Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2010

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. If your software is your solution and “secret sauce,” don’t entrust it to outsiders of any kind.

Software 129

Software Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Non-Compete 129

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

You will need to invest more in training your own team, and increase your capital budget for new hardware and software. I’ll outsource software development, since I don’t understand it.” When you sign up remote workers, you’ll start to rely heavily on collaborative tools, Internet bandwidth, and new data security tools.

Cost 346

Cost Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 346

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. In fact, they are well-qualified overall, having worked with high technology and computers for at least 20 years, are highly educated, and highly motivated.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Intellectual Property 306

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Technical Review 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

Here is an entry-level benchmark for the new software personal assistants: Simple and intuitive communication. Technology environment savvy. Technology environment savvy. A good assistant know how get things done efficiently, recognizing user hardware and software limitations. Memorable personality.

Web 380

Web Search Semantic Software Review 380

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2022

Market your solution and user benefits, not the mysterious technology behind it. I see lots of new software put together on a shoestring as a “proof of concept” – but then gets rolled out to customers “asis” due to lack of time or money to “harden” the product. Don’t take shortcuts on these.

Technical Review 342

Technical Review Customer Social Network Software Review 342

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2020

Technical entrepreneurs love their technology, and often are driven to launch a startup on the assumption that everyone will buy any solution which highlights this technology. These founders all seem to be pushing their technology, rather than highlighting their solution to a painful need. Limit the features and complexity.

Technology 317

Technology Marketing Sales Cycle Social Media 317

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

As a potential investor, I always think of the high rate of failure of disruptive technologies, due to the longer learning curve of customers, infrastructure change consistently required, and higher marketing costs. Technology is great, but high-tech major-step-forward solutions are not the answer to all our change challenges.

Technical Review 252

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Metrics 252

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Arizona or a similar location. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. When it comes to the technology ecosystem, clusters are vital. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

With the latest advances in software technology, it’s no longer cost-prohibitive for business entrepreneurs, who can’t yet afford a human resources department, to take advantage of analytics tools. Almost any startup can start with Excel, and move to open-source data analysis tools, including Python or RStudio.

Analytics 303

Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

Although I’m not an aficionado of checklists in general, I really appreciate one he has included for keeping up with the latest technological trends that are reshaping business strategies, which should be the driver for startups to fill in the gaps. Are you driving the technology, or is it driving you? Gamification. Marty Zwilling.

Technology 216

Technology Social Media Cloud Retention 216

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2019

DNA image via Wikipedia As a business advisor and technologist, I often think about the large array of opportunities for entrepreneurs as technology seems to be evolving faster and faster. Yet from time to time, I try to step back and look for some of the most promising and exciting technologies that I see coming down the pike.

Artificial Inteligence 224

Artificial Inteligence Technology Software Entrepreneur 224

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2023

With remote workers, you need to learn how to effectively use the new software technologies, such as Zoom and Slack , to get the engagement and commitment you need. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/27/2023

Leadership 280

Leadership Agile Demand Search 280

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Now, with powerful high-level tools and open source software, winning smartphone apps can be built by a good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 264

Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Software apps that once required a 10-person team can now be done with the Lean Development methodology by two people in a couple of months. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

You will need to invest more in training your own team, and increase your capital budget for new hardware and software. I’ll outsource software development, since I don’t understand it.” When you sign up remote workers, you’ll start to rely heavily on collaborative tools, Internet bandwidth, and new data security tools.

Entrepreneur 303

Entrepreneur Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 303

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. In fact, they are well-qualified overall, having worked with high technology and computers for at least 20 years, are highly educated, and highly motivated.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2010

I found dozens of software packages available on the Internet for free download, or a nominal price. Yet my experience is that shareware software is usually worth what you pay for it. The scan hardware here is required for all software solutions. Commercial software. CardScan Personal. Basic sync functions are available.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Technology Software Review Social Network 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Software apps that once required a 10-person team can now be done with the Lean Development methodology by two people in a couple of months. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2012

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. If your software is your solution and “secret sauce,” don’t entrust it to outsiders of any kind.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Non-Compete Vietnam 222

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

Technical entrepreneurs love their technology, and often are driven to launch a startup on the assumption that everyone will buy any solution which highlights this technology. These founders all seem to be pushing their technology, rather than highlighting their solution to a painful need. Limit the features and complexity.

