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. In fact, they are probably in such a hurry to give you money that they don’t want you to waste time writing anything down and passing it along to new investors.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. The monkey on my back. ” Yup.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

After years mentoring young aspiring entrepreneurs , I am now convinced that getting along and becoming more productive with other people is a skill that any professional can learn, or accomplish via a dedicated strategy. Write down your key goals and refer to this list before any interaction with your colleague.

Startup 114

Startup Examples Satisfaction Mentor 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2022

Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Regular non-work breaks, like a trip to the gym, or time with family will be ultimately more productive than slugging it out all night on a given problem. Discuss the tough ones with a mentor. Keep a written to-do list. Get a good night’s sleep.

Startup 123

Startup Tips Entrepreneur Mentor 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2023

As a mentor to entrepreneurs and business owners, and seeing their workload and challenges, it would be easy for me to conclude that starting a business is a big hit to health and happiness. Real job performance is more a function of productivity than hours worked anyway. Keep expectations realistic. Keep your expectations reasonable.

Satisfaction 119

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 119

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Based on my own experience as a mentor and angel investor, I find that as many as ninety percent of startups fail in the first five years, despite their best efforts. If an innovative solution is involved, prepare a minimum viable product or a video to demonstrate functionality and usability.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Tech.Co

JANUARY 29, 2018

The quote “knowledge is power,” often attributed to Francis Bacon from his writings Meditationes Sacrae in 1597, definitely resonates with founders, Most because gaining knowledge about your market, landscape, and competitors, is a key way to gain strength and momentum. Add Mentors to Your Roster. Get Your Playbook Together.

Startup 87

Startup Mentor Artificial Inteligence Research 87

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

As an Angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Product Startup Activity 63

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

These authors bring a wealth of experience in this domain from their workshops, writing, and lecturing on business leadership worldwide. Affirming all shared values is the way to building productive and working relationships. I found some great specifics in a classic book, “ The Leadership Challenge ,” by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z.

Startup 133

Startup Activity Mentor Writing 133

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2011

Those programs--epitomized by YCombinator in the Bay Area, and TechStars in Boulder, Colorado--attract newly minted entrepreneurs with a mixture of cash and mentoring, and a program which rapidly takes ideas and turns them into viable, executing businesses. Those mentors are not just Bruce and I, although we are full time on this.

Startup 221

Startup Mentor Southern California Incubator 221

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Food production and distribution, group collaboration, remote training or education, sensor technology (tracking people movement, temperatures, etc), certain biotech deals. There are large sums of money to be invested and if investors can get comfortable with “downside protections” they’ll still write checks.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

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. Disciplining yourself to write down the plan is actually the best way to make sure you actually understand it yourself.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs and business owners, and seeing their workload and challenges, it would be easy for me to conclude that starting a business is a big hit to health and happiness. Real job performance is more a function of productivity than hours worked anyway. Keep expectations realistic. Keep your expectations reasonable.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Mentor Writing 137

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Each of these can go astray as follows: Your product or service hits unexpected snags.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Let me assure you, every startup faces more challenges than any other business – unproven product, new processes, new management, and unpredictable customers. Start a log on your efforts and progress.

Startup 82

Startup Mentor Satisfaction Writing 82

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

The final clip is Fred & I talking about whether “the best product wins” and my assertion that the bias in today’s Silicon Valley dominated tech world there is probably too much emphasis on tech at the expense of how to sell, implement and service customers. I remember writing about online video nearly 5 years ago.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Writing Blogging 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

In our personal lives we’re having to change our routines and figure out how to remain productive?—?often It goes without saying that if you find yourself in a really negative headspace PLEASE reach out to any trusted mentor, friend or family member. What do we eat? Where do we shop? What is safe? What are my parents doing?

Demand 215

Demand Guide Custom Customer 215

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). My general rule is that it’s good to be stealth in the early days while you’re building your product and testing your market. It’s a buggy product but pretty damn cool.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Guide Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

With some coaching and mentoring from other leaders, I was able to do it myself, so I know you can do it too, by committing to the following strategies: Train yourself to always look for positives, not negatives. Write down your top 5 core values and review them often.

Coach 137

Coach Training Satisfaction Mentor 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Write it down, but even then, keep it to the top ten priority items or less. Regular non-work breaks, like a trip to the gym, or time with family will be ultimately more productive than slugging it out all night on a given problem. Discuss the tough ones with a mentor. Keep a written to-do list. Get a good night’s sleep.

Tips 86

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 86

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. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. Writing it down promotes both understanding and commitment.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. Providing your product or service free to customers may sound attractive in marketing materials, but you need revenue sources to survive.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

I’m sitting at my computer now at 9.00pm writing this – which is an hour earlier than I normally write (there are about 8 women at my kitchen table having a book club (aka excuse to drink wine & gossip so I’m locked in another room writing. They could chat about it with their peers or mentors.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. I love good causes and social entrepreneurs, but a recent pitch to me about eliminating world hunger with a new product (harvesting algae at low cost) seemed to forget that really hungry people don’t have any money.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. Products that ship late and place entire companies under serious stress. This is when founders need you the most – either are coach, mentor, interviewer, work off-loader or honest-mirror-reflection of reality.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

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. Disciplining yourself to write down the plan is actually the best way to make sure you actually understand it yourself.

Startup 104

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Slides 104

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Chander Dhall , a microsoft MP, anuthor, trainer, mentor, professional software architect/lead developer, INTETA speaker, open source contributor, community leader and organizer with years of experience in enterprise Software Development. Troy Miles , A designer and developer of software since 1979 writing games in assembly and C.

JavaScript 93

JavaScript Long Beach Java Web Design 93

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. Disciplining yourself to write down the plan is actually the best way to make sure you actually understand it yourself.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2019

These authors bring a wealth of experience in this domain from their workshops, writing, and lecturing on business leadership worldwide. Affirming all shared values is the way to building productive and working relationships. I found some great specifics in a classic book, “ The Leadership Challenge ,” by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z.

Activity 92

Activity Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Five major elements of every business include your people, product, opportunity, money and marketing. Innovative products and services always take longer to develop than anticipated, and quality problems pop up where least expected. Written product specifications and business plans pay big dividends.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2013

Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Let me assure you, every startup faces more challenges than any other business – unproven product, new processes, new management, and unpredictable customers. Start a log on your efforts and progress.

Startup 101

Startup Mentor Satisfaction Writing 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. The best ones bring in more executive leadership so you can appropriate allocate resources across sales, marketing, product, engineering and support.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. It also has to be said that bad apples on teams bring down productive even if that person is individually a superstar. Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. Writing a book will be fun.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

We were doing this one product called “Small Business Hires”, similar to the employer app we launched today, all web-based. We were trying to raise money for this product, but then the unthinkable happened. It was cool that I spoke at the White House last year about mentoring. We have been able to develop a good product.

Mobile 86

Mobile Marketing Writing Startup 86