Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The reason for this is that the executives who founded the company have so much tacit knowledge of how to position their product relative to the competition that they can easily win campaigns when they’re involved. So I often work with teams to get them to codify the key things they do well that the competition does not.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2019

How to Deal with Electronic Distractions Of course the biggest competition you have with the attention of your board members is their mobile phones. Announce at the start of the meeting that you’d like the board meeting to be “electronics free” including mobile phones, laptops or tablets. Most likely you’d be wrong.

Slides 275

Slides Email News Startup 275

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

As a member of the local angel group Selection Committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

Either way, don’t assume that the entire room is up to speed on your company. My plan would be to start the presentation at the 50,000 foot view and then dive down to a more granular level once we’re all base-lined. Other times the partner wants to test whether there is support before sinking in tons of due diligence time.

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Especially if the idea could be whipped-up by a few 24-year olds in a few weeks? Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Berkonomics

APRIL 11, 2019

An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. We have no competition.”. If you are raising funds, list “do nothing” as a viable competitor in your slide deck. We investors see this all the time. When asked (as we always do,) the response is “This is new.

Competition 120

Competition Slides Research Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

Slides 296

Slides GRP Partners Venture Capital Writing 296

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Startup team with experience and connections is this domain.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Startup team with experience and connections is this domain.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. My starting salary was $27,000. I can’t make this up. I have published many of these PR Tips before. ” F**k.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Rarer still is the startup CEO who can make the transition effectively on their own. Unwillingness to devolve power is the bane of many management teams at startup companies. I see the problem directly at many startups I know. The problem is that we started with an SLA that was too favorable to us. This seldom works.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

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.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

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 deck itself was produced by a committee of functional team lead who were asked to do 5–7 slides each for an update. The meeting starts.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

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). Online travel guide that is served up in-stream with restricted data size in the same was as Twitter. -

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 19, 2011

CapLinked , the online platform for private investment funded by members of the “ PayPal Mafia “—announced that it is launching a worldwide pitch competition for entrepreneurs to present their business ideas to a panel of all-star judges from Idealab, Rincon, Rapidfire, and Actarus. The deadline for entering is November 15.

Competition 70

Competition Idealab Slides Startup 70

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Join if you think your career will progress because you’ll be given more responsibilities than elsewhere and if you’re good at what you do you can move up quickly. The best policy is transparency – The stream on Twitter, as best as I can tell, started with Chris Dixon sending the following Tweet (see graphic).

Startup 294

Startup Sales Venture Capital Slides 294

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2012

For those who haven’t heard of what Startup Weekend is all about, it’s building a company on STEROIDS! Friday Night, people started trickling in at Coloft at 6pm. People were so excited for the weekend, many of who have participated in Startup Weekend before and a few like me, who were there for the first time.

Startup 99

Startup Technical Advisors Ideas USC 99

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2012

The event--one of a number of events focused on LA tech, entertainment & startups tied into the Silicon Beach Fest--will award $20,000 in cash from StartEngine, $12,000 in cloud hosting services from Peak Hosting, and many other prizes to the top technical products cooked up at the event. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 145

Southern California Slides Entertainment Startup 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. The most common business entity used for startups is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), which is the cheapest and simplest to manage.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

There are a million ways to make graphics lighter or resize your file without a huge impact on the quality of the slides?—?after I would likely open up your deck, read it again and begin contemplating your company again. Competition isn’t won or lost by your marketing decks?—?it’s after all you aren’t presenting this at TED.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

Eugene Cho is CEO of San Diego-based Echo Laboratories (www.discover-echo.com), a startup which is developing a new kind of microscope. The startup is backed by the Tech Coast Angels and Dolby Ventures. One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. How did you start the company?

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs a value proposition statement for his or her startup that can hook potential investors and partners in less than a minute -- the short time you might join them in an elevator on the way to their offices. Build up for the punch line at the end. Always start with a hook to get the investor’s attention.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. It’s better to start with a hook than to assume that people will stay with you to hear it at the end.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

What's the difference between pitching your startup on television, versus pitching your startup in real life? And how do you best take advantage of a TV audience to promote your startup? Hatched recently started into its second season. I think the best entry level position is starting in investment banking.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In reality, they need a separate pitch about the business, carrying over only a slide or two about the solution. Competitor positioning and sustainable competitive advantage.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the Angel perspective (as a member of an Angel group screening committee).

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

Eugene Cho is CEO of San Diego-based Echo (www.discover-echo.com), a startup which is developing a new kind of microscope. The startup is backed by the Tech Coast Angels and Dolby Ventures. One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. How did you start the company?

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Tech.Co

MAY 22, 2018

I’ve had many startup founders tell me that their startup literally has no competition,” said Frank Gruber, Cofounder of Tech.Co, Startup of the Year , and Established. “In What startup teams don’t realize is that having competition is good. Also keep the slides clean and easy to read.

Tips 70

Tips Help Slides Technical Review 70

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2012

From LA Demo Day to Silicon Beach Fest to Crowdstart LA to hackathons to Startup Weekends, companies and entrepreneurs alike have joined forces to feed the startup ecosystem. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour frenzy in which a group of strangers can come together to form a company and compete for prizes.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas San Diego Mentor 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

OCTOBER 25, 2010

But over the next several years, states will be setting up Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchanges, offering qualified health insurance options for companies with as many as 100 employees, even more in later years. As a consequence, small businesses should be able to get competitive insurance plans and better pricing.

Slides 100

Slides Startup Study Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

In my work with new and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most struggle with putting together a written business plan, often pointing out that someone they know started a business without anything written down. Starting a new business starts with selling everyone, including yourself, on the viability and specifics of your idea.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126