Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2015

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. Team members need your critique of their work to learn, but attacking the person is never productive.

Product 99

Product Mentor Startup Technical Review 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2019

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. Team members need your critique of their work to learn, but attacking the person is never productive.

Mentor 124

Mentor Technical Review Coach Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. For the rest of you entrepreneurs, consider the value of a business plan when it is not required.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Slides 105

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Thus, I’m more impressed with entrepreneurs who ask me to review their implementation plan, rather than listen again to their idea. Some dreams sound great, but may not yet be viable or proven with today’s technology. Present at trade shows and network with your ten-slide pitch to build your following.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. On the other hand, your mother probably won’t read one.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 12, 2010

In the technology world there are a few websites that most startups track to keep up with the latest financings, acquisitions, product announcements and gossip: BusinessInsider, TechCrunch, Mashable, GigaOm, etc. Specifically we talked about Slide having gotten a $550 million valuation before being sold to Google for $182 million.

Venture Capital 232

Venture Capital Slides Seed Funding Google 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2012

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Tips 97

Tips Slides Technical Review Startup 97

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2011

Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides.

Slides 95

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 95

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 18, 2010

It’s as good as it gets in personal productivity / life reflection. I know that would be surprising to many readers since keeping a blog somehow convinces people that I’m a time management or productivity ninja. That’s why productivity wasn’t tough for me as a CEO. I’m not. I couldn’t.

Slides 374

Slides Email Entrepreneur Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. We have also been very busy with our next release, which is due out by December 11th (but I’ll save that for a different post). I hadn’t thought about the fact that he would become aware of my link.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Any SoCal entrepreneur raising early-stage money should put Rincon on their short list. Before booking a hotel I always check out Trip Advisor and read reviews. It’s hard for angels to assess whether or not to invest because they often have day jobs and can’t commit to the kind of due diligence that most VCs go through.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

are eliminated during due diligence. Build a prototype product. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

are eliminated during due diligence. Build a prototype product. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. So let’s be very specific: let’s assume your dream job is product manager at Google, working on the Analytics product.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2009

It’s mostly done by first-time entrepreneurs who want to persuade (bribe?) The week before your meeting 2 people need to cancel due to travel conflicts. Time to start thinking about how to make it more productive. It’s OK to have the advisor slide where you glance quickly over the names. What do you think?

Startup 306

Startup Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 306

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2010

I wrote several of the characteristics when I did the Top 10 (11) Attributes of an Entrepreneur. Not making hard choices in terms of organizational structure or product direction. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to be a great leader and seem to be having this conversation a lot lately about Facebook, Yahoo!,

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Yahoo Startup Technical Review 330

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

I started this series in part to help entrepreneurs but also to help newer investors because I’ve know with so many new companies you have so many new board members and many people are trying to figure out there respective roles. I promise you that electronics are the single biggest drag on board productivity. I try not to be.

Startup 251

Startup Help Technical Review Writing 251

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

Every 1:1 meeting you’ve had to date has been collegiate and productive. Other times the partner wants to test whether there is support before sinking in tons of due diligence time. If it’s OK with you I’d love to answer it in just a couple of minutes after the next few slides. What could go wrong?

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

But Friendster’s computer systems couldn’t keep up with the explosive growth (reportedly due to the complexity of the security model set up to control connections, privacy and authenticity of users) so MySpace was hot on the heels and swept up the market in a very rapid ascent. Enter Facebook. Now I don’t get any.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. It eventually closed at 11,204 in April ’10 before sliding back around 10,000 as I sit here and type. raise money now to weather any storms). Such is the case with advanced batteries.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298