Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2020

You’ve probably already made your resolutions for 2020, but if not, I suggest a renewed commitment to finding happiness and satisfaction in your chosen business lifestyle. The right reason to start a business is not the money, challenge, or the prestige, but the chance to follow your dream. Stay fit and rested. Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. I just finished a new book for entrepreneurs, “ Secrets to a Successful Startup ,” by Trevor Blake, which makes the same points, based on his own real-life experience with three successful startups.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. I saw these addressed well in a new book, “ The Startup Community Way ,” by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2018

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them almost ten years ago. They started out as that spoiled generation of kids, born between about 1982 and 2004, who had everything, and could care less about business. Their success is now vital to our success.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

If you are seriously looking to start the next billion-dollar startup, you need to get beyond the realm of enhancing a current solution. Rather than starting from a mindset of pushing the limits of technology, be determined to first find a customer need that can only be solved by the technology you know.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Utilize outside expertise and mentoring. No matter how much energy, experience, and passion you have, there is always more you can learn from an Advisory Board of external experts or a mentor. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 12/22/2020. Your long-term success and satisfaction depends on it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

If you want to make a great first impression on a startup investor or an advisor like me, don’t try to convince me or show me how busy you are. I’m sure you all know someone who always seems to be overworked, but often comes up short on the delivery side. As an entrepreneur starting a new business, you have a lot to learn.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs over the years, I see many of you who don’t communicate enough, others who seem to do all the talking, and some that are hesitant to be direct and open. One of the biggest problems I see in startups is everyone trying to do too many different things, straining resources and confusing customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always surprised by the fact that some never seem to be able to that first startup going, while many others never seem to stop, starting their second or third initiative before the first one is fully hatched. You can’t win a race that you never start.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2020

A popular myth that most of you probably believe is that startups are only for the younger generations. In fact, I see more and more evidence that new entrepreneurs are coming from the older age groups (age 45-64), and success rates move up with age. We are more prepared to focus on life-changing entrepreneurship.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Millennials have come a long way in business since I started writing about them nearly ten years ago. They started out as that spoiled generation of kids, born between about 1982 and 2004, who had everything, and could care less about business. Their success is now vital to our success.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

Today's interview is with Jo Webber , the CEO and founder of Pod.io , a startup which has developed an app to help people connect with others over shared interests. What's your background and how did you start the company? Jo Webber: We've done a seed round of $5M, which we raised earlier in 2020. What is Pod.io?

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TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2020

The Los Angeles startup community is joining the rest of the world in mourning the death of NBA superstar, entrepreneur and investor Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., — Scopely (@scopely) January 26, 2020. shortly before 10 a.m. You will be missed, @kobebryant. pic.twitter.com/FzhNl5ndau.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2020

Everyone who starts or owns a business expects to be the best of breed, but only a few achieve that status. As a startup mentor and advisor, I often contemplate what makes the difference between winners and losers. Stop dreaming about your passion and start acting on it. I believe the best make their own luck.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2020

In my experience as a business mentor, one of the biggest challenges I see is a failure to focus. Good examples of initial focus by an entrepreneur would include Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon as an online marketplace for books only, and Elon Musk starting PayPal as an online bank.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

Based on my own years of experience in big business, startups, and the investor community, here are the key habits and traits that each of us needs to continually improve to be perceived by peers and others as leaders and innovators in business here and consistently around the world: Be aggressive in aspirations but prudent in execution.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In my own business career, many years as a business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I have validated the following strategies to practice and guide you. Of course, this all has to start with you having the confidence and conviction that there is at least one solution to every problem, and that you can find it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

They are quick to claim the credit for things in their domain that work, but also quick to disclaim responsibility for problems that keep popping up. I often think of the scope of this example in my role as mentor to a struggling entrepreneur who is quick to blame his problems on employee mistakes, or even changing customer expectations.

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Daradiction

DECEMBER 31, 2009

As I reflect upon the past decade and get clear about my vision for my life by 2020 there are a few stories that I would like to share with you: Petunia Pickle Bottom. No later than two minutes after saying that some cute girl walks up to us and asks him for an autograph. What effects do you want to create by 2020? Got mentors?

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted. An occasional discussion with a mentor won’t do it. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 10/28/2020.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else.” An elevator pitch is a problem-solution summary that anyone can understand in a sixty-second ride up to their office in an elevator. Stop talking and writing, and start executing the plan. So don’t give up your dreams.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2020

I’m sure all of you are convinced that your new business will create the next trend and ride the wave to success, but the reality is that most startups fail , so anticipating future trends is clearly harder than it seems. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 04/22/2020. As Andy Grove famously wrote, “Only the paranoid survive.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2012

Partially due to the economy, but also due to longer, healthier lives and changes in job tenure, 62% of working Boomers are now expected to stay in the labor force, with real power and influence, for at least nine more years, to 2020. Business-startup rates in America increased the most in the Midwest and South.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, one of the most common requests I get is for an evaluation of a next startup idea. If your goals in life revolve around social change or the environment, aim in that direction for your startup, rather than maximizing revenue and profit. Consider your access to resources for startup efforts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Based on my experience and a business advisor and mentor, this is the ideal time to get back to the basics of business leadership and innovation. Make it a positive message, and the team will line up with you to creatively deliver. Through mentoring and coaching, you can build a culture of sharing and collaboration throughout the team.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. Every future entrepreneur should start by networking. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 02/06/2020.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

Just two weeks into it we are just starting to come to grips with what will no doubt wreak big financial, emotional and obviously dire health consequences and suffering for many. It goes without saying that if you find yourself in a really negative headspace PLEASE reach out to any trusted mentor, friend or family member.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Thus, as an initial step in my mentoring efforts to young or older aspiring entrepreneurs alike, I always recommend ways of dipping your toes in the water, before risking all your life savings, some important personal relationships, and your own well-being for a long time to come. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 01/24/2020.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

In the spirit of helping you avoid some of our own learning experiences with startups, I will paraphrase here the nine key stages that he and I both see most businesses going through in their evolution from a startup to a successful and stable entity: You can’t sustain a business without positive cash flow.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2015

One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” In his words, [in some instances] “because lots of capital is available, the company takes on the capital and that ends up resulting in no constraints on decision making and so the company decides to do five things in stead of just one.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term. In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Partially due to the economy, but also due to longer, healthier lives and changes in job tenure, 60% of working Boomers are now expected to stay in the labor force, with real power and influence, for at least seven more years, to 2020. Business-startup rates in America increased the most in the Midwest and South. percent to 23.4

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

in Physics who talks passionately about starting a business producing nuclear powered batteries. I find the best business plans are not books, but may actually should start as a one-page “elevator pitch” that succinctly encompasses your business goals, problems and solution, opportunity, competition, and business model.

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