Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

Based on my experience, creating a new business is at least as difficult as creating an innovative solution, and it takes a knowledge of finance, operations, customers and the marketplace. If you don’t have all these interests and skills, even your most “disruptive” products will likely fail.

Angel Investor 249

Angel Investor Cofounder Finance Operations 249

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

When Sloan arrived at GM in 1920 he realized that the traditional centralized management structures organized by function (sales, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing) were a poor fit for managing GM’s diverse product lines. If you’re following Tesla, you might be interested to know that Sloan wasn’t the founder of GM.

Cofounder 268

Cofounder Michigan Stock Forecast 268

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

by Nick Candito, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Progressly. Time and time again, there’s one critical component that hampers productivity and efficiency: We are wired to work within the confines of organizational silos. Contact centers are closely tied with marketing, sales, shipping and even product development.

Cofounder 159

Cofounder Technical Review Operations Employee 159

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. There is an art to efficient management of a process, whether that is the process of bringing a product to market from R&D to production or developing a new product’s launch program.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Two conditions that do matter to your startup’s out-year viability are the cost and length of its product development cycle. Startup founders counting the days until break-even or actively seeking outside capital must focus on streamlining their development cycles. Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Quick summary: Be careful not to have too many co-founders. I don’t think VCs care as much about co-founders & economics as people think. Without strong PMs you build crappy products that nobody needs or that real people can’t use. it’s the most expensive dilution you’ll ever face.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

by Gaurav Gupta , Founder of Square Boat. But wanting to materialize a product or service and sustaining its operations are two different things. There are a plethora of such tools available online and they’re customized to suit different operations. This can include code components, product specs, marketing plans, etc.

Software Review 104

Software Review Startup Azure SEO 104

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

You can’t be an effective founder or in the C-suite of a startup if you don’t hold any. Here’s how I learned why they were critical to successful customer development. You can’t be an effective founder or in the C-suite if you don’t have any. I was mostly operating in this box what I got chewed out by our CEO.)

Business Model 305

Business Model Product Development Early Stage Customer Development 305

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

As a seed stage VC, I have a unique privilege of confidentially spending time with a number of entrepreneurs throughout their company formation and initial product development process. And it’s amazed me how many times I’ve seen two or more entirely separate groups of founders?—?without

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Stealth 120

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Beyond that, it acts as your business's guiding roadmap, ensuring you stay aligned with your goals as your operations adapt to evolving circumstances. That way you can focus on what's important and not worry about whether or not your marketing strategy or product development process makes sense.

Business Plan 126

Business Plan Jordan Entrepreneur Florida 126

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

A lot of work goes into starting a business, developing and launching products, and running the day-to-day operations, so marketing often gets put on the back burner. Create a spreadsheet: Include all your current and anticipated operational costs, like professional fees, content outsourcing, sales, tax, and web hosting.

Developer 159

Developer Marketing Social Media Startup 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. This could equate to two technical founders (with a minimal salary), funding two developers for a year.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 3, 2017

by Bob La Loggia, founder and CEO of AppointmentPlus. From product development to market research, many startups are one-person operations in their early days. Bob La Loggia is the founder and CEO of AppointmentPlus , a fast-growing SaaS business based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The result?

Technical Review 104

Technical Review Management Arizona Software Review 104

YoungUpstarts

MAY 23, 2018

Most startups do not fail because they had a bad idea that could not find a market, but rather because the founders and startup teams got overwhelmed or were missing key ingredients to success. Many founders or startup teams gravitate toward sales or design. Often, founders have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Due Diligence 114

Due Diligence Startup Finance Leadership 114

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. It has to find product-market fit before running out of cash. Lean was designed to inform the founders’ vision while they operated frugally at speed. The result?

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

There’s more to your business’s success than how great your product is. There is a myth among first time tech founders that product is everything. Many lack intuitive financial sense that can help them build a great company once they achieve product-market fit. Asset valuation. By Venkat Ramasamy, COO, FileCloud.

Founder 117

Founder Valuation Dividend Startup 117

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2017

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. In this article we explore the unique challenges of a lean start-up and how Outsourced Product Development (OPD) can be used to overcome them. Reducing product turn time. Extending the runway. The Lean Start-Up Environment.

