Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Health, life, and other insurance at group rates.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Coworking Spaces - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , September 2, 2010 I've never been much of a fan of incubators. But how do you actually get the right people to be your mentors? Why You Should Write.

Startup 191

Startup Product Technology Venture Capital 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

If your mission is to change the world or help the disadvantaged, another dating site or online gambling may not be for you, no matter how financially lucrative. Innovative technologies require iterative development, while other ideas are primarily marketing and financial. Assess who you can get for value and mentoring.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Based on my experience and a business advisor and mentor, this is the ideal time to get back to the basics of business leadership and innovation. Elon Musk , as an example, is impressive in his broad knowledge and interest in electric vehicles, getting humans into space, and new energy technologies.

Mentor 122

Mentor Ideas Competition Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

People can build great ecommerce sites with free tools, smartphone apps in their spare time and use crowdfunding to bypass the dreaded angel funding and venture capital penalties. Based on my own experience mentoring real entrepreneurs and likely candidates, there are at least eight categories of non-starters.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Knowledge Base 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2023

The business world doesn’t thrive with yet another social media or dating site – it’s begging for paradigm shifts in the technology or business model. Ask for help from advisors and mentor your team. Venture where no business has gone before. There is no cookie-cutter route to success as an entrepreneur.

Ideas 105

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Social Media 105

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

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. Another disruptive technology trumps yours. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 98

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA ([link] The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. For readers, LaunchpadLA is all about? We're really excited for the next steps.

Class 261

Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

That means making sure you are utilizing coaching and mentoring, as well as training to keep up with changes in technology and the marketplace. In fact, changes are often highlighted by online sites and influencers as positive, and can give you that extra boost you need to stand out in the marketplace over competitors.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Custom 148

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

My cofounder, Steven Elliott, was CTO of a company doing artificial intelligence and automated chat technology. There's an awful lot of check-in sites out there. Why would someone want to use your site? For local businesses, we're also giving them free mobile web sites, and working on other relationships.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

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. Another disruptive technology trumps yours. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock.

Startup 133

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Mentor 133

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

The program is basically to take entrepreneurs, pair them with a mentor who is also an entrepreneur themselves, either a CEO or a CTO. It's structured so that they get funding, office space, all of the Internet resources, tools they need from mentors. There might be one or two mentors, one might be a CTO, another, a CEO.

CTO Coach 194

CTO Coach Startup Mentor Activision 194

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Health, life, and other insurance at group rates.

Incubator 87

Incubator Startup Resource Seed Funding 87

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?” This popular funding source, where anyone can participate, per the JOBS Act in the US, is exemplified by online sites like Kickstarter. Request a small business grant.

Startup 106

Startup Capital Equity Funding 106

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. Erik, thanks for the time.

Technical Advisors 176

Technical Advisors Startup Southern California Los Angeles 176

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2016

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Health, life, and other insurance at group rates.

Incubator 106

Incubator Startup Help Resource 106

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.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2012

TechStars has several excellent mentors on staff, led by founder and CEO David Cohen. Both provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which I believe sets them apart. The goal of most business incubators today is to strengthen the local economy, and commercialize new technologies.

Entrepreneur 86

Entrepreneur Incubator Startup Seed Funding 86

Xconomy

JUNE 22, 2016

The areas where the accelerator is scoping for promising technology include genomics, seeds, biological products that can be used for crop protection, and big data analytics with applications in precision agriculture. In Michigan, the Great Lakes Ag Technology Business Incubator is helping farmers turn their ag ideas into businesses.

Funding 68

Funding Research San Diego Incubator 68

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Plus, he told us a little bit about how he's helping to build a mini cluster of technology companies in the Silverlake area. We had to figure out what would help the other 90 percent build better and more interesting sites. We have some great mentors now. It's like building a site like Blogger, but with your brand.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

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. He introduced me to Wavemaker, also in LA, and also Halogen Ventures, which is led by Jessie Draper, which invests in women-run technology companies.

Technical Advisors 100

Technical Advisors Technical Review Metrics Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2020

The business world doesn’t thrive with yet another social media or dating site – it’s begging for paradigm shifts in the technology or business model. Ask for help from advisors and mentor your team. Venture where no business has gone before. There is no cookie-cutter route to success as an entrepreneur.

Startup 117

Startup Entrepreneur Social Media Coach 117

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?” This popular funding source, where anyone can participate, per the JOBS Act in the US, is exemplified by online sites like Kickstarter. Request a small business grant.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2019

People can build great ecommerce sites with free tools, smartphone apps in their spare time and use crowdfunding to bypass the dreaded angel funding and venture capital penalties. Based on my own experience mentoring real entrepreneurs and likely candidates, there are at least eight categories of non-starters.

Startup 126

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Knowledge Base 126

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.

Startup 239

Startup CTO Coach Content Web 239

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2011

TechStars has several excellent mentors on staff, led by founder and CEO David Cohen. Both provide excellent networking to investors, and on-site technical leadership, which I believe sets them apart. The goal of most business incubators today is to strengthen the local economy, and commercialize new technologies.

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. Get outside the company regularly to get feedback on future customer needs, emerging technologies, and the views of influencers and experts in the field. Attract, train, and reward only the best leaders.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

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. is destined to be a top technology city. Built In L.A.

Startup 105

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Platform 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2010

The goal of most business incubators today is to strengthen the local economy, and commercialize new technologies. However, many research and technology parks also house incubation programs. Both provide excellent networking, relationship building, and on-site technical leadership, which I believe sets them apart.

Incubator 93

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Mentor 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. Health, life, and other insurance at group rates.

Incubator 98

Incubator Startup Help Resource 98

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify Mentor Panel in full swing. Amplify’s close mentoring is by design. Like good mentors Paul, Jeff, Richard, Oded and David as well as Chris and Kris create an atmosphere in which the motivated founders can take advantage of the knowledge base to which they are exposed. Jeff Solomon holding court in the kitchen.

Web Design 103

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 103

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

For those who still might be wondering what Spotlight: LA Tech is all about, It’s a screening room for new technology homegrown in our region. Crowd Seats is the only Group Buying/Daily Deals site for sports fans. has created a simple to use, online application for your business to create a mobile site and secure its mobile presence.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

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. Why did you decide to start yet another social networking site? Our demographic is the 22 to 32 year old.

Social Network 100

Social Network Entertainment Startup CTO Coach 100

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Founded in London in 2006, the Hub is a global network of social enterprises with each individual chapter acting as a gathering place for innovation, technology, creativity, and positive change. An ad:tech Innovation Award-winning company, SteelHouse is the technology industry’s real-time marketing solution for online retailers.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

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. Another disruptive technology trumps yours. People who haven’t thought about a Plan B often don’t survive the shock.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Startup Competition Mentor 103