Gust

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

Setting up a clean, effective web site that lists companies seeking funding and provides accounts for investors to interact with them is not rocket science. There are literally hundreds of platforms currently operating that connect investors and startups, and there have been at least a hundred others that have come and gone.

Belarus 107

Belarus Kazakhstan Portugal Accredited Investor 107

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2012

When a web designer is the advisor I wonder what that means down the road as the startup grows. Free web design forever? Why is the web designer not a regular team member. So the advisee companies get the last quarter hour of the last day. And having a vendor own shares means fewer shares for the investors and management team.

Startup 165

Startup Equity Capitalization Table Naming 165

Gust

DECEMBER 22, 2011

Today, it can sign one deal with a cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to replace all of the above. After eliminating all of these types of assets, what remains? Intellectual property. Second in importance only to talented people, IP in all its forms is the key asset comprising most of the value of any tech startup.

Intellectual Property 149

Intellectual Property Technical Review Software Review IP 149

Gust

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

I don’t mean necessarily geographically close to me or conceptually close to my experience (software, web, etc.), I want something that can continue to sell in volume even while we all sleep. Closeness. but one or the other.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Software Review Angel Investor Exit Strategy 70

Gust

JANUARY 15, 2013

Industry wise, interesting things are happening, the percentage of total Internet Web Service companies (the biggest industry for new startups) appears to be on the decline, with a market share loss of 1.8% The trend noticed last month of Product Ready companies declining appears to have dissipated as all stages regained their balance.

India 171

India United States Startup Restful 171

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

This time I’ll use a hypothetical health-care web site company named NewCo as an example to illustrate the points. Since NewCo has developed 10 online tools and a fabulous web site over the past year, how much would it cost another company to create similar quality tools and web interfaces with a conventional software team?

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Gust

DECEMBER 19, 2012

This trend is mostly led by a decrease in product ready internet web service companies in the US, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom, and with an increase in concept stage companies in Spain, India, Brazil and the United States.

United Kingdom 154

United Kingdom Pennsylvania Georgia Spain 154

Gust

DECEMBER 16, 2012

In today’s world, if you don’t have a web site up and running, you will not be perceived as a real company. Investors routinely go to candidate web sites to get a feel for the tone and scope of the company, as well as its maturity and offerings. Get your Internet domain name and website.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 179

Gust

FEBRUARY 26, 2014

The group’s respective web sites list these events. A calendar of many of these is available from the NVCA web site: NVCA and Industry Events. Further down the scale are the regional events that the organizations put on, which usually combine regional investment syndication with classes and tutorials. Venture Capitalists.

Angel Investor 125

Angel Investor Global Angel Groups Europe 125

Gust

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

From the designs of the iPod to the iPhone, from the packaging of the Apple’s products to the functionality of the Apple Web site, innovation means eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, according to Jobs. Create insanely great experiences.

Design 194

Design Entrepreneur Web Technology 194

Gust

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Anyone seriously considering entering this market should start by doing a great deal of research on the subject, including checking out the many existing sites in operation, the testimony provided during congressional hearings on the subject, and the several web sites springing up that aim to provide information about the field.

Securities and Exchange Commission 137

Securities and Exchange Commission Equity Early Stage Startup 137

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

Developing Web content (both the design and underlying code) (copyright, trademark). Here are just a few examples: Creating and revising a business plan (copyright, trade secret). Creating product mock-ups , wireframes, etc. trade secret). Writing, debugging, testing and deploying code and scripts of all kinds (copyright, trade secret).

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Gust

JUNE 7, 2014

But for a company with multiple rounds of equity and/or debt funding, things can rapidly get so complicated that the only way to figure out who gets what, when, is to use a specialized computer or web-based program: *original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *. Invested Interests company early stage funding investors startup starup'

Warrant 157

Warrant Preferred Stock Early Stage Common Stock 157

Gust

DECEMBER 3, 2013

Whether you like Mark Zuckerberg’s mug or not, the social web is here to stay, and businesses that can integrate social proof into their marketing efforts seamlessly will join this new “socially rich” class. I just read Social Proof Is the New Currency on the Social Media Today blog. Author Daniel Lay writes: .

Social Media 133

Social Media Angel Investor Startup Media 133

Gust

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

However, the fascinating wrinkle is that it looks like startups will NOT be able market this sale to anyone, but that instead the sale will have to be done through a new form of web site called a funding portal (think “Kickstarter for equity” ).

Accredited Investor 121

Accredited Investor SEC Stock Startup 121

Gust

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Unsurprisingly the dominant industry for new startups in August is Internet/Web Services, but other top industries include Consumer Products and Services, Media and Entertainment, as well as Financial Services.

Brazil 134

Brazil India Startup Florida 134

Gust

JULY 26, 2012

The unbelievably seismic changes resulting from exponentially advancing technology mean that the ‘traditional’ venture world is rapidly giving way to a new world of micro-VC, “super angel”, early-stage seed funds, which have very different economics.

