Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

After listening to hundreds of startup pitches, and reading even more business plans, most new venture investors develop their own favorite list of “red flags” that signal the beginning of the end of their interest. They know it’s especially hard to provide a financial return with a free business model.

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Intellectual Property Valuation Technical Review Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Finalize your financial model.

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Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans. Provide specifics on the customer business model.

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Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. Intellectual property protection is great on paper and “limited” in practice. Eventually, China’s innovation-driven economy needs intellectual property rights and anti-trust laws that are enforced. business models. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

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China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 324

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Founder insistence on non-dilute clauses, arms-length relationships, and quick closure without due diligence will short-circuit active interest. Undefined business model or very low gross margins. Lack of intellectual property. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process.

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Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. Intellectual property protection is great on paper and “limited” in practice. Eventually, China’s innovation-driven economy needs intellectual property rights and anti-trust laws that are enforced. business models. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

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China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 216

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2014

Kauffman launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. In January 2014 Part 1 of the “ Startups ” section of Founders School went online. 1:28: Using the Business Model Canvas.

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Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Finalize your financial model.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2017

Based on my own experience as a startup investor, and feedback from like-minded friends, we all get pitches for at least ten startup ideas for every one new business plan. New business founders need to remember that investors fund business implementations, not ideas. Test your assumptions in the target marketplace.

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Intellectual Property Social Media LLC Cloud 185

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. You can’t underestimate the importance of selecting an attorney who “gets” your business model, your market opportunity, and most importantly, your fundraising and exit strategy. The deal we made with him was he’d get 33.3%

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Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

If the founders are not experienced, find a couple of advisors from the business sector to fill the gap. Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Finalize your financial model.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

Poorly written or missing business plan. If you recently sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably don’t need a business plan at all to get money for your next startup. A solution would be to find a co-founder with the requisite background or investors who know you.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Investor Reputation 120

K9 Ventures

APRIL 27, 2011

I have confirmed with the founders that none of the information contained herein is deemed confidential and is therefore fair game for me to share in this post. The founders of the company — Arlo Faria and AJ Shankar — were PhD students in Computer Science at UC Berkeley. In April 2008, I was introduced to Ugmode, Inc.

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Software Review Technical Review IP Finance 134

Transformify

JULY 23, 2018

When speaking of startups’ funding, most founders first consider VC or Angel Investor funding. Detailed 30-page business plan. The good news is that startups from all sectors of the economy can apply and leverage on novel combinations of existing business models and technologies. 1-2 years in duration.

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Intellectual Property Angel Investor Dilution Startup 66

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Writing A Business Plan. Running A Home-Based Business. Naming a Business. Financing a Small Business. Buying a Small Business. RUNNING A BUSINESS. Internet and Online Business. Business Software. Intellectual Property. Sales & Marketing | Wednesdays. Email address: Home.

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Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2022

In another case, I saw an angel investment group reject a founder who, during his presentation, blamed every setback on somebody other than himself. I’ve also seen several cases of founders who didn’t get good feedback because they wouldn’t take feedback. They want your business to be able to scale up.

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Venture Capital Intellectual Property Angel Investor Bootstrapping 146

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

He begins by explaining how he arrived at his conclusion: I began the hunt to find a technical co-founder – a software engineer who works for no cash – to help me build my dream website. Twelve months into my startup journey I had four half-built websites that had been built by my four ex-technical co-founders.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

Of course, you can find these elements embodied in many of the business plan templates and tools out there, such as the Business Model Canvas. Free” is not an exciting business model for investor interest. Identify your intellectual property or “secret sauce.”

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Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Channel 332

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Customer Development by Vertical - Click to Enlarge (As a reminder, the Customer Development process says your business plan is just a series of untested hypothesis (unless you’re a domain expert.) Some of these are questions that would be addressed in a business plan. Others you need to know when you execute the plan.

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Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 123

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model. These include: ·       Vesting of Founder Stock.

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Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2012

For those of you old enough to remember, think about Jimmy Treybig, the founder of Tandem, whose VC, Tom Perkins, said something like "when the Tandem computer system performed as expected, (i.e.,  He also, of course, invented some very cool algortithms that make up a substantial intellectual property base.

