500. Panamplify is the reporting easy button for businesses.

Artificial Inteligence 92

Artificial Inteligence Startup Platform Training 92

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

We''re experimenting with a new feature for our site: quick pitches from very early, local startups who haven''t had much (or any) funding. Are you the founder of a very early stage startup--not yet angel or venture backed--and want to talk about your startup? Shawn Peterson: Underbuilt is a simplified building codes report.

West Los Angeles 228

West Los Angeles Startup Report Design 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2022

04% full, you should start looking for a new container. TikTok is currently the fastest growing social network, while Instagram is close behind with a bigger share globally of new sign-ups. While Pinterest and Tumbler have seen activity increases approaching 100%, The Verge reports that Facebook usage has declined in the U.S.

Social Media 140

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 140

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

There is a universal truth: fewer than one in a thousand start-ups meet or exceed their projected revenues in the periods planned. I thought then that the best way to value a start-up is to give value to those elements of progress by the entrepreneur or team that reduce risk of success.

Startup 120

Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

How to Interpret Analyst Reports. The stats are often quoted from the latest reports. of all statistics are made up. of all statistics are made up. Here’s how I learned my lesson: I started my life as a consultant. The headlines in the media are filled with that latest stats. Stats sell. It’s irony.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

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

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees , the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up. The company also provides up to $100, interest-free, overdraft protection.

Company 262

Company Companies Startup Tips 262