Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

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Incubator Startup Help Resource 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

A question I often get as an adviser is whether or not to join a business incubator or accelerator as a way to move forward faster and smarter and increase the odds of business success. Most incubators start their program with some aptitude and business acumen tests. Direction, mentoring and resources required.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

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Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

For today's interview, we spoke to Dave Eastman, the Director of the Viterbi Startup Garage, a startup incubator that is run by the University of Southern California, out of its location in Marina Del Rey. How are you different from other startup incubators, etc? What we do, is regional customer discovery for teams, typically academic.

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Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. Ultimately, most get the best help from business advisors and mentors. External forces (competitors and customers). Some just want to change the world and make it a better place. But none have any lock on success.

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Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

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Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

InfoChachkie

MARCH 5, 2012

In the past year, the number of startup accelerators and incubators across the US has grown faster than expansion league baseball. ” I recently discussed the explosion of seed accelerators and incubators with Brad Feld, who, as the Co-Founder of acclaimed startup accelerator TechStars , is uniquely qualified to opine upon the subject.

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Startup Incubator Doc Mentor 270

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

What's the difference between an incubator, Maker space, and other accelerators and what you do? Noramay Cadena: People often compare us to incubators, but the biggest difference is that in an incubator, you are incubating technology. It's about figuring out your market, building a product that resonates with customers.

Startup 100

Startup Incubator Invest Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

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Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

An occasional discussion with a mentor won’t do it. This place is often called an incubator or accelerator, or just a group of peers. One of the most successful incubators is Y Combinator in Silicon Valley. Here is where you learn to listen and communicate with people and customers.

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Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

iChange offers up a site for personal counseling from licensed nutritionists, combined with custom meal plans and support groups. iChange has previously raised funding from business mentoring firm and incubator Momentum Ventures. iChange has previously raised funding from business mentoring firm and incubator Momentum Ventures.

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El Segundo CitySearch .Net Incubator 147

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Variations on this theme include early licensing or white-labeling agreements.

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Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help. As an introvert myself, I remember worrying that I could never be comfortable giving a sales pitch, or networking to find clients.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Variations on this theme include early licensing or white-labeling agreements.

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Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

LaunchpadLA, which is among a number of startup accelerators which have emerged over the past few years and turned Los Angeles into one of the hottest startup markets in the nation, offers up $100,000 in an investment, free office space for four months, and access to mentors. READ MORE>>.

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Class Startup Web Design Mentor 168

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

The real unique part of this program, which I'm excited about, is the marriage between the mentoring that a company could receive from both those with an entrepreneurial startup background of Techstars, and the deep, vertical knowledge of clinicians or healthcare administrators, who have been doing healthcare work for a while.

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Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

The real unique part of this program, which I'm excited about, is the marriage between the mentoring that a company could receive from both those with an entrepreneurial startup background of Techstars, and the deep, vertical knowledge of clinicians or healthcare administrators, who have been doing healthcare work for a while.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2014

to hear about how the program is both helping the studio tap into the energy and ideas of the startup community, as well as helping those startups find new customers in the media and entertainment business. warner bros media camp mediacamp technology startup content hollywood accelerator incubator interview' READ MORE>>.

Startup 159

Startup Technology Hollywood Media 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors. Seed-stage, meanwhil e, is technically that critical period when you need funding to do solution- and business-model development, to prove that your new product or service works, before you try to sell it to customers.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 64

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 118

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 118

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

They have hired great people, have brought on great mentors, have raised money from top tier investors, and we are excited for a bunch of big announcements in the months ahead,” said Teller. Less Neglect helps companies reduce churn, upsell users, and increase customer acquisition rates. YieldMetrics has already raised $1.7

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GRP Partners Startup Tech Coast Angels Bertelsmann 96

Tech Coast Venture Network

APRIL 22, 2010

With rare exception, you will need to finance personally (or with friends and family to the point of revenue and/or significant customer pre-order or commitment). If you are pre-revenue, have pre-sales, letters of intent and/or customer commitments. Remember, help is only a mentor away. Friends and Family. Virginia Lorimor, CPA.

Startup 124

Startup Tech Coast Angels TCVN Incubator 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Variations on this theme include early licensing or white-labeling agreements.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

By using SteelHouse, ecommerce sites can use live data to instantly respond to a customer’s wants and needs for stronger transaction values, increased conversion rates, and an overall better customer experience. Incubator: Amplify LA. Fun Fact: Technology is in their DNA. Fun Fact: Los Angeles heavy hitters J.J.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

We have about 8500 customers there, but only a small percentage have built great communities that took off, and the rest floundered. That's why we built FanMix, to solve our own problem, and help our SocialEngine customers to promote their own sites. We have some great mentors now. After TechStars, how did you end up in LA?

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Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2012

The startup incubator actually found us. Those mentors and others have given us really tangible advice. The four partners at Muckerlab, Greg Bettinelli, Yanda Erlich, Will Hsu, and Erik Rannala just have incredible backgrounds, and an incredible ability to mentor companies. I'm excited to apply those skills in a new way.

Startup 240

Startup Mentor Technical Review Santa Barbara 240

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Variations on this theme include early licensing or white-labeling agreements.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Equity Examples 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M. Lean startup.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Seed Funding Incubator 101

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 6, 2013

To progress and be LA tech-focused, we started incubating ideas. It is to produce branded content, to build custom content and leverage our ad network to distribute the content. Are incubating companies one of the main focuses of Engage:BDR? We are constantly incubating projects since Engage:BDR started.

Marketing 96

Marketing Startup Incubator Advertising 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

Recently I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M. Lean startup.

Startup 92

Startup Funding Seed Funding Incubator 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Negotiate an advance from a strategic partner or customer. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Variations on this theme include early licensing or white-labeling agreements.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113