Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2011

Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. Friends tell you what you want to hear.

Mentor 98

Mentor Coach Ideas Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2013

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. When you meet with a mentor, you should lead the discussion.

Mentor 102

Mentor Startup Coach Entrepreneur 102

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 18, 2010

When I kicked off Launchpad LA a year ago I had a few objectives: Create an ecosystem where all Southern California VC’s had the chance to work together more actively outside of the boards on which we mutually sit. We decided to be less formal about the mentor / mentee relationships. I’m excited.

Technical Review 259

Technical Review Venture Capital Southern California Tech Coast Angels 259

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2012

I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. When you meet with a mentor, you should lead the discussion.

Mentor 94

Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Press 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business person I know wishes he had more time for coaching all the members of his team. I often hear the excuse that coaching takes more time than simply diving in and doing the job for the other person, but is that really true? Exceptional communication is a prerequisite to coaching.

Coach 91

Coach Course Mentor Examples 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Why is it that only the most successful entrepreneurs , including Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson, admit to having a mentor and actually use them? Obviously, I’m a big fan of business mentors based on my own experience, since I have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the relationship.

Mentor 95

Mentor Coach Metrics Entrepreneur 95

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

But you do need to find a way to do activities that are more scalable. These are important leveling-up activities but the CEO is often still up at 10pm f **g around with QuickBooks entries. Which other activities will get less attention than your negotiation over how the year-3 exit clause on your biz dev relationship will work?

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

InfoChachkie

APRIL 21, 2014

Rather than attempting to master the new activity, I would moved on to another task, seeking a gentler learning curve. My frustration with new activities was heightened by my desire to be "the best." As shown below, most people do not realize their incompetence at the outset of a new activity. Public Sucking.

Activity 275

Activity Santa Barbara Startup Tips 275

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2011

I think it takes a few more steps to “activate” the checklist and fruitfully engage in the activities that lead to leadership success. Solicit coaching and mentoring. Through such efforts, entrepreneurs who actively pursue feedback from their team and their customers are on the road to success. Marty Zwilling.

Activity 94

Activity Study Mentor Coach 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2022

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. For one-on-one coaching from the startup founder, I call this approach five-minute mentoring. Marty Zwilling.

Mentor 154

Mentor Technical Review Coach Slides 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2017

As a long-time mentor and business advisor, I find it ironic that many look only to friends for advice. They forget that friends tell you what you want to hear, while good mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you probably don’t need the mentor anymore, but you always need the friend.

Mentor 72

Mentor Coach Help Ideas 72

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2022

One of the attributes that I often recommend to the business professionals and entrepreneurs I mentor is to always be totally accountable for your actions and ideas. Be available for mentoring and coaching to others. Lack of accountability can permeate an entire organization. The same is true with team goals and expectations.

Activity 109

Activity Organization Mentor Training 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

For example, Elon Musk says he seeks out innovations from his team by constantly asking them how they can make things better, how often they get out of internal meetings and into customer shops, and actively encouraging them to try new things. Spend more time mentoring and coaching your team.

Tips 159

Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2021

People who are anxious to improve, or reluctant to take an initiative, really need your direct guidance and coaching to learn what they need to do. Listening to customers requires your help in rewarding rather than penalizing that activity, and being the role model to follow. The right people will recognize the big picture.

Coach 174

Coach Activity Custom Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. As a partially-retired baby-boomer in business, I’ve spent much of the last few years mentoring aspiring millennial entrepreneurs, and I’m always looking for more insights into how to help them.

Tips 127

Tips Mentor Coach Guide 127

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

In your opinion, are your angels more or less active this year? We're beginning to engage them more in mentoring and coaching, and we've been known to make very, very early stage seed investments to help companies finish up their plans or prototypes, and inch them along a little more. Mike Napoli: It's quality versus quantity.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

As a long-time mentor to new entrepreneurs and business owners, I have noticed that many no longer associate more fulfillment and satisfaction with more money, power, and success. For most people, a truly fulfilled life means active pursuit and high engagement in pursuing your own goals. Mentor others to share what you have learned.

Satisfaction 173

Satisfaction Mentor Coach Entrepreneur 173

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. ” When merchants sign up MyTime then helps them with marketing activities through marketing automation tools they’ve build across SEM, social, and email. The company was called Red Beacon. I was standing with him when he won the TechCrunch 50 award.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2018

What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. As a partially-retired baby-boomer in business, I’ve spent much of the last few years mentoring aspiring millennial entrepreneurs, and I’m always looking for more insights into how to help them.

