Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Provide specifics on the customer business model. All startups, including non-profits, need revenue to thrive, such as such as from subscriptions, retail, online, licensing, or services. They want to see revenue to share in the return. Here I recommend a 5-year projection of revenues, expenses, and funding requirements.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Get a real customer and real revenue. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Like the business plan, a financial model is required as much for your own use as to impress angel investors. This is called “validating the business model.” Close at least one initial customer.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Like the business plan, a financial model is required as much for your own use as to impress angel investors. This is called “validating the business model.” Close at least one initial customer.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

The single most important ingredient of success is not the idea, but having a team in place that has impeccable integrity, can iterate the product quickly, pivot the business model as necessary, and keep costs down in the process. This requires a visible focus on the company’s revenue model, the costs to get there, and cash on hand.

Angel Investor 269

Angel Investor Cram Down Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 30, 2015

Google is focused on expanding its already broad reach into the advertising market by increasing the span and coverage of its digital and mobile platforms, and the company’s 4Q14 results highlight how the company’s efforts to buttress its core services is paying off: Google’s revenue and gross profit climbed 15.3% billion and generated $4.1

Advertising 100

Advertising Revenue Mobile Intellectual Property 100

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Companies horde cash and squeeze the most revenue and margin from the money they use. The first will be commodity businesses that are valued for their ability to execute their current business model. The second class will be firms with a demonstrated ability to continually innovate and reinvent their business models.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 6, 2012

The Sandbox is designed to accelerate the process of business creation through a 12-week experiential-based program, producing either investment-ready firms or ready-to-go, revenue-generating entities.

Incubator 202

Incubator New York City Boston Intellectual Property 202

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 24, 2011

The convenience of online shoe shopping is a game-changer — to the tune of billions of dollars of revenue — but how could they make up the costs ? Turning a profit at a growing company is nearly impossible regardless of business model. Word-of-mouth by definition.

Intellectual Property 242

Intellectual Property Open Source Bandwidth IP 242

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Women Entrepreneurs Can

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

Developing a Solid Business Plan A well-crafted business plan serves as a roadmap for your digital venture. Begin by outlining your business model, including your revenue streams, pricing strategy, and growth projections. Implement strong cybersecurity measures to safeguard your business from potential threats.

Intellectual Property 52

Intellectual Property Social Media Software Review Audience 52

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. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. Commit to a major customer.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key activities. Try this one.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

They know it’s especially hard to provide a financial return with a free business model. Investors fear negative vibes will infect the business. Investors read this as an excuse for no real intellectual property or innovation. Declare a $10 million valuation with no revenue or customers.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Technical Review Equity 120

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

From refining your business model to forming strong partnerships, it’s essential to focus on the long-term growth of your venture. Refining Your Business Model for Long-Term Success At the heart of any successful startup is a well-refined business model. How can startups test their business model ideas?

Early Stage 156

Early Stage Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property Startup 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Investors look for entrepreneurs who talk about building a sustainable business, rather than highlighting the breakthrough elegance of the technology or the need for social change. Even social entrepreneurs need milestones, quantifiable results, and revenue to sustain their value. Plan includes a business model with good margins.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Intellectual Property At the next class I said, “You all ought to get out and start talking to customers on day one, and get early feedback on your idea. You don’t need to worry about any Intellectual Property (IP) issues. The time to product and scale of investment is radically different than other startup markets.&#

Vertical 159

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Patents or other intellectual property are a real competitive advantage for a startup, but first to market and working harder are not sustainable. Clearly define your business model. Project revenues, costs and investment expectations. Include your sustainable competitive advantage.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Up and Running

AUGUST 24, 2020

Here are just a few things you can do by leveraging data analytics: Gain a better understanding of changing customer preferences Discover new business opportunities Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in your operations Minimize and better allocate advertising costs Provide greater customer support through automated chat. 5G Network.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Analytics Forecast Artificial Inteligence 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Here are seven lessons I’ve accumulated from real life experiences on how crowdfunding can lead you astray -- and guidance on how to offset these potential negatives: Keep your attention on the business model as well as the solution. Several crowdfunding successes have failed as a business.

Non-disclosure Agreement 120

Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Technical Review Vesting 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Outside investors are most interested in scaling a proven business model, not research and development. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Intellectual property is a business issue, not a technical issue.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

Of course, you can find these elements embodied in many of the business plan templates and tools out there, such as the Business Model Canvas. Provide initial and long-term sources of revenue. Free” is not an exciting business model for investor interest. Identify your intellectual property or “secret sauce.”

Intellectual Property 332

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Channel 332

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Use a minimum viable product (MVP) to validate the model.

Hockey Stick 386

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 386

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. At this point, most Angel investors and a few early-stage VCs will be happy to talk, assuming you have the business model validated, and a large opportunity.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

This means building a revenue stream, and tuning your business model to produce margins in the 50 percent range or above. Once you have a proven business model, you need to scale the business up quickly to stay ahead of competitors. I don’t believe in greed, but we all need to make enough money to eat.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Startup Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2021

According to most definitions, anyone who starts a business is an entrepreneur , but most people don’t realize there are many startup types out there, and picking the wrong one can be just as disastrous as being stuck in a cubicle at work, or doing things with no interest and no skills. Aspire to be in control of your own domain.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Matching Business Model Cofounder 328

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Each team continues to capture its work on a Mission Model Canvas – a modified version of the Business Model Canvas that’s at the heart of the Lean Startup methodology. Resources are what the team needs to hire or own inside their company — the team’s physical, financial, human and intellectual property.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Each team continues to capture its work on a Mission Model Canvas – a modified version of the Business Model Canvas that’s at the heart of the Lean Startup methodology. Resources are what the team needs to hire or own inside their company — the team’s physical, financial, human and intellectual property.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Over 10 weeks each team gets out of the building talking to 100 customers to test their hypotheses across all 9 boxes in the business model canvas. We track each team’s progress as they test their business model hypotheses. It’s flexible enough to be modified for industry-specific business models.

Incubator 318

Incubator Intellectual Property Startup Lean 318

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Use a minimum viable product (MVP) to validate the model.

Hockey Stick 339

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 339