2010

Startup Professionals Musings

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Ten Attributes of Your Ideal Business Partner

Startup Professionals Musings

A week ago I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this article, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.

Partner 230
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Internet Business Lingo Quiz for Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

Many of the investors and entrepreneurs I know still don’t realize that they need to use and understand the Internet, even if their business is not e-commerce. Maybe you have also heard a lot of Internet terms, but are not sure you can explain how, when, and why they are relevant to your business success. Here is a quick test of your real Internet savvy.

Internet 224
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For Entrepreneurs, Success is Ideas With Follow-up

Startup Professionals Musings

When someone introduces me to an “idea person,” I automatically jump to the down-side conclusion that this person doesn’t do follow-up. Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. I was with IBM in the early PC days when Bill worked with us to provide PC DOS and other software.

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Ten Executive Titles You Don’t Want in a Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. More executives, or other more creative titles are seen as a big red flag.

CTO Hire 227
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Ten Tips for Business Traction to Attract Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have been working 20 hours a day, and spent your last dollar, but have no results to show, investors will be sympathetic, but will probably tell you that your dream vehicle doesn’t have wheels. Traction means forward progress. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start.

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E-Commerce Startup Entry Cost is at All-Time Low

Startup Professionals Musings

If you have a unique creation or invention, and you are not selling it around the world on the Internet, now is the time to start. The cost of entry has never been lower. Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, venture capitalists, or angels. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up.

Cost 220
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Don Estridge, IBM PC Father, Startup Role Model

Startup Professionals Musings

My introduction to startups really came when I first worked in IBM with Philip Donald Estridge back in 1981. Known as Don Estridge, he led development of the original IBM Personal Computer, and thus is known as "father of the IBM PC" He’s gone now, but I still remember him fondly. He and Bill Lowe somehow managed to convince then CEO Frank Cary to give them a dozen engineers, a small budget, and a few months, to set up a small skunk-works called Entry Level Systems in Boca Raton, Flori