Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time.

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Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

Most startups equate the process of fundraising to dating – founders have to typically kiss a lot of frogs until the find the right fit. New space companies – If we are entering a future with access to space being as routine and inexpensive as commercial air travel, shipping or trucking… what new businesses does that unlock?

Artificial Inteligence 177

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 177

Mucker Lab

APRIL 6, 2023

Hila Qu joined Mucker’s Tony Yang for an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) conversation about Product-Led Growth (PLG) for Startups to kickoff the 2023 Mucker Growth Series. Hila Qu has been the Head of Growth or VP of Growth at a number of different companies and startups, most notably Acorns and GitLab. So those are things to think about.

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Product CTO Hire Startup Fractional CTO 78

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 345

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 345

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2010

Startups are the search to find order in chaos. At a board meeting last week I watched as the young startup CEO delivered bad news. A few investors suggested he add new product features, others suggested firing the VP of Sales. The Search for the Business Model. Pivoting the Business Model.

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Business Model Agile Customer Development Startup 335

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. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

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Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2023

I’ll start by taking you to the world of Startup X, a passionate team of entrepreneurs who believed they had the next big thing in the world of software as a service (SaaS). They poured their hearts and souls into creating an innovative product fueled by the desire to make a difference in the lives of their target audience.

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Design Product Churn Rate Architecture 105

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2017

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. The lean start-up movement has been based on a single insight – which the purpose of a start-up is to discover a business model that works. Reducing product turn time. Start-ups are very different from established businesses.

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Product Development Lean Developer Product 153

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. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Steve Blank

JANUARY 27, 2011

The most visible step was the first International Business Model Competition , hosted by the BYU Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. What’s A Startup? Therefore the very foundations of teaching entrepreneurship should start with how to search for a business model.

Business Model 285

Business Model Utah Intellectual Property Agile 285

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. Reducing Startup Risk.

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Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Plan for a real revenue model.

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Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

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. Value propositions.

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Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model. Production.

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Business Model Distribution Viral Green 256

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

A version of this article first appeared in the Harvard Business Review. It’s the antithesis of the Lean Startup. Almost overnight the floodgates opened, and risk capital was available at scale from venture capital investors who rushed their startups toward public offerings. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. And it may work.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

I agree with Sharma that it’s time to move on to a new way of thinking, living, and doing business, especially after the recent demoralizing pandemic impacts. They have become a by-product of innovation rather than the cause of it: Conglomerates grew from industrialization, not innovation.

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Artificial Inteligence Offshore Merger Technical Review 315

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Thus the subscription model (low fixed monthly payments), has become the norm for new products and services. Front-of-the-line model. It works for the need to resolve IT issues in a small business, to avoiding long lines at popular clubs and hotels. Network model.

Business Model 294

Business Model Startup Cloud Curation 294

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 30, 2012

Today we are announcing the biggest entrepreneurial program ever launched – Startup Weekend Next. A partnership of Startup Weekend , Startup America , TechStars and Udacity , Startup Weekend Next brings four weeks of amazing hands-on training learning to build your startup to cities around the world.

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Startup Lean Incubator Business Model 335

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

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Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

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Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

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. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle. The Innovation Portfolio.

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Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 334

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Unfortunately, even today, building a good product doesn’t guarantee you a business. Ramp-up facilities and utilities required.

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Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2021

Launching a startup is ridiculously exciting. Of course, most of you reading this know that the odds of your business becoming a tech unicorn are slim, even if you have a great idea in place. That’s because more than half of all startups fail within the first five years of operation. Lack of Market Need. Running Out of Capital.

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Startup Angel Investor Business Model Demand 180

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

Technical Review 229

Technical Review Due Diligence Business Model Demand 229

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Not understanding and agreeing what “Entrepreneur&# and “Startup” mean can sink an entire country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Six Types of Startups – Pick One. For policy makers, the first order of business is to methodically think through which of these entrepreneurial paths they want to help and grow. There are 5.7

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Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2017

Guest Post by Misti Yang, Writer for Lean Startup Co. Editor’s Note: We wrapped up the 2017 Lean Startup Week in San Francisco just a few weeks ago, and we’re excited to share with you some of the best lessons learned in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation. Because these Lean Startup people, they do crazy stuff,” Alex joked. “So

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Lean Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 245

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Benchmarks are typically specific to stage/business model/geo. In Rob Go’s words: For seed and Series A deals, investors will also need to see a high-potential team with founder/market fit , a large and attractive market opportunity , and a business model with increasing returns to scale. Consumer apps and services.

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B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

And with the technology available these days, it is convenient to invest in emerging startups. Are you wondering how to invest in startups in India? The digital startup craze. The world is about to see a new generation propagating the Indian startup investing industry. Sectors witnessing a startup boom. Media tech.

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Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

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Business Plan Product Architecture Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 27, 2020

Entrepreneurs are currently looking at an environment that is unlike any other seen in the history of commerce, while leaders of businesses and startups have to think on-the-fly to learn what potential customers need most right now. New business realities present unique opportunities for startups. Healthcare.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup LLC 246

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 22, 2024

When it comes to startups, the focus often gravitates toward acquiring new customers, expanding market reach, and chasing growth metrics. However, amidst the frenzy of attracting fresh clientele, many startups overlook a critical aspect of sustainable success – client retention.

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Retention Reputation Startup Social Network 132

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

It’s a crucial part of every business for you to build strong relationships with your customers. According to a survey report provided by ArenaCX, 56% of customers stated that they are willing to pay a premium for a product to get excellent customer care. We will start with an essential tool every startup needs.

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Customer Social Media Software Review Startup 132

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 14, 2020

A college syllabus is enough work for the typical student, but some enterprising students still desire to create a startup company in college. This smaller group of students are voluntarily increasing their work quota, with the additional responsibility of running a startup company. Create Content Before Your Business Starts.

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Startup Social Media Finance Media 264

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again.

Technical Review 324

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Business Model 324

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2023

Canoo, an EV startup based in California that debuted its futuristic-looking electric van in 2021 , is having a hard time making ends meet. In spite of this, the federal government has kept doing business with the startup, saving it from certain doom. However, the outlook is not good. Q: Who founded Canoo?

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United States Government Startup California 127

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 19, 2023

A new batch of enterprising New Zealanders are being given the opportunity to fast track their ventures from idea through to startup, thanks to an online education initiative backed by Callaghan Innovation and entrepreneur education platform Startup NZ.

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New Zealand Technical Cofounder Early Stage Entrepreneur 102