Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools. Become a visible expert.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools. Become a visible expert.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. Funding for pre-revenue startups used to be the domain of angel investors, but they have moved up-stage. Without revenue, your investors are largely limited to friends, family and fools. Become a visible expert.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Professor VC

MAY 29, 2008

What does it take to be an Angel Investor? To the SEC, it means that you are an accredited investor and To the man (or woman) on the street, a minimum qualification would seem to be an interest and ability to invest in early stage ventures. I think this sentiment has given angel groups a bad name. ProfessorVC.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor San Jose 28

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

Customers have come to expect disruptive change, so yet another social network is not the way to get traction. As an angel investor, I quickly look behind the idea or solution, to gauge the mindset and the leadership capabilities of the entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur is easy, but winning is still tough.

Angel Investor 215

Angel Investor Leadership Social Network Matching 215

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

How do you put together an investor deck? You know, could you look at my business plan? See if the business model works, all these questions. We called them founder space, round tables, and we'd meet, I'd introduce 'em to angel investors and marketing experts and lawyers, and really try to help them get off the ground.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Groupon’s purchase of Whrrl suggests that Groupon will soon be leveraging location based social networking or "check-ins" on their popular group coupon site. These numbers and the B2B applications are more than enough to catch the attention of venture capitalists and angel investors. Track the competition.

B2B 210

B2B Angel Investor Forecast Global 210

Austin Startup

APRIL 27, 2019

this post is all about the resilience required to keep going as an entrepreneur, not as an angel investor. Cotter bucks the flavor-of-the-day entrepreneurial stereotype: the college dropout popularized by both our own Michael Dell and recently Mark Zuckerberg and the great movie The Social Network. But I digress?—?this

B2C 51

B2C Austin Cofounder IPO 51

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2016

Customers have come to expect disruptive change, so yet another social network is not the way to get traction. As an Angel investor, I quickly look behind the idea or solution, to gauge the mindset and the leadership capabilities of the entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur is easy, but winning is still tough.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Leadership Social Network 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

You won’t impress investors by claiming that everyone in China needs one, and nobody else has exactly the right features to compete with you. Explain the business model. Many people seem to use the social network advertising model for revenue, but forget it assumes at least 100M users and $50M investment.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

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

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Bump.com is a social network based on license plate numbers as the identifier. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? Bump - These guys got my vote for the Peoples Choice.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 38

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

You won’t impress investors by claiming that everyone in China needs one, and nobody else has exactly the right features to compete with you. Explain the business model. Many people seem to use the social network advertising model for revenue, but forget it assumes at least 100M users and $50M investment.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2011

There are so many unknowns at this stage and the only known is that the business model is going to change at least once, or in the current most overused term in the Silicon Valley, there will be a "pivot". Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? work at home. ▼ January. (1).

Technical Review 31

Technical Review Due Diligence Silicon Valley San Jose 31

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

Technical Review 38

Technical Review Early Stage San Jose Angel Investor 38

Professor VC

APRIL 1, 2010

In my experience, venture investors are more focused on percentage ownership, which obviously requires a trade-off with the amount invested and valuation. I had a discussi on with another angel investor a few months ago and he was bragging about the deal he just struck that included a 3X participating liquidation preference.

Term Sheet 32

Term Sheet Angel Investor San Jose Venture Capital 32

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

In other parts of the country, this is business as usual: Identify a customer need Build a product Sell the product In the valley, the knee jerk reaction is to start with the powerpoint deck and look for the venture capital drug. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? ► 2010. (7).

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Professor VC

APRIL 7, 2011

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. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's.

San Jose 36

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Valuation 36

Gust

AUGUST 5, 2012

You won’t impress investors by claiming that everyone in China needs one, and nobody else has exactly the right features to compete with you. Explain the business model. Many people seem to use the social network advertising model for revenue, but forget it assumes at least 100M users and $50M investment.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Professor VC

JANUARY 17, 2008

Touched by an Angel. I think the title of this post is a TV show, but fitting as there has been much debate in the venture community as to the whether angel investors are good or bad for entrepreneurs and VCs. What would the VC corollary to Touched by an Angel, be. Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's.

Pre-Money Valuation 28

Pre-Money Valuation Angel Investor Angel Groups Valuation 28

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

This got me thinking about the business model that Mike Keiser has built at the resort and a lecture began to form in my head. cant wait to go back, which is clearly goal #1 in the list of critical success factors if anyone is still following the business model tangent. Labels: Bandon Dunes , business models , golf.

Oregon 28

Oregon San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

JANUARY 27, 2008

In addition to the case study analysis, the students also have the opportunity to develop a business model and financial model for a new concept, which always proves a lot more challenging. As an angel investor and start-up CFO, I should have a good vantage point. Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Venture Capital 28

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

You won’t impress investors by claiming that everyone in China needs one, and nobody else has exactly the right features to compete with you. Explain the business model. Many people seem to use the social network advertising model for revenue, but forget it requires at least 100M users and $50M investment.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Professor VC

DECEMBER 18, 2008

Many entrepreneurial programs feature a business plan competition, which is a great exercise. At SJSU, we also have a business plan competition in the spring, which ideally allows the students to build a viable business model around their NIF projects. Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. ► January. (1).

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Technical Review Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

JULY 31, 2008

This whole process got me thinking about the textbook business model. Labels: business models , Grateful Dead , textbook. Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor?

San Jose 28

San Jose Software Review Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

APRIL 11, 2008

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Venture Capital Balance Sheet 28

Professor VC

JUNE 6, 2008

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Norway Angel Investor 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2008

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

Technical Review 28

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 28

San Jose Technical Review Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

Don't Stop Believin' Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's. What does it take to be an Angel Investor? I am an active angel investor and on the board of Sand Hill Angels. A Lot of Horn Tooting over a Kazoo sized deal.

San Jose 31

San Jose Technical Review Venture Capital Angel Investor 31

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. few years ago I also started following Alexander Osterwalder in his blog about his Business Model Generation -mantra. What truth?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Professor VC

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

An excellent question to ponder as the school year begins, but the answer depends on whether you are looking for a plumber or an angel investor. According to the Center for Venture Research at UNH , there are over 260,000 angel investors. These angels invested $17.6 Negotiating an Angel Deal in your PJ's.

Angel Investor 28

Angel Investor Angel Groups San Jose Venture Capital 28

Professor VC

AUGUST 26, 2011

Is the model consistent with the business plan? Does the business model make sense? Do you understand the business and market? The process of building the model forces you to answer the difficult questions related to the business model and give a complete picture of the opportunity.

Silicon Valley 35

Silicon Valley San Jose Hockey Stick Venture Capital 35

Professor VC

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Is There Any Truth in "The Social Network"? Got around to seeing The Social Network this past weekend. I did a little searching around the web to try and find a truth vs. fiction comparison, but the closest I found was "The 10 Most Glaring Lies In The Social Network" on the Business Insider.

Social Network 28

Social Network Networking Software Review San Jose 28

Professor VC

JUNE 20, 2011

I took a look back at our original financial model we presented to VCs in 2004. The business model (OEM through broadband and home security companies for mass distribution) if not specific product functionality has remained largely the same. Series B and the $5M Series A , there were angels writing checks with many less 0s.

San Jose 28

San Jose Angel Investor Term Sheet Venture Capital 28

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Clearly Define Your Business Model While this may sound like a trivial task, young startups often have an exciting and innovative product, but no real plan for monetizing it. It’s critical to establish this component of your business before thinking seriously about growth. in place before you expand.

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77