Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. This fallacy, often called historical myopia, essentially involves extrapolating only from recent positive events, and ignoring the reality that markets saturate or evaporate. But I’m not convinced that it’s as simple as that.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Being called a lifestyle entrepreneur should be a point of pride, not an insult. This usually means not taking money from equity investors, since investors want fast growth, high profits, and an exit event, to allow investments to be recouped. I’m told that Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook started out as a lifestyle entrepreneur.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. Today’s world of business is highly driven by social issues and environmental concerns.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 18, 2017

Saturday, May 20, 2017 -- POSiBLE LA Entrepreneur Summit. POSiBLE LA Entrepreneur Summit, a one-day event to empower aspiring business owners to build their ideas and grow their companies. a new campaign to help budding female entrepreneurs or family business owners build their financial futures.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2012

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader and a plan. Positive inspirational communication.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Resource 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2022

Some people are not cut out to be entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs do not function well in traditional organizations and do not like being in the conventional management hierarchy.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. Product development.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. I hope all this seems obvious to you, but I still get a good number of notes from “entrepreneurs” who have been busy inventing things all their life, but can’t find a partner to start their first business, and others trying to find an executive, an investor, or a lawyer.

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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].

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Xconomy

JANUARY 16, 2020

Each half-day Xcelerating Life Sciences forum is dedicated to helping industry leaders develop meaningful partnerships and explore bold new ideas to overcome healthcare’s biggest challenges. Grab yours today before prices go up. Can’t make the San Diego. Read more » Reprints | Share: UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2015

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Positive inspirational communication.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 14, 2016

In the corporate world, events are more than just an event�they are opportunity to connect with your customers and turn potential customers into buyers. How do you make those events happen? What, exactly, does Event Farm do? We provide an event and experiential marketing platform. How did you start the company?

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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?

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Planning for the future must be a regular activity, not just an early-stage or once-a-year event. Survival requires regular updates.

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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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2010

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a dialogue on their current hot “idea.” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth anything, outside the context of a vision and plan. What separates an idea person from a visionary leader?

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2015

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

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Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. Like most investors, I’m convinced that success in business is more about the plan and the person than the idea. Ideas can’t be tracked, and tend to only morph into other ideas as time passes.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2020

One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. In fact, Mehta focuses on a special class of entrepreneurs that he calls disruptors. Then accomplish one, sense the progress, and add another.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. Product development.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 95

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 30, 2009

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 -- bloblive LA - Open Mic Night for Entrepreneurs. Bloblives are a weekly, city-wide series of "open mic nights for ideas" where entrepreneurs of many stripes share ideas and support each other in a fun and relaxed environment. and the audience chimes in with feedback, advice and suggestions.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

They can talk with passion about their innovative new idea, and ask lots of questions, but never seem to really get started. The challenge we all have as business founders is to move from the idea stage to a real business. The process will force you solidify the specifics, and mentally commit to them.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 15, 2016

Wednesday, June 15, 2016 -- IDEAS LA - The Future of Digital Technology and Content: Media and Entertainment and Lifestyle and Health.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

Thus entrepreneurs were able to build prototypes and design new products without the traditional huge prototyping cost. Events for enthusiasts, formerly called Maker Faires, now stretch across the USA and into many other countries. They have also become great networking events for meeting other like-minded entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader and a plan. Positive inspirational communication.

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Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

If an entrepreneur doesn’t find themselves in over their head at least 20% of the time, they are probably not pushing the limits, not taking enough risk, and probably not working on an idea that’s worth doing. Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs I know are terrible at finding and accepting help. Seek help or get out.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2013

When entrepreneurs come to me with that “million dollar idea,” I have to tell them that an idea alone is really worth nothing. These four disciplines must be implemented as a process, not as an event. Every entrepreneur has to navigate that personal change from thinking to doing to managing. Marty Zwilling.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2014

” This sentiment is probably familiar to many entrepreneurs and it must certainly resonates with anybody who suspects he or she has ADD. It was called “ Delivered from Distraction ” and it outlines many successful executives with ADD and in particular some famous entrepreneurs. Often doing many things at once.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2021

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. John Bradberry, in his classic book “ 6 Secrets to Startup Success ,” identifies five key biases that sabotage many passionate entrepreneurs in their startup decision making.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2015

To build a startup, entrepreneurs need a laser focus on providing an innovative solution to a real problem. Most entrepreneurs dream of achieving the exponential expansion of a Google or Amazon, but few investor pitches I see outline any strategy beyond simple marketing to make this happen. Host events to bring your community together.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 21, 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. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. Product development.

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Activity Startup Ideas Technical Review 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2017

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Positive inspirational communication.

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Entrepreneur Ideas Startup Resource 67

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

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SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 1, 2019

Yes, it is an event where entrepreneurs can, over 54 hours, take ideas to a proof of concepts. At this event, entrepreneurs get to join forces with intrapreneurs from the two target industries, healthcare and agriculture, to address known challenges and inefficiencies. But it is far more than that.

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Ventura Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 31, 2019

Yes, it is an event where entrepreneurs can, over 54 hours, take ideas to a proof of concepts. At this event, entrepreneurs get to join forces with intrapreneurs from the two target industries, healthcare and agriculture, to address known challenges and inefficiencies. But it is far more than that.

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Ventura Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 100