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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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his investor pitch to me by touting his new technology. They have forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they eliminate. Quantify the pain points. Keep it simple and easy to use.

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Technology Entrepreneur Customer Custom 109

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 10, 2019

Saturday, November 16, 2019 -- Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum - Transportation. As traditional car ownership declines, companies are offering cost-effective alternatives powered by new technology and networks. Emerging Opportunities in Urban Mobility and the Business Models It Will Enable.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2021

Therefore, the least you can do is take advantage of some of the self-assessment tools and guides around, like the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Equation ,” by Carol Roth, which highlights personal characteristics and skills required. Are you bored, wanting to be free of a boss, or eager to showcase a hot technology?

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Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Guide 169

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 5, 2019

Saturday, May 11, 2019 -- Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum - Robotics. The next wave of robotics will be driven by the integration of these 3 technologies to reduce the cost and time-to-market of robotic systems by an order of magnitude or more. See [link] (more)

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

Interested in hearing more about the technology community in Orange County? A newly launched podcast, Accelerate OC , recently launched a series of interviews from Orange County innovators, trendsetters, entrepreneurs, investors and community leaders, in a live radio show and podcast. READ MORE>>.

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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? Technology, architecture, and feature descriptions.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

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. Use the cloud and subscriptions for computing technology.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days. Marty Zwilling.

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Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Formalize the use of tools and information technology. Solution development and delivery.

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Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

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. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers.

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Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2013

Some entrepreneurs forget that they can’t use people the same way they use technology to build a startup. Inventors, for example, are skilled in manipulating technology, but may have little interest or experience engaging people to make an effective team. Focusing on the technology doesn’t do it. Committing to action.

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Entrepreneur Technology Startup Guide 92

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I got started in investment banking, focused on helping medical companies buy technology companies, and then later in the enterprise space and in the cloud.

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Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. His checklists cover everything from building a vision, to consistently delivering results, for entrepreneurs up to mature business executives. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Technology 86

Technology Cloud Computing Social Media Networking 86

Berkonomics

JUNE 22, 2023

If your vision is for a product or service that fills a need in a mature industry, you may be flying against the prevailing winds as a market shrinks over time, taking your business with it. Sometimes, an idea is just too early for the available technology to make it attractive. Where in industry life cycle? Are margins high enough?

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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. Examples I have seen include atomic battery technology, or how marine algae could help feed the world.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

In an attempt to boost diversity and inclusion efforts and civic engagement between the growing technology industry in Los Angeles and the community that surrounds it, over 80 venture capitalists and entrepreneurs joined the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, and the non-profit Annenberg Foundation to announce PledgeLA.

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2012

What's the best way to encourage development of the technology industry in Los Angeles? The group said that it is hoping to promote the path of the current Expo line as a new technology corridor, to create new "innovation hubs" along the corridor. The group also said it plans to launch a new program called the Edge.LA

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. Look hard at the technology for feasibility and risk. This is the point where you work on the specifics of being able to deliver your product or service. All the evidence says that over 99% fail to make that leap. Keep thieves away (protect it).

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Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. When entrepreneurs become prisoners of hope, they look for others to solve their problem.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Marketing Customer Custom 107

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 3, 2018

million to bring to market a service that basically hits pause on the execution of a contract so it can be arbitrated in the event that something goes wrong. The company’s technology works as a middleware including an SDK and a contract notification and monitoring service.

Software Review 159

Software Review Outsource Development Services Technical Review 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2020

None of these investment banks offer traditional banking services, as you would expect from one of the following: Retail banks Commercial banks Credit unions Savings and loans As startup founders, you first need to deal with one of these traditional banks, probably a commercial bank. Very confusing.

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Invest Entrepreneur Venture Capital Funding 144

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

But as technology started making its way inside the restaurant business, Canter realized that the delicatessen on Fairfax would need to upgrade to keep up with the times. “I was the guy in the restaurant to pitch whenever there was a service or product,” Canter says. “All of a sudden online ordering started up. .

Services 165

Services Los Angeles Startup Capital 165

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2016

Los Angeles-based HelloTech , the on-demand, in-home technical services company founded by serial entrepreneur and tech investor Richard Wolpert, said it is expanding into San Diego, and has begun offering up its services in the city. The company now offers up its services in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.

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San Diego Orange County Services UCSD 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2014

Los Angeles has been in the midst of a technology boom over the last few years, with many of high profile startups growing in the area. We spoke with Bryce Maddock , founder of TaskUs, about the company and how it has been providing the manpower behind a lot of LA''s technology startups. The two of us really wanted to be entrepreneurs.

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Startup Technology Outsource Santa Monica 231

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Irvine-base security technology provider CrowdStrike announced this morning that it has raised $30M in a Series B funding round, which was led by Accel Partners and also included Warburg PIncus. Kurtz is a serial entrepreneur, who was the founder of Foundstone, which he sold to McAfee back in 2004.

Technology 147

Technology Venture Capital Entrepreneur Funding 147

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

There’s a line of thinking in Silicon Valley that you should build product businesses rather than services businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. It is advice I give entrepreneurs often as I have written here on why most businesses should never raise VC.

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Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

Billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong , the founder of Abraxis BioScience, announced today that he has launched a new company focused on "bringing the digital revolution" to healthcare, education, science, and the justice sytsem. The new firm, according to Soon-Shiong, will help create a "Silicon Beach" in the Los Angeles area.

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Incubator Technology Education Los Angeles 168

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

David Carter and Allen Hurff are two startup veterans, who believe they have a new formula to help create early stage, technology companies, through their new "startup studio", Zuma Ventures (www.zumavc.com). Incubators, at the core level, take basic core level technology and try to build a company around it.

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socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2011

First off, talk about your involvement in some of the companies here, and also explain your view of where Los Angeles is going in the technology world? It's about the user experience, the interface, and it's very not about the technology. They will buy goods and services across that connected device, and are happy to spend money.

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Riot Games Technology Los Angeles Entrepreneur 199

Berkonomics

MARCH 16, 2023

As an early-stage investor, the first test for me is whether “my” entrepreneur is flexible in both the plan and execution of their vision (since from experience almost everything about a business plan changes over time), and whether that person, no matter what age or experience, is coachable. Why should we ask this question?

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Coach Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Resource 156

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 7, 2018

If investors at some of the biggest technology companies are right, the next big restaurant chain could have no kitchens of its own. But Alphabet’s investment team is far from the only group investing in the restaurant infrastructure as a service business. The Battle Is For The Customer Interface.

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Startup Los Angeles Demand Pasadena 279

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

On why you should be an entrepreneur, “A lot of people do what they have to do. He stood up, grabbed the mic and gave a heartfelt overview of his experiences in experimenting with new technologies to build relationships with his audience, get feedback on his product quality and to market his music all the way to the top of iTunes.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

According to what I see, as outlined by Surdak, this data surge is being driven by the following six technological and social trends: Mobility: smartphones, tablets, and the “Internet of things.” Digital commerce: infinite options for buying goods and services online. Smartphone penetration in the U.S.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97