Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2022

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

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Examples Entrepreneur Technology Resource 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2021

The message I hear publicly from most entrepreneurs is that you have to think outside the box and take big risks to ever beat the odds and be among the less than ten percent that experience real success. Serious entrepreneurs will privately admit the business is first, and the family second. All risks are not the same.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Demand Customer 171

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen executive summaries of business plans in which the entrepreneur seeks $5,000,000 to build the business. Second, almost no professional investor will consider putting that much into a startup until there is proof of market demand, product viability or some other mitigation of failure.

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Resource Invest Summary Startup 180

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Funding and rollout stage.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

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Entrepreneur Marketing News Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Able to marshal people and other support resources. You need to sell yourself, as well as your product.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

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. Investors are looking to buy a chunk of the business, not the product. Ask only for the money you can justify.

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Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2023

If you can’t deal with failure, then the entrepreneur lifestyle is not for you. Mistakes are more insidious than failures, and should be avoided at all costs (use your advisors and other resources). A credible failure makes an entrepreneur more investable. Actively seek and don’t ignore critical feedback.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. If you hire truly talented people you end up definitionally with a lot of competitive peers who will inevitably jockey for resources and control. As CEO, do you step in? Engineering?

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Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. These are risks that can be mitigated with the right resources. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony.

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Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Bottlenecks to team productivity. The result is lower productivity all around. Lack of communication.

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Resource Startup Entrepreneur Training 105

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. It’s really a multi-step process, with the first step getting you from an idea to a viable product, and the remaining steps creating a sustainable business.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2021

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs probably have long searched for that special idea that will catapult you and your startup to success. That takes focus, resolve, resources, and problem solving to make it happen. True entrepreneurs are born, not made. Every inventor is an entrepreneur by default.

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Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Satisfaction 171

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

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Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. For example, I worked with an entrepreneur a while back who was clearly intelligent, had a great idea, and communicated well. I sometimes find entrepreneurs who highlight that their strength is “ideas.”

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Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Mentor 136

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. The need to build a new million-dollar factory for each new product is gone.

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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.

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Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2014

The cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. A while back, I focused on the e-Commerce side, so this time I wanted to highlight how a shortage of something, like natural resources, should be seen by an aspiring entrepreneur as a wealth of new startup ideas.

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Resource Ideas Startup Commerce 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Bottlenecks to team productivity. The result is lower productivity all around. Lack of communication.

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Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

For some reason, too many aspiring entrepreneurs I know seem to focus on “actions” rather than “results.” These are not the entrepreneurs that I want to support, since I’m well aware that running a startup is far more complex, albeit more satisfying, than most conventional roles in established enterprises.

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Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2020

Every business wants and needs top performers, but most entrepreneurs and executives assume that if they hire and train the smartest and most experienced people, they will get exceptional performance. Make sure required data, resources, and tools are provided early. Set the standards for good performance in each role.

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Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction Resource 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2018

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Bottlenecks to team productivity. The result is lower productivity all around. Lack of communication.

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Resource Training Entrepreneur Activity 52

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2022

titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” outlining the keys to successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. It will likely take several ideas, with the learning process of failing on a couple, before you can call yourself a successful entrepreneur. Problem solvers make successful entrepreneurs. Learn to lead.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. The result, called resourcefulness, allows entrepreneurs to create opportunities in the face of scarcity. Rethink or reframe the challenge.

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Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Each of these can go astray as follows: Your product or service hits unexpected snags.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2021

As I have said many times, the cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. I was inspired by the classic book, “ Resource Revolution: How to Capture the Biggest Business Opportunity in a Century ,” by Stephan Heck and Matt Rogers.

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Startup Resource Entrepreneur Social Media 162

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

How do you make your product go viral? What are the elements needed to focus upon in making the attempt to take a product viral? It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked the above question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Third: cost.

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Sites Product Social Network Press 156

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. Why doesn’t this product or service already exist? Great social entrepreneurs are rare.

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Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 26, 2013

This approach allows your venture to "fail in the small" and make course corrections before spending significant marketing resources. It also facilitates determining your proper product and market fit before your startup is under a white-hot media spotlight. As such, entrepreneurs should not attempt to validate their assumptions.

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Marketing Entrepreneur Journal Media 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2020

The most valuable assets of a new startup are the people on the team, and the most challenging task of the entrepreneur and team leaders is to spend their leadership time and energy productively. The leadership capital, and other costs to support square pegs is a huge startup resource drain.

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Entrepreneur Resource Startup Guide 126

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.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted.

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Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products. Tell me a bit about your background.

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Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs and business owners, and seeing their workload and challenges, it would be easy for me to conclude that starting a business is a big hit to health and happiness. If you are sick of the corporate grind, take your favorite idea or hobby, and join other happy entrepreneurs. Stay rooted in the present.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Mentor Writing 137

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

As we turn our ideas for the future into the latest startups and companies of today, there’s always a need for resources to help guide one through the process of it all. While this time for a business can be exciting one must be prepared with the resources to take the next step.

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Resource Guide Entrepreneur Examples 86