Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

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.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

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. Back to 1996.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

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. Surprisingly, many entrepreneurs immediately respond. There is no competition.” Back to 1996.

Marketing 247

Marketing Competition Research Summary 247

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. And for some strange reason entrepreneurs didn’t share this information. I’ve started from day one trying to build total transparency into my process with entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

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.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Berkonomics

APRIL 24, 2014

Often I see executive summaries from entrepreneurs who have never managed any form of business, or even managed employees in their past life, and who don’t know the first thing about business formation and managing for growth. I used to tell them to find a partner with knowledge in business creation and management.

Coach 250

Coach Seed Funding Summary Incubator 250

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Competitive sportswoman. She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. Kara on one side of the table showing me market sizes, competitive dynamics, product roadmaps, pricing plans for physical products with COGS and gross margins. So, Mark, enough entrepreneur love. Stanford MBA. That is Soleil.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2013

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free, to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). In this more traditional product pricing model, the price is set at two to five times the product cost.

Pricing 116

Pricing Product Customer Custom 116

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. So here is what I have been telling entrepreneurs privately for the past 6 months. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. I believe that.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2021

Therefore, the least you can do is take advantage of some of the self-assessment tools and guides around, like the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Equation ,” by Carol Roth, which highlights personal characteristics and skills required. Examine the marketplace and your competition. An MBA or other academic credentials just don’t do it.

Entrepreneur 169

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Guide 169

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 15, 2010

If you’re an entrepreneur, all else equal you prefer convertible debt because the deal is priced at a later stage when you’re worth more. If you’re an angel investor you prefer a “priced&# rounds because you want to lock in a lower price given that you’re taking more risk up front.

Venture Capital 210

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Southern California 210

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. I have had this discussion with many a first-time entrepreneur. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!”

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

I call this “arming & aiming&# your sales teams where you need to standardize both the assignment of territories, industries & accounts (aiming) as well as the process of selling, the collateral, the legal agreements & pricing. We moved toward more standardized pricing (e.g. Ditto the CFO.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

These days that’s not the case and it’s a great outcome for entrepreneurs and for innovation. A: Only because it’s a nicer branding for entrepreneurs. I totally agree and have been arguing this to entrepreneurs for years. I always counsel young entrepreneurs to start on the local train.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

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. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

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.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

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

MAY 23, 2010

If a round of funding does happen then this debt is converted into equity at the price that a new external investor pays with a “bonus&# to the inside investor for having taken the risk of the loan. They also trust VC’s to determine the right price to pay for the company securities that they buy.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. Solution development and delivery.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. Noah, thanks for the interview. How did the company start?

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point. Strategic relationships (reducing market risk and competitive risk) $1/2 million.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

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

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price?

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided. Be flexible.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. His top eight required skill set elements for sales don’t even mention product skills, and match my view of the right skill set for successful entrepreneurs, with only a few priority changes: Creating and sharing a vision. Negotiating and creating win-win deals.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

New investors sometimes want early investors to put in money to “prove” they