Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. business calculated risks entrepreneur smart risks startup'

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Product 322

Product Stock Options Salary Leadership 322

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Stock Options 362

Stock Options Salary Leadership Stock 362

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. It’s hard to recover from a tarnished image. Marty Zwilling.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. It’s hard to recover from a tarnished image. Marty Zwilling.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

If you’re a startup and you don’t have a close relationship with a few law firms you’re really missing one of the most important relationships that any entrepreneur can have. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. I know that people have an allergy to lawyers out of fear of being screwed.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! The ROI of Blogging: What the Groove Blog is Worth to Our Startup – crowdspring.co/YUXa2r. 10 Massively Successful Minimum Viable Products – crowdspring.co/1mVcFD5.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

Up and Running

MARCH 7, 2018

I spent years as a manager at a startup company. Aside from the time-consuming tasks of screening potential employees, interviewing, and re-hiring , losing and replacing employees is expensive. This cost includes recruitment, lost productivity, and lost opportunity. Hire the right people. Here is how to do it.

Employee 91

Employee Startup Salary Hiring 91

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

According to the Angel Capital Association: Angels (private money) invest in 55,000 startups each year versus 1,500 companies by VC (venture capital) funding. ” Yes, the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) is exciting, and it will bring a lot more potential investors into the marketplace. Stock Option.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

The Next Web

AUGUST 12, 2013

It’s unrelated to the startup world, but I can highly recommend to watch “ Being Liverpool ”. At 6Wunderkinder, our motivation is a combination of passion for what we’re doing (creating the best productivity software in the world) as well as our strong and endless will to build up an impressive team and business. Startups fail.

Cofounder 119

Cofounder CTO Hire Startup Europe 119

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Startups that are backed by professional financial investors almost always have a Board of Directors that consists of some set of founders, investors and sometimes independent directors. It is worth pointing out that there are actually three levels of governance in venture-backed startups. hiring & firing the CEO.

Startup 204

Startup Dilution Government Stock Options 204

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Make sure you understand all of your options before making any decisions. When business owners decide to go down the route of equity compensation, there are two primary options to choose between.

Equity 60

Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

prosperati.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Prosperati HOME BLOG ABOUT CONTACT Blog Can A Startup Do OffShore Development? Part 2 Posted 07.15.2009 in Blog In my previous article ( Can a Startup Do OffShore Development? Hiring Of all the issues we ran into when we first built our team, hiring was the most critical. Now on to more operational considerations.

Offshore 40

Offshore Malaysia Developer Stock Options 40

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. So what does an early-stage company do to avoid the doom and gloom plaguing the world of startups?

Early Stage 109

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 109

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

For a well-funded seed company I have controversially recommended hiring a great office manager that doubles as an administrative assistant. I can’t tell you how many people have thanked me for this advice and say their productivity increased exponentially. Great startups have budgets. Budgeting & Planning.

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 2, 2014

Many startups these days are started by young, technical or product founders who are in the idealistic phase of their lives and careers. Zynga not only had many hirings & firings but ultimately it led to Mark Pincus stepping aside as CE O. Trust me – ignore startup politics at your peril. Foursquare?

Startup 385

Startup Stock Options Cofounder Campaign 385

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How we Hire for Sweat Equity (Part 2)… Posted on April 7, 2011 by Travis Biziorek. The first time we hired partners for Kibin was way back in late 2009. I’ve heard people say it’s impossible to hire good developers right now. I want to hire before I have the ability to pay anyone.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 17, 2023

Employees are the foundation of any organization, and their engagement and well-being have a direct and profound impact on productivity, morale, and the overall success of the company. Consider also offering performance bonuses, stock options, or profit-sharing plans as additional incentives.

Employee 104

Employee Stock Options Programming Equity 104

Up and Running

JANUARY 4, 2017

Wise business owners will funnel as much money as they can into their startup to see maximum growth over a short time period before pocketing cash from the business. Whether you offer a service for clients or a unique product, you will need to cultivate the right users who can help determine the direction for your company.

Small Business 122

Small Business Social Media Stock Options Employee 122

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2013

9 months seems like a lifetime but given how long it will take to ship your V1 product (5 months) and how long it will take to raise your next round (3-4 months) there isn’t a lot of room for error. How can you show “traction” on a product that just launched? The startup CEO was not the original founder.

Startup 417

Startup Dilution San Diego Stock Options 417

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2016

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Startup 147

Startup Stock Options Salary Stock 147

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

But not everybody has the right skills to build a highly successful and valuable startup from scratch. For some aspiring to be tech entrepreneurs, I often suggest a two-step process, as I argued in this post that “ The First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in Is You.” In fact, I would argue that most people don’t.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. I never hire job hoppers. Yes, if you were a startup CEO I would probably cut you some slack. If they are Google, Facebook and then a startup – you’re fine.

Hiring 392

Hiring Employee Vesting Silicon Valley 392

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 24, 2013

Some startup CEOs prioritize it and build theirs with the same attention they give to product. Once we’ve invested in a company, I find it easiest to talk about culture in terms of hiring because it’s (a) often the most important post-financing activity and (b) it’s an immediate use case with real tangible decisions.

Hiring 103

Hiring Advisory Board Ruby Stock Options 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2012

For those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of a new venture, but haven’t yet worked up the nerve to start your own, begin with a job at a startup. Working for a startup is not a career choice, but more of a lifestyle. The other partner, and hopefully there is only one crazy one, goes after the startup lifestyle.

Silicon Valley 246

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 246

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

If you really want to impress a startup founder as a potential employee, or you want to be a smart investor, you need to know the right questions to ask. If the runway is less than six months, with no new source signed, both you and the startup are at risk. How much “skin” is already in the game? What’s in this deal for me?

Due Diligence 244

Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate Intellectual Property 244

Hunter Walker

JUNE 7, 2022

I can’t tell you whether this is just a few months of rightsizing or a multiyear recession but I do anticipate there are going to be more cuts — and outright failed startups — before our industry outlook returns to half-full instead of half-empty. Very often at startups your title isn’t reflective of all of your roles, or is quite generic.

Stock Options 94

Stock Options Vesting Stock Valuation 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2011

For those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of a new venture, but haven’t yet worked up the nerve to start your own, begin with a job at a startup. Working for a startup is not a career choice, but more of a lifestyle. The other partner, and hopefully there is only one crazy one, goes after the startup lifestyle.

Silicon Valley 227

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 227

www.joelonsoftware.com

MARCH 24, 2010

When we decide to hire someone, the interviewers who were involved in the "hire" decision will sit down with the candidates resume and salary history and figure out what level they will start at. These people sit around thinking "lofty thoughts about markets, products, the competition, and the like. Its neat and egalitarian.

Software Review 48

Software Review Stock Options Salary Technical Review 48