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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Use crowd funding.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 21, 2023

When you’re in boot-strapped startup mode, some issues will take priority. And in certain situations, the low-cost approach makes perfect sense… A template NDA may fit the bill for early discussions with third parties, while a fairly generic employment contract may mean that enough is being done to ensure legal compliance.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Early Stage 145

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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Customer acquisition cost.

Metrics 150

Metrics Cost Acquisition Startup 150

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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 11, 2021

This would be ideal for someone who is at the early stages of building their business and looking to stick to a limited budget. As servers are running all the time, the electrical saving costs do add up. The post How the Raspberry Pi could help your startup to develop a custom IT solution? Fast processor and productivity.

Software Review 179

Software Review Developer Technical Review Customer 179

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

In September 2017, I spent 2 weeks in Austin, Texas to understand what makes this vibrant startup ecosystem tick. It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Capital?

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Texas 48

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Startup studios continue to grow in popularity as incubators for new businesses. Rather than simply launching one startup, the startup studio model creates an organization whose business is launching startups. These can then be repeated and improved on with each successive startup.

Incubator 188

Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 That includes us.

Early Stage 146

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 146

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a cofounder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Technical Cofounder 247

Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

The Startup Magazine

MAY 3, 2024

Selecting the right technological tools and expert guidance during the formative phases of a startup can significantly influence its trajectory toward success. For startups eager to establish an efficient operational framework from the start, the decision to hire Microsoft Dynamics experts becomes instrumental.

Early Stage 158

Early Stage Technical Review Software Review Operations 158

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Two developments have changed the face of startup investing in the UK in recent years. When startups can do more with less money the returns from investing small amounts of money go up, and that can be seen in rising Series A valuations and declines in the average amount of money raised before exit. Startup general interest'

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

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 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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Launching your startup in a down economy doesn’t make it any less likely to last. Two conditions that do matter to your startup’s out-year viability are the cost and length of its product development cycle. These five strategies are proven to work for early-stage companies in a variety of industries — including, perhaps, yours.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Use crowd funding.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 13, 2017

Only one in ten startups succeed. Starting out with a clear strategy, vision and mission, will not only make your product more focused; it will also demonstrate competence to an early stage investor by showing that you are willing to do your homework. . It is recognized as the global heart of innovation.

Early Stage 87

Early Stage Silicon Valley Thailand Incubator 87

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need.

Technical Review 403

Technical Review Software Review Startup API 403

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. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

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 333

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 333

Eric Friedman

JULY 19, 2019

Many early stage investors look for financial models for 3+ years from founders to make an investment. The best resource I have seen for financial modeling templates for startups is [link] which is built by [link] and a constant place I have sent founders. In fact, for early stage companies you are usually wildly wrong.

Early Stage 114

Early Stage Startup Framework Revenue 114

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 31, 2019

As a startup founder with a fledgling business, the goal is to reduce/eliminate as many risk variables as possible in order to give your young startup an unimpeded runway to fly to new heights. Most startups fail. And while each startup fails for its own set of reasons, many blow up as a result of trying to do too much too soon.

Burn Rate 176

Burn Rate Startup Lean Early Stage 176

Hunter Walker

MAY 17, 2024

Hunter Walk: Textio , the startup you founded and CEO’ed until a few months ago, is almost 10 years old. It’s also not an accident that, upon stepping back from being Textio’s CEO, I’ve built a sizable exec coaching practice working largely with early stage founders. As I see it, startups have two major advantages.

Cofounder 96

Cofounder Founder Technical Review Seattle 96

This is going to be BIG.

JANUARY 18, 2024

Still, there are a lot of downsides to taking venture money—the push to grow at all costs, our desire to be all up in your business, literally, and sometimes, we’re kind of obnoxious. These are people that didn’t make their money through a tech startup or startup investing. It will save everyone a lot of cost and time.

.Net 89

.Net Cap Table Startup Technical Review 89

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 26, 2022

A conscientious development team will assess and test the required EMC risks well before product release and avoid correcting EMC issues late in the development lifecycle where cost of changes skyrockets. Regulatory testing costs can be as much as your entire design development costs and more when you make mistakes.

Design 166

Design Development Team Review Product Technical Review 166

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Here are some recent great posts that I’ve come across that generally fall in the intersection of startups and CTOs. Of course, one of the best ideas around this is to have Negative Customer Acquisition Costs. Of course, one of the best ideas around this is to have Negative Customer Acquisition Costs. Great stuff.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 3, 2021

Still, you need to find some way to pull your company out of this early-stage quicksand. First, we need to address the core challenges of developing effective early-stage growth strategies for new businesses. For example, if the cost per click (CPC) is $0.50 What are the best tactics to accomplish these goals?

Early Stage 125

Early Stage PPC Retention Churn Rate 125

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. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Use crowd funding.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Yet as I mentor entrepreneurs around the country, it still seems to be one of the least understood approaches to startup funding, with more myths than accredited angels and professional venture capital investors combined. With this model, a startup pre-sells their product early, at a cheaper price, in exchange for a pledge.

Accredited Investor 324

Accredited Investor Entrepreneur SEC Equity 324

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2017

Almost synonymous with this startup-focused era, the once indomitable VC investor sector is changing and adapting to deal with the changing nature of entrepreneurship. Startups, naturally, need to be aware of how these changes affect the current investment environment and how they can be leveraged to their advantage.

Venture Capital 193

Venture Capital Technical Review Kenya Startup 193

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

If you are new to the entrepreneurial world of startups, you are likely confused by the terminology of seed-stage, lean startups, micro-VCs, and Super Angels. The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. Early-stage startup. Every startup is early-stage to someone.

Early Stage 253

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Startup companies often face numerous obstacles that stand in the way of their desired level of success—from lack of planning to inability to scale up or poor management to neglecting marketing. Your startup may need NPS software to gather accurate customer feedback in a timely, low-effort fashion. Many people try but even more fail.

Software Review 125

Software Review Management Early Stage Startup 125

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. The reality is that as a result of two major trends the costs of starting a technology startup went down massively. The “A Round” of my startup in 1999 was $16.5

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

Every startup faces a myriad of challenges that are well beyond the scope of any founder, so you need a few guiding lights to illuminate the road ahead. I recommend that every early-stage startup find three Advisory Board members. Once your company is past the startup stage, you do need a board of directors.

Advisory Board 239

Advisory Board Technical Review Startup Software Review 239