Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2020

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have new ideas on a regular basis, and find it hard deciding which to pursue, or try to tackle several at the same time. Good examples of initial focus by an entrepreneur would include Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon as an online marketplace for books only, and Elon Musk starting PayPal as an online bank.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2020

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Choose projects with financial resources within your reach.

Technical Review 173

Technical Review Ideas Patents Startup 173

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? Choose projects with financial resources within your reach.

Ideas 106

Ideas Entrepreneur Technical Review Patents 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. bashing competition entrepreneur investor startup' Martin Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I challenge them to think beyond what I call linear extensions to a current trend, such as another “easier-to-use” app for smartphones, a new dating site for pets, or another niche social network. Do you have the resources to build a business? Great social entrepreneurs are rare.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

In the creation of a new enterprise, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed the classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always surprised by the fact that some never seem to be able to that first startup going, while many others never seem to stop, starting their second or third initiative before the first one is fully hatched. I’m now convinced that serious entrepreneurs relish the startup process more than success.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. Resource requirements not understood.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Each of these activities should have associated costs and resource requirements.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2014

In my experience, inventors and technologists arent interested or arent very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs arent usually good scientists. Historically, its also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Most good entrepreneurs are idea people, and can flood you with ideas.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Ideas Patents Resource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2013

In my experience, inventors and technologists aren’t interested or aren’t very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs aren’t usually good scientists. Historically, it’s also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Most good entrepreneurs are idea people, and can flood you with ideas.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Ideas Patents Resource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2011

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Organization Training 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2012

In my experience, inventors aren’t interested or aren’t very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs aren’t usually good scientists. Historically, it’s also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Some now argue that even our entrepreneur heroes, like Thomas Edison, really cheated on the invention side.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Patents 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Need expensive resources up front.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Equity 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2011

In my experience, inventors aren’t interested or aren’t very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs aren’t usually good scientists. Historically, it’s also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Some now argue that even our entrepreneur heroes, like Thomas Edison, really cheated on the invention side.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Ideas Patents Resource 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Startups simply don’t have the resources to keep ahead of large competitors who see initial traction and go after it.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

In that same post Why you shouldn’t keep your startup idea secret where he argues to make things open, he defines only one group of people that you may want to avoid having a conversation with: The handful of people in the world who might copy your idea are entrepreneurs just starting up with a very similar idea. False Confidence.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Each of these activities should have associated costs and resource requirements.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources. Key to required patents or trade secrets.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

In that same post Why you shouldn’t keep your startup idea secret where he argues to make things open, he defines only one group of people that you may want to avoid having a conversation with: The handful of people in the world who might copy your idea are entrepreneurs just starting up with a very similar idea. False Confidence.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2011

Based on my own experience and feedback from friends, every investor is approached by at least ten entrepreneurs with a “hot idea” for a new business, for every one who has a real “plan” for a new business. In fact, you can find websites full of ideas, like these “ Free Innovative Ideas ,” by serial entrepreneur Kim E.

Ideas 104

Ideas Entrepreneur Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2014

In addition, we all know that patent disclosure rules often facilitate legal reverse engineering, and innovation at this point is now much cheaper. The world is now a small place, but startups usually don’t have the resources to saturate all the related markets at once. business disruptive technology entrepreneur innovation startup'

Technology 103

Technology Entrepreneur Study Research 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2014

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. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. Martin Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Commerce 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. Don’t bash the competition. Facebook spent over $150 million before revenue.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. The resources are out there to help you, like the book mentioned, this blog, and many more. Use them and win.

Seed Funding 100

Seed Funding Software Review Entrepreneur Funding 100

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. Fourth: Financial risk. . And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2012

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Organization Training 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. Every business is global, but patent rules differ around the world.

Patents 53

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 53

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2020

Young entrepreneurs often are so excited by new technology or their latest invention that they forget to translate it into a value proposition that their customers or potential investors can understand and relate to. Customer data, as well as internal data, is a key resource for every business that must be secured and protected.

Technology 165

Technology Social Network Training Startup 165

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial. No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. Don’t bash the competition. Facebook spent over $150 million before revenue.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120