Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. Fail to establish adequate structure. Thus the biggest mistake any new entrepreneur can make is to believe that a board of advisors or a board of directors will only slow them down.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. But unfortunately, most of these ideas fail at the execution level, or are not truly innovative. Transformative entrepreneurs pay attention and capitalize on these cues, rather than ignore or fight them.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2022

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” If you are dreaming of an opportunity to get rich quick, the entrepreneur route is not for you. You enjoy building relationships as well as products.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. As a new entrepreneur approaching an investor, you only get one chance for a great first impression.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2014

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. I call it failing by early adopters. Moore, “ Crossing the Chasm ,” but most entrepreneurs don’t realize how much it relates to them. chasm early adopters entrepreneurs Geoffrey Moore startups'

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InfoChachkie

APRIL 24, 2012

Article first published as Why A Prominent Start-up Executive Wants You to Get Fired and Fail on Technorati. Kim Kovaks, Founder and CEO OptionEase , recently spoke to a class of emerging entrepreneurs at UC Santa Barbara. Kim shocked some of the students by telling them that she hopes they fail. I told her) you’ve got to fail.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2022

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

I find myself nodding – even when the topic is one I don’t expect to agree with such as “fail fast.” Oh, and if you didn’t guess, the title, “if you don’t have a discrete hypothesis you are incapable of failing” is, of course, an Eric Ries quote. Most people are working on failing ideas.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Every business professional I know, or have met in my consulting role, has given serious thought to the alternative of switching to the entrepreneur lifestyle , pursuing a long-standing dream, and controlling their own destiny. This approach will give you more time and run rate to find what works best for you. Every idea has merit and risk.

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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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

It’s a special mix of entrepreneur and company, regular in every respect except for having the courage and foresight to make an idea happen that was supposed to be impossible. As an entrepreneur in a startup, how do you know if you have this potential, and what are the steps to get from an innovation to a revolution?

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2022

Some people are not cut out to be entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs do not function well in traditional organizations and do not like being in the conventional management hierarchy.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale. Many years ago, John Hamm published some definitive work on this subject in " Why Entrepreneurs Don't Scale " in the Harvard Business Review.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Too many entrepreneurs think that expert external advisors are suspect, or will slow them down.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So why do most startups fail? Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. For example, I worked with an entrepreneur a while back who was clearly intelligent, had a great idea, and communicated well. I sometimes find entrepreneurs who highlight that their strength is “ideas.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2022

titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” outlining the keys to successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. It will likely take several ideas, with the learning process of failing on a couple, before you can call yourself a successful entrepreneur. Problem solvers make successful entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2022

The answer is a resounding yes today, and I’m convinced that it will be even more true tomorrow, as young idealistic entrepreneurs try to adapt to the long-standing business culture if success is only measured in the money you make for yourself and your business. Focus on practices that help you stay open and have faith, but don’t force it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, one of the most common requests I get is for an evaluation of a next startup idea. I try to explain that even the most innovative idea will fail if it is not a good fit for you at this time, so the question I ask them is “why you now” rather than “ why this solution now ?” He succeeded well in both.

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 5, 2013

If your company has said "Yes" to any of the following requests, you have effectively failed the partnership idiot test. For those interested, I describe how wily entrepreneurs infiltrate big companies by avoiding the front door HERE. • The post Did You Just Fail The Partnerhip Idiot Test? Exclusivity. App Ghetto.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. All the evidence says that over 99% fail to make that leap. They safely assume that an entrepreneur with the right attributes will start with a great idea, and spend their time honing and presenting a great plan to deliver, leading to a successful business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Billionaire entrepreneur and "Shark Tank" co-host Mark Cuban is an outspoken proponent of the all-in early approach in a video interview, and made it clear that he gives no credibility and low odds to founders seeking funding who have not fully committed their time and efforts to their cause. The early entrepreneur lifestyle is not much fun.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

Almost every entrepreneur needs to improve their skills in this area, so I did some research in the basic principles. Managers who fail to delegate responsibility in addition to specific tasks eventually find themselves reporting to their subordinates and doing some of the work, rather than vice versa. Avoid reverse delegation.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

In my view, this focus on the wrong skill set is the primary reason why over half of new businesses fail in the first five years, and only one out of a hundred startups get their requested funding from professional investors. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Consensus and change are hard.

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 26, 2013

This approach allows your venture to "fail in the small" and make course corrections before spending significant marketing resources. In addition to not abiding by the inverted funnel approach to rolling outproducts, failed startups often make the following rookie marketing mistakes: Launch In Stealth Mode . Prove The Hypothesis.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. Even if you are still in school, and never started a company before, strong entrepreneur candidates can point to projects they initiated, led, that produced significant results.

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Berkonomics

AUGUST 13, 2020

In fact, many angel investors or venture capitalists look for and respect the lessons learned by entrepreneurs that have survived a failed business. The key question is: Why did an entrepreneur fail? A successful entrepreneur who has seen the movie before is even more valued. Yes, it works both ways.

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Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

We’ve all heard the modern day mantra: Fail Fast. It’s good advice; the theory being that entrepreneurs can discover the flaws in their business models sooner, make course corrections and move in a more favorable direction. I became an entrepreneur by default. Could an entrepreneur follow this same business model today?

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. You may still fail but at least you’ll have less chance of failing for the wrong reasons.

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Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2022

Dave’s note: This is a reprint of a 2015 insight that seems to have struck a chord with investors and entrepreneurs. None of this advice has changed… Let me tell you a few short hair–raising stories of entrepreneurs who have raised money and regretted it later. The problem, of course, comes if the business fails.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Even though I’m a big proponent of becoming an entrepreneur, it is definitely not for everyone. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. Test your entrepreneur instincts through crowdfunding.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2020

One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. In fact, Mehta focuses on a special class of entrepreneurs that he calls disruptors. Focus your efforts on creating value, not wealth.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So why do most startups fail? Marty Zwilling

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Investors know that startups with too much money fail just as often as those with not enough. In reality, all risks are not the same.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. The best entrepreneurs are not just dreamers of the next big thing – they have to be great facilitators and problem solvers.

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