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

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 payback can be a pointer to a winning strategy, introduction to key investors, or a line of credit for your beginning inventory.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2010

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. Values intellectual property.

Angel Investor 241

Angel Investor Technical Review Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 241

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Investors check your burn rate to assess your efficiency, and project your remaining runway before you run out of money and into a brick wall. Don’t wait until you are almost out of cash before managing every dollar spent or looking for the next refueling from investors.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2020

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs, and a former angel myself, I still find startups confused about the definition of an angel investor, and how and when to attract one. You need to know why and how they invest, and then focus on the ones who are the best match for your startup.

Angel Investor 322

Angel Investor Valuation Syndicate Syndication 322

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Source: Center for Venture Research – Angel Market Analysis Report. Q: What is the typical profile of angel investors? Angel investors are generally former entrepreneurs and/or executives, who invest in privately-held, early-stage companies. Q: Why do people become angel investors? approx 2004-09.

Angel Investor 114

Angel Investor Technical Review Venture Capital Pre-Money Valuation 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 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. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

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. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 30, 2022

Startups represent an appealing prospect for a lot of investors, with the promise of an early injection of cash paying out in a big way if a business is catapulted to sustainable success over the ensuing months and years. Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels. The statistics don’t lie.

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Due Diligence Angel Investor Startup 136

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. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 14, 2022

And with the technology available these days, it is convenient to invest in emerging startups. Are you wondering how to invest in startups in India? The digital startup craze. The world is about to see a new generation propagating the Indian startup investing industry. Sectors witnessing a startup boom. Media tech.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Due Diligence India Startup 145

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. 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.

Las Vegas 243

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 243

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. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Get a loan or line-of-credit.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. 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.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

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

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. Reducing Startup Risk.

Technical Cofounder 346

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 346

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. Process myth: Why building a product leads to failure. It’s time for a new startup model.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Investors check your burn rate to assess your efficiency, and project your remaining runway before you run out of money and into a brick wall. Don’t wait until you are almost out of cash before managing every dollar spent, or looking for the next refueling from investors.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

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 295

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Startup 295

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. Most of these scenarios involve attracting outside investors, strategic partners, or key team members: You are the team and you don’t need outside funding.

Business Plan 316

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

Based on my own career as a business owner and angel investor, in this age of change, I still see key successes and growth from the same team member work qualities. For example, it has long been widely accepted that one of the primary causes for entrepreneur failure in new startups is that many give up too soon.

Flash 303

Flash Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 303

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Investors check your burn rate to assess your efficiency, and project your remaining runway before you run out of money and into a brick wall. Don’t wait until you are almost out of cash before managing every dollar spent, or looking for the next refueling from investors.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

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

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

The Startup Magazine recently featured two of the FUND Conference Top 3 Exhibitor winners, Happenstance , and Digs. The top startup at this year’s FUND Conference in Chicago, Illinois was Balodana , a fashion purchasing platform disrupting the women’s e-commerce fashion industry. We’ve saved the best for last.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Software Review Illinois Due Diligence 153

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. 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.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

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. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

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. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

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. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

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. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2021

Launching a startup is ridiculously exciting. That’s because more than half of all startups fail within the first five years of operation. Understanding the reasons why startups fail can help you avoid such a fate. So what are the driving factors that lead to startup failure? Lack of Market Need. Poor Customer Experience.

Startup 180

Startup Angel Investor Business Model Demand 180

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

They also look for entrepreneurs they know from past experience and warm introductions, or for evidence that you have previously built a successful startup, and sold your last one for maybe $800 million. Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. The best demos to investors are 30 seconds or less.

Business Plan 273

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 273

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. Invested Interests Power Pitches angel investor business David Rose entrepreneur meeting pitch startup' And that’s how to get a meeting with David S.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have a prototype or a minimum viable product (MVP). This kind of funding is only applicable if the product is unique and innovative.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate.

Technical Review 338

Technical Review Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Angel Investor 338

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

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. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. Who Should be on Your Startup Board? Of course it happens all the time?—?especially

Venture Capital 236

Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor Silicon Valley 236

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

If you want to make a great first impression on a startup investor or an advisor like me, don’t try to convince me or show me how busy you are. Building an innovative startup is normally an iterative process, so don’t plan on making everything perfect the first time. Commit to business excellence, but reject perfectionism.

Product 308

Product Startup Angel Investor Social Media 308