This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
This is part of my ongoing series “ Start-up Lessons. &# If you want to subscribe to my RSS feed please click here or to get my blog by email click here. Imagine you pour 5 years of your life into your next gig and it starts to become successful. Starting with 25% is even harder. Not worth it.
This is part of my ongoing series called “ Start-up Lessons.&#. I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed startup. I paid up for the diploma but can’t say that I saw better results.
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.
I've done four Free CTO Consulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. The teams involved didn't seem to be exhibiting many of the Symptoms of a Weak Development Team.
In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right?
Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication? 500 Hats , February 1, 2010 When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Google Friend Connect for Authentication?
I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team. Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team.
Can you outsource your outsourcing? Anaheim-based Ziptask said today that it has launched a new, online platform which helps offload the management of freelancers and outsourcing, helping businesses via an online, dedicated virtual project manager. ziptask project outsourcing freelancer freelance' READ MORE>>.
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?
Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Most of what I think about startup communities came from mentorship by Brad Feld through hours of private discussion and debate.
Divergent, the Los Angeles-based startup aiming to revolutionize vehicle manufacturing, has cut about one-third of its staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended startups and major corporations alike. Founder and CEO Kevin Czinger didn’t provide specific numbers. . The company’s No.
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.
When I started my first tech company in 1999 I had pretty good tech chops and had led teams but had very little exposure to many other things that matter in a startup including sales, marketing & business development. Negotiating was a subset of every activity in a startup – it really was a way of life.
Less than a month after rebranding as Canoo , the startup electric vehicle company formerly known as Evelozcity is on the hunt for $200 million in new capital. Canoo is locking in final contracts with its vendors and is going to be in production with prototypes before the end of the year.
Abodu , one of a slew of startup companies pitching backyard homes and office spaces to Californians in an effort to help address the state’s housing shortage, has instituted a new “Quickship” program that can take an order from contract to construction and installation in about 30 days. trillion-dollar industry.
I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. Street Smarts - OK, so you’re a tenacious person – you never give up. Well obviously that’s meaningless if your startup idea sucks. He was at a startup that was in a super hot sector. I’m sorry.
Venture capital is in the process of its own creative destruction with new market entrants and new models of innovation at the precise moment that our industry itself is contracting. When I built my first company starting in 1999 it cost $2.5 million in infrastructure just to get started and another $2.5 Enter Amazon.
I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.
This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. Tim started to change our processes. Tim encouraged us to set up a blog and start talking openly about what we were doing as a company and inviting comments. Back then it seemed foreign.
Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.
Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.
Chris Lorenz, Geoffrey Anderson, and James Borow may have spent their days over the past few years working at Snap, but on nights and weekends Anderson and Lorenz were laboring on a different project — improving Ethereum development tools. . “We were really working on scalability testing.” ” .” ”
The Los Angeles-based startup Canoo has finally unveiled its first model, the eponymously named canoo. Remarkably, Canoo has completed the design and engineering of its first model in just 19 months and is preparing its vehicles for production through a contract manufacturer.
At the time they were working from a WeWork in Seattle, during the darkest winter in Seattle history, where Ellis was wrapping up a stint at Blue Origin. That contract, awarded by The 45th Space Wing of the Air Force, is the first direct agreement the U.S. The two had met in college at USC in their jet propulsion lab.
Nils Forsblom is not new to the startup world -- in fact, his last startup, Fruugo, raised an astounding $48M in funding, and became one of the most heralded-- and controversial --startups in Finland. Nils Forsblom: TenFarms is a mobile app developer. How did you end up here in Southern California?
Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based Anti-AgingGames (www.Anti-AgingGames.com), a new online game startup, announced a new service to help users improve their memory and concentration, as well as improve brain function. The firm notably has Atari founder Nolan Bushnell as an advisor and serving as its chief game designer.
If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales. Look impartially from all angles and do the follow-up on all relevant previous roles.
Recently, an interesting project popped up on the site--a a 2D to 3D conversion project , from the inventor of the original, LCD projector, Gene Dolgoff. Since Dolgoff is raising money for his 2D-to-3D startup via Fundable, we thought it would be interesting to hear about the project, and how he ended up turning to Fundable.
Ben Satterfield is the co-founder of TestFlight, an immensely popular piece of software for iOS (and now Android) which lets developers distribute beta copies of their apps to their users. TestFlight recently joined forces with Burstly (www.burstly.com) to create a suite of apps for mobile developers and publishers. What is Burstly?
In my opinion, real pain points for most people do not include a new user interface for Facebook, a new programming platform for app development, or a new size smart phone. Maybe we haven’t seen the results yet, but there are thousands of startup opportunities to offer new alternatives and services, to replace those destroyed by the crisis.
Steve Gilison worked as a market researcher and product manager at a startup where my company, TechEmpower , did the software / web development. I have about 11 years in the technology sector including roles doing market research, sales and product development. My focus has been marketing strategy and product development.
After operating in stealth mode for about two years, First Resonance , a company founded by former SpaceX engineers, is finally showing the world their software toolkit designed to let manufacturers make things using the processes employed by their former boss.
Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.
Innovation is the key to long-term business success, both in startups as well as established organizations. Then, when you are unable to remove more layers, you can build up to the fastest and most efficient way of getting that base thing done. Amazon uses this technique internally for all new product design efforts.
In spite of these roadblocks, there are a growing number of Black-owned business grants available, designed to help close the gap and make the business landscape more diverse. Power Forward Small Business Grant Black Founder Startup Grant Powershift Entrepreneurs Grant NAACP and Lelsie’s Certification Boost Grant U.S.
When you play Monopoly with your children, you can subtly underscore an entrepreneurial mindset in their gameplay which will ultimately help them develop valuable startup skills, as described below. Even though the game is hypercompetitive by design, your child will likely play with the same basic group of family and friends.
Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Develop your business plan.
Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. This ended updeveloping into Visual Basic for Applications , the strategy for programmability in Microsoft Office.
Here are six results that you can achieve by building a prototype, which are really the reasons that investors and partners will give you a whole new level of credibility as they evaluate your startup for potential funding: Something you can touch and feel helps validate opportunity. As a startup, you need all the leverage you can get.
Here are the key objectives that you can achieve by building a prototype, which are really the reasons that investors and partners will give you a whole new level of credibility as they evaluate your startup for potential funding: Something you can touch and feel helps validate opportunity. Reduce the time to production and rollout.
Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Develop your business plan.
Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Develop your business plan.
Two founders have spent $200K of personal and family funds over a one year period to start the company, get a prototype site up and running, and have already generated some “buzz” in the Internet community. NewCo might be able to pick up an initial $50K valuation on this item. Early customers and contracts in progress add value.
Value Prop Twitter Style : TestFlight helps developers build better apps. We developed it for ourselves. TestFlight does simple, elegant, over the air distribution of apps that are in development and haven’t been made available in the App Store yet. In the development world, it is always about patterns.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content