Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are feeling deeper and deeper in the hole. Only one component of running a business is managing technology, but it is a critical component, so no entrepreneur can afford to ignore it or totally delegate it.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2023

Willingness to take a risk is the hallmark of a serious entrepreneur. She provides many examples of success stories from entrepreneurs to Olympians. Entrepreneurs, like Olympians, tend to put a competitive spin on anything they find a passion for, and once they are snagged, they have to win. Then go for it.

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Entrepreneur Writing Competition Examples 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

A continuing question I hear from young entrepreneurs is whether a university degree is important to startup success, or just a distraction in achieving their purpose in the world. For example, I do business mentoring at nearby Arizona State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Learning by doing is the only way to go.

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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.

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Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

While Google still gets stellar reviews for pay, perks and advancement, there are also some employees who note growing pains that you’d expect from such a huge company, including the stress associated with a competitive environment. Even the best examples of culture on this list have detractors. Sujan Patel. Contributor.

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Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

While Google still gets stellar reviews for pay, perks and advancement, there are also some employees who note growing pains that you’d expect from such a huge company, including the stress associated with a competitive environment. Even the best examples of culture on this list have detractors. Sujan Patel. Contributor.

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Examples Company Companies Google 100

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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

You can’t survive as an entrepreneur without resilience, because you are going to fail at least once, maybe multiple times. If you need more evidence that great entrepreneurs survived through resilience, just look into the backgrounds of more recent entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk. Then they get it done.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. The best entrepreneurs are not just dreamers of the next big thing – they have to be great facilitators and problem solvers.

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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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements about them to their own team, investors and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

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. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The most successful entrepreneurs and business owners I know are humble, and they don’t have an inflated sense of self. The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. I come from the same world, with an additional decade advising entrepreneurs, and I enthusiastically confirm his view.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed the classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

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. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. A narrow scope doesn’t help your case either.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Serious entrepreneurs know that, but too many “wannabes” still fall for that elusive get-rich-quick scheme with no risk. As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Outside of dreams, there is no real business opportunity without risk. Operational.

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

MBA’s are an easy target for entrepreneurs’ scorn. I too have taken shots at MBA’s, describing why they are not typically well suited for startup life in Why Entrepreneurs Hate (Most) MBAs. Notable examples include Grabtaxi and Jumei. Situationally, MBA’s Can Be Effective Entrepreneurs. “When M.B.A.’s

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Winning customers as an entrepreneur in a startup has many parallels to a young army trying to penetrate some formidable new and unfamiliar territory. As examples, I offer my interpretation of some of the key lessons here: Scout the territory first and pick your battles. Prepare thoroughly and strike fast.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

An example of a startup which used non-organic growth early and effectively was Microsoft. Some people feel that organic growth is “better” because it requires real innovation and sustained effort to create long-term competitive advantage through differentiation and efficiency. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

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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.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

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Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2018

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. FabLab s is an example of a new class of facilities for entrepreneurs to start experimenting early.

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Competition IBM IBM Startup 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. His focus is on entrepreneurs in America, but what he says applies to every other country as well. This next frontier lies in building enterprises as an entrepreneur, rather than waiting for innovation and opportunity from large corporations.

Entrepreneur 87

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

One of the big differences between an entrepreneur and an employee of a big business is that employees tend to have a very narrow focus on their job, while entrepreneurs have to keep the broader focus on business. entrepreneurs consistently claim to be happier , and have a higher net worth than employees. In fact, U.S.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2012

One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential startup investors is “What is your sustainable competitive advantage?” Yet many entrepreneurs, maybe in their passion for their new product, gloss over this one, or even announce that they have no competition.

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Competition Patents Startup Social Network 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2011

One of the toughest and yet most important questions you will be asked by savvy potential startup investors is “What is your sustainable competitive advantage?” Yet many entrepreneurs, maybe in their passion for their new product, gloss over this one, or even announce that they have no competition.

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Competition Patents Startup Social Network 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2022

I’ve learned over the years that you need to start with specific goals, a focused strategy , and a motivated and prepared team in order to penetrate competitive defenses. Too many entrepreneurs I know charge into battle with only their passion, and hope for the best. Capitalize on territory the competition has not penetrated.

Marketing 125

Marketing Technical Review Startup Resource 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2014

Winning customers as an entrepreneur in a startup has many parallels to a young army trying to penetrate some formidable new and unfamiliar territory. As examples, I offer my interpretation of some of the key lessons here: Scout the territory first and pick your battles. Prepare thoroughly and strike fast.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Resource Training Competition 119

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2023

Every entrepreneur and business executive knows that continuous innovation is required to survive, but most struggle with this more than any other challenge they face. A business that relies on static skill replacement is falling behind, and ripe for the next competitive crisis. Innovation driven by the next crisis is not leadership.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Most investors will readily admit that they invest in entrepreneur leadership, more so than innovative ideas, but they often find it difficult to separate aspiring leaders from those that are clearly extraordinary.

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Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and 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. He launched our scout program as an example. And all the platform stuff.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Winning customers as an entrepreneur in a startup has many parallels to a young army trying to penetrate some formidable new and unfamiliar territory. As examples, I offer my interpretation of some of the key lessons here: Scout the territory first and pick your battles. Prepare thoroughly and strike fast.

Entrepreneur 53

Entrepreneur Resource Training Competition 53

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2022

As a startup advisor, I see too many entrepreneurs get distracted by technology or their favorite cause, and then wonder why they can’t find an investor, attract customers, or build a long-term business. These principles include the following: Free and ultra-low cost may no longer be competitive.

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Customer Custom Competition Netflix 103

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

For example, even though we were leading an entrepreneurial effort within IBM, we found it a challenge to deal with the inbred mainframe culture, reverence for process, and accounting practices of a large company. No consideration can be given to experience running a startup, breadth of skills, or even thinking like an entrepreneur.

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IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85