Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Phoenix communities are celebrating because JPMorgan Chase has made several local charitable investments to support underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses with the goal of creating jobs and spark a growing economy. Read more about the Phoenix startup ecosystem on TechCo. The post JPMorgan Chase Invests $2.2

Invest 70

Invest Entrepreneur News Tips 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2020

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. They have enough confidence in their ability to deliver that they don’t worry about someone stealing the idea to get there first, and they don’t forget to listen carefully to critical feedback. Capitalize on yourself early.

Ideas 124

Ideas Tips Marketing Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

For some reason, too many aspiring entrepreneurs I know seem to focus on “actions” rather than “results.” Based on my experience, survival and success are both about doing the right things , and not about doing everything. As an entrepreneur starting a new business, you have a lot to learn.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2011

In the past I’ve given some tips for handling meetings effectively, covering topics like: - How not to let your meeting go down a rat hole ; - Dealing with the elephant in the room ; - Dealing with skeletons in your closet ; - How to make meetings discussions, not “pitches&#. - Just smile and say, “Oh, sorry.

Tips 392

Tips Screening Slides Venture Capital 392

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa).

Technical Advisors 162

Technical Advisors Tips Startup Equity 162

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2012

Article first published as Five Business Tips From The Beatles on Technorati. Despite the book’s shortcomings, it contains a number of insightful lessons for budding entrepreneurs. Of the 100 business “lessons” articulated in the book, I highlight a few below that I feel are the most relevant and impactful for entrepreneurs.

Tips 259

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Product 259

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them nearly ten years ago. They started out as that spoiled generation of kids, born between about 1982 and 2004, who had everything, and could care less about business. Think of these strategies as an investment in your own future, as well as theirs.

Tips 127

Tips Mentor Coach Guide 127

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here. The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capitalists) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Thus, in my consulting with entrepreneurs, I always encourage them to get more comfortable asking for help. She suspects, like me, that no self-respecting entrepreneur wants to seem weak, needy, or incompetent, and none of us like to feel indebted to someone we see as a peer or a competitor.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

As an advisor to young entrepreneurs, I find that many are a bit naïve about how the investment process really works. Even with that, you should expect your first seed investment from friends, family, or business associates, who know your capabilities and believe in you more than the idea.

Tips 86

Tips Funding Startup Entrepreneur 86

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She actually IS the prototypical entrepreneur. Just not the kind you would initially read about on TechCrunch. And that’s what I love about her narrative. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. She never gave up.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

As discussed in Hiring Entrepreneurs, the impact of each new hire during your startup’s early days is tremendous. As noted in Optimistically Pessimistic , successful entrepreneurs are indifferent as to the specific tactics they must employ to accomplish their fervently held strategic objectives.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Custom 279

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Journalists don’t know enough about your company before the show, don’t have time for proper research, and you will be competing for their time afterward with 49+ other companies that want them to write about you. - Robert Scoble interviewed me in 2006 about my startup, Koral. They’re human.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2013

Did you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs always seem to have all the luck and success, while others never seem to catch a break? These differences are the reason that investors say that they invest in people, rather than ideas. These differences are the reason that investors say that they invest in people, rather than ideas.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Technical Review 111

InfoChachkie

MAY 6, 2013

This is due to a fundamental disconnect between the increased activity of high-volume seed investors (that fill out lots of Seed rounds) and the relatively small number of Series A investors, who only make 1 or 2 investments, per partner, per year.". There is a similar Darwinian aspect to venture capital investing.

Entrepreneur 246

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Capital 246

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 9, 2011

Investors and entrepreneurs who won at the fundraising game during and after the Great Recession offer advice on landing equity money. After years of cloudy skies in Startupland, the sun is peeking out, and investors are tipping their toes back into the wading pool. Meet angels via the entrepreneurs they’ve funded.

Tips 100

Tips Capital Tech Coast Angels Screening 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

I find that the most successful entrepreneurs have mastered the art and skill of building and managing relationships. In my role as a mentor to business professionals and entrepreneurs over the years, I have found that it’s important to take a hard look at the relationships around you on a regular basis.

