Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2021

I’ve often wondered if anyone has quantified the implied assumption that leadership character is indeed a critical element of the success equation for startups, so I was pleased to see the classic book “ Return On Character ,” by Fred Kiel, a renowned leadership consultant. Find and enjoy the company of one or more mentors.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Invest 165

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.

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Mentor Entrepreneur Demand Coach 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2021

In his classic book “ Invent, Reinvent, Thrive ,” Lloyd E. Here are the key recommendations from both of us, based on my own business mentoring insights: Re-launch using your enhanced core competency. Find mentors who have the skills you lack. Seek out customer trends before they become an avalanche.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Customer 167

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

In my role as business advisor, I’m hearing more and more about workers who seem to be doing less and demanding more. Top performers want to know how to stand out, and business leaders need to know how to better recognize and mentor aspiring superstars before they burn out, or move on to new opportunities.

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Demand Mentor Startup Coach 123

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Thus, in my mentoring of potential technical entrepreneurs who have a real passion for their technology, I often recommend that they find a co-founder who can manage the marketing and execution elements of the new venture. The competition will improve, the market will change, and your customers will demand more.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2014

In fact, I have found from personal experience and mentoring that both of these are necessary, but not sufficient, for building a business. Demand for coaching, counseling, and discipline training is high. Successful entrepreneurs today must practice human-centered leadership to compete and win.

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Demand Entrepreneur Startup Training 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2021

If you are thinking of joining the rush in this direction, I found some practical insights for success in a classic book, “ Thriving in the Gig Economy ,” by Marion McGovern. As a new business advisor and mentor myself, I enjoyed her recommendations on many of these issues. Charging by the hour only makes sense for commodity work.

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Pricing Mentor Entrepreneur News 149

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2021

Career survival today requires thinking and acting like an entrepreneur starting a business, staying nimble and resilient, willing to pivot, and supersensitive to the market realities of supply and demand. Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, helped me crystallize these similarities with his classic book “ The Start-up of You.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

In fact, I have found from personal experience and mentoring that both of these are necessary, but not sufficient, for building a business. Demand for coaching, counseling, and discipline training is high. Successful entrepreneurs today must practice human-centered leadership to compete and win.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

That’s why I was pleased to see the balance on people versus process in a classic book on how to fix your organization, “ The Diamond Process ,” by Mike Diamond and Christopher Harding. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching. Of course, some balance is required.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2023

As a business consultant and mentor to many young entrepreneurs, I often get questions about leadership challenges , and what you can do to solidify your leadership position and impact. It seems that today’s worker generation is more demanding, and less willing to accept guidance and direction from anyone with a leadership title.

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Demand Guide Startup Mentor 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

With the advent and growth of crowdfunding over the past few years, many entrepreneurs have predicted the demise of those demanding angel investment groups and venture capital organizations. Board seats can’t be negotiated, and even informal mentoring in decision and governance processes is unlikely. Risk is increased.

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Equity Statistics Platform Entrepreneur 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

I found many non-disruption recommendations in the new book, “ Beyond Disruption ,” by W. As a mentor to many business professionals, I find many who are risk-averse or not confident in their own abilities to make forward-looking decisions. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Aim high to build a better world for customers.

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Capital Netflix Resource Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2022

One of the dysfunctions I often see in my coaching and mentoring work with small businesses is team member burnout. I was recently impressed with the detailed analysis and recommendations made on this subject in a new book, “ The Burnout Challenge ,” by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter.

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Coach Organization Demand Resource 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2023

That’s why the classic book, “ The Leader’s Mindset: How to Win In The Age Of Disruption ,” resonated strongly with me. Those who proactively seek knowledge and learn fast build knowledge pools and tap into the wisdom of mentors and industry leaders to raise their game. Take a hard look at SpaceX or HyperLoop.

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Entrepreneur Startup Social Network SpaceX 118

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Huddlewoo a live video platform set to launch early 2013 to give people the ability to access extraordinary people for one-on-one conversations and mentoring. I am constantly reading articles, stories and books about and written by fascinating people. Based in Columbus, Ohio and community management in Washington, D.C,

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Mentor Platform Social Network Chief Technology Officer 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. You need the funding and support, but venture capitalists can be very demanding, and set high targets.

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Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2023

In my experience as a mentor, I find that keeping creative thinking in the balance is a challenge for every startup, due to the natural employee tendency to resist change. It is possible to be creative on demand, and to demand creativity in your startup. It’s time to get past the myths and mystery about creativity.

