Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2023

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Provide a unique point of view.

Social Media 94

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Entrepreneurs are always looking for “the next big thing,” when maybe in fact it’s a lot of little things that are only recognized after the fact as components of a big evolution or revolution. So how do entrepreneurs train to lead the Anywhere Revolution, rather than be dragged along by its wave? Be an analytic thinker.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Training 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” As an entrepreneur it can feel as intimidating as going to buy a car where the dealer knows the price of every make & model of a car and you’re guessing at how much to pay.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2011

Entrepreneurs are always looking for “the next big thing,” when maybe in fact it’s a lot of little things that are only recognized after the fact as components of a big evolution or revolution. So how do entrepreneurs train to lead the Anywhere Revolution, rather than be dragged along by its wave? Be an analytic thinker.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Training 92

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Provide a unique point of view.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2018

I was recently with an entrepreneur and talking with him about his fund raising process. If you’re further along in the process and you have one piece of information you need for a final decision then I’d be very happy to talk with you about it then.” link] Another entrepreneur was recently in my office. It’s human nature?—?

Funding 217

Funding Newsletter Venture Capital Email 217

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

We caught up with Julie Schoenfeld , the firm's CEO, to hear about how the firm's offerings have evolved, an interesting comparison of the firm's software to what Demand Media is doing, and what this new funding will go towards. It's some of the kinds of things Demand Media does, except, for the newsroom. Congrats on funding.

Marketing 232

Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Especially if you are in the early stage of growing a business, these five risks can and often do derail entrepreneurs before realizing the riches of a great exit. This risk can be mitigated by finding a customer willing to purchase as soon as a proven model is completed, and willing to state this in writing. Make you wealthy someday.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. You need funding, and plan to get it from friends and family.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

In the creation of a new enterprise, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

InfoChachkie

MARCH 18, 2013

In order to extract value beyond your Angel investors' cash, you must first assess three important parameters: (i) the relative strength of their personal brand, (ii) their ability to add operational value, and (iii) the amount of care and feeding they will demand from you. Four Common Angel Archetypes. The Beauty Of Low Expectations.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

As a result founders often meet the wrong investors, waste time on those who ask for more information. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.” Remember, I was an entrepreneur for 10 years before a VC). I think there’s some truth in this.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2015

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 104

Social Media Ideas Media Writing 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2013

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 92

Social Media Ideas Media Entrepreneur 92

socalTECH

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Last month, Beverly Hills-based Nash Information Services , the firm behind The Numbers --one of the most extensive database of financial information about movies--announced a new service which allows third party software applications and websites to pull information from the firm's database, via OpusData (www.opusdata.com).

Beverly Hills 164

Beverly Hills Research Hollywood Sites 164

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. I’ve been involved with SaaS companies with VCs who don’t understand demand generation, lead qualification, sales coverage ratios, sales forecasting or frankly when deals should be inside sales vs. outside sales.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it.

Social Media 63

Social Media Ideas Media Writing 63

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

Starting a new business is not an informal process, and should never be treated like a hobby between friends. I’m not suggesting that any startup needs to demand perfection, but I do recommend that all learn and follow common business practices from the beginning. The path to true success does not allow for shortcuts.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." Investors demand more than that. That's an even tougher hurdle. Yes, that's correct. Sorry, but that's the reality.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But my contact told me that many viral videos start through close networks on Reddit where a degree of formal and informal collaboration of individuals takes place. Simply write a great book?

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I’ve started from day one trying to build total transparency into my process with entrepreneurs. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

PerfectForms is a platform for business users to create web applications, to provide visibility to processes, and to report on information collected. That's the joy of being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur, working for a company like this is rewarding and exciting. They're all paper focused, and very inefficient.

Startup 150

Startup San Diego Entrepreneur Tool 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Of course when you think about it it’s kind of obvious but when people make snap judgments about information they hear about companies or read about in the press they often don’t take the time to start to consider the details.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2010

Entrepreneurs are always looking for “the next big thing,” when maybe in fact it’s a lot of little things that are only recognized after the fact as components of a big evolution or revolution. So how do we as entrepreneurs train ourselves to lead the Anywhere Revolution, rather than be dragged along by its wave? Marty Zwilling.

Startup 48

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Writing 48

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2011

The firm's CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Sargent , has an interesting background, most recently serving as an executive at Variety/Reed Business Information. As a result, consumers would go away after they hit that information. How did you decide to launch HitFix? Jennifer Sargent: Our timing was interesting. Everyone knows this.

News 173

News Entertainment Startup Bertelsmann 173

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 28, 2013

Who should attend: Chief Information Officers across industries and sectors. Alex is a proven web entrepreneur, having led and sold multiple successful startups. Scott also served as Director of Product at ProElite, a CBS backed company, where he managed live streaming events and video on demand targeting Mixed Martial Arts fans.

SaaS 92

SaaS Cloud Computing CIO Web 92

Jason Nazar

MARCH 22, 2011

In the bay area it’s quite common for the entrepreneurs starting a company to be developers or technologists who can build the first versions of their products. When he had the idea for his company, he didn’t write a long business plan or try to raise money to hire an agency to build a website for him.

Company 111

Company Companies Rustic Canyon Startup 111

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 21, 2013

As he was fighting inequality, hoping to give everyone from every social status equal access to information, he was also fighting an ongoing battle internally with feelings of isolation and depression. Finally, Swartz founded Demand Progress , a group focused on advocating civil liberties and government reform. Young Swartz.

Journal 86

Journal Blogging RSS Report 86

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. So there is likely robust demand from borrowers. Enter P2P lending. Enter Xobni.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

You have crossed over to the other side when your Bro is willing to share such intimate information. As stated in Time Wounds All Heels , successful serial entrepreneurs are honest, ethical and avoid even the appearance of deception. Bro’s enjoy spending time together outside of work. Even Baum’s readers loved the Wizard.

Startup 113

Startup Organization Allegis Commerce 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

I’d like to explain as best I can my opinion on what is going on because most of what I hear from entrepreneurs is not only wrong but is reminiscent of what I heard in 1997-2000. ” “This will be great for VCs and bad for entrepreneurs.” What is the True Sentiment of VCs? ” “Sure, prices are dropping.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2011

Every entrepreneur is flooded with information from all directions, but despite their best efforts to absorb it, they likely miss the information really needed to start a business. In the past century, curators for business information were specialized news magazines like Forbes and Inc., Lessons Learned , by Eric Ries.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Technical Review Blogging Java 92

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

It is surprising how often entrepreneurs forget this simple fact. Just as you would not ask your family physician to perform a coronary bypass, do not ask your corporate lawyer to help you write your patent application. You cannot rely on the IP lawyer to coax such vital information from you. Go Nuclear.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

I was saying that I was happy it was all out in the open because I felt at least everybody could now understand the issues & opportunities from the perspectives of angels, entrepreneurs and VCs. That’s dumb, exaggerated or just ill informed. Let’s be clear: AngelList doesn’t scare a single VC I know.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

As I write these words I’m aware that I could practically change the words AOL and Facebook for much of this section and with a few factual tweaks it might not be noticeable to the reader which of the firms I was talking about. They controlled distribution to the masses. This was Politburo-style innovation and was laughable.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

They often are very good at getting information out of people, helping create a framework for making decisions and pushing for support amongst the organization from those that back the decision and those that do not. I’ll write that post one day – it is a very interesting story. Leaders are intelligent, for sure.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363