Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

Thus team makeup is the critical success factor. Thus team makeup is the critical success factor. It takes an effective team to attract and serve a community in business these days. A few companies seem to be leading the way in building and maintaining ultra-effective teams, sometimes called extreme teams.

Developer 387

Developer Startup Social Media Internet 387

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Investors want board seats and a vote on key decisions.

Cost 267

Cost Bootstrapping Advisory Board Startup 267

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2022

Thus, I challenge each of you to measure yourself against the following practices which I believe will expand your thinking and ability to keep up with the pace of change, and win in the global marketplace today: Don’t let your passion alone drive the business. Accept change as a way of life in achieving success.

Technical Review 302

Technical Review Social Media Metrics Hosting 302

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

I personally love passion and technology, but these alone don’t make a business. I personally love passion and technology, but these alone don’t make a business. This saps their passion and energy, and limits their thinking and success. A recurring expense was turned into a recurring revenue.

Social Media 330

Social Media Entrepreneur Revenue Internet 330

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. He always had a plausible excuse, such as an unexpected problem, or family conflict, but the frequency left me with low confidence in his ultimate success. Paul Allen was the idea visionary.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. Many people believe that new ideas are the critical element of innovation, but in my experience as a mentor and investor, long-term business success is more about implementation than ideas.

Artificial Inteligence 286

Artificial Inteligence Technology Leadership Business Model 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs I know charge into battle with only their passion, and hope for the best. Too many entrepreneurs I know charge into battle with only their passion, and hope for the best. Here are some key strategy elements I see highlighted by the military: Gather your intelligence on where and when to hit first.

Technical Review 313

Technical Review Marketing Social Media Leadership 313

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Invite key people for coffee or lunch one-on-one, and get to know them and their business. Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Give yourself the “So-what?”

Marketing 353

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 353

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I realized that he and I see several common patterns that account for a large percentage of new venture failures.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Unfortunately, in my experience, it takes much more than an innovative idea to launch a successful business today. Some of the additional elements are critical and often overlooked in your passion to move ahead quickly. Some of the additional elements are critical and often overlooked in your passion to move ahead quickly.

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Technical Review Government Agile Differentiation 201

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

Here are ten of the key questions that apply equally well to the world of startups and entrepreneurs, as they do to large organizations. Your passion is necessary but not sufficient to motivate real change. Your passion is necessary but not sufficient to motivate real change. How do I measure success? Change is hard.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2021

Yet, these days, I am seeing overwhelming evidence that customer buying decisions, especially with consumers, are often based on emotional and psychological factors , including passions from others, your experience, and social relationships. Consumers seem desperate these days to not be left behind as the crowd moves on.

Customer 432

Customer Social Media Dividend Technical Review 432

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined.

Cost 260

Cost Hiring Matching Internet 260

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Investors know that building any business is a challenging and risky proposition, so they start with entrepreneurs who give a first impression of passion, commitment, and work ethic to succeed. Successful businesses are measured by their results, so relevant skills, attention to details, and problem-solving abilities are critical.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I’m always looking for early signs that usually lead to an “almost” success, but I have found them hard to pin down. As an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I’m always looking for early signs that usually lead to an “almost” success, but I have found them hard to pin down.

Silicon Valley 239

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Dividend Cofounder 239

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 18, 2024

2- By setting achievable goals Photo Credit: Valev Laube For me, the key is setting clear, achievable goals while maintaining a vision for the long-term impact of my work. When the going gets rough in business, you’ll need the motivation to keep moving. Here are the various ways entrepreneurs and business owners stay motivated in business. #1-

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Jordan Networking AJAX 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

The best professional investors receive dozens of proposals a day, so they are conditioned to look for quantitative data, rather than passion, for credibility and potential. Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet.

Business Plan 273

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. The most common approach I see to achieving this is to do more of everything for everyone. Fight the urge do more things, to attract more customers in a broader market.

Technical Review 400

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

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. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Think twice before you jump in.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2022

You may be convinced that your technical expertise, and your passion for the product, will allow you to succeed without reliance on team members, but in my experience, I have seen many careers and businesses fail due to lack of team synergy, or even in-fighting and dysfunction. The days of a single autocratic leader are gone.

