Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. Individual angel investors and crowdfunding have been adding to the momentum, some say exceeding VCs in total amount invested.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2012

If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? In reality, hitting large numbers of angels in multiple locations with a generic pitch is one of the least productive approaches.

Angel Investor 245

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Exit Strategy Boston 245

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2022

Based on my years of experience in both startups and large companies, trusted relationships are more the key to success than a great business model, how smart you are, or how much money you have.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Bandwidth Angel Investor Equity 284

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

I favor the more cautious approach, and would offer the following insights to help you make the right decisions: Join a startup or take a role in an existing business. Working in a business, especially a startup , is all about predicting the future, and responding to unanticipated changes, or new entrants.

Silicon Valley 286

Silicon Valley Angel Investor LLC Incubator 286

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2011

If your startup is looking for an angel investor, does it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up? In reality, hitting large numbers of angels in multiple locations with a generic pitch is one of the least productive approaches.

Angel Investor 244

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Exit Strategy 244

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

When Customer Development and the Lean Startup were just a sketch on the napkin, Dino Vendetti, a VC at Bay Partners, was one of the first venture capitalists I shared my ideas with. If you like skiing, hiking, biking, rafting, golfing, camping, fishing, picnicking, rock climbing, and startups – you’d like Bend. Startups in Bend.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 312

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Scalable startups are on a trajectory for a billion dollar market cap. Not all start ups want to go in that direction – some will opt instead to become a small business. There’s nothing wrong with a business that supports you and perhaps an extended family. What’s the playbook for your region or country to make it so?

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire. They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. If you’re like most startup CEOs, your startup has been your personal fiefdom and baby.

Private Equity 94

Private Equity Pre-Money Valuation Equity Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2020

Based on my years of experience in both startups and large companies, trusted relationships are more the key to success than a great business model, how smart you are, or how much money you have.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Bandwidth Angel Investor Equity 312

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Not all startups need outside investment to grow. What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. Knowing these will help a founder position her pitch to get investors’ attention. Here’s the first 2½ years of a startup journey.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

The Next Web

JULY 20, 2013

Do they really expect that the next Facebook will come knocking at their ivory towers with a polished product, proven business model and the only thing missing on the way to an IPO being their Series A investment?”. And if they do, they complain about lack of global potential or misunderstand my product completely. “Do

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Mongolia Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur 124

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. Questions I ask Steve Hoffman: [2:30] How did you get into the business of advising start-ups? [3:49]

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 10, 2011

This week, the startup tribe from Harvard Business School is making their annual trek to Silicon Valley. They’ll hear from a variety of experts and get to see many startups firsthand. It’s a common refrain around Silicon Valley to disparage the role of MBA’s in entrepreneurship.

Silicon Valley 167

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Investment Bankers 167

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

Whether or not you’re raising money for your business, getting advice from venture capitalists can be invaluable. But, getting in the doors of a Sand Hill Road VC in Silicon Valley can be an incredibly difficult undertaking. This is the home of Jason Cohen, software startup founder, bootstrapper, investor, and mentor.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over 60 times as many companies, according the Center for Venture Research. Individual angel investors have been filling the gap, and now match VCs in total amount invested.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

VC Cafe

JUNE 29, 2012

If you’re smart and work in the right space and just not give up, you shouldn’t take a weekend idea and make it into the startup. Because a startup is a 5-10 year commitment. You’re in Silicon valley, competing against the best of the best. 15,000 actual startups, 3-4,000 are fundable.We

Developer 103

Developer Silicon Valley Software Review Mexico 103

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 11, 2011

This week, I've had several meetings with venture funds, incubators, corporate accelerators and other significant players in the startup eco-system. One theme seems to come up over and again, especially from geographies outside Silicon Valley: lack of a reliable pipeline of deals.

Silicon Valley 105

Silicon Valley Columbus Ohio Incubator 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Provide details on the business model and cash flow.

Elevator Pitch 163

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Silicon Valley Revenue 163

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

A revolution has taken hold as customer development and agile engineering reinvent the Startup process. It’s time to ask why startup board governance has failed to keep pace with innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Silicon Valley, New York). for a business model.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Silicon Valley, New York). Once a startup gets going, it has asymmetric information.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Useful blogs and links for startups Click Here ————– 2.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Silicon Valley, New York). Once a startup gets going, it has asymmetric information.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The Small Business Tips Series is supported by Bantam Live , a web-based collaboration workspace with “Social CRM&# for small business teams. The web and technology bubble has a lot in common with the rest of the business world in that there are essentially two disparate groups — the haves and the have nots.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

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. We wanted to share some other trends we observed; Countries have startups that play to their strengths. Many startups are Silicon Valley clones.

Silicon Valley 148

Silicon Valley Tanzania Chile Rwanda 148

Up and Running

MARCH 21, 2016

Some businesses are not a great fit for angel or venture capital funding. But, what if your startup is a good candidate, but you’re having trouble getting meetings and convincing investors that your company is the next big thing? Instead, I prefer to seek out advice from investors that I admire.”.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Metrics Angel Investor Silicon Valley 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Innovation doesn’t always make you a winner in business. In my role as an angel investor in startups, almost every pitch I see highlights some real innovation in technology, business model, or market opportunity. Billion-dollar businesses are seldom about a single transaction with any customer.

Silicon Valley 136

Silicon Valley Differentiation Angel Investor Incubator 136

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Want to start a startup? Its equivalent toasking how to make a startup succeed—if you avoid every cause offailure, you succeed—and thats too big a question to answer onthe fly. 1 ] In a sense theres just one mistake that kills startups: not makingsomething users want. Get funded by Y Combinator.

Startup 108

Startup Software Review Hiring Detroit 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. Even if you have heard some of the new terms, but can’t explain how, when, and why they are relevant to your startup, you may be in jeopardy. Super-angels.

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2011

Startups now understand what they should be doing in their early formative days is search for a business model. The process they use to guide that search is "Customer Development" ; and to track their progress startups now have a scorecard to document their week-by-week changes – the business model canvas.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Startup Early Stage Business Model 118

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

When I first came to Silicon Valley the world of Venture Capital looked pretty simple. VC’s invested in things that ran on electrons: hardware, software and silicon. The VC business took off with the rapid growth of the semiconductor business. Consumer Internet startup investors are now their own category.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2016

Based on my years of experience in both startups and large companies, trusted relationships are more the key to success than a great business model, how smart you are, or how much money you have.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Bandwidth Angel Investor Equity 120

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). VC & Startup Resources. Seed Startups. VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Hundreds of startups featured since 2005, will yours be next? About VC Cafe.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Investors Companies. 25 Best Startup Failure Post-Mortems of All Time. Update – As a followup, we analyzed all of these startup failure post-mortems to identify the top 20 reasons for startup failure. Also worth a read after you review these startup failure post-mortems. Want more entrepreneurial goodness?

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. 189 Answers To The Top Startup Questions On Your Mind. Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. I love startups. Ask [link] – you don’t need to be in the valley. Cause your scared.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

The last blogger in Silicon Valley. are investors better just rolling the dice. Ive addressed the due diligence question in previous posts, but this came up again in a debate we were having at a recent meeting of the Sand Hill Angels. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? ProfessorVC. work at home.

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the startup, it's time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Board meetings that guide startups haven't changed since the early 1900's. Silicon Valley, New York). Here's how.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117