Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Bypasses intellectual property as not worth the cost.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Early in the relationship, every investor instinctively looks for some key indicators of the ability to get results, like the following: Communicates well in every business medium. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

Building a new business is quite different from an executive role in a mature company, so people from these backgrounds are often a liability. Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I recommend a ten-slide pitch to start, reviewed by friends and advisors, to be expanded to a ten-to-twenty-page business plan with opportunity sizing, cost and price details, competitors, marketing and sales strategy, financial projections, and resources required. Make sure your solution is defensible and unique.

Intellectual Property 235

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Harvest Technical Review 235

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Register some intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

A business needs technical, marketing, financial and many other skills. If you are an inventor, for example, you need to line up the business side of your team before angels will be interested. Create and highlight your intellectual property portfolio. Have a full business plan and financial model to close the deal.

Angel Investor 120

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Groups 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Early in the relationship, every investor instinctively looks for some key indicators of the ability to get results, like the following: Communicates well in every business medium. Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

These days you can create a C-corp or LLC online quickly at a low cost, to serve you well in signing partners, intellectual property, investors, and revenue. Prepare a pitch deck to document and share your plan. A full business plan and financial modelling can come later to add details.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Build your time line and momentum quickly after your business' start. Even new entrepreneurs should be able to move from an idea to a legal entity within a couple of months, finalize their business plan in the new few months after that and have a prototype solution built within six more months.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock Stealth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Register some intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

Business plan assistance. Every university has entrepreneurial courses or evening classes that can provide assistance on creating your initial plan. Most universities have friendly law professors, or an entrepreneurship legal clinic, to address concerns like protection of intellectual property and privacy.

Arizona 432

Arizona Phoenix Intellectual Property Incubator 432

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Building a new business is quite different from an executive role in a mature company, so people from these backgrounds are often a liability. Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem-solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources.

Cofounder 261

Cofounder Stock Founder Technical Cofounder 261

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

If you need help building your first business plan or financial model, it’s getting easier and easier to find what you need, as well as connections to peers and investors, without an expensive business consultant. Visit the university library for access to otherwise costly business reports.

Arizona 276

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Entrepreneur 276

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Build a business plan and model that is attractive to investors. I see too many business plans that are really product plans for customers, touting free services and long feature lists. It’s hard to build and scale a business on free high-support products. These are more likely scalable and investable.

Hockey Stick 339

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Non-Compete Business Model 339

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. Values intellectual property. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered.

Technical Review 273

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Register some intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

It’s equally easy to go online and incorporate your new entity, register some intellectual property and have some fun with social media for marketing and interacting with customers. Self-sustainability, independence, and real fun requires paying customers, profitability and an early cash-flow-positive business plan.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Define some intellectual property. File a patent and trademarks to show real intellectual property. They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model. Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel Investor 224

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. Major milestones along the way should be outlined.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

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. Values intellectual property. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Intellectual Property Angel Investor Elevator Pitch 294

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. Patents or other intellectual property are a real competitive advantage for a startup, but first to market and working harder are not sustainable.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

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. Investors fear negative vibes will infect the business.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Technical Review Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Make sure the name and trademarks you want are available, as well as web site address, social media tags, and any other intellectual property. Do a written business plan to validate your thinking. Pick a name, location, and marketing strategy early. Names and taglines are critical to success.

Intellectual Property 245

Intellectual Property Social Media Angel Investor Metrics 245

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

It never hurts to start networking personally with all levels of investors early, but sending out teasers and business plans to every name you can find on the Internet is a waste of your time and theirs. Future opportunity size doesn’t count in the early stages. Contrary to popular opinion, all investor money is not the same.

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Creating a strong value proposition requires substantial customer insight, thorough study, an understanding of the real value of intellectual property, thoughtfulness, and several iterations. Unfortunately, we read far more poorly written business plans at Main Street than good ones. Partnership.

Intellectual Property 265

Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Phoenix Arizona 265

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. Incorporating a business entity early through online services.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

Building a new business is quite different from an executive role in a mature company, so people from these backgrounds are often a liability. Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2016

Resist the temptation to skip the business plan. Many new entrepreneurs believe the myth that a business plan is only required to satisfy professional investors and can be skipped with crowdfunding. In reality, the value to you of a detailed plan is even greater when you won’t have investors challenging it.

Non-disclosure Agreement 120

Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Technical Review Vesting 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Register some intellectual property.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor. In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Do describe your intellectual property and “secret sauce”.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Bypasses intellectual property as not worth the cost.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

It’s equally easy to go online and incorporate your new entity, register some intellectual property and have some fun with social media for marketing and interacting with customers. Self-sustainability, independence, and real fun requires paying customers, profitability and an early cash-flow-positive business plan.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Build a business plan and model that is attractive to investors. I see too many business plans that are really product plans for customers, touting free services and long feature lists. It’s hard to build and scale a business on free high-support products. These are more likely scalable and investable.

Hockey Stick 386

Hockey Stick Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 386

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

If you need help building your first business plan or financial model, it’s getting easier and easier to find what you need, as well as connections to peers and investors, without an expensive business consultant. Visit the university library for access to otherwise costly business reports.

Arizona 310

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Dividend 310

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor. In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Do describe your intellectual property and “secret sauce”.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290