Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2021

Disclosing inventions before the patent application is filed. Entrepreneurs often put off the hassle and the cost of filing a patent until first funding. There is no excuse for not filing at least a provisional patent early. Then you will only have pay tax on the increasing value of your shares when they are sold.

Patents 145

Patents Legalzoom Invest Startup 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Count on six months from beginning the funding process until a new check is cashed. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Be a miser with contract services and facilities. You will make mistakes.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

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

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Count on six months from beginning the funding process until a new check is cashed. The best entrepreneurs manage cashflow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Be a miser with contract services and facilities. You will make mistakes.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Target market.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Don’t let your service be viewed as a commodity.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Seek innovation that begets invention. Failure is an option.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Pitching app developers with a new way to convert app browsers into actual customers, AppOnboard has raised $15 million in a new round of funding, the company said. Company co-founder Jonathan Zweig has already had one hit as a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur. “Google has been a great partner for us,” Zweig says.

Google 213

Google Los Angeles Southern California Platform 213

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

Among those funds is TYLT Lab (www.tyltlab.com), which recently announced a new, $20M early stage investment fund specifically focused on companies here. We spoke with Rami Rostami and Gerard Casale , who are behind TYLT Labs, and who told us a bit about their new fund, its investment criteria, and where it sees the promise here.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. Obviously, his result goes well beyond the idea of charging a premium for better beans and service. Everyone has ideas, but only a few can make them happen. Look for technologies to adapt from other domains.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

You are an aspiring entrepreneur, eager to dump the corporate grind, and work to the beat of your own drummer, but you can’t come up with that killer idea to save the world. Technically, I believe an entrepreneur is anyone who manages his own profit and loss, and doesn’t meet the government tax definition of an employee.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Course Patents 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2011

Disclosing inventions before the patent application is filed. Entrepreneurs often put off the hassle and the cost of filing a patent until first funding. There is no excuse for not filing at least a provisional patent early. Then you will only have pay tax on the increasing value of your shares when they are sold.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Patents Invest Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Here is my own priority list of key risk drivers that every entrepreneur and every investor should evaluate and minimize in starting a business: Team experience and depth risk. Financial risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2022

In my experience as an angel investor to startups, goodwill disagreements are perhaps the most common reason that you will fail to close interested investors as an entrepreneur. If you are the entrepreneur or owner, every potential investor takes a hard look at you. Quality of your technical and business teams.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Social Media Entrepreneur Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Count on six months from beginning the funding process until a new check is cashed. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Be a miser with contract services and facilities. You will make mistakes.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

I offer these pragmatic recommendations: Buffer your funding requirements. Consider both the money you need before funding, and the size of investor funding requests. Barter services and use equity to get things done for minimum cash. You should buffer the first by 50%, and the second by 25%. Do not delegate this task!

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Social Network Startup Patents 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

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. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2012

It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world. Most startups need funding before shipping, and investors expect to see your website to validate your business plan.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Startup News 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

The more conventional VP of Marketing role should cover branding, as well as other marketing advertising, design, public relations and customer service requirements. If your business is managing contracts and patents, it makes sense, but the CLO for most startups is LegalZoom on the Internet. Chief Risk Officer. Chief Legal Officer.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities. Financials.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. He or she will assume your comment means there is no market for your product or service, or you haven’t looked. Neither speaks well for you or your startup.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.” Line up an experienced team.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2013

Helping solicit new business ideas and patents from individuals, federal research labs, universities and other R&D organizations countrywide. After joining, one can search for a company co-founder or head to the platform’s “Jobs” section for opportunities listed by each company, allowing an exchange of services for equity in the company.

El Segundo 76

El Segundo Social Network Startup Patents 76

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. They are both former entrepreneurs and current Partners at Foundry Group , a highly successful, early stage venture firm. The Magicians Tells Their Secrets.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Every entrepreneur has an idea for transforming a market with innovative new technology, or transforming society with a new process. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Seek innovation that begets invention. Failure is an option.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2013

Disclosing inventions before the patent application is filed. Entrepreneurs often put off the hassle and the cost of filing a patent until first funding. There is no excuse for not filing at least a provisional patent early. entrepreneur startup legal shortcuts investor founder business' Marty Zwilling.

Startup 94

Startup Patents Legalzoom Invest 94