Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2020

You don’t have to have previous startup problems to show resilience – everyone should have a story of tackling a tough challenge with minimal success, but using the failure to move on and achieve an objective. Evan Williams , for example, before cofounding Twitter, started a podcasting platform named Odeo.

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Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no no surprise?—?that’s

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, thirty-five states, starting with Maryland way back in 2010, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

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socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

Santa Monica-based Demand Media (www.demandmedia.com) has seen its share of ups and downs as one of the highest visibility technology and media companies to come out of Southern California's technology ecosystem in recent years. What is Demand Media doing nowadays? Our whole goal is to create content for real life.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

This post is part of my series “ Startup Lessons &#. Elephants, Deer and Rabbits – Some thoughts on start-up segmentation. I know that this advice won’t apply to every possible startup – but I think it applies to many. So when I started my first company I naturally went for elephants.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

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TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

As part of the onboarding process, the app asks both job seekers and employers what they’re looking for - in a text box - while providing a few suggestions in a pop-up. This isn’t just our opinion - our startup metrics prove it! Even with the pop-up suggestions, we saw significant drop-off during user onboarding.

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Tech.Co

JUNE 28, 2021

Startup tech businesses used to land on the scene with big ideas about how their tech could change the world. Facebook, for example, decided in 2008 that its mission was to “help you connect and share with the people in your life.” But the trend for world-changing mission statements is waning in the startup sphere.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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socalTECH

JULY 17, 2019

Thinkful , a New York company, says it has started accepting applications from people in Los Angeles for its "living stipend" program, which pays students $1500 a month to pay for things like rent, gas, and food while they take the company's technology training--in exchange for a portion of their salaries when they graduate. READ MORE>>.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. The entrepreneurial mindset is a function of motivation, priorities, and risk versus reward, all of which you set or enable by your leadership and example.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

My friends who “grew up” with lifetime careers in General Motors, Exxon Mobil, or even IBM, are now often too embarrassed to even mention it. Financial institutions, for example, count on pure capital plays without innovation that can disappear quickly. On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2021

Based on my experience as a business advisor, I’m convinced that most startup investors invest in the entrepreneur, as much as a solution or product. Examples of this today would obviously include Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs a few years ago. Innovate to meet future demands you foresee. Solicit experts to support your assertions.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. I just finished a new book for entrepreneurs, “ Secrets to a Successful Startup ,” by Trevor Blake, which makes the same points, based on his own real-life experience with three successful startups.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2021

Seth Godin once said that overnight success in startups takes about six years, and Seth is an optimist. The classic book, “ The Execution Shortcut ,” by Jeroen De Flander, a well-respected writer and speaker on business strategy execution, offers some good insights and examples. Thus we all look for shortcuts. Marty Zwilling>

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2019

Image via Jisc As an advisor to startups and entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that all new businesses must start with a great idea. I believe the best entrepreneurs start by finding a large opportunity, and only then use good ideas to capitalize on that opportunity. I have to disagree.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. The reality is that starting a business, as well is working an existing business, has always required perseverance.

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

But today a startup that’s tackling a different aspect of the market — addressing the supply chain that subsequently turns the wheels of the bigger food distribution machine — is announcing a big round of funding as it continues to grow. GrubMarket has snapped up no less than 40 companies in the last three years.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2016

The author outlines eight necessary steps for every business and entrepreneur to capitalize on this movement to on-demand project teams, versus permanent hires. For example, if your first scaling effort is a global one, you should be prioritizing “global launch experience.” Build an on-demand team of strategic do-ers.

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Demand Training Outsource Development Entrepreneur 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2021

workers now say they would start looking for another job if they aren’t offered remote options. The author outlines eight necessary steps for every business and entrepreneur to capitalize on this movement to on-demand project teams, versus permanent hires. Build an on-demand team of strategic do-ers. More than 40% of U.S.

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. The TMP is an example of lean academia.

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Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

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Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2021

In startup business plans, a bubble is too many entrepreneurs and too many investors chasing the latest “next big thing,” like Google search engine, Facebook social network, or Amazon e-commerce site. Supply and demand ignored. We all believe that supply and demand meet to create stable prices (reflexive). Cheap money.

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Demand Google Commerce Pricing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

I see entrepreneurs every day who are trying to change the world with a new idea, and startups that are trying to survive their hyper-growth phase by changing processes to meet demand. Phil Buckley, in his book “ Change With Confidence ,” provides practical answers to fifty of the biggest questions that keep change leaders up at night.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. I’m not looking for words, but examples of how your habits and attributes have produced results, even before your startup.

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Entrepreneur Startup Examples Metrics 124

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2012

A list of the top ten cities for startups was released by USA Today and the National Venture Capital Association today, naming both Los Angeles and San Diego among the best cities for startup companies. READ MORE>>.

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San Diego Los Angeles Break.com CitySearch 188

TechEmpower

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Let's take a look at some of the many ways businesses can benefit from these new models to streamline operations and deliver faster and more accurate results.We’ll begin by looking at some real-world examples and then we’ll dive into more details of how these improved search capabilities can enhance your business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

What you don’t expect is to feel out of control , or to always be fighting the many demands for your time. There are just not enough hours in a day, and knowledge available, to keep up with it all. The startup world is all about causing change and reacting to unknowns, so set your expectations early to deal with it.

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Entrepreneur Startup Course Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Thus there are some key things that we can do as a leader to improve people’s self confidence and ability to deliver, as well as be a better example for others: Practice what you preach on accountability. For example , Starbucks' chief executive officer, Kevin R. First of all, you need to be a role model for accountability.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

Here are some examples from their book and my experience of the many indicators, challenges that entrepreneurs will probably recognize, which highlight the value and need for increased focus on the human element: Collaborative team sessions seem to drag on. Disruptive office politics start to show.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2019

Image via jisc Potential startup founders are always looking for ideas to implement, when they should be looking for problems to solve. My reaction is, if there is no competition, then there is no market demand for your product, so why are you building it? There are still millions of these opportunities for startups out there.

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Xconomy

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Most simply defined , an entrepreneur is a person who identifies a need and starts a business to fill that void. But others will argue that a “true” entrepreneur must come up with an innovative new product or service and then operates their business to sell and profit from that innovation. Take Joanne, for example.

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Entrepreneur Startup Demand Examples 108

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. An experienced Board can give them credibility, as well as advice on the many pitfalls of starting a new company. Remember that people make a business, more often than a product.

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Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2016

In the world of on-demand driving�such as driving for Uber and Lyft--one of the biggest costs for drivers it the cost of owning, maintaning, fueling, and cleaning their vehicles. Why target the on-demand economy? When we first started, the largest demand was from government, particularly Mayor Greg Ballard in Indianapolis.

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Demand Los Angeles Inglewood Pricing 100