David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. This is a great example of why data businesses have substantial moats. Boardex and Relationship Science make it easier to understand and map social networks into potential limited partners.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2010

Many entrepreneurs think that risk is just an “occupational hazard” that can be minimized or eliminated by a smart businessman. Plan to spend money on marketing. It’s a bad risk to count only on word-of-mouth and viral social network buzz for marketing, as I see in many business plans today.

Entrepreneur 243

Entrepreneur Forecast Viral Business Model 243

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Most entrepreneurs think that risk is just an “occupational hazard” that can be minimized or eliminated by a smart businessman. Once you have established your credibility and value, a strategic partnership may lead to other business relationships or a funding source. Plan to spend money on marketing. Lead rather than follow.

Forecast 257

Forecast Viral Social Network Business Model 257

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2011

Most entrepreneurs think that risk is just an “occupational hazard” that can be minimized or eliminated by a smart businessman. Once you have established your credibility and value, a strategic partnership may lead to other business relationships or a funding source. Plan to spend money on marketing. Lead rather than follow.

Founder 245

Founder Forecast Startup Viral 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2013

This business suffers from what Paul Graham calls the ‘chicken and the egg problem‘ – no one wants to use a dating site with only a few users. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks.

Intellectual Property 215

Intellectual Property Social Network Matching Viral 215

mashable.com

DECEMBER 29, 2011

Follow Mashable Business. Subscribe to the Business channel. More Stories in Business. Small Businesses Plan to Buy an iPad in 2012 [STUDY]. Maybe it was so 2010, but I can tell you that the entrepreneurs chasing “Daily Deals for…” have not gone away. Social Media Lists. Social Good.

New York City 83

New York City New York Startup Social Media 83

Gust

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Most entrepreneurs think that risk is just an “occupational hazard” that can be minimized or eliminated by a smart businessman. Once you have established your credibility and value, a strategic partnership may lead to other business relationships or a funding source. Plan to spend money on marketing. Lead rather than follow.

Forecast 188

Forecast Viral Social Network Business Model 188

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2011

This business suffers from what Paul Graham calls the ‘chicken and the egg problem‘ – no one wants to use a dating site with only a few users. So sites have to invest heavily in viral marketing to achieve critical mass, which competes with current social networks, while users expect to join both for free. Social networks.

Intellectual Property 229

Intellectual Property Social Network Matching Viral 229

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

If someone wants to become an entrepreneur, is it more important to keep looking for a really good media idea that you can do a month’s worth of customer development on or is it better to think of literally what complete start up can I make in a week? It’s not so much about doing the business plan.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Figuring this out takes time, and few entrepreneurs have the patience to wait it out, because the business plan does such a good job of explaining what customers are going to think. The problem is that customers dont read your business plan. If the viral coefficient is 0.9, keep iterating until its 1.1

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2010

So please don’t send me any more business plans along these lines, looking for investor funding, with no marketing budget, and promising huge returns. This business suffers from what Paul Graham calls the ‘chicken and the egg problem‘ – no one wants to use a dating site with only a few users. Social networks and search engines.

Intellectual Property 124

Intellectual Property Social Network Matching Viral 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2013

I’ve written about these before, but since I see them so often, I thought it might be worth reiterating: “Business plans are for dummies.” Some startups think business plans are only for investors. In reality, you should do a business plan primarily for yourself, as it forces you to think through all the elements.

Sweat Equity 277

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Viral 277

grasshopperherder.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2011

We’re testing a viral loop, direct sales, and affiliate marketing.&# I would argue that there is NO circumstance where you can’t have a frank discussion about your business model, your competitors, and your future business that requires an NDA right off the bat. BTW, What do business plans look like?

Cofounder 47

Cofounder NDA Founder Sweat Equity 47

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

This dynamic births serial entrepreneurs and motivates angels and venture capitalists to pull their friends into investment deals. For the first-time entrepreneur or founder looking for seed stage funding, this circle can be especially difficult to penetrate.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues: “Business plans are for dummies.” Some startups think business plans are only for investors. Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

Sweat Equity 238

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2011

I’ve written about these before, but since I see them so often, I thought it might be worth reiterating: “Business plans are for dummies.” Some startups think business plans are only for investors. In reality, you should do a business plan primarily for yourself, as it forces you to think through all the elements.

Sweat Equity 246

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Viral Social Network 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2010

It’s always painful when a startup fails, but as a mentor to founders I would hope that you can learn from these failings and not stumble on the same issues: “Business plans are for dummies.” Some startups think business plans are only for investors. Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

Sweat Equity 130

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 130

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or veteran SMB owner, chances are you’re aiming to better publicize your message to a given target audience. And, the better and more useful the content you create, the more likely it will be to go viral. Whether it’s customers, prospects, or partners, there is a target group you want to engage.

PR 139

PR Hiring Social Media Media 139

blog.expensify.com

APRIL 24, 2012

They write everything from assembly to jQuery, on PCs to mobile phones, doing hard core computer graphics to high level social networking. Do you “entrepreneurs” really think a guy or gal that can compile Linux on a bicycle wants to write a secure payment processor on an iPhone, or a Flash app that runs on every browser?

Java 107

Java PHP Software Review Coder 107