Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Key to required patents or trade secrets.

Equity 99

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2023

Young entrepreneurs often are so excited by new technology or their latest invention that they forget to translate it into a value proposition that their customers or potential investors can understand and relate to. Customer data integrity and security. This priority applies to big companies, as well as startups. Martin Zwilling

Social Network 108

Social Network Training Startup Technology 108

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

I find that startups looking for funding often never even think of asking strategic partners, rather than just venture capitalists. Many businesses have found that raising the price of a product to give it status can win more customers than a price war. Ten customer referrals is better than “no complaints.”

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

You will see that I believe innovation is only one of many factors that ultimately determine your position with customers and your own legacy: Ideas are everywhere – success is all about execution. Search for customer pain rather than high margins. New customers don’t see incremental improvements.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Target market. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Key to required patents or trade secrets.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2020

Young entrepreneurs often are so excited by new technology or their latest invention that they forget to translate it into a value proposition that their customers or potential investors can understand and relate to. Customer data integrity and security. This priority applies to big companies, as well as startups. Martin Zwilling.

Technology 165

Technology Social Network Training Startup 165

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

Among those funds is TYLT Lab (www.tyltlab.com), which recently announced a new, $20M early stage investment fund specifically focused on companies here. We spoke with Rami Rostami and Gerard Casale , who are behind TYLT Labs, and who told us a bit about their new fund, its investment criteria, and where it sees the promise here.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2023

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 96

Startup Education Ideas Customer 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Provide details on the business model.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 123

Software Review Seed Funding Funding Startup 123

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 106

Software Review Funding Startup Seed Funding 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

The lesson of finding help, connections, and even funding where other people may never look is one that makes all the difference in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Most universities have a file of patents from project work that they are willing to license to any entrepreneur for business commercialization, with little or no cost up front.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. I like patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, so this answer is a better sustainable competitive advantage than the other five answers. Martin Zwilling.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

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

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Pitching app developers with a new way to convert app browsers into actual customers, AppOnboard has raised $15 million in a new round of funding, the company said. Zweig claims that conversion rates have increased significantly for the companies that pay a fee for his company’s service.

Google 213

Google Los Angeles Southern California Platform 213

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. entrepreneur startup funding angel investors presentation business' Marty Zwilling.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

This person may be an extraordinary communicator, who rallies employees, customers, and colleagues around the vivid future he sees. What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 22, 2019

Blueland’s cleaners — a bathroom cleaner, glass cleaner, and multi-purpose cleaner — are sold as tablets that customers add to the cleaning containers the company provides. With Naqzi on board, the company began filing patents for its unique process and the products it’s bringing to market, says Paiji.

Design 161

Design Patents Los Angeles Ideas 161

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Seed Funding 100

Seed Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2011

No investor wants to wait that long for his return, or fund the years of waiting. That’s probably the soft way of saying, we don’t have a patent or any “secret sauce” for a competitive advantage. If the entrepreneur and team were that proven, they probably would be funding others rather than asking for money.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Funding Innocal Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

The right answer to this question is that you bring some new intellectual property to the table – like a patent or other secret sauce. Do you have the skills and interests to overcome problems, lead people, and find partners and funding? The difference relates to how you expect to get funding.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

It costs very little to file a provisional patent to begin your protection. In fact, it is your job to show how the technology will be embodied in a solution that satisfies a painful customer need, what channels will be used for sales and what business model maximizes return. Revenue and profit projections are not credible.

Funding 57

Funding Social Media Startup Patents 57

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Working for a well-funded existing company, or pursuing your dream as a hobby, may be more satisfying and productive. Assess your own resources as well as funding sources. You need intellectual property , such as a patent, trade secret, or process expertise that will be a barrier that you can defend.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

The company has been funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all. The company grows in value to its customers and to prospective buyers of the business, but without any dilution of control or ownership for the founders. How refreshing!

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

The lesson of finding help, connections, and even funding where other people may never look is one that makes all the difference in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Most universities have a file of patents from project work that they are willing to license to any entrepreneur for business commercialization, with little or no cost up front.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Provide details on the business model.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2011

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Software Review 98

Software Review Funding Seed Funding Startup 98