Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

No real investor or venture capital firm asks for money from the company they are intending to invest in. Work at home to fund your startup. I continue to be amazed that some government agency reportedly still gets 100 calls per day from victims of the Nigerian unclaimed cash scam alone.

Technical Review 371

Technical Review Due Diligence Non-disclosure Agreement Term Sheet 371

Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2023

government seriously considered international control over the development of nuclear weapons. Simultaneously, new startups are forming, and venture capital is already pouring money into the field at an outstanding rate that will only accelerate the impact of this generation of AI. In the U.S. Post WWII in 1946 the U.S.

ChatGPT 416

ChatGPT Artificial Inteligence Intellectual Property API 416

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

VC Cafe

APRIL 23, 2016

Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has shared a circular (a regulatory document, in Vietnam speak) for improving the legal environment for venture capital investing in the Socialist state. The government’s embrace of equity funding for Vietnamese start-ups represents a change in the funding landscape.

Vietnam 60

Vietnam Venture Capital Silicon Valley Early Stage 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

The Latin American startup scene is attracting more and more attention and investments. In 2018, venture capital investments in Latin America doubled for the second consecutive year, according to LAVCA’s Annual Review of Tech Investment in Latin America. A solid foundation of government support.

Colombia 146

Colombia America Technical Review Startup 146

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 31, 2020

Venture capital investment is one of the top places startups look out for when seeking funding for their business alongside other popular options like angel investing and crowdfunding. Therefore, startups can expect investors to make significant adjustments based on lessons learned last year, which are rather harsh.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Startup Term Sheet 175

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

government has been running one of the most audacious experiments in entrepreneurship since World War II. 63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. government agency that supports research in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.

Incubator 301

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 301

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

It’s that time of year, time to look back and reflect on the most significant storylines in the tech, startup, and VC world. And, with that warning, I offer to you, the big stories in the startup and investing ecosystem of 2018, written in ascending order of importance and magnitude…. 6/ Venture Capital In Expansion Phase.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

And they should be; the feeding frenzy in the innovation economy is in some cases because startups are eating the lunch of more established companies. Mari is now building a new venture in human-machine interaction within the Samsung accelerator, currently in stealth mode. New York Times’ timeSpace is a good example.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

Government grants. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. As in any company, they can lead to employee problems, or messy legal issues.

Equity 235

Equity Angel Investor Technical Review Exit Strategy 235

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Yet despite the overarching negative outlook, startups seem to be weathering the storm. Quartz mentions that startups seem to be dealing with the pressures of the pandemic far more effectively than larger businesses and conglomerates. Much of this success is due to the flexibility of startups and their ability to adapt.

Bankruptcy 154

Bankruptcy Startup Agile Technical Review 154

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

I spent the month of September lecturing, and interacting with (literally) thousands of entrepreneurs in two emerging startup markets, Finland and Russia. —— I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. Startup Blog: Arctic Startup.

Finland 324

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 324

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

I have often been asked about Startup Funding by entrepreneurs. Many myths surround the subject of startup funding. Here is Startup Funding, a Comprehensive Guide for Entrepreneurs. You must have seen a lot of startups giving out promotions, discounts, and incentives at the early phase of their business. Debt investors.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2022

Government grants. Hopefully you can see from this list that the people and processes involved in financing a nonprofit have little in common with angel investors, or the venture capital process. As in any company, they can lead to employee problems, or messy legal issues.

Angel Investor 327

Angel Investor Equity Technical Review Exit Strategy 327

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

There is a thin line between success and failure for startups, and that is usually determined by capital. The more capital a startup has, the easier it is to get off the ground and ramp up growth. In turn, this leads to the development of a thriving startup ecosystem which paves the way for technology and innovation.

Venture Capital 175

Venture Capital Asia Artificial Inteligence Later Stage 175

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

Managing Your Startup Board?—?A A Short Presentation I was invited to do a keynote presentation at the Khosla Ventures CEO Summit this week in Sausalito. My talk was about “ managing your startup board ” and the full deck is on that SlideShare link and embedded below. link] Managing Your Startup Board?—?A

Management 234

Management Startup Dividend Early Stage 234

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. This left an open playing field for Chinese software startups as they “copy to China” existing U.S. If you’re a software startup competing in China, the words that come to mind are “ruthless and relentless.”

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Startups have to deal with starting costs and ongoing businesses have to finance growth and working capital. Are you a startup or ongoing business? For example, many ongoing businesses have access to standard business loans from a traditional bank that would not be available to startups. Venture capital.

SBA 161

SBA Venture Capital Angel Investor Technical Review 161

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. This post is about the rise of Chinese venture capital and how it helped build the countries entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Rise of Chinese Venture Capital. All the usual caveats apply.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 15, 2013

The Canadian government announcement yesterday of a $400m plan to strengthen the Canadian venture capital industry is the latest in a long series of similar announcements and initiatives from governments around the world that put government cash into VC funds alongside private money to make it more attractive for private investors.

Venture Capital 116

Venture Capital Government France Canada 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. Use crowd funding. Apply for contests and business grants.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

Acquiring seed-stage funding is admittedly tough, but a source that I find often overlooked is government grant funding, accessible in the U.S. Specifically, I often point to the NSF or the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for high-tech startups. The approval process is long and bureaucratic.

Early Stage 225

Early Stage SBIR Technical Review Seed Stage 225

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 30, 2016

I love the fast-paced, see-my-work-have-a-big-impact nature of a new startup. Despite this, I have been drawn by the siren call of the startup once again. I am now neck-deep in Startup No. We received a venture capital investment. We did projects with the Australian Federal Government and McAfee.

Software Review 188

Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence Startup 188

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

It’s helpful to think of startups as proceeding through several stages, which I have defined a long time ago from a funding perspective. Their real value is your access to senior advisors with experience, and other startups in the same stage. The challenge is finding and using qualified affordable support organizations for each stage.

Incubator 429

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 429

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2023

None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage startups. Startups looking for an angel investor, or a Venture Capital investment usually realize that neither of these sources of funds normally has any connection with a bank. Many investment banks even call themselves “boutiques.”

Early Stage 182

Early Stage Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering 182

David Teten

APRIL 6, 2015

All venture capital and NIH funding data for CY 2010 – 2014 in USA. A standardized way to look at the issue is to calculate funding per DALY, i.e., the amount of venture capital (both private and corporate) and NIH research funding allocated to combat each year of healthy life lost. Source: NIH, CB Insights.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Technical Review Non-Compete Philadelphia 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Hunter Walker

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

China’s Age of Malaise [Evan Osnos/New Yorker] – A loooong read but essential stuff if you are interested in China from an sort of view (cultural, economic, geopolitical, startup). To curb the population the government paid a bounty for dead cobras. Similar to Boz’s essay earlier, this one too is about incentives.

Venture Capital 65

Venture Capital China Government Early Stage 65

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. This left an open playing field for Chinese software startups as they “copy to China” existing U.S. If you’re a software startup competing in China, the words that come to mind are “ruthless and relentless.”

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

In general, this won’t happen for a new startup unless you have a good credit history, or existing assets that you are willing to put at-risk for collateral. Trade equity or services for startup help. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. Solicit venture capital investors. Fund your startup yourself.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

One of the most common complaints I hear from new business owners and startups is about the pain and difficulty raising capital. The “venture capital” model is the only option they know, where they feel they get no mercy, giving up equity and control. Complete and heed fund-raising legal compliance requirements.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Accredited Investor Due Diligence Equity 220