Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2012

Everyone recognizes a great entrepreneur when they work with one, but most entrepreneurs don’t know what to look for in themselves that will drive that perception by others. In my experience, there is no magic gene involved, just simple good habits executed consistently and convincingly until everyone around you in a startup wants to follow your example.

Startup 261

Startup Entrepreneur Leadership Search 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2012

I’m a big fan of the old adage "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers." We have all heard questions that begin, "This may be a dumb question, but …" used effectively by smart people who are not afraid of risking ridicule by challenging a questionable assertion from an intimidating speaker. Most people in business seem to expect their leaders just to give orders.

Entrepreneur 261

Entrepreneur Leadership Lean Employee 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2012

The Internet and social media have totally destroyed the meaning of the word “friend” and even changed it from a noun to a verb. On Twitter and Facebook, many young people follow hundreds of friends before age twenty, all without ever having physically said or heard a word from most of them. Facebook users with “whale” status (5,000 friends), are not even rare any more.

Entrepreneur 261

Entrepreneur Social Media Social Network Internet 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2012

A term I’m hearing more and more these days is “social entrepreneur.” In the simplest of terms, these are people who seek to generate “social value”, rather than profits, and use traditional business principles to create and manage a venture to make social change. On the surface, this sounds like entrepreneurs who want to build a non-profit organization.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Government Bootstrapping 253

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2012

It seems to be an accepted fact these days that big companies normally innovate by buying a startup with innovative products, rather than focusing on in-house innovations. This is a good thing for entrepreneurs and investors, who can win big, but it’s not a given. I see many startups who seem satisfied with a “me too” approach, building yet another social network or e-commerce site, rather than being truly innovative.

Framework 253

Framework Social Network Entrepreneur Engineer 253

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Even if you have an hour booked, the advice is the same.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2012

When you are not presenting to investors or your team, try to spend more time listening than talking. You can’t learn anything new while you’re talking, yet many entrepreneurs seem to never stop. It’s a sad spiral, since the more you talk, the less people really hear, meaning they don’t learn anything either. If someone left this article on your desk, read extra carefully.

Entrepreneur 245

Entrepreneur Conversion Naming Developer 245

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2012

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. You need to have business relationships with team members, investors, customers, and a myriad of other support people. That doesn’t mean you have to be a social butterfly to succeed, or introverts need not apply. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Co

Elevator Pitch 244

Elevator Pitch Social Network Startup Networking 244

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2012

Even though the world is getting smaller, due to easy global connectivity, people still feel alone if not well-connected locally. There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” The term first appeared at least five years ago, but the model is now very common.

Global 240

Global Finder Seattle Entrepreneur 240

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2012

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. But, contrary to what most people preach, it isn’t entirely free. Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly require an investment – in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time.

Social Media 238

Social Media Media Cost Startup 238

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2012

I’ve often said that creating and building a business is not a one-man show, even though it usually springs from the mind and determination of one person – committees don’t start successful businesses. But taking an idea to a business success requires many people to work together effectively, and that requires entrepreneurial leadership. Leadership is not a skill one is born with, but it can be learned and honed from experience and failures.

Leadership 237

Leadership Startup Programming Entrepreneur 237

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2012

All true entrepreneurs operate off a set of tenets that are built into their psyche, or drilled into them from training and mentors. These are represented by sayings like “You never get anywhere unless you take a chance” and “Passion and persistence are the keys to success,” Unfortunately, there are still other old, reliable tenets that don’t work anymore.

Startup 236

Startup Design Operations Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2012

One of the biggest myths I still see in the community of new entrepreneurs is the assumption that “All I need is a good idea, and some investor will give me the big money I need to build the business.” In reality, investors fund good business plans, not big dreams. It’s all in the execution. A related myth is that it takes a lot of money to start a business.

Bandwidth 236

Bandwidth Bootstrapping Equity Startup 236

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2012

There is no substitute for diving into the key details of a new startup. Executives from large companies have sometimes long forgotten how to do this (“My people will contact your people to work out the details.”). Others hire consultants, or outsource much of the real work. These executives won’t survive long in a startup environment. An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the mark

Entrepreneur 236

Entrepreneur Framework Matching Demand 236

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2012

Everyone knows that that startups are risky, but they also expect that the job will be exciting and potentially very lucrative (think early employees at Facebook and Google). Yet we have all heard stories about the high turnover, unstructured work environment, lower base pay, and unpredictable expectations from the top. Assuming you are lucky enough to get hired, what can you do to survive, and even stand out above the rest in this environment?

Startup 231

Startup Matching Restful Employee 231

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2012

An underutilized, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your alma mater, or even any local university. These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace.

Arizona 231

Arizona Phoenix Intellectual Property Incubator 231

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2012

Why is it that most of the business plans I see are really product plans? I define a product plan as a detailed description of your product or service, with a bit of business thrown in at the end. A business plan is a detailed description of your business, with a bit of product description thrown in near the front. Don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely positive to have a product plan.

Product 230

Product Business Plan Differentiation Business Model 230

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2012

A good entrepreneur is not necessarily born a good salesman. In fact, they are often the opposite, more focused on building things rather than selling them. Yet, in today’s world of information overload, marketing and selling skills are critical to the success of every startup. The alternative “If we build it, they will come” approach has long been relegated to the field of dreams , after Kevin Costner’s movie by the same name.

Product 227

Product Sales Cycle Matching Social Media 227

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2012

Every startup fears that one angry and unfair customer who can jeopardize the business by a negative post on Ripoff Report , Yelp , or one of the hundreds of other consumer complaint and review sites on the Internet. Most entrepreneurs don’t even know how to keep track of what people are saying about them on the web, much less how to respond or remove it.

Reputation 213

Reputation Management Social Network Internet 213

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2012

These days, I’m hearing more and more that Location-Based Services (LBS) are entering the mainstream for mobile users, but I’m not sure why. So far, it’s been just another mobile phone app that tells people where their friends are ( Foursquare and Facebook Glancee ). Marketers see it as a better way to target customers, but the current consumer offerings have been slow to deliver.

B2B 206

B2B Angel Investor Mobile Forecast 206

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2012

Contrary to what most of you might guess, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity over the last few years is not Gen-Y young upstarts, but Baby Boomers in the 55-64 year age group. In fact, according to a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, these Boomers are actually driving a new entrepreneurship boom. Some people are calling entrepreneurship the ‘new mid-life crisis’ for the 76 million-strong demographic once thought to be over the hill.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review United States America Technical Support 281

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2012

Effective communication is an absolute requirement for successfully starting a business, but it doesn’t come naturally to many entrepreneurs. Communication is considered a social skill, and inventors and engineers, for example, are not known to be social butterflies. Founders have to communicate their ideas and products to investors, business partners, and the rest of the team.

Entrepreneur 249

Entrepreneur Distribution Channel Restful 249

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2012

One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential startup investors is “What is your sustainable competitive advantage?” Yet many entrepreneurs, maybe in their passion for their new product, gloss over this one, or even announce that they have no competition. Think about each of the three words for the full meaning of the phrase.

Intellectual Property 244

Intellectual Property Non-Compete Differentiation Social Network 244

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2012

Blogging has come a long way in the past few years, from a social release for narcissists, to today’s required vehicle for promoting your consulting business and gaining valuable online exposure. Even with product businesses, it’s the ultimate way to build your brand credibility, bring in customer leads, and get feedback from your target market. Let me be clear – a product or consulting startup today without a blog, even with a static website, risks not being competitive in cost and time to reac

Social Network 241

Social Network Search Web Engineer 241