Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In my own business career, many years as a business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I have validated the following strategies to practice and guide you. Each of these will help you in achieving success and satisfaction while tackling your toughest business issues: Stop attacking symptoms – dig first for the root cause.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

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.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Case Study 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

In my experience, many entrepreneurs rely too much on the perspective of a trusted advisor, or try to emulate a competitor who is getting attention. For example, no one should be convinced that Elon Musk is following someone else’s lead as he charges ahead with Tesla, SpaceX, and other initiatives.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2022

We have all heard the examples of the great new company cultures, popularized by Google, Zappos, and Facebook, which seem to imply that company perks are the secret to success. Of course, these are great, but they don’t happen without enlightened leadership coming first. Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford.

Customer 152

Customer Custom Coach Satisfaction 152

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. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Delight and deliver value to your customers.

Framework 95

Framework Customer Custom Tips 95

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

You can’t win as an entrepreneur or business owner without full confidence in your own ability, as well as in your solution and business model. Of course, you can be overly confident or unrealistic in your expectations, without the skills or plans to run a business. Gather more knowledge and consistently apply it.

Startup 141

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas 141

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. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Delight and deliver value to your customers.

Tips 174

Tips Framework Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2022

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research on the basics. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Listen and observe.

Startup 121

Startup SEO Social Media Satisfaction 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. Facebook, for example, ended up raising almost $16 billion through its IPO.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Report Statistics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2015

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research on the basics. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Listen and observe.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup SEO Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

As an advisor to many startups today, I still see that most of you entrepreneurs see yourselves as the sole driver of your new solution, and the key driver of your new business. Satisfaction and commitment come from choosing a path to move forward, evaluation results and customer feedback, and learning from all their best efforts.

Startup 147

Startup Customer Custom Ideas 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

After years mentoring young aspiring entrepreneurs , I am now convinced that getting along and becoming more productive with other people is a skill that any professional can learn, or accomplish via a dedicated strategy. For example, recognize that the affinity bias is the unconscious tendency to favor people who are like us.

Startup 114

Startup Examples Satisfaction Mentor 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2021

Later, in my second career as an entrepreneur with startups, I realized that limited resources and fresh insights actually created the mindset that relied on market change and innovation to survive. Of course, you have to propose solutions, request funding, and marshal peer support for credibility.

Marketing 117

Marketing IBM IBM Resource 117

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Every entrepreneur and business leader I know realizes that it takes a dedicated team to build and run a successful business, and nurturing that team is one of your most important priorities. Of course, you as the business leader have a key role in making all this happen. Occupational satisfaction. Social interactions.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Customer 141

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research in the basic principles. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Product Startup SEO 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. As your business matures and stabilizes, regular employees make more sense.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2016

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Delight and deliver value to your customers.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur Framework Customer Custom 54

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Greathouse: Your collective experiences have clearly made bootstrapping a viable option for you, more so than might be the case for a typical, younger entrepreneur who needs more direction, doesn’t have cash discipline, etc. What advice you can offer entrepreneurs validating their new products? Of course there are risks.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. Example sites include StartSomeGood and the Facebook Cause page. Good-cause crowd funding. Debt-based crowd funding.

Funding 99

Funding Satisfaction Sites Outsource Development 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I find that I often have to remind them that the world of customers has changed since they started their last business. Of course, part of the change is that Gen Z (born after 1996) now outnumbers the Millennials (born after 1981). Regularly ask your customers what they think and why.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Social Media Startup 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2019

As examples, even famous billionaire business leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, have admitted to having mentors (Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett). Of course, coaching only works with people that are coachable. Examples would include sponsoring or orchestrating community events, sports, or travel.

Coach 87

Coach Mentor Examples Satisfaction 87

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2019

Even worse, many entrepreneurs don’t even take the time to monitor what people are saying about them to others. Of course, you can’t monitor the entire Internet yourself, but fortunately there are many tools and platforms out there to do it for you, such as Google Alerts and Hootsuite Insights.

Customer 86

Customer Custom Examples Sites 86

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2019

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research on the basics. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Listen and observe.

Startup 96

Startup SEO Social Media Satisfaction 96

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2019

We have all heard the examples of the great new company cultures, popularized by Google, Zappos, and Facebook, which seem to imply that company perks are the secret to success. Of course, these are great, but they don’t happen without enlightened leadership coming first. Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Coach Satisfaction 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2016

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 57

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2019

Despite many years of advising aspiring entrepreneurs and people in business, I continue to be surprised by the number of people who wait for decisions to be made by default, or allow others to make decisions for them. Of course, your experience and gut instinct are relevant, but should never be used alone. Minimize compromise.

Startup 127

Startup Satisfaction Study Course 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2012

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs these days is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. Example sites include StartSomeGood and the Facebook Cause page. Proceed at your own peril. Good-cause crowd funding.

Funding 96

Funding Satisfaction Sites Outsource Development 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2010

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research in the basic principles. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 52

Entrepreneur Startup SEO Social Media 52

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2014

I’ve written about this before, but I was reminded again a while back at a conference for startups when an entrepreneur started berating investors for not funding early-stage startups. Of course, I’m sure entrepreneurs sense that many investors feel entitled to deals with no risk. It’s bad news either way. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 96

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Customer 96

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2017

As an advisor to startups, and a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m still surprised at the number who are determined to go it alone. For example, inventors need to stick with their creative skills, and find a partner who knows how to build a business around it. It’s your success and satisfaction that’s really at stake.

Help 66

Help Startup Course Technical Review 66

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2017

We have all heard the examples of the great new company cultures, popularized by Google, Zappos, and Facebook, which seem to imply that company perks are the secret to success. Of course, these are great, but they don’t happen without enlightened leadership coming first. Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford.

Entrepreneur 59

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Coach 59

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2013

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research on the basics. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Listen and observe.

Startup 95

Startup SEO Social Media Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2018

Many entrepreneurs and small businesses I know are struggling with business-threatening issues, but are reluctant to seek any assistance. Most people get a tremendous satisfaction from helping others, but are equally afraid to offer without being asked. We all need people to support us, pick up our slack, and go to bat for us.

Mentor 53

Mentor Examples Help Satisfaction 53

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research on the basics. For example, non-computer types should consider delegating their social media, website, and SEO activities. Of course the work must be done well, but your way or the highway is not the right way. Listen and observe.

Startup 53

Startup SEO Social Media Satisfaction 53