Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

As a mentor to young aspiring entrepreneurs , I often get asked for tips on a strategy to get started. Don’t be shy about networking for advisors with business experience for coaching and mentoring. Make sure you can get consistent names on Twitter, Facebook, and other key social media sites.

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Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

That means starting your search through contract services sites, rather than conventional career hiring sites. Freelancers and consultants have to demonstrate results, without training and mentoring, so they can help you more quickly and probably at a lower total cost. Prioritize demonstrated execution versus potential.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

We caught up with co-founder Michael Wong , who told us about how the company is looking to change the model for local check-ins, and also help businesses with getting the word out about their services. There's an awful lot of check-in sites out there. Why would someone want to use your site? What is MergeLocal?

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

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

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2022

In my years of mentoring and working with startups, I’ve seen and read about some amazing disruptions, as well as recoveries, and I’m sure each of you could add your own. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock. Another disruptive technology trumps yours.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Trade equity or services for startup help. This popular funding source, where anyone can participate, per the JOBS Act in the US, is exemplified by online sites like Kickstarter.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

socalTECH

MAY 25, 2012

One, is the discovery of awesome content, two is a place to store and publicize that awesome content, and three is being able to save your usernames and passwords to literally any site on the web, and automatically log you into those sites. Both have been great mentors ever since. Scott Ferreira: Yes, it was part of it.

Startup 239

Startup CTO Coach Content Web 239

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

We spoke with Jonathan about the advantages of SwoopThat over existing sites. Jonathan Simkin: What makes us unique from other sites, is we're here to help students save time, in addition to money, when they buy books. How did you come up with the web site? They act as mentors and help companies grow. What's SwoopThat?

UCSD 185

UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Shared business support services, including telephone answering, conference rooms, teleconferencing, administrative support, and a business mailing address. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Incubator 87

Incubator Startup Resource Seed Funding 87

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2020

In my years of mentoring and working with startups, I’ve seen and read about some amazing disruptions, as well as recoveries, and I’m sure each of you could add your own. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock. Another disruptive technology trumps yours.

Startup 133

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

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. only accredited investors can use crowdfunding sites such as EquityNet to buy ownership in their favorite startup.

Venture Capital 108

Venture Capital Angel Satisfaction Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Business incubators for sharing services were all the rage back in the days of the dot-com bubble (700 for profit, many more non-profit). TechStars has several excellent mentors on staff, led by founder and CEO David Cohen. However, if you are looking for an incubator for “free” money and services, you should think again.

Entrepreneur 86

Entrepreneur Incubator Startup Seed Funding 86

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2016

I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Shared business support services, including telephone answering, conference rooms, teleconferencing, administrative support, and a business mailing address. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Incubator 106

Incubator Startup Help Resource 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Trade equity or services for startup help. This popular funding source, where anyone can participate, per the JOBS Act in the US, is exemplified by online sites like Kickstarter.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Alex Benzer: We're building SocialEngine in parallel, and working on a new, software-as-service version. We had to figure out what would help the other 90 percent build better and more interesting sites. That's why we built FanMix, to solve our own problem, and help our SocialEngine customers to promote their own sites.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2011

Business incubators for sharing services were all the rage back in the days of the dot-com bubble (700 for profit, many more non-profit). TechStars has several excellent mentors on staff, led by founder and CEO David Cohen. However, if you are looking for an incubator for “free” money and services, you should think again.

Incubator 93

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Mentor 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Even a million users on your social media site won’t pay the bills until you sell some advertising or a premium service. In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. Attract, train, and reward only the best leaders.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2017

How to you take the recurring revenue model--which has been popular with software and other online services--an apply that to physical products and services? Sean Kelly: We think of ourselves as Snacking-as-a-Service. We are a snacking membership service, primarily for businesses, across the country.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Services Sales Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2017

For example, you probably never knew that both Facebook and YouTube started out as dating-site experiments, but pivoted to something more unique when that experiment failed due to an apparently over-crowded market. Establish mentoring and coaching relationships. Potential is enhanced in a learning culture.

Coach 57

Coach Mentor Organization Entrepreneur 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I challenge them to think beyond what I call linear extensions to a current trend, such as another “easier-to-use” app for smartphones, a new dating site for pets, or another niche social network. Why doesn’t this product or service already exist?

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2017

Unlike Yelp and listings sites that are focused on user-generated reviews or things like that, we're really a portfolio sharing site, and a tool of professionals. Why do people come to PartySlate, and explain more on why they use your service? That's something you just can't find on Pinterest and other sites.

