Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. business entrepreneur partner startup traits'

Partner 269

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 269

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO. I think usually a COO title at a startup is an ego thing. CEO’s run things.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Due Diligence 325

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 24, 2020

To have a breakthrough idea is not enough to launch a startup. Together with IT businessman and investor Rustam Gilfanov, we try to figure out what one needs to take into account when designing a business plan for a startup. “There is a difference between a business and a startup. ” — Mr. Gilfanov explains.

Business Plan 263

Business Plan Ukraine Cofounder Startup 263

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 9, 2010

This is Part 3 of the series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches.? Of hundreds of startup pitches at Capital Factory , almost none had unearthed 10 people willing to say, "If you build this product, I'll give you $X.". Aren't you sick of every startup blogger on Earth badgering you about this? founder Blogger & Twitter. "If

Software Review 312

Software Review Part-Time VPE Cofounder Houston 312

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 14, 2024

The order is important because I fell in love with the product before I even knew about the company, and the hustle of its founder/CEO Sandro Roco. I was working at a venture-backed apparel startup for 4 years and saw the power of building digitally-native brands through Facebook and Instagram (TikTok was still nascent).

New York City 110

New York City Hockey Stick Distribution Angel Investor 110

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 26, 2023

The path to success is far from easy, which is a lesson Quattro Development’s founders, Rob Walters and Mike Liyeos, know all too well. The duo recall their most profound failures as co-founders, as well as the steps they took to overcome misfortune and become a premier national developer.

Cofounder 148

Cofounder Developer United States Founder 148

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 11, 2021

by Swapnil Shinde, Co-Founder and CEO of Zeni. If your accounting processes aren’t in order, you may not have a complete picture of your startup’s financial health and could be leaving money on the table. If you want your business to grow, it’s vital to have the right financial foundation. Using cash basis accounting.

Small Business 208

Small Business Startup Cofounder Vertical 208

Steve Blank

APRIL 3, 2018

Others join startups to strike out on their own. Most great technology startups – Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Tesla – were built by a team led by an entrepreneur. These are entrepreneurial skills you need to rapidly acquire or find a co-founder who already has them. Lessons Learned.

Technical Review 335

Technical Review Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Cofounder 335

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

by Andriy Skoropad, co-founder & CEO at Perfectial. Some claim that all possible interactions of finance and technology, which I guess includes credit cards – the 1950’s invention, are FinTech. Others narrow down its meaning to just startups that aim to disrupt incumbent financial systems.

Ruby 210

Ruby Cofounder Finance Campaign 210

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I first met Andrew Stalbow , the founder & CEO of Seriously in August of 2013. and Petri was co-founder and head of creative at Remedy Entertainment that launched the hit PC games Max Payne and Alan Wake. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. .

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

I left the meeting and had to attend a 3-hour board meeting where two founders have been fighting and each want the other one fired. But your co-founder had been senior at one of the big enterprise software companies and if I remember correctly American Express had run a big pilot with you. Some were interesting, some weren’t.

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

My internal compass has always steered me strongly toward the belief that founders who can scale with their startup companies are better to back that founders who eventually need to hire a CEO. Very few founder CEOs go into the job ever expecting to give up their seat. To be a founder in state of mind.

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Cofounder Analytics Founder 303

The Startup Magazine

MAY 13, 2022

Equity distribution among co-founders may be a complex procedure while starting any business. How you split founder startup equity can be even harder for a tech startup due to different roles and contributions from the founders. What is the equity structure of a startup?

Equity 172

Equity Founder Vesting Cofounder 172

Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Invested Interests business entrepreneur partner startup'

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

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. We try to talk to real practitioners about actual, real issues.”

Lean 245

Lean Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 245

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Founder’s perspective. As You Start to Mature. You’ll get empathy.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Idealistic founders believe they will break the mold when they scale, and not turn into a “typical big company.” Or it’s fatal because that was a co-founder. Very few products can generate that sort of revenue, whether invented by nimble, innovative startups or stately mature companies. Recruiting.

Government 223

Government Startup Cofounder Technical Support 223

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can. And I listen to the reasons their co-founders quit their well-payed job to join them.

Early Stage 361

Early Stage Deal Flow Investment Bankers Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

Thus the top priority of every entrepreneur who wants funding should be to build and highlight their “dream team” of co-founders, executives and advisers, to attract the biggest and best investors. On the other hand, having failed in an earlier startup may be an advantage, if positioned properly, and some learning is evident.

