Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

An experienced Board can give them credibility, as well as advice on the many pitfalls of starting a new company. Unfortunately, I see too many new entrepreneurs who let their passion for a new idea or invention blind them to the stark realities of customer need, opportunity size, or pricing and cost implications.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. And as long as private-market capital is available these companies would rather remain private for longer before going public. We all have one-click purchase power (Apple, Google, Amazon, eBay). 2007 was the watershed year.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Portfolio company support & analysis. Industry reviews. Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. Portfolio community building.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2020

Andy Grove of Intel fame started making memory chips, but switched to microprocessors with a vengeance when Japan totally undercut his pricing. When McDonald’s was still a small company, Ray Kroc, the CEO, had a penchant for asking a store manager to help him clean up trash in their parking lot. But no one is superhuman.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur Examples 123

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. What stage? I hustled.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Startup Pricing Invest 347

socalTECH

JUNE 5, 2013

They''re currently having to purchase dental care without any price transparency or negotiating power. We''re leveraging group buying to get pricing which is comparable to those negotiated by the large insurers. You can price a procedure, check on a dentist''s reputation, and book online. We felt that was not disruptive enough.

Pricing 227

Pricing Startup Networking Software Review 227

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

For example, even though Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook as an innovative product, most experts believe it was successful due to his relationship with Peter Thiel and other top VCs that he convinced to invest early. Relationships are key to finding opportunities, building trust, and continuous learning.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2013

What price? Because entrepreneurs often went to lawyers at their earliest stages to get their company registration done. I tapped my friends at big tech companies (Salesforce, Google, Oracle). The only way for a company to be overvalued is if there’s someone willing to pay that price. What stage? I hustled.

Startup 361

Startup Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly. After months of preparation, you should expect another six to nine months for reviews and funding cycles. Technology is not enough. In the U.S.

Pricing 100

Pricing Equity Technical Review Research 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Your price and their value are not the same thing. Entrepreneurs set the price of their solution based on their costs, and their perception of value. Yet a startup image can be destroyed more quickly than a big auto company, by not taking action on a customer problem today. People buy from people and companies they like.

Sales 139

Sales Training Startup Customer 139

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. While Google and Facebook will buy “acquihires” (at least as of Dec 2011), many acquirers hate the idea of buying companies that aren’t profitable. ” But they want to do it with leverage.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2015

Great technology leads to innovative solutions that are possible, but not necessarily great businesses. For example, hydrogen-fueled engines were invented over a century ago, with a continuing promise of breathing air and exhaling pure water vapor and having over 200 companies active in the hydrogen sector today.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Product Activity Technology 54

Berkonomics

MAY 30, 2019

There are several ways to do this effectively, including the use of social networks to create buzz, seeding product acceptance through early adopters or celebrities, or by creating a small niche market that shows unusual acceptance and more. Using new tools in a social age. Advertising money moves to the most rewarding media.

Case Study 120

Case Study Study Customer Custom 120

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2010

Funk is a venture capitalist who founded OceanRoad Partners and has been a Managing Director with Allegis Capital, where he invested in Sandpiper Networks, Rent.com and Shopzilla. Previously, we reviewed the performance of southern California technology IPO's from 1995 through the end of 2000.

Southern California 145

Southern California Allegis Technical Review Acquisition 145

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 2, 2015

And as always some critics weighed in publicly and authoritatively on Twitter without some nuance in thinking about this critique such as, “Wait, my own city hosts DreamForce every year, which has become one of the most successful tech events on the calendar. If you want to network you need to plan relentlessly in advance.

Web 150

Web Conference Technical Review Class 150

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 23, 2015

This latest round valued the company in excess of a billion dollars, entering them into the overly-hyped Unicorn Club. In contrast, low-volume, high-conviction investors like Rincon only invests in a handful new companies each year, making it much more costly (in dollars and effort expended) to invest in a loser.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Southern California 100

Berkonomics

JUNE 30, 2012

Email readers, continue here.] There are a number of ways to do this effectively, including the use of social networks to create buzz, seeding product acceptance through early adopters or celebrities, or by creating a small niche market that shows unusual acceptance and more. And as a result, more money is flowing into story-telling.

Case Study 212

Case Study Study Social Network Advertising 212

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. We short-handed this marketing mix as “ the four P’s ” – product, price, promotion and place (distribution) – this was devised in 1960 and while a little bit dated is still a useful framework. It’s worth a quick read.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

We will be announcing the StartupDemo companies very soon. We give a huge Thank You to the following sponsors: Demand Media is a leading online media company that informs, entertains and connects millions of people every day. Price: FREE. TCA is a not-for-profit organization. to 11:00 p.m. What: A Startup Demo event.

