Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. Research has confirmed that culture is a primary driver for financial performance, customer experience, and team productivity.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. Manage customer service. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers. Supportive co-founder and executive positions.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

Today, Mark Attanasio gets to flex his full range of expertise and interests as co-founder and Managing Partner of Hillcrest Merchant Partners, a Toronto-based merchant bank focused on early stage and mid market growth companies. One of the advisory areas Hillcrest Merchant Partners works in is electric metals.

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

We see this all the time at Forward Partners where we invest right from the idea stage and most of the companies get a first version of their product live for less than £30k (that generally includes founder salaries and time spent doing customer research). Entrepreneurs can now achieve an awful lot with very little money.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

The next default of waiting until later is equally bad, since partners who bow out early will still expect an equal share of that first billion you make later. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Now comes the reality check.

Technical Cofounder 247

Technical Cofounder Equity Distribution Cofounder 247

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Effective communication requires real listening, as well as talking.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

The next default of waiting until later is equally bad, since partners who bow out early will still expect an equal share of that first billion you make later. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Now comes the reality check.

Cofounder 435

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Equity Intellectual Property 435

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 21, 2023

There are a few situations where cutting corners, even in the early stages, can cause big headaches (and significant real money costs) in the future. Whether you’re working with developers, suppliers or customers, if the IPR ends up in the wrong place, you will struggle to exploit it in the future.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Early Stage 110

YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

by Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road. Given that mindset, it’s only natural that most entrepreneurs jump at the first chance they get to secure early-stage startup funding. Most startups will need a viable product and proof of credibility before they can expect early-stage investors to really bite.

Early Stage 165

Early Stage Security Angel Investor Lead Investor 165

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. Research has confirmed that culture is a primary driver for financial performance, customer experience, and team productivity.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2021

The world grows more impersonal by the day, and people crave being more than just another number in the customer queue. During the last few years, marketers have turned toward more personalized experiences to win customers over. How to use personalization to improve customer experience. What is personalized marketing?

Customer 118

Customer Marketing Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 118

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup. Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder. Think twice before you jump in.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 million at the end of last year, we’re laser-focused on fast growth without sacrificing customer experience. So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? That includes us.

Early Stage 111

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup. Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder. Think twice before you jump in.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

In addition to being the startup entrepreneur, there are other key roles where Boomers can be a force in driving successful startups, in concert with leaders from Gen-X and Gen-Y: Early-stage angel investors. Manage customer service. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers. Supportive co-founder and executive positions.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 27, 2021

Unfortunately, there is no recipe for success and you often hear of startups failing in the early stages after failing to hit the ground running and encountering financial issues. Making people aware of your business will help you to start building your customer base from day one of your path to startup success.

Software Review 171

Software Review Early Stage Startup Community 171

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Effective communication requires real listening, as well as talking.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles.

Framework 127

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2021

That story has to begin with a painful problem shared by a large collection of viable customers, with your competitive solution. The key here is to create a win-win partner situation for your investors. We agree on issues we see sabotaging most funding efforts, in decreasing priority sequence: Lack of a compelling story.

Software Review 307

Software Review Due Diligence Elevator Pitch Early Stage 307

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles.

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 19, 2023

Douché, herself an experienced business founder and startup mentor before joining Callaghan Innovation, shed light on the educational challenges faced by early stage entrepreneurs. ” Richard Liew, Startup NZ.

New Zealand 98

New Zealand Technical Cofounder Early Stage Entrepreneur 98

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

None of that can compare with being the CEO of a startup facing a rapidly diminishing bank account, your best engineer quitting, working until 10pm and rushing to the airport and catching a redeye for a “ Hail Mary ” close of a customer, with your board demanding you do it faster. venture/operating partners to get them into new industries.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 26, 2022

Designing new hardware products that have a positive impact on customers is no small feat. There are several elements that go into hardware product design that taps an unaddressed customer need, has the customer WOW factor, and succeeds long term in the market. Next is the product level planning.

Design 133

Design Development Team Review Product Technical Review 133

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2020

by Nick Frandsen, co-founder and managing partner at Dovetail. It not only validates your idea, but it helps to identify features, options and adjustments to your idea received from advice from third parties, including potential customers, that you may not have initially considered. It’s genius! It’s the next thing!” How is it done?

Product 264

Product Cofounder Audience Product Development 264

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 14, 2022

While certain aspects of setting up a startup can be exhilarating, especially in the early stages of the business, there are also plenty of bumps along the road, big and small. It should be unique and memorable so that customers will not forget it easily. The life of an entrepreneur can be exciting and filled with ups and downs.

Startup 143

Startup Early Stage Naming Public Relations 143

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

It occurred to me that although we mentioned our new thematic approach when we raised our last fund in 2017, we haven’t really shared a broader manifesto about how we are approaching the early stage market. It’s been an interesting several years in the early stage venture eco-system, and the sands have shifted considerably.

North America 120

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need. The most important way to sell a product for an early-stage business (or frankly any stage) is to have strong referenceable customers. How do you get referenceable customers? .” This is a huge mistake.

Technical Review 403

Technical Review Software Review Startup API 403

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

Companies manage these three types of innovation with an innovation portfolio – they build innovation internally, they buy it or they partner with resources outside their company. Corporate business development and strategic partner executives are flocking to Silicon Valley to find these five types of innovation.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

In exchange, founders agree to transition their company into a new phase that requires them to start catering to investors’ needs in addition to those of its customers and employees. While the rewards may be a boon to their company in the short term, the consequences of accepting outside funding too early can be debilitating.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Among these opportunities, the chance to pitch an investor and secure funding is perhaps the greatest of all — at least in the early stages of your startup career — as it can ultimately determine the long-term fate of your company.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2011

Max and his partners had interviewed and analyzed over 650 early-stage Internet startups. In May they released the first Startup Genome Report — an in-depth analysis on what makes early-stage Internet startups successful. It’s Not How Big It Is – It’s How Well It Performs. Happy birthday Max.

Software Review 292

Software Review Early Stage Technical Review Startup 292

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

The next default of waiting until later is equally bad, since partners who bow out early will still expect an equal share of that first billion you make later. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

View from Seed

OCTOBER 24, 2019

Or, if you can’t skip a round, when should you try to work extra hard to minimize dilution and when should you be prepared to take more dilution for the right partner/situation? Also, the benefit of raising a pre-seed from great partners probably outweighs the cost. Founders with limited experience. Experienced founders: Consumer.

Dilution 149

Dilution B2B Burn Rate Early Stage 149

Steve Blank

JUNE 19, 2014

110 researchers and clinicians, and Principal Investigators got out of the lab and hospital, and talked to 2,355 customers, tested 947 hypotheses and invalidated 423 of them. clinical utility, customer, quality of data, reimbursement, what parts of the product are valuable, roles of CRO’s , and partners, etc.,)

Lean 269

Lean SBIR Intellectual Property Customer Development 269

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “. At this stage, the team is seeking market and customer validation metrics. The MVP is the most pared-down version of a product that customers are willing to purchase or use.

Cleveland 150

Cleveland Framework Marketing Early Stage 150

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

The FUND Conference brings together over 100 startups to present their early-stage products and pitches in front of hundreds of investors and industry leaders. Balodana provides store hosting and marketing as well as support services such as concierge customer service and style advice to ensure a superb customer experience.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Software Review Illinois Due Diligence 153