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

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2017

Working out a business plan for your daycare center can be a challenge. As someone who owns eight successful daycares in the Chicago area, I know the strategies and approaches that work when it comes to developing a sound business plan for a daycare center. It serves as a cornerstone of your vision as you move forward.

Business Plan 93

Business Plan SBA Software Review Advisory Board 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. Angels are also moving up-stage, leaving a bigger and bigger black hole for new startups. Line up a winning team.

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

Up and Running

MARCH 31, 2021

In fact, right now there are three crucial areas of business that are capable of withstanding that first elevator pitch: healthcare, technology, and education. These are sectors of small business that are in high demand. . The standard Seed round was once around $75,000 to $150,000 startup.

Small Business 116

Small Business Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. Successful startups are all about the right people with the right stuff. Pitch your company, not your product.

Elevator Pitch 390

Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur Due Diligence Angel Investor 390

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my experience and data from the field, over seventy-five percent of new startups fail, even with venture backing. I say this not to discourage you from acting on your idea, but to encourage you to anticipate the work required to get you from inspiration to a sustainable and satisfying business.

Intellectual Property 235

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Harvest Technical Review 235

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

OCTOBER 15, 2018

The biggest challenge for every entrepreneur and every startup today is to get noticed and remembered in today’s information overload. The number of entrepreneurs worldwide is huge, starting an estimated 50 million new businesses per year, or 137,000 per day. It’s even acceptable to make up a place with a “what if.”

Elevator Pitch 211

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Boston Sales 211

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

JULY 3, 2010

Additionally, you need to be able to communicate the essence that story and value to investors in a couple of sentences – your elevator pitch. After a good elevator pitch or initial presentation, investors will ask for your formal business plan and financial projections. Lack of clear objectives/goals.

Software Review 239

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Startup 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Additionally, you need to be able to communicate the essence that story and value to investors in a couple of sentences – your elevator pitch. After a good elevator pitch or initial presentation, investors will ask for your formal business plan and financial projections. Lack of clear objectives/goals.

Software Review 250

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur 250

Austin Startup

JANUARY 2, 2018

Whether it’s a thirty-page business plan, a ten-page pitch deck, a five-minute presentation, a one-page executive summary or a twenty-second elevator pitch, your primary goal is to answer the question, “What does your company do?” You can follow: Daniel on Medium , Twitter , Instagram or AngelList.

Elevator Pitch 54

Elevator Pitch Startup Technical Review Cofounder 54

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. entrepreneurs intestors startups characteristics business' Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well. Listens before answering questions. Networked and connected.

Technical Review 273

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 273

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2021

I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. Here are a few of the “do’s”: Post your profile on LinkedIn and Twitter, and join in startup discussions. Don’t forget your enthusiasm, and have fun, but remember your manners!

Accredited Investor 357

Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch Entrepreneur SEC 357

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. This is your elevator pitch and customer value proposition, and is your key to getting an investor to read even the remainder of the summary.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2011

Additionally, you need to be able to communicate the essence that story and value to investors in a couple of sentences – your elevator pitch. After a good elevator pitch or initial presentation, investors will ask for your formal business plan and financial projections. Lack of clear objectives/goals.

Software Review 246

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Early Stage 246

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. Description of the business entity you plan to form.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Develop an “elevator pitch” as an initial path to your goal. An elevator pitch is a problem-solution summary that anyone can understand in a sixty-second ride up to their office in an elevator. By the way, you now have an viable business plan – which puts you well on your way from a dream to business success.

Elevator Pitch 347

Elevator Pitch Incubator Matching Business Plan 347

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

The reality is, the vast majority of real startups are driven by people who know their market from experience and who are ready to bet the farm on it! Market research does not have to be a part of the business planning process. That limits the applicability of business planning to a subset of those who need it.

Elevator Pitch 60

Elevator Pitch Startup Balance Sheet Forecast 60

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

I have to start with a major negative: if you have to ask if your startup can get venture capital, then it almost certainly can’t. Venture capital is a very rarified atmosphere of high-end startups and emerging businesses with experienced management teams, high potential growth, secret sauce, and so on. Are you still with me?

Software Review 124

Software Review Due Diligence Venture Capital Elevator Pitch 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2012

After struggling to create your business plan for months, every entrepreneur likes to think that their document is inspirational and will reach someone who is smart enough to see the brilliance of the idea, intuitive enough to recognize their business acumen, and enthusiastic enough to offer the money required to make it happen.

Elevator Pitch 244

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Business Plan .Net 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2022

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. Keep your big guns, the business plan and financial model, in your holster but visible for backup. Napkins don’t really work as your business plan.

Elevator Pitch 316

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Venture Capital Business Plan 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2012

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. Listens before answering questions.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 294

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

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. Startups whose marketing budget is trivial lose credibility and most likely the investment.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

Over the past 20+ years, as an angel investor, former venture capitalist and private equity investor, and serial entrepreneur, I have seen and written, a wide variety of pitch decks and business plans. Beyond discussing facing adversity and overcoming obstacles, many of them have shared their business plans with me.

Business Plan 124

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Equity Private Equity 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Let me check my plan.” Conversely many VCs believe that constraining cash can often lead to increases in creative solutions at a startup. Founder: “$250k / month.”

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Dilution 247

Up and Running

MARCH 30, 2015

Here’s how I sort through these different terms, in the context of angel investment, business planning, and business plan competitions. The business pitch. When I say pitch or business pitch I mean the short presentation startup founders make for angel investors or venture capitalists.

Elevator Pitch 60

Elevator Pitch Lean Oregon Angel Groups 60

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. Tags: startup founder entrepreneur skills investors business. Here are some key ones they look for: Talks and writes well. Listens before answering questions. Marty Zwilling.

Angel Investor 241

Angel Investor Technical Review Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 241

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2019

You might have an elevator pitch prepared for your business. But do you know what your startup’s vision is? These terms are often confused, and tend to serve as afterthought additions to your company’s business plan. The elevator pitch angle. You might even have a financial forecast in place.

Elevator Pitch 154

Elevator Pitch PR Forecast Advertising 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. Think of it as a selling effort, not an attempt to fully describe your startup.

Business Plan 244

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2020

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. Startups whose marketing budget is trivial lose credibility and most likely the investment.

Elevator Pitch 336

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 336

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

In most cases, a new startup idea and plan was driven by a specific personal incident that left you with the conviction that you still have for this opportunity. Unfortunately, most elevator pitches, product descriptions, and marketing messages are abstract, and include no characters at all.

Elevator Pitch 363

Elevator Pitch Restful Audience Technology 363

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. The talk was titled “Tips to make your startup attractive for investors&#. Business Plan.

Elevator Pitch 103

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 103

Up and Running

APRIL 11, 2011

They call it the elevator speech, or elevator pitch, and it’s a good exercise. I was there last Thursday to hear these two pitches , two of the best from 16 one-minute pitches at the University of Oregon’s New Venture Championship. Tim is the originator of plan-as-you-go business planning.

Elevator Pitch 73

Elevator Pitch Oregon Cofounder Business Plan 73