Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. In my experience, both are always required in heavy doses.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Custom Customer 118

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 2, 2013

I've had several Startup CTO Consulting sessions recently where it became apparent that the Founder needed help with the business and product as much or more than the technology. Then we discussed how they could go about finding this startup business advisor. Do you have any suggestions for how to find a good mentor?

CTO Coach 259

CTO Coach Mentor Startup Technical Advisors 259

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. The reality is that starting a business, as well is working an existing business, has always required perseverance.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 15, 2016

Wednesday, June 15, 2016 -- IDEAS LA - The Future of Digital Technology and Content: Media and Entertainment and Lifestyle and Health. See [link] (more)

Entertainment 100

Entertainment Ideas Content Media 100

StartUp Beat

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

What do entrepreneurs do when they finally establish their startup? Do they hibernate in their offices, trying to come up with creative solutions? Or do they read up on other success stories for inspiration? Europe’s largest invitation-only event for early-stage startups, set in Cologne, Germany emerges in its 7th iteration.

Conference 40

Conference Startup Artificial Inteligence Competition 40

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

The Alliance is following the classic start-up trajectory: transition from the big idea to your beachhead product offering. So in short, the Alliance is moving beyond the big idea of strengthening SoCal innovation to defined programs that can move the ecosystem in a more targeted manner.

SoCal 140

SoCal Southern California Startup Venture Capital 140

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Final startup grind from msuster. And the folks at Startup Grind have been kind enough to invite me to present this morning in Mountain View on the topic. And you need to be careful about giving up control to cofounders as much as VCs. PMs are a vital part of a tech startup. figure out roles. identify gaps. and so forth.

Startup 388

Startup Slides Outsource Development Sales 388

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. It is to out friend.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. They think that only by being open and testing your ideas in an open marketplace can you be successful. Be careful about this advice.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). These professionals value their integrity, like your therapist or financial advisor, and will not share your business details nor steal your idea. Build trust first.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2015

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). These professionals value their integrity, like your therapist or financial advisor, and will not share your business details nor steal your idea. Build trust first.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2015

As the number of sites on the Internet floats around one billion, the challenge with every new startup is to be found and stand out. In this age of relationships, you, the entrepreneur, are a very important element of your new brand, and it’s never too early to start marketing the value of your expertise, insights and ideas.

Blogging 110

Blogging Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media 110

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

I recently returned from a 5-day visit to Ireland, my first time back in 10 years and the start of what I hope will be a more regular travel schedule there. Paddy got the idea to invite a bunch of founders together in an anti-conference that just focused on building founder relationships and sharing war stories.

Conference 392

Conference Startup Web Truecar 392

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. An experienced Board can give them credibility, as well as advice on the many pitfalls of starting a new company. Remember that people make a business, more often than a product.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Press San Diego 378

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. She leveraged herself and even sold many of her possessions to get started. She started her business from a personal need.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

This movement, coupled with free websites and apps, makes it possible for almost any technical person to start a business. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. Countless startup teams have already been spawned from these.

Ideas 61

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Education 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your school or industry. Give and you will receive.

Entrepreneur 140

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 140

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2013

I recently wrote a post about how to manage relationships when you’re at a startup or are busy executive. I had images in my brain of all of the stresses I had placed on my wife in the heyday of my startups. A spouse’s hints for surviving an incredibly busy start-up person. It’s worth the hassle.

Tips 418

Tips Startup Email Blogging 418

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2016

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.

Incubator 106

Incubator Startup Help Resource 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2023

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.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Technology High Tech Startup 104

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. The Case Foundation invests in people and ideas that can change the world.

Startup 140

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 140

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 10, 2012

This weekend UCLA has put together 48hr Startup and TechZulu will be there to bring you all the final startup presentations live. UCLA 48hr Startup brings together people with technical, design or business background to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups. 7:30pm – Pitches Start.

UCLA 87

UCLA Startup Ideas Mentor 87

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

He’s done several startups and is a board member of the Technology Council of Southern California (which is where I met him originally). A typical day starts with email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yammer checks/updates. What's keeping you up at night? I recently posted about SEO for Startups. Great stuff!

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Custom Customer Ideas 170

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2009

Business Etiquette Tips for dealing with VCs and Corporates at Conferences. This is part of my ongoing series with Startup Advice. With the LeWeb conference about to start in Paris I thought the timing of this post would be appropriate. I have a new startup in the space that I think would interest you.

Startup 322

Startup Conference Email Venture Capital 322

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I did a lot of M&A deals in those spaces, and had some earlier, startup stage experience. How did you end up joining March Capital?

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Starting and running a business requires many different skills and interests, and not many of us have all of them. As you start, it’s important to take a hard look at your own drivers, matched against the critical success elements I see in every business, no matter what the domain. Pay attention to all.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Custom Customer 133

InfoChachkie

APRIL 24, 2012

Article first published as Why A Prominent Start-up Executive Wants You to Get Fired and Fail on Technorati. 5000 conference. attendees was the importance of focus, especially during a startup’s early days. You have to stay on focus because, as an entrepreneur, you are going to get ideas coming at you every second.

Startup 258

Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Class 258

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2015

It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your school or industry. Give and you will receive. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 108

Startup Social Network Mentor Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

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.

Competition 174

Competition High Tech Startup Social Media 174

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 12, 2014

The 17th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference wrapped up last month at the luxurious Beverly Hilton Hotel. He told us a story about growing up with his brother, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motorsports. They caused a stir in the community as the big supermarkets started complaining about losing business to kids.

Conference 88

Conference Technical Review Education Startup 88

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It Kobe is famous for waking up crazy early every morning and practicing for longer and harder than nearly anybody else in the NBA. The rest you should see for yourself.

Competition 394

Competition Startup Writing Marketing 394

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 20, 2013

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. Many of them have their iPhones and laptops ready to command their attention the moment that you start sucking.

Slides 399

Slides Startup Conference Writing 399

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

I met up with Sam in NYC last year to talk about “what he was up to.” His ideas to date hadn’t totally resonated and of course ideas matter, too. I was in NYC and I lined up my usual 20 meetings on my trip. He had ideas. Within a few weeks he was an EIR in our offices in LA working on the idea.

UCSD 340

UCSD Startup Ideas Course 340

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Scaling a nonprofit, startup style. With a focus on female venture capitalists and founders, All Raise hosts an annual conference, several in-person and virtual fundraising workshops and networking sessions and, recently, the group began creating curated peer groups for investors. I think the movement is just gathering momentum.

Venture Capital 184

Venture Capital Ideas Los Angeles Tool 184

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Before I tell you the reasons I’m concerned about investment banking intros, I should start by saying I think bankers are enormously helpful for entrepreneurs in raising money. start-ups are overvalued. And I’m seeing this even at some really well run startups. How good they were at follow up.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347