Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Commit to a major customer.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: How can I avoid repeating the big job disappointments of my past? As I thought about my past career missteps, I had to admit to myself that in each case there were clear warning signs that I chose to either discount or ignore entirely. You should do the same.

RSS 229

RSS Entrepreneur Startup Email 229

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2022

Questionable ethics are not a risk any entrepreneur can afford. Every entrepreneur needs to improve how they deal with critics to make their lives less stressful and more satisfying. Smart entrepreneurs learn to evaluate the content of the communication independently of the speaker. Practice the pregnant pause before responding.

Mentor 115

Mentor Entrepreneur Help Email 115

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2009

Hint: He was an entrepreneur. The same is true of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is so highly valued in the Western World that some people try to convince themselves that they are an entrepreneur, when in fact they would be better off at a Big Dumb Company (“BDC”). Entrepreneur Does Not Equal Inventor.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Ideas Writing Startup 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Commit to a major customer.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2021

It takes much the same preparation to make you the best entrepreneur, or the best job candidate. Here are some tips from both his perspective and mine to stave off the coming summer “brain drain” and focus on the next step of employment, or starting a whole new career as an entrepreneur: Create and control your Internet image.

Tips 168

Tips Startup Coach Networking 168

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The fact that Kara doesn’t have what my wife likes to refer jokingly as my “Y chromosome problem” is beside the fact. She’s more qualified than I and I know she’ll eventually eclipse the things that Yves and I have built over the past couple of decades. Does This Mean You’re Retiring? I’m only 52! Yves enjoys the same things I do?—?investing

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

We are often asked how companies get funded, why VCs make the decisions we make and what we’re looking for in entrepreneurs. At Upfront we’re totally fine funding entrepreneurs who have done multiple businesses in the past – in fact we like it. But I’m guessing the narrative is similar elsewhere.

Funding 373

Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2014

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Rather, they prefer to stay consistent with beliefs or past behavior. business change entrepreneur social innovation startup' Consistency. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Startup 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

In case you don’t know – as VCs we have have 2 sets of customers: LPs (limited partners) who invest money in our funds and entrepreneurs (who we in turn give money to and help support them in building businesses we hope will be valuable). Who else is going to tell a VC if he got a bad reference from an entrepreneur or fellow VC?

Custom 341

Custom Customer Venture Capital Software Review 341

InfoChachkie

APRIL 25, 2011

Although many are entertaining, most fail to provide entrepreneurs with a sufficient return on their time investment. Unfortunately, most business books do not offer entrepreneurs an adequate payoff. I have used Guy’s previous book, The Art Of The Start (Art ), in my UC Santa Barbara New Venture Creation class for the past five years.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Peer Group – Meet with other emerging entrepreneurs who will help you objectively evaluate your experiences and provide relevant feedback regarding your successes and failures. It will also allow you to refer back to past experiences without risking an erroneous decision based on a false memory. The choice is yours. _.

Startup 206

Startup Journal Writing Blogging 206

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Past Success? The problem with this is that past successes aren’t always relevant to future ones as the methods and environment of the past may no longer apply. If I were looking at which VCs to choose I would reference strongly for which ones are supportive in good times and bad. Think of web vs. mobile.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2012

We asked the same four questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next week. What was the biggest lesson you learned over the past year (good or bad)? Lots of little ones. Dont believe there is ever one big one.

Southern California 173

Southern California Technical Review High Tech San Diego 173

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. Commit to a major customer. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

InfoChachkie

JULY 28, 2014

In the past, a struggling entrepreneur''s options for paying the bills were limited. Part time jobs typically generated minimal income while requiring the entrepreneur be at a specific place at a specific time, thus restricting their ability to work on their venture. Sharing While Caring About Your Venture.

Funding 223

Funding Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Of course, it’s no surprise that most entrepreneurs don’t have a background in hiring teams, and don’t have a budget for training or human resource consultants. In the past, very little consideration has been given to finding people who share your purpose and values for the business. Get interactive in candidate interviews.

Training 135

Training Case Study Resource Statistics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2020

Questionable ethics are not a risk any entrepreneur can afford. Every entrepreneur needs to improve how they deal with critics to make their lives less stressful and more satisfying. Smart entrepreneurs learn to evaluate the content of the communication independently of the speaker. Practice the pregnant pause before responding.

Mentor 124

Mentor Entrepreneur Help Email 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Commit to a major customer.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Rather than obsessing about an indirect gauge of customer satisfaction, entrepreneurs should focus on improving their Net Profit Score. A quick “No” is far more valuable to a busy entrepreneur than a nebulous NPS response of “five.”. Yes” responses are prime candidates for future references. Shots On Goal.

