socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

It was standing room only at StartEngine 's Demo Day Wednesday afternoon, held at Santa Monica's Cross Campus , as the startup accelerator launched eight of its latest startups into the world, after a 90 day process of mentoring, honing their business model, and heads down development. Standing room only crowd at StartEngine). It's unclear.

Startup 256

Startup Commerce Santa Monica Mentor 256

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. One senior mentor to Launchpad LA recently said, “I got more out of Launchpad LA than I even put in. For the past 2.5

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2019

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 124

Mentor Technical Review Coach Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2013

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. Most entrepreneurs have lots of ideas.

Mentor 101

Mentor Coach Startup Entrepreneur 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2013

Every entrepreneur can learn from a mentor, no matter how confident or successful they have been to date. Even one of the richest, Bill Gates , still values his friend Warren Buffett as his mentor. Mentoring is not as simple as one person giving the other all the right answers. Make efficient use of time for both parties.

Mentor 103

Mentor Product Startup Summary 103

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.

Mentor 102

Mentor Startup Coach Entrepreneur 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2015

Every entrepreneur can learn from a mentor, no matter how confident or successful they have been to date. Yet most entrepreneurs simply don’t know how to work with a mentor. Some of the best mentoring relationships don’t involve monetary compensation, but none are free. Agree on specific objectives and time frames.

Mentor 105

Mentor Startup Summary Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2022

Every entrepreneur can learn from a mentor, no matter how confident or successful they have been to date. Yet most entrepreneurs simply don’t know how to work with a mentor. Some of the best mentoring relationships don’t involve monetary compensation, but none are free. Agree on specific objectives and time frames.

Mentor 101

Mentor Develop Development Startup 101

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. Planning for the future must be a regular activity, not just an early-stage or once-a-year event. Survival requires regular updates.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

I then got my MBA at University of Chicago so I secretly pull for local entrepreneurs as long as they don’t make me visit in the Winter any more. Local mentors matter. People often say, “Great entrepreneurs will build a community and the capital will follow.” Local capital matters. Don’t get me wrong.

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. “I think the best VCs help drive exits alongside their entrepreneurs. As a result of this activity I have now personally returned significantly more capital in my 5 years than I have invested. Since then? None have exited.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. It takes a community of supporters, connectors, mentors, and doers to make it happen. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year?

Startup 196

Startup Thousand Oaks Mentor Ventura 196

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The core of the investing job of course is investing dollars into startup companies and helping as a mentor, advisor and board member on the companies in which you’ve invested. Kara will now be really involved with what goes on to successfully create and run a firm but while still handling her core duties of funding great entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

At every entrepreneur event I through between 2008-2012 I invite Hamet because he was a great mentor for entrepreneurs. Our founder, Yves Sisteron, himself was an entrepreneur earlier in his career and has been a mentor to us all at VC having backed too many billion dollar exits to name. I stayed close.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

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? Yet many entrepreneurs I know are too proud or too shy to even ask for advice. Yet many entrepreneurs I know are too proud or too shy to even ask for advice.

Mentor 95

Mentor Coach Metrics Entrepreneur 95

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2021

In my role as mentor to many of you aspiring entrepreneurs, I often find you convinced that all you need to start is a unique innovation or idea , and now you are ready to jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride. Remember that being an entrepreneur is all about starting and running a business, after the initial invention.

Satisfaction 135

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2021

You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. I hope all this seems obvious to you, but I still get a good number of notes from “entrepreneurs” who have been busy inventing things all their life, but can’t find a partner to start their first business, and others trying to find an executive, an investor, or a lawyer.

