YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 24, 2020

To have a breakthrough idea is not enough to launch a startup. Together with IT businessman and investor Rustam Gilfanov, we try to figure out what one needs to take into account when designing a business plan for a startup. “There is a difference between a business and a startup. ” — Mr. Gilfanov explains.

Business Plan 263

Business Plan Ukraine Cofounder Startup 263

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2022

In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most startups can’t afford that.

Partner 351

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 351

The Next Web

JANUARY 30, 2014

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. Often times, a startup entrepreneur has a good business idea, but doesn’t know how to build the product or service. The problem? What skills are you lacking?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Chicago 136

Gust

APRIL 13, 2014

A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. You may be too independent to be partner material.

Partner 179

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 179

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

A startup is not just about the idea, it’s about testing and then implementing the idea. I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress. In fact, it wasn’t even a startup.

Cofounder 336

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Coder 336

Argona

JANUARY 15, 2024

Business enterprises, including startups, aim for continuous growth and development as part of their business strategy, but challenges like limited budgets, fierce competition, skill gaps, and inconsistent marketing approaches can hinder their progress. For the year 2024, GoodFirms named Argona Partners as the “Best Company to Work With.”

Partner 52

Partner Technical Review Indianapolis B2B 52

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2010

A week ago I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ How to Select an Ideal Startup Co-Founder ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal business partner. You may be too independent to be partner material.

Partner 230

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 230

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. Alon shared the importance of “fit” from the founder side.

Founder 187

Founder Term Sheet Cofounder Venture Capital 187

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2018

It’s taken the Toronto executive from the world of Big 3 Accounting (as a CPA with PricewaterhouseCoopers in his early career) to Investment Banking(National Bank Financial) and capital markets (co-founding Eight Capital after leading the management buyout of Dundee Capital Markets). Some specialize in one arena, like green technology.

Partner 113

Partner Technical Review Management Due Diligence 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2015

As an advisor to startups, I often get asked what to look for in an ideal co-founder or business partner. After some reflection, I now realize these attributes are necessary but not sufficient to be an ideal business partner. Too many entrepreneurs later see their partners as working against them.

Partner 120

Partner Technical Review Due Diligence Startup 120

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

George Deeb is the Managing Partner at Chicago-based Red Rocket Ventures , a startup consulting and financial advisory firm based in Chicago. There are a lot of variables to go into calculating a fair equity split a startup team. To me, that is no different than financing the business. Whose idea was it?

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Equity Founder Seed Stage 136

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

by Kenneth Coats, founder of eKnowID. If you don’t perform a background check on your potential partner before doing business with him, you’re setting yourself up to get duped. Just like launching a new product, hiring a partner requires protecting your business against potential risk and failure. Knowing What to Look For.

Technical Review 219

Technical Review Partner Due Diligence Bankruptcy 219

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. And of course we talked about many of my views of building startups. I got a job at a bank, and I worked in their corporate finance group. You didn’t join startups then.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Arif Bhalwani is the co-founder and CEO of Third Eye Capital (TEC) in Toronto, Canada. TEC is one of Canada’s largest and most experienced private credit firms, specializing in providing asset-based capital solutions to companies that are underserved or overlooked by traditional sources of financing, primarily banks.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Due Diligence Bankruptcy Intellectual Property 134

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

Finding Technical Cofounders Is Hard. Yesterday, Michael Pope posted an article titled Technical Cofounders Are a Myth. He argued that software engineers don’t finish what they start, and that you’re better off paying a technical person than partnering with one. Tuesday, August 17, 2010.

Technical Cofounder 42

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2018

You race back to the office to tell everybody how well it went and you wait for the follow-up call to have a partners’ meeting or talk about term sheets or at least dip into due diligence. I left the meeting and had to attend a 3-hour board meeting where two founders have been fighting and each want the other one fired. I remember.

Software Review 381

Software Review Churn Rate Due Diligence New York 381

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

Thus the top priority of every entrepreneur who wants funding should be to build and highlight their “dream team” of co-founders, executives and advisers, to attract the biggest and best investors. On the other hand, having failed in an earlier startup may be an advantage, if positioned properly, and some learning is evident.

