Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Usually it pays to move a startup slower rather than risk relationships. Many times friends and family have been broken by failed investments.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

You don’t like it, millennials won’t put up with it, and current productivity levels at work continue to decline. She has lived and worked in five countries, and consulted with major corporations, as well as startups, in transforming their workplaces to be more productive as well as more satisfying. Sophie Wade.

Coach 132

Coach Satisfaction Startup Organization 132

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. The reality is that starting a business, as well is working an existing business, has always required perseverance.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2019

A common misconception I often hear in the startup world is that non-profits are easy and safe, since they don’t have to pay taxes, and they don’t have to make a profit for their shareholders. Other countries have similar exemptions for similar organizations. That means they need to grow organically, or find a philanthropist.

Organization 74

Organization Satisfaction Startup Class 74

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Turn Your Organization Inside Out. This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. The Outside In organization had a one-way flow.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Everyone on the startup team knows there is no buffer, and no personal isolation from impact based on your job description that can save you. Risks to the business drift off their radar screen, resulting in poor business decisions, as well as less job satisfaction and declining professional success. Yet nothing stands still.

Satisfaction 147

Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2021

He suggests you begin with the “big three” business objectives of higher revenue, reduced costs, and improved customer satisfaction. Tracking public sentiment over time provides invaluable insight and gives you the chance to stay right on top of changes in the marketplace and your organization’s brand equity. That’s where the money is.

Social Media 127

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. They do believe it can be accomplished, with the six specific steps paraphrased here: Culture starts by thinking different and thinking big at the top.

Organization 108

Organization Startup Satisfaction Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2023

One of the biggest impediments to starting a new venture is the “ terror barrier ,” as popularized by Bob Proctor, a 85-year-old millionaire and world renowned entrepreneur. If you want to be an entrepreneur and start a new business, you must be willing and able to break through your terror barrier. Work on one step at a time.

Satisfaction 124

Satisfaction Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Trying to do everything is a sure way to maximize stress, lower job satisfaction, and minimize productivity. I will outline here his six required activities of every successful business to get you started down the right path for you: Wonder: identify the value and need for change. I recommend that you start online to find data sources.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials. Higher worker engagement and satisfaction.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Usually it pays to move a startup slower rather than risk relationships. Many times friends and family have been broken by failed investments.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Startup 131

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Solution development and delivery.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. They do believe it can be accomplished, with the six specific steps paraphrased here: Culture starts by thinking different and thinking big at the top.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

In my experience as an employee, up to an executive, in large companies as well as small, I’ve found that people who are consistently negative and complain are a big constraint on productivity, as well as the most difficult management problem that most business leaders face. Administer regular morale and satisfaction surveys.

Coach 148

Coach Satisfaction Examples Startup 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2023

For your own happiness and satisfaction, I recommend you start instead working from that higher purpose and passion. Even experienced business owners can’t keep all the requirements for starting or growing a business in their head, so organizing it on paper is critical to making it consistent and complete.

Satisfaction 114

Satisfaction Customer Custom Social Media 114

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

The largest and most successful businesses of the past have been traditionally driven by autocratic and powerful leaders who managed a highly structured organization of subordinates. It is up to you as a leader to define and communicate the company shared values that pull a team together and allow them to disagree without fighting.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Based on my own experiences in startups, and many years of advising new business owners, I’m convinced that there are a few common frustrations that we all need to anticipate and prepare for, rather than let them be a surprise and a painful dent in your enthusiasm and personal satisfaction from living your dream.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Course Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Always use multiple methods, including verbal and written, for defining an assignment, including accountability, with checkpoints and follow-up from you along the way. Make sure that metrics and goals are set up front, and not modified as the project progresses. Provide assessments based wholly on facts.

Startup 132

Startup Training Metrics Examples 132

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2023

As an entrepreneur, you need to avoid partnering with these people, or hiring them into your startup. It’s easy to find people in every organization rushing around from one meeting to the next, often working overtime to generate more work for themselves and other people, but rarely taking the action to close an issue or contract.

Organization 124

Organization Entrepreneur Satisfaction Activity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Focus on talent and people growth.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Everyone on the startup team knows there is no buffer, and no personal isolation from impact based on your job description that can save you. Risks to the business drift off their radar screen, resulting in poor business decisions, as well as less job satisfaction and declining professional success. Yet nothing stands still.

Satisfaction 124

Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Hiring in any new venture needs to be a structured and high priority task, not the ad hoc informal process I see in many startups that are struggling to grow: Crisis mode hiring rather than planned team growth. The requirements of the desired organization need to be formalized before people are hired. It won’t happen by default.

Organization 104

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Every entrepreneur and startup loves you, but too many forget that every potential customer is not like you. Independent survey organizations know how to do this, and can help you avoid a common entrepreneur misstep, called the confirmation bias. Your long-term satisfaction and business success depends on it.

Startup 141

Startup Customer Custom Design 141

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2022

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. Engagement drives performance and satisfaction. So why do I sometimes act like a bad one?

Startup 118

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2021

After working many years in business, both in large companies as well as startups, I’ve realized that you can learn more from peers and mentors than from any formal education program. Our educational systems today do very little to help you keep up with new generations of customers, employees, and partners.

Mentor 159

Mentor Satisfaction Education Organization 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

I especially like Cushman’s outline of the ten principles which distinguish the organization and operation of an open business from the more traditional closed model. Your stakeholders all need to understand and agree to the “why” of your organization. Shared clients and objectives (networked organization). Adjust accordingly.

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Customer 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2022

Walking the talk is the place to start. No more gamed employee satisfaction surveys. According to Lederman, engaged organizations grew profits as much as three times faster than their competitors. You have to define these behaviors, measure them, and reward them. Focus on culture change rather than culture talk.

Customer 123

Customer Custom Services Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

As a startup advisor, when I suggest cooperating with competitors, most entrepreneurs initially think I'm crazy or suggesting something illegal. And growth is the lifeblood of every startup. And growth is the lifeblood of every startup. Complementary advantages can expand both markets. Be cautious, but not paranoid.

Startup 102

Startup Customer Custom IBM 102

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

By definition, every startup is predictably unpredictable, since new solutions have no proven track record, startups are usually building a new market, and the world around them is changing faster than ever. The market changes faster than your startup. The money runs out before revenues start.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105