Up and Running

MARCH 17, 2022

Many business owners know and understand the value of a business plan. The business plan is a key component of the startup and fundraising process and serves as a foundation for your organization. What is a business plan? It lays out who is running the business and what the business does.

Business Plan 145

Business Plan Operations Lean Forecast 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Marketing should start before product development. No startup can afford to do these serially.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Up and Running

MAY 2, 2011

Tweet Your business plan is the foundation of your business. It’s also an invaluable tool when it comes time to apply for a business loan. When lenders ask for a business plan, they are looking specifically for the following items: History of the business. About the Author.

Business Plan 92

Business Plan SBA Revenue Finance 92

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

A key to making this entire process much easier is to invest a little time and write a business plan. It’s true — not all investors will ask to see your business plan. Why do investors want to see a business plan? The business plan document itself isn’t what’s important to investors.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2020

You envision your business as the next Uber or Spotify, yourself as the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, reaching that prestigious ‘unicorn’ startup status in record time. Like most entrepreneurs, you’ve probably mapped out the business plan, dreamed up the layout and you’re already snapping up domains and emailing developers with your plan.

Product 264

Product Cofounder Audience Product Development 264

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Business commercialization.

Product Development 120

Product Development Developer Product Angel Investor 120

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Learn why the traditional way of writing a five-year business plan is often a waste of time and how to use a Lean Plan instead for smarter, easier strategic planning to establish your long-term vision. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan for the long term. What is a long-term plan?

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Business commercialization.

Angel Investor 256

Angel Investor Early Stage Incubator Government 256

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2017

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. The lean start-up movement has been based on a single insight – which the purpose of a start-up is to discover a business model that works. Reducing product turn time. Specifically, we show that OPD leads to: Increasing the ability to pivot.

Product Development 132

Product Development Lean Developer Product 132

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

It is necessary to cover the early stages of product development, thorough market research, and other processes during the initial step. Seed capital is a component of the initial investments made in young businesses. During the pre-seed fundraising stage, investors need a viable business plan to base their investments on.

Seed Stage 126

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 275

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 275

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Business commercialization.

Early Stage 412

Early Stage Angel Investor Incubator Government 412

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 17, 2021

Big data is a prominent subject for many businesses around the world, and for those of you who operate entirely online enterprises, studying statistics and numbers is perhaps even more important, and, can be convenient using online business education.

Analytics 174

Analytics Technical Review Social Media Software Review 174

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Product development process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. Or the economy has taken a sudden turn for the worse, so your high-end product no longer has a market. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Founder 250

Founder Startup Software Developers Software Development 250

Business Plan Blog

AUGUST 20, 2013

Development Plan (Timelines/Costs/Budgets). Product Development Team. Whether you have a question about your technology plan or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services , feel free to contact us for a free consultation ! Wireframes.

CTO Hire 55

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Architecture Cofounder 55

Up and Running

JULY 3, 2014

Pick the one that works best for you, keeping in mind that you can shorten the analysis while keeping the major components of the plan intact. The back-of-the-napkin export business plan (suitable for born-global entrepreneurs). The traditional-export business plan. The Laurel export business plan.

Business Plan 74

Business Plan Widget France Global 74

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

As a startup, you probably don’t have much money to spend on marketing or product development. For example, you might use guerilla marketing techniques to promote your product without spending much money on traditional advertising channels. Hence it is critical to have a solid business plan before you start.

Startup 198

Startup Technical Review Ghana Guerilla 198

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 237

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 237

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. Or the economy has taken a sudden turn for the worse, so your high-end product no longer has a market. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Software Developers 229

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

Waterfall Development. While it sounds simple , the Build Measure Learn approach to product development is a radical improvement over the traditional Waterfall model used throughout the 20 th century to build and ship products. Lessons Learned.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. The days of lengthy, text-heavy, business plan documents prepared by expensive experts are behind us. Establishing your brand with interactive social media. The cost of social media done well is low.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

Product development. Now that you have a refined product idea and a team that can turn this idea into reality, the product development stage will start. Initial product development usually consists of prototyping and MVP. Prototyping usually means the initial working draft of the product idea.

Startup 104

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. Or the economy has taken a sudden turn for the worse, so your high-end product no longer has a market. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Startup 245

Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Marketing should start before product development. No startup can afford to do these serially.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 120

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 15, 2009

I have about 11 years in the technology sector including roles doing market research, sales and product development. My focus has been marketing strategy and product development. I’m currently working with several startups, helping them launch new web businesses. Most people think they can do product design.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Southern California Management Product 179

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Capturing and analyzing data enables companies to get insights that benefit their companies in cost-saving, relevant marketing, product development, etc. With appropriate data analytics, a business can predict and comprehend the market, competition, customer demands, etc.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Forecast Analytics Social Media 153

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 7, 2024

Plan Long Term It seems obvious that every company should have a business plan, yet experiencing sudden growth can affect these plans and too many entrepreneurs are eager to leap ahead without considering how it could affect the business.

Startup 111

Startup Forecast Social Media Cost 111

Up and Running

JULY 19, 2016

It’s about what your business does for people that other businesses don’t do. See Also: Business Planning Guide. I’m not sure where this classic positioning statement template started, or whom to credit, but I’ve found it very useful for years of developing business plans. Positioning diagrams.

Business Plan 60

Business Plan Developer Marketing Social Media 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 3, 2017

From product development to market research, many startups are one-person operations in their early days. Even as their teams grow, entrepreneurs often feel that they must tend to every aspect of the business, including low-level tasks that distract from revenue-generating activity. Wearing Your Many Hats With Style.

Technical Review 104

Technical Review Management Arizona Software Review 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Marketing should start before product development. No startup can afford to do these serially.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Most entrepreneurs are mavericks, and their passion drove their new business. Switch your attention from product development to sales. There is no free lunch. Install a real board of directors.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

YoungUpstarts

MAY 23, 2018

Sometimes, it’s the lack of a proper business plan that really hurts the startup. If the business was launched off of a vision, product idea or loose handshake agreements, but there was no due diligence in building a thorough business case, then the unknowns can sweep in and cripple forward momentum.

Due Diligence 114

Due Diligence Startup Finance Leadership 114

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

In my experience, it means it will likely be necessary to supplement your product business plan with some key personal initiatives that define you as a business leader role model for all to see: Take a visible leadership role in your industry. Build relationships with known business leaders.

Stealth 362

Stealth Leadership Viral Social Media 362

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228