Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Perhaps sparked by the recent pandemic, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Real entrepreneurs always look ahead and learn from problems resolved.

Startup 135

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review 135

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2021

If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. This means writing at the level of an average newspaper story (about eighth-grade level). The one-page Oprah plan is a good executive summary, but it’s not enough to get the investment. Bullet points are good.

Invest 135

Invest Tips Writing Content 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. You need both to survive.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2023

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. No entrepreneur can survive as an island. The entrepreneur lifestyle is all about doing something you enjoy, without undue stress, uncertainty, and risk.

Startup 142

Startup Capital Resource Research 142

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2016

It’s a testament to two fantastic entrepreneurs Eddy Lu and Daishin Sugano — who have been nothing but a pleasure to work with over the years. We talk often about wanting to work with entrepreneurs who are truly committed to their cause and these two personify that belief. Greg never gave up belief in the team.

Venture Capital 199

Venture Capital Summary Writing Funding 199

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.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs understand the difference between a good business relationship with more people and having more friends. In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, professional relationships are critical. Here is my summary of how business relationships relate to friends. You can’t start a business with friends alone.

Entrepreneur 66

Entrepreneur Social Network Technical Review Social Media 66

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

As a business advisor, I listen to many of you entrepreneurs talking about achieving your dreams, but too few of you have structured that dream, and can express it in a set of specific goals, with a timeline for getting there. Stop talking and writing, and start executing the plan. Populate each step with actions required for success.

Writing 139

Writing Startup Summary Activity 139

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Invest 135

Invest Technical Review Startup Ideas 135

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 The advantage is that in many of our best deals we now have $50+ million invested so we can really support entrepreneurs as their businesses scale. It takes all types and helping people realize their best skills and interests is an incredibly important part of the job.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than Angel investors or professional investors (VCs). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2020

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. No entrepreneur can survive as an island. The entrepreneur lifestyle is all about doing something you enjoy, without undue stress, uncertainty, and risk.

Startup 143

Startup Capital Resource Research 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 109

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 109

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2019

Perhaps sparked by the now forgotten recession, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Real entrepreneurs always look ahead and learn from problems resolved.

Mentor 85

Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review Summary 85

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

After seeing Chamillionaire interact with several entrepreneurs both at events and as an investor I started introducing him to startups in an advisory capacity. It always started the same way – a founder would ask for an intro because they figured he could help with promotion. They make a great pair.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

In my work with new and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most struggle with putting together a written business plan, often pointing out that someone they know started a business without anything written down. It can pay big dividends as this stage to get help from an experienced business advisor.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2013

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek summary of ten big ones to jog your recollection: “I’m not quite sure what we need, but this guy sounds like a miracle worker.” The message here is that if you don’t know exactly what help you need, you probably won’t get it. Maybe you are desperate to fill the position, or he’s related to the boss.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Resource 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2011

I think you'll enjoy hearing him, but if you're in a rush check out the summary notes below. As a courtesy if you enjoyed his write-up please check out his startup company, ChannelStack. Through his research he helped bring ARPANET to Philadelphia in 1973. These speakers help coach CEO’s on important executive decisions.

Capital 284

Capital Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 284

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

By Mahesh Raj Mohan Writing a business plan can be a difficult process. you still have to write the plan for a particular audience. Your business plan’s writing style should take their preferences into account. So what writing styles should you use for these very different audiences? Hi, I’m writing this plan because.”

Writing 97

Writing Summary Ideas Research 97

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. Summary notes and then I’ll extend: Should you blog? I was an entrepreneur. Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

Paige is a gifted communicator and my summary does not do him justice. He offers a number of worthwhile tips and tricks that I was not able to capture in the textual summary, so the 14-minute audio file is well worth your time. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Paige’s responses. Click here to listen to the Audio File.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. To be clear – I’m not saying huge successes make a VC less likely to be helpful to you – I’m just saying it’s not a guaranteed predictor. I’m not afraid to help make difficult decisions.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

If you’ve got the skills to be a strong entrepreneur then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find people who know a partner at a VC firm and if you can build relationship with them you can get introduced. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. Entrepreneur : “Sure. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. Back to regular writing this week so check back in. TWIVC Summary – Richard de Silva. Are you thematic in your investing or entrepreneur focused? (11:40-14:15). Thank you. (if

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2010

I stumbled upon the Question, “ What-is-the-motivation-behind-writing-public-reviews-and-tips-as-on-Amazon-Yelp-Foursquare-StickyBits-etc &# and took the bait. Or let’s face it – writing lots of answers on Quora. So in summary, if you’re going to do a UGC site: Know that there will be three buckets of users.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Writing Content Sites 294

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Or if you’re pinched on time the summary is below and the time coding can help you watch a brief snippet on topics that interest you. 3:35 The real entrepreneurs come out during a down economy. 19:30 A teachable moment for entrepreneurs: HAVE A HYPOTHESIS! 41:00 Transitioning from software to writing.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Here is my summary of some major considerations that every entrepreneur needs to evaluate against the cost and effort to attract equity investors: Completing a grant application is real work. Otherwise find an inexpensive class on grant writing. Grant spending and accounting rules may be painful. Technology is not enough.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. In the original version of his post, Andy writes. The best VCs don’t try to help entrepreneurs. But VC is like congress.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

What follows is a summary which paraphrases Naval’s responses. Venture Hacks is educating entrepreneurs on the game theory of how to raise venture capital. One of the things AngelList helps us do is raise our brand, have a pre-existing relationship with many, many entrepreneurs and give us access into great deals.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2018

If you are one of the new age of entrepreneurs who hates the thought of doing a business plan as a first step in starting your new venture you will love this message. No entrepreneur can survive as an island. The entrepreneur lifestyle is all about doing something you enjoy, without undue stress, uncertainty, and risk.

Startup 94

Startup Capital Resource Research 94

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. This means writing at the level of an average newspaper story (about eighth-grade level). The one-page Oprah plan is a good executive summary, but it’s not enough to get the investment. It won’t work.

Writing 95

Writing Content Summary Entrepreneur 95

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2012

Seth is a design-oriented entrepreneur, with little desire to document details. To help guide the students’ evaluation of the feasibility and merit of each idea, I require them to complete a one-page form, as specified in Entrepreneurship Is A Compulsion. The more you play around with ideas and you write them down, the better.

Ideas 266

Ideas Guide Startup Santa Barbara 266

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2011

If you don’t want to read that post, the summary is: Open source computing drove computing costs down 90%, which spurred innovation in technology. Surprisinly, this strategy works well with many entrepreneurs. I doubt this will end well for those VCs or for the entrepreneurs they backed. Or at least venture-style returns.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Capital Software Startup 296

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. Keeping it to 8–10 helps you manage the public information flow that will be broader if you see 20 firms and also help you prioritize resources.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I try to be helpful. I shifted my thinking a few years ago after I read Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Workweek (link is to a short summary I wrote). You’re writing a freaking blog post! I do what I wish all entrepreneurs would do. It was a young, first-time entrepreneur who wanted to meet.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

The gist of MG’s argument is that he’d rather work with people who are openly critical of his ideas if it helps him to perform better than to have a bunch of “yes men” around who just say what a great job he’s doing. Of course I can’t write every press release for the company nor would I want to.

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337