Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Startup 149

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 149

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy).

Resource 171

Resource Startup Organization Incubator 171

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. No entrepreneur has all the insights they need, and none should be so arrogant as to assume they hold all the cards.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

If the deal is from out of your geography and/or out of your focus area or a deal is being referred by a well-know investor who normally co-invests with similar syndicates – at least ask yourself, “Why am I so lucky to be getting this call.” I seek out great entrepreneurs. End of story.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2017

In my activities as an angel investor, and my work with new ventures seeking investment, I find the “due diligence” stage to be fraught with the most risk. Usually this stage only really starts after an investor has expressed serious interest, or already informally agreed to invest. Update reference customers, partners, and vendors.

Invest 59

Invest Startup Doc Slides 59

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in a recent book called “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Ideas Press Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy). Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Funding Incubator Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

It takes much the same preparation to make you the best entrepreneur, or the best job candidate. Of course experience is the best teacher, but you need to get the job to get the experience. Invest in career coaching. If you are not starting one yourself, the next best thing is joining one as a partner, or as an early employee.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2020

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. No entrepreneur has all the insights they need, and none should be so arrogant as to assume they hold all the cards.

Startup 126

Startup Outsource Competition Acquisition 126

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

We both wanted to build a practice that would make Los Angeles proud but where we would travel tirelessly to other locations to make investments in the best entrepreneurs wherever they were. Like any firm we of course invest in the San Francisco Bay Area where 33% of my personal boards are. I made some reference calls.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

A while back, I published an article on “ Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art ,” describing what investors do to validate your startup before they invest. The investment community in any geographic area is not that large, and most investors have relationships or knowledge of most of the others.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Offshore Invest Social Network 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2019

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Ideas 91

Ideas Entrepreneur Press Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. Of course, it’s no surprise that most entrepreneurs don’t have a background in hiring teams, and don’t have a budget for training or human resource consultants.

Training 135

Training Case Study Resource Statistics 135

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

It’s very easy in venture capital when you’ve seen thousands of companies have read thousands of decks and spreadsheets and been to numerous conferences and exchanged ideas with other investors and entrepreneurs to feel like “you know better” and that’s precisely what we try to encourage Team Upfront not to feel or how not to behave.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy).

Funding 94

Funding Startup Organization Incubator 94

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester or do an internship at their school newspaper in investigative reporting. doing a reference call on a prospective employee. I wanted to understand how he had arrived at his previous investment decisions. I wanted to know what made him tick.

Startup 311

Startup Invest Course Research 311

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 11, 2015

I’ve worked very closely with Matt over the past four years as we share an investment in a company in Los Angeles called NextPlus and we sat on a board together for years. In this capacity I can tell any entrepreneurs raising early-stage capital that I would have Matt on my short list if I were raising. He’s committed.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Gogii Course Activity 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad. The best way – of course – is to reference check.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

Some entrepreneurs start polling venture capitalists for that multi-million dollar investment before they even have a business plan. Every entrepreneur needs help and support along the way, from developing the initial idea, to selling off the successful business (exit strategy).

Organization 93

Organization Startup Incubator Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

Danielle Steel of course being Tom Perkins ex wife. So perhaps his king reference was fitting. In tech circles one refers to the firm as either Kleiner Perkins, KP or Kleiner. Investment Partner Megan Quinn weighed in publicly. Of course not. It’s why I instantly thought out loud on Twitter.

Education 417

Education Venture Capital UCSD Class 417

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2017

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Startup 62

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 62

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2013

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Press 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. These resources often include a cash investment, as well as office space, and consulting.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Just literally this week I had breakfast with a guy giving a reference who said, “He’s brilliant. In fact, just a short Google search reveals that I’ve referred to him frequently through the years. But he knows it.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should select only social media for marketing, or stick with digital media, or just count on traditional media. According to a recent article in Entrepreneur , 94% of small and medium businesses (SMBs) now use social media as a marketing tool, and 81% use it to drive growth.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2016

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Reverse due diligence on the investor is a comparable process whereby the entrepreneur seeks to validate the track record, operating style, and motivation of every potential partner.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 63

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

Yet a critical mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is that they hand over too much control to their third-parties. Often recruiters want to handle the final negotiations on package and/or do the reference calls. I’m also reluctant to hand over reference calling. Unfortunately that’s how reference checking works.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. No entrepreneur has all the insights they need, and none should be so arrogant as to assume they hold all the cards.

Startup 59

Startup Outsource Competition Acquisition 59