Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others. Build a prototype first on your own time and money.

Startup 109

Startup Funding Equity Invest 109

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

It seems that most of you entrepreneurs I meet in my role as business advisor are convinced that starting a new business requires equity investors, exponential growth, and a plan to go public via IPO. If your passion is customers, you definitely will be happier as a lifestyle entrepreneur.

Statistics 124

Statistics Equity Satisfaction Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

One of the big decisions every aspiring entrepreneur has to make is when to quit your current job to devote yourself fulltime to your new startup. Of course, you might be able to pay yourself a salary from the investment, but this will be minimal and critically watched. And investors are hard to find in these years.

Startup 153

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Statistics 153

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

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. For every entrepreneur, I recommend first a personal assessment of your goals and strengths.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Report Statistics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Data, however, removes guesswork, biases, and anecdotal reasoning that can throw decision efforts off course.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2015

Image via Flickr by Jupiter Labs Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Invest 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

Every business owner and entrepreneur like you I work with wishes they could better predict product demand and sales, for managing inventory and long-term business planning. Of course, if you consistently override the data, or use it negatively, you will not garner trust. Use statistical tools often to validate your assumptions.

Metrics 81

Metrics Demand Statistics Sample 81

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 30, 2016

By now if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I do near daily “Snapstorms” or a collection of short videos (usually < 5 mins in total) with entrepreneur advice on Snapchat. Of course YouTube has huge traffic, but it’s different. So of course I want to publish on Snapchat! You can follow me on Snapchat at msuster.

Snapchat 150

Snapchat Course Media Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. If the entrepreneur plans to grow the company into a family business, or keep it private, they will either never be interested in buying out investors, or will certainly not be motivated to provide the 10x return that investors are looking for.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 115

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. If the entrepreneur plans to grow the company into a family business, or keep it private, they will either never be interested in buying out investors, or will certainly not be motivated to provide the 10x return that investors are looking for.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review Equity Invest Startup 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Every good entrepreneur needs to invest skin in the game, to show credibility and leadership to others. Build a prototype first on your own time and money.

Funding 138

Funding Startup Equity Invest 138

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

In my bones I’m convinced that entrepreneurs are more nature than nurture although I know both are involved. I have recently written extensively on what I believe the 12 characteristics of an entrepreneur are. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, they’re made.&# The data in this article is at best, a stretch. from a young age.

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Statistics show that the failure rate for new startups within the first 5 years is as high as 50 percent. Execution skills are weak.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, which caused many businesses to close, a new raft of business workers and entrepreneurs are deciding to pursue their own dreams of being a new business owner, and controlling your own destiny.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. If the entrepreneur plans to grow the company into a family business, or keep it private, they will either never be interested in buying out investors, or will certainly not be motivated to provide the 10x return that investors are looking for.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Equity Statistics 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

Start by reviewing current statistics, like the recent Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report 2022 , to learn which social media sites are most popular, which features drive the most impact today, and how other social media marketers have maximized their efforts and seen the greatest ROI.

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

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. Some entrepreneurs approach hiring as a test of their selling ability, while others wait for the candidate to sell them. Get interactive in candidate interviews.

Training 135

Training Case Study Resource Statistics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2020

For example, Lyft and Uber were able to capitalize on the current ride-sharing trend worldwide by tracking statistics that indicated reduced interest in car ownership by millennials, lack of parking spaces, and auto ownership costs moving up rapidly. Spend more time outside the business, looking for trends.

Startup 124

Startup Customer Custom Statistics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Data, however, removes guesswork, biases, and anecdotal reasoning that can throw decision efforts off course.

Metrics 98

Metrics Tool Statistics Entrepreneur 98

Steve Reich

MARCH 30, 2012

Let me give you a few examples: SwingbySwing Golf created an iPhone/Android app that lets golfers use the GPS in their phone to measure distance to the hole and track statistics. Oh, and did I mention that their users have mapped 35,000 courses in 127 countries? Of course not. Three full time developers and no marketing spend.

Incubator 91

Incubator Web Entrepreneur Santa Barbara 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2017

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Of course, both are impressive and both already exceed VC investments annually.

Startup 76

Startup Angel Funding .Net 76

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Here again, the entrepreneur will be the one hurt most, by having fewer funding sources to access.

Startup 106

Startup Angel .Net Entrepreneur 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

For example, every investor I know can tell you about meeting a passionate entrepreneur who is pitching a great technology innovation, but has not done the financial homework on making it a good business. Thus the investor can’t visualize any return on investment (ROI), so the entrepreneur gets no money, and a good opportunity is lost to all.

Ideas 123

Ideas Statistics Invest Marketing 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

As an advisor to young entrepreneurs, I find that many are a bit naïve about how the investment process really works. In my first working session with this entrepreneur, I suggested ways to break this request into stages or tranches, based on showing traction, with the first amount in a more affordable range of $50 thousand or less.

Tips 86

Tips Funding Startup Entrepreneur 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2014

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. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years. entrepreneur excuses funding investor startup'

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Here again, the entrepreneur will be the one hurt most, by having fewer funding sources to access.

Invest 111

Invest Angel Funding Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2015

It seems that everyone I know who works in a corporate environment dreams of escaping to become an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur wishes he or she had the security of a regular paycheck. As someone who has experience on both sides of this fence, I’m convinced that the move from employee to entrepreneur is far more risky.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Statistics Startup Class 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2020

In my work with you as an entrepreneur or small business owner, I find that most understand the need try out new business models and product innovations, but trust their intuition rather than running a disciplined business experiment first. In addition, even a small sample size shows statistically valid results for large changes.

Sample 124

Sample Customer Custom Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

I was influenced heavily before my career even began because in my undergraduate work I took a ton of statistics classes that showed how easily we human brains fall prey to easy biases and slights of data and try to draw conclusions that don’t exist. Coming back with an empty chamber for the third battle is much worse than not coming back.

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2018

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. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. Many experts say that running out of money is not the primary reason.

Startup 56

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 56

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

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. At Upfront when we know we have a winning hand we prefer to put more capital to work, which both helps the entrepreneurs succeed and drives more aggregate financial returns for our LPs.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Of course it’s too early to predict whether this is a trend or an aberration but the smartest people I know in the industry are predicting the former. That’s economics (or statistics) for asking whether price ratios of how investors value companies was simply coming back to historical norms. It’s simply not true.

Startup 150

Startup Pricing Venture Capital Statistics 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2016

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. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years. Many experts say that running out of money is not the primary reason.

Startup 58

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2019

As an advisor to entrepreneurs for many years, I strongly disagree, and still see the value of at least combining intuition with logical analysis, as we face customers and markets driven by relationships, emotions, and unpredictable social trends. The venerable Steve Jobs was reportedly in the same category.

Examples 81

Examples Tool Statistics Tips 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2016

I meet many entrepreneurs with a real passion for their new idea, but unfortunately they don’t all realize that passion is necessary but not sufficient fuel to turn their idea into a successful business. Labor Statistics data suggests that half of the ones actually started are gone in five years. And he is an optimist.

Startup 62

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 62