Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2013

I’ve written a lot about recruiting and hiring at startups including my controversial post on whom not to hire and my rapid response to the flame war. If you don’t have a good sales methodology already in place in your organization you might try reading that last link. Call high, and get passed down or; B.

Sales 375

Sales Technical Review Organization Case Study 375

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. The “doers” in your organization.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2022

Of course, this requires some discipline and focus on your part, as well as the willingness to trust team members and allow them to do their jobs. I have personally used this approach in leading startups as well as large organizations, in highly technical roles as well as business development and marketing.

Mentor 154

Mentor Technical Review Coach Slides 154

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2016

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 63

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. In other words, if it seems this obvious to us then it must be this obvious to many other investors and probably to many other teams gearing up to compete.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. This is why I tell startups that most seasoned sales execs aren’t right for startups. Here’s what I learned in running my first startup. Startups are the art of the possible.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

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. Usually it pays to move a startup slower rather than risk relationships. Many times friends and family have been broken by failed investments.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

I often wonder how many more startups would succeed if their founders could master the art and science of delegation. He has spent many years coaching and consulting with over 200 organizations, and he has helped me articulate the benefits of delegation, and better understand some of the key barriers. You need to divide and conquer.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Ideas Startup Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Of course, every company needs these, in due time. Of course, every company needs these, in due time.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2020

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. By bringing data, processes and people together in a converged approach, the Alteryx APA Platform enables high-impact business outcomes and rapid upskilling of people across the organization.

Southern California 140

Southern California Technical Review Platform Organization 140

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. You’ve built a successful startup before, and plan to use the same investors. From my perspective, much of this advice is urban legend and just plain wrong.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. So here are some more details …. That bit is easy.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. The start of marketing is figuring out a market need and a way to solve that need better than anybody else.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 26, 2011

At the big consulting firms, investment banks and established large technology companies we’re taught to produce long reports, make sure that every document is perfect quality and that every possible bit of diligence has been done. That doesn’t work in a startup. It says that you need to take due care in selecting team members.

Startup 335

Startup Technical Review Framework Entrepreneur 335

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Reviewing financial & operational performance. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

A critical stage for most first-time entrepreneurs is getting their idea developed into at least a prototype to validate their technology. Specifically, I often point to the NSF or the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for high-tech startups. The approval process is long and bureaucratic.

Funding 90

Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

According to a job listing from Lime seeking a “Retail Store Manager,” the startup plans to open a “lifestyle brand store in Santa Monica” that “will place heavy importance on brand experience and customer engagement.” Often you’ll see scooters from Lime and Bird lined up right next to each other.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Technical Review Education 221

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. You’ll have no idea when you’re off course.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

When should you start a company? What company should you start? Most startups die. It’s obvious that we can be too late to these decisions of course. We can miss the round of financing, we can start a company a year or two behind someone else and lose the first-mover advantage. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Most technology startups seem to be founded by three types of people: product managers, engineers or biz dev types (MBAs and the like). Very few of them are started, in my experience, by sales people and very few early stage companies really understand sales. Here’s mine: Let me start with a few biases.

Startup 350

Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

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. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 53

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 53

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Under the heading, “The Book On Bezos,” the callout lists ten actionable and impactful nuggets of startup advice. I review these tenets with my entrepreneurial students at UC Santa Barbara at the beginning of each quarter to reinforce many of the key topics we will cover in the following weeks. “We We don’t give up on things easily.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Customer 279

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2019

Of course, this requires some discipline and focus on your part, as well as the willingness to trust team members and allow them to do their jobs. I have personally used this approach in leading startups as well as large organizations, in highly technical roles as well as business development and marketing.

Mentor 124

Mentor Technical Review Coach Slides 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Despite the excitement and lure of startups to those in the tech industry, not everyone wants to join a startup after college--according to Mike Gammarino , who is helping to organize a new effort here to recruit students to startups. Mike tells us about the group: Mike, thanks for the time today.

Startup 206

Startup Technical Review Outsource Yahoo 206

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

If you are the first to deliver this, your startup might be the next Google! Technology environment savvy. In today’s mobile hardware environment, that means able to set up meetings, convert text messages to voice, find contact information quickly, and search the Web intelligently for outside info. Good organizational skills.

Web 152

Web Entrepreneur Software Review Google 152

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2010

I suppose there’s some truth to that but of course it’s an over simplification. On every project in which we worked it was clear that there was corporate knowledge built up around the organization. I started telling them, “I’m a tourist in your company. until the technology matures?&#.

Help 288

Help Startup Venture Capital Framework 288

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2015

Of course, this requires some discipline and focus on your part, as well as the willingness to trust team members and allow them to do their jobs. I have personally used this approach in leading startups as well as large organizations, in highly technical roles as well as business development and marketing.

Product 99

Product Mentor Startup Technical Review 99

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). Tell us a bit of the story on how you started HashtagOne? What's the theme of your investments?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

And of course we believe huge returns come with big platform initiatives like Grove. I’ve spoken our goal of funding more ambitious project before and we’ve enlisted the research help of a Principal in our firm – Kevin Zhang , who has an interest in Agtech (agriculture technology). But it will take time.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Software Review Startup Ideas 150