Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. Here is my list of key drivers that I find critical to thriving in big businesses, as well as startups: Networking to build and maintain key relationships. Keep the focus on efficiency and growth.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Bill’s closing line, “The reason why Silicon Valley is so successful is that it’s so fxxxng far away from Washington” received great applause. Unfortunately, for startups entering a regulated market following this advice this might not be the optimum path. These barriers to new innovative startups are called economic rent.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 2, 2020

Silicon Valley – a fantastic moniker that conjures lots of images, right? Like all those giant companies, Silicon Valley essentially started with a garage. It was in their garage in Palo Alto that paved the way to the rise of Silicon Valley. But why “Silicon Valley”? The “starters”?

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Alex is a Silicon Valley veteran and Cisco executive, often referred to as the ‘innovation therapist,’ who details his knowledge of many real-world cases and specifics on how to keep up with change and win in the marketplace. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Define realistic metrics to keep track of progress.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. Most investors tend to think of startups without a plan as expensive hobbies. I hope not. Marty Zwilling

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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. PM’s are underrated in Silicon Valley these days. PMs are a vital part of a tech startup. Have them manage their area. figure out roles.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s hard to resist the allure of Silicon Valley. You’d be forgiven for thinking that any budding entrepreneur should only look at setting up in Silicon Valley to be successful. Photo credit: Canada flag from Shutterstock. By Raj Narayanaswamy, cofounder and Co-CEO, Replicon. While the U.S.

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The Startup Magazine

MAY 16, 2018

Microsoft General Manager Dave Mendlen is in Palo Alto today to participate in a rare fireside chat with the CEO of Lifograph, Dea Wilson. Mendlen flew into Silicon Valley from Seattle specifically for this event to chat with the “Wiki of People” CEO. AGENDA: 5:45pm – 6:30pm – Networking reception.

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ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

It wasn’t long ago that it made sense for companies, and especially Silicon Valley companies, to hire locally and have everyone working from one central location. Today, especially in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York, or Seattle, none of these facts hold. Real estate was relatively cheap.

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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. It’s the antithesis of the Lean Startup.

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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.”

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. ” Put simply, if you care about building a successful tech community outside Silicon Valley you should read this book.

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VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

For the past 10 years, with interest rates near zero, VC investors plowed record amounts into tech startups and enjoyed a seemingly ‘easy’ investing environment. Prices went up from round to round, and startups were encouraged to grow, grow, grow, and not to worry about profitability. Support emerging managers.

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Feld Thoughts

JUNE 13, 2017

Today Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced their support for Global EIR , a cause for which I care deeply. As you may know, over breakfast in 2015 Jeff Bussgang and I launched Global EIR with the hope of advancing the startup visa effort on a local and state level after it stalled in Congress.

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YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Another great example of innovation comes courtesy of Metromile, a startup right out of Silicon Valley that’s changing the way auto insurance is provided. That level of flexibility and customization draws in millennials in a way that no other insurer has managed to pull off. My hope is that the answer is you.

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YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 2, 2017

Once a Silicon Valley corporate lawyer and business executive, he was chosen by Steve Jobs to form part of the driving force behind the early and unanticipated success of the Pixar animation company. Yet Levy is far from the only Silicon Valley resident to turn to the spiritual path of one or more of the Eastern philosophies.

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David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Instead of budget approvals, monitor key metrics and give managers more flexibility. How should a growth company manage their budget? However, in a startup the most common scenario is that projections get missed. This agile approach is not restricted to small startups.

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Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

My guests on Bay Area Ventures on Wharton Business Radio on Sirius XM Channel 111 were: Eric Ries , entrepreneur and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Lean Startup. The focus of our first segment with Eric was, “What is the Lean Startup” and how did it start? Origins of the Lean Startup.

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Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2021

But that was back in 2004 and the trillions of dollars of wealth created since in startups, big tech companies and crypto makes earlier questions of extravagance seem quaint. I never heard about giraffes after Google’s IPO, although reportedly one early engineer did buy a carnival-size ferris wheel.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards. If you’re a super experienced Silicon Valley CEO with a billion-dollar exit?—?probably.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, including those working abroad, often have to retool Lean Startup methods to apply them in places with very different business cultures. On September 24 in the U.S. Here’s what they had to say.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. All banks are looking hard these days to get back in the game, and certain ones, like Silicon Valley Bank, are more focused on small businesses.

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The Next Web

OCTOBER 29, 2017

As the general manager of Europe for a global marketplace serving startups, entrepreneurs and freelance designers from around the world, I often find myself in debate over which city will be seen as the new business hub of the EU. In its place, it seems that Berlin’s “Silicon Allee” will emerge as the EU’s future tech center.

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Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2015

BMNT , a new Silicon Valley company, is combining the Lean Methods it learned in combat with the technology expertise and speed of startups. The OODA Loop was the Lean Startup philosophy before lean. In 2010 Colonel Peter Newell took over the REF and turned its focus into what we would call a Lean Startup.

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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.”

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The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 8, 2019

In 2010, Kranthi was hired as a full-time software engineer by International Technological University (ITU), the Silicon Valley industry-oriented school where he had earned his second MS degree. In 2013, ITU funded Kranthi’s proposal for what is now known as the Education Management System (EMS). The Solution Uncovered.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

But here’s what Silicon Valley doesn’t get about Hollywood. Ironically in Silicon Valley consumer Internet business have become hits driven businesses. And what Hollywood does’t get about Silicon Valley? Business managers, lawyers and other red tape. As humans we like story telling.

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Version One Ventures

MAY 29, 2014

Women are underrepresented as engineers, management, investors, and founders. Business Insider recently crunched the numbers behind 26 of the top venture capital funds in Silicon Valley and learned that the percentage of female-founded startups in their portfolios ranged from a high of 19% to a low of just 4%.

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Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. In July I got a call from Errol Arkilic , a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the $6.8-billion The Innovation Corps Startup Team. This week we saw the results. billion U.S.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 24, 2017

We’ve had an amazing first week following publication of The Startup Way. A few thing as we move into Week 2 of my book tour: I'm now in Los Angeles and San Francisco to promote The Startup Way. I’ve loved traveling to talk about the book and hearing what readers and supporters have to say and what their most pressing questions are.

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference The Lean Startup Conference is next week--and now that we can step back and see all the speakers and mentors, we have to say: Wow. As the emeritus Chief Technology Officer of the United States, he still connects government and Silicon Valley.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. Management with a strong track record. The short answer is that some banks will help, if you do your homework. Marty Zwilling

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The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Venture Summit | West , presented by youngStartup Ventures, is one of many upcoming events helping both startups seeking capital and exposure, and investors seeking new deals. Click Here to Register Now and Secure your Place , or to offer to present as a startup or venture capital investor. Tanya Soman | 500 Startups.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

And he recognized it was making his startup feel and act like a big ponderous company. Most decisions in a startup must be made in the face of uncertainty. One of the things he mentioned was that when it came to decision-making he still tended to think and act like an engineer. The same is true in your company.

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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.”

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Up and Running

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

If you’re an entrepreneur or working in a startup, you’ve heard all the hype around the extravagant perks and benefits some companies, especially in the tech scene, are offering. See Also: The Importance of Partnership Agreements, NDAs, and Security: Lessons from HBO’s “Silicon Valley”. Example: inurl:forum project manager.

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