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.

Course 85

Course IBM IBM Social Media 85

Berkonomics

MARCH 9, 2023

“Have you figured out what you want to have, or to be, when you reach the end of your personal run in this business life?” Investors call this discussion “exit planning” and of course they include themselves in the discussion. Investors call this discussion “exit planning” and of course they include themselves in the discussion.

Course 156

Course Blogging Email Sales 156

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2021

Let me start by explaining what I mean about “mental psyche.” What I never expected of Peloton was how much of the amazing experience was MENTAL as well as physical. Peloton lifted my mental spirits in 2019/2020 through what were two emotionally draining years in the world (fires, protests, politics, he who shall not be named, etc).

Coach 538

Coach Startup Guide Journal 538

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. What Has Changed in Financing? There are of course many Seed VCs who take board seats, don’t over-commit to too many deals and try to help with “company building” activities to help at a company’s vulnerable foundations.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

MAY 2, 2024

What I took for unusual silence was a complete disruption of the normal give and take of the management group because of my presence. The chairmanship carries unstated power even if not overtly demonstrated, since the CEO reports to and is accountable to the board, and of course its chair. So, what is the proper behavior?

Metrics 156

Metrics Report Education Course 156

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2022

The problem, of course, comes if the business fails. Some relatives believe that a family bond is an insurance policy, and that all investments or notes will always be repaid, no matter what the circumstance. A well–phrased ‘no’ could well be a step toward a correction of course and a later ‘yes.’.

Startup 317

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Course 317

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Despite the rush in every academic institution to offer more courses on entrepreneurship, I still haven’t found it to be something you can learn in school. Of course, you can pick up the basic principles this way, but the problem is that the practical rules for success are changing so fast that no academic can keep up.

Startup 142

Startup Case Study Course Entrepreneur 142

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

What if my resources are limited? Email readers, continue here…] Of course, most of us have limited resources for such overwhelming support of a new offering. Email readers, continue here…] Of course, most of us have limited resources for such overwhelming support of a new offering. The result of your efforts?

Resource 156

Resource Customer Custom Product 156

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. And what does that really mean for the firm? Or, maybe it’s just about getting out of the way and watching what they can achieve. The fact that Kara doesn’t have what my wife likes to refer jokingly as my “Y chromosome problem” is beside the fact. So why now?

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. We drew this conclusion after a meeting we had with Morgan Stanley where they showed us historical 15 & 20 year valuation trends and we all discussed what we thought this meant.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Berkonomics

JUNE 16, 2022

What is your leadership end game goal? Email readers, continue here…] More importantly, what if you as a leader haven’t a stated goal for your enterprise? We can invent lots of metrics to measure progress for a leader, including revenue, profit, employee satisfaction, cost containment, percentage of available market, and more.

Resource 156

Resource Satisfaction Metrics Course 156

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Of course, the response depends upon lots of variables, including whether the company is in a fund-raising mode (in which case the CEO may be spending up to 80% of their time on this alone). What if?” “How about…” “When should we…” “How could we…” You get the idea. That last 10% is most important and often overlooked. The post Wow!

Class 194

Class Organization Technical Review Activity 194

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2021

of deals we evaluate depending on how you count what constitutes “evaluating a deal.” But now let’s assume that you push yourself hard to see 100 deals over a 90 day period and meet as many teams as you can and don’t necessarily invest in any of them but you’re patient to see what great truly looks like. This is Venture Capital.

Funding 301

Funding UCSD Netflix CalTech 301

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 27, 2022

Of course, this comment made me think of the many times I had been guilty of this more than occasional heads-down office work over the years of management and assume that most of you who have supervised others have fallen into the same trap. Had I been guilty? Let’s take this thought one step further. . Generative questions?

Resource 156

Resource Customer Custom Coach 156

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 7, 2021

And there are limits of course. What if those failures are commonplace? What if those failures are commonplace? If he had been a research employee reporting to you, at what point would you have pulled the plug on the project, or become disillusioned with the person? There are “good” failures. Speak about insanity.

Course 156

Course Research Venture Capital Resource 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 7, 2022

What if…” we had seen this coming? Over the course of these insights here and in my BERKONOMICS series of books and blogs, we explore the use of tools to help overcome this natural tendency. Perhaps the greatest of these is use of the “what if” or “why” question streams. Yes, sometimes your gut is the best you’ve got.

Design 156

Design Blogging Course Email 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

Many of us learned about substitute products in undergrad economics courses. Here are some ideas of what I believe matters. What is it, really? Of course branding is many things and this post doesn’t attempt a master class. This is an age-old marketplace tension where leverage often determines the value captured.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you. Of course, unlike cars there is no direct comparison across each startup so these are just some general guidelines to try and even the information field.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 13, 2022

Of course, it may be appropriate to explain your reasoning, or ask what part of the instruction is confusing. Here’s a clue…. If someone is saying “This is confusing to me” when you’ve given an instruction or order, there are several ways to respond.

Satisfaction 156

Satisfaction Course Email Tool 156

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 7, 2023

What if employee candidates ask for the moon? That of course jumps to the top of the list for young, fast-growing technology companies. In 1981, Herb Cohen wrote and published “ You Can Negotiate Anything ”, an excellent guide to great negotiating. and stock options as a perk?

