Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Cash is the fuel of every startup. Your burn rate is the rate at which that money is being spent, and allows an estimate of how long you can go before refueling (runway). That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin that steep profitable growth curve. Investors also look at your burn rate to see how efficient and effective you are at running the business.

Burn Rate 232

Burn Rate Startup Salary Equity 232

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

The days when you locked and loaded your career in school, and then blasted away down that same narrow path the rest of your life, are gone, never to return. Career survival today requires thinking and acting like an entrepreneur starting a business, staying nimble and resilient, willing to pivot, and supersensitive to the market realities of supply and demand.

Cofounder 271

Cofounder Startup Demand Networking 271

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2012

I have a certain friend who called me a while back, all excited about his latest revelation. “What if you could go to a web site and find all the recipes you could make today, with just the ingredients you already have in your kitchen? I’m going to start a website to offer this service!” I’m sure you all realize that there could be quite a distance between a great idea and a great startup.

Due Diligence 244

Due Diligence Startup Search Engineer 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

If you startup is your dream, why would you want to think about an exit? It’s going to be so successful and so much fun that you don’t need to think about what comes after. Wrong. There are two very real and practical reasons why you need to plan an exit: Outside investors want to collect their return. Remember that equity investments are not like loans with interest.

Exit Strategy 241

Exit Strategy Initial Public Offering IPO Startup 241

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Lack of confidence in your self, your product, and your startup is a surefire recipe for disaster. At the other extreme, too much confidence or arrogance can kill you just as fast. It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues: “Business plans are for dummies.

Sweat Equity 238

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 238

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

Being an entrepreneur these days requires an understanding of a thousand topics, many of which don’t even exist today in traditional learning vehicles, like schools and textbooks. The Internet and its information wave have changed everything – it’s the problem, with constant change, and it’s the solution, if you use it to navigate quickly and self-educate.

Entrepreneur 233

Entrepreneur Internet Social Network Matching 233