Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

Every one of you business owners I know periodically introduces new products and services to sustain growth, fight off competitors, or take advantage of new technologies. Target audience may be limited or new due to price. Don’t count on these as short-term solutions to a growth problem. Incent these early.

Product 141

Product Services Technical Review Artificial Inteligence 141

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2023

When I dig deeper, I find that many of you are easily excited by a great new idea, but fail to diligently follow a validation process to test the limits of your thinking, before proceeding to rollout. She is an expert on the study of innovation, and professor at Columbia Business School. Don’t just accept your first breakdown.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Ideas Study Social Media 120

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. Rather, entrepreneurs' frustrations are often due to an incongruence between an MBA's expectations versus the value they can deliver to a startup. Startups Need Execution, Not Administration.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Technical Review Case Study Class 279

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2020

Maven had paused service due to the COVID-19 pandemic. GM confirmed to TechCrunch that it has started to wind down Maven. Maven had already suspended its consumer car-sharing and a peer-to-peer service due to COVID-19. GM’s experiment with car sharing is over.

Los Angeles 215

Los Angeles Technical Review Email Services 215

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. You’ve built a successful startup before, and plan to use the same investors. A business plan may be a small investment to get a shot at that opportunity.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. That is the definition of Disruptive Technology.

Company 339

Company Companies Technical Review Content 339

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Use crowd funding.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “ Growth Hacking is Bull ” written by Muhammad Saleem. His quip to suggest this is all a slight-of-hand, trickery dreamed up by marketing b *s is quite clever if misguided. For starters it brings a mindset to startups that not all of them have innately.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. How did you start blogging? “My In 2004 / 2005 I was starting to get intrigued with user-generated content. was starting. You still need the presentation to back that up. Or, as always, summary notes available below. Brad on blogging.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2022

In my experience, the good news is that everyone is becoming more and more comfortable with relationships via the new media and technology. Maximize online referrals and positive service reviews. I still find too many service organizations that ignore or discount online reviews and satisfaction surveys.

Services 121

Services Technical Review Social Media Case Study 121

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2013

There''s been a lot of activity over the past two years in the Southern California accelerator/incubator market, with numerous groups (Amplify, EvoNexus, K5, LaunchpadLA, MediaCamp, Science, StartEngine, and many, many others) looking to help entrepreneurs start and fund their companies. where we totalled up $33.85M in funding.

Southern California 222

Southern California Incubator Report Startup 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Use crowd funding.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

socalTECH

MARCH 19, 2019

For this morning's interview, we thought we'd catch up with two of the co-founders of Marina Del Rey-based Telesign (www.telesign.com), Ryan Disraeli and Stacy Stubblefield. How did the company start? Stacy Stubblefield: We actually started out of an incubator, based out of Beverly Hills. What were you doing before?

Marina Del Rey 113

Marina Del Rey Software Review Startup Incubator 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

Are you making the proper investment, and is it paying off? If you think it’s hard to get the technical systems to talk to each other, I have found that it’s even harder to bridge the gulf between the various professionals who interpret them. Don’t forget it. Turf wars between people complicate assessment. That’s $300 a lead.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Use crowd funding.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

In the startup world, the former happens when a VC makes a bad investment, and the latter occurs when they miss a great opportunity. In contrast, low-volume, high-conviction investors like Rincon only invests in a handful new companies each year, making it much more costly (in dollars and effort expended) to invest in a loser.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. The start of marketing is figuring out a market need and a way to solve that need better than anybody else.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. Define a disciplined process, take the time to find multiple candidates, and do proper reviews. Get interactive in candidate interviews.

Training 135

Training Case Study Resource Statistics 135

socalTECH

JUNE 21, 2013

I studied finance, and worked on Wall Street as a credit analyst, so I understand debt better. How''d you come up with the idea for the site? I started doing research on his behalf, learning about it, and one thing led to another, and I started asking people if such a service existed, would they use it.

Startup 247

Startup Software Review Entrepreneur Equity 247

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2016

But they also take on issues in science, technology and management. I haven’t read the book nor deeply reviewed Project Aristotle but the conversation on this morning’s show really resonated with me. I have a board meeting coming up this week and I just reviewed the agenda.

