Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

To be clear, I define a product specification as the technical definition of your product, to be used for development and testing purposes, with a quick business summary for context. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” You need both to survive.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? Some resources on this: Intellectual Property is More Than Patents Does My Startup Have Intellectual Property? Lots of thoughts here.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. You can only lead by example, and set equally high standards for the people around you. Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People.” No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Every school recognizes the power of “hands-on” work to help you develop your own ideas into a business. For example, I do business mentoring at nearby Arizona State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors. Find employment connections with other startups.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2014

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Commerce 104

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Early customers and contracts in progress add value. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Startup 108

Startup Invest Patents Outsource Development 108

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. I’d like to give you some actual examples and also talk about the role they play. This is all about “leverage” which is the key to success. HR & Legal.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2011

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Early customers and contracts in progress add value. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Funding 98

Funding Startup Patents Outsource Development 98

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2015

Santa Barbara-based Ice Energy (www.ice-energy.com) has quietly been working away at developing energy storage systems to help smooth out the demand for energy on the nation's power grid. We have thirteen patents associated with the Ice bear. megawatts of energy. These devices are not usually deployed one or two at a time.

Southern California 100

Southern California Technical Review Demand Outsource Development 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2011

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. You can only lead by example, and set equally high standards for the people around you. Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People.” No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Organization Training 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. The value of patents and trademarks is not certifiable, especially if you are only at the provisional stage. Early customers and contracts in progress add value. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Startup 93

Startup Patents Outsource Development Web 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. You can only lead by example, and set equally high standards for the people around you. Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People.” No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Startup 109

Startup Entrepreneur Organization Training 109

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. But here is another example of a role that everyone carries in a startup, so investors can’t imagine paying anyone uniquely to do that job.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. But here is another example of a role that everyone carries in a startup, so investors can’t imagine paying anyone uniquely to do that job.

Startup 97

Startup Invest CTO Hire Cloud Computing 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2010

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. But here is another example of a role that everyone carries in a startup, so investors can’t imagine paying anyone uniquely to do that job.

Startup 90

Startup CTO Hire Cloud Computing CIO 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2012

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. You can only lead by example, and set equally high standards for the people around you. Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People.” No entrepreneur is born with these skills.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Organization Training 94

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

While it is impossible to know what the future holds, startup business owners can bank on the fact that potential future buyers will be evaluating their financial statements in addition to the value of their corporate team, working partnerships, marketing efforts, patents, and reputation. Key functions should not be outsourced.

Startup 40

Startup Acquisition Outsource Development Outsource 40

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► February (1) Building and Developing an A++ Team ► 2008 (14) ► December (1) Develop a Culture Roadmap ► November (2) Green Week - Save the Environment and Your Cash Creating a Culture of Innovation: Cultural Values. Outsourcing ► April (1) GoogleClick - Who owns your cash register? Startup 3.0:

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

In many cases, agreements crafted by BDC lawyers resemble ConTraps rather than mutually beneficial contracts. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. Part III addresses these contract traps: World-wide Distribution. Free Pilots.

Outsource Development 170

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 170

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

In many cases, agreements crafted by BDC lawyers resemble ConTraps rather than mutually beneficial contracts. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. Part III addresses these contract traps: World-wide Distribution. Free Pilots.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Be a miser with contract services and facilities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Be a miser with contract services and facilities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Be a miser with contract services and facilities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Be a miser with contract services and facilities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Be a miser with contract services and facilities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Think of these alternatives as paying interest on a loan, and manage them wisely.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89