Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Planning for the future must be a regular activity, not just an early-stage or once-a-year event. Survival requires regular updates.

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Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. How Venture Studios Work.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2020

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. In fact, perhaps the most important model, equity crowdfunding for non-accredited investors was only legalized via the SEC in 2016, so its impact is still in the early stages.

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NZ Entrepreneur

JUNE 19, 2023

A new batch of enterprising New Zealanders are being given the opportunity to fast track their ventures from idea through to startup, thanks to an online education initiative backed by Callaghan Innovation and entrepreneur education platform Startup NZ. Dr Jenny Douché, Callaghan Innovation.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 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. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Are you ready to start?

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than angel investors or professional investors (VCs). Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools: Don’t be afraid to ask, carefully.

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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. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Set expectations accordingly.

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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. It’s time to think again that the domain of entrepreneurs is only for the under-35 crowd.

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The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Entrepreneurs can now achieve an awful lot with very little money. 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).

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ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. These usually play a role in the very early stage of your business, primarily pre-revenue. Early-stage. An early-stage investor usually looks at a return of 10 to 15 times.

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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. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Set expectations accordingly.

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The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

I will tell you brief details about seed stage funding, and deal sourcing on this page, so read the conclusion until the end. The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company.

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YoungUpstarts

MARCH 4, 2020

You’ve come up with a brilliant business idea, and you’re ready to get started as a brand-new entrepreneur. Are you a Necessity Entrepreneur? Necessity Entrepreneurs Build Exceptional Businesses. Necessity Entrepreneurs are uniquely equipped to build exceptional businesses and inspire meaningful change in their industries.

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Gust

DECEMBER 17, 2017

This is also the time when a lot of entrepreneurs wrestle with their plans for the next year, asking themselves: Where should I bet big? The post Beyond VC: Funding Options for Early-Stage Startups appeared first on The Gust Blog. Are the growth targets right? How am I going to pay for all these. Read more >.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

The good news is that he is all about helping early-stage startups. The hard part for entrepreneurs is figuring out what it takes to play. Early-stage startup. Every startup is early-stage to someone. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M. Marty Zwilling.

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Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 13, 2023

So, that’s why we are excited about 2023 because there will be more and more entrepreneurs and businesses. Here are the pivots entrepreneurs are making next year: #1- Personalized recommendations Photo Credit: Max Maybury We’re preparing for a strategic change to improve user experience and respond to changing market trends. #5-

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The Startup Magazine

JUNE 13, 2017

It can be difficult for an entrepreneur to accept that he is at fault for any of the above; yet many still consider that it is ok to “fail fast, fail often” provided one learns from one’s mistakes on the path to success. Vision/Focus: I encourage any entrepreneur to think big, but not at the expense of asking himself several key questions.

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Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 25, 2023

We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners their tips on building an e-commerce business and here are the responses. #1- 4- Invest in content marketing Photo Credit: Alex Nigmatulin As entrepreneurs and business owners, one of our top tips for building a successful e-commerce venture is to invest in content marketing right from day one.

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YoungUpstarts

MAY 1, 2020

Money is constantly on the mind of any entrepreneur: how to raise it, where to invest it, and how to make more of it. Given that mindset, it’s only natural that most entrepreneurs jump at the first chance they get to secure early-stage startup funding. by Ash Rust , founder and managing partner of Sterling Road.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

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. It’s time to think again that the domain of entrepreneurs is only for the under-35 crowd.

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Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

When entrepreneurs silently disengage from their ventures, it can result in missed opportunities for innovation, loss of valuable expertise, and a chilling effect on the entrepreneurial spirit within communities. We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how quiet quitting affects entrepreneurship. Here are the responses. #1-

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Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

When entrepreneurs silently disengage from their ventures, it can result in missed opportunities for innovation, loss of valuable expertise, and a chilling effect on the entrepreneurial spirit within communities. We asked entrepreneurs, and business owners how quiet quitting affects entrepreneurship. Here are the responses. #1-

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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. It’s what separates the true entrepreneurs from the wannabes. Are you ready to start?

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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. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2021

Every entrepreneur tries to maximize his startup growth by building and selling more product and services for the widest geographic area that he can support. Many entrepreneurs are paranoid about the partnership approach, and think that M&A is only an alternative for large companies who are flush with cash. Partial acquisition.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies. VCs are finding that they don’t need the “large” funds of $100M to $500M to support a portfolio, if they focus on early-stage startups. entrepreneur startup super-Angels David S.

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The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1 So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups? About the Authors: Troy Lester Troy Lester is a Los Angeles based entrepreneur and the co-founder and president of WARP. That includes us.

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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. 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.

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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. What are the best tactics to accomplish these goals? Core Challenges to Overcome in Growth Strategies.

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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. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So, the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth?

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Up and Running

APRIL 12, 2018

Creating financial forecasts and budgets are not typically how many entrepreneurs envision spending their time, but these tools are incredibly necessary. Many entrepreneurs also start out with little, if any, business experience. Working on a startup can be exciting, exhilarating, fulfilling and maybe even a little terrifying.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck. Many years ago, John Hamm published some definitive work on this subject in " Why Entrepreneurs Don't Scale " in the Harvard Business Review. Trusting your gut at this stage isn’t good enough.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

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. 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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck. Several years ago, John Hamm published some early work on this subject in " Why Entrepreneurs Don''t Scale " in the Harvard Business Review. Absolute control. Tactical versus strategic.

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Eric Friedman

JULY 19, 2019

Many early stage investors look for financial models for 3+ years from founders to make an investment. Entrepreneurs often don’t have this information, don’t know how to put it together for the first time, and often are confused by the request. In fact, for early stage companies you are usually wildly wrong.

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YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 10, 2020

by Zain Jaffer, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Zain Ventures. In the early stages, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to bank their earnings on a handful of customers (or sometimes, just one). When the time comes, the following actions can help entrepreneurs get back on their feet: 1. Rip the Bandaid off.

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The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 22, 2021

How is the company culture, in its early stages, set up to process a setback ? Like Vivek’s team, consistent winners often have multiple early encounters with failing, being set back, and falling short. Zain is an active investor and mentor, engaging with startups at an early stage in the span of their journey.

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