Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2012

At some point in their life, hopefully everyone strives to be the best in their chosen profession. Most people think that being the best requires more intelligence, more training, and more experience. In reality, in business or even in sports, the evidence is conclusive that it is as much about how you think, as what you do. I saw this illustrated well recently in a sports excellence book called “ Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else ”, by Jon Gordon.

Entrepreneur 265

Entrepreneur Business Plan Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challeng

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2012

Success in a startup is not possible as a “one-man show.” An entrepreneur has to engage with team members, partners, investors, vendors, and customers. In my experience, the joy of positive engagement is sometimes the only pay you get in an early startup. Amazingly, many successful startups are built on this basis alone, with almost no money. I will talk here primarily about building the internal team of a startup, but the same principles apply outside to your “extended team” and customers.

Social Media 254

Social Media Hiring Employee Restful 254

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2012

Most entrepreneurs I know are individually very innovative, but a successful startup can’t be a one-man show (for long). That means they need to build an innovative team, which is not a skill that most people are born with. In fact, some very innovative individuals, known as ‘idea people’ or inventors, often end up creating the most dysfunctional teams.

Startup 253

Startup Framework Entrepreneur Developer 253

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2012

To be an entrepreneur, you have to be navigate lots of unknowns, and the path is fraught with risk. Once you are past a certain mental age, you know too many of the things that can go wrong, so you never start. Sort of like the old saying that if we didn’t have young men to fight our wars, we could achieve world peace in no time. People who are young, or young at heart, don’t know all the negatives, or don’t worry about them.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Startup 253

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2012

Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. Yet there is no standardized testing or certification required or available anywhere to help you decide if you are a good fit for entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship is right for you. An MBA or other academic credentials just don’t do it.

Startup 252

Startup Stock Finance Employee 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2012

I’ve long believed that entrepreneurs are different. We all know successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of school, and people with high IQs that cannot manage a business. I used to call this “street smarts,” but recently I found a better explanation, called multiple intelligences. Successful entrepreneurs always seem to have several good intelligences.

Entrepreneur 251

Entrepreneur Business Plan Developer Design 251

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2012

Founders almost always cite lack of money as the reason for failure, but if you look deeper, I believe the reason is more often about dysfunctional people and leadership. Sometimes it comes right back to the founder, in terms of a malaise often called “Founder’s Syndrome.” A few years ago I was intimately involved with a promising startup that taught me about this issue.

Startup 248

Startup Entrepreneur Founder Leadership 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part. Proving the business model requires a different approach than proving the technical concept.

Business Model 248

Business Model Advisory Board Entrepreneur Angel Investor 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 16, 2012

After working with dozens of startup founders, I’m still amazed that some seem to be able to do the job easily and effectively, always in control, while others always seem to be struggling, out-of-control, and fighting the latest crisis. I am more and more convinced that it is the right founder behavior that leads to success, rather than some exceptional intelligence or training.

Leadership 248

Leadership Entrepreneur Founder Employee 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2012

Starting a business is usually the result of a personal dream or need. Investors tell me that they invest in people, more than the idea. Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at the startup stages. That’s why it’s important to build a personal brand, in parallel and before your business brand. This will kick-start your business, and improve your odds of success.

Entrepreneur 245

Entrepreneur Social Media Business Model Customer 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2012

A “downer” is defined here as someone who seems to dwell on the negatives of every business challenge, and loves to highlight bad news or potential problems. No matter how smart or experienced this person may otherwise be, things must change or they will kill your startup. I’m not talking about someone who has an occasional bad day, but rather people who when asked, “How are things?

Entrepreneur 244

Entrepreneur Startup Employee Product 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2012

Entrepreneurs often get the advice from their lawyers and friends to always get a Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA or CDA) signed before disclosing anything about their new venture. Most investors and startup advisors I know hate them, and refuse to sign them. Who is right? Let me try to put this question in perspective. If you are totally risk-averse, then push to always get signed NDAs.

Non-disclosure Agreement 244

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Non-Compete Due Diligence 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2012

Based on my own experience and feedback from friends, every investor is approached by at least ten entrepreneurs with a “hot idea” for a new business, for every one who has a real “plan” for a new business. That’s why I often say that ideas are worth nothing, until they are put in the context of a business plan and real people committed to executing the plan.

Business Plan 243

Business Plan Internet Search Technology 243

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2012

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.

Networking 242

Networking Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2012

Customer service has always been reactionary, meaning someone to wake up and answer website email requests. That’s just not sufficient to hold today’s fickle, less loyal, and ready to jump customer. Great startups are getting ahead of the game with “anticipatory customer service,” like providing smart phone access to product and account data to head off complaints.

Customer 242

Customer Startup Social Media Channel 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2012

I’ve noticed a great tendency among startup founders to ignore the essentials of business accounting in the early stages of their startup. Just because you are not profitable yet, doesn’t mean you can skip the record keeping. In fact, just the opposite is true. When you anticipate losses for the first year or two, it is more important to properly document all expenses, including tricky ones like business travel, business meals, and your home office.

Intellectual Property 242

Intellectual Property SBA Warrant Startup 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2012

Most entrepreneurs start their company with the highest of ideals, and wouldn’t dream of building one with a culture of indifference or downright unethical behavior. Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors in a cutthroat competitive environment. How does a Founder recognize the warning signs, let alone know what to do about it?

Startup 238

Startup Social Media Cloud Founder 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2012

Friends tell you what you want to hear. Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. You always need the friend. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. A mentor’s aim is to teach you what to do and how, in specific situations, unlike a coach who helps you develop your generic skills for deciding what to do and how.

Exit Strategy 238

Exit Strategy Startup Matching Entrepreneur 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2012

Many entrepreneurs actually refuse to do financial projections beyond the first year, insisting that no one can predict the future. They need to realize that investors ask for projections, not merely as predictions, but more as commitments from the founder and his team. If you are not willing to commit, don’t expect anyone to back you. In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging,

Forecast 238

Forecast Burn Rate .Net Business Model 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2012

Prior to the recession, many companies and even startups were acclimated to prosperity, maybe too comfortable. We have now been through some turbulent times, but has your strategy really changed? All too many simply hunkered down to wait out the economy. Smart entrepreneurs are making changes now, to be more agile in defining strategy, making organizational changes, and analyzing markets for change.

Agile 235

Agile Government Leadership Revenue 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2012

New entrepreneurs often seem to confuse viability with fundability. Certainly a non-viable business should be not fundable, but many viable businesses are also not fundable. Thus when an investor declines your funding request, you need to curb your anger and understand the real reason for this outcome. In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for potentially viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Venture Capital Business Plan 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2012

Every entrepreneur dreams of that sweet spot in the life of their business when it will reach critical mass, and they can focus more on scaling it than finding another investment round, or pumping in more cash. The challenge is how to recognize the point where the business is self-sustaining and stable, rather than spinning out of control at the slightest glitch.

Social Media 242

Social Media Revenue Viral Acquisition 242