Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2023

As a business consultant and mentor to many young entrepreneurs, I often get questions about leadership challenges , and what you can do to solidify your leadership position and impact. They want a role in every leadership decision. The behavior you display to constituents determines your leadership effectiveness.

Leadership 281

Leadership Agile Demand Developer 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2020

Entrepreneurs inherently understand that they have to be the initial leader of their startup, but often they don’t have the experience or the training to know where their leadership competencies lie, or how to build a leadership team. They are usually highly critical of themselves and others, and often frustrated by reality.

Leadership 433

Leadership Startup Restful Developer 433

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

It seems inherent in the mind of most first-time entrepreneurs that it was their idea, and they must do all the work themselves to make it happen. I saw this challenge highlighted well in a new book, “ Leadership Skills that Inspire Incredible Results ,” by Fred Halstead. Not trusting key team members to get required results.

Leadership 241

Leadership Technical Review Due Diligence Founder 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

Leadership 380

Leadership Demand Management Founder 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. At this stage, I typically find a solo entrepreneur who creates, manages projects, directs, and oversees every step in the process.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. In the investment community, these leadership elements are often called “goodwill.” Execution leadership. Leadership brand development.

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Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Thus, in my consulting with entrepreneurs, I always encourage them to get more comfortable asking for help. I found some good guidance on this subject in a new book, “ The Leader You Want To Be ,” by Amy Jen Su, a managing partner in an executive coaching and leadership development firm.

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Entrepreneur Leadership Search Software 307

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. In the investment community, these leadership elements are often called “goodwill.” Execution leadership. Leadership brand development.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

In businesses, this requires a new internal culture and leadership. Yet I believe the role and requirements continue to evolve, as detailed in the classic book, “ Innovation by Design ,” by Thomas Lockwood and Edgar Papke, based on their studies.

Leadership 242

Leadership Design Dividend Framework 242

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

To complement local face-to-face networking, you can always use one of the many online matchmaking sites that have sprung up in the last few years, like CoFoundersLab and Startbee (think eHarmony™ for entrepreneurs, or Match.com meets LinkedIn). Provide effective leadership. There are several books written on this subject.

Exit Strategy 407

Exit Strategy Leadership Founder Networking 407

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

I see entrepreneurs every day who are trying to change the world with a new idea, and startups that are trying to survive their hyper-growth phase by changing processes to meet demand. Phil Buckley, in his book “ Change With Confidence ,” provides practical answers to fifty of the biggest questions that keep change leaders up at night.

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Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2020

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. YouTube did it with videos, Instagram did it with photos, and Amazon did it with books. Ongoing market leadership requires continuous innovation.

Startup 424

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 424

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2020

Did you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs always seem to have all the luck and success, while others never seem to catch a break? As an angel investor, I quickly learned that luck has very little to do with it, and I now look for some personal characteristics and leadership styles that separate the potential winners from the losers.

Technical Review 308

Technical Review Kentucky Due Diligence Japan 308

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2020

You’ve come up with a brilliant business idea, and you’re ready to get started as a brand-new entrepreneur. Are you a Necessity Entrepreneur? Necessity Entrepreneurs Build Exceptional Businesses. Necessity Entrepreneurs are uniquely equipped to build exceptional businesses and inspire meaningful change in their industries.

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Entrepreneur Venture Capital Silicon Valley Bandwidth 205

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2021

I also enjoyed the classic book, “ 63 Innovation Nuggets for Aspiring Innovators ,” by George E. Some of the most common innovation myths that Barbee mentions or I have encountered in my work with entrepreneurs around the world include the following: True innovation can only come from R&D and geniuses.

Technical Review 431

Technical Review Leadership Operations Networking 431

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. In the classic book, “ Fish Can’t See Water ,” Kai Hammerich and Richard D. Incidentally, I love that book title, which seems to me applicable to most aspects of business (and even people), as well as business culture.

Dilution 355

Dilution Startup Merger Flash 355

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2023

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

Management 291

Management Leadership Demand Founder 291

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2023

The most valuable assets of a new startup are the people on the team, and the most challenging task of the entrepreneur and team leaders is to spend their leadership time and energy productively. Most new startup founders start out by assuming they need to spread their leadership efforts evenly across all team members.

Employee 267

Employee Leadership Cofounder Matching 267

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

In my business of mentoring new entrepreneurs and advising small company owners, I recognize that most don’t start as experienced leaders, and most don’t realize that people leadership is a primary key to their future success. I just completed a new book, “ The Self-Evolved Leader ,” by Dave McKeown.

