Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined. It’s very frustrating.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Out of curiosity, I often ask aspiring entrepreneurs like you, who come to me for help, what drives them to take on the workload and risk of a new startup. Many entrepreneurs I know conclude they can never be in control, due to the constant and unpredictable need to satisfy investors, vendors, and customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

In my experience working with entrepreneurs, once they feel they have a winning formula for their business, they are often hesitant to change or update it. They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends.

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Berkonomics

MAY 25, 2023

Of course, you have a vision for what you will do to change the world. Let’s stress test that vision and sharpen it further to help ensure your success. It serves as the rallying cry for future employees, investors, customers, and suppliers. Pardon my English. But this is one of my favorite statements.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

In all cases, it’s more effective and less painful to do it as a planned process, rather than a crash course in survival. Resurgence begins when entrepreneurs and top executives stop trusting only themselves, and build a coalition with customers to see what is and isn’t working. Carpenter, Gary F. Reinvent the vision for change.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. With a little help from a friend, you can handle expenses, revenue, and payroll, with QuickBooks or a similar package. Work out of your home, and keep your own books.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2020

Most new entrepreneurs don’t anticipate the learning burden of being the leader, including the sense of loneliness and isolation at the top. Even in a single entrepreneur startup, the leader carries a heavy weight. Of course, that only leads to antagonism and further isolation. Separate your work and play environments.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know finds it a challenge to balance the joys of entrepreneurship against a set of frustrations they never anticipated. Of course, most of you expect that raising money will be difficult, as well as staving off competitors, and handling that occasional toxic customer.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. You help them prioritize their objectives and review the results. You course correct. Marketing of course often feels the opposite. They want to help the organization determine what must be built and when. Engineering?

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. Of course, discovering your entrepreneur type is only the beginning.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors or even future customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I challenge them to think beyond what I call linear extensions to a current trend, such as another “easier-to-use” app for smartphones, a new dating site for pets, or another niche social network. Examples I have seen include atomic battery technology, or how marine algae could help feed the world.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We have global opportunities from these trends but of course also big challenges. Of course we can’t. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. We can’t wait for customers to use the product for 12–18 months and do customer interviews or look at purchase cohorts. Hot, Flat & Crowded.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors or even future customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Turn existing connections into productive relationships.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2022

Most new entrepreneurs don’t anticipate the burdens of being the leader, including the sense of loneliness and isolation at the top. Even in a single entrepreneur startup, the leader carries a heavy weight. Of course, that only leads to antagonism and further isolation. Interact with customers in a non-pressure situation.

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Activity Entrepreneur Organization Course 152

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2019

Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. Be delightfully authentic and honest.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Hire more help than helpers.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. She took an operating role helping run Citysearch and Urbanspoon. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up. I’m only 52!

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Of course, working on perception can backfire if the differentiation reality isn’t there.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2019

Traditionally, the majority of entrepreneurs have been logical thinkers, problem solvers, with full attention to details. Of course, the best solution would be a new wave of so-called whole-brain thinkers, but this term is usually reserved for Einstein and Picasso, and no entrepreneurs that I can name.

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InfoChachkie

JUNE 16, 2016

Entrepreneurs create their own jobs, why shouldn’t they also create their own degrees? As described in Should Millennial Entrepreneurs Skip College? most young entrepreneurs benefit greatly from the college experience. Custom Wharton Degree. This list is intended to cover non-obvious courses relevant to entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. At minimum, you need to get an exit advisor to keep you on course. Mature your business processes and customer base.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2023

As an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, I see a lot of dreams, but not so many business results. I’ve always wished I had a magic metaphor to motivate the best dreamers to become the best entrepreneurs. There is no cookie-cutter route to success as an entrepreneur. Ask for help from advisors and mentor your team.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Many entrepreneurs are finding their “secret sauce” these days by combining a strong purpose with a good business opportunity. To find new work you love, it helps to do job shadowing or short term rotation.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I call it the entrepreneur thesis. I’m not talk about the age old debate amongst investors whether you back entrepreneurs, markets or products (or as people like to hedge – product / market fit). It’s entrepreneurs I back. It’s what I call the “entrepreneur thesis.” So what is the “entrepreneur thesis?”

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2021

Every entrepreneur wants to know how they can improve their odds on the road to success, and why some entrepreneurs seem to be able to squeeze success out of even a marginal business case. Every existing and budding entrepreneur should internalize these reality principles: Ready yourself as a founder.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2023

In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You need partners, team members, investors, vendors, and customers. There are people you only recognize on the street, business friends, and then close friends whom you can always count on to help. You can’t start a business alone.

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InfoChachkie

MARCH 2, 2015

Despite the fact that I teach entrepreneurship at UC Santa Barbara , I do not believe that entrepreneurs are created in classrooms. Instead of trying to teach students to be an entrepreneur, I expose my entrepreneurial students to tools that will help them solve real-world problems. My courses are rigorous and demanding.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2023

I recommend that every entrepreneur and small business investigate and implement as many as possible of his seven new business force multipliers that I will paraphrase here: Information sharing through social media networks. Nurture dedicated customer advocates and fans. Consider advocates to be a step up from customer engagement.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Get out and meet your customers to learn what turns them on these days.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2010

I suppose there’s some truth to that but of course it’s an over simplification. And if I’m going to help a bit while I’m here the better I know ‘what’s what’ the easier it will be for me to help and be on my way.&#. But let’s be clear – I’m only a tourist.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2018

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Of course, working on perception can backfire if the differentiation reality isn’t there.

Customer 63

Customer Custom Examples Product 63

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Many entrepreneurs are finding their “secret sauce” these days by combining a strong purpose with a good business opportunity. To find new work you love, it helps to do job shadowing or short term rotation.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2022

To be successful starting a business, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like the judges are searching for on American Idol. They are reliably consistent, and unafraid to ask for help. Able to just “get it.”

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