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

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

by Saeju Jeong, CEO and Co-founder of Noom Coach. Here, I outline five principles all co-founders must agree on before working together. One of most critical things you should consider before jumping into a co-foundership is partnering with someone who can make up for the qualities you lack. I should know – I’ve done it.

Cofounder 217

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Engineering Startup 217

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 20, 2014

My partner Dharmesh Raithatha wrote the post below on the Forward Partners blog earlier this week. I’m reproducing in full here because it’s a great explanation of our solo-founder hypothesis and how we work more generally. Are you a solo founder with an idea? THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN FOUNDER AND TEAM.

Cofounder 95

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 95

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

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.).

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

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. 7 Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in VC Pitches and How to Fix Them “Different partners in a VC firm are different.

Seed Stage 177

Seed Stage Hiring IPO Analytics 177

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Small Business Force

AUGUST 31, 2013

Picking a partner or co-founder isn't like finding a new friend. Just like people that tend to jump into marriages, entrepreneurs tend to get starry-eyed and join forces without thinking through the long-term implications of having a partner. How do you pick the right person to partner with for you and your business?

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Partner Technical Review Founder 40

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Understanding where your VC partner sits in their respective fund and where their fund is in the cycle of its investment lifecycle will help you understand your VCs behavior. It consists of a highly intelligent and opinionated founder – Nick Halstead. What Rob wrote in his post is right. Wallflower – yours truly.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Nick Kim , Crosscut’s Head of Platform, in his presentation at the 4th Annual VC Platform Summit, shared their Platform development methodology, which he viewed as an exercise in product development. For example, recruiting writ large is useful at all stages of development. AskAnything.VC Advantages. Disadvantages.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2014

For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. Investor negotiations. Time management.

Technical Review 270

Technical Review Startup Software Review Retention 270

The Next Web

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Silicon Allee (a TNW content partner ) caught up with him to pick his brain on what 2013 might hold for us. SA: How important is time to founders? MJ: As an individual, you are entering a period of life as a startup founder when you are going to spend two or three years working extremely hard if you are going to make it worthwhile.

Partner 120

Partner Luxembourg Denmark Europe 120

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

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. Since NewTV won’t be making the content, they will be licensing from and partnering with traditional entertainment producers. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. He just hired Meg Whitman.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. Investor negotiations. Time management.

Entrepreneur 275

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 275

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. Think of profound beliefs as “strong opinions loosely held.”

Business Model 305

Business Model Product Development Early Stage Customer Development 305

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The number one question you all asked after reading my last blog post about starting a business from scratch was “how do I find my co-founders?&# And therein lies the problem in finding co-founders for that startup you’re dying to launch. Having trouble meeting folks you think would be good co-founders?

Cofounder 66

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 66

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

This post originally appeared in TechCrunch back in 2015, written by our co-founder and managing partner Erik Rannala. Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. How do you know you have it?

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

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

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2012

What I saw reminded me of some of the best and worst things I did as a founder. We’re building the wrong product!” Some of the engineers figuring if the founder was declaring they were toast in 90 days were updating their resumes. But like all great founders some of these insights are simply hallucinations.

Founder 316

Founder Cofounder Advisory Board Burn Rate 316

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 174

Cofounder Technical Review Operations Employee 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a new book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Incorporating a business entity early through online services.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. Investment partners are squeezing you.

Software Developers 229

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. Investor negotiations. Time management.

Entrepreneur 237

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 237

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2023

5- Yes, to adapt to market changes Photo Credit: Sammi Jaeger It's helped our three Founders stay on the same page, project our roadmap of growth, and provide clarity on our goals, strategies, and financial projections, making it easier to communicate our vision to all of our stakeholders and clients. Thanks Stephanie Venn Watson, Fatty15 !

Business Plan 130

Business Plan Jordan Entrepreneur Florida 130

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. If you consider yourself a technologist, you probably believe and may be propagating one of the following myths: The first priority for funding should be to develop the technology.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. Investment partners are squeezing you.

Startup 245

Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 10, 2020

See below for a good description of what we like to see in deals at Forward Partners and what makes us different from other VCs. An interview with Nic Brisbourne, Forward Partners. Sometimes you get great founders with an average idea; but because they’re so good, they make it work to a degree. We call it “Applied VC”.

Partner 68

Partner Early Stage Portfolio Metrics 68

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 28, 2022

Enventys Partners was born when my company Command Partners, a digital marketing firm, vertically merged with Enventys, a product development firm. With that merger, half of each of our business’ names also merged, and that’s how we came up with ‘Enventys Partners’. Thanks to Roy Morejon, Enventys Partners ! #10-

Naming 150

Naming Entrepreneur Jordan Merger 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development. In fact, most often, it is limited to seeding a startup business rollout or scale-up after development is completed from friends and family. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs. Seed-round investment. Sweat equity.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Home About Press IA Capital Partners Archives After 17 years in M&A, Derivatives and Trading, Im spending my time with young entrepreneurs in and around financial technology and digital media. Main February 23, 2010 Advice for CTO Founders: Dont Let Business Kill the Business Founding a technology company is an amazing thing.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

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

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

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 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. Those partners paid for a membership with Recycler Spotter. Then, about two weeks before launch, I distributed a survey to those 256 partners. Almost on a weekly basis, I meet new aspiring entrepreneurs looking to execute on their ideas.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

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. They are: value proposition, product/service the company offers (along with its benefits to customers).

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Successful entrepreneurs start with a customer problem, and develop a solution, rather than the other way around. They build a startup culture of working for customers rather than pushing a product. Develop market insights and a growth vision far beyond today. Partnering with customers, rather than acting as a supplier.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Metrics Hosting Leadership 120

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