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6 Lessons Most Entrepreneurs Only Learn On The Street

Startup Professionals Musings

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Your leadership skills do not develop without effort. Even the best college degree is not a substitute.

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8 Entrepreneur Mistakes That Turn Off Real Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Solution development undefined or incomplete. Future unproven projections don’t set today’s valuation.

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Can you guess 10 tests for your success?

Berkonomics

Is it the advantage of time – years of development ahead of any competitor? A core patent or “thicket” of patents protecting your offering? Do anything you can to develop compelling products or early prototypes as proof of ability to reduce technology risk. What can you prove as a barrier to entry for competitors?

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6 Drivers For Aspiring Entrepreneurs To Finish School

Startup Professionals Musings

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. Every school recognizes the power of “hands-on” work to help you develop your own ideas into a business. Write a business plan and pitch deck for learning.

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6 Cost-Cutting Recommendations For New Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Software Patents

Startup Professionals Musings

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).

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Why Smart Entrepreneurs Build Plans For Their Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Development schedule and checkpoints.