Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app, highlighting the mashup technology, which you derived from early online social networking applications. Every business leader knows how difficult it is to keep up with a changing market. Customer data integrity and security.

Social Network 91

Social Network Training Startup Technology 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2013

According to a recent MIT study , only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 105

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2018

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Guide 95

Guide Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from AngelSoft , only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Line up an experienced team. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Startup 104

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Behind most great startup success stories is a long list of mistakes! Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. If my experience and insights can save just one founder from the stress, lost time, and lost money associated with a startup misstep, then I’m a happy man.

Tips 102

Tips Help Startup Blogging 102

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2016

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Startup 103

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2014

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app that mashes up existing technology derived from early social-networking applications. Every business leader knows how difficult it is to keep up with a changing market. Customer data integrity and security.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Technology Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Behind most great startup success stories is a long list of mistakes! Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. If my experience and insights can save just one founder from the stress, lost time, and lost money associated with a startup misstep, then I’m a happy man.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Social Network Patents 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Startup 101

Startup CTO Hire Press Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

Yet everyone seems to have their own view of key risk drivers for startups, and I’m no exception. I don’t agree, for example, that the first priority is to avoid startups with a high attrition rate, like trendy restaurants and entertainment. Very few businesses can be started without money. Market and opportunity risk.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

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. The difference relates to how you expect to get funding.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2016

Senior business leaders, for example, are unlikely to relate when you pitch your latest web app, highlighting the mashup technology, which you derived from early online social networking applications. Every business leader knows how difficult it is to keep up with a changing market. Customer data integrity and security.

Social Network 58

Social Network Startup Training Technology 58

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. My blog was wiped out. And covered we did. Tempus Fugit.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2010

Behind most great startup success stories is a long list of mistakes! Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. If my experience and insights can save just one founder from the stress, lost time, and lost money associated with a startup misstep, then I’m a happy man.

Guide 92

Guide Startup Social Network Patents 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the Angel perspective (as a member of an Angel group screening committee).

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

We recently ran into Dialplus (www.dialplus.net), a company which is developing mobile applications which pull up social networking profiles from Facebook or other sites when you make a phone call to a friend. Lisa LeVasseur: We have another company, a services company we started at the beginning of last year.

VentureNet 100

VentureNet Startup Mobile Technology Council 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Yet according to the latest data from Gust (formerly AngelSoft), only about 3 out of 100 companies who initiate the formal request process actually get funded. Line up an experienced team. Remember the old adage that “investors fund people, not ideas.”

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Yet everyone seems to have their own view of key risk sources for startups, and I’m no exception. I don’t agree, for example, that the first priority is to avoid startups with a high attrition rate, like trendy restaurants and entertainment. Very few businesses can be started without money. Market and opportunity risk.

Startup 89

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 89

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

(plus a large settlement on patent disputes paid from Google) so Bill did well on it. Especially when he’s surrounded by Danny Rimer (who funded Skype, MySQL, Last.FM So when Google started pushing AdSense (ads for affiliate or 3rd party sites) they had a HUGE cost advantage. PLUS RELATED FUNDING …. uh, hello!

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Capital Google Platform 271

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

Behind most great startup success stories is a long list of mistakes! Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. If my experience and insights can save just one founder from the stress, lost time, and lost money associated with a startup misstep, then I’m a happy man.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Social Network Startup Patents 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2012

According to a recent MIT study , only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Nearly all new businesses aspiring to reach meaningful scale require some sort of outside funding to finance a competitive growth trajectory.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 94

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2010

Dave Waldman , CEO and Founder of Los Angeles-based Bccthis (www.Bccthis.com), a startup looking to add additional functionality and private messaging into both corporate emails and Twitter messages. Dave Waldman: We started quite a while ago, back in almost September of 2008. How long has Bccthis been around?

Email 185

Email Startup Mobile Ideas 185

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Only real results count.

Tips 88

Tips Startup CTO Hire Press 88

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

Yet everyone seems to have their own view of key risk drivers for startups, and I’m no exception. I don’t agree, for example, that the first priority is to avoid startups with a high attrition rate, like trendy restaurants and entertainment. Very few businesses can be started without money. Market and opportunity risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2010

Let's start with the products. Instead of remembering a password, each time you try to log in an image grid comes up--and image shield, as we call it. It was funded in 2006 with about $8M in investments, and we were fortunate to have the benefit of that investment in the development of the intellectual property.

Technology 124

Technology Web Sites Orange County 124

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2008

The firm's technology--which creates a 3D, virtual avatar from digital photos--was originally developed at the University of Southern California for the CIA, and was spun out into a venture funded company targeting the consumer market. For those not familiar with BigStage, tell us what the company is doing with your avatar technology?

Entertainment 100

Entertainment Clearstone Venture Capital Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2021

Even the main industry rag, Online Dating Magazine , admits that the success rate is a mere one percent, compared to an estimated fifty percent for startups in general. The spend is still going up. Some estimates say there are up to 8.000 competitors worldwide. Social networks. In the U.S. In the U.S.

Sites 134

Sites Social Network Competition Networking 134

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

Right now they’re setting up 500 free corporations for first time entrepreneurs. He was Director of Online Marketing for Mota Motors, a BusinessWeek Top 50 Most Promising Startup of 2009 and TechCrunch50 finalist. Goodreads raised a Series A round of funding from True Ventures in the summer of 2009. Thank you @eminutes. .

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2013

Even the main industry rag, Online Dating Magazine , admits that the success rate is a mere one percent, compared to an estimated fifty percent for startups in general. The spend is still going up. Lawsuit claims and Nigerian con artists are up, and disillusionment is growing. Social networks. In the U.S.

Sites 86

Sites Social Network Networking Patents 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2011

Even the main industry rag, Online Dating Magazine , admits that the success rate is a mere one percent, compared to an estimated fifty percent for startups in general. Lawsuit claims and Nigerian con artists are up, and disillusionment is growing. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 91

Sites Social Network Competition Patents 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2010

So please don’t send me any more business plans along these lines, looking for investor funding, with no marketing budget, and promising huge returns. Lawsuit claims and Nigerian con artists are up, and disillusionment is growing. It’s hard to invent and patent more “scientific” methods on how to match people.

Sites 49

Sites Social Network Statistics Patents 49

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Lack of confidence in your self, your product, and your startup is a surefire recipe for disaster. It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues: “Business plans are for dummies.” Sleeping giants do wake up. “No

Startup 95

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 95

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2013

Lack of confidence in your self, your product, and your startup is a surefire recipe for disaster. It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders, I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues. Some startups think business plans are only for investors.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network IBM 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2010

Lack of confidence in your self, your product, and your startup is a surefire recipe for disaster. It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues: “Business plans are for dummies.” Sleeping giants do wake up. “No

Startup 52

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 52

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2011

Lack of confidence in your self, your product, and your startup is a surefire recipe for disaster. It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders, I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues. Some startups think business plans are only for investors.

Startup 98

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 98