Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Most consulting services, like marketing, are not scalable, since they must be delivered by experts, and cloning experts is slow and expensive. Investors don’t invest in services startups.

Tips 135

Tips Invest Startup Outsource 135

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 12, 2022

providing freshly packaged salads, heat-and-eat prepared meals and vegan overnight oats, raised $7 million in funding as it goes after the $34 billion fresh prepared foods market. We gained sort of a cult following because we had healthy meals at an accessible price point.”. Positive Food Co.,

Invest 175

Invest Los Angeles Startup Funding 175

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

With the appearance of do-it-yourself services on the Internet, entrepreneur curriculums at every university, and a wealth of new books on the subject, the need for expensive consultants and business advisors has also been mitigated. Social media facilitates marketing and sales. Minimize investment in prototypes and tooling.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided. Be flexible.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: Why Do Digital Entrepreneurs Hate MBAs? Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. As noted in Startup Advice From College Dropouts , successful entrepreneurs are often poor students.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Technical Review Case Study Class 279

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry. And we had to then build out new marketing materials and a website.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Marketing, sales, support, and service operations. Solution development and delivery.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

While many of my friends bragged about their 5 condos in Florida I kept talking about how the real estate market was in a bubble – their gains an illusion. I pointed to several Economist articles I had read that mapped historical prices of real estate for 400 years and how on average property values grow at no more 1.5%

Invest 299

Invest Angel Technical Review Venture Capital 299

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem. There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. Relevant questions include the type of business entity (LLC or C-Corp), licensing or manufacturing, sales and marketing, and staffing.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Venture capitalists sometimes make an error in directing their portfolio company CEOs to push resources to the limit and scale the business to immense size quickly, all to seize market share. It was true for Amazon and other visionary companies that grabbed market share during the early Internet era. But beware.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Even with great credentials, it is all too possible for an entrepreneur to come across as a high risk investment. Here are some “rules of thumb” that indicate a marketable and experienced entrepreneur: Highlights team strengths, more than his own. Rational business model, with prices and volumes.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Invest Ideas Venture Capital 97

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2010

This is the third article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). I’d rather be Roger Ehrenberg with a thesis around data-centric companies and base my investment decisions on the skills I’ve developed in my career. That’s what he knows best.

Invest 284

Invest Angel Venture Capital Startup 284

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

If you want the full SlideShare deck with many slides not in either post it’s in this link –> The LA Tech Market. ” It’s the most common refrain I hear from investors and even entrepreneurs these days. Has it begun to mature or is it just better marketed than in was say 5 years ago?

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. Watch this 93-second clip and see if you can identify the pricing pitfall addressed in this humorous snippet. Price = Value. How Much For A Rib?

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 23, 2020

As a startup advisor, I see too many entrepreneurs get distracted by technology or their favorite cause, and then wonder why they can’t find an investor, attract customers, or build a long-term business. Internet disruptors make prices and margins transparent. Value to second-order customer advertisers is key.

Marketing 124

Marketing Customer Custom Competition 124

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. Yet, with so many tools vying for the attention of business owners, navigating the over-saturated market can be overwhelming. Lenido Startup tool: Accounting software Price: Free Accounting software doesn't need to come at a premium.

Tool 131

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 131

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Launched by Karen Rodgers O’Neil, a longtime marketing executive, and Daniel Perrone, a serial entrepreneur and technology executive whose previous company, BroadMap, was acquired by Apple; The Shed hopes to take the rental model that Home Depot has turned into a billion dollar business line and take it to the masses.

Startup 285

Startup Product Demand Los Angeles 285

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

This is the second article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). And we all know that Ron Conway is considered the savviest of angel investors and yet by definition not all of his investments succeed. Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here.

Invest 288

Invest Angel Web 2.0 SEO 288

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. Convertible notes have both features in them but for some reason entrepreneurs don’t understand it. It’s like we need a finance 101 course for entrepreneurs. We raised a seed round.

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

If you didn’t notice that the stock markets in the US dropped nearly 4% today (after falling last Thursday and Friday) then you were probably completely off-the-grid and on vacation. And by this I assume he meant that “market prognosticator twitter” was vomitous. It was a nerve racking morning. Neither do I.

Marketing 150

Marketing Venture Capital Startup Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided. Be flexible.

Outsource Development 138

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2013

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free, to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). Product line pricing. Cost-based model. Skip it where there are many competitors.

Pricing 116

Pricing Product Customer Custom 116

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

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. Since investors tend to invest in people, more than the idea, the personnel review is normally the highest priority item.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Project based on your market size how many widgets you will sell in every channel. Calculate investment amounts and timing.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Sales 102

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. How big and growing is the total market and your target segment? They like billion-dollar markets with double-digit growth rates.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Make your focus and priorities clear.

Tips 91

Tips Funding Startup Invest 91

InfoChachkie

JUNE 30, 2014

Too bad, as they would be well served to study Dirty Franks marketing plan, which has withstood the test of time. Franks didn''t need a sign, let alone a marketing budget. Hurry Up And Stop Marketing. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. say) ‘We’re the market leader in blah.’

Marketing 193

Marketing Software Review Product Social Media 193

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note.&#. I have to say that I didn’t take the question to mean that convertible debt had won for the entire market, but either way it’s clear that convertible debt has become an increasing trend.

Equity 319

Equity Pricing Venture Capital Entrepreneur 319

Berkonomics

APRIL 13, 2017

Is your market identifiable and accessible? Test yourself as to whether you can identify the size of your market niche, and whether you can overcome the many barriers to access customers within your niche. How large a total market? Email readers, continue here…] Can you dominate that market?

Patents 291

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 291

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. What stage? I hustled.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

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. Ability to Pivot – I don’t like to invest in people that I’ve never met before who come through my office wanting to have a term sheet within 30 days.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Startup Google Yammer 291