Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2022

The alternative protein space is hot, hot, hot as evidenced by both the number of companies developing products and the venture capital going into the space. Additional participants in the round include returning investors VegInvest Trust, Tenacious Ventures, Cornucopian Capital and Good Protein Fund.

Software Review 187

Software Review Metrics Startup Technical Review 187

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

As investors continue pouring funding into artificial intelligence and consumer habits shift, many AI and subscription model startups have been enjoying rapid growth. Verifying Looking for regular tech news straight to your inbox? Organic milk formula product Bobbie. Runway AI user interface. million in 2023, up from $181.5

Startup 210

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 210

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2016

Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 63

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? Can you explain that process?

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

If you are the hot-shot technical innovator that invented your solution, make sure you have an equally adept business and marketing expert to complement your skills. “If Bill Gates was the technical genius, but Steve Ballmer, from Procter & Gamble, ran the business side of the equation. Needed help can be your biggest burden.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? And could we then compete?” ” type questions. 10x the experience.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. The company counts 400 employees on staff, and will look to use the money to continue to grow out its suite of products and services, according to a March statement announcing the funding.

Glendale 271

Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

Xconomy

DECEMBER 18, 2018

The Bristol, UK-based startup, founded in 2016, has now secured a total of more than $300 million in financing from venture capital firms and other investors including Microsoft and the corporate venture arms of BMW and Dell Technologies. Read more » Reprints | Share: UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS.

Technical Review 65

Technical Review Product Venture Capital Software Review 65

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. Fables of the reconstruction.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

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. Want to be an entrepreneur?

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding. You need funding, and plan to get it from friends and family. Tiny bootstrapped teams usually don’t have a business plan, and probably don’t need one.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. As I like to tell people who ask about Bird, “consumers have literally voted with their feet.” Is Bird really defensible?

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I now observes the fund raising process as a profession. This is the fund raising perspective from both sides of the table. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. Every company is different so it’s hard to listen to advice from the uber-successful fund raisers. Executive Summary.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

“Scope creep” (or feature creep) is an insidious disease that kills more good startups than any other, especially high-tech ones, and yet most founders (who may be the cause) never even see it happening. This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Startup Software Review High Tech 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term. In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

It is also a result of pent-up demand. Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. then the world will be fine for fund raising.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. Over funding often produces bad behavior in early-stage companies.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

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. Unless you have a co-founder or two with the business skills to complement your technical ones, you need a friendly Advisory Board. Key board members multiply your networking efforts.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

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. Painfully Diligent Investors.

Angel 217

Angel Technical Review RSS Entrepreneur 217

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years. Of course, if you are able to bootstrap your startup, and don’t anticipate the need for outside investors, you can technically ignore the first two points. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review Equity Invest Startup 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

In other parts of the world, innovators often need to develop both the ultimate product or service, as well as the enabling infrastructure that underpins it. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. Even consumers here in the US are demanding a more responsible approach.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 27, 2014

However, such alignment is missing at most tech startups, and thus there is little causality between a celeb’s investment and their ability to drive meaningful product adoption. A well known (non-celebrity) tech investor who judiciously adds value, provides reputational validation and is relatively effortless to interact with is ideal.

Entrepreneur 193

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hollywood Southern California 193

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

However, there is already the technology out therefrom San Luis Obispo-based Whitefox Defense (www.whitefoxdefense.com)  to both detect, and neutralize those drones. We spoke with founder and CEO Luke Fox to learn more about the company, and its technology. Explain how your technology works?

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

In my experience as an advisor to entrepreneurs, business startup founders most often point to a shortage of funds as the primary cause of their startup failure. Key elements of every startup challenge include timeframes, costs, people required, and technical realities. Founder minimizes the focus on formal plans and reviews.

Technical Review 89

Technical Review Startup Demand Examples 89

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? He had a partially built product. Consider what Ryan Waggoner tells us How to Find a Technical Cofounder : When I was doing freelance development, I had about one pitch per week for an equity-only opportunity. That’s a pretty common experience.

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years. Of course, if you are able to bootstrap your startup, and don’t anticipate the need for outside investors, you can technically ignore the first two points. IPO – public company initial public stock offering.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Equity Statistics 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 18, 2017

Last week, Pasadena-based Ocular Data Systems (www.oculardatasystems.com) announced a funding round from the Pasadena Angels, for its camera-based systems used by law enforcement to capture evidence in drunk or drugged driving cases. We talked with CEO Marcus Filipovich to learn more about the company and its product.

Pasadena Angels 100

Pasadena Angels Pasadena Technical Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

They can read reviews, see pictures and even talk to the family before confirming. I then clicked on reviews, looked at pictures and read the owners descriptions of what they were looking for. I told her the story of Aaron, the company, the reviews, etc. Supply and demand. Tech Market Analysis' I registered.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Anne Fulton: Fuel50 is a career pathing startup, part of the HR technology landscape. We're a disruptor, the third wave in human resources technology. Anne Fulton: I've always been a technology lover, although I'm an organizational psychologist by training. It was really a meeting of the minds with the fund.

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

Some investors are team focused, others market focused, others seems to look for product / market fit. Only then can I even care about product, market or their nebulous “fit.&#. I want somebody who can inspire you to produce great products but not know your trade better than you do. . I argued for the opposite.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding. You need funding, and plan to get it from friends and family. Tiny bootstrapped teams usually don’t have a business plan, and probably don’t need one.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

In other parts of the world, innovators often need to develop both the ultimate product or service, as well as the enabling infrastructure that underpins it. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. Even consumers here in the US are demanding a more responsible approach.

Ideas 124

Ideas Venture Capital Software Review Technical Review 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Of course, every company needs these, in due time. Your company has outgrown you. You need a prototype. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. I heard an entrepreneur last Friday tell me that after he appeared on AngelList he had a funding frenzy with one investor whom he had never met offering to fund him after just 15 minutes on the phone.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2010

It's pretty typical in the life of a startup, where we've proven we have a product people like, and use and demand, and can scale, and we did a pretty effective job of learning about advertising and making revenues off high yielding, CPC advertising. There is a huge demand from people, who have gone there to buy products.

Technical Review 171

Technical Review Rustic Canyon Screening Startup 171