Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

socalTECH

APRIL 14, 2010

Our interview this morning is with Lolita Carrico, founder of Gloss Network for Women (www.mygloss.com), an online network of sites focused on women. Lolita was founder of ModernMom.com, which she sold to Richard Rosenblatt's Demand Media last year, and we caught up with Lolita to learn more about her newest venture.

Networking 230

Networking Social Media Startup Search Engine Optimization 230

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. Well obviously that’s meaningless if your startup idea sucks.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Custom 306

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2019

The Vinetta Project (www.vinettaproject.com), a group which is focused on helping to accelerate the growth of female-led startups, announced a few weeks ago that it is working with P&G Ventures, the internal "startup studio" of Procter and Gamble on an effort to help female-led companies in Los Angeles.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Metrics Los Angeles Help 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Starting and running a business requires many different skills and interests, and not many of us have all of them. Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Custom Customer 133

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. It is to out friend. Enjoyed this post? Disruptive.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 23, 2018

Perfect your 60-second pitch with valuable coaching from Tech Coast Angels investors and startup experts. Participate in friendly competition and win bragging rights and special TCA recognition with plaques and digital website badges awarded to category favorites and participants. See [link] (more)

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Coach Orange County Angel 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 23, 2018

Perfect your 60-second pitch with valuable coaching from Tech Coast Angels investors and startup experts. Participate in friendly competition and win bragging rights and special TCA recognition with plaques and digital website badges awarded to category favorites and participants. See [link] (more)

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Coach Orange County Angel 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. A strong team has one or more executives who have run a startup before in the current business domain.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2013

A good many startups I know have been “successful” over a couple of years in overcoming the challenges of starting the business, including incorporation, services development, funding, and setting up operations. It’s important to stand up to competition and wear your reputation on your sleeve. Mix things up.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Sales 93

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of her generation. When I began gathering examples of Oprah’s wisdom, I expected to identify a handful of quotes relevant to entrepreneurs. From these, I collected 23 insightful missives of interest to aspiring entrepreneurs. Fear – Channel It. We all stumble.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Networking Entrepreneur 279

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 31, 2014

On Sunday, March 2 nd at USC, these rivals took their battle to a new platform: startups. With the help of co-hosts and partners, including Bruin Entrepreneurs , Start-up UCLA , USC E-Club , Incubatrix, and more, Wowfand was able to put together the first startup rivalry to decide the dominant startup school in Los Angeles.

Startup 101

Startup USC UCLA Southern California 101

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

What's the difference between pitching your startup on television, versus pitching your startup in real life? And how do you best take advantage of a TV audience to promote your startup? Hatched recently started into its second season. I think the best entry level position is starting in investment banking.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. A strong team has one or more executives who have run a startup before in the current business domain.

Startup 104

Startup Entrepreneur Sites Technical Review 104

InfoChachkie

JULY 26, 2010

Entrepreneurs can emulate de la Guerra’s strategy and make their adVenture appear far larger than reality and thus increasing its influence and market reach while discouraging competitive threats by creating an industry alliance. The same phenomenon is true for startups. This last category proved to be especially lucrative.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Startup Conference 168

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

I was recently interviewed for an article that appeared in Fast Company titled, “ Why you should start a business in LA.&# If you’re interested in the topic it’s worth a read, but I thought I’d elaborate on the topic since it comes up all the time. We have universities like CalTech, UCLA, USC and many more.

Company 290

Company Companies Technology Startup 290

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2016

The cost of entry to the entrepreneur lifestyle is at an all-time low, but the challenge of winning and success is at an all-time high. Customers have come to expect disruptive change, so yet another social network is not the way to get traction. Entrepreneurs in this category are real risk takers, such as Elon Musk.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Network SpaceX Ideas 103

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. Entrepreneurial lawyers like Don Lee , Dave Young or Ted Wang are good at sussing out which entrepreneurs are high potential. I asked for intro’s from entrepreneur friends. start-ups are overvalued.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. Within each of the platform categories defined above, there is a right one and a wrong one for your audience.

Social Media 101

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2015

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Resource Social Network SpaceX 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2014

By most definitions of the term, an entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business, incorporating innovative changes to existing products, services, business models, and creating new markets. One way of identifying the right characteristics and approaches is to take a hard look at entrepreneurs who have done it.

Entrepreneur 114

Entrepreneur Resource Social Network SpaceX 114

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. We caught up with CEO and co-founder Brett Rossman to learn more about the company and how it''s been able to grow, profitably, all without raising a dime of outside capital.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2018

Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF) recently announced the California Climate Cup ([link] a new startup competition tied into the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco in September. We want to really find a way to help unlock the solutions these startups have created.

Competition 100

Competition Incubator Startup Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. They are devastated when their business growth never starts or stalls, and they have no idea how to get it moving again.

Case Study 89

Case Study Custom Customer Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

The cost of entry to the entrepreneur lifestyle is at an all-time low, but the challenge of winning and success is at an all-time high. Customers have come to expect disruptive change, so yet another social network is not the way to get traction. Entrepreneurs in this category are real risk takers, such as Elon Musk.

Entrepreneur 143

Entrepreneur Social Network SpaceX Ideas 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2012

You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Yet everyone seems to have their own view of key risk drivers for startups, and I’m no exception. Very few businesses can be started without money. Financial risk. Operational risk.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Examples Social Network Marketing 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2012

A good many startups I know have been “successful” over a couple of years in overcoming the challenges of starting the business, including incorporation, services development, funding, and setting up operations. It’s important to stand up to competition and wear your reputation on your sleeve. Mix things up.

Startup 94

Startup Outsource Development Sales Social Media 94

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2014

To hear how he bootstrapped the company to that size, we caught up with Asher earlier this week for a quick interview. Asher Delug: Airpush is a mobile ad network, similar to an Admob or Millenial Media. A lot of us in the company are having to reinvent our departments and divisions to keep up with this pace of growth.

Startup 196

Startup Mobile Advertising Organization 196

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

The Techstars Health Accelerator recently set up shop in Los Angeles with Cedars- Sinai�the second, Techstars powered startup accelerator in the city--in a move to help healthcare startups get to market quicker. Omkar Kulkarni: The program starts March 28th through June 23rd. The accelerator's deadline is Friday.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

The Techstars Health Accelerator recently set up shop in Los Angeles with Cedars Sinai�the second, Techstars powered startup accelerator in the city--in a move to help healthcare startups get to market quicker. Omkar Kulkarni: The program starts March 28th through June 23rd. The accelerator's deadline is Friday.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Coach Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2013

You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Yet everyone seems to have their own view of key risk drivers for startups, and I’m no exception. Very few businesses can be started without money. Financial risk. Operational risk.

Startup 104

Startup Examples Entrepreneur Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing. Don’t try to tackle all 20 major categories of digital social media at once. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 103

Social Media Media Marketing Startup 103