Mentor 60

Mentor Coach Guide Startup 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

What they need now is some coaching from more experienced business leaders, to catch up and overcome some unique qualms and challenges. As a partially-retired baby-boomer in business, I’ve spent much of the last few years mentoring aspiring millennial entrepreneurs, and I’m always looking for more insights into how to help them.

Mentor 134

Mentor Coach Guide Startup 134

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2023

Active listening is more important than active talking. Promote team inclusive activities and diversity. Facilitate coaching and mentoring, inside and outside. Remember mentorship and coaching are advanced forms of leadership, and develop strong bonds among team members. This is a win-win for the business.

Coach 117

Coach Mentor Study Activity 117

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Another meeting last week with a different founder who sold for 100′s of millions and is not an active angel, “Startups are hard. I wish more startups would get personal coaches so they could let out their angst to neutral people – not staff, not investors. I don’t know if I should keep investing in them.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

For example, we all know people who really believe that everyone in the world is their supporter, when in fact many are actively working against them. In my role as a mentor to business professionals and entrepreneurs over the years, I have found that it’s important to take a hard look at the relationships around you on a regular basis.

Tips 95

Tips Mentor Coach Activity 95

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2010

Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. Friends tell you what you want to hear.

Mentor 49

Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Ideas 49

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

You have to figure out when to be the up-beat coach, “It will all get better, stay confident, keep the course” or the honest voice in one’s ear, “Listen mate, you’ve been protecting your head of product for far too long. You have to deal with CEOs who resign. Co-founder discontent. Health destroying stress.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

According to FLAG Capital there are 100 active VCs (as defined by making at least $1 million in VC per quarter for 4 consecutive quarters). So for argument’s sake let’s triple the number of active VCs and call it 300. If you read Ken Auletta’s piece it makes it clear there was active VCs involvement in the early days.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

And you can always bring on a senior person as a mentor / coach to help guide you personally to become a better sales leader until you’re ready for somebody more senior on your team. In LA I know that people like Vince Thompson do a great job with this. Now was time to bring in some process.

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2014

In that sense, you should think of an advisor more like your mentor who has done all he can. Also dont confuse a business advisor with a business coach. An advisors aim is to teach you what to do and how, in specific situations, unlike a coach who helps you develop your generic skills for deciding what to do and how.

Mentor 104

Mentor Coach Tips Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Focus on activities rather than results.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2020

According to the classic book, “ One Second Ahead ,” by noted authority on training the mind, Rasmus Hougaard, there are some basic rules that can really help you manage your focus and awareness in all work activities. I concur, based on my own extended career in business and mentoring entrepreneurs.

Email 170

Email Activity Social Media Coach 170

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2016

Some will argue that people leadership is a skill you have to be born with, but I’m convinced that it can be learned from experience, mentoring, and failures. They reach to find mentors who have been there, read books on the subject, and participate in leadership development programs. Set personal leadership goals and solicit feedback.

Mentor 59

Mentor Entrepreneur Demand Coach 59

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2010

On the other side of that, although universities had not been very experienced with spinouts, where the researcher is also a person active as an entrepreneurial, active member of the team, although there is some back and forth, and universities have gotten hung up on price tags and terms--one by one, everyone has figured that out.

Networking 215

Networking Research Startup USC 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

Perhaps you need to do more to be a role model for accountability , and provide more coaching on exactly what it means. 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.

Training 173

Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2020

You need to make sure that everyone on the team, from the clerical assistant to the chief financial officer, knows your vision and product, and doesn’t hesitate to actively engage and be an effective proponent with anyone who might be of value to the business. In fact, having one marketing guru on the team alone won’t get you very far.

Marketing 130

Marketing Develop Development Startup 130

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2015

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring. For one-on-one coaching from the startup founder, I call this approach five-minute mentoring.

Product 99

Product Mentor Startup Technical Review 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2020

More importantly, we all need to develop the right relationships, and actively avoid those types that are not right for the business, or not right for our career at a particular point in time. Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be.

Mentor 135

Mentor Competition Summary Activity 135

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

As an experienced business professional and mentor, I find that most successful peers will admit that they love what they do. Therefore, I was pleased to see some good insights and recommendations in a new book, “ Intrinsic Motivation ,” by Stefan Falk, a McKinsey & Company performance coach.

Coach 110

Coach Satisfaction Activity Startup 110