Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

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

MAY 23, 2022

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. I saw a good summary of these in the classic book, “ Ethical Leadership ,” by Andrew Leigh, an expert in this area. We’ve never broken the law so we must be ethical.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Software Review Summary Examples 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2022

As a long-time mentor and advisor to new business owners, I can attest to both the need for mentoring, and the satisfaction that comes from watching an aspiring but tentative entrepreneur grow into someone capable of changing the world. It’s a win-win situation for everyone in this new age of the entrepreneur. Marty Zwilling.

Mentor 154

Mentor Entrepreneur Satisfaction Summary 154

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.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

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

JUNE 21, 2019

If we build it, they will come ” may have worked as a movie theme for Kevin Costner, but as an investor, I tell entrepreneurs a great solution is not enough. I like their summary of five key components of innovation capital that we should strive to maximize: Human capital: forward thinking, problem solving, persuasion.

Product 93

Product Ideas Resource Capital 93

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.

Outsource Development 138

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2023

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

Training 116

Training Startup Entrepreneur Summary 116

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

That great productivity drain that we somehow all buy into. I shifted my thinking a few years ago after I read Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Workweek (link is to a short summary I wrote). I do what I wish all entrepreneurs would do. I spent a late morning meeting with a product exec at one portfolio company.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

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 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. As a summary, crowdfunding today can mean any one of the following five quite different models: Rewards model. Product pre-order model.

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

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.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The most elegant products have the highest price tags, thus limiting market size.

Product 95

Product Case Study Customer Custom 95

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

“Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. I know the firm well and I know the entrepreneur & his business well. But if that’s all that they’re after then entrepreneurs should definitely be wary of taking these calls. So I have to imagine many other entrepreneurs felt the same. They’re flattered.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. Most Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs I know are more like Al Gore. It is election season. But here’s the thing. They have very accomplished backgrounds.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2019

The one-page Oprah plan is a good executive summary, but it’s not enough to get the investment. Investors hear from too many entrepreneurs that envision a great business opportunity, but don’t have any written business plan at all. You can cover everything you need to convey in 20 pages of text. Polish the overall look and feel.

Tips 96

Tips Entrepreneur Writing Content 96

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur wishes that he could predict whether his idea could be the “next big thing,” before he spent his life savings and years of energy on it. Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan.

Ideas 155

Ideas Startup Summary Examples 155

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2015

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. Growth and scaling stage.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Satisfaction Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2023

With the availability of high-speed Internet and social media access around the world, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to assume that the world is just one big homogeneous market, and project their business will scale accordingly. The local culture affects not only the decisions an entrepreneur must make, but also how a market views the company.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Social Media Entrepreneur Summary 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs, and members of any small team, naively assume that the key to their success is hard work, dedication, and long hours in the business. It behooves all entrepreneurs and team members to recognize the positives and negatives of each type of relationship. Moving forward to a workship is critical to the business.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2014

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.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Startup 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The most elegant products have the highest price tags, thus limiting market size.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

It’s a jungle fight for survival out there for aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics. The best entrepreneurs work on making better time management a top objective. Treasure – Most entrepreneurs assume that treasure means funding. entrepreneur jungle startup survival' Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. By definition, most startups begin as a result of some innovation in product, process, or service. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts. Product-line expansion. Consider MySpace and Webvan.

Startup 142

Startup Web 2.0 IBM IBM 142

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2014

Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Simplify product scope. Your product will never have enough features to satisfy everyone, and it will never be perfect. business entrepreneur focus startup'

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Competition Technical Review Oracle 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Time management.

Activity 133

Activity Startup Ideas Technical Review 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The most elegant products have the highest price tags, thus limiting market size.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Here is a summary of indicative facts from the earlier study referenced, an update published last year, and others. These indicate that the correct icon for an entrepreneur may now have gray hair, rather than the warm glow of youth: The percent of entrepreneurs who are Baby Boomer starting a business since 1996 has grown from 14.3

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Technical Support 118

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. For reference, here is a quick summary of key elements which most investors include in their due diligence process: Key personnel review.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you. Executive summary glossy.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

Tips 152

Tips Training Startup Entrepreneur 152