Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2023

You’ve probably already made your resolutions for 2023, but if not, I suggest a renewed commitment to finding happiness and satisfaction in your chosen business lifestyle. The right reason to start a business is not the money, challenge, or the prestige, but the chance to follow your dream. Stay rooted in the present.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Ironically, as a startup investor and mentor, I have seen too many failures caused by just the opposite – too much money spent too soon, taking time to get product perfection, and assuming customers will wait. How many times have you actually made up work to keep an idle person busy? It’s still a hard road to success.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

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. Even fewer are able to grow the startup into a viable business. Here is a summary of the key stages along the way: Idea and seed stage. Startup and development stage.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, crowdfunding still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. The crowd gets the satisfaction of helping, with minimal risk, and no expectation of any high return.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

There has long been a big debate about the best approach to starting a new business. Some argue the only way to start is to drop everything and jump in with both feet, while others recommend an overlapped approach to the lifestyle, including not quitting your day job until you have revenue and a proven business model.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2023

There has long been a big debate about the best approach to starting a new business. Some argue the only way to start is to drop everything and jump in with both feet, while others recommend an overlapped approach to the lifestyle, including not quitting your day job until you have revenue and a proven business model.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. The reality is that starting a business, as well is working an existing business, has always required perseverance.

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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. Face-to-face mentoring generates more inspiration.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2021

I n my experience mentoring new entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders, I see far too many who seem to be driven by all the wrong reasons. When Bill Gates acted on his dream of putting a computer in every home and on every desk, he had no idea of the fortune it would bring to him, since he wanted only to make a difference.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs I know are just waiting for that unique idea to strike them that will kickstart their new venture, put them in control of their lifestyle, achieve financial independence, and maybe even change the world. Timing is critical for every startup. Of course, if you wait for the perfect time, you may never start.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

If you are seriously looking to start the next billion-dollar startup, you need to get beyond the realm of enhancing a current solution. Rather than starting from a mindset of pushing the limits of technology, be determined to first find a customer need that can only be solved by the technology you know.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Most of you business professionals that I know have at least thought about or talked about starting their own business, to get more control, make more money, or to get more satisfaction out of their life. As a mentor to young aspiring entrepreneurs , I often get asked for tips on a strategy to get started.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. Many people believe that new ideas are the critical element of innovation, but in my experience as a mentor and investor, long-term business success is more about implementation than ideas.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2017

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. Building relationships, and finding ways for a win-win, is what mentoring is about.

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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. You can’t win a race that you never start.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2022

In my view, too many businesses fail, simply because founders give up too early. Having an unlimited number of ideas is not a substitute. Starting many initiatives, and hoping that one will stick, is not a formula for success. Show a focus on a single objective, rather than many.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2021

But privately, as a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I see mindsets and attributes that may be equally critical to success, but are not readily admitted, for fear of being too wacky. They know there is nothing wrong with having passion for a new idea, but they don’t let it influence business decisions.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2021

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs probably have long searched for that special idea that will catapult you and your startup to success. Yet, my experience as a business advisor and investor has convinced me that the magic is not the idea, but you and the execution. With innovative startups, every new one is a new challenge.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Hopefully, between the two of us, more of you with big business dreams will follow the leads and generate more successful business results: Start by getting your hands dirty. Never give up in the face of adversity. One of the biggest causes of startup failure is simply giving up too early. The time to get started is now.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

It seems they are both looking for more personal satisfaction and sense of purpose for their efforts. Even the simplest of new technologies, such as Zoom for remote meetings, can be a detriment to work satisfaction if workers are not trained on how to use it effectively, causing video and sound problems, as well as background distractions.

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Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

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Technical Review Development Team Review Startup Activity 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring.

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Satisfaction Customer Custom Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2015

According to several reliable reports , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. It has to start long before that, with a mindset event that drives a real change in behavior.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Yet I have learned over the years as a startup advisor that all business leaders are not the same. You generally don’t fix things by throwing them away and starting over. The time to get started is now.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2022

In my years of mentoring entrepreneurs, a problem I have seen too often is low self-esteem, and over-compensating through arrogance and ego. As a team member, low self-esteem leads to low confidence, poor productivity, and no job satisfaction. From a rational point of view, berating ourselves for past startup failures makes no sense.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

Accept the fact that change is normal, and is probably the reason you saw an opportunity to start your business in the first place. Seek input from the team, as well as mentors. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from peers, your advisory board, and outside experts and mentors. Don’t become the victim you fear with no control.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials.

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Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2020

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. Even fewer are able to grow the startup into a viable business. Here is a summary of the key stages along the way: Idea and seed stage. Startup and development stage.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Satisfaction Summary 127

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Yet I find in my mentoring practice that more and more team members prefer the human-centered approach and respond with more engagement and commitment. I’ve found that you can best start by asking for another perspective, whether of yourself or a team member. You need both to create better outcomes and increase job satisfaction.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2022

In today’s fast moving world of business startups, learning trumps knowing every time. With my focus on startups, I can translate very easily how her points lead to more innovation even in the entrepreneurial environment: Maintain an unencumbered mind. Seek out experts and return with ideas and resources. Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Most people think success depends on first having that innovative and unique idea, but I would beg to differ.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. The crowd gets the satisfaction of helping, with minimal risk, and no expectation of any high return.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Satisfaction Equity 129

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. Leadership in business starts with making good personal choices. In my view, business leaders are not “idea people,” but people who drive a given idea to business results.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2020

According to Gallup surveys , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle. Learn new skills that will make you an expert in that domain, and both satisfaction and wealth will follow.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Writing Startup 123