.Net 182

.Net Satisfaction Entrepreneur Custom 182

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

This might be wise counsel for Jerry Maguire, but it is the exact opposite approach an entrepreneur should take. If an entrepreneur were to strictly follow Mr. Greene''s rules, they might have a shot at producing a screenplay, but they would almost certainly fail in business. 1) Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary.

Hollywood 227

Hollywood Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Custom 227

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Those references drive trillions of dollars of commerce. We're really latching onto the growing trend of building products that detect product references in social messaging. We automatically add tracking and point those product references to e-commerce merchants. They're doing that billions of times a day.

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Rather, they prefer to stay consistent with beliefs or past behavior. In fact, businesses need to adapt even more completely to the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers.

Custom 122

Custom Customer Social Media Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

One of the business ironies that many entrepreneurs have learned the hard way in the past is that ideas which are truly disruptive carry the highest risk of failure, take the longest to gain traction, and thus are the least likely to get external funding. Great entrepreneurs aren’t just dreamers, they are doers.

Startup 102

Startup Cloud Computing Ideas Entrepreneur 102

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Rather than obsessing about an indirect gauge of customer satisfaction, entrepreneurs should focus on improving their Net Profit Score. A quick “No” is far more valuable to a busy entrepreneur than a nebulous NPS response of “five.”. Yes” responses are prime candidates for future references. Shots On Goal.

.Net 168

.Net Satisfaction Custom Customer 168

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

These are the questions that get past the hype of a founder “vision to change the world,” and into the realm of real business strengths, weaknesses, and current health. If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Invest Patents 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2018

One of the business ironies that many entrepreneurs have learned the hard way in the past is that ideas which are truly disruptive carry the highest risk of failure, take the longest to gain traction, and thus are the least likely to get external funding. Great entrepreneurs aren’t just dreamers, they are doers.

Startup 57

Startup Cloud Computing Ideas Entrepreneur 57

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Just literally this week I had breakfast with a guy giving a reference who said, “He’s brilliant. In fact, just a short Google search reveals that I’ve referred to him frequently through the years. But he knows it.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

To put this accomplishment into perspective, there have only been 23perfect games recorded in major league baseball during the past 133 years, during which nearly 400,000 games have been played. Entrepreneurs seeking funding should emulate Addie''s efficient and focused pursuit of perfection. no hits, no errors, no runs). One-liners.

Product 208

Product Yammer Technical Review Google 208

socalTECH

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Nelson Paez : For the past four years, Dreamhammer has been developing a software product called BALLISTA, which is what we refer to as a drone operating system. Nelson Paez : The Defense Department had requirements for providing unmanned systems for the purpose of surveillance and such for the past twenty years. READ MORE>>.

Startup 183

Startup Software Southern California Santa Monica 183

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2014

We have, for example, libelous and cruel attacks in the Chronicle on our number-one celebrity, the author Danielle Steel, alleging that she is a “snob” despite the millions she has spent on our city’s homeless and mentally ill over the past decades.” So perhaps his king reference was fitting.

Education 417

Education Venture Capital UCSD Class 417

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But a couple of people replied with responses of such lack of comprehension that I thought it was worth expanding on for first-time entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs achieve much through their personal leadership traits that inspire others to do great things with them – sure. Not possible. ” Or there was this one.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

I recently got a phone call from an entrepreneur whom I respect and who runs a company that I hope will do great things one day. He had pitched me in the past and I told him that for a variety of reasons his company was too early stage for me but that I would happily keep track of their progress. That’s what you’ve got?

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Watching him develop over the past 4.5 The take-away I’d love to leave you with is that we love to back entrepreneurs super early and if we lead a seed we will often offer to proactively lead an A-round or graciously step back if another lead comes to the table that the founder wants to include.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 22, 2020

We have a soft spot for investors and entrepreneurs, who might be super-smart, but are not necessarily as experienced. I find that a lot of people are referring people to me, hearing when someone is moving to LA, to talk to Z. They are now doing lots of deals with big pharma companies, and have been incredibly successful.

Southern California 124

Southern California Capital Technical Review Startup 124

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Their primary intended reader is a “first-time entrepreneur”, but clearly other stakeholders within the startup universe can also benefit from the book’s hands-on advice. They are both former entrepreneurs and current Partners at Foundry Group , a highly successful, early stage venture firm. The Magicians Tells Their Secrets.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205