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.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2014

This weekend I was reading the NY Times online and I came across this excellent piece about ADHD written by Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry. ” This sentiment is probably familiar to many entrepreneurs and it must certainly resonates with anybody who suspects he or she has ADD. This hit me over the head.

Startup 416

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Help 416

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And here’s an important point that I think modern entrepreneurs often forget: Investors are “co-owners” of your business. Over time you start to figure out who you customers are and how to sell to them or how to get them to adopt your products if you’re a consumer-oriented startup. Mentorship.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done by full-time employees, in the office or at home. 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. Recognize and embrace differences.

Outsource Development 138

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 138

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. I spent a bunch of time thinking about this position — especially since Beezer is an investor in Upfront Ventures. I could go on for a long time.

Entrepreneur 150

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Invest Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2011

tl;dr version: If you’re an entrepreneur or VC or will be working in this industry - buy this. – entrepreneurs never seem to focus on anything other than ownership percentage. I read every post several times. This article originally ran on TechCrunch. Drag along rights? There was no guide. It is also a must read.

Venture Capital 304

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Guide Blogging 304

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2019

Image via Flickr by World Economic Forum 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. Mentoring pitches turns students into communicators.

Mentor 88

Mentor Satisfaction Summary Entrepreneur 88

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars (two million six hundred thousand in today’s dollars) into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. But that was back to 1996.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

My experience personally reviewing over three hundred executive summaries each year, all sent to me unsolicited, seems to bear out the truth in Tyson’s statement. We should celebrate entrepreneurs and managers who recognize the need to pivot when a plan fails to gain traction in the marketplace. And credit Savant Tyson for the insight.

Summary 156

Summary Metrics Class Email 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

“Hi [entrepreneur], I hope all is well. It looks as though you’ve built a very interesting business, and I’d love to spend some time getting a better understanding of your future plans for the company and if there is an opportunity to partner with [My Firm]. What a waste of my time. What fits your schedule?

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Perhaps sparked by the recent pandemic, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Every approach is a compromise between cost, time, and return, so forget your perfectionist tendencies.

Startup 135

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review 135

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. Budget time and dollars for each.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2019

When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. Expect the unexpected.

Entrepreneur 88

Entrepreneur Summary Activity Resource 88

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

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. The investors want a motivated entrepreneur, and it is certainly more difficult to motivate a twenty percent owner than a sixty percent owner.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Summary Resource 120

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. Donation good-cause model.

Funding 141

Funding Startup Outsource Development Satisfaction 141

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

The bad news is that it’s still high, the opportunity for change is huge, and the cost of entry is at an all-time low. It’s a jungle fight for survival out there for aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics. Time management is an art. The best entrepreneurs work on making better time management a top objective.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2014

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. 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. Recognize and embrace differences.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Startup 92

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. And they want to spend their time in front of clients winning deals. It is election season.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2021

Every entrepreneur realizes that change is now the norm, and they have to adapt their business quickly to survive and prosper. In fact, the best entrepreneurs seem to see breakthrough changes coming even before they really happen, and are able to turn them into huge new opportunities. Technically, this is known as perceptual acuity.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Summary Patents Examples 173

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. Stick with the simpler words and phrases, like "use" instead of "utilize" and "then" instead of "at that point in time." You can cover everything you need to convey in 20 pages of text. It won’t work.

Tips 96

Tips Entrepreneur Writing Content 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. It’s an opportunity for that “big bang” return of 10X to 100 times your initial investment, like early investors in Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 89

Invest Entrepreneur Startup Equity 89

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

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Here are the key principles I recommend as an advisor to many entrepreneurs: Start your business in your own home. Look for a part-time job in a local or family business to provide access to things you will need only occasionally, such as a high-speed printer, video equipment or product assembly tools and storage. Marty Zwilling

Equity 139

Equity Social Media Startup Summary 139

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. At the same time, he was always pushing the limits of our business relationship with new ideas. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Too many entrepreneurs try to talk their way through all of these.

Activity 133

Activity Startup Ideas Technical Review 133

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. Successful entrepreneurs get the job done quickly, without breaking the bank. Martin Zwilling

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The good news is that a recent Kauffman Early-Stage Entrepreneurship (KESE) Index shows the highest level of new business activity recorded in the last two decades, and the cost of entry at an all-time low. In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success.

Startup 112

Startup News Framework Outsource 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2014

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for others, that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Here is a summary of recommendations from both of us, based on my own business mentoring insights: Re-launch using your enhanced core competency.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Summary 105

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. Marty Zwilling.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

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. Startup and development stage.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Satisfaction Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

Almost every entrepreneur starts their journey by developing a solution, based on their knowledge of a new technology or required service. Every entrepreneur already knows that building a startup is all about experimentation, new experiences, and problem solving. developer entrepreneur Herminia Ibarra leadership startup'

Develop 101

Develop Development Entrepreneur Startup 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2023

Almost every entrepreneur starts their journey by developing a solution, based on their idea of a new technology or required service. But in my experience as a startup mentor, I find that the happiest and most successful entrepreneurs in the long-term are those that continually stretch themselves to get comfortable in the leadership role.

Develop 110

Develop Development Startup Entrepreneur 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

I’ve been a student of these techniques for some time, but some time ago I saw a great summary that seems to pull all the key principles together. These steps are not aimed specifically at entrepreneurs, but I see how they can be applied there as follows: Do what you know and enjoy. Break time into pieces.

Help 100

Help Entrepreneur Sample Organization 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2015

Every entrepreneur realizes that change is now the norm, and they have to adapt their business quickly to survive and prosper. In fact, the best entrepreneurs seem to see breakthrough changes coming even before they really happen, and are able to turn them into huge new opportunities. Technically, this is known as perceptual acuity.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Summary Patents Examples 109