Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

One of the big sources of success in Southern California's technology industry has been the rise of a number of serial entrepreneurs, who not only have succeeded once, but a number of times.

Entrepreneur 166

Entrepreneur Southern California Equity Ideas 166

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. Long hours.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review Equity Invest Startup 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We operate at scale and speed unprecedented in human history.” * I first wrote about the changes to the Venture Capital ecosystem 10 years ago and this still serves as a good primer of how we arrived at 2011, a decade on from the Web 1.0 And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need to spread the risk.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). There is a lot to say about retaining control. For you who fit that description, nice work. composed of these investors and management.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. Evaluate their sincerity by asking them to accept equity in exchange for all or a portion of their overall compensation. Grant Exclusivity.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2014

Most entrepreneurs think first of bank loans as the primary source of money, only to find out that banks are really the least likely benefactors for startups. She plumbs the range of possibilities she has gained through personal experience as an entrepreneur, and as the “queen of business financing” in the financial industry.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Capital Startup Funding 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2020

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Equity Statistics 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cashflow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Curious to learn more about the pain and joys of bootstrapping a business, I sat down with Jim Semick, the company’s Co-Founder and Chief Strategist. Who is Mr. Semick and what is ProductPlan all about? We’ve been in business for about four years now. I’m really proud to be a part of launching those products.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

In my experience as an advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often encounter the myth that an initial startup requires investors. The media tends to highlight experienced entrepreneurs who succeed with early new venture funding, like Uber’s Garrett Camp , but fail to point out the more common bootstrapping successes.

Entrepreneur 67

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Outsource Development 67

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. A passionate entrepreneur I met a while back had found that a certain algae could be grown cheaply, and could end world hunger.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2016

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Equity investments are not loans, so there is no loan payback period or interest payments.

Equity 55

Equity Startup Technical Review Statistics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. For starters you have to realize that fund-raising is a sales process.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Statistics Equity Satisfaction 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2013

Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. A few years ago I interviewed a serial entrepreneur, Rich Christiansen , who has done almost 30 businesses wholly by bootstrapping. Don’t think about the exit.

Equity 96

Equity Startup Summary Tips 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need to spread the risk.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Equity 102

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event for the early investors, including the entrepreneur or the founders. Most sophisticated investors will take either a promissory note or preferred stock, both of which come before founder or management stock in a sale or liquidation.

Angel 120

Angel Sales Pricing Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur USC Statistics Equity 57

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. Long hours.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Expertise can be marketing, technical, financial, or sales.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. Another common “failure to start” situation I see is one where the “idea person” insists that the idea is 90% of the value (and 90% of the equity). Expertise can be marketing, technical, financial, or sales.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team. Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 123

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

I’m talking about what most of you are tempted to do. Weight Class : Let’s take sales. I see a lot of CEO’s who haven’t gotten the quick ramp in sales that they had hoped for want to reach quickly to bring in a VP Sales who has done it all before. You’re stressed. My advice: don’t.

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327