Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Level of integrity.

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YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

Toronto’s Mark Attanasio has spent some 20 years advising businesses at various stages in their development on what it takes to position themselves for growth – whether it’s through traditional transactional activities like management buyouts and mergers and acquisitions or via a public listing on a Canadian stock exchange. Is there more?

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Level of integrity.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

For an inventor , the product is everything, and managing cash flow in a business may be the least satisfying part. Every successful business requires a focus on providing solutions, business management, and customer service. Every business is a work in progress. Calculate your need to acquire missing required skills.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” Some people are too independent to be partner material. Neither partner needs to be managed.

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TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

At TechEmpower, we frequently talk to startup founders, CEOs, product leaders, and other innovators about their next big tech initiative. Do you have legal (Founder Agreement, IP, etc.) Are there other founders, business leaders, partners, or administrators? A Product Manager? What are your big milestones?

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress. He was using 3 rd parties to build his app but he had no expertise on how to manage external developers.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? “After reading your post on Why Founders Should Know How to Code it looks like web/mobile startups have it easy. Trying to figure out what the right set of co-founders isn’t so clear. Are We Missing A Founder?

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The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 4, 2023

Today we present Olga Camargo as part of The Startup Magazine’s Female Founder Interview series. Olga has a great story as CEO and Founder of SHENIX , a Chicago-based fintech app company focused on financial education and advisory services for Latinas. SHENIX Founder and CEO, Olga Camargo. That’s fantastic, Olga.

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Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Level of integrity.

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Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

The market was down considerably with public valuations down 53–79% across the four sectors we were reviewing (it is since down even further). ==> Aside, we also have a NEW LA-based partner I’m thrilled to announce: Nick Kim. To that end I’m really excited to share that Nick Kim has joined Upfront as a Partner based out of our LA offices.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2011

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ Ten Steps in Choosing the Right Startup Partner ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

A week ago I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. You may be too independent to be partner material. Similar values and goals.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). I like technical founders so this wasn’t an issue.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Today is amongst the proudest days I’ve had at Upfront Ventures — getting the chance to announce that Kevin Zhang has been promoted to Partner. We also look for a cultural fit with Upfront, which includes the gravitas to deal with executives and founders at the startups we back as well as the other board members.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior. Of course it makes no sense to have great people management and a crappy product. ” Of course we all go into businesses expecting to be aligned with our co-founders but over time life changes.

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Argona

JULY 19, 2022

Get to know Argona Partners CEO, Jeremy Imlach better, as he was featured in the Entrepreneur Story series on Go Solo. " I have also participated as a Masters's Program coach & judge through the Eller College of Management business school at the University of Arizona. " My name is Jeremy Imlach.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Investors, partners, team members, and customers implicitly value or devalue a startup based on the leader’s physical presence, emotional identity, social skills, intellectual agility, moral values, and past performance in the domain.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Supportive co-founder and executive positions. Every young entrepreneur needs an experienced partner for credibility with investors, and as a trusted cohort for strategy and growth discussions. Manage customer service. Personnel Manager. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here.

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Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Or those special little bombs of a phrase like “enjoys playing founder more than being one” and “tells a good story but no follow-through.” Pair a Difficult CEO with a COO/CTO/CPO who knows how to manage alongside and whole just might be greater than the sum of its parts. Sketchy would be one. Unmotivated another.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2011

The simple answer is to find a business partner, not an “implementer,” who already has the technical experience you need, and is willing and able to run that side of the business. If you are an entrepreneur, like Andrew Mason , CEO of Groupon, with a degree in music and no technical business partner to be found, your job is a bit harder.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Investment partners are squeezing you. The product is behind schedule. Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

In my experience, some of the best businesses have multiple partners, with complementary strengths. Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture.

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YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

by Kenneth Coats, founder of eKnowID. If you don’t perform a background check on your potential partner before doing business with him, you’re setting yourself up to get duped. Just like launching a new product, hiring a partner requires protecting your business against potential risk and failure. Knowing What to Look For.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Set milestones and manage to those targets.

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Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

But these look for founders who have a technical or business model insight and a team. Accelerators provide these teams with technical and business expertise and connect them to a network of other founders and advisors. I don’t have a killer idea, or a technical team, but I do know how to build, grow, and manage teams.”.

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View from Seed

APRIL 6, 2021

You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have a deep desire to learn the venture capital business and are ready to hustle to meet the next great founder. However, you will serve as a co-pilot on deals with all four partners, across the geographies we cover.

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Duct Tape Marketing

MARCH 17, 2020

How to Make Partner Marketing Work for You written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I sit down with founder and CEO of the performance marketing agency Acceleration Partners, Robert Glazer. Today, Glazer and I speak about the ins and outs of partner marketing.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

He gives a wealth of practical advice on building a successful technical startup, including some specifics that I like on what constitutes a dream team of partners: The technical guru. A sales fanatic on the founder team helps to contain that risk. Outsourcing your core competency does not work. The financial suit.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 10, 2023

Brian Smith, founder and senior managing partner of IA Business Advisors, shares insights on how to become aware of and use our positive influence. The post [Interview] Brian Smith, PhD, Founder Of IA Business Advisors appeared first on Young Upstarts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

Startup founders are known for their passion for their startup idea, and for their passion to kill every competitor. This approach has been used for years, and implies very little risk, but many startups are still “too busy” to pursuing possible partners. They also manage internal venture funds that may be your growth lifeline.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Visit reference customers, partners, and vendors. This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2015

As an advisor to startups, I often get asked what to look for in an ideal co-founder or business partner. After some reflection, I now realize these attributes are necessary but not sufficient to be an ideal business partner. This means every entrepreneur needs partners who are smarter than they are in complementary domains.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Time management. Investor negotiations. Effective marketing.

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Up and Running

MAY 15, 2014

When I was going through the co-founder “dating” process, I’d found a potential partner through my network who seemed to be perfect. Though my potential partner was performing well by the numbers, my own productivity was dwindling as I spent more and more time on managing our relationship.

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YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

by Saeju Jeong, CEO and Co-founder of Noom Coach. Although the odds were against Artem and I, we managed to succeed. Here, I outline five principles all co-founders must agree on before working together. Meanwhile, my talents lie within business management and networking. I should know – I’ve done it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Set milestones and manage to those targets.

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