Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

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. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2023

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. According to more recent statistics , fewer than a third of all crowdfunding operations end up being successful, and the rest have to return anything they do collect.

Equity 80

Equity Platform Entrepreneur Statistics 80

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2018

According to statistics by Fundly , crowdfunding contributed $34 billion in funding last year around the world, including peer-to-peer lending. Yet crowdfunding is no panacea for hungry entrepreneurs and startups. In fact, there are many types of crowdfunding, including donations, reward, pre-orders, loans, and equity.

Equity 72

Equity Entrepreneur Statistics Funding 72

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Funding 138

Funding Startup Equity Invest 138

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.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 115

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

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

It seems that most of you entrepreneurs I meet in my role as business advisor are convinced that starting a new business requires equity investors, exponential growth, and a plan to go public via IPO. If your passion is customers, you definitely will be happier as a lifestyle entrepreneur.

Statistics 124

Statistics Equity Satisfaction Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2015

The visibility of Google, Facebook and a few others continues to propagate the myth that the ultimate objective of every entrepreneur should be to take their startups public via an initial public offering at the earliest opportunity. Facebook, for example, ended up raising almost $16 billion through its IPO.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Report Statistics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2015

Image via Flickr by Jupiter Labs Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup was $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Invest 106

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

AUGUST 5, 2023

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

Statistics 98

Statistics Entrepreneur Funding Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Sales 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

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. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 97

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Startup 106

Startup Angel Entrepreneur .Net 106

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2016

There seems to be a big debate these days about the best approach to starting a new business. Some argue the only way to start is to drop everything and jump in with both feet, while others recommend an overlapped approach to the lifestyle, including not quitting your day job until you have revenue and a proven business model.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction News 63

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

It’s great to start with a big dream as you contemplate a new business, but finding the money you need takes more than dreaming. As an advisor to young entrepreneurs, I find that many are a bit naïve about how the investment process really works. Get started first on your own time and money.

Tips 86

Tips Funding Startup Entrepreneur 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

According to recent statistics from the International Business Innovation Association ( InBIA ), there are about 7,000 business incubators and accelerators worldwide, with over 90 percent being non-profit and focused on incubator programs for community economic development. Costs, returns in equity and funding access.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2013

From the annual search statistics from Google and Bing , it''s clearly information about celebrities. A Santa Monica startup, Famous Birthdays , looks to have carved out quite a niche in the area, with its online list of (you guessed it), famous birthdays. The design just went live in the last couple of weeks. READ MORE>>.

Web Design 182

Web Design Santa Monica Statistics Web 182

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. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Statistics Equity Satisfaction 107

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

I challenge any entrepreneur, for example, to define the difference between "seed-stage" and "early-stage" financing. Most investors won’t touch a first-time entrepreneur at this stage. Crowdfunding is rapidly becoming the major source of funding for seed-stage startups. Startup incubator seed funding.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

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. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur USC Statistics Equity 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

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. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Equity 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Thus investing in startups should always be approached as a low odds game.

Invest 111

Invest Angel Funding Startup 111

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. VC is a long-term business Some businesses are overnight successes but few of them really move immediately up and to the right. We have invested in every round and as a result our ownership has actually gone up over time.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2011

If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. It seems to me that in the startup world, imitation gets a bad rap. Of course, the first one gets the patent.

Startup 91

Startup Patents Statistics Course 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2016

One of the biggest myths I have found in the entrepreneur community is that every startup needs one or more outside investors for credibility and success, and perhaps is even entitled to at least one. Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. But don’t wait for them to contact you.

Startup 61

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Funding 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2016

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 57

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

Bitvore is based in Irvine, and is backed by serial entrepreneur Yuri Pikover, as well as other angels. Our system will go off and watch those things for you, trend them over time, do statistical analysis on them, or you can use it as a very advanced news gathering system, which is what we''re doing with it today for Wall Street.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

What every entrepreneur is asking me these days, is “How do I get to be a unicorn?” Based on some good estimates of how many new ventures have been started in the last five years, the statistical odds of any individual startup making it to this level are less than one in a million. Keep working on increasing the momentum.

Company 100

Company Companies Startup Statistics 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 5, 2013

But, most significantly, we have a different funding model, including subscription-based funding, which allows people to set up recurring, rather than one-off, 30 to sixty day campaigns. The biggest advantage of that model, is that subscription campaigns can''t expire or fail, and you have every month to build up your subscriber base.

Content 231

Content Platform Sites Web 231

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2016

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of those demanding angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. At least ten online portals are already gearing up to help regular people buy startup equity, without abiding by accredited investor rules.

Equity 54

Equity Platform Entrepreneur Demand 54

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

As an angel investor and business advisor on new ventures, I expect to see five-year financial projections from every entrepreneur. Does this entrepreneur understand the basics of business costs in the selected business domain, growth dynamics, and the competitive environment? Project unit-volume and price levels.

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2010

One of the more successful serial entrepreneurs here in Southern California has been Robin D. Robin's latest startup is Internships.com (www.internships.com), an online site focused on aggregating internship opportunities and providing resources to potential interns. How did you decide to start Internships.com?

Startup 223

Startup Content Sites CTO Coach 223

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2012

If you are an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time, I recommend that you find a product concept that is already accepted and improve on it, rather than tackling that ultimate disruptive technology. It seems to me that in the startup world, imitation gets a bad rap. Of course, the first one gets the patent.

Patents 84

Patents Startup Statistics Course 84

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

TechZulu met with Hale Boggs, from Manatt Digital Media, and discussed Manatt Digital Media and the future of LA’s startup scene. TechZulu: Let’s start with an easy question. How is the LA startup scene? With the ability to get companies up and going with lesser capital needs means you can grow quickly.

Los Angeles 84

Los Angeles Media Invest Startup 84