Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 333

Technical Review Startup Software Review Retention 333

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Entrepreneurs need to spend time working on the business, as well as in the business.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

YoungUpstarts

MAY 12, 2020

Additionally, you’re not expected to excel at every single vertical of successfully managing the business. But it’s a lot harder to prepare a proper business plan unless you’re planning ahead of time and considering the additional resources, you will need help you with this endeavor. Product management?

Distribution 264

Distribution Vertical Business Plan Software Development 264

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources. Experience and connections in your business area. Building the product may be the easy part of your startup challenge.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business. Don’t get me wrong.

Technical Review 391

Technical Review Intellectual Property Early Stage Global 391

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. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure. This doesn’t work when attacking unknown problems with untested solutions.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves. Even if you feel that all is well, here are some thoughts and actions I would strongly recommend: Whole team must know the plan. Validation of product. Size of the market.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

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. In reality, more features will more likely make the product confusing and less usable to all. Broad product offerings require too much infrastructure.

Startup 424

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 424

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Attached is a copy of my full business plan for your review.” Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Most business advisors I know will say that writing a business plan is the first step to starting your own business, but I believe that a better first step is to do a self-analysis of your real drivers, strengths, and assumptions before committing to this lifestyle. You can’t really succeed in life if you are not happy.

Founder 262

Founder Intellectual Property Social Media Business Plan 262

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

In reality, it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of the business and the team. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for due diligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Early in the relationship, every investor instinctively looks for some key indicators of the ability to get results, like the following: Communicates well in every business medium. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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.

Business Plan 280

Business Plan Product Architecture Business Model 280

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Entrepreneurs need to spend time working on the business, as well as in the business.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2021

A budget is the financial plan and road map to get you from your business plan to profitability. It’s fair to use your vision, creativity, and innovation to change the world with new and better products and services. But administrative people rarely see the big picture, which you need for profitability and survival.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Finance Startup Salary 379

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

Even if you’re happy with your tech team, a review can ensure your business is in a good place before you take your next big step. Other common scenarios that we’ve seen: Scaling and new markets: Your company and product are established, and now you’re scaling or going after new markets. And what causes that? By a factor of 100?

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review Architecture 260

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Here are some key reasons why I believe every entrepreneur should create a formal Advisory Board or Board of Directors before they ask for funding, or even build their business plan: We all need a bit of reality to balance our passion. Remember that people make a business, more often than a product.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Business Plan 393

Business Plan Marketing SBA Venture Capital 393

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2019

He offers some practical entrepreneurship lessons I most often see talking about Silicon Valley: You still need a good business plan to start. As an advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m still surprised at how many people believe the myth that business plans are only required to appease big investors.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Missouri Technical Review Boston 269

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Early in the relationship, every investor instinctively looks for some key indicators of the ability to get results, like the following: Communicates well in every business medium. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

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. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

The organization can’t keep up the pace of change, and soon loses motivation, productivity, and all sense of where they are headed. When the team is at odds or confused, they need this steady force to keep them on track with the business plan. Good integrators are fanatical about problem resolution and making decisions.

Founder 329

Founder Cofounder Bandwidth Matching 329

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. Obviously, the more detailed your business plan, the better.

Cost 264

Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

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. In reality, more features will more likely make the product confusing and less usable to all. Broad product offerings require too much infrastructure.

Startup 287

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 287

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

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

YoungUpstarts

JULY 7, 2020

To know more about aluminium products, you can check out Window Factory for detailed information. Here are tips on how to start on this business: Have a business plan. When starting a business, the first thing most entrepreneurs work on is how to distinguish it from other business. Know your location.

Reputation 237

Reputation B2B Technical Review Social Media 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem-solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources. Experience and connections in your business area. Building the product may be the easy part of your startup challenge.

Technical Cofounder 247

Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Products requiring changes to government regulations. For new car companies such as DeLorean and Fisker, designing and testing the product is only the beginning. On the Internet, I am wary of one more search engine provider, clones of existing social-media sites, and yet another new dating site. Huge ramp-up time and money required.

New York City 315

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 315

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2019

For example, if you start a new business with a software product you developed, you really need to know the basics of marketing and finance, but you will probably never be the expert in marketing and finance you require. Sharing your business ownership increases the risk. Partner with experts who share the risk.

Bandwidth 246

Bandwidth Software Review Salary Angel Investor 246

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

Successful international business expansion requires thorough market research, understanding local regulations, and adapting products to cultural preferences. Building a Robust Business Plan A comprehensive business plan serves as the blueprint for your international expansion.

Technical Review 159

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Global 159

Women Entrepreneurs Can

JANUARY 2, 2025

Streamlining Creative Workflows Written communication often underpins business operations, from crafting proposals to composing emails. Refined drafting processes eliminate misunderstandings and boost productivity. Conclusion Attaining higher productivity involves systematic planning and a willingness to explore new methods.

Product 40

Product Technical Review Stealth Campaign 40

The Startup Magazine

MAY 27, 2023

Useful Tools While you might not have a clear idea of the specifics of your business plan just yet (though it’s always worth thinking about), it will do you some good to brush up on the kinds of tools that are going to be useful for someone in your position. Your idea is a good one – it’s one that you believe in.

Social Media 146

Social Media Business Plan Software Review Audience 146

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2021

This should be obvious, but much of what passes for “a story” these days are things like elevator pitches or product descriptions that have no characters at all. It’s even acceptable to make up a place with a “what if.” Every story needs a main character. How prepared are you to tell your best story?

Elevator Pitch 313

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Boston Sales 313

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2022

Plan in great detail and avoid things not in the budget. Business plans should be loose frameworks to be used as guidelines rather than detailed route maps. Assign innovation projects to production organizations. Make sure people take time to look for new opportunities. Create a culture of finding blame for every failure.

Stock Options 277

Stock Options Incubator Framework Stock 277

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Developing a Business Plan The findings from your market research should form the backbone of your comprehensive business plan. A well-thought-out business plan helps keep your business on track, acting like a roadmap to your intended destination.

Balance Sheet 145

Balance Sheet Technical Review Business Model Business Plan 145