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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.
of all statistics are made up. Here’s how I learned my lesson: I started my life as a consultant. One of our core tasks was “market analysis,&# which consistent of: market sizing, market forecasts, competitive analysis and then instructing customers on which direction to take. I say it deadpanned. It’s irony.
Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. In a startup this is a mistake. In this instance I typically recommend that startups NOT hire a big, well-known PR firm. There is one carve out.
Los Angeles-based SBIR Source , which maintains an online database of grant opportunities from the Federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, said this morning that it has launched a new product, GrantIQ. sbir source grantiq database small business innovation research grant funding' READ MORE>>.
2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I said both in the article but felt compelled to provide a statement up front for the skimmers.
FanWide , a startup which helps users find "viewing parties" for their favorite college or pro sports teams, anywhere they live or travel, has won a the $10,000 prize in the HYPE Sports Innovation competition, held last week at the University of Southern California. Most Valuable Recruit took second place, with MaxOne placing third.
Last week, the University of Southern California 's Viterbi School of Engineering announced that it had established a new, business plan competition, the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition ([link] specifically aimed at students in the engineering school. Why a business plan competition, and why in engineering school?
It’s a fantastic startup that has had a amazing impact on society. It’s not just about people like me who can (and do) turn up in nearly any city in the US and immediately book a ride. They were a little too fierce in their competitive practices against Lyft to sign up drivers. Is Uber evil?
Irvine-based University Lab Partners and the SBDC @ UCI Beall Applied Innovation said this morning that the two organizations have launched a new, startupcompetition, which is aimed at accelerating both life sciences and technology startups. The new competition is open until June 12th.
This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. I’m sure some have made it (just to save your having to research to prove me wrong). This post isn’t going to be popular. I’m sure of that. That’s OK.
I generally encourage my UC Santa Barbara students to complete their formal education before joining or creating a startup. In Michael's case, he promised his parents that he would return to school if the sales at his startup did not meet his expectations. "I Effective startup mentorship can come from unlikely sources.
Like Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Larry Ellison, he is one of the few startup Founders who remained at the helm of their respective companies throughout their entire maturation process. Great Startup Ideas Come From Everywhere. "At One Of The Most Important Startup Skills. "The " [Tweet this quote].
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. What technology research is required?
Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology. A great technical LinkedIn profile is a good start, but not enough to assure success in your environment. A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization.
There is nothing quite as thrilling in business as igniting a startup and watching it blossom. Especially when starting a company with personal savings or money from relatives and friends, early signs of success are intoxicating. Dave Berkus The post Startup intoxication! Do you ignore the warnings of experts?
Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. Well, here is one of those, and it deals with market research first and foremost. Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. In this case, the competition was not from a company but a new technology.
In order to support all of these teams, there are several on-campus startupcompetitions every year, from the Silicon Beach USC competition to the New Venture Seed Competition, with prize funds to help build the companies. The post HipTraveler | Taking StartupCompetitions by Storm appeared first on TechZulu.
Balance is also an extremely important factor among a founding startup team. Just like starting a company as a sole founder, it is possible to excel without a partner, it''s just a lot harder. Outside of the startup world, there is a partnership which has served humankind well since the beginning of time marriage.
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. If an existing company is not interested in licensing, and a researcher is not an entrepreneurial spirit, those projects go no where.
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.
Competition. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. where do you need to make investments to make up ground and therefore need capital?).
But, how do you start? The old way was difficult, time consuming, and often expensive; referrals, calling up lawyers, going through initial consultations. We spoke with Michael Chasin, the company''s co-founder, about the startup. You put your project up, and shortly thereafter, you get price quotes from lawyers.
I met up with Sam in NYC last year to talk about “what he was up to.” I was in NYC and I lined up my usual 20 meetings on my trip. They researched storage solutions and logistics. ” Then competitors started to launch. Of course there is competition! Startup Advice' Today we announced our launch.
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. Startingup Raising money' The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation.
Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. It shows a lack of interest.
An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. We have no competition.”. Dis you really do your research? The statement shows a lack of research or previous thinking that is a red flag for us investors. We investors see this all the time. When asked (as we always do,) the response is “This is new.
I grew up believing that human behavior was 20% nature, 80% nurture. of all data is made up. OK, not literally made up. So going into a startup scenario you bring these innate skills or you don’t. Nature vs. Nurture. You’ve all heard the question before. Let’s talk about kids for a moment.
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.
As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.
I just had to line up behind him. She did a bunch of research on it and finally found a small number of safe brands. 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 know this guy is a money maker.
In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. We caught up with CEO and co-founder Brett Rossman to learn more about the company and how it''s been able to grow, profitably, all without raising a dime of outside capital.
Pasadena-based Evolution Robotics , the robotics technology startup backed by Idealab, said today that it has linked up with a number of retail partners on its Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner--the firm's entree into the household robot market. The robot puts the firm in direct competition with Roomba.
Los Angeles-based Jukin Media (www.jukinmedia.com) thinks it has figured that out, and instead of trying to create viral videos, has been buying up the rights to those videos--before they really go viral--to create not just a one-hit, viral video wonder, but a sustainable business. Lee Essner: That''s one of the competitive edges we have.
As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.
” Let’s start with “oversight.” Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage. When DataSift sets up a board meeting (next one in London, last was in NYC) we have investors from NYC (IA Ventures), SF (Scale Ventures) and the founding team + chairman in London.
As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.
According to Vinny Jindal , the CEO of Los Angeles-based startup Stockr (www.stockr.com), everything. Vinny talked with us about his start, which allows users to discuss and collaborate on their stocks and finances in a social way. What's your background and how did you start the site? What is Stockr all about? READ MORE>>.
These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time.
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? You might have twenty pages of research for a meeting.
These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time.
Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. Provide a simple yet complete description of your product or service and its competitive marketplace. A winning product or service.
When to start PR? It’s why in this article I advise that people “market today not futures” because you don’t want your playbook in the hands of the competition. In a startup this is a mistake. You need somebody who is helping push out information on what is up-and-coming in the company.
This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. Tim started to change our processes. Tim encouraged us to set up a blog and start talking openly about what we were doing as a company and inviting comments. Back then it seemed foreign.
I’m always looking for evidence of early startup characteristics that might be predictors of long-term success. Of course, we would all like to have a magic list based on more definitive tracking of many real startups over time. Things move fast in the startup world, and real competitors never stand still.
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