IPO 115

IPO Early Stage Acquisition Web 115

Gust

OCTOBER 11, 2011

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation , and the first page of your web site. Use it in every networking situation and business conference introduction. A different message everywhere is no message.

Elevator Pitch 174

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 174

Gust

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

To find what’s available in your area, take a look at the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) web site, and use the lookup tool provided. Another variation is technology business incubators, which nurture high-tech startups and present a technology oriented variant of business incubators.

Incubator 147

Incubator Entrepreneur New York City Silicon Valley 147

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

Try Web-Ex, free teleconferencing, and Skype instead of international travel for client meetings. Print your own collateral and marketing materials until the business is rolling. Use the Internet and social networking instead of public relations companies and advertising agencies. Savings can be huge in these areas.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Gust

OCTOBER 7, 2012

With most others, like web services, incubation time must be short, and secrecy can be the kiss of death. Overall, I recognize that there are some startups, like biotech and semiconductors, with long highly technical development cycles and huge competitors, where early stealth makes sense.

Stealth 131

Stealth Entrepreneur Incubator Engineer 131

Gust

JUNE 24, 2012

Everyone must have a web site that is complete, inviting, and easy to use. As you move to new support new languages, don’t just translate, but “transcreate” (express the same meaning and nuances). Use technology to reach your prospects. Use social media, search engine optimization, blogging, and mobile media.

Marketing 136

Marketing Database Social Media Media 136

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

This is a concept coined (and trademarked) by Eric Ries a few years ago, primarily for software and web applications. The business accelerator model is YCombinator and TechStars , who select only the best applicants, have a demanding process, provide experienced coaching/mentoring, some seed funding, with a required exit in about six months.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

Gust

DECEMBER 28, 2011

A decent web search will turn up several different sources of standard industry ratios for less than $100 per industry, broken into NAICS codes. Projecting excess profits, at rates way beyond the normal, are bad for at least three reasons: Kills credibility regarding industry knowledge and realistic projections.

Angel Investor 79

Angel Investor IPO Search Web 79

Gust

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Services generally aren’t scalable (except web services) because you need to double head count to double sales. Growth means a strong market and a deliverable that’s scalable and defensible. By scalable I mean that you can gear up to sell 10 or 100 or 1,000 per hour.

Angel Investor 93

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Finance Web 93

Gust

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Well it depends on the industry you’re in, but generally great technology skills (hacking/hardware/science) great hustling skills (to search for the business model, customers and market,) great user facing design (if you’re a web/mobile app,) and by having long term vision and product sense.

Angel Investor 93

Angel Investor Oregon Business Model Search 93

Gust

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Increasing the associated risk would have a chilling effect on the entrepreneurs who found these companies and the investors who fund them, diverting startup activity (and value creation) away from what might otherwise be some of the most innovative new businesses in the “Web 3.0”

IPO 110

IPO Prospectus SEC Intellectual Property 110

Gust

AUGUST 8, 2012

It might make sense for weekend partiers heading from LA to Vegas on El Cheapo Web-Only Special fares, but doesn’t WiFi come free along with the peanuts since I paid substantially more for a Business Select fare? Nevertheless, Southwest charges $5 for in-flight Internet access, which starts to feel like nickel-and-diming.

Customer 143

Customer Southern California San Jose Marketing 143

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Intermix had acquired their previous online marketing startup, ResponseBase, and they remained a cohesive group.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

Gust

JULY 27, 2014

You can find web sites like the Comprehensive List of Search Engines , which is nothing but a list of 250+ available search engines. Web site generators have made it cheap and easy to launch a site, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to succeed. I hope you have a better idea than Women Behind Bars , or Herpes-Date.com. Search engines.

Entrepreneur 182

Entrepreneur Aggregator Engineer Social Network 182

Gust

AUGUST 7, 2012

Build sales on assumptions like web traffic, channels, events, sales locations, or combinations on those. Projecting absurdly high profits doesn’t mean it’s a profitable business; it means somebody doesn’t understand the business well enough to know its costs and expenses. Tops-down projections.

Business Plan 172

Business Plan Sweat Equity Salary Founder 172

Gust

AUGUST 2, 2012

Indeed, that’s one of the reasons I agreed to host the web series Second Chance, when Sprint and MSN asked me to do it. These are the entrepreneurs who, in virtually every case, I would have absolutely no hesitation to back again, just as my great investors were willing to take another chance on me.

Portfolio 117

Portfolio Hosting Entrepreneur Web 117

Gust

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

In contrast, however, angel investors and venture capitalists simply do not have the interest or time to go out proactively looking on web sites for companies to shower money upon.

Angel Investor 79

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Venture Capital Finance 79

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Since Bill Hewlett joined with Dave Packard in 1939 to create what is today the world’s largest personal computer company, there has arisen an evergreen debate as to who is more important in starting a tech company: the techie or the business guy? Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak? Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer? Jim Clark or Marc Andreessen?

Coder 147

Coder Web Startup Salary 147