Entrepreneur 140

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network Mentor 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. For aspiring entrepreneurs, or if your last startup failed, it’s all about standing out above the crowd of others like you, and demonstrating your readiness.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 25, 2013

After all, I am no stranger to the publicly expressing the frustrations of dealing with the downside of this industry as I wrote about in 2006 when I was an entrepreneur. 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). But VC is like congress.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Invest Funding 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

Over my many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals, I often hear a desire to start a new business, with a big hesitation while waiting for that perfect idea and perfect alignment of the stars. Your time is precious, so don’t waste a minute of it on useless activities or dreaming.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Software Review 149

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2019

Every entrepreneur can learn from a mentor, no matter how confident or successful they have been to date. Yet most entrepreneurs simply don’t know how to work with a mentor. Some of the best mentoring relationships don’t involve monetary compensation, but none are free. Agree on specific objectives and time frames.

Mentor 85

Mentor Startup Summary Satisfaction 85

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." Self-awareness is a vital trait which successful serial entrepreneurs must embrace. This was especially true when I was younger.

Activity 275

Activity Santa Barbara Startup Tips 275

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. Every entrepreneur, especially an introvert, can benefit from the perspective of another business person, ideally one who has prior experience in the domain you are about to enter.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2022

With the cost of entry at an all-time low, and the odds of success equally low, more and more entrepreneurs are starting multiple companies concurrently. Other prolific entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Elon Musk , simply have several startups on the table at any given moment. Advisors and mentors are busy people.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Course 145

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. My point … We’ve all been there – every entrepreneur. You can evolve.

Startup 371

Startup Press Blogging Entrepreneur 371

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

Contrary to what most of you might guess, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity over the last few years is not Gen-Y young upstarts, but Baby Boomers in the 55-64 year age group. In every single one of the last 15 years, Boomers between the ages of 55 and 64 have had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than Gen-Y, aged 20–34.

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Technical Support 118

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2021

These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace. Connections to a mentor. Product research and prototype development. Business plan assistance. Early-stage funding.

Incubator 172

Incubator Mentor Class Resource 172

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But a couple of people replied with responses of such lack of comprehension that I thought it was worth expanding on for first-time entrepreneurs. The most active person responding negatively said, “so an ENITRE industry is undervaluing their services? Not possible. ” Or there was this one.

Startup 363

Startup Venture Capital Coach Press 363

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

My partner & mentor Yves Sisteron ( You can get to know Yves in this YouTube video ) has been active at HDI for years (as has our CFO, Dana Kibler ). When we invest we tend to be very active in our companies and we look to invest enough capital to have meaningful ownership stakes. Women Entrepreneurs.

GRP Partners 285

GRP Partners Technical Review Truecar Invest 285

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

In your opinion, are your angels more or less active this year? Mike Napoli: Actually, we are seeing entrepreneurs. Mike Napoli: I think it was the entrepreneur. But, the entrepreneur really understood the space, had extreme passion, and understood the challenge he was going to undertake. Interestnig.

Tech Coast Angels 231

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review Angel Southern California 231

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. 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. Focus on activities rather than results. Entrepreneurs and small business always operate on the edge.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

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. There are dozens of tools available to help you monitor relevant activity, including Social Mention and Google Alerts.

Product 127

Product Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Technical Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2020

One of the characteristics that every good investor looks for in an aspiring entrepreneur is resilience , or the ability to learn from and bounce back after a failure. With startups, almost every entrepreneur I know has failed at least once, often several times, but never gave up, and ultimately achieved their goal.

Startup 173

Startup Mentor Activity Entrepreneur 173

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2013

What''s the idea behind the incubator--which gives its startups $20,000 in capital, education, mentoring, working space, and more--and how is it tied to USC? We''re giving them access to capital, mentors to build companies, and all here in Los Angeles. There''s been a lot of incubation activity in the Los Angeles are recently.

Incubator 233

Incubator USC Startup Artificial Inteligence 233

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. Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have new ideas on a regular basis, and find it hard deciding which to pursue, or try to tackle several at the same time. Highlight results and urgency, rather than variety of activities.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2012

When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” Successful entrepreneurs know they have to fight not only to win market share, but to retain it as well. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Guide 110

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. Real entrepreneurs start experiments. Real entrepreneurs start experiments.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131