Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

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. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2022

Here are some key insights that I and others have collected for mature company leaders, as well as serial entrepreneurs. As an angel investor, I expected startups to have a passion for their solution, but also to have done the market research and customer validation to size the real opportunity. You and your friends are not the market.

Entrepreneur 144

Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Social Media Commerce 144

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2014

It’s enough to drown any business which tries to fight it or ignore it, and it’s an opportunity to ride higher and faster than even the successes of Google and Facebook, for those startups that use it as their driving force. Virtual living: the rise and growing dominance of social media. zettabytes by the year 2016.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 99

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. Partisan rancor aside, we had just come off a boom decade – especially in tech – and many people at the start of the election thought Al Gore was a shoe in.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 20, 2010

Right now the most important role to hire in Twitter would be a seasoned marketing professional who could proactively change the conversation about Twitter and educate people about its significance as an information sharing tool. They need a stronger campaign about consumption rather than sending Tweets.

RSS 349

RSS News Blogging Yahoo 349

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Every startup and every new business needs a unique selling proposition (USP) to get people’s attention these days, and make it stand out in the information overload we all see. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days. Do include some quantification.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2021

I n my experience mentoring new entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders, I see far too many who seem to be driven by all the wrong reasons. He makes a convincing argument that the best leaders and entrepreneurs follow their intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations. To be a successful entrepreneur, one can never stand still.

Startup 144

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Ideas 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2023

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. The Internet and the current information wave have changed everything. The Internet and the current information wave have changed everything.

Social Media 120

Social Media Startup Entrepreneur Education 120

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Along the way, they created a supportive community of emotionally attached stakeholders that would be the envy of any Social Media Manager. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Here''s how they pulled it off.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. VPN Startup tool: VPN Price: Free Hide.me While Hide.me

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

The realm of an entrepreneur is all about change, but in my experience as a mentor to business founders, I hear too much about incremental change, and not enough about revolutionary change. Today every small business can look big, via a modern website, visibility on social media, and taking an active role in popular causes.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media Artificial Inteligence Examples 103

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.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

socalTECH

OCTOBER 21, 2014

What''s unique about it, it is stream live social media, and actually puts that social media content on the display right in front of you. Nanxi Liu: We started the company in the summer of 2012, with five totally random people. Explain how five strangers all ended up starting a company together, exactly?

Social Media 178

Social Media Media Startup Culver City 178

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

A partnership was announced with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC's startup ecosystem. This facilitates technology growth and innovation for startups in Silicon Alley, as well as positioning IBM for growth down the road. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early.

Startup 124

Startup IBM IBM Examples 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. Allocate some time to spend on social media. Social media is critical today to almost every business.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. If you don’t have a successful prior startup to demonstrate your ability, it’s time to be creative.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Examples Blogging Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology.

Competition 174

Competition High Tech Startup Social Media 174

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 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: Tenacity. Every entrepreneur starts with an idea that they believe makes sense.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Startup Google Yammer 291

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. The problem is that this is publicly available information that can and will be scanned by journalists and reported.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

socalTECH

JANUARY 8, 2020

For today's interview, we spoke to Bill Curtis , the founder of Malibu-based CurtCo Media (www.curtco.com). We spoke to Bill about CurtCo's move into the podcasting area, and why he thinks podcasting is the next frontier in media. It ends up being good for both. Talk about what CurtCo is working on? Why podcasting?

Media 150

Media Report Advertising Content 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

A partnership was announced a while back with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC's startup ecosystem. This facilitates technology growth and innovation for startups in Silicon Alley, as well as positioning IBM for future growth. Social media relationships fuel the scaling fire. Scale it once you figure out what works.

IBM 131

IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom is a widely known expert on managing business growth, and he starts by summarizing the three key weapons of current customers, which include an instant summary of choices, prices, and features.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing. Focus first on the social media trinity.

Social Media 103

Social Media Media Marketing Startup 103

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. At the time, it was doing Facebook media buying for e-commerce companies. But these days, ground up is tougher. Image Credits: MuteSix.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2014

The E-Myth (“Entrepreneurial Myth”) is the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with tangible business skills, when in fact most are started by “technicians” who know nothing about running a business. Perhaps an innate business savvy is no longer a requirement for starting a successful business.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Technical Review 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2015

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 112

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Along the way, they created a supportive community of emotionally attached stakeholders that would be the envy of any Social Media Manager. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Here''s how they pulled it off.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom is a widely known expert on managing business growth, and he starts by summarizing the three key weapons of current customers, which include an instant summary of choices, prices, and features.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Startup Course 146

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. With social media and the new survey tools, it’s easy and fast to set up and run your own focus group, or opinion survey.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2015

If you think you are the perfect fit for the entrepreneur lifestyle, but you’re not yet sure if you’re ready to start your own, then I recommend that you take a job with an existing startup first to validate the culture realities against your dream. Running or working for a startup is more of a lifestyle than a career choice.

Sample 101

Sample Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2023

In this age of interactive social media, your culture image quickly spreads to customers, and determines their loyalty. Everyone knows and admires the leaders , including Google and Zappos, but most entrepreneurs have only a fuzzy idea of what to do to get there. Regular communication, both written and oral, is the place to start.

Claremont 101

Claremont Mentor Study Startup 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2021

If you are a passionate technologist , it’s easy to forget that marketing is required to sell even the most compelling solution, to cut through the information overload everyone sees today on the internet. As a business adviser, I still see too many new venture founders who skimp on their marketing focus, or start too late.

Technical Advisors 154

Technical Advisors Tips Marketing Case Study 154

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. 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. You are constantly faced with decisions and there is always incomplete information.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in founding a startup today. Either they are never really ready to start, study an opportunity until it has passed, or fail with tools and techniques from a bygone business era.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Education 102

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

I was recently approached by Fast Company to comment on “crisis management&# at startups in the wake of the Airbnb “ranksackgate&# story. During the 2004 election he was accused of having made up material facts from his service in the Vietnam War in an election against somebody who didn’t serve in a war.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329