Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Funding process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for nonprofits as for-profits.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

But have you ever had the opportunity to pick the brains of founders who created amazingly successful startups and companies like Envato , Backblaze , Simple , or Treehouse ? Starting a startup isn’t easy and there will always be people who tell you that something is impossible. Gleb Budman , CEO of Backblaze. Nothing is impossible.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Solicit funds from friends and family. Use crowd funding.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

YoungUpstarts

MAY 30, 2016

Image credit: Bootstrapping from Shutterstock. Looking at the startup scene through the lens of TechCrunch or VentureBeat, one may not be faulted for assuming that securing VC capital is the default way to raise a business. Either way, you are not alone if you are bootstrapping your business.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Germany United States France 100

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. Why do startups?

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

For a nonprofit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for nonprofits as for-profits.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

During today's roundtable, we had four Microsoft BizSpark Startup India Challenge grant finalists present. Freshdesk First, Girish Mathrubootham from Chennai, India, pitched Freshdesk , a SaaS company that provides small and medium businesses with on-demand customer support software that offers multi-channel social support.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

Mention that you do “Consumer tech” as a startup founder and you’d be limiting your funding options to one third of the venture capital funds (in Israel that figure is probably closer to 10%). Despite the renewed potential offered by AI, consumer startups still need to overcome significant challenges.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

This is Part 2 of the series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches.??? What if someone copies your awesome business idea? No, wait, the real question is: What are you going to do when another smart, scrappy startup copies it, and gets $10m in funding, and is thrice featured on TechCrunch? The Dream Team.

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 21, 2012

In fact, he points out that conventional term loans are a far less common way to finance a business, and in some countries, credit cards are actually a more popular source of startup capital. Bootstrap, bootstrap, bootstrap. Don’t get hung up on the business plan. His advice?

Technical Review 184

Technical Review Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Sales 184

YoungUpstarts

MAY 28, 2014

In other words, you have done wonders while “bootstrapping.” Things like winning startup competitions, getting selected to a startup incubator, partnering with a large company, are all good ways to show traction and some proof that you’re creating value. Enter Competitions and Incubators. Kickstarter.

Security 200

Security Incubator Technical Review Bootstrapping 200

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Tweet. --> It’s one of the hardest steps in a startup, getting that first rube to part with their money over your barely-minimum barely-viable product. At this point you’ll be tempted to argue that speaking to such a tiny sliver of the population is too narrow-minded, even for a small startup. (Powered by LaunchBit ).

Customer 279

Customer Software Review SEM Technical Review 279

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2011

For a non-profit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for non-profits as for-profits.

Angel Investor 238

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

The best entrepreneurship textbooks and blogs assume that advice to startups is generalizable. But as I learned from my students this “one-size-fits-all” approach does not work for all startups. Different market opportunities present radically different startup risks and costs.

Vertical 159

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

For a non-profit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for non-profits as for-profits.

Angel Investor 218

Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy Equity 218

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

The entire startup ecosystem is interested in the 1% of entrepreneurs who are fundable, have already defined strong market opportunities, and are already well on their way. First up today was Yogesh Sharma presenting Rangrut.com , a business that connects employers with learning institutions and on-campus students to fill job openings.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Startup Technical Review Early Stage 114

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

If you’re a startup, you are by definition competing with the smartest people in the world – either large companies with more resources than yours or fellow entrepreneurs who are hoping to disrupt large companies. I’ve gathered a comprehensive list of resources for startup learning. Let’s get started!

Artificial Inteligence 156

Artificial Inteligence Founder Private Equity Ruby 156

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to an authoritative survey of new startups. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2013

For a non-profit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for non-profits as for-profits.

Equity 207

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 207

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 2, 2019

In fact, remote work is on the rise – especially in the form of virtual assistants – and it’s one of the primary reasons why more small businesses are opting to outsource work. is the single biggest outsourcing country globally. According to an ATKearney report, outsourcing will see an increase in higher-level jobs in the future.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Due Diligence Technical Support Bootstrapping 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

For a non-profit, bootstrapping is self-funding from donations and fund-raising. All other sections, starting with a definition of the problem and the solution, opportunity sizing, business model, competition, executive team, and financial projections, are just as critical for non-profits as for-profits. That’s a higher calling.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 10, 2010

A sizable percentage of Capital Factory startup submissions take the form of the "marketplace." In fact, 3 of the 10 selected companies from the past two years has followed this business model. If you're bootstrapping and your value proposition includes the words "anything" or "anyone," you're probably reaching too far.

Business Model 310

Business Model Finder SEO Bootstrapping 310

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 2, 2010

The business idea was not very well fleshed out, and needs a lot of work still. Also, the business model for the business is unclear. One of my key concerns is that the level of awareness about green and environmentally conscious issues is very, very low in India.

India 116

India Green Silicon Valley Massachusetts 116

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2018

Innovative products and business models are the foundations of a promising startup. From jewelry to dog food to SaaS (software as a service) products, startups are popping up in virtually every field around the world, despite the risks. Creating a scalable business model.

SBA 84

SBA Angel Investor Technical Review Startup 84

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Today, the telecom industry charges customers based on fixed price business models for data services. I pointed Zubair to a couple of case studies of bootstrapping using services to get more of his core product built; in parallel, I will help him pursue institutional funding. Tags: StartUp 101. Photo by thesaint.

Cloud 117

Cloud Fractional CTO Entrepreneur Bandwidth 117

The Next Web

JULY 20, 2013

Do they really expect that the next Facebook will come knocking at their ivory towers with a polished product, proven business model and the only thing missing on the way to an IPO being their Series A investment?”. And if they do, they complain about lack of global potential or misunderstand my product completely. “Do

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Mongolia Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur 124

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

With enterprise customers, this would result in tremendous exit barriers, making sales cycles long and involved, which a small startup will find hard to withstand. Her upcoming campaign of reaching out to 100,000 moms will be one of the first concerted efforts to actually test her business model. Tags: StartUp 101.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire. They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. If you’re like most startup CEOs, your startup has been your personal fiefdom and baby.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup? It’s a deceptively simple question:  what is the optimal way to finance a new startup?

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83