Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2013

I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency. Networked and connected. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 273

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Every entrepreneur needs a value proposition statement for his or her startup that can hook potential investors and partners in less than a minute -- the short time you might join them in an elevator on the way to their offices. Limit your elevator pitch message to about 150 to 225 words in 30 to 60 seconds.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Differentiation Business Plan 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. If you don’t yet have a team, it may be necessary to build one first.

Elevator Pitch 317

Elevator Pitch Intellectual Property Cost Technology 317

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 233

Elevator Pitch Startup Distribution Channel 233

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2013

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. The answer is still the same, but I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.

Networking 250

Networking Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch 250

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2012

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking. Join and actively participate in local business organizations.

Networking 242

Networking Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2022

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 316

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Venture Capital Business Plan 316

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

As a business advisor, I listen to many of you entrepreneurs talking about achieving your dreams, but too few of you have structured that dream, and can express it in a set of specific goals, with a timeline for getting there. Develop an “elevator pitch” as an initial path to your goal. Celebrate your successes.

Elevator Pitch 347

Elevator Pitch Incubator Matching Business Plan 347

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Sure, there will always some seed funding (10% of overall deal flow), but you can bet that this money goes to entrepreneurs who have been there before and won. So what can entrepreneurs do to get to the head of the venture capital investment queue and position their startup for a winning IPO?

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. A conundrum for many frustrated entrepreneurs is that they need money from investors to design and build a prototype product, yet most angel investors expect to see at least a prototype before they invest. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Marty Zwilling.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2016

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. The answer is still the same, but I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.

Networking 120

Networking Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch SEC 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

One thing I have learned the hard way in business is that implementing new ideas is usually much more difficult than conceiving the idea in the first place. That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. A full plan may be no more than 20 pages.

Elevator Pitch 315

Elevator Pitch Cofounder Dividend Leadership 315

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking. Join and actively participate in local business organizations.

Networking 242

Networking Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch SEC 242

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. Remember that you will have total control over who can see this material.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 283

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 283

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. Startups, are not about executing a plan where the product, customers, channel are known. Startups are in fact only temporary organizations, organized to search –not execute–for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2019

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 214

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Venture Capital Business Plan 214

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

While we advise students and new entrepreneurs to do market research before they start, we’d like to clarify that you should not let ‘doing market research’ hold you up if you already know your market. Market research does not have to be a part of the business planning process. Create a financial plan.

Elevator Pitch 60

Elevator Pitch Startup Balance Sheet Forecast 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

As of today, I will have published an article here for entrepreneurs and startups every day for the last 1001 days, since I started Startup Professionals Musings near the close of 2008. I still plan to publish on this blog occasionally, as well as more frequently on my blogs at Forbes , Huffington Post , and others.

Elevator Pitch 241

Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Startup Silicon Valley 241

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 4, 2019

When you’re a young entrepreneur, the launch of your start-up often depends on whether you can get funding from an investor. Create an elevator pitch. Create an elevator pitch , which is a short summary of your organization and its aims which can be delivered in seconds. Work out your numbers. Know your market.

Elevator Pitch 124

Elevator Pitch Business Plan Networking Entrepreneur 124

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

For other investment options, like small business loans, venture capital, and angel investing, you’ll need a solid business plan and proof of concept before anyone will be interested in investing. If the idea of networking makes you cringe, you’re not alone. I realized that selling isn’t the point of a networking event.

Elevator Pitch 242

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Networking Venture Capital 242

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2012

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 236

Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Angel Investor Venture Capital 236

Up and Running

DECEMBER 16, 2014

To grow a business, most entrepreneurs know that they should be implementing PR strategies. But where do you start, and what are the best approaches to public relations for an entrepreneur? ” We recently featured an excerpt from her book, which offers even more great tips on networking for entrepreneurs.

Public Relations 117

Public Relations Small Business PR Entrepreneur 117

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

A fter years of talking with many of you in the Israeli startup industry, investors and entrepreneurs alike, I was invited to present some tips for entrepreneurs at the Launch48 conference in London this weekend. Also, make sure you practice your elevator pitch. Business Plan. When to raise?

Elevator Pitch 102

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2014

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 268

Elevator Pitch Venture Capital Startup Angel Investor 268

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2010

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 217

Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Angel Investor Venture Capital 217

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2017

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 151

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Venture Capital Business Plan 151

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Define some intellectual property.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

A great elevator speech will spark interest in your business and hopefully lead to a deeper conversation. Elevator speeches are a great opportunity for entrepreneurs. What’s the difference between an elevator pitch and an elevator speech? Elevator speech examples.

Elevator Pitch 118

Elevator Pitch Audience Matching Conversion 118

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

If you’re an entrepreneur planning to start a business outside of the United States, you might be looking for assistance and resources that are available in your specific country. There are plenty of local resources and services available to help entrepreneurs in their local areas around the globe. It looked promising.

Global 62

Global South Africa United Arab Emirates United Kingdom 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2016

Most entrepreneurs I know are so passionate about their new idea that they are surprised when family and friends don’t line up to invest in their new venture. The reality is that investors, including myself, believe that the entrepreneur is more key to business success than the idea. Talking loudly is not enough.

Elevator Pitch 151

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Angel Investor Equity 151

Gust

OCTOBER 11, 2011

An “ elevator pitch ” is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 174

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2012

The honest answer is that ideas and new technologies are worth nothing, outside the context of a specific entrepreneur and a specific business plan that meets a market need for a fair price. Business innovation is taking that technology and successfully bringing it to market in a way people want. Marty Zwilling.

Elevator Pitch 238

Elevator Pitch Green Technology Distribution 238

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 239

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Venture Capital Business Plan 239

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Reserve the company name on social networks to protect it. Define some intellectual property.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2011

The honest answer is that ideas and new technologies are worth nothing, outside the context of a specific business plan that meets a market need for a fair price. Business innovation is taking that technology and successfully bringing it to market in a way people want. Innovative technologies are essential to business progress.

Technology 237

Technology Elevator Pitch Green Distribution 237