Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2020

Jeff Bezos is one of the world’s most admired entrepreneurs, primarily because of his humble style and his growth from a regular person background to a current net worth in the neighborhood of $200 billion dollars. Avoid PowerPoint and graphic slide presentations. It allows investors to come into alignment with customers.

Slides 137

Slides Customer Custom Satisfaction 137

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. Investors will be looking for a sizing validated by industry analysts large enough for good investment returns.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

A few months ago I wrote a post called “ Invest in Lines, Not Dots.&# It was my investment philosophy that observing teams’ performance over time was far more insightful than reacting to how good of a product demo they do, how good they present Powerpoint slides or how great tech blogs say they are. Let me explain.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 106

InfoChachkie

JULY 1, 2013

You are an entrepreneur – go for it. If you are forced to display financial data, ensure that the slides are unintelligible. Make it clear you do not know their investment focus (e.g., nor did you take the time to research the investor''s investment portfolios. Limit the use of pictures or graphs on your slides.

Slides 220

Slides Tips Startup RSS 220

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 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. Thinking out loud – I’m sure that’s important for entrepreneurs as well. Help me understand which you prefer.&# I lost zero customers.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2017

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. GUI Fever – Entrepreneurs are often justifiably proud of their clever, clean user interfaces.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We caught up with Steve Seigel , the executive producer and one of the stars of the new startup pitch program Hatched (www.hatchedtv.com), to learn more about those areas, as well as how he ended up going from investment banking, to running a healthcare startup here in LA, to hosting a television pitch show.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

What Cham rarely tells people – he’s both private and humble – is that he started making some small co-investments with me in tech firms starting with Maker Studios where he was one of the earliest investors. This past year he even decided to attend burning man (photo below) to get a sense of what that was all about.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

InfoChachkie

JULY 1, 2013

You are an entrepreneur – go for it. If you are forced to display financial data, ensure that the slides are unintelligible. Make it clear you do not know their investment focus (e.g., nor did you take the time to research the investor''s investment portfolios. Limit the use of pictures or graphs on your slides.

Slides 154

Slides Tips Startup Research 154

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

. - A tale of two pitches (I eventually invested in the first company that pitched). It’s any meeting where you are in a small room and are being called on to present on some form of overhead slides. Even the best behaved of recipients can’t help themselves but to flip ahead to see what’s coming.

Tips 392

Tips Screening Slides Venture Capital 392

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

The number is much higher for those who choose to go it alone, without help. Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. Present at trade shows and network with your ten-slide pitch to build your following.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

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 think the norm in the industry is still to see Powerpoint slides and I wouldn’t hold this against anybody.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Don’t dwell on this slide for ever. If I have an hour with you I want to maximise the time we have a discussion so I want to get through the slides quickly. Most entrepreneurs are.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Start early on this one, or you will lose the opportunity. Marty Zwilling.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 95

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. You should do enough research about the VC to sound like you know a bit about their investments and find some that are related to you in some way as a means of trying to engage the VC in a dialog.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level. This implies high odds of a scalable business, simply needing an investment to lead to success.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2016

Most entrepreneurs I know are so passionate about their new idea that they are surprised when family and friends don’t line up to invest in their new venture. The reality is that investors, including myself, believe that the entrepreneur is more key to business success than the idea. Demos and prototypes are key.

Funding 60

Funding Startup Ideas Slides 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs. Seed-round investment.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Jason Nazar

JUNE 1, 2016

These are the pitch techniques the best entrepreneurs employ to raise billions in capital. Forget Your Slides. Have your slides there, reference the key points as needed, but keep the focus on each other — not a slideshow. Too many entrepreneurs get thrown off because they can’t go through their pitch the way they practice it.

Slides 49

Slides Startup Entrepreneur Metrics 49

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

.&# In many of the meetings you’d meet clients who would tell you everything you needed to know, would offer to help you and then would never follow up on the help that they had offered. And he was one of those guys that you meet and you just want to help because he’s so earnest and nice. He had a family.

Startup 378

Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I started by trying to think I could explain my concept without having to patronize everybody with artificial PowerPoint slides. This approach generally works well with customers because I find it much easier to build rapport when we talk like humans than when we all stare at the PowerPoint slides being projected on the wall.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. If a company wants to invest in your company and you haven’t read that post please do. Have minimums but a sliding scale.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. Nowhere is social proof more prevalent than in angel investing.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) When you do get time the advisers are often too removed from the details of the company to help. Let’s face it, to help a company you really need to understand the details. At a minimum their angel investments will likely take precedence.

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Project revenues, costs and investment needs. The details can be added later.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. If you can’t get the message across in ten minutes, more time and more charts won’t help. Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Fuzzy terms like “not user-oriented” or “too expensive” are not helpful.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

socalTECH

JULY 10, 2019

Spencer Price: Halla is the only software company to dynamically profile human tastes so we can help people make better choices. Halla exists to help people understand a more curious world. When you say you help people make better choices, what does that look like to a user? Spencer Price: That's a fair question.

Pricing 113

Pricing Startup North Hollywood Platform 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Build a prototype product. Marty Zwilling.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either. competitive advantage entrepreneur investor startup' This approach is not convincing.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

I will outline here ten key principles and disciplines that every entrepreneur must understand and practice to minimize surprises and failures in this area: Failure to document cash flow projections is a disaster. Neither banks nor investors will help you on this one. They pay just the smallest bills and let the rest slide.

Startup 114

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2016

In the new business world, many entrepreneurs are so excited with large initial orders that they don’t anticipate the cash flow challenges that can quickly kill their startup. Of course, you can’t predict everything, but writing down what you know will identify existing problems sooner, and allow other team members to help.

Startup 64

Startup Sales Layoffs Slides 64

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Tags: entrepreneur startup funding angel investors. Marty Zwilling.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89