Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. “The growth of a successful startup usually has three phases: There’s an initial period of slow or no growth while the startup tries to figure out what it’s doing. I talked about some of that here.

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Silicon Valley Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 246

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 246

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Bill’s closing line, “The reason why Silicon Valley is so successful is that it’s so fxxxng far away from Washington” received great applause. Unfortunately, for startups entering a regulated market following this advice this might not be the optimum path. These barriers to new innovative startups are called economic rent.

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Washington Government Marketing Silicon Valley 295

Steve Blank

APRIL 27, 2009

—————- The next piece of the Secret History of Silicon Valley puzzle came together when Tom Byers , Tina Selig and Mark Leslie invited me to teach entrepreneurship in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program ( STVP ) in Stanford’s School of Engineering.

Silicon Valley 194

Silicon Valley Technical Review Europe Germany 194

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.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s hard to resist the allure of Silicon Valley. You’d be forgiven for thinking that any budding entrepreneur should only look at setting up in Silicon Valley to be successful. Photo credit: Canada flag from Shutterstock. By Raj Narayanaswamy, cofounder and Co-CEO, Replicon.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

As a potential investor, I always think of the high rate of failure of disruptive technologies, due to the longer learning curve of customers, infrastructure change consistently required, and higher marketing costs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. Would you be comfortable buying a house from a builder, or building one yourself, with no plan on timeframes, costs, and features? I hope not.

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Silicon Valley Exit Strategy Startup Business Plan 257

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. It’s the antithesis of the Lean Startup.

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 17, 2009

The university found government contracts profitable as the government reimbursed their overhead charges (their indirect costs.) In some cases, branches of the military contracted directly with Stanford which worked with local contractors in Silicon Valley to build these components or systems for the military.

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Silicon Valley RSS California Government 149

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2013

A startup may spark from a simple idea and quickly grow in momentum due to the ease of launching a product or service. The startup also gains the benefit of not subscribing to traditional business structures. The following are five different locations that are ideal for young startups: 1. Toronto boasts quite a few startups.

San Diego 237

San Diego Thailand Technical Review New York City 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S.

Las Vegas 120

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Phoenix Montana 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 26, 2016

Running a startup is exhilarating. For an increasing number of successful startups, they are foregoing London, New York, or Silicon Valley for the business-friendly UAE. In fact, some have dubbed it the Silicon Valley of the Middle East. If you are a startup, then this is a big plus.

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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.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Kenya Startup 193

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Travelers did it, and it’s already saving that company and other insurers that hopped on the drone bandwagon (and, hopefully, their clients) on the hefty cost of adjuster inspections. Another great example of innovation comes courtesy of Metromile, a startup right out of Silicon Valley that’s changing the way auto insurance is provided.

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ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

It wasn’t long ago that it made sense for companies, and especially Silicon Valley companies, to hire locally and have everyone working from one central location. Today, especially in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York, or Seattle, none of these facts hold. Real estate was relatively cheap.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

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Incubator Silicon Valley North America Startup 398

YoungUpstarts

JULY 11, 2012

So you’re looking to start up or relocating your company to the wonderful startup haven of Silicon Valley, eh? Well, finding a place in Silicon Valley to call home is not the easiest thing to do, but this infographic from Riviera Partners may help.

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Silicon Valley San Jose San Francisco Startup 174

Steve Blank

MARCH 12, 2014

We realized that past K-12 Entrepreneurial classes taught students “the lemonade stand” version of how to start a company: 1) come up with an idea, 2) execute the idea, 3) do the accounting (revenue, costs, etc.). Our students first worked with two local startups who agreed to be their clients, on real-problems.

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Lean Customer Development Startup Silicon Valley 334

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2021

But that was back in 2004 and the trillions of dollars of wealth created since in startups, big tech companies and crypto makes earlier questions of extravagance seem quaint. I’m off to research how much it actually costs to privately own a giraffe…. Reading it back 3 1/2 years later it still rings true for me personally.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

With countless roadblocks along the way, it’s not uncommon for a startup to falter to the point of folding before it has ever reached even the simplest of business goals. The rub is that a startup likely has the ideas to take it straight to the top, but it’s also likely that the company lacks the business skills to make it truly successful.

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crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Silicon Valley has dominated the U.S. startup ecosystem for many decades. Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of VC funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. with their startups growing by 81.2

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YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 2, 2016

There is no doubt about it, the appeal of startup culture is inarguable. Everyone knows that Silicon Valley has been, historically speaking, the source of much innovation. But with rising cost of living, it’s not really the best place to start a brand-new business. So, you’ve got the bug to work for yourself?

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America Miami Seattle Portland 100

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Robust startup economies are popping up in communities all over the country, proving that entrepreneurs can succeed outside of Silicon Valley. At Rev1, we’re knee deep in helping startups build and scale in the Midwest, including direct support for attracting executive and tech talent. Be honest about your weaknesses.

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Hiring Technical Review Silicon Valley Due Diligence 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. If you’re a super experienced Silicon Valley CEO with a billion-dollar exit?—?probably.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

The cost of rolling out a business has never been lower – it only takes a few hundred dollars to incorporate a Limited Liability Corp (LLC) online, create your own website, use social media to get attention, and you are in business. In the early Internet days, it would cost a million dollars to get this far.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Costs of product on YouTube content is literally 99% cheaper than traditional TV and; Distribution of content can now go viral and can predictably distributed via social networks. But here’s what Silicon Valley doesn’t get about Hollywood. And what Hollywood does’t get about Silicon Valley?

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Silicon Valley Los Angeles Distribution Java 374

The Startup Magazine

MAY 9, 2024

Moreover, a presence of smaller brands and startups is healthier than international conglomerates setting up shop, so your mere presence is a little healthier than the norm. Emerging Industries Or Technologies What made Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley?

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Silicon Valley Cost Community Developer 78

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2018

With figures like those, you can see why startups are so important to our future economic stability and growth, and this is why startups are closely monitored. If you are interested in startups to watch out for in 2018, here are three that should interest you. XpertDox Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Modern Fertility.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. A question I get from time to time is “Can I ever expect any backing from my bank for a great opportunity?” Marty Zwilling

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Equity Silicon Valley Finance Early Stage 303

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 202

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 202

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

And he recognized it was making his startup feel and act like a big ponderous company. Most decisions in a startup must be made in the face of uncertainty. One of the things he mentioned was that when it came to decision-making he still tended to think and act like an engineer. The same is true in your company.

Silicon Valley 305

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 305

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give.

Incubator 231

Incubator Silicon Valley North America Small Business Administration 231

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 30, 2017

Silicon Valley has dominated the U.S. startup ecosystem for many decades. Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. with their startups growing by 81.2

United States 82

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 82

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2018

When 90 percent of startups fail , the odds are against you. This stark reminder about startup failure serves to encourage you to be smarter about your startup, particularly your finances. Keeping the following cost-effective steps in mind can help you beat the odds and become part of the winning 10 percent. That’s okay.

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