Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2015

This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can. The result is a bloated first product which finally collapses under its own weight, or is too late and too expensive for the intended customer. business entrepreneur feature creep scope creep startup'

Technical Review 104

Technical Review Product Software Review High Tech 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 107

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 107

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. Key vehicles already include wireless for communication, and RFID for product location. Don’t let yourself be talked out of powerful ideas.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Training 95

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. First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Make you wealthy someday.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Other companies have only seen a slight decline and may be expecting demand to return to normalcy later in the year. The reality is that when unemployment sinks in demand is likely to get worse. There are large sums of money to be invested and if investors can get comfortable with “downside protections” they’ll still write checks.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

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. Key vehicles already include wireless for communication, and RFID for product location. Don’t let yourself be talked out of powerful ideas.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Training 92

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Just as Batman repeatedly avoids Poison Ivy’s kiss of death, so too must entrepreneurs avoid the Kiss of Death provisions which BDCs attempt to include in their agreements. Rather than agreeing to an evergreen provision, suggest that both parties mutually agree upon additional one-year increments in writing, at the end of each term.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the manner in which Pink Floyd created DSOTM. Pink Floyd recorded DSOTM after a year of writing and performing the material in front of live audiences. Entrepreneurs should always err on the side of long-term gain. Pay To Play.

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 101

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 101

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

This is something I think entrepreneurs don’t totally understand and it’s worthwhile they do. So VCs started writing some smaller A-rounds. Entrepreneurs started demanding that VCs call their first-round financings “seed” rounds even if they were $3 million. and there''s always a but].

Seed Funding 399

Seed Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 399

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. First: Product risk. Second: Market risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2011

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Tips Mentor 110

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

It’s good advice; the theory being that entrepreneurs can discover the flaws in their business models sooner, make course corrections and move in a more favorable direction. In my case as a young software entrepreneur, I had a different approach: Fail Locally, one customer at a time. I became an entrepreneur by default.

Customer 120

Customer Custom Writing Southern California 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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 86

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 86

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Editor's note: As we head into the new year, we've been featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. We do, as of the writing of this in early December, seem to be seeing a correction at this time. On Demand).

Southern California 100

Southern California News Class Writing 100

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.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

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." It is almost never the case that you are building an MVP to "show" to an investor the product itself.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

functional workgroups vs. product workgroups). 3:35 The real entrepreneurs come out during a down economy. 8:17 How did you decide to go with either shrinkwrap or web only product? 19:30 A teachable moment for entrepreneurs: HAVE A HYPOTHESIS! 41:00 Transitioning from software to writing. Eric is so damn good.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. Like any sale you first need to plan your “prospects” and qualify whether or not they’d be a good fit for your product?—?an

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can. The result is a bloated first product which finally collapses under its own weight, or is too late and too expensive for the intended customer. entrepreneur startup funding product features business'

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Startup Software Review High Tech 110

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 18, 2010

As a startup entrepreneur you’ll have many demands for your time. The problem is that the scarcest resource in any entrepreneur’s life is your time. “Thank you for writing to me – it’s nice to hear from you (or meet you) via email. Everyone will want you to speak at conferences.

Startup 305

Startup Venture Capital Writing Conference 305

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Is it one product line or multiple? For example, if you sell your product through a third-party reseller who charges 30% of any sale then your COGS will be 30% of revenue (assuming no other costs of sales). Thus the trade off between profits & growth.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

There's lots of noise in the on-demand tutoring space, especially connecting people virtually, however, in my experience, it's in the best interest of consumers to get in-person, local tutoring. If you look at the other players, I believe, on-demand tutors will never exist. We have product, people, and have our foundation set.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2016

I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. You also ran the risk that if you hired employees quickly and then demand wasn’t as strong as expected it was incredibility hard to fire people.

Startup 261

Startup Press Blogging .Net 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 59

Startup Entrepreneur Tips Mentor 59

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2011

Jimmy Hendricks: Our lead product is a white label, daily deal product. It's the biggest portion of our revenues at our company, and our clients include the Buffalo News, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, JDate, Spark network, and many entrepreneurs. It ended up becoming our breakout product. What is Deal Current?

Platform 263

Platform Training Software Review Advertising 263

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. I acknowledged this in the article. I’m just making the commentary.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

At the Twiistup panel last week, there was a debate over whether big companies could be created here, which is ridiculous--Demand Media is the latest example there, we've got Cornerstone OnDemand coming out soon, and there is no question there are market leading, large revenue companies coming out of Southern California. That's part one.

Redpoint 154

Redpoint Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Invest 154

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2013

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Marty Zwilling.

Company 96

Company Companies Startup Entrepreneur 96

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. Thus, I will recruit independent distributors and they will sell my new and innovative products on my behalf. 3) Attempt To License An Idea.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Writing 242

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

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

It’s as good as it gets in personal productivity / life reflection. I know that would be surprising to many readers since keeping a blog somehow convinces people that I’m a time management or productivity ninja. That’s why productivity wasn’t tough for me as a CEO. I’m not. I couldn’t.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Market Size. How much ad revenue does TripAdvisor make?

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

Later, when I was in the tax business at Intuit and H&R Block, running those businesses, every year we had to hire a couple hundred tax professionals, who had to unwind the tax code, and who had to write it all down to give again to developers, in order for them to interpret and provide a usable product to consumers.

Startup 150

Startup San Diego Entrepreneur Tool 150