Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

According to my experience and a this Motley Fool article, the challenge is very real, with around half of all new businesses no longer existing after five years. In general, banks won’t give you a loan until the business is cash-flow positive, no matter what the future potential. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

According to a 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. In general, banks won’t give you a loan until the business is cash-flow positive, no matter what the future potential. Join a startup incubator.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

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. In general, banks won’t give you a loan until the business is cash-flow positive, no matter what the future potential.

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. In general, banks won’t give you a loan until the business is cash-flow positive, no matter what the future potential. Join a startup incubator.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

According to a recent Motly Fool report, the challenge is very real, since around half of all businesses fail in the first five years. 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.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Angel Investor 256

Angel Investor Early Stage Incubator Government 256

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue.

Startup 161

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue.

Startup 296

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 296

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

In very few specific cases, depending on the nature of the business, the business model might demand a considerable gestation period or extensive research and development. For these businesses, it is imperative to get funding from the start without which the company cannot be set up. Incubators and Accelerators.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue.

Startup 286

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Early Stage 412

Early Stage Angel Investor Incubator Government 412

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. Join a startup incubator. In reality, the financing valley of death tests the commitment, determination, and problem solving ability of every entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2019

In the go-to-product phase, you can get help from a plethora of incubators, accelerators and angel investors. MVR is the smallest amount of repeatability a startup can demonstrate, while still proving its business model and market/product fit. Minimum Viable Repeatability (MVR).

Cleveland 150

Cleveland Framework Marketing Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

Find a major customer, or a complimentary business, who sees such value in your idea that they are willing to give you an advance on royalty payments to complete your development. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Apply to local angel investor groups. Look for a warm introduction to make this work.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

During the pre-seed fundraising stage, investors need a viable business plan to base their investments on. The pre-seed funds are typically collected so the business can begin preparing a workable business model that demonstrates the company’s future sustainability.

Seed Stage 126

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Find a major customer, or a complimentary business, who sees such value in your idea that they are willing to give you an advance on royalty payments to complete your development. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Apply to local angel investor groups. Look for a warm introduction to make this work.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. Steve is also the author of Surviving a Startup: Practical Strategies for Starting a Business, Overcoming Obstacles, and Coming Out on Top. How do you put together an investor deck? You know, could you look at my business plan?

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

David Teten

AUGUST 15, 2013

In addition, BizSpark offers technical support, business training, and a network of over 2,000 partners to connect members with incubators, investors, advisors, government agencies, and other resources. 4) Accelerators.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Support Venture Capital Balance Sheet 114

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

If you create a business and start building products and go into an incubator or raise angel/seed money and don’t think about Market Size and Market Structure I only have one question: Why? In the early days of every business the incumbents tend not to respond because you’re too small and insignificant.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

In fact, research by Fundable shows that less than one percent of all startups are funded by venture capital and angel investors. Bootstrapping allows you to maintain full control of your startup strategy, retain maximum equity, and avoid the time delay and energy spent to attract outside investors.

Incubator 180

Incubator Angel Investor Dilution Equity 180

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. Other than “I’ll know it when I see it”, there’s no formal way for an investor to assess project maturity or quantify risks.

Sacramento 306

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 306

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Find a major customer, or a complimentary business, who sees such value in your idea that they are willing to give you an advance on royalty payments to complete your development. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Apply to local angel investor groups. Look for a warm introduction to make this work.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240

YoungUpstarts

JULY 22, 2011

You’ll find content categorized into different topics such as Marketing , Sales , Design , Revenue , Hiring , Social Media , Business Models , Metrics , PR , Venture Capital , Angel Investors , Bootstrapping , Incubators , Agile and many others.

Aggregator 170

Aggregator Curation Widget Angel Investor 170

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2011

This site aggregates and filters content from thought leaders who talk about topics such as Marketing , Sales , Design , Revenue , Hiring , Social Media , Business Models , Metrics , PR , Venture Capital , Angel Investors , Bootstrapping , Incubators , Agile and many others.

Intellectual Property 175

Intellectual Property Aggregator Startup IP 175

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Find a major customer, or a complimentary business, who sees such value in your idea that they are willing to give you an advance on royalty payments to complete your development. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Apply to local Angel investor groups. Look for a warm introduction to make this work.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Product Development 120

Product Development Developer Product Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Sites like KickStarter have for years offered rewards and pre-sales for crowd investments, but real equity won’t be legalized until sometime this year for people other than accredited investors. Super-angels. It suggests the minimum features to allow the product to be deployed and get feedback, and no more. Startup accelerator.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

Austin Startup

APRIL 27, 2019

this post is all about the resilience required to keep going as an entrepreneur, not as an angel investor. It had a gut-wrenching pivot as the first business model didn’t work and today is thriving with its new one. Our original investors made very little?—?unless Our pivot wasn’t a business model pivot?—?it

B2C 51

B2C Austin Cofounder IPO 51

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Find a major customer, or a complimentary business, who sees such value in your idea that they are willing to give you an advance on royalty payments to complete your development. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Apply to local Angel investor groups. Look for a warm introduction to make this work.

Equity 120

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 120

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Paring down products, target customers, business models etc takes courage, but it must be done to have any chance of success. Eric, As you touch on, the lean venture has been the basic model employed by entrepreneurs throughout history until the past 12 years or so when venturing became institutionalized.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

My partner in Menlo Incubator , Gary Kremen , and I had a recent debate on which one of us hates convertible debt more. I thought about doing this in a top 10 format, but will limit to my top 3 reasons: Misalignment of incentives - As an angel investor I want to do everything I can to help the entrepreneur succeed. ProfessorVC.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

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. Lean Angels. Along with Lean VC’s a new class of angel investors has emerged.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Up and Running

APRIL 24, 2018

If you’ve never written a business plan before, take a look at these sample medical startup business plans. At first, you need to focus on developing your business model and validating it. Your prototype must be ready and fully functional before you start knocking on the doors of potential investors.

SBIR 73

SBIR Startup Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property 73

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Don’t be shy about networking for advisors with business experience for coaching and mentoring. Sources should include local startup incubators, blog owners, and government support organizations, such as SCORE. In my experience, a good business plan should not be a book, or a one-pager. You can’t keep all these in your head.

Silicon Valley 286

Silicon Valley Angel Investor LLC Incubator 286

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I'm doing a new academic experiment now - an incubator at Menlo College where we are bringing the start-ups to campus and giving the students an opportunity to see how they develop and work as interns. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. We now have the tools, technology and data to take incubators and accelerators to the next level. We think we can do better.

Oakland 326

Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 326