Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 309

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 309

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. And look at StartupDigest.com for lots of startup oriented events.

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 23, 2023

Every year, new startup entrepreneurs attempt to launch a business on the leanest budget possible. Whatever the case, you’ll need to make some big sacrifices and strategic managerial decisions if you want this lean startup budget to work — and it’s definitely possible. Consider a hybrid workplace.

Lean 158

Lean Technical Review Startup Acquisition 158

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? who start with small equity percentages don’t end up making very much from startups. Was it a case of needing Homework?

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Startup studios continue to grow in popularity as incubators for new businesses. Rather than simply launching one startup, the startup studio model creates an organization whose business is launching startups. These can then be repeated and improved on with each successive startup.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. dream team entrepreneur startup technical'

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

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. Stay lean for as long as possible. Don’t listen.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

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. Use crowd funding to build reserves.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

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. Bootstrapping.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

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

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

This is not usual—startups that fail often have a lot of people milling around who don’t know what the goal is. Not every startup gets to have this—but if you don’t, you’ve got a problem. Pragmatic and Lean. Larry was loathe to sell any of the company stock; he generally took a dim view of VCs and preferred to bootstrap.

Technical Review 335

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 335

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.??? 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? You don't have an "edge" just because you're passionate, hard-working, or "lean.".

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Here are some recent great posts that I’ve come across that generally fall in the intersection of startups and CTOs. They have a related post: Designing startup metrics to drive successful behavior | For Entrepreneurs , but I think that looking at my Startup Metrics post provides a bit broader set of metrics to consider.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2022

The Proud Owners of a Startup. Today, as the proud owner of a startup, you’re probably much better at managing your money. It might take the experience of growing and exiting two or even three startups before you know how to do that. . Let’s take a deeper look at why your startup probably doesn’t need funding.

Bootstrapping 147

Bootstrapping Startup Equity Silicon Valley 147

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

With the key themes of freedom and value at its core, “ The $100 Startup ” is a brilliant blueprint assisting “wannapreneurs” keen to heed the rallying call of the microbusiness revolution. From borrowing from family members to Kickstarter to car loans, there are various ways to reduce one’s startup burden.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 100

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, February 9, 2009 The lean startup @ Web 2.0 Expo to explain the lean startup concept to a larger audience. The Lean Startup: a Disciplined Approach to Imagining, Designing, and Building New Products.: No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Web Advisory Board 68

The Next Web

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Decisions need to be made fast in startups and you have to ensure you can have a tie-breaker. Shoulder – not to cry on, but to lean on. Since we bootstrapped Backblaze, early on we would have months when the company did not have enough cash from sales to buy the additional servers it needed.

Cofounder 143

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Kenya Dilution 143

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

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 6, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! How to Turn Your Startup Into a Lean, Mean Marketing Machine – [link]. How to Turn Your Startup Into a Lean, Mean Marketing Machine – [link].

Social Media 95

Social Media Small Business Design Media 95

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue?

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

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

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Jim Murphy is a long-time agile practitioner in startups. But startups sometimes have trouble applying agile successfully. Embedded in that assumption is why startups fail. Notice that the unit of progress changes as we move from waterfall to agile to the lean startup. Enter Jims post.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, May 14, 2009 The Lean Startup Workshop - now an OReilly Master Class My rate of posting has been much lower lately, and this is mostly due to preparations for the upcoming Lean Startup Workshop on May 29. I have a lot of good news to report on this front. Cash is tight.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Software Review 60

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

If you’re in startup mode and have limited working capital to cover your operating expenses , you may be bootstrapping your way through the early days. That often involves working long hours and keeping your costs lean. The answer depends on what your current operations look like.

CTO Hire 163

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Hiring 163

The Next Web

JULY 13, 2012

In the startup world, venture capital is often viewed as the penultimate goal, yet for many startups bootstrapping is often the reality. For this reason, many small business owners lean on their personal credit to fund their business. And self-financing puts the emphasis on business credit. We’ve got that for you.

CPA 126

CPA Startup LLC Bootstrapping 126

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 9, 2019

Profitability is an extremely important goal for any startup — but profitability doesn’t just happen. There are many reasons to treat your startup like a profitable business from day one. All tech startups begin as a concept. Tech startups are, in contrast, focused on rapid growth, potential, and top-end revenue.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Finance 105

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 18, 2010

Ash Maurya is the founder of WiredReach , a bootstrapped startup that he has been running for seven years. Recently, he was bitten by the lean startup bug and has started writing about his experiences attempting to apply lean startup and customer development principles. Expo SF (May.

Continuous Deployment 151

Continuous Deployment San Francisco Lean Wiki 151

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. Focusing on the burn rate and prioritizing every possible expense will keep overhead down, help you stay lean, and achieve a higher profit earlier.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2018

Here are some tips for bootstrapping your business. One of the best ways to save money is to run your business out of your home, at least during the startup phase. Lean Marketing. As you can see, it’s not impossible to keep startup costs down. Even so, there are some strategies you can employ to avoid breaking the bank.

Software Review 187

Software Review Cloud Social Media Bootstrapping 187

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, June 5, 2009 It’s a startup, not a spreadsheet Some people, when they start to realize the power of using data to inform their decisions, become obsessed with optimization. Unfortunately, most decisions that confront startups lack a definitive right answer. But this is wrong, too.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 10, 2011

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree – [link]. Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud: Braintree – [link].

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 29, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 29, 2010 New conference website, speakers, agenda The Startup Lessons Learned Conference on April 23 is fast approaching. Traveling the past year, I have heard loud and clear that its time for the Lean Startup movement to enter its next phase. We have a brand new website up at [link].

San Francisco 120

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 120

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. Start your lean business plan today: Download our Free Lean Plan Template one-page-pitch-download.pdf. I’m going to start with what’s a lean business plan.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 21, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Lean Business: Save Money, Save the Environment – [link]. What To Do When Your Startup Doesn’t Fail, But Also Doesn’t Succeed | Business Insider – [link].

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93