Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

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. That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin to make a profit. Investors look at your burn rate to see how efficient and effective you are at running the business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

By Bob Arciniaga In developing the content for this article, it was very apparent this advice is not only critical for startups but for most companies. The suggestions are even more vital in a startup environment with constrained resources. A properly built advisory board can be a huge strategic advantage to any company. On the other hand, an advisory board put together haphazardly can be the biggest mistake for a company in the early stages of business.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

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

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Most people in business seem to expect their leaders just to give orders. According to Gary B. Cohen in his new book, “ Just Ask Leadership : Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions,” as leaders advance, they tend to oblige by asking fewer questions and providing more answers. This is precisely the wrong approach. I’m a big fan of the old adage "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

In my experience, inventors aren’t interested or aren’t very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs aren’t usually good scientists. These people need to find each other, and can jointly make a great team for a new startup. Historically, it’s also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Some now argue that even our entrepreneur heroes, like Thomas Edison, really cheated on the invention side.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2010

I used to think that an investment bank was a place where I could somehow deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. None really provide funds for early-stage startups. Many investment banks even call themselves “boutiques.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2010

I have a certain friend who called me again 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.

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