Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2012

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. If you don’t have it, you probably won’t succeed, even with funding.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 294

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. This next frontier lies in building your own enterprises as an entrepreneur, rather than waiting for innovation and opportunity from large corporations. Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline.

Entrepreneur 263

Entrepreneur Offshore Merger Technical Review 263

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I recently wrote a post about why I didn’t think early-stage startups should have COOs. I’d say about 80% of the experienced entrepreneurs & VCs I know privately agreed with me. What a luxury in a startup to have the number one person in the business get to focus on just strategy? Naturally some didn’t.

Operations 292

Operations CTO Hire Startup Early Stage 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. His focus is on entrepreneurs in America, but what he says applies to every other country as well. This next frontier lies in building enterprises as an entrepreneur, rather than waiting for innovation and opportunity from large corporations.

Artificial Inteligence 315

Artificial Inteligence Offshore Merger Technical Review 315

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. If you don’t have it, you probably won’t succeed, even with funding.

Angel Investor 241

Angel Investor Technical Review Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 241

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

How do you as an entrepreneur with a new idea get to be one of those choices? That means there are far more entrepreneurs looking for money than there are investors, and entrepreneur entitlement is not a realistic expectation. Angel investors look for prior domain and startup experience. Funding risk. Defensibility.

Angel Investor 269

Angel Investor Cram Down Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

Entrepreneurs can still build big businesses on the outskirts.” David encourages entrepreneurs to stay away from the big tech firms (such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple) because they are hard to compete with. We once thought the merger of AOL/Time Warner needed to be investigated by the DOJ. Laughable now.

Silicon Valley 299

Silicon Valley Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).

Software Review 250

Software Review Software Technical Review Intellectual Property 250

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2010

I have often found entrepreneurs want to present the positive progress of the company to impress the board rather than engage in debate about how to make things better. Of course there are times where a board’s voice is gospel: mergers, raising capital, replacing the CEO, etc. Tags: Startup Advice.

Startup 288

Startup Merger Technical Review Framework 288

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. What Do VC’s Do? The reality is that VC’s have one goal – to maximize the amount of money they return to their investors.

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. His focus is on entrepreneurs in America, but what he says applies to every other country as well. This next frontier lies in building enterprises as an entrepreneur, rather than waiting for innovation and opportunity from large corporations.

Engineer 219

Engineer Entrepreneur Offshore Merger 219

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. entrepreneurs intestors startups characteristics business'

Technical Review 273

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 273

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term. In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Merger Social Media 312

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2023

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Startups with no exit planned will minimize investor returns. Most entrepreneurs like the startup role, but not the big-company role. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy.

Exit Strategy 264

Exit Strategy Private Equity Equity Technical Review 264

Gust

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The good news is that a patent can scare off or at least delay competitors, and as a “rule of thumb” patents can add up to $1M to your startup valuation for investors or M&A exits (merger and acquisition).

Software Review 173

Software Review Software Technical Review Intellectual Property 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2019

Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts.

Dilution 224

Dilution Merger Flash Global 224

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

Yesterday I had lunch with a really interesting and capable serial entrepreneur who is raising his A round. Many serial entrepreneurs who have been burned would use something less kind than quotes. Many strategics have less experience in helping entrepreneurs. This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series.

Strategic Investors 279

Strategic Investors Venture Capital Due Diligence Early Stage 279

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2013

Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts.

Dilution 187

Dilution Merger Flash Global 187

crowdSPRING Blog

AUGUST 2, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Ego and Startup Failure | Forbes – [link]. How Empires Fall: The Publicis Omnicom Merger Underscores The Rapid Decay Of The Ad Industry – [link].

Social Media 98

Social Media Small Business Design Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, and an old one long out of favor, the so-called “reverse merger.”

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2016

The last thing a new entrepreneur wants to think about for a new startup is how it will end. Startups with no exit planned will minimize investor returns. Most entrepreneurs like the startup role, but not the big-company role. Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy.

Equity 120

Equity Exit Strategy Private Equity Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. His focus is on entrepreneurs in America, but what he says applies to every other country as well. This next frontier lies in building enterprises as an entrepreneur, rather than waiting for innovation and opportunity from large corporations.

Offshore 120

Offshore Startup Merger Technical Review 120

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

It is our startup sector which will drive this innovative progress. Startup founders are our ambitious problem solvers. To generate growth in a startup, it is almost always necessary to raise external capital to run the necessary. In order to understand startup governance, you need to understand risk and reward.

Technical Review 105

Technical Review Software Review New Zealand Due Diligence 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2015

Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts.

Matching 120

Matching Marketing Dilution Startup 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. These people exist and they are called ‘Serial entrepreneurs.’. How are they doing it?

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

Techventure 2011 – one of Asia’s topmost events for the venture capital community to engage with the latest technology entrepreneurs organized by Asiasons WFG and presented by National Research Foundation (NRF) and Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCA) – will celebrate its 15th year on October 13 and 14.

Singapore 162

Singapore Private Equity Asia Venture Capital 162

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. Long hours.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Salary Egypt 384

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Thus it behooves every entrepreneur to start watching these things more carefully from the very start. This business phase is where every entrepreneur starts.

Dilution 134

Dilution Merger Flash Global 134

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

It did not have the same success as Google’s acquisition and MySpace sold Photobucket 2 years later to a relatively unknown Seattle-based startup called Ontela for a reportedly $60 million. Murdoch seethed at these “startups&# getting rich off the back of MySpace. This was Politburo-style innovation and was laughable.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Internet Technical Review 318

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

An exit strategy is a method by which entrepreneurs and investors, especially those that have invested large sums of money in startup companies, transfer ownership of their business to a third party, or by which they recoup money invested in the business. See Also What Startups Need to Know About Exit Strategies. Liquidation.

Exit Strategy 117

Exit Strategy Lock-up Period Merger IPO 117

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

mashable.com

OCTOBER 16, 2010

Not only that, but the growing battle between venture capital firms and “super angels&# presents an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs trying to build the next big thing. These investors usually raise a smaller fund and make investments into startups that range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Angel Investor 84

Angel Investor Venture Capital Social Media Technical Review 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2018

With the current strong economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, or going public through the side door as a reverse merger.

Merger 198

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 198