Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

A few months ago I wrote about an entrepreneur, Sam Rosen, whom we brought on as an EIR at Upfront Ventures. His ideas to date hadn’t totally resonated and of course ideas matter, too. Now remember that Sam is an entrepreneur. Of course there is competition! Of course a show gave them an award! I felt bad.

UCSD 340

UCSD Startup Ideas Course 340

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2011

Amarillo’s advice is consistent with my comments in the Startup Competition ; get to know your competitors on a personal basis, while appearing as innocuous as possible. Be vigilant and keep your eyes on your competition, especially when they are dealt their hands. In business, such players are analogous to serial entrepreneurs.

Startup 207

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Guide 207

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. I have stated previously that I love absolutes – statements with no wiggle room for gray-area responses. The phone could be used for receiving incoming calls when in the restaurant, on the golf course or anywhere. There is no competition.”

Marketing 247

Marketing Competition Research Summary 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Ability to source information easily to help build a thesis around companies / industries / competition. Great networking skills, which are critical when you want to be about to reference entrepreneurs & concepts and bounce your ideas off of other people in the industry. ” My experience tells me the same.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Most of the time, I’m all about providing encouragement and inspiration to entrepreneurs. They need it and they deserve it, because entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. The question of defensibility is one of the toughest for an entrepreneur to answer. Of course, there is much more, but I think you get the idea.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Sample Guide Ideas 174

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Today’s higher education is responding by making more courses online and available to people outside of physical boundaries. We talked about how business school historically hasn’t positioned entrepreneurs well for success. I wrote about that before in a post about “ whether MBAs are necessary for entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

It should help some entrepreneurs to better access early-stage capital and should allow some angel investors better access to deal flow. In Jason’s mind half of the VC industry will now disappear as entrepreneurs flock to him and to Dave Morin for their money. For starters, what is AngelList Syndicates? Both are right.

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Design together, the course that introduced the idea for brightblu, they were concurrently taking three other classes: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Art of the CEO. These courses all proved to be serious influences on turning the dream of starting their own company into a reality. Fall quarter of Sr.

Class 231

Class Startup Santa Barbara RSS 231

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. If you enjoy wearing many different hats and are constantly learning new skills, you will get more satisfaction as an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Differentiation is still a key requirement for a successful startup rollout, and but it must be sustainable to keep ahead of new competition. Marty Zwilling.

Competition 123

Competition Customer Custom Examples 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Of course, as you work with contract players, explore the potential for a long-term relationship, and wait until your organization matures to pursue career positions. Many entrepreneurs still believe they need a traditional multi-level organization to handle growth and scaling, so they start hiring career managers to populate it.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. 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.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

InfoChachkie

JULY 29, 2013

During the course of his talk, Brian mentioned that, "Startups are like pouring a bucket of water down a hill. In addition, the hill''s slope will also affect the water''s course. Entrepreneurs face a similar choice when deciding which market they should enter. You can watch a 10-minute excerpt from Brian''s talk, HERE.

Startup 229

Startup Course Entrepreneur Marketing 229

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 6, 2011

Pull Quote: “If you are smart, competitive, hard working and passionate about what you do you will have the best experience of your life. With that said, what books, blogs or other resources do you recommend for emerging entrepreneurs? Of course, there was so little competition back then so it easier to find uncharted territory.

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur Competition Software Review Course 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2020

For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” no matter how risky. According to a classic article and poll by Startups.co.uk , having the independence to make your own decisions is considered the key benefit of being an entrepreneur. Beat the competition and discover yourself.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Competition 122

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

This conversation seems to come up very frequently these days both with portfolio companies and with entrepreneurs just looking for mentorship. I like to tell entrepreneurs that the “fairway&# of fund raising is 25-33% per round. Only … ONLY … if there’s a sense of competition on the deal.

Help 303

Help Startup Competition Framework 303

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

InfoChachkie

JULY 18, 2011

Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and Marcia Brown’s Stone Soup , the seemingly innocuous board game Monopoly has played a pivotal role in the edification of several generations of entrepreneurs. The players who go first have a higher probability of landing on an available property during their initial trips around the board.

Entrepreneur 216

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Paramount 216

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

In my bones I’m convinced that entrepreneurs are more nature than nurture although I know both are involved. I have recently written extensively on what I believe the 12 characteristics of an entrepreneur are. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, they’re made.&# The data in this article is at best, a stretch. from a young age.

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

In fact, for the past 27-years, he has specialized in bringing exotic travel destinations to those of us who are healthy and active but whose competitive sporting days are long behind us. If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? Ever fantasized about climbing Mt. but we don''t.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Advertising 187

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Of course this can be done and of course I am a big proponent of the rise of startup centers across the country as the Internet has moved from the “infrastructure phase” to the “application phase” dominated by the three C’s: content, communications and commerce. But we still need more funds.

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Thus, in my consulting with entrepreneurs, I always encourage them to get more comfortable asking for help. She suspects, like me, that no self-respecting entrepreneur wants to seem weak, needy, or incompetent, and none of us like to feel indebted to someone we see as a peer or a competitor.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

I have conversations with entrepreneurs and other VCs on a daily basis about fund raising, the prices of deals, how much companies should raise, etc. Well, obviously if you knew that in advance it would be big of course that would be true. And of course there are always outliers. That’s fine.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Too many entrepreneurs think that expert external advisors are suspect, or will slow them down.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

If I’m covering a company can I get evidence of what the competition is doing so the story is balanced? ” Of course not. Now of course there’s a lot more that goes into building a brand like the fact that the founders of Luma have long reputations in our industry and people respect them. I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone become a revolutionary business that could make money. We look at stage, geography and of course sector. Far from it. Lots of it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. In short, the VC industry is very sharp-elbowed amongst some very competitive people who are used to winning and most deals don’t have enough space to share investment rounds so people were naturally pretty quick to judge A16Z. Do they win competitive deals?

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. This benefits you, the entrepreneur. It takes options off of the table.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Of course I have. I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. Passionate Entrepreneurs & Ambassadors. This article originally ran on TechCrunch. Can’t list them all.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. Of course, we all know there are no guarantees, and we like your passion and commitment to future results.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. But none have any lock on success. Opportunist.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2022

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” Of course, you do need to consider how often that strategy has worked for you, and how often it backfired. A startup is no place for the Lone Ranger.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Sample 121

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

As the school year kicks off for college students, one of the big tasks of the year is buying books for their courses. What our site does, instead, is it integrates directly with a student course schedule, so you can just enter your course, and it automated the process of buying all of your books simultaneously.

UCSD 185

UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

It’s a jungle fight for survival out there for aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages and demographics. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2013

And I am often approached by entrepreneurs in cities which don’t have a vibrant VC community. Thus, a desire to invest more locally where I think I have a competitive advantage. Of course if it’s a company on fire I would travel to any 2-hop city from LA. I travel the country a lot. Local knowledge runs deep.

Venture Capital 365

Venture Capital Marketing Santa Barbara Startup 365