Leadership 297

Leadership Technical Review Startup Social Media 297

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2023

Temper your passion with reality. Revision of the breakdown list is a key part of the process. When I dig deeper, I find that many of you are easily excited by a great new idea, but fail to diligently follow a validation process to test the limits of your thinking, before proceeding to rollout. Don’t just accept your first breakdown.

Technical Review 300

Technical Review Stealth Social Media Search 300

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Nail the solution. Nail the solution.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2022

You may think that passion and hard work are all you need, but I believe we all have unique strengths , and you need to recognize yours, and capitalize on them above all else, in order to get the advantage you need to win in business. In the business world, your ability to raise money is often paramount to your success.

Silicon Valley 325

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Technical Review Boston 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2021

Yet I suspect that few of you have seriously thought about the scope of problems that every CEO must face, and what capabilities are the key to success, whether your company is a small startup, or a multi-billion multi-national conglomerate. Simplifying complexity and being ready to implement a solution are key.

Leadership 340

Leadership Framework Demand Employee 340

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2022

In my role as a business advisor, I see successful businesses most often emerging from great teams rather than great products. New businesses need people who have a passion for getting things done with limited resources, enjoy problem solving, and relish constant change. It’s a small cost to prevent a long-term loss.

Hiring 337

Hiring Technical Cofounder Cofounder Retention 337

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

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. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Think twice before you jump in.

Sweat Equity 207

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 207

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Consider the following principles and how they apply to you as you do your own reality check: Identify your passion first, and list alternatives to get there. As a result, you may tune your plan, or decide that running your own business is really not the dream you thought it might be. You can’t really succeed in life if you are not happy.

Founder 262

Founder Intellectual Property Social Media Business Plan 262

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I’m always looking for early signs that usually lead to an “almost” success, but I have found them hard to pin down. As an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I’m always looking for early signs that usually lead to an “almost” success, but I have found them hard to pin down.

Silicon Valley 430

Silicon Valley Dividend Cofounder Technology 430

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. Focus is the art of limiting your scope to the key function that really matters for the majority of customers. It’s tough for an elephant to be agile.

Startup 287

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 287

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Investors want board seats and a vote on key decisions.

Bootstrapping 310

Bootstrapping Advisory Board Venture Capital Startup 310

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 20, 2023

The key lies in having a groundbreaking idea and understanding the broader tech landscape and the forces shaping it. New startups are created every day – each with fresh ideas and solutions. However, the reality is stark: up to 90% of startups fail, with the average failure rate for the first year standing at 10%.

Technical Review 137

Technical Review Startup Silicon Valley Agile 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2022

Most people I know in business begin by capitalizing on technical strength or passion for change , such as engineering, or focus on saving the environment. I recommend a proactive approach to get you thinking and acting like a leader today, starting with a focus on these key strategies: Push back on your fear of taking a leadership position.

Leadership 285

Leadership Startup Networking Engineer 285

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined.

Hiring 339

Hiring Matching Cost Internet 339

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2021

Here are key strategies that we both agree will elevate your efforts and get business results on a consistent basis without the pain and stress that seem to dominate the working lives of many of us: Learn: leverage the best of what others know. A passion for your business and your innovation will only get you so far.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Restful Internet Small Business 309

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Known for her commercial acumen and hands-on leadership style, Joanna Swash is passionate about developing people and creating a culture that breeds success and innovation. In business, a crisis like COVID 19 forces us to be creative, innovate, adapt, and do things differently. Respond to customers promptly. Invest in tech.

Customer 279

Customer Technical Review Social Media Leadership 279

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 27, 2023

1- Empowering women to reach their potential Photo Credit: Roopa Gulati My motivation for growing “The Style and Mindset Connection” is deeply rooted in my passion for helping independent professional women reach their full potential. addition to passion, the need to innovate and make a difference is a major factor.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Jordan Software Review Technical Review 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Investors know that building any business is a challenging and risky proposition, so they start with entrepreneurs who give a first impression of passion, commitment, and work ethic to succeed. Successful businesses are measured by their results, so relevant skills, attention to details, and problem-solving abilities are critical.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316