Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Early Stage 412

Early Stage Angel Investor Incubator Government 412

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

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

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

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Almost every private equity and venture capital investor now advertises that they have a platform to support their portfolio companies. The popularity of the model can be judged by the fact that the U.S. Real Ventures , an early-stage, Canadian-based fund, runs a two-day Founder Camp every six months.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

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

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle. The Innovation Portfolio.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

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

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 seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed 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. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Up and Running

MARCH 11, 2015

Fortunately, many of the top VCs share their thoughts on their blogs and are full of advice for startups, both big and small. Inside the Minds of Top Venture Capitalists: Blogs You Need to Read to Understand How VCs Think. Eric Ries of The Lean Startup has called Andrew Chen’s blog “one of the best entrepreneurship blogs of all time.”

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Silicon Valley Cofounder 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

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.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? . ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

I’ve heard a lot of people question whether there is too much money in venture capital chasing too few great deals. Others believe that new business models are emerging that could replace venture capital all together. We’re in a new tech bubble!” some have pronounced. More on that later.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital IPO Mezzanine Early Stage 292

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2023

Most entrepreneurs have found by now one or more of the many popular crowdfunding sites , and have the name and contact information for at least one of the big venture capital firms. contributes more than $25 billion to fund 70,000 startups every year. Their realm fits between crowdfunding and venture capital sources.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Accredited Investor Syndicate Syndication 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) was turned upside down by the recent Recession, and many other changes in the marketplace. Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies.

Angel Investor 231

Angel Investor Entrepreneur Early Stage Silicon Valley 231

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

That’s on average the time venture capital investors spend on a pre-seed pitch deck, according to the latest Dropbox/Docsend funding research report. Stake – can the fund secure it’s minimum stake in the business? 2 and a half minutes. The time spent on reviewing decks went down compared to 2021.

Technical Review 166

Technical Review Early Stage Cofounder Portfolio 166

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) has been turned upside down by the recession, and the many other changes in the marketplace. Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Early Stage Venture Capital Startup 215

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2020

Now, this age-old perspective on business may sound like a line from It’s a Wonderful Life , but putting families first has new meaning for modern entrepreneurs. They aren’t operating on big bankrolls of venture capital (at least initially), and they don’t have trust funds to fall back on if the business fails.

Entrepreneur 205

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Silicon Valley Bandwidth 205

SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

There are quite a few other Software Development Companies in Southern California working on open source and/or freemium business models. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? .

Open Source 150

Open Source Business Model Technical Cofounder Southern California 150

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

There is a thin line between success and failure for startups, and that is usually determined by capital. The more capital a startup has, the easier it is to get off the ground and ramp up growth. In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation.

Venture Capital 196

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 196

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

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 to a classic Crunchbase article. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Mobile and web software apps may cost even less.

Angel Investor 342

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Portfolio 342

Women Entrepreneurs Can

NOVEMBER 19, 2022

A Venture Capital Firm is a firm that invests in startups and early-stage companies. However, not all firms are venture capital firms. Early-Stage Investments vs. Mid-Stage Investments. Investing in a startup company carries a high degree of risk, particularly at the early stage.

Venture Capital 52

Venture Capital Early Stage Liquidity Event SEC 52

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The good news is that a recent Kauffman Early-Stage Entrepreneurship (KESE) Index shows the highest level of new business activity recorded in the last two decades, and the cost of entry at an all-time low. In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Startup Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

In general, this won’t happen for a new startup unless you have a good credit history, or existing assets that you are willing to put at-risk for collateral. In the US, you may find that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can get you infusions of cash without normal backup requirements. Trade equity or services for startup help.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

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 to build reserves.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

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. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Angel Investor 256

Angel Investor Early Stage Incubator Government 256

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. Evidence of adaptability and flexibility.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5%

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. Toxic Business Press and Contradictory Government Incentives. While the government says they love startups, the first thing they did this year is raise the capital gains tax.

Finland 327

Finland Naming Russia Government 327

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

China’s Age of Malaise [Evan Osnos/New Yorker] – A loooong read but essential stuff if you are interested in China from an sort of view (cultural, economic, geopolitical, startup). And how mismatched (or unspoken) ones in venture capital can cause stress.

Venture Capital 65

Venture Capital China Government Early Stage 65

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