Tips 95

Tips Mentor Coach Activity 95

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

According to Jared Belsky, President, 360i , “We see Search and Social as a 24 hour real-time consumer focus group that helps us stay on top of what consumers care about for our brands. Greathouse: Given your deep background in digital marketing, what tips do you have for marketers who haven''t leveraged social commerce sites.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Don began by explaining that his impoverished childhood drove him to a life as an entrepreneur. ". I had never thought about being an entrepreneur. I didn''t think about going to college either. I just thought about wanting to have food every single day. I grew up ridiculously poor. Growing up.

Startup 250

Startup Entrepreneur Design Santa Barbara 250

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea.

Tips 111

Tips Startup Outsource Ideas 111

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 8, 2013

is one of the most common questions I hear from early-stage entrepreneurs. To new entrepreneurs, this can seem like one of those vicious cycles: “I don’t have any connections to VCs so therefore I can’t make any connections.”. First think about what stage your company is in. “How can I connect with investors?” Target Connectors.

Venture Capital 86

Venture Capital Tips Incubator Startup 86

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 13, 2020

Every radical turn in technology history has its great entrepreneur, and for space that person is SpaceX founder Elon Musk. In 2018 alone, venture investments in space topped $2 billion for the first time, and 187 investors wrote checks to 90 startups, according to Bryce Space and Technology.

SpaceX 150

SpaceX Los Angeles Tips Pricing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2012

We can all dream about what it takes to make our startup a success. The average entrepreneur is not the one who dumped a promising career, sketched his idea on the back of a napkin, and accepted millions from an investor to make billions of his own. 62% of the respondents felt the same way about their personal networks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Tips Education Ideas 111

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor. Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2013

Some entrepreneurs try to start with a huge number, hoping they can negotiate and close on a smaller one, while others understate their requirements, in hopes of getting their foot in the door with an investor. If your company is early stage and has a valuation under $1M, don’t ask for a $5M investment. Investment terms.

Tips 103

Tips Invest Funding Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Invest 96

Invest Startup Offshore Tips 96

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

The Startup UCLA Accelerator Is About Entrepreneurship Not Investment Returns. Program head Robert Jadon describes Startup UCLA as more of a pre-accelerator than anything, meaning the the ideas are typically earlier stage and the entrepreneurs less experienced. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Post navigation.

UCLA 47

UCLA Invest Startup Class 47

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Or more directly – they are likely narcissistic resuscitations of your newest features or bragging points that nobody but your marketing team and your mom care about. But mostly they’re thinking, “Will my audience even care about this topic?” Think about Luma Partners. I am a VC. I hand out money.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2014

People are always asking me for an inside tip on Internet sites that will be “the next big thing.” Just for starters, Wikipedia now lists about 200 sites by name (once over 300), which they claim is just some of the more notable social networking sites. Micro payments, micro loans, micro investments. What’s your idea?

Ideas 110

Ideas Entrepreneur Sites Yahoo 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2010

If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. For minimum content, see my article “ Ten Tips to an Investment-Grade Business Plan.” For minimum content, see my article “ Ten Tips to an Investment-Grade Business Plan.” It won’t work.

Tips 93

Tips Writing Content Summary 93

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

Last year I interviewed a serial entrepreneur, Rich Christiansen , who has done almost 30 businesses wholly by bootstrapping. I like his approach, and have extracted some tips from his book and other sources on how to do it: Use a virtual office. Don’t think about the exit. Rent is one of the biggest expenses for any business.

Tips 96

Tips Startup Summary Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2017

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 56

Writing Tips Content Summary 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2013

Shawn Kent Hayashi, in her new book “ Conversations That Get Results and Inspire Collaboration ” makes my point very well as she outlines the top twelve types of conversations that relate to working together in business, and provides tips on how to make each of them more effective for all concerned: Conversation for connection.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Guide Design 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2017

Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit. How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Many young entrepreneurs seem to think that capitalism and making profit are dirty words.

Tips 55

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Examples 55

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2012

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.

Tips 101

Tips Writing Content Summary 101

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about. Entrepreneurs always walk away with new relationships, knowledge, deal discussions and enthusiasm. Example: great discussions about recruiting tips, similar problems with Amazon AWS, ad agencies stretching payments, etc.

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279