Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch. Research your audience before presenting. Marty Zwilling.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

I sit through a lot of presentations. Understand Personality Types – One of the benefits of working for a big company (Accenture) was that we had lots of speakers come in and train us in topics like leadership, creativity, presentations, strategy, etc. I’m also reasonably intelligent as most VCs you present to will be.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Funding for founder salaries at this stage is a red flag.

Tips 91

Tips Funding Startup Invest 91

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. Phantom fund investors. Work at home to fund your startup. Cash transfer assistance funding. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 148

Technical Review Tips Funding Startup 148

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.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. Pitching” is the insider term for presenting your product idea to people who could conceivably buy it or fund your efforts. As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

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. He has built more than a dozen businesses and seen everything ranging from failure to immense success.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Ideas Satisfaction Customer 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

Back in November I agreed with Nivi over at VentureHacks to do a series on the ten most important attributes of a successful entrepreneur. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it is perfectly correlated with what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. If we’ve seen a company present where we feel that the CEO is shady.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

Jason Calacanis , the serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and conference organizer, announced Tuesday morning that it has closed his first, formal angel investing fund, The LAUNCH Fund I. Calacanis said the fund will invest $100-$250K in 50-100 startups. LPs in the fund include Calacanis, David Sacks, and others.

Funding 178

Funding Company Companies Conference 178

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012 -- Deconstruct Your Deck: How to Build an Effective Investor Presentation. The evaluation is provided by veteran LA VC Jon Funk of Ocean Road Partners and another invited social angel investor.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Activity Entrepreneur Funding 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2013

The LAUNCH Fund , the angel investment fund of Los Angeles angel and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, is looking to invest $200,000 in startups who present at two of the events being run by Calacanis over the next couple of months, according to an announcement by Calacanis Tuesday. READ MORE>>.

Invest 147

Invest Funding Conference Southern California 147

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2018

Every entrepreneur wants to hear “yes” during the fund-raising process but I would argue that being too risk averse and not pushing hard enough and be willing to hear a “no” is what holds back many people from “yes.” Possibly offend and entrepreneur leading to reputation risk amongst other entrepreneurs.

Funding 189

Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Venture Capital 189

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Investing in strong leaders, including entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, or corporate icons such as Jack Welch, has long been recognized as a key to reduced risk, and the key to high valuation on the side of the seller. Execution leadership.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I believe in this so much that, despite my post advising you to be prepared for the *norm* in VC, I wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. I funded them 8 weeks later. The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. Call an audible.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

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.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Yet as we enter February 2017 the VC funding markets are booming, Snap, Inc has filed for its IPO, AppDynamics was just purchased for $3.7 But the reality is that “global warming” massively blunted the effects of winter and my prognosis for VC fundings of entrepreneurs in 2017–2018 is now very sunny indeed. billion into Uber.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2011

Other writers, like Guy Kawasaki, have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent over-enthusiasm or over-confidence that can kill your deal. No investor wants to wait that long for his return, or fund the years of waiting. Gartner says our market will be $50 billion in 2015.”

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Funding Innocal Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. Fundraising is indeed brutally tough at all stages, and the seed funding is the hardest to find.

Seed Funding 100

Seed Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Funding 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Many entrepreneurs seems to be convinced that the “crowd” of regular people using the Internet will somehow solve their startup funding needs, when they sense a lack of interest from accredited investors. Amount of funding provided is usually not enough. Many fail spectacularly after exceeding their funding objectives.

Funding 101

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Invest 101

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I see you were involved in the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur effort at the Montgomery Summit this year, tell me a little about what that is all about?

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

If you are new to the startup space and Angel investing, you probably don’t realize that some groups of Angel investors charge entrepreneurs a fee to pitch to their groups. In reality, these fees are usually trivial compared to your real costs of preparing, travelling, and presenting to investors. Find and fix that first.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Angel Funding Blogging 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. Phantom fund investors. Work at home to fund your startup. Cash transfer assistance funding. entrepreneur funding investors business'

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Technical Review Funding Email 80

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 18, 2013

We will also have some of the top companies present that each of the panelist has invested in. Brock Pierce is a 10x entrepreneur best known for pioneering the market for digital currency. Extensive experience as an executive, entrepreneur and as an investor.

Startup 111

Startup Entertainment Media Santa Barbara 111

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Many entrepreneurs struggle with their setbacks.

Entrepreneur 288

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Seed Funding 288

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. When you begin to peel back the onion some surprising data presents itself. Over the past 4 years LA’s tech fundings have growing at a 30% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) which is > 4 times the US average VC CAGR (7%).

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. – entrepreneurs never seem to focus on anything other than ownership percentage. From there VentureHacks was then launched which gave entrepreneur advice on fund raising from your point of view. Drag along rights?

Venture Capital 304

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Guide Blogging 304

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 -- Funding the Big Idea! TriTechs 3rd annual funding conference where businesses and entrepreneurs interact with investors and also get a chance to look into the mind of investors in order to find out what it takes to become investor ready. See [link].

Ideas 124

Ideas Funding Conference Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch. Research your audience before presenting.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 -- TriTech's 3rd Annual Funding Forum. Funding the Big Idea! TriTech's 3rd annual funding conference where businesses and entrepreneurs interact with investors and also get a chance to look into the mind of investors in order to find out what it takes to become "investor ready".

Funding 124

Funding Conference Ideas Startup 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2019

Image via Flickr by ivanpw Some aspiring entrepreneurs are so desperate for funding, or naïve, that they ignore the obvious signs of scams and rip-offs on the Internet, praying for a windfall. Phantom fund investors. Work at home to fund your startup. Cash transfer assistance funding. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Funding Email Entrepreneur 91

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 21, 2014

A profile of the state of the Bitcoin industry and its presence of female entrepreneurs. A clear distinction our female entrepreneurs have made here has been their active decisions to hit the ground running. Brock Pierce – Digital Currency Entrepreneur and Angel Investor. The subject on hand? Bitcoin, litecoin, maybe doge.

Startup 104

Startup Venture Capital Draper Invest 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

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.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 2, 2010

Thursday, July 8, 2010 -- Maverick Angels Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs. Do you have a great business idea but are not quite ready to present to angel investors? Many entrepreneurs have promising business plans, but are not skilled in how to present their ideas to investors. See [link] (more).

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Angel Training Ideas 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

One of the hardest things to know when you’re new to fund raising is what you’re supposed to send to an investor, when and will they keep your information confidential. As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game. I recommend sub 10MB.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2013

Many entrepreneurs seems to be convinced that the “crowd” of regular people using the Internet will somehow solve their startup funding needs, when they sense a lack of interest from accredited investors. Amount of funding provided is usually not enough. Crowd sample size and makeup not representative of market.

Funding 106

Funding Equity Entrepreneur Sample 106

InfoChachkie

MAY 6, 2013

I was in a board meeting recently at Connexity when Dave Gross, the company''s Co-Founder and CEO, made an insightful observation regarding the shortage of Series A funds. Paul Singh, a partner at the seed stage firm 500-Startups, effectively articulates the market forces driving this investment strategy in his Money Ball presentation.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Capital 246