Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Sales people tend to remember the latest product when selling to clients, not the one best for that customer. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 157

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 157

Tech.Co

JANUARY 10, 2018

Purchasing products from a brand you trust can be more of an emotional buy, and trust is one of the key factors to attracting the female shopper. If they know a product is good enough for their family and children, they will share that information with friends. This is especially true when providing a product/service to children.”

Tips 71

Tips Customer Custom Dollar Shave Club 71

Berkonomics

JUNE 22, 2012

I have a friend in the music business who worked hard to gain introductions to, and become mentored by, several known names in the business. One well known informal mentor called him the “Stevie Wonder of Hip Hop.” Back your story up with a statistic if possible.

Mentor 136

Mentor Statistics Press Entertainment 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Metrics 98

Metrics Tool Statistics Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So hang in there and get busy. “I

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Course 121

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2015

Seed-stage, meanwhil e, is technically that critical period when you need funding to do solution- and business-model development, to prove that your new product or service works, before you try to sell it to customers. Asking for early-stage money before you have customers and revenue will likely kill your credibility with real investors.

Funding 104

Funding Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2017

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Tool 53

Tool Entrepreneur Statistics Metrics 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2014

Yet if your service is consulting, for example, real travel is required to deliver the product. It’s amazing how much more you can learn face-to-face, compared to an analysis of aging statistics alone. As an entrepreneur, you are the brand, so your visibility is as important as your product or service. Face-to-face time is key.

Startup 100

Startup Tips Mentor Conference 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

According to recent statistics from the International Business Innovation Association ( InBIA ), there are about 7,000 business incubators and accelerators worldwide, with over 90 percent being non-profit and focused on incubator programs for community economic development. Direction, mentoring and resources required.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2014

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Sales people tend to remember the latest product when selling to clients, not the one best for that customer. Tricked by recency.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Metrics Demand Statistics 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2017

Business is more about people than product. As an angel investor in startups, I often find myself looking harder at the quality of the team and the leadership, than at the details of the product and business model. Investors don’t fund people with large egos, and your business won’t thrive with similar people on the team.

Funding 55

Funding Satisfaction Customer Custom 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2015

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. Pitch your company, not your product. Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same. Written business plan.

Startup 104

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Slides 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2013

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Sales people tend to remember the latest product when selling to clients, not the one best for that customer. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 110

Metrics Entrepreneur Demand Statistics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2018

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. Pitch your company, not your product. Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same. Written business plan.

Startup 65

Startup Entrepreneur Slides Content 65

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2016

If you look at some of the statistics, getting a home loan is like pulling teeth, and it gets very poor customer ratings. He's my mentor, and I've known him since I was nineteen years old, when he was an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine. We're still building this, and we're working on multiple products. It's just ridiculous.

Startup 100

Startup Platform Pepperdine CIO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Statistics show that the failure rate for new startups within the first 5 years is higher than 50 percent. If your product is free, or you lose money on every one, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2018

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that half of startups fail within the first five years. So hang in there and get busy. “I

Startup 56

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2014

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years. So hang in there and get busy. “I

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. Pitch your company, not your product. Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same. Written business plan.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Statistics show that the failure rate for new startups within the first 5 years is as high as 50 percent. If your product is free, or you lose money on every one, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Sales people tend to remember the latest product when selling to clients, not the one best for that customer. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 60

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 60

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 29, 2011

I guess no one told him about the medical startups that were purchased by Medtronic, Linvatec, Storz, Mentor, etc., End result, the company’s product timeline has been pushed back substantially and the company’s morale is at an all-time low. all of which continue to thrive in Santa Barbara to this day. Thanks Mr. Big Firm VC.

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Capital Funding Technical Review 233

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2016

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years. So hang in there and get busy. “I

Startup 58

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 58

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2013

The idea is that products have moved to the web in a big way. We had a general thesis that, at some point in the future, services will also move to the web, in the same way that products had moved to the web. I said I would help him, and we parlayed that into the thesis behind the company. Who''s your ideal customer for this?

Startup 260

Startup Education Study Ideas 260