Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Venture Studios are an “idea factory” with their own employees searching for product/market fit and a repeatable and scalable business model. Most are founded and run by experienced entrepreneurs that have previously built companies and who understand the difference between theory and practice. How Venture Studios Work.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Employees will lose focus on their work.”

Startup 337

Startup Technical Review Employee Hiring 337

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

by Zain Jaffer, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Zain Ventures. The loss of these major customers can have a dramatic impact on both internal (employees) and external contributors (investors). When the time comes, the following actions can help entrepreneurs get back on their feet: 1. Rip the Bandaid off.

Customer 347

Customer Development Team Review Advisory Board Private Equity 347

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. It’s time to think again that the domain of entrepreneurs is only for the under-35 crowd.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. Most entrepreneurs work long hours and weekends to get the job done. The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk.

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Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 385

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

Of course, it’s no surprise that most entrepreneurs don’t have a background in hiring teams, and don’t have a budget for training or human resource consultants. Some entrepreneurs approach hiring as a test of their selling ability, while others wait for the candidate to sell them. It’s a small cost to prevent a long-term loss.

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Hiring Technical Cofounder Cofounder Retention 337

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Every entrepreneur and business leader I know realizes that it takes a dedicated team to build and run a successful business, and nurturing that team is one of your most important priorities. Thus I was pleased to see a much more complete and broader perspective of employee support recommendations in a new book, “ Employees First! ”

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Technical Review Cofounder Employee Global 353

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. They look for the use of talent analytics, such as productivity per employee, as well as the practices and attitude toward employee satisfaction. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. If service employees are not happy, the process isn’t working yet.

Technical Review 385

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 385

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Subjectively measuring employee engagement. With data and analytics, you can gauge employee engagement accurately.

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Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Most entrepreneurs I meet are reluctant to disclose anything about their idea to investors before getting a signed confidential disclosure agreement (CDA). Yet I can assure you that people who are paranoid, or want to avoid all risks, won’t be happy as entrepreneurs, so it’s all about balancing the risk-reward scale.

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Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2023

Among other things, he presents convincing reasons why employee empowerment is now a force that is here to stay in today’s workplace: A new generation of workers are flexing muscles. Immigration has always been a key source of diversity in the workplace, which is known to drive innovation and employee empowerment.

Non-Compete 282

Non-Compete France Japan Technical Review 282

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

As a logical and data-driven business advisor, I have long focused on facts, technology, and quantifiable pain in guiding entrepreneurs. At every Ritz-Carlton , employees are authorized to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve a guest issue or improve a guest's stay, no matter what the cause.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

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Leadership Demand Management Founder 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Personal loans from individuals, employees and board members. As in any company, they can lead to employee problems, or messy legal issues. This could work to get you legal or accounting services, but won’t get you cash to pay employee salaries. Personal loans are certainly an option, but should be avoided if possible.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

To complement local face-to-face networking, you can always use one of the many online matchmaking sites that have sprung up in the last few years, like CoFoundersLab and Startbee (think eHarmony™ for entrepreneurs, or Match.com meets LinkedIn). Remember that leadership is both upward, as well as downward to direct reports and employees.

Exit Strategy 407

Exit Strategy Leadership Founder Networking 407

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to the Internet as an opportunity to get rich quick, instead of a place where you can start a business you love, for very little capital and minimal technical expertise. Hiring virtual assistants for each specific project can be a lot more efficient and cheaper than hiring and managing employees.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Software Review Internet Revenue 312

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. For example, I once was approached by an entrepreneur, passionate that his new algae strain would cure world hunger and make him rich. What you learn will apply to employees.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

I believe that most entrepreneurs today, at least in the technology domains I frequent, still work in the business (“Technician’s Perspective”), rather than on the business (“Entrepreneurs Perspective”). I also see no evidence that the percentage of new business successes has gone up in the last couple of decades.

Technical Review 341

Technical Review Social Media Startup Internet 341

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Perhaps sparked by the recent pandemic, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Real entrepreneurs always look ahead and learn from problems resolved.

Startup 338

Startup Technical Review Restful Partner 338

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

As a long-time business advisor, and an investor in startups along the way, I’m always on the lookout for an entrepreneur who is responding first to a problem in the marketplace , rather than bringing a new technology to the market, assuming it will find a problem to solve. The result is missed opportunities, emotional in-fighting, and blame.

Social Media 330

Social Media Entrepreneur Revenue Internet 330

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. Yet most investors agree that the “idea” is worth nothing alone, and it’s the entrepreneur execution that counts.

Startup 331

Startup Technical Review Social Network Reputation 331

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2021

Some of the most common innovation myths that Barbee mentions or I have encountered in my work with entrepreneurs around the world include the following: True innovation can only come from R&D and geniuses.

Technical Review 431

Technical Review Leadership Operations Networking 431

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Don’t bother with previous employment follow-ups.

Hiring 339

Hiring Matching Cost Internet 339

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

I hear too often from business owners and entrepreneurs that they are bombarded by so many requests and problems, that they have trouble sorting out the daily crises from opportunities with a major payback for the business. Top employees are leaving for better opportunities. You see evidence of ethical compromises in the team.

Leadership 301

Leadership Founder Salary Demand 301

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2022

People who have been followers too long as an employee don’t realize how hard it is to be a leader. Every new entrepreneur has to initiate the right actions to be perceived as a leader in their chosen business domain by their team and by their customers, or the road to success and satisfaction will be lost along the way.

Leadership 317

Leadership Founder Startup Networking 317

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2020

Sheltering in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, my coffees with current and ex-students (entrepreneurs, as well as employees early in their careers) have gone virtual. Pre-pandemic these coffees were usually about what startup to join or how to find product/market fit. Fast Company and Forbes.

Software Review 335

Software Review Technical Review eCommerce Salary 335

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

The challenge for every entrepreneur and every business is to understand the pragmatics of identifying and reacting to what their customers love and what they hate. Customers today expect highly personalized and exceptional experiences to stay loyal and become advocates, rather than just conventionally “satisfied.”

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Customer Social Media Media Employee 395

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts. A common practice is to hire local employees who know the geographic culture, even though this may well dilute the company culture. Consider MySpace and Webvan.

Dilution 355

Dilution Startup Merger Flash 355

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2022

In my experience, most technical entrepreneurs have little interest or expertise in the financials, or marketing. These days, many entrepreneurs are motivated to help the disadvantaged, such as TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, who differentiated his brand by donating a pair to the needy for every pair sold.

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Technical Review Due Diligence Partner Cofounder 313

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MARCH 24, 2025

Whether you are a woman entrepreneur with a small team or a larger one, its important to know the challenges and risks out there, including this potential for fraud. Many women entrepreneurs run smaller operations without the same legal and compliance resources as large corporations. It can be tempting to cut corners to get ahead.

Software Review 40

Software Review Entrepreneur Employee Security 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Buffer your projected resource requirements.

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Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2023

One of the things I’ve learned in working with aspiring entrepreneurs is that managing and leading a team is a scary venture into the unknown for many people, even if they have worked as a business professional for years. As an entrepreneur, executive, or team member, you are most impacted by the people you gather around you.

Management 291

Management Leadership Demand Founder 291

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

In my many years of experience in business, and recent work as a mentor to entrepreneurs, I have seen the business world change, and can relate well to his five success practices paraphrased here: Build the team from people with a shared obsession.

Developer 387

Developer Startup Social Media Internet 387

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. To be successful, and leave a positive legacy, you need a team of motivated employees and loyal customers. Everyone has ideas, but only a few can make them happen.

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Artificial Inteligence Technology Leadership Business Model 286