Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

If you do a capped note it’s bad for the entrepreneur. The trouble is, nobody has an incentive to agree to write the first check. There is simply no reason for the first angel to write you a check until you have the whole round secure, which is why people herd cats. I’m not sure why people don’t see that.

Pricing 294

Pricing Venture Capital Writing Equity 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2012

No one is born with business writing skills, and everyone can learn them. Thus, I thought a quick refresher on business writing basics might help you more than any tip on the next big thing on the business horizon: Select clear purpose and focus. Tailor writing to your audience. Develop a friendly business writing voice.

Writing 89

Writing Email Tips Startup 89

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Entrepreneurs tend to remain in the business niche they know best. Some of these entrepreneurs starting a new company are alumni from companies that would be a competitor to the enterprise being created or joined. As I write this in late 2024, legislation is being proposed at the national level to eliminate non-competes.

Design 156

Design Writing News Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you, and demonstrating your readiness.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

My initial reaction to Adeo when we spoke was that while it may have solved some issues (debt versus equity) it didn’t solve the ones that I’ve been warning entrepreneurs about most loudly. If I could persuade you that they’re already in these documents would you consider abandoning this structure?

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Shame about not getting it in legal writing that you owned the original IP.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. Large companies write business plans, why of course, that’s the organizing document for a startup. Yet we took this document, the business plan, because we knew nothing else and said, ‘Go write one of these.’. That was the implicit statement.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you. Financial model.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Their primary intended reader is a “first-time entrepreneur”, but clearly other stakeholders within the startup universe can also benefit from the book’s hands-on advice. Brad and Jason have been exposing venture capitalists’ secrets since 2005, when they began writing a blog series on Term Sheets at AskTheVC. Things I Loved.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2012

A few angel investors have slipped or fallen from their lofty perch, so entrepreneurs must take great care to validate the character and reputation of every prospective investor. The entrepreneur’s tendency to be in a huge hurry to obtain the funding can end up being disastrous, and play into the hands of these less scrupulous investors.

Angel 112

Angel Entrepreneur Writing Invest 112

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). We are doing what we do – writing larger checks and playing an active role at the company. There is a reason for this.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. Many of these new entrepreneurs were regular employees a few years ago, focused on a skill specialty. Writing specialists. We are becoming a society of entrepreneurs. specialist entrepreneur startup freelance business' Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Services Search Engine Optimization Startup 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. 18% of all errors come from people using the wrong documents. hours are spent every day by workers searching for documents. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice. So, where is this all coming from, Mark?

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2016

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Writing 62

Writing Summary Email Ideas 62

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series “ Pitching a VC “ There’s a great meme developing this morning on the need to simplify funding terms and documents. Many had the typical investor-friendly terms where entrepreneurs would get screwed and not even understand how they got screwed until many years later. I totally agree.

Funding 252

Funding Venture Capital Startup Blogging 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2023

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Tips 123

Tips Writing Startup Summary 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2013

If you can’t solve problems and enjoy it, you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. By definition, an entrepreneur is the first to undertake a given business, and firsts never happen without problems and people frustrations. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity. Your team and your customers will see right through it.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Training Customer 107

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I’m writing this post as part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital but will file it under Sales Tips as well since it applies equally to both scenarios. tip: write it down when asked / parked). Let me write that down.&#. - Congratulations. Do you mind if I answer that a little later in the presentation?

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

There is a common misconception that an idea can be protected by documenting it, placing it in an envelope and then mailing it to yourself. Underlying this presumption is the belief that if the envelop is unopened, the postmark will “prove” the date the idea was conceived (or at least when it was documented). Know Thou Prior Art.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2010

An entrepreneur recently sent me an @ reply message on Twitter asking for some help with a decision coming up in his business. But many well intentioned entrepreneurs are sloppy about how they ask so I’d like to give you some guidelines to help. I get these frequently via Twitter, Facebook or email. I don’t mind.

Help 332

Help Email Mentor Blogging 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

You don’t need to invent an innovative product to be a real entrepreneur. Self-employed services specialists are just as important, and are a growing part of this new “ age of the entrepreneur ” that I discussed last week. Many of these new entrepreneurs were regular employees a few years ago, focused on a skill specialty.

Entrepreneur 89

Entrepreneur Services Product Search Engine Optimization 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in founding a startup today. For entrepreneurs, change is the norm, so you have to relish it before you can make it happen. The act of communicating and writing enhances learning.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Education 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.” Start with a service you know and love.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2011

A business plan is an “outward facing” document for external investors, or for C-level executives within your own company. Because this document is “outward facing” the tone and level has to change to be understandable by customers and investors. It’s definitely positive to have a product plan.

Product 93

Product Entrepreneur Outsource Development Competition 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. milestones entrepreneur startup funding business'

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2012

Persuading a journalist to write about you rather than the 1,000 other companies bugging them. And no life is more of a constant negotiation than that of an entrepreneur. Their modus operandi is, “send us all your comments by marking up our entire document.” You get back a document that has 5,000 redlines on it.

Startup 322

Startup Training Outsource Development Design 322

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

With all these companies vying for attention & others just here to soak up the vibe I thought I’d write a much broader piece on how startups can make the most of their attendance at conferences & events. Write them in advance and request meetings. We didn’t have any documents due that night. We just hung.

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

If you can’t solve problems and enjoy it, you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. By definition, an entrepreneur is the first to undertake a given business, and firsts never happen without problems and people frustrations. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity. Your team and your customers will see right through it.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Training Customer 92

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2010

But I use this all of the time as a metaphor when talking with entrepreneurs in person and I’ve found it to be a useful way of explaining to entrepreneurs what is going in in the VC’s life. I have no idea why, but that’s always how it always felt to me when I was an entrepreneur raising money.

Venture Capital 275

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Capital Ideas 275

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Berkonomics

MAY 29, 2014

Richa is a successful entrepreneur and technologist giving back to the entrepreneurial community in many ways, including his weekly Internet TV program on entrepreneurism, and participation in several mentoring programs. . But it’s a valuable document for you. By JJ Richa. So why make a plan? Business Plans are not static.

Startup 166

Startup Guide Help Mentor 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2013

A key success element is to start by avoiding the known list of interviewing and hiring mistakes that have been documented many times by human resources professionals. Resumes won’t give you the positive conclusion, but they can highlight negatives, like job gaps, bad writing, and minimal experience. “He

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Resource 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." A startup does require MVP but it is much more than just MVP.

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

I’m just writing verbatim what I wrote in a Quora response years ago. A term sheet is not a legally binding document. Of course you should eventually warn other entrepreneurs you know 1-1 in private. Sorry for using f**k two posts in a row. This isn’t Dave McClure secretly taking over Mark’s blog.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Content Writing Blogging 150