Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2013

million new pages added to the Internet every day, the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your offering, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money.

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Blogging Product Startup Writing 104

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. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Increase your visibility and expertise in your domain.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Of course the dirty one took the shower.’ For me, after nearly a decade in the trenches of being an entrepreneur I felt I was un-brainwashed from trying to pretend I had all the answers. The more self-assured the VC is and the more impressionable the entrepreneur is the worse the outcome. ’ ‘No.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2019

Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. Be delightfully authentic and honest.

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Berkonomics

APRIL 7, 2022

An entrepreneur makes a claim that stretches comfort. The entrepreneur–founder explained this problem away by stating that the designers and manufacturers would ship direct after we’d grown to a large enough size. But something had bothered me from the very start – unsalable inventory. I had my doubts but led the deal anyway.

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Design Blogging Course Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2015

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

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Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 112

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. There are a lot of things I think entrepreneurs should care about when raising from a VC: How big or small their fund is? I could go on for a long time.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2019

Despite the rush in every academic institution to offer more courses on entrepreneurship, I still haven’t found it to be something you can learn in school. Of course, you can pick up the basic principles this way, but the problem is that the practical rules for success are changing so fast that no academic can keep up.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2015

“Of course I work!” I imagine that for many – if you are fortunate enough to stay healthy – it’s the beginning of truly feeling comfortable in your aging skin and accepting the course of your life. These aren’t generally the thoughts of 20-year-olds. That is the age where you do more than think.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

With the an estimated 150K new websites and 7M new pages added to the Internet every day, the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. Too many entrepreneurs spend big money on development, only to find out that the solution isn’t quite right. Find potential partners.

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Blogging Invest Startup Writing 93

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable. The youngest was 15.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2022

Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like the judges are searching for on American Idol. But the entrepreneurs that have it, including Elon Musk and Richard Branson, seem to be able to effortlessly get team members, investors, and customers to follow them anywhere.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 30, 2016

By now if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I do near daily “Snapstorms” or a collection of short videos (usually < 5 mins in total) with entrepreneur advice on Snapchat. Of course YouTube has huge traffic, but it’s different. If I blog on a stand-alone platform I have to work to get distribution.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2016

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Startup Education Tool 58

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

In my experience, many entrepreneurs rely too much on the perspective of a trusted advisor, or try to emulate a competitor who is getting attention. Of course, this kind of leadership has a big risk, since you have no one to blame if you get it wrong. Many entrepreneurs I know wait for that big event to celebrate their leadership.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

On why you should be an entrepreneur, “A lot of people do what they have to do. So it was my great pleasure to host Chamillionaire on This Week in VC this week talking marketing, entrepreneurship, old media and, of course, music. The most potent entrepreneur is the one that doesn’t NEED your money.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2023

A common challenge faced by every entrepreneur is that they don’t have the bandwidth, interest or skills to do everything that is required to build their startup. Of course, they can outsource part of the work or hire employees, but that approach means more time and money to manage the work, which they don’t have.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2013

So what’s an entrepreneur to do to get his new business noticed these days? Most entrepreneurs I know are too busy creating a compelling product to give proper focus to the four phases of building a people and media platform that Hyatt says are equally critical for long-term success: Platform creation prior to launch. How about yours?

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Platform Entrepreneur Startup Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2012

These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start. Search engines and people love blogs these days.

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Examples Content Marketing Entrepreneur 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. The best entrepreneurs manage cashflow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Use social media for early marketing.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2017

To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. These moments are always being transformed into options to be explored.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. Of course passion isn’t enough. So of course I want (need) to make money for my investors (LPs). But the two can of course go hand-in-hand.

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Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. But if there is nothing wrong with you then please don’t let early rejections alter your course. Of course you need to have answers to all of the hard questions that you know you can anticipate about your business?—?just

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2012

To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra, like Simon Cowell is searching for on the X-Factor , that you can’t quite put your finger on. These moments are always being transformed into options to be explored.

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Entrepreneur Social Media .Net Startup 112

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 10, 2013

It’s only 12 minutes long and if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (or second time, frankly) I encourage you to watch it if for nothing else than to get a sense that your struggles are universal. We of course remember the positive outcomes, the rewards, the press celebrations at key moments or at the finish line.

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Startup Press Course Entrepreneur 412

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

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Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. Here I make the case that entrepreneurs must stay focused on the prize, not the doubters. Entrepreneurs. ” **. It can be one of the strongest motivators.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2014

With the estimated 510 million live websites at last year-end, and 280,000 new ones being added every day, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. For blogging to work, you need to do it consistently and frequently, at least once a week, or the value evaporates.

Startup 101

Startup Blogging Writing Google 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

The next thing that entrepreneurs need to realize is that the process and framework for making social media marketing work are different from traditional marketing, and trial and error certainly doesn’t work. More important than finding a community, is creating one, with your blog and other social media engagement.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Of course, never forget those ongoing perspiration items that seem to haunt you every day: Create intellectual property. Marketing is top priority.

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? So I ask prospective new entrepreneurs, ''What is it specifically that you can bring to the industry?'' Kutay: "Of course, it can be argued that authenticity is an unattainable goal in travel. but we don''t. How have you made it work?

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

Yesterday I saw a Tweet from Chris Sacca fly by that prompted me to want to write a blog post helping entrepreneurs understand why they should push back against VCs asking for “super pro-rata” rights. Of course every firm breaks its rules to get into a deal, but they put pressure on you by saying that they can’t.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2012

Of course they pretend that they are trying to avoid alerting competitors prior to launch, but too often it becomes an excuse to move slowly in a world that’s all about getting to market fast. Openness is part of the business culture of entrepreneurs and technology centers around the world. Find your real competitors.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Startup News 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. The best entrepreneurs manage cash flow ruthlessly and never delegate decisions about spending money. Social media is not rocket science.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. I was thinking back to a few previous “insider baseball&# blog debates that raged for several weeks: AngelGate (aka Bin38 secret cabal), convertible debt vs. equity, bubble vs. not, and now the AngelList discussion.

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