Technology 286

Technology Startup Sales Cycle Social Media 286

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

If you have a software development background like mine, Im sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your secret sauce, you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Intellectual Property 238

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Offshore 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2017

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts an angel investor pitch to me by touting his new technology. They have forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they eliminate. Focus on user pain points. Keep it simple and easy to use.

Technology 133

Technology Angel Investor Software Engineer 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Arizona or a similar location. Today, Silicon Valley is the consumer and enterprise software capital of the world. When it comes to the technology ecosystem, clusters are vital. Finance has homes in New York, Hong Kong, and London.

Las Vegas 243

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 243

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2019

Market your solution and user benefits, not the mysterious technology behind it. I see lots of new software put together on a shoestring as a “proof of concept” – but then gets rolled out to customers “asis” due to lack of time or money to “harden” the product. Don’t take shortcuts on these.

Security 195

Security Technical Review Social Network Software Review 195

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2011

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. If your software is your solution and “secret sauce,” don’t entrust it to outsiders of any kind.

Intellectual Property 225

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Non-Compete Vietnam 225

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2012

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. Yes, the software patent process is a mess. I say this with conviction even after I survived the process, and have a software patent pending. Software technology changes rapidly.

Software 233

Software Intellectual Property Algorithm Startup 233

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies. Software apps that once required a 10-person team can now be done with the Lean Development methodology by two people in a couple of months. Apply for contests and business grants.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2013

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his pitch by touting his new technology. He has forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they hope to eliminate. Let me be clear – technology and market-driven need not be mutually exclusive!

Technology 252

Technology Marketing Startup Engineer 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

With the latest advances in software technology, it’s no longer cost-prohibitive for business entrepreneurs, who can’t yet afford a human resources department, to take advantage of analytics tools. Almost any startup can start with Excel, and move to open-source data analysis tools, including Python or RStudio.

Analytics 245

Analytics Metrics Employee Open Source 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2017

As a new business advisor and technologist, I often think about the large array of opportunities for entrepreneurs as technology seems to be evolving faster and faster. Yet from time to time, I try to step back and look for some of the most promising and exciting technologies that I see coming down the pike.

Artificial Inteligence 143

Artificial Inteligence Technology Software Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 7, 2011

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. Yes, the software patent process is a mess. I say this with conviction even after I survived the process, and have a software patent pending. Software technology changes rapidly.

Software 228

Software Intellectual Property Algorithm Valuation 228

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his pitch by touting his new technology. He has forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they hope to eliminate. Let me be clear – technology and market-driven need not be mutually exclusive!

Technology 239

Technology Customer Engineer Software 239

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2017

This technology is not only spawning a new generation of entrepreneurs, but is also changing the educational landscape, all the way down to early grade school. By collaborating with the Maker Movement, artistic entrepreneurs work with the technology freaks, and both benefit from cultures around the world.

Technical Cofounder 153

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Wiki Cofounder 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2018

You will need to invest more in training your own team, and increase your capital budget for new hardware and software. I’ll outsource software development, since I don’t understand it.” When you sign up remote workers, you’ll start to rely heavily on collaborative tools, Internet bandwidth, and new data security tools.

Philippines 181

Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder Affiliate 181

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Non-disclosure Agreement Software Review Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2023

Technical entrepreneurs love their technology, and often are driven to launch a startup on the assumption that everyone will buy any solution which highlights this technology. These founders all seem to be pushing their technology, rather than highlighting their solution to a painful need. Limit the features and complexity.

Customer 276

Customer Sales Cycle Social Media Viral 276