Coach 150

Coach Technical Review Framework Google 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Good idea & plan: You must start with a good idea and a PowerPoint deck (my outline is here , scroll down mid way). And a great product starts with the founder. If you can’t get product released and validated then do user studies. I’ll make my next posting shorter. Jarl Mohn says he hates seeing PowerPoint.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

InfoChachkie

APRIL 25, 2011

Although many are entertaining, most fail to provide entrepreneurs with a sufficient return on their time investment. If you are a leader at a startup and you are reading a business book, you are not closing customers, raising capital, improving your product, or spending time with your loved ones. Fan, Not A Fan Boy. Positive ROI.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. Beyond the value to the entrepreneur, let’s take a look at how and when a written plan might add value, or even be required, by other people who may be critical to the success of your startup efforts.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 24, 2016

The Affordable Care Act, often referred to as “Obamacare,” has enacted major changes for healthcare providers since it was enacted at the start of President Obama’s first term. This is doubly true due to the potential fines that employers could face if too many employees opt for marketplace plans due to factors like cost.

Startup 49

Startup Competition Study Writing 49

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Whether your company is a startup or a mature business, the last thing you need in the office is a toxic work culture. Yet, according to a recent study , more than half of tech employees see their current office culture as toxic. Maybe it’s time to leave your office door open, or follow-up and communicate more regularly.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Organization Activity .Net 91

socalTECH

MAY 23, 2017

Jonathan, who was Founding CEO and President of AdColony (which sold to Opera for $350 Million in June of 2014), also told us why he got back in the startup game, even though he could be just sitting on a beach in Bali after his prior success. No one has ever been able to execute on that from a technology standpoint before.

Startup 113

Startup Southern California UCLA Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 25, 2010

Rincon is part of the new breed of Seed Stage VCs and with the leadership of Jim Andelman has charted out the most authentic early-stage investment strategy in Southern California. The book is a layman’s guide to understanding how we as humans make decisions and is underpinned by data-oriented studies to prove his claims.

Guide 293

Guide Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 293

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

The result is that the Main Street Venture Fund consistently has more money available than good opportunities for investment. After considering about 200 investment opportunities over the past two years, we have established a decision making process to identify trophy entrepreneurs and startups. Proposition. Participation.

Funding 106

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Activity 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

You have built a successful startup, and plan to use the same investors. Although technically the major crowd funding sites today, including Kickstarter and Indiegogo , don’t request a business plan, they do require essentially the same information in a project format. loan entrepreneur startup investor business plan'

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

As a business advisor, when I bring this up, at best I will hear the defense that you are focused on the strategy of the moment, such as such as how to increase sales, or reach a new market. Highlight your competitive value, not your technology. The result is a business plateau that hits you like a ton of bricks.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Xconomy

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

The Trump transition team posted an outline of their healthcare agenda Thursday, but so much is up in the air. Here’s what we know: There’s news to round up. popular vote but lost the electoral college is her run-up of support in California. The team leader told Reuters that clinical trials could start in 2018.

Patents 87

Patents Study Pricing Research 87

InfoChachkie

MAY 20, 2013

According to Tige, it all started when he fell in love with a woman from Fiji. In Tige''s words, “(It) started off falling in love with a girl who happened to be from Fiji. So we were dating, living together, (and) we were both in tech. We can start something. By that time, Fiji was just really grabbing us.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Startup Software Engineering Technical Review 235

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 9, 2012

Upstart approaches risk capital differently, investing in youth as they wait to fuel the next generation of entrepreneurs our economy so desperately needs with their future earnings as security not the project or idea or firm as they chase their dream career in whichever field they want. Upstart received a $ 1.75

Startup 61

Startup Google Mentor Capital 61

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 3, 2012

A look around technology industry, perhaps the heart of the global revolution, shows a happily working international community all pushing for the common goal of innovation. An E visa is meant for foreign investors looking to start a business in the U.S. or purely invest in established U.S. Attracting business investment.

Technical Review 77

Technical Review Startup Offshore Entrepreneur 77

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Then every startup has to learn to pivot, because their first understanding of the real problem is usually not quite right. That mentality has to be part of the culture of every startup team member from the start. It’s easy for entrepreneurs to postpone decisions in tough situations, in favor of more study.

Sales 106

Sales Entrepreneur Customer Custom 106