Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

The show included a surreptitiously recorded conversation with an employee of a “product-destruction” facility, who described receiving truckload after truckload of Amazon returns and shredding everything—ostensibly for recycling, although the recoverable content of a chewed-up random selection of consumer goods is not high.

Technical Cofounder 79

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Coder Canada 79

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 27, 2019

Wondering how to find the right cofounder but don’t know where to start? If you are a solo founder, you may be able to do it all on your own initially but you’re making it very difficult for yourself. In my opinion, founders or early stage companies should only have a team of two or three people. This will never work.

Technical Cofounder 64

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 64

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2020

by Nick Frandsen, co-founder and managing partner at Dovetail. 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. Notably, this occurs prior to building the Minimum Viable Product , or ‘MVP’. It’s genius!

Product 264

Product Cofounder Audience Product Development 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2016

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Founder Entrepreneur Startup 120

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

Knowing a lot of CTO founders, I can tell you that Roger is fairly accurate in his assessment of the desire of CTOs to find the right cofounder to be the business side. And I would add to his list that part of it might be time available to help product definition, pursue market opportunities, early sales, raise funds, etc.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Founder 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

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 238

Equity Cofounder Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property 238

Hearpreneur

MARCH 12, 2020

Brian Kornfeld is President and Co-Founder of Synapse , an innovation hub for entrepreneurs, investors, and governments in the state of Florida to share ideas, solve problems and ultimately provide an ecosystem that ensures everyone from pre-seed startups to exciting unicorns continue to flock to, grow within and re-invest in the Sunshine State.

Cofounder 95

Cofounder Founder Florida Tampa 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

Leadership 326

Leadership Technical Review Development Team Review Startup 326

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2023

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Partner 206

Partner Cofounder Startup Bandwidth 206

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Meet the startup co-founders that are simplifying and automating fundraising campaigns for nonprofits through their business, Kindest. We had a chance to interview Holly McKay and David Semerad, the co-founders of Kindest, and asked about their story, how they started their business and the future of Kindest.

Cofounder 62

Cofounder Founder San Francisco SMS 62

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.

Cofounder 136

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Chicago 136

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. Otherwise, in my experience, the startup will fail.

Leadership 318

Leadership Technical Review Technical Cofounder Development Team Review 318

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. Sometimes it takes a trusted partner or co-founder to create a winning strategy, and make the hard decisions to implement the changes or pivots to get to the finish line, rather than give up.

Cofounder 332

Cofounder Founder Partner Leadership 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In my experience as an angel investor for new startups, I’m always surprised by how many entrepreneurs are looking for funding without outside advisors. Unless you have a co-founder or two with the business skills to complement your technical ones, you need a friendly Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Final startup grind from msuster. And the folks at Startup Grind have been kind enough to invite me to present this morning in Mountain View on the topic. Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. And you need to be careful about giving up control to cofounders as much as VCs. figure out roles.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

In today’s startup landscape, practically everything can be outsourced. But when it comes to core technical skills, more and more entrepreneurs are opting to partner with technical co-founders rather than hiring someone for an in-house position. So how do you decide what’s right for your new company? Laura Roeder , LKR.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 131

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

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2023

Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology. A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization. Should they go after high-tech nerds for partners, or professional technologists?

Technical Cofounder 260

Technical Cofounder Technology Management Entrepreneur 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

It’s hard to write a detailed specification on an evolving new service, process, or product that embodies your core competency. If you are a typical startup operation, consisting of an unpaid founder and co-founder, both working part-time, outsourcing is not likely the solution to your resource constraints.

Software Review 285

Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence Intellectual Property 285

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

ConversionXL

APRIL 28, 2021

My co-founder and I consider his sister to be a trusted confidant. Wondering how to encourage users to engage with your product again and again, without constantly popping in their inboxes? To give you some context, my co-founder and I operate a website called Solitaired , which ties classic card games to brain training.

Email 151

Email Product Marketing Cofounder 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The industry veteran.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Founder 329

Founder Cofounder Bandwidth Matching 329

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 28, 2010

Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup is the new book by David Cohen , founder and CEO of TechStars, and Brad Feld , managing director of Foundry Group. Below is his chapter, Avoid Co-Founder Conflict. The sooner you address them, the better off your startup will be. Can any of us be fired?

Cofounder 128

Cofounder Founder Equity Dilution 128

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 28, 2012

In today’s startup landscape, practically everything can be outsourced. But when it comes to core technical skills, more and more entrepreneurs are opting to partner with technical co-founders rather than hiring someone for an in-house position. So how do you decide what’s right for your new company? Laura Roeder , LKR 2.

Technical Review 79

Technical Review Cofounder Founder Software Review 79

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. Reducing Startup Risk.

Technical Cofounder 346

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 346

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The industry veteran.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Here is how remote startups are changing the game for everyone. In fact, according to Founders Forum’s survey of 400+ startup owners, 94% of the respondents were already working from home before the pandemic. To help them make the transition, a new breed of “remote startups” has emerged. Dip in Productivity.

Technical Review 200

Technical Review Startup Belgium Software Review 200

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

APRIL 8, 2023

The most valuable assets of a new startup are the people on the team, and the most challenging task of the entrepreneur and team leaders is to spend their leadership time and energy productively. Most new startup founders start out by assuming they need to spread their leadership efforts evenly across all team members.

Employee 267

Employee Leadership Cofounder Matching 267

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The industry veteran.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 21, 2020

by Kathryn Petralia, cofounder of Kabbage. Increasing products/services online (40%). Kathryn Petralia is the President and Co-Founder of Kabbage , an American Express Company. She has spent the past 20 years working with startups and established companies focused on credit, payments, technology and ecommerce.

Small Business 147

Small Business Cofounder United States Technical Review 147

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

But have you ever had the opportunity to pick the brains of founders who created amazingly successful startups and companies like Envato , Backblaze , Simple , or Treehouse ? Few people like talking about their mistakes, but thankfully nine founders took some time to share some of their hard-earned knowledge with you.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

Matt Blumberg has a new book out titled Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Functions and Teams. It’s a follow-up to his previous book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business. Matt was the co-founder/CEO of Return Path. I’ve been working with Matt since 2000.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195