Developer 311

Developer Leadership Demand Entrepreneur 311

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

As a long-time business executive and adviser to entrepreneurs, I see a definitive shift away from customer trust in traditional business messages, and the executives who deliver them. I believe that the sooner every entrepreneur and brand builder adapts to this emerging trend, the sooner they will find success.

Customer 433

Customer B2C Technical Review Social Media 433

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Every entrepreneur and business executive knows that continuous innovation is required to survive, but most struggle with this more than any other challenge they face. Innovation driven by the next crisis is not leadership. Innovation driven by the next crisis is not leadership.

Framework 402

Framework Engineer Leadership Revenue 402

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Did you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs always seem to have all the luck and success, while others never seem to catch a break? As an angel investor, I quickly learned that luck has very little to do with it, and I now look for some personal characteristics and leadership styles that separate the potential winners from the losers.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Kentucky Due Diligence Japan 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2022

They don’t realize that it takes more to succeed in business or a career – it takes leadership skills to get people to follow you, including peers, a team, business partners, and customers. Luckily, you can learn needed leadership skills. Celebrate small successes in your leadership efforts.

Leadership 285

Leadership Startup Networking Engineer 285

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2023

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often find founders who have such conviction and passion for their new idea, that they can’t believe anyone could challenge it. The best entrepreneurs and business professionals learn to anticipate these push-backs before they happen, and respond calmly and effectively.

Technical Cofounder 341

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 341

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. These were outlined well, with some good recommendations for overcoming them, in the classic book, “ Rocket Fuel ,” by Gino Wickman and Mark C.

Founder 329

Founder Cofounder Bandwidth Matching 329

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe that a great idea alone will assure business success. In fact, I believe modern entrepreneurs need to be super sales people, in the most positive sense, to their team as well as customers. Entrepreneurs set the price of their solution based on their costs, and their perception of value.

Sales 348

Sales Startup Bootstrapping Technical Review 348

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. This commitment to hire people who think like entrepreneurs, or instill an “owner’s mindset” in every employee, should be a high priority in every business.

Startup 337

Startup Technical Review Employee Hiring 337

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

This is a very common scenario when entrepreneurs pitch VCs and frankly is a very common scenario when VCs try to raise money from LPs. It’s predictable, there is no reason to get mad about it and with a well-designed play book you can overcome this much of the time. What do I do now? I call it, “Remind me why I love you again?”

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

YoungUpstarts

JULY 10, 2020

by Deb Boelkes, author of “ Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring “ Happy employees are the best kind. In my book “ Heartfelt Leadership ” I laid out the path to heartfelt leadership. “You can’t do blanket leadership.

Employee 275

Employee North America Leadership Technical Review 275

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often find founders who have such conviction and passion for their new idea, that they can’t believe anyone could challenge it. The best entrepreneurs and business professionals learn to anticipate these push-backs before they happen, and respond calmly and effectively.

Technical Cofounder 315

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Differentiation 315

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 11, 2021

Since releasing my newest book The Entrepreneur’s Weekly Nietzsche: A Book for Disruptors I’ve been continually getting the questions “Why Philosophy and Entrepreneurship?” For entrepreneurs? ” and “Why Nietzsche?” It follows.

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Common Stock Europe Boston Software Development 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs I know still believe that that their great idea will carry the startup, and they may even minimize their own value, especially if they have introvert tendencies. Yet most investors agree that the “idea” is worth nothing alone, and it’s the entrepreneur execution that counts.

Startup 331

Startup Technical Review Social Network Reputation 331

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. Great business leaders, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett , are constantly asking questions and reading books about new technologies, new cultures, and new business opportunities.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Technical Review Leadership Metrics 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. YouTube did it with videos, Instagram did it with photos, and Amazon did it with books. Ongoing market leadership requires continuous innovation.

Startup 287

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 287

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2019

As an advisor to business owners, and an occasional angel investor, my job is to separate the actual challenges from the common misconceptions that distract many promising entrepreneurs while building the leadership team required for your solution, marketing, and finance success. Sharing your business ownership increases the risk.

Bandwidth 246

Bandwidth Software Review Salary Angel Investor 246

Duct Tape Marketing

JULY 19, 2024

Transform Your Leadership: The Power of Thoughtfully Fit written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interviewed Darcy Luoma, an expert on leadership and personal development. Book your call today, DTM world/ scale. (01:05):

Leadership 90

Leadership Framework Agile Campaign 90

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Almost any startup can start with Excel, and move to open-source data analysis tools, including Python or RStudio.

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Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303