Sweat Equity 152

Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Startup 152

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance, and planning. The founder of what became General Motors was William (Billy) Durant.

Michigan 301

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 301

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

Should I trust my instincts for founders and products or should I be more focused on the market size or business plan? ” As far as “terms” go I’m 100% aligned to have the most vanilla, founder-friendly terms I can. And I’m seeing this even at some really well run startups. What stage? What price?

Deal Flow 347

Deal Flow Early Stage Investment Bankers Technical Review 347

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt Blumberg has a new book out titled Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Functions and Teams. It’s a follow-up to his previous book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business. Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

Just before the holidays I had coffee with Anne, an ex MBA student running a fairly large product group at a search engine company, now out trying to raise money for her own startup. The Columbia Startup Lab is a visible symbol of how the university is making entrepreneurship an integral part of all colleges at the university.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

As a startup advisor and angel investor, I tend to focus on the much longer list of ways your startup can fail, based on my own experience and inside knowledge from peers who you will never see highlighted on the Internet. Plan to and assemble the right team, including co-founders.

Angel Investor 249

Angel Investor Cofounder Finance Operations 249

View from Seed

MAY 11, 2016

Investors love the idea of backing second-time founders, especially if they have had success in their last company. etc… In addition, first-time founders I speak to often talk about how much they have learned and how they resolve to do things differently and better the next time. Is there a sophomore slump to avoid?

Founder 159

Founder Cofounder CTO Hire Early Stage 159

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 22, 2013

Crowdfunding, the new in-thing in micro-financing that’s taken the world by storm thanks to the likes of Kickstarter , takes a twist with new crowdfunding site CrowdIt. The Springfield, Missouri-based startup is privately held and backed by venture capital firm Baron VC.

Networking 228

Networking Missouri Cofounder Early Stage 228

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 30, 2022

According to Crunchbase, in 2021, startups raised $201 billion in investments during the initial stage of their launch. These statistics show that investors are interested in financing new projects and are ready to consider existing ideas. What You Need to Do for a Successful Startup Presentation. Deep Market Analysis.

Software Review 183

Software Review Technical Review Cofounder United States 183

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

I found that role validated and highlighted in a new book, “ Scale or Fail ,” by Allison Maslan, who has built ten successful companies from the ground up, and consulted with many more in her current role as founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network. For example, I knew Bill Gates back in the early startup days of Microsoft.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

by Felix Winstone, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Talkative. As a startup co-founder with a growing team, here are the recruiting tips I’ve learnt over the last couple of years. Robert Metcalfe, co-founder and CEO of 3Com, says you need to think about it as “recruiting, not hiring”.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Up and Running

JULY 28, 2022

Develop a founders agreement. A founders’ agreement is a legal contract defining and governing the relationship between cofounders. Its importance is to outline founders’ rights, responsibilities, ownership, and roles. The whole point is to avoid business disputes that may come up between the founders.

Small Business 167

Small Business Intellectual Property Cofounder Software Review 167

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

by Kenneth Coats, founder of eKnowID. Doing a background check on a potential partner or co-founder, while unorthodox, could bring to light small issues that could be resolved with a bit of honest dialogue. What may seem like an invasion of privacy could be what ultimately protects you and your startup from ruin.

Technical Review 219

Technical Review Partner Due Diligence Bankruptcy 219

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Mike is a no BS guy, has all the attributes I look for in a founder and says things like, openly shares knowledge and opines without a filter including this one, “whoever invented uncapped convertible debt should be spanked!&# The video can be watched here , but there is a most excellent summary below provided by John Excley.

Semantic 302

Semantic Acquisition Valuation Angel Investor 302

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Depending on the composition of the founding team, you might or might not have near-term holes in certain functions at the exec level – e.g. you’ll most likely need to bring on a CTO/VP of Engineering shortly after the seed round if you don’t have a technical co-founder.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2017

I read commentary or Twitter or blogs and realize that there are also strongly held convictions that there are these evil VCs who do terrible things to mostly altruistic founders. But unlike the popular press reporting of this conflict — 80% of the time it is founder-to-founder conflict and not investor-to-founder conflict.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Stock Options Equity Technical Review 217