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. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

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Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 131

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 5, 2019

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 -- How to Raise Capital for your Start Up. Are you a Founder or Entrepreneur looking to raise money for your startup? This will be an opportunity to learn about the fundraising process from our expert panel and to learn about their real life experiences starting and funding their companies.

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Startup Capital Networking Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.” Others are debilitated by their fear, avoid risk at all costs, and never start.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Knowledge Base 153

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Funding and rollout stage.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

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Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2021

As an angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and assume no strings attached. Angel and venture capital money always comes with ownership and management implications, starting with the obvious ones outlined in the term sheet for the deal.

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Funding Startup Entrepreneur Report 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

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. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

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Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

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Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

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Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. If you have a good idea, but haven’t started yet, only friends, family and fools will likely be interested. Can you justify your use of funds to this investor?

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Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

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.

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Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

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Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy DiNunzio isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup founder. She did her first tech startup after the age of 30. And she didn’t start her company in Northern California. She leveraged herself and even sold many of her possessions to get started. She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur.

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Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. Is Funding a Worthy Announcement? There are reasons you may delay funding announcement but rarely reasons not to announce.

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Startup Funding News Press 355

socalTECH

MARCH 29, 2019

MiLA Capital , the venture capital firm that is behind the Make In LA hardware accelerator, says it has raised its first official venture capital fund, officially closing its first fundraise. Size of the fund was not announced. Source of the funding for the new venture capital fund was not announced. READ MORE>>.

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Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 191

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.

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Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Establishing your brand with interactive social media.

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 24, 2016

Thursday, June 30, 2016 -- Alternative Accelerators and Start-Up Resources. Today, start-ups have more choices for accessing business resources and seed funding than ever. The next Mobile LAVA will present some of these different equity partners available to start-ups in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape.

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Startup Resource LAVA Seed Funding 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 17, 2016

Thursday, June 23, 2016 -- Alternative Accelerators and Start-Up Resources. Today, start-ups have more choices for accessing business resources and seed funding than ever. The next Mobile LAVA will present some of these different equity partners available to start-ups in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Startup 100

Startup Resource LAVA Seed Funding 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? There was no money train.

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Venture Capital Startup LAMP Marketing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

More recently, the desire for extra income has become the key driver in new startups, according to the popular press. Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. Of course, even lifestyle entrepreneurs want to be happy, and want their business to be “successful.” According to William R.

Entrepreneur 148

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Course 148

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.

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Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2021

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.

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Funding Startup .Net Invest 144

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. Most of these are easy to avoid if you do your homework up front, but can cost you dearly if you get sucked in. Phantom fund investors.

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Technical Review Tips Funding Startup 148

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Solicit venture capital investors.

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Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. If you need funding for these early stage activities, I have some suggestions on better strategies to follow. Specialized VCs start to jump in at this stage. Commercial product prototypes.

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Resource Ideas Funding Research 102

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. Entrepreneurs who have been really transformative, like Steve Jobs and Walt Disney, seemed to know how to deal with all the right elements. Building a business from a raw start is hard, risky work.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale.

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Entrepreneur Startup Coach Mentor 169

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 30, 2020

Monday, August 3, 2020 -- Fixing the Top Fundraising Mistakes Startup Entrepreneurs Make. Join JJ Richa in a fireside chat with Scott Fox, CEO of the OC Startup Council, for a discussion of the top mistakes that early stage entrepreneurs make when pitching their startups for funding. See [link] (more)

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Entrepreneur Startup Slides Venture Capital 100

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

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). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

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Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Personally visit another startup funded by this investor.

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Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 -- Fundraising in Today’s Startup Market. We invite you to our upcoming in-person Founder’s event in Santa Barbara, “Fundraising in Today’s Startup Market." ​Join us for this exclusive event to hear from how Santa Barbara-based founder, Woody Sears at Autio, raised his latest funding round.

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Santa Barbara Marketing Startup Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2023

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, and having graduated from a big company myself, I talk to many people who have spent years struggling up the corporate ladder who dream of jumping ship and becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs must be the model of personal empowerment in their new venture. Marty Zwilling

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Entrepreneur Startup Mentor Funding 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. The fallacy of formulas that “can’t fail,” and holding on to troubled ventures, is alive and well in startups.

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Entrepreneur Netflix Social Media Startup 125

TechCrunch LA

MAY 23, 2019

The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies.

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Funding Startup Seed Funding Los Angeles 218

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Raising capital for a female-led startup can be very diffiult--which is what Justine Lassoff and Melinda Moore found out when they started their own company, LovingEco, in Los Angeles. We actually started the organization in 2013. What is the most difficult challenge that women entrepreneurs face? What is TuesdayNights?

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Help Entrepreneur Capital Startup 224

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 19, 2017

Saturday, March 25, 2017 -- Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum - Funding. The Snapchat Effect: How the company’s mega IPO may enhance the odds of your startup getting funded. Will we witness more venture funding and increased company valuations in the region?

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CalTech Entrepreneur Funding Snapchat 100