Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. Unless you have a co-founder or two with the business skills to complement your technical ones, you need a friendly Advisory Board.

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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.

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Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a cofounder or two. Giving a cofounder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

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Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 9, 2022

As part of our Founder interview series , The Startup Magazine caught up with Salo Sterental, Co-Founder of the SoStereo, a marketing firm that enables brands and artists alike to unlock the marketing power of music. Salo: Zumba Fitness approached Beto (my co-founder) and I with a unique problem.

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Cofounder Founder Miami Marketing 151

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2022

Business partners can be co-founders in a startup, multiple owners of an existing business, or a joint venture. As a former startup investor, I was often involved with due diligence on founders, and I felt that founders should do the same on co-founders, as well as investors.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Cofounder 313

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.

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Business Plan Ukraine Cofounder Startup 263

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

One of the biggest myths in the business world is that startups are no place for Baby Boomers, that aging generation born between 1945 and 1964. Today people over 55 are almost twice as likely to create successful startups as Gen-Y, age 20 to 34. Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Member of the Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. It’s the antithesis of the Lean Startup.

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Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

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Founder Cofounder Bandwidth Matching 329

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. The industry veteran. The sales professional.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. The only real alternative is to find a cofounder who can build and lead the team, while you focus on the product. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

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Leadership Technical Review Technical Cofounder Development Team Review 318

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

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New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 315

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Some entrepreneurs view their outsourced employees as temps, or as a cheap way to staff the company during its startup phase. You should never hire internal or external staff based solely on what they can do now.

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Cost Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 346

View from Seed

APRIL 6, 2021

You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship. Who Are We Looking For.

Technical Review 317

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage Cofounder 317

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs I know still believe that that their great idea will carry the startup, and they may even minimize their own value, especially if they have introvert tendencies. Everyone needs to realize that whether it’s in the workplace or in the startup community, business is a new world today with new rules.

Startup 331

Startup Technical Review Social Network Reputation 331

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

That’s why investors acknowledge that two co-founders are often better than one -- with one focusing on the technical solution, and the other focusing on defining and building the business model. The founder had simply not done the work to validate a price and customer segment. These two jobs need to be done in parallel.

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Technical Review Product Advisory Board Business Model 399

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

If you are a typical startup operation, consisting of an unpaid founder and co-founder, both working part-time, outsourcing is not likely the solution to your resource constraints. Startups are often distributed entities, so adding and managing freelancers, contractors, and outsourcing firms is not a big step.

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Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Technical Review 306

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.

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Cofounder Developer United States Founder 137

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Some entrepreneurs view their outsourced employees as temps, or as a cheap way to staff the company during its startup phase. You should never hire internal or external staff based solely on what they can do now.

Entrepreneur 303

Entrepreneur Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 303

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

If you are a typical startup operation, consisting of an unpaid founder and co-founder, both working part-time, outsourcing is not likely the solution to your resource constraints. Startups are often distributed entities, so adding and managing freelancers, contractors, and outsourcing firms is not a big step.

Software Review 285

Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property 285

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. In my role as a business advisor, I see successful businesses most often emerging from great teams rather than great products.

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Hiring Technical Cofounder Cofounder Retention 337

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. .

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Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Today we’re announcing that my partner Kara Nortman is becoming Co-Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to welcome her to her new role. and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs.

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Partner Management Cofounder San Francisco 361

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Here is how remote startups are changing the game for everyone. In fact, according to Founders Forum’s survey of 400+ startup owners, 94% of the respondents were already working from home before the pandemic. To help them make the transition, a new breed of “remote startups” has emerged. Image Credit: pixaby.

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Technical Review Startup Belgium Software Review 200

View from Seed

JULY 6, 2020

You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. . You have an authentic passion for startups and a deep respect for entrepreneurship. You are hungry.

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Technical Review Software Review Hiring Seed Stage 257

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. Carlos stirred his coffee.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

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. Swapnil Shinde is Co-Founder and CEO of Zeni , the all-in-one finance automation platform for startups.

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Small Business Startup Cofounder Vertical 208

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2023

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Partner 206

Partner Cofounder Startup Bandwidth 206

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

Steve Blank

JUNE 20, 2022

He previously cofounded several enterprise software startups, and his previous job was building a new innovation organization from scratch inside another large company. Understand if/how they co-opted/bypassed existing processes and procedures. But this is the first time he was the CTO of a company this size.

CTO 368

CTO Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Incubator 368

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

by Zain Jaffer, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Zain Ventures. This is especially true for startups, which operate on the basis of customer traction to solidify expectations with investors or lending institutions. Running a small business can come with a slew of challenges. Among the list: the loss of a major client.

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Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

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?

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Equity Founder Vesting Cofounder 146

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2020

The most valuable assets of a new startup are the people on the team, and the most challenging task of the entrepreneur and team leaders is to spend their leadership time and energy productively. Most new startup founders start out by assuming they need to spread their leadership efforts evenly across all team members.

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Leadership Entrepreneur Cofounder Matching 317

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2023

Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology. A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization. Should they go after high-tech nerds for partners, or professional technologists?

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Technical Cofounder Technology Management Entrepreneur 260

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.

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Technical Review Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Cofounder 335

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2020

by Nick Frandsen, co-founder and managing partner at Dovetail. You envision your business as the next Uber or Spotify, yourself as the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, reaching that prestigious ‘unicorn’ startup status in record time. Nick Frandsen is a co-founder and managing partner at Dovetail. It’s genius!

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Product Cofounder Audience Product Development 264

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 17, 2024

Yet, everyone’s got an opinion about how a company measures up, especially the founder. ( The other day, I had a difficult conversation with a founder who clearly felt like VCs were the problem in her fundraising process. I don’t need to remind such a founder how the world is stacked against them. Then, there are nuances.

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Technical Review Cofounder Startup Equity 166