Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 315

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 315

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 120

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 120

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2023

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group.

Technical Cofounder 341

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 341

VC Cafe

APRIL 4, 2024

This creates a challenge, but also an opportunity for startups in the generative AI space. 70% of the startups in the current batch (170 out of 243) are AI companies. How can startups even compete against big tech, scale ups and other startups? Case in point: this week was Ycombinator’s W24 demo day.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Technical Review ChatGPT 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 246

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 246

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

Another full-stack short-term rentals startup ? Another affinity-based co-working space? It seems as though in many categories, especially in consumer internet space, a handful of startups pursuing quite similar or even apparently identical ideas launch within months of each other.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Stealth 120

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 8, 2023

Zeev Farbman, CEO and co-founder of Lightricks, believes that “With video-to-video AI capabilities, soon nearly everyone will have the ability to create Hollywood level video productions on their phone,” he said via a press release. Lightricks’s announcement came with two potentially differentiating aspects.

Generative AI 133

Generative AI Video Technical Review Cofounder 133

VC Cafe

AUGUST 11, 2022

A couple of weeks ago I was did a fireside chat with Alon Grinshpoon, founder and CEO of Echo3D , a CDN and CMS for 3D content in the cloud and a Remagine Ventures portfolio company, as part of an entrepreneurial finance MBA class in Tel Aviv University. We were discussing both sides of the table and the relationship between founders and VCs.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 14, 2022

While certain aspects of setting up a startup can be exhilarating, especially in the early stages of the business, there are also plenty of bumps along the road, big and small. So, before you start your startup and invest your time and money in it, you have to ensure your startup does not fail. Image Source. Focus on marketing.

Startup 151

Startup Early Stage Naming Public Relations 151

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group.

Technical Cofounder 315

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Differentiation 315

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

by Hema Crockett and Jamie Jacobs, co-founders of Gig Talent . Whether you’re working for a large corporation or a small startup, operational costs will always exist. It’s here to stay and will be a key differentiator for organizations who want to build the best teams with the best talent from around the world.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

by Felix Winstone, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Talkative. As a startup co-founder with a growing team, here are the recruiting tips I’ve learnt over the last couple of years. Robert Metcalfe, co-founder and CEO of 3Com, says you need to think about it as “recruiting, not hiring”.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 19, 2024

Despite not going to university, Ash became a serial tech founder and the first marketing director of a unicorn startup – Just Eat). Hasan built a successful startup from his bedroom with nothing more than an online course and a yearning to escape the ‘rat race’.

Fractional CTO 74

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review Marketing 74

www.virtuosimedia.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Startup Advice. Home ▶ Businesses ▶ Startup Business Advice ▶ Current Page How To Find A Technical Cofounder For Your Online Business Idea. This article should also serve as a starting guide for programmers who are approached about becoming technical co-founders. Copywriting Tips. Social Media.

Technical Cofounder 41

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review NDA 41

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 202

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 202

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We believe that it is incrementally harder to differentiate on simple Internet products or mobile apps and while great companies are built doing this, our goal as a fund is to try and fund things that can be 100x returns if they work. We’re not Pollyannaish about this. They have raised $14 million to date.

Cofounder 207

Cofounder Differentiation Hosting Design 207

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Depending on the composition of the founding team, you might or might not have near-term holes in certain functions at the exec level – e.g. you’ll most likely need to bring on a CTO/VP of Engineering shortly after the seed round if you don’t have a technical co-founder.

Part-Time VPE 195

Part-Time VPE Seed Stage CTO Hire Forecast 195

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Austin Startup

MAY 24, 2021

Look to build solutions with IPA when you need a highly tailored customer journey or process to differentiate from your competition. IPA: a Quiet $10B Market (Automation is En Fuego part 2) was originally published in Austin Startups on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Cofounder 94

Cofounder Marketing North America Acquisition 94

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 13, 2021

However, too many people approach it by just copying what it seems like everyone else is doing without taking a hard look at what your actual goals are and really learning how to go about the job of Founder and CEO. They’re “playing startup” as opposed to actually building a company. How do you know which is which?

Startup 156

Startup Term Sheet Differentiation Cofounder 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 254

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 254

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

We then help surround founders with other talent who want to join important causes but don’t have the startup idea themselves. It’s rare to find extraordinarily talented individuals who are natural leaders and who are driven to succeed and who have a passion for startups so when you do you work hard to find opportunities for them.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2018

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group.

Technical Cofounder 168

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 168

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Volo co-founders Nicola Donadini, Melissa Mitchell and Lotis Bautista The Forrest Four-Cast: February 18, 2019 Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx. Tell us about the startup ecosystem there.

Startup 48

Startup Technical Review Cofounder Austin 48

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Founder’s perspective. As You Start to Mature. You’ll get empathy.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2012

People say the important part of a Startup is its Team. There are three market categories that startups from Singapore are likely to address: 1. Startups in this category start off in their home markets (i.e. As a startup in Asia, the top 2 markets to start from are China , and India. This is by no means easy.

Singapore 178

Singapore Technical Cofounder Product Marketing 178

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. When they need more team members, they tend to assume that these will come with the same passion and motivation that the founders feel.

Cofounder 271

Cofounder Leadership Differentiation Employee 271

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 8, 2008 The lean startup Ive been thinking for some time about a term that could encapsulate trends that are changing the startup landscape. After some trial and error, Ive settled on the Lean Startup. Of course, many startups are capital efficient and generally frugal.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 5, 2016

I've heard a lot of VCs tell founders they need co-founders--and that they wouldn't look at a business at a very early stage without a co-founder. A lot of accelerators treat solo founders the same way--making it an implied requirement to participate. The same holds true for VC funds.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Founder Equity Limited Partner 60

Gust

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

Since this is my inaugural post here, I decided it would fit the occasion to list the five things I value most in an startup investment proposal. Startup experience. I want to see people on the team who have been through a startup. I want somebody who knows what it feels like to work in a startup. Respect for the exit.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Software Review Angel Investor Exit Strategy 70

David Teten

OCTOBER 3, 2013

In the era of the digital online startup, it’s never been easier to solve a problem with a website or app, and build a company around that solution. And with so many startups popping up everyday, solutions are becoming increasingly narrow in focus…meaning there is quite a bit of overlap in what each company is offering.

Design 114

Design Venture Capital Startup HTML 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. When they need more team members, they tend to assume that these will come with the same passion and motivation that the founders feel.

Cofounder 401

Cofounder Leadership Differentiation Employee 401

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

A well-organized library of best practices for founders in your vertical, which you can share as appropriate. First Round Search , Startupschool , and GSV Passport are examples of comprehensive founder resources from investors. I have developed a founder curriculum on my blog. AskAnything.VC Advantages.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Differentiation 120

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Your business has a high viral co-efficient (or perhaps even a network effect) that lets you amass users cheaply without worrying too much about the monetization per user or spending money on paid acquisition. High LTV can usually be found in transactional or subscription businesses.

Churn Rate 168

Churn Rate Viral Acquisition Cofounder 168