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Marketing Metrics Demand Statistics 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. Make ‘em want it bad (pitch it).

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Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

You can review all the specifics of this approach in the classic book by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom, appropriately titled “ Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation ,” but I will net it out here. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

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Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2023

I’ve also struggled trying to define the characteristics that set these bosses apart, so I was impressed with the classic book, “ Superbosses ,” by Dartmouth professor and consultant Sydney Finkelstein. They mentor protégés on talent spotting, creativity, and motivation as well as strategy.

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Oracle Organization Examples Coach 94

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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Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Yet I find in my mentoring practice that more and more team members prefer the human-centered approach and respond with more engagement and commitment. Start by getting people comfortable with what they don’t know, showing them you are open to new ideas, and don’t demand perfection in all deliverables.

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Case Study Study Startup Examples 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2022

Thus I was pleased to see the same conclusion in a new book, “ CEO Excellence ,” by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra, each a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. My own conclusion, after years of experience and consulting, is that leadership is largely about mindset. Keep the teams strong.

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Template Demand Social Media Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2022

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. So for those of you that love checklists, I saw some real value in the classic book by James M. I wish it was that easy. Cloud Computing.

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Technology Cloud Computing Social Media Networking 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Great business leaders, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett , are constantly asking questions and reading books about new technologies, new cultures, and new business opportunities. They mentor each other, and seek out experts in domains outside their current expertise and experience.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2021

The solution to this problem is part of a bigger challenge – taking back control of your work life, and regaining a sense of freedom and influence, as described in the classic book, “ Work-Life Brilliance: Tools to Break Stress and Create the Life and Health You Crave ,” by Denise R.

Startup 172

Startup Tool Coach Satisfaction 172

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2020

In my experience as a mentor, I find that keeping creative thinking in the balance is a challenge for every startup, due to the natural employee tendency to resist change. It is possible to be creative on demand, and to demand creativity in your startup. It’s time to get past the myths and mystery about creativity.

Metrics 157

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

That’s why the classic book, “ The Leader’s Mindset: How to Win In The Age Of Disruption ,” resonated strongly with me. Those who proactively seek knowledge and learn fast build knowledge pools and tap into the wisdom of mentors and industry leaders to raise their game. Take a hard look at SpaceX or HyperLoop.

Entrepreneur 143

Entrepreneur Social Network SpaceX Ideas 143

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

I recently found a wealth of practical guidance on how to build a perseverance mindset and use it to overcome adversity, break through barriers, and keep moving forward to success, in a new book, “ Win When They Say You Won’t ,” by Daphne Jones. The business world today is very competitive, and customers are more and more demanding.

Startup 122

Startup Satisfaction Summary Coach 122

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. In addition, you can reduce to soft costs of mentoring, relationship building, and socializing.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2023

I’ve also perused much of the published material on equity crowdfunding, including a detailed book, “ The Crowdfunding Handbook ,” by former Wall Street lawyer, Cliff Ennico. Board seats can’t be negotiated, and even informal mentoring in decision and governance processes is unlikely. Risk is increased.

Equity 80

Equity Platform Entrepreneur Statistics 80

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. The company was called Red Beacon.

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CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2020

I’ve also struggled trying to define the characteristics that set these bosses apart, so I was impressed with the classic book, “ Superbosses ,” by Dartmouth professor and consultant Sydney Finkelstein. They mentor protégés on talent spotting, creativity, and motivation as well as strategy.

Oracle 124

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2015

I’ve often wondered if anyone has quantified the implied assumption that leadership character is indeed a critical element of the success equation for startups, so I was pleased to see a new book “ Return On Character ,” by Fred Kiel, a renowned leadership consultant. Find and enjoy the company of one or more mentors.

Mentor 104

Mentor Ideas Entrepreneur Study 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2021

Most entrepreneurs avoid setting up a board of directors for their new business unless or until they sign up an investor who demands a seat on the board. That implies that a board of directors has no value to the founder, and is just another burden that to be assumed for the privilege of attracting outside investors or going public.

Startup 145

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2022

I’ve always been looking for the specific behaviors required to make the change, so I was pleased to see some real guidance in the classic book, “ The Melting Point ,” by Dr. Christian Marcolli, a world-class expert on sustainable high performance. Set aside time to seek out experts in your field for ideas, as well as mentoring and coaching.

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