Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. Are we in a bubble?” By definition?—?I’m Seed has become an option factory for many.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2023

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change 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.

Social Media 120

Social Media Startup Entrepreneur Education 120

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. There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. I know this stuff cold now.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS ASP 267

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

APRIL 29, 2023

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 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

Many aspiring entrepreneurs I mentor can talk at length about their innovative ideas and passions, and ask lots of good questions, but never make much progress in building a real business. Writing something down is the first step toward moving forward and making it real. The best entrepreneurs finish something every day.

Ideas 121

Ideas Writing Startup Entrepreneur 121

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 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

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

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 Custom 107

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Riot Ventures , the Los Angeles-based, early-stage and deep technology investment firm is going out to market to raise a $75 million second fund to finance the development of startups in LA and beyond, according to fundraising documents viewed by TechCrunch. Marcus has a long background in angel investing and company creation.

Los Angeles 126

Los Angeles Artificial Inteligence Invest Angel 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2020

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change 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.

Social Media 127

Social Media Startup Education Entrepreneur 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2016

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change 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 61

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Education 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, costs, and tasks you don’t like. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. Let’s keep it in the family.”

Startup 140

Startup Satisfaction Writing Entrepreneur 140

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

These collective sets of documents form the basis of what somebody looking at investing would call “financial due diligence.” If you’ve got the skills to be a strong entrepreneur then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find people who know a partner at a VC firm and if you can build relationship with them you can get introduced.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2020

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 125

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 125

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

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

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

MARCH 14, 2015

The solution is to do the right job up front on requirements, document and approve specifications, and have the toughest person you know do the project management. Here are five basic rules to live by: Document the requirements. In all documents, clearly define who must sign off on content and provide business-side feedback.

Technical Review 104

Technical Review Product Software Review High Tech 104

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2015

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.

Startup 104

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Slides 104

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2012

Seth is a design-oriented entrepreneur, with little desire to document details. The more you play around with ideas and you write them down, the better. Per Seth, emerging entrepreneurs should, "Find problems that need solving… that resonate (with you). Chaos By Design. In his entrepreneurial Tribe, he is the Shaman.

Ideas 266

Ideas Guide Startup Santa Barbara 266

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

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

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

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Too many aspiring entrepreneurs I mentor can talk at length about their innovative ideas and passions, and ask lots of good questions, but never make much progress in building a real business. Writing something down is the first step toward moving forward and making it real. The best entrepreneurs finish something every day.

Writing 100

Writing Ideas Startup Entrepreneur 100

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 Custom 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

The solution is to do the right job up front on requirements, document and approve specifications, and have the toughest person you know do the project management. Here are five basic rules to live by: Document the requirements. In all documents, clearly define who must sign off on content and provide business-side feedback.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Startup Software Review High Tech 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2013

Too many entrepreneurs still believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and investors will throw money at you. This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. No problem. Marty Zwilling.

Sample 92

Sample Writing Summary Startup 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2013

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 105

Angel Writing Startup Invest 105

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

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

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2017

Ultimately the Goldman Sachs report gets picked up by a journalist who writes a hyperbolic headline with emphatic conclusions because nobody wants to read that tomorrow will be just like today. Since I had built 2 document management companies I knew all the reasons why building a document management company would “never work.”

Venture Capital 182

Venture Capital Statistics Writing Report 182