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Technology Marketing Intellectual Property Montana 74

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2021

In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for potentially viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan. Some investors say half the ideas pitched to them don’t have any plan at all, even though some have great potential. Don’t take this shortcut.

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Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Venture Capital Revenue 429

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. Russell Rothstein, Founder and CEO, IT Central Station , a product review site, said, “We see VCs on our site very often. 3) Raise capital.

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Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

But, the good news is, if all these people could start a brewery, then you can too—as long as you know what you’re getting into and have a solid business plan for your brewery. Word of mouth is no substitute for market research, says Ben Price, co-founder of Hard Knocks Brewing, a small brewpub in its second year of operation.

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Oregon Jordan SBA Cofounder 60

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

The backbone of your technology company revolves around a well-organized, up-to-date, specific and documented vision, brand-key, business plan, intellectual property rights, contracts, financial administration, NDAs and bylaws it can rely on. Develop a strong backbone. Again, make sure you can decide whom to ‘marry’.

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Bankruptcy Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 121

Up and Running

MAY 15, 2019

But, the good news is, if all those people could start a brewery, then you can too—as long as you know what you’re getting into and have a solid business plan for your brewery. The Hughes brothers developed a solid business plan and built a core team to bring their vision to reality. Review your business plan regularly.

Oregon 24

Oregon Jordan Software Review Distribution 24

Business Plan Blog

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Your management team does not have to be fully built out, but the founders must possess the credibility to launch the company and built a world-class team. They also show your ability to turn a business concept into a realistic, attractive business model. Stellar Idea. Every entrepreneur gets attached to their idea.

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Intellectual Property Venture Capital Equity Business Plan 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2012

In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for potentially viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan. Some investors say half the ideas pitched to them don’t have any plan at all, even though some have great potential. Inexperienced team.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Venture Capital Business Plan 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2013

In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for potentially viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan. Some investors say half the ideas pitched to them don’t have any plan at all, even though some have great potential. Inexperienced team.

Intellectual Property 244

Intellectual Property Startup Bootstrapping Venture Capital 244

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

And since a startup thatsucceeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies gettingrich is doable too. A lot ofwould-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is theinitial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute.Venture capitalists know better. Ideally you want between two and four founders.

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Startup Cofounder Software Stock 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2011

In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan. Some investors say half the ideas pitched to them don’t have any plan at all, even though some have great potential. None of these get funded. Inexperienced team.

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Intellectual Property Startup Bootstrapping Venture Capital 242

Software By Rob

AUGUST 18, 2010

And I’m not the only one It wasn’t long after I got rid of my free plan that I started to notice that a lot of people were citing similar issues with having a free plan. CrazyEgg decided to drop its free plan in Jan of 2009 and they haven’t looked back. I saw that 37signals had hidden theirs.

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Software Review Software Revenue Cofounder 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2010

In my experience, here are the most common issues that cause funding requests for viable businesses to be rejected, in priority order: Inadequate business plan. Some investors say half the ideas pitched to them don’t have any plan at all, even though some have great potential. None of these get funded. Inexperienced team.

Intellectual Property 123

Intellectual Property Venture Capital Angel Investor Startup 123

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

The businesses, it seems, vastly over-estimate their ability to raise funds. Meanwhile, the VCs surveyed indicated that their firms are only doing a few deals every six months and go through one hundred business plans to close one deal. Especially since even Youtube is still struggling to try find a viable business model.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

– Mike [link] Reply Jeff Skinner , on May 24, 2010 at 9:28 am said: Steve, you don’t know me though I use your ‘Customer Development process’ video in my classes (Entrepreneurship at London Business School). Jeff skinner Faculty, London Business School. Can we touch base on this.

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Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

.” Hackernews list of “Tools of the Trade” for startups - includes over 150 SaaS tools used by startups, and over 150 comments with interesting insights from founders. TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents â?? Founders Institute Plain Preferred Term Sheet â?? Founder Equity Issues. Founders Workbench.

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Software Review Technical Review Startup 53