Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

But it will be patiently deployed, waiting for a cohort of founders who aren’t artificially clinging to 2021 valuation metrics. million, our Seed Funds mostly between $200–300 million and have delivered median ownerships of ~20% from the first check we write into a startup. In 2009 we could take a long time to review a deal.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Some make big mistakes, such as Webvan expanding too fast with a huge infrastructure, and Pets.com , trying to grow the business with a negative margin, under the mistaken assumption that winning customers is more important than making a profit. Actively listen to customer feedback, and don’t be a one-trick pony.

Startup 134

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And as a result of this there are now very robust secondary markets where founders and seed-funds alike are selling down their ownership long before an ultimate exit. If we wanted to we could have sold > 2x the fund easily in the secondary markets with significant upside remaining. of the fund.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Idea people often don’t get funded as entrepreneurs, because a new business is all about results, not just ideas. It’s important to remember that your passion for a new idea needs to be supported by market research and customer feedback , before you will get the credibility and support you expect to work at this stage.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

The total funds include backing from a Republic campaign, pre-seed investors and capital from the co-founders. Ultimately 1,000 customers signed up, and The Kelp Burger is now the “hero product,” Boyd Myers said. Boyd Myers explained that there are sales and repeat customers, but it was too early to discuss growth metrics.

Startup 191

Startup Los Angeles Sample Funding 191

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Los Angeles-based Signal Sciences (www.signalsciences.com), which develops web application firewall software, just inked a big, $35M series C funding round a few weeks ago, and now has plans to dramatically expand its hiring in Los Angeles. Thats so important to get success and expand our customers.

Startup 113

Startup Funding Technical Review Software Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Investors I know highlight this problem with the mantra that they fund founders and teams who can execute, rather than ones who just talk about their great ideas. Use metrics to support judgment in decisions. Metrics are necessary to acquire knowledge and turn it into action. What gets measured gets done.

Develop 103

Develop Development Coach Metrics 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Yet, as a business consultant, I still find many of you business leaders relying primarily on your technology, word-of-mouth , or location to attract necessary customers.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2021

Usually these people think they are doing a great job, and are totally oblivious to their unhappy customers or cash drain. An example of this would be finger pointing at unfair managers, blaming economic downturns, and irrational customer expectations for missed commitments. Use blame and complain in lieu of accepting accountability.

Startup 164

Startup Class Entrepreneur Coach 164

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity. Building your public image and presence should start even before product development, through your website, logo, and blogging.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. Perspectium recently raised a funding round from TVC Capital.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Some make big mistakes, such as Webvan expanding too fast with a huge infrastructure, and Pets.com , trying to grow the business with a negative margin, under the mistaken assumption that winning customers is more important than making a profit. Actively listen to customer feedback, and don’t be a one-trick pony.

Search Engine Optimization 131

Search Engine Optimization Startup Social Media Metrics 131

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. It’s always tempting to think that more product variations will satisfy more customers and lead to new sales. Inadequate focus on hiring and people development. Most challenges you have are not unique to your business.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

TechCrunch LA

JULY 26, 2022

We currently have over 60 flavors that we’ve developed over the past couple of years.”. That’s particularly helpful inside the food truck where there is limited space, and enables employees to serve a large capacity of customers quicker, Nile Dreiling said. The fun part?

Los Angeles 183

Los Angeles Angel Culver City Startup 183

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

If you can’t identify customer interest, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. Don’t be afraid to test your ultimate entree on customers. Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. These have the vision and the resources to fund long-term digital success.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. Update your technology to reach new customer segments. Today’s customers want to be mobile and location sensitive. Make your offering part of improving customer lifestyle rather than just solving a problem.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity. Building your public image and presence should start even before product development, through your website, logo, and blogging.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Yet, in the interest of full disclosure, and an honest intent to save future entrepreneurs some grief and money, I would remind you that starting any business has key dependencies on at least five major elements, including product design and delivery, the right people on the team, adequate funding, a sizable market opportunity, and marketing.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich. Look for validation from your mainstream customers. Growing too fast kills many new ventures, due to staffing costs, inventory, and funding delays. Even non-profits need income to run a business.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

If you can’t identify customer interest, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. Don’t be afraid to test your ultimate entree on customers. Develop metrics with which to measure yourself and use these to incrementally expand and improve your offering as fast as the market and capital will allow. Don’t stand still.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

For example, if you as an entrepreneur come across as arrogant or too casual, many people you need to deal with in business, including investors, suppliers, and customers, will run the other way. This means you set goals, milestones, and metrics, and are able to provide financial projections to support funding requirements.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Mentor Metrics Customer 168

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

In his classic book on building a business, “ Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business ,” Gino Wickman, a similar experienced business consultant and developer of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), outlines five common frustrations that we both hear from entrepreneurs, as follows: You are the boss, but you don’t have control.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2019

However, in the technical arena--as a programmer, developer, or software engineer--it's hard to tell from a resume how good you really are. The startup has developed a system which uses information from online forums, source code sharing, technical communities, and the like to help find and rank technical talent. How do you do that?

Sites 240

Sites Startup Tool CTO Hire 240

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. That keeps people from pushing themselves to develop the kind of new solutions that will permanently change the business for the better, versus short-term band-aids.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2019

A recent high-profile one, Theranos , the blood-testing company, had no trouble getting customers, but promised more than their technology could deliver, Another, Shyp , an early on-demand delivery platform, blamed their demise on premature scaling. Focus on existing customer retention and repeat business.

Startup 88

Startup Demand Training Customer 88

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

As a tech startup grows it needs to develop more process & management if it is to scale. In the evangelical phase you’re working through these with customers on the fly. But they want to establish a baseline in the customer’s mind of the value they will get by using your product.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

Yet, in my experience as a mentor to entrepreneurs, the majority of failures I see are related to starting and growing the business, not developing the solution. In fact, I can condense the sum of my business experiences into eight key disciplines: Start with a total and ongoing customer focus. Demonstrate an ongoing sense of urgency.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In every case, the relevant pitch needs to start by highlighting a real customer problem, then outlining a new solution, with all the features and disruptive technology.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2020

Define success metrics, and measure progress regularly. Initially, you may be able to do everything in your startup, including product development, marketing, and shipping orders. As you move from development to rollout, a team effort is required, including marketing, sales, funding, and customers.

Startup 123

Startup Outsource Development Entrepreneur Outsource 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. A great CFO will help you plan that.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people. So they create a task list of all the marketing activities an organization can do: press releases, web site updates, customer case studies, blog posts, daily Tweets, Facebook fan page, attending conferences, etc. You get a lot of traffic — not always results.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Ideas 62

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Competition 62

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2015

Usually these people think they are doing a great job, and are totally oblivious to their unhappy customers or cash drain. An example of this would be finger pointing at unfair managers, blaming economic downturns, and irrational customer expectations for missed commitments. Use blame and complain in lieu of accepting accountability.

Startup 116

Startup Entrepreneur Class Coach 116