Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Ask only for the money you can justify.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

According to a classic Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain, such as online web sites and smart phone apps, that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

According to my experience and a classic Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with a majority of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. For the rest of us, the following suggestions will help you survive the valley of death: Accumulate some resources before you start.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

According to a Gompers and Lerner study, the challenge is very real, with 90% of new ventures that don't attract investors failing within the first three years. My first advice for new entrepreneurs is to pick a domain that doesn’t have the sky-high up-front development costs, like online web sites and smart phone apps.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. It always reduces risk to plan your business first. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 8, 2021

Every startup entrepreneur wants to see their company grow. So what are the biggest barriers startup entrepreneurs experience in their route to achieve long-term growth? With an effective brand visibility strategy, you can rest assured that brand recognition will be high – and that people will be capable of discovering your brand. .

Startup 127

Startup Retention Acquisition Agile 127

The Next Web

JULY 20, 2013

They speak about how they love to help entrepreneurs build successful companies, yet when I ask them to give me feedback on my business plan or idea, they usually don’t even bother writing me back. Yes, it is true that some entrepreneurs either don’t receive a response or get a pre-made template. VCs are arrogant.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Mongolia Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Ask only for the money you can justify.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

But if you want to build a scalable startup you need to be asking how you can you get enough customers/users/payers to build a business that can grow revenues past several $100M/year. startups ignore the rest of the world until they scale in their own country. They intended to get scale for their business by growing in the U.S.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2016

As an advisor to startups and an angel investor, I encounter many Millennials as entrepreneurs who are leaders and great role-models for the rest of us in business. Most great entrepreneurs, including Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell, have talked about their failures as the key to later success.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Restful Business Model 120

Austin Startup

APRIL 27, 2019

As I mentioned at the beginning of this series/ebook, over the years I’ve noticed that I tend to frequently share certain Lucky7 posts with entrepreneurs we’ve backed , team members at data.world, or other startup investors I know. In totality, these posts are at least as long as most business books. But I digress?—?this

B2C 51

B2C Austin Cofounder IPO 51

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

What’s been missing for everyone is: a common language for investors to communicate objectives to startups. a language corporate innovation groups can use to communicate to business units and finance. data that investors, accelerators and incubators can use to inform selection. For investors this is a big idea.

Sacramento 306

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 306

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2017

This may seem intuitively obvious, but as an angel investor, I have heard hundreds of new business pitches that focus heavily on the product, but don’t tell the rest of the story. She speaks from years of experience coaching entrepreneurs and executives on the magic of a story.

Merger 146

Merger Angel Investor Social Media Audience 146

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

I’ve seen hundreds of startups pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists, and most of them—at best— are just okay. When I think about what set those excellent pitches apart from the rest, it turns out that they all shared some of the same qualities. Outline your business model. How much do they pay?

Sweat Equity 122

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Elevator Pitch Forecast 122

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show. The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.

Cofounder 145

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Ask only for the money you can justify.

Due Diligence 120

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2013

What most people don’t realize is that the total outside funding to get it there is estimated at over $800 million, which is a bit more than you will get from any Angel investor. business entrepreneur growth profitable startup sustainable' Marty Zwilling.

Widget 242

Widget Angel Investor Revenue Early Stage 242

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show. The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 120

Transformify

JULY 23, 2018

When speaking of startups’ funding, most founders first consider VC or Angel Investor funding. As of 2018, the removal of pre-defined topics allows entrepreneurs from all sectors of the economy to apply with their disruptive innovations. The submission forms have been simplified and adapted to the business language too.

Intellectual Property 66

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Dilution Startup 66

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 5, 2020

We asked entrepreneurs and business owners about the industries that are ripe for disruption and here are the response; #1- The hemp extraction. The global automakers and suppliers will be adapting their business models accordingly, forming new partnerships and investing in new technologies. 21- Fintech. Think about it.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur China 157

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

What most people don’t realize is that the total outside funding to get it there is estimated at over $800 million, which is a bit more than you will get from any Angel investor. Yet it took almost six years to become profitable, with revenue only from advertising.

Widget 137

Widget Angel Investor Revenue Early Stage 137

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Up and Running

MARCH 27, 2014

Whether you’re trying to borrow money from a colleague or land the financial backing of a venture capitalist, there are certain traits that can scare even the hardiest of investors away. There are a lot of things you should do to attract investors. ” Be open to ideas and willing to take the advice of your investor.

Angel Investor 107

Angel Investor Venture Capital Restful Business Model 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2011

What most people don’t realize is that the total outside funding so far is estimated at over $800M, which is a bit more than you will get from any Angel investor. That’s a great argument if you have unlimited means, but if you are just one of the “rest of us,” I suggest you focus on getting to cash-flow positive first.

Startup 243

Startup Widget Angel Investor Early Stage 243

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. ” and our first instinct as entrepreneurs and business owners is yes, let’s do drive-through. Tell your angel investors a story about need.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2018

Innovative products and business models are the foundations of a promising startup. As an entrepreneur, you will face several challenges while seeking the funds, in part because you’ll have to convince others that your idea is a solid investment. Creating a scalable business model. Sure, it should be unique.

SBA 84

SBA Angel Investor Technical Review Startup 84

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

Fairchild Semiconductor became the progenitor of a flood of Silicon Valley chip companies and at the same time the adoption of the limited partnership as the model for Venture Firms gave VC’s their own profitable business model. The test is, ask them how they differ in their investing philosophy from the rest of their firm.).

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Every investor and entrepreneur knows there is something scary about the current startup economy. There is an enormous amount of angel capital available, while at the same time there is a small amount of Series A and a large and concentrated amount of late stage capital. It's actually a great situation for the ecosystem.

Angel Investor 104

Angel Investor Valuation Startup Revenue 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

The Next Web

OCTOBER 15, 2012

The main observation of differences between Silicon Valley and emerging tech hubs in the rest of the world is access to early stage seed funding and international press. Silicon Valley is made up of solely one industry: technology, whereas countries in emerging markets have existing industries, around which entrepreneurs are innovating.

Silicon Valley 148

Silicon Valley Tanzania Chile Rwanda 148

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

At a high level, I definitely agree that being an entrepreneur and being in school dont necessarily mix. Most of us know of Exhibits 1 ( Bill Gates ) and 2 ( Mark Zuckerberg ) from Harvard, but I have met dozens of other successful entrepreneurs who felt a greater need to get going on an opportunity than to wait around to complete a degree.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Startups and angels: Along the way to success. By Tim Keane, Angel Investor, Golden Angels Investors, LLC. Long term thinking -- for entrepreneurs » October 03, 2012. Technology versus market risk in angel investments.  When this risk retires, the rest works pretty well.

Technology 74

Technology Marketing Intellectual Property Montana 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 10, 2011

We still have some collective scar tissue: the idea conjures up the hordes of dot-com hopefuls that descended on VC’s and angel investors with little more than a business plan. One of my beliefs is that such a theory should be addressed to entrepreneurs and the people who hold them accountable.

Silicon Valley 167

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Investment Bankers 167

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

For a Series A round you want to prove you have built a repeatable and scalable sales/revenue model and understand all parts of the business model. Series B is about proving your net revenue model (can you be profitable?). Team, Product, Traction, Business Model and Market. Business Model.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. While I agree that many VCs are crummy seed investors, I think there are some that are excellent seed investors. They are: Fred Wilson: Lead Investors, Dipshit Companies, and Funding Every Entrepreneur.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191