Sweat Equity 152

Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Software Review 152

blog.captainrecruiter.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Technical Co-Founders Are A Myth. Two years ago I got the bug to do an online recruiting startup and I began the hunt to find a technical co-founder - a software engineer who works for no cash - to help me build my dream website. I learned something: technical co-founders are a myth.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Software Engineering 40

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles.

Framework 127

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 127

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

Just before the holidays I had coffee with Anne, an ex MBA student running a fairly large product group at a search engine company, now out trying to raise money for her own startup. The Columbia Startup Lab is a visible symbol of how the university is making entrepreneurship an integral part of all colleges at the university.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2013

In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most startups can’t afford that.

Cofounder 240

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Startup 240

www.kernelmag.com

MARCH 8, 2012

The Scene Developers Nailing that elusive technical co-founder. Recently, my friend Harjeet Taggar, partner at US seed fund YCombinator, tweeted that, increasingly, the problems faced by start-ups they fund are being addressed by other start-ups. Are there any ‘Founders Dating’ events coming up?”. Andy Young.

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Coder 43

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles.

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 12, 2018

Millias and Warren Chung of OUM & Co. They spend a lot of time, effort and resources on developing a business plan, and even more time and effort on raising capital, finding the right people and developing strategic partners. They work with attorneys to form corporate structures and help with financing agreements.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco CPA Alabama Tennessee 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO. I think usually a COO title at a startup is an ego thing. CEO’s run things.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Due Diligence 325

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. From RBI, Flexible VCs borrow the ability to reap meaningful returns without demanding founders build for an exit. Of the Inc. 5000 companies, only 6.5%

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I first met Andrew Stalbow , the founder & CEO of Seriously in August of 2013. and Petri was co-founder and head of creative at Remedy Entertainment that launched the hit PC games Max Payne and Alan Wake. I think this is a Seriously great example of how this process works for at least one VC – Upfront Ventures.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review North America Los Angeles Cofounder 373

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

by Emmanuel de Watteville, co-founder of Blue Ocean Ventures. Investing has always (and will always) come with a long laundry list of liabilities that can deter even the most experienced investors from making a generous contribution to a startup or early-stage company they believe in. Secure the financial investment plan.

Early Stage 160

Early Stage Cofounder Startup Security 160

YoungUpstarts

MAY 27, 2019

by Christopher Grey, co-founder and COO of CapLinked. Inexperienced people are misled when it comes to startup funding and what is needed to begin and grow a business. Often young founders don’t think about basic concepts like unit economics, which is selling something for more than what it costs to make.

Cofounder 170

Cofounder Private Equity Software Review Equity 170

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

Many are reporting that they’re seeing a more diverse pool of applicants than traditional equity VCs… even though virtually none have a particular focus on women or underrepresented founders. Revenue-Based Investing (“RBI”) is a new form of VC financing, distinct from the preferred equity structure most VCs use.

Revenue 60

Revenue Cofounder Founder Venture Capital 60

View from Seed

MAY 11, 2016

Investors love the idea of backing second-time founders, especially if they have had success in their last company. etc… In addition, first-time founders I speak to often talk about how much they have learned and how they resolve to do things differently and better the next time. Is there a sophomore slump to avoid?

Founder 159

Founder Cofounder CTO Hire Early Stage 159

bizthoughts.mikelee.org

MARCH 8, 2012

BizThoughts Thoughts about business, technology, the web & entrepreneurship About Booklist Contact Nov 15 2011 Finding a Technical Cofounder By Mike Lee Categories: Entrepreneurship , Leadership Since I have a technical background, I get about one offer a month to join some engineering team, or to be a technical cofounder.

Technical Cofounder 40

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2019

In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most startups can’t afford that.

Partner 177

Partner Sweat Equity Cofounder Equity 177

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most startups can’t afford that.

Cofounder 244

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Partner 244

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most of us learn that in other partner relationships, like dating and marriage. Most startups can’t afford that. We both have the same vision.” It usually doesn’t work.

Cofounder 239

Cofounder Founder Sweat Equity Startup 239

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Have you ever wondered why some startups are able to land funding while so many others struggle to do so? What is it about those startups that were able to attract not only the attention of venture capitalists, but also make them rip out their checkbooks and fall over themselves signing them? Is it a great business plan?

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Private Equity Thailand Incubator 164

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2017

In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most startups can’t afford that.

Partner 149

Partner Cofounder Sweat Equity Startup 149