Technical Advisors 100

Technical Advisors Technical Review Metrics Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2010

Business incubators for sharing services were all the rage back in the days of the dot-com bubble (700 for profit, many more non-profit). To find what’s available in your area, take a look at the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) web site, and use the lookup tool provided.

Incubator 93

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Mentor 93

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 16, 2013

Which is why some senior tech leaders (that include Tony Pritzker , Howard Marks and Josh Berman ) banded together to bring the community online through a new site called Built In L.A. It is all part of the strategy to build the site slowly with the most impact. that has quietly soft launched this January. Built In L.A. Built In L.A.

Startup 105

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Platform 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Shared business support services, including telephone answering, conference rooms, teleconferencing, administrative support, and a business mailing address. Mentoring and technical assistance from volunteer or paid experts.

Incubator 98

Incubator Startup Help Resource 98

socalTECH

OCTOBER 24, 2011

To that end, last week, Los Angeles-based MuckerLab (www.muckerlab.com) announced its plans--and a big lineup of local CEO mentors--to start up a new, YCombinator- and TechStars-type program in Los Angeles, headed by former Silicon Valley venture capitalist Erik Rannala , and affiliated with the TechStars Network. READ MORE>>.

Technical Advisors 176

Technical Advisors Startup Southern California Los Angeles 176

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Seth’s interest in helping others grew out of his lack of having a mentor. He was drawn to Stanford by the people ecosystem- access to professors and mentors. How did the idea for Meebo version 3, the web-based IM service, come about? Again, he stressed the importance of good mentors.

Startup 286

Startup Venture Capital Web Ideas 286

Steve Reich

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

One of the founders of PROnoise.com, an Indie music site that will shortly go live, confirmed that he’s getting real value out from being part of the StartEngine Accelerator. In a conversation yesterday, Chase Smiegiel, noted that he’s getting great mentoring from two seasoned entrepreneurs. No buyer’s remorse here.

Incubator 40

Incubator Mentor Entrepreneur Sites 40

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Use blogging, outside publication, and speaking or mentoring opportunities to establish credibility and stand out above peers. That means regularly scanning LinkedIn and job sites for roles and opportunities that you may quality for, and honing your skills and connections to be sure you are competitive.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Here are some of the key new rules I have learned by starting my own company, investing as an angel in other startups and mentoring many more new entrepreneurs over the last few years: Do incorporate a company, but keep it simple. Patent and Trademark Office site for a few hundred dollars.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2016

The first step is to set your criteria, including a match for your sector type and stage, and then proactively seek out and contact the best candidates: Review profiles on professional social media sites. Customers benefit from early solution access, priority input on requirements, and personalized customer service.

Startup 61

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Funding 61

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2009

Mark has also been quite active mentoring entrepreneurs, We caught up with Mark to hear about what kinds of investments GRP is looking at nowadays, his view on the software-as-a-service market, and how best to approach him with a pitch. So we're focused on technology, and financial services.

GRP Partners 157

GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2013

There are now a large number of online, peer-to-peer marketplaces which all aim at one thing; helping connecting people with others, so that they can offer their services or goods (a room for rent, a ride, a vacation timeshare, a dog sitter, etc.) Over time, that service provider gets a quality score.

Startup 260

Startup Education Study Ideas 260

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” Trade equity or services for startup help. This popular funding source, where anyone can participate, per the JOBS Act in the US, is exemplified by online sites like Kickstarter.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Funding 96

socalTECH

JUNE 18, 2009

Our interview today is with Santa Monica-based OneCubicle (www.onecubicle.com), a new startup we ran across recently, which is looking to provide a more professional social networking site for younger people. You can also use the service to network to your next job. Why did you decide to start yet another social networking site?

Social Network 100

Social Network Entertainment Startup CTO Coach 100

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 28, 2017

The aim, according to the private college’s press release, is to provide “mentoring, advising and access to resources for up to 15 student- and community-run companies with a philanthropic twist.” ” The incubator had two clients at launch, and plans to offer its services to clients for a length of five years.

Incubator 70

Incubator Santa Clarita Technical Advisors FAQ 70

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

For example, if it costs $1,000 on Google paid search to get 500 people to visit your site and five of those people purchase an item, your CAC is $200 ($1,000/5). See what other startup mentors have to say about marketing tactics. For example: a) What percent of your site visitors bounce before taking any action?

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40