Product Development 132

Product Development Lean Developer Product 132

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2016

One of the first and most important decisions any CEO, founder, or startup is going to make is what to name the company. Taryn Naidu joined Rightside in 2006 as an executive advisor to the eNom management team before taking a full-time position to drive business and product development strategy and corporate growth.

Naming 109

Naming Startup Social Media Operations 109

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 9, 2010 Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# theory of management At any given time, something like four percent of the US population is engaged in some form of new-company-creation. Are we solving the right problem? We can do better by focusing on process instead of personality.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Management Founder Lean 161

View from Seed

MARCH 24, 2021

” Below are our favorite pieces from the past few years, divided in to a few key categories: fundraising, company building, product development, industry trends, and the life of a VC. Doing Reference Checks on VCs “Try to speak to at least one founder that the investor has worked with in a failed investment.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 21, 2015

by Richard Milam , the Founder and CEO of EnableSoft Incorporated. Budgets are a tricky facet for any business owner however being one of the most critical aspects to the operations, productivity, profitability, and growth of a business. Richard Milam is the Founder and CEO of EnableSoft Incorporated ( www.enablesoft.com ).

Cost 100

Cost Technical Review Software Review Operations 100

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

And often, enhanced business services – such as custom product development or professional installation and consulting – are involved to complete the sale. Both approaches can create large and important companies, but they require different kinds of founders and investors that understand the nuances of each approach.

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. According to one study a decade ago, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. 18:05] How does the Founder Space operate? [20:21] He's the CEO of founders space.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Do they have better sales, marketing, or product development groups? What the winners start with is the realization that in a world of continuous disruption, they have only a few years to develop new capabilities or be pushed over the brink. Is it that some CEOs are better than others? Are their people smarter?

Incubator 402

Incubator Lean Agile Business Model 402

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He has grown our US operations from 1 employee (him) to a global organization of 75 employees that will finish the year with 8-digit revenues (90+% recurring) and more than 350% year-over-year growth. It consists of a highly intelligent and opinionated founder – Nick Halstead. What Rob wrote in his post is right.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

View from Seed

AUGUST 10, 2021

We first invested in co-founders Ben Forgan & Pat Wilbur in early 2015, when NextView led a $1.3M Here in 2021 startups operate in a more distributed fashion earlier in their lifecycle, a trend which preceded COVID but certainly was accelerated by the remote work environment for knowledge workers brought on by the pandemic.

Chicago 177

Chicago Miami Cofounder B2B 177

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 21, 2013

Enter “ The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses “, a New York Times bestseller by founder of IMVU (creator of 3D avatars) Eric Ries. This reduces guesswork, time, money and effort. Key ideas from the book include the following: 1.

Lean 183

Lean Technical Review North America Startup 183

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing. Too often, however, I have found CTO / Founders paired with business people who not only don't add value, but frequently detract from the value of the business. Perhaps all of the above.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

A lot of work goes into starting a business, developing and launching products, and running the day-to-day operations, so marketing often gets put on the back burner. Create a spreadsheet: Include all your current and anticipated operational costs, like professional fees, content outsourcing, sales, tax, and web hosting.

Developer 78

Developer Marketing Social Media Startup 78

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, July 13, 2009 The Principles of Product Development Flow If youve ever wondered why agile or lean development techniques work, The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development by Donald G. Reinertsen is the book for you.

Product Development 153

Product Development Developer Product San Francisco 153

View from Seed

AUGUST 10, 2021

We first invested in co-founders Ben Forgan & Pat Wilbur in early 2015, when NextView led a $1.3M Here in 2021 startups operate in a more distributed fashion earlier in their lifecycle, a trend which preceded COVID but certainly was accelerated by the remote work environment for knowledge workers brought on by the pandemic.

Chicago 156

Chicago Cofounder Miami Early Stage 156

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 6, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan On August 20, Eric will sit down with developer and Hut8Labs co-founder Dan Milstein for a webcast you can join to discuss “Getting Engineers Into the Lean Startup Cycle.” It’s also for founders who want to think about how engineering and the rest of the business team can realign around a shared set of goals.

Lean 167

Lean Engineer Startup Cofounder 167

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 18, 2014

That’s why the human learning machine prefers to operate in a low gear — on autopilot — as much as possible: It’s a conservation thing. Well, the big problem is that business has taken the “laziness model” — aka operational excellence — as far as it can go. Although the brain comprises only about 2.5

Employee 162

Employee Operations Global Dilution 162