Austin Startup

JULY 29, 2018

Raising funding from Angel Investors can feel like a catch-22. It’s easy to figure out who the active angel investors are but it’s hard to find the right time to pitch them. Not all investors are the same. Some will invest in a great person with a big idea and others need to see customer traction and revenue first.

Angel Investor 59

Angel Investor Technical Review Los Angeles Seed Stage 59

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

As a long-time business advisor and angel investor, I’m a believer that “two heads are better than one” in building a new business. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Conflicting visions won’t work.

Partner 385

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 385

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the go-to-market strategy.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

You may feel good when that first burst of customers arrives, but don’t assume that “ word of mouth ” and those early adopters will grow your business to match your dreams of success. In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. They won’t find you.

Technical Review 355

Technical Review Social Media Channel Flash 355

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. As an angel investor, I routinely toss business plans that focus too much on today, and don’t talk about tomorrow.

Customer 144

Customer Advisory Board Technical Review Angel Investor 144

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. get the attention of the market they choose. Exposure to customers, incumbents, and competitors all drive success. It’s just the first of many.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is a good time for the CEO to present the final investor charts, and answer any questions from employees. Size of the market.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2022

In my experience as an angel investor to startups, goodwill disagreements are perhaps the most common reason that you will fail to close interested investors as an entrepreneur. If you are the entrepreneur or owner, every potential investor takes a hard look at you. Brand recognition and market influencer support.

Valuation 368

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 368

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. An obvious effort to keep talking after the time limit won’t save your day with investors.

Technical Review 369

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Matching 369

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 254

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 254

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In addition to locking in his leadership position in electric vehicles, he has also used his patents to negotiate faster growth in his market. Even the best solutions require marketing to survive. With information overload due to the Internet, you need to find your customers, rather than assume they will find you.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2021

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for customers that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Seek out customer trends before they become an avalanche. Don’t stop doing the in-depth communication with customers that brought you initial success.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Institutional Investors 417

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. The conundrum is that once you have really proven the business model, you no longer need the investor money you asked for to start the business.

Business Model 273

Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

I know from experience that my friends who are angel investors are looking for the same indications, although none of us has a scorecard , or even know exactly what we are looking for. Idea people must surround themselves with people who build momentum and get things done, including production, marketing, finance, and sales.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. There are thousands of accelerators across the globe.

Technical Cofounder 364

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 364

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

I almost never invest in ideas or plans, so you’ll need to have a company and at least a product, if not customers. You’ll need to have invested significant cash (whatever that term means to you) in your own company, and you’ll need to have the core of your team in place (typically a techie and a marketer, at a minimum.)

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. Pew says the Boomer demographic is the largest mainstream pool of experienced talent in the market today, and will be for the foreseeable future. Manage customer service.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone. Most VCs and Angel investors don’t read unsolicited proposals, unless they have met you first, or have a glowing recommendation from another investor or acquaintance. You need an investor, and want to solicit professionals online.

Business Plan 316

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence 316

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. The sooner you face these issues, the more success you will garner from investors and customers. Board members provide inexpensive expertise.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Here are the key considerations from my perspective: Dealing with known or trusted investors and advisors.

Non-disclosure Agreement 399

Non-disclosure Agreement Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor 399

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 22, 2019

The question of venture capitalist versus angel investor often arises. Venture capital and angel investments offer excellent options to startup businesses. Venture capitalists act as limited partners, providing help to build successful companies in a market they have deemed has potential. Angel Investors.

Angel Investor 140

Angel Investor Venture Capital Accredited Investor Equity 140

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

Maintaining your team’s passion and freedom to focus first on innovating for customers are only a couple of the reasons for thinking hard before you seek money from crowdfunding, angel investors, venture capital organizations, or attempt to qualify for a public stock offering.

Cost 267

Cost Bootstrapping Advisory Board Startup 267

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2019

In the first post , we drilled down into the often-overlooked notion of “market-engineering” and why it’s so critical. Go-to-Market. In the go-to-product phase, you can get help from a plethora of incubators, accelerators and angel investors. In other words, they need go-to-market traction. Go-to-Product.

Cleveland 150

Cleveland Framework Marketing Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the solution.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

As an angel investor, I see plenty of startups focusing on building an innovative product, but I’m looking for the few who are also leading with an exponential growth strategy, to put them in the category of the next Amazon or Google. Let your highly motivated customers be your best marketing advocates for new customers.

Marketing 425

Marketing Angel Investor China New York 425

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 30, 2022

A well constructed business plan , which not only shows ambition, but demonstrates that the founders have an understanding of the market pressures they have to overcome and the kinds of customers they are hoping to win, is a must. Rigorous research is your responsibility.

Technical Review 159

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Startup 159

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

Uncertainty was a constant, sales and customer interest were wildly volatile and for many businesses, it became less about planning for the rest of the year and more about surviving the next few months. . My company, Circle 5 Books , which focuses on web and marketing copy, did not take much of an active stance on the pandemic.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

As a long-time business advisor and angel investor, I’m a believer that “two heads are better than one” in building a new business. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done. Conflicting visions won’t work.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that Venture Capital and Angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Message delivery must be customized for each investor.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. Build an investor presentation and summary.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260