Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Jackson added, “FinTech has traditionally lagged behind the innovation that’s happening in other areas of enterprise software. 25 Years of Writing Code. He helped develop an airline tracking system for Homeland Security and is an organizer of the Agile Open SoCal conference. and Schlumberger. Founded in 2010 by Eric M.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Forget visits to random restaurants, myfab5 uses the power of the crowd to help you search for the best restaurant in town. Founded by Omeid Seirafi-Pour , Calvin Schemanski and John Gulbronson they aim to help users find fabulous restaurants in their cities. myfab5 is a platform that reinvents the restaurant review.

Software Review 79

Software Review Technical Review Writing Startup 79

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Scot Lawrie , the President and technical Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Coverfly (www.coverfly.com), and John Rhodes , Coverfly's head of Marketing and Business Development, to learn a bit more about the early stage, bootstrapped startup focused on Hollywood script writers. What is Coverfly?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Now, with powerful high-level tools and open source software, winning smartphone apps can be built by a good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

socalTECH

JULY 22, 2016

Rufus Labs is one of a number of hardware startups which have started to proliferate in the community, due to low cost hardware, 3D printing, and crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Plus, they don't collect data, and use really old, limited software. So, I switched to a degree in business and marketing.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Startup Software Review CTO Hire 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

If you have a software development background like mine, Im sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your secret sauce, you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 23, 2012

If you forget everything else I write about creating an app, remember this: every app needs a hook. The top apps on the store have already found their hook and developed a powerful brand to help cement loyalty of their users. What tool are they giving to help users accomplish their goals? The Hook Brings You back.

Marketing 84

Marketing Software Review Tips Competition 84

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

So, how is it you ended up going from a technology infrastructure entrepreneur at SkyPipeline, to the consumer market with Visalus? My CIO had been ex-CIO at Herbalife, and was an EVP of Software for Disney. We hired the ex-CTO of Sears, and other senior executives out of Disney in software. Execution is everything.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 53

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 53

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

It’s a very personal topic and I’d like to offer you a framework to decide for yourself, based on the following factors: How Long is it Taking to Raise Capital at Your Stage in the Market? Who are Your Existing Investors? Well if you took that option I would simply advise that you be a little bit more cautious with your burn rate.

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Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

There is a battle between entrepreneurs who try to change the world and solve a meaningful problem and those who write take-down pieces with no apparent personal benefit other than attention. Are we right in all of our assumptions and diligence? And I hope the skeptics will join in from a perspective of “how can we help?”

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 23, 2010

And to give credit where it’s due (in addition to the content that Fred producers) a lot of the discussion works well because of the Disqus commenting platform. Fred talks about it here – he beat me to the punch because I always wanted to write about how awesome this is. It’s an awesome implementation.

Blogging 301

Blogging SEO Startup Writing 301

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

I recommend you first review Dharmesh’s article and then listen to Naval’s thoughts. These days, thanks to code and community, we can productize almost any process done by humans. The core business we have built on is taking out-of-market startups and introducing them to investors. AngelList is the productization of that.

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Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

We typically do not ask entrepreneurs to visit our offices in Santa Barbara, but Jeff wanted to meet with Kevin, an investor in our Fund who helped us vet opportunities and occasionally invested alongside of us. Tech Diligence - Consider The Source. Also, I'm curious if you could help us out a little. Forwarded message -.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

What is it about the content delivery network market which has enabled Santa Monica-based EdgeCast to go from startup to over $100M in revenues in only a few, short years? We have 35 POPs all over the world, in every major market, and we have more than 6,000 customers today. We caught on with the right product, at the right time.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

InfoChachkie

JUNE 11, 2012

Bill Gates – “The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. However, his first-hand knowledge of how to write, test and commercialize code facilitated his ability to lead Microsoft from startup to world dominance.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Education Entrepreneur 279

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

They had a prominent NorCal investor already so I thought a SoCal lead would make sense – that I could help them in a more hands-on way. And for my own good I vowed to have relationships in China and knowledge of the local markets. This company is back on the market raising money again. Write things down.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

They had a prominent NorCal investor already so I thought a SoCal lead would make sense – that I could help them in a more hands-on way. And for my own good I vowed to have relationships in China and knowledge of the local markets. This company is back on the market raising money again. Write things down.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2012

Tech Reporters: These individuals will write and edit informative and practical articles on a range of topics including Startups/Entrepreneurs, Gadgets, Mobile Tech, Tech in Entertainment, Gaming, Apps & Software, productivity, and cover breaking tech news. Think you may be interested? Take a look below and give us a shout.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Software Review Writing News 71

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. Regularly follow reviews and influencers in your industry. Spend more time with people who can help, rather than be helpers.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2010

Writing down your weight from your scale is obviously a manual process and it’s tedious. My favorite new software tool is DailyBurn. Problem is – Weight Watchers software TOTALLY SUCKS. The other key is making your goals public – at least to someone else who can help keep you accountable.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully. But on the other hand if you have a product with a very high gross margin (software, virtual goods, etc.) Try reading a bunch of reviews, checking 5 different restaurants to try and compare the differences.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

We were looking at it, and saw that if we could take all these off-the-shelf sensors, and put it all together, and write some code, and make a user interface, it''s basically done. We thought we could deliver that 3D image as a software-as-a-service. Unfortunately, UCLA''s money dried up due to legal issues.

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Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. At the time he granted me permission to write about his story. We then moved our Chief Software Architect over.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Most relevant to startups is the push to fund initiatives and technologies that can help prevent or protect against extreme wildfires; rising sea levels and hurricanes; new agriculture resource management; and “climate-smart” technologies. The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Yet I can’t help thinking there are many predictable failures that come from a lack of basic planning. It says that selling an airplane ticket for $500 and getting paid a $5 fees by the airlines (1% gross margin) is not the same thing as selling $500 of software that you built (>90% gross margin). Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2010

For our interview today, we caught up with Al Eisaian , CEO of Pasadena-based IconApps (www.iconapps.com), which is developing mobile applications for the iPhone market. The second thing it allows them to do is save money, because the app helps them with couponing, through partnerships and local deals we have.

Mobile 168

Mobile .Net Pasadena Software Review 168

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” If you have a market lead then raising capital and making investments now will help you as others enter the market.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2010

Not too many people are aware of the success and story of Lynda.com (www.lynda.com), started by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin , and how the firm's now grown to a double-digit, multimillion dollar business which is known as THE source for online training on such things as web design, graphics software, animation, video editing, and much more.

Startup 242

Startup Web Design Writing Web 242

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

The “more traction&# feedback is a very typical scenario is a down market economy like the one we’re in. It is code word for “I’m not ready to invest for whatever reason … I need more proof.&#. They get positive product reviews on TechCrunch, GigaOm or Paidcontent.org. They hire key staff.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt. It became a huge kerfuffle with many VC partners writing to thank me for the post, which exposed those that gave their industry a bad name. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. A deep dive into the Foundry Group investment philosophy including an interesting discussion of their investing Themes. “… our lens is: Internet Software Companies anywhere in the U.S. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest. Is that when it became big?

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

Yet, it does nothing to help you execute your business model. This acquisition resolved the surgical robotic IP landscape and allowed Intuitive to dominate the market. Even if your company is not acquired and you elect to access the public capital markets via an IPO, the above tenets remain valid. Know Thou Prior Art.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA. Having a methodology instead of just going on random sales visits helped force a bit of rigor and honesty amongst team members about how well or not we thought we were doing. This article initially appeared on Inc. Click here.

Sales 367

Sales Slides Startup Customer 367