Examples 156

Examples Guide Education Course 156

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

Just two weeks into it we are just starting to come to grips with what will no doubt wreak big financial, emotional and obviously dire health consequences and suffering for many. It feels a bit like choosing a fork in the road amidst dense fog and with nobody to guide us what to do. What do we eat? What is safe?

Demand 215

Demand Guide Customer Custom 215

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Waiting over a year to see results is too long, since your chance of mid-course correction is greatly reduced. This is the description of a well-managed process within what should be a well-managed company. Modify what is not working. It is all about execution. If that is true, we are tolerant bunch. So, take heed.

Resource 156

Resource Guide Course Email 156

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

And what a lesson for us all. The Ant of course “Because she showed lack of motivation and had a negative attitude.”. I’d take it as a beautiful warning to all of us that some things are obvious in business, and that we should focus on what works and reinforce that whenever we see it working. Guess who the lion fired first?

Course 156

Course Writing Report Startup 156

Berkonomics

MAY 11, 2023

So, what do you think is more important? Of course, you could be the exception. As a start, that smart entrepreneur will soon “know what they don’t know”, an important qualifier for success in any business endeavor, when combined with the willingness to fill gaps in knowledge with help from those who have the experience to do so.

Statistics 156

Statistics Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2018

As you can imagine, when you introduce tech professionals or VCs to a grammy-award winning rap artist they start with pre-conceived ideas but of course that “pattern matching” is what leads our industry to underestimate people. So of course when Cham wanted to build his own startup I was first in line asking to fund him.

Startup 206

Startup Mentor Course Screening 206

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

I met up with Sam in NYC last year to talk about “what he was up to.” His ideas to date hadn’t totally resonated and of course ideas matter, too. I enquired what he was going to do. What he said to me was …. I had to drive 30 minutes southeast of La Jolla to find a unit and what a pain it was. What a hassle.

UCSD 340

UCSD Startup Ideas Course 340

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

We talked about what startup CEOs should do in these situations and how to think about these renegotiations. What Do You Need to Prove to Raise an A Round? What Do You Need to Prove to Raise an A Round? Harry was gracious enough to invite me back so this past week we recorded an episode discussing the current market environment.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 23, 2017

Have you figured out what you want to have, or to be, when you reach the end of your personal run in this business life? Investors call this discussion “exit planning” and of course they include themselves in the. Investors call this discussion “exit planning” and of course they include themselves in the. It is a fair question.

Course 256

Course Email Sales Invest 256

Berkonomics

AUGUST 1, 2019

But you know that of course. What is different about you as a manager? What if you lead without a team playbook? Email readers, continue here…] So, what does your business playbook look like? You as a business leader are the coach for your team, no matter what the size. Your team playbook.

Coach 120

Coach Metrics Training Course 120

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

What is hard to find is the rare CEO that makes the process of hiring top recruits such a priority that he or she spends personal time deeply involved in the specification, resumé review, interview and selection of top employees. What makes a great leader great? It is hard to argue with that. No-one can do this alone.

Organization 156

Organization Course Resource Email 156

Berkonomics

AUGUST 13, 2020

And then: What lessons were learned from that failure? What questions should you ask? Email readers, continue here…] Questions you should ask include: “What were the major factors contributing to the failure?” “How What about next time? The key question is: Why did an entrepreneur fail? Yes, it works both ways.

Startup 156

Startup Entrepreneur Venture Capital Course 156

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

Of course you have to be careful with this. Investors are human and humans want what they can’t have and what they perceive other people want. Investors are human and humans want what they can’t have and what they perceive other people want. How would you act then? even if they don’t acknowledge it to themselves.”

Funding 217

Funding Newsletter Venture Capital Email 217

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2013

In due course. Yet I promise you this is what many businesses do. In the absence of conviction, experience or pain-in-the-ass board members it’s easy to veer off course. I strongly believe that your success will be more defined by what you choose not to do than by what you choose to do. P2P marketplace.

Course 368

Course Resource Social Media Design 368

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

What most managers miss is that every month cut from the time it takes to perform such tasks cuts the cost by the value of a month’s worth of fixed overhead or burn. That is what happened within the dynamic of the board, and the result is that the board was completely at the mercy of the “last money” VC to save the company in the end.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Product Marketing Resource 296

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

What person hasn’t crouched at an airport to get 18% extra on one’s battery before boarding an airplane? His math was correct and I can hardly blame him for taking a guess at what uBeam does but every assumption that he used was wildly inaccurate. And that is what we’ll do.” I’d love even 0.5%

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

The more you are regularly checking in the more room for course correction or at a minimum the more bought in board members are because they participated in the process. In each board meeting it is helpful to think through what your goals are. What Should We Talk About at Board Meetings? Below is just the highlight points.

Startup 234

Startup Slides Venture Capital Course 234

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

What Is niche marketing? Here’s a question to respond to a question: Would you want to throw away advertising or marketing dollars reaching people who won’t buy no matter what? Of course not. So, what other benefits are there to niche marketing? But you have no idea what to do next. This is easy.

Marketing 266

Marketing Resource Advertising Social Media 266