Technical Review 58

Technical Review Software Review Santa Monica Tech Coast Angels 58

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. Bad stock markets mean less IPO’s and lower prices for M&A.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2013

My internal compass has always steered me strongly toward the belief that founders who can scale with their startup companies are better to back that founders who eventually need to hire a CEO. For the entire first year after I funded the company he refused to take a salary and I had to admonish him to make sure he paid his expenses.

Startup 303

Startup Technical Review Product Blogging 303

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

We work with those companies, who tend to know a lot about what happens with their product in the retail sense, but who tend to lose track of what is happening with their products on the Internet. We're also giving them the technology to grow their sales, both through online and offline channels. How are you able to do all this?

Artificial Inteligence 140

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Sales 140

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. Great companies are built by having great products. They are people who built and sold companies and have a bit of money.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. The technology team disagrees on direction and wants resolutions. This is part of my Startup Advice series.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2010

Bill Gates once famously said that people tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the 1-year timeframe and underestimate its impact in the 10-year timeframe. I tend not to go into heat when I hear the latest buzz on the tech blogs about the latest gadgets. Here are 4 areas / companies that I’m excited about: 1.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

I explain in the video what happened in my first company (e.g. on the entrepreneur side of the table) when I raised at too high of a price. Down rounds are psychologically really difficult on companies and can make it harder to do later rounds. Pricing high also takes exit options off the table.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

AngelList 101 : As you know, AngelList is a platform where angels can invest in semi-screened tech deals. They will have to negotiate price and terms. M&A discussions (where your company is buying or being bought). Angels have additional networks. Angels can be helpful champions of the company. and much more.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

The largest VC backed companies in this space have raised several hundreds of millions in funding to help expand their global footprint. In a coworking space, you have people working diligently all around you. Networking. Some people love networking while others dread it. All the Major Women-Only Coworking Spaces, Listed.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Study Web Design Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2012

Andy Grove of Intel fame started making memory chips, but switched to microprocessors with a vengeance when Japan totally undercut his pricing. When McDonald’s was still a small company, Ray Kroc, the CEO, had a penchant for asking a store manager to help him clean up trash in their parking lot. But no one is superhuman.

Entrepreneur 133

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2013

Andy Grove of Intel fame started making memory chips, but switched to microprocessors with a vengeance when Japan totally undercut his pricing. When McDonald’s was still a small company, Ray Kroc, the CEO, had a penchant for asking a store manager to help him clean up trash in their parking lot. But no one is superhuman.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Technical Review 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Your price and their value are not the same thing. Entrepreneurs set the price of their solution based on their costs, and their perception of value. Yet a startup image can be destroyed more quickly than a big auto company, by not taking action on a customer problem today. People buy from people and companies they like.

Sales 106

Sales Entrepreneur Customer Custom 106

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 12, 2014

The lobby itself was overflowing with billionaires, philanthropists, scientists and dignitaries such as Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Tony Blair, Deepak Chopra, Chris Tucker, Jack Andraka and Tony Hsieh—all casually walking around, networking with fellow attendees, or conducting brief, impromptu meetings. Education & Tech.

Conference 88

Conference Technical Review Education Startup 88

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Andy Grove of Intel fame started making memory chips, but switched to microprocessors with a vengeance when Japan totally undercut his pricing. When McDonald’s was still a small company, Ray Kroc, the CEO, had a penchant for asking a store manager to help him clean up trash in their parking lot. But no one is superhuman.

Startup 57

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Examples 57

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 19, 2016

In fact, brands are thus far staying away from the term, fearing that it would be confusing to buyers, and instead may just mention “new technology” or something similar. Linksys has several MU-MIMO routers out by now, but this crop looks particularly powerful according to the latest electronics reviews. What is MU-MIMO?

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Mobile Pricing Networking 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

Your price and their value are not the same thing. Entrepreneurs set the price of their solution based on their costs, and their perception of value. Yet a startup image can be destroyed more quickly than a big auto company, by not taking action on a customer problem today. People buy from people and companies they like.

Ideas 65

Ideas Sales Entrepreneur Customer 65

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 1, 2011

So I’m drawn to UGC reviews. I started reading the comments of reviewers. I needed somewhere nice enough that people wouldn’t complain about lumpy beds but not so nice that people would complain about the prices – it IS Santa Barbara after all. Our social networks are filled with our friends, sure.

Help 309

Help Santa Barbara Technical Review Orange County 309