Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. People love Apple’s whole customer experience, and willingly pay a premium for the product. Much has been written about product design, but designing the total experience from the front rarely happens yet.

Custom 150

Custom Customer Design Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Thus entrepreneurs were able to build prototypes and design new products without the traditional huge prototyping cost. The movement has long since spread across the country and across the globe, spawning innovative products such as the MakerBot Digitizer and all the things you can access from Thingiverse.com.

Startup 159

Startup Tool Design Demand 159

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Designed to be a collaborative startup company incubator alongside corporate partners, Launchpad focuses on developing new consumer tech businesses focused on M13’s main investment areas: health, food, transportation, and housing. M13, for its part, is developing a strong team of women partners who are investing at the firm.

Startup 178

Startup Incubator Los Angeles IP 178

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. The Specialist entrepreneur will enter one industry and stick with it for 15 to 30 years. Picture the graphic designer, the IT expert, or the independent accountant or attorney.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I did a lot of M&A deals in those spaces, and had some earlier, startup stage experience. I went to business school in between all of that.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 8, 2020

Watt, who came to MoviePass as an entrepreneur in residence at True Ventures, previously founded the brand and product placement startup NextMedium and also spent time as a board partner at Upfront Ventures. Now, the serial entrepreneur and startup investor is combining his two career paths under the auspices of Share Ventures.

Company 249

Company Companies Idealab Tool 249

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

entrepreneur” and by Forbes as “New York’s Archangel”, David is a former Inc. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur and the founder of New York Angels. collaborate with over 250,000 entrepreneurs in 95 countries. collaborate with over 250,000 entrepreneurs in 95 countries. By David S. Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak?

Startup 189

Startup Sales Ideas Entrepreneur 189

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2023

Why do a few entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, seem to come up with all the real innovations, while the majority of business leaders seem stuck in the rut of linear thinking? He connects breakthrough thinking to four initiatives, which I believe every entrepreneur should practice: Questioning deeply-held beliefs and assumptions.

Startup 128

Startup Entrepreneur Tool Ideas 128

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. contributes more than $25 billion to fund 70,000 startups every year. Angels prefer strong teams to big ideas.

Venture Capital 106

Venture Capital Angel Seed Funding Invest 106

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. Now all you have to do is pass it to the many new members as you grow your team.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. This is the growth equation for a startup. Every aspect of your business must be about sales.

Custom 136

Custom Customer Sales Social Media 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Service people need this as required team support.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Startup Boost Los Angeles has opened up applications for its Fall 2019 class, according to the group. The programs--which does not charge fees or take equity from companies in its program--says it is seeking nine early stage startups to take part in its eight-week program, designed to help early stage startups.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Class Angel Startup 154

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 19, 2010

Yesterday I wrote a post about the " Urgency Addiction ” and how many people start important tasks late and then motivate with a huge wave of productivity and inspiration driven by deadlines and commitments to others. “A study by Microsoft showed just how lethal interruptions are to productivity. Tags: Startup Advice.

Product 301

Product Writing Email Tool 301

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. Now all you have to do is pass it to the many new members as you grow your team.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

Finding your entire team in the same office is a rare occurrence these days. Even small teams may be dispersed across town, working out of their homes or across the world in different time zones. I find that well-designed teams work very effectively this way, despite the challenges.

Product 100

Product Startup Tool Paramount 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

Every business needs repeatable processes to grow and thrive, but modern business processes need the right people to make them efficient and productive. The right people make productive processes, not the other way around. On the other hand, I see teams with almost no process that are tremendously productive.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). This is the confirmation that your product or service fills a real need in the marketplace. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Custom Customer 118

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

I originally conceived it as the Top 11 things that I believe “all entrepreneurs need to succeed.&# If it stuck to this theme then I would stand by my top 11. It isn’t a “must&# for me but it’s certainly a huge positive when entrepreneurs have it. Are you launching a mobile application? Another example.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

All true entrepreneurs operate off a set of tenets that are built into their psyche, or drilled into them from training and mentors. In a book a while back by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie from the Columbia Business School, “ Designing for Growth ,” the authors encourage managers to think more like designers.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Design Ideas Competition 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. A strong team has one or more executives who have run a startup before in the current business domain.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2017

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. This is the growth equation for a startup. Every aspect of your business must be about sales.

Sales 82

Sales Entrepreneur Custom Customer 82

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Service people need this as required team support.

Startup 154

Startup Training Custom Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to become the next unicorn. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Investors don’t invest in services startups. But what does that really mean?

Tips 135

Tips Invest Startup Outsource 135

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Tells me she wants to do operational stuff so she joins a small team of people running City Search. She learns how to ship product, how to deal with merchants, how to hire product managers. Always meeting her product ship dates. She was always able to get into the weeds on product or biz dev discussions.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

Every business needs repeatable processes to grow and thrive, but modern business processes need the right people to make them efficient and productive. The right people make productive processes, not the other way around. On the other hand, I see teams with almost no process that are tremendously productive.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2014

Thus entrepreneurs began building prototypes and designing new products without the traditional huge investment. The movement has spread across the country and across the globe, spawning innovative products such as the MakerBot Digitizer and all the things you can download from Thingiverse.com.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tool Design Demand 98

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. Tracy was an artist throughout her 20′s but she watched her then husband found a tech startup. But Tracy did what entrepreneurs do.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2022

Entrepreneurs and startups are big believers in innovation, but sometimes they forget that innovation must be continual to assure long-term success, rather than the one big-bang idea that initiated their journey. Here are his key recommendations from my perspective: Surround yourself with a great team. Hire slowly and fire fast.

Metrics 102

Metrics Startup Organization Demand 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2021

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. Offer a no-frills version of a high-end product (downgrade).

Startup 112

Startup Ideas Examples Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. Reduce the time to production and rollout. Quantify the implementation challenges.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). This is the confirmation that your product or service fills a real need in the marketplace. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Custom Customer Outsource 174

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

“Los Angeles has a creative and innovative spirit like nowhere else, and I’m excited to be investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders in my hometown,” said DiCaprio, in a statement. DiCaprio has already made a number of investments in startup companies that have done very well for the Academy Award-winning actor.

Capital 188

Capital Funding Los Angeles Invest 188

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

Why do a few entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, seem to come up with all the real innovations, while the majority of business leaders seem stuck in the rut of linear thinking? He connects breakthrough thinking to four initiatives, which I believe every entrepreneur should practice: Questioning deeply-held beliefs and assumptions.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Tool Ideas 102

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. Well obviously that’s meaningless if your startup idea sucks. They spot opportunities that aren’t being met and the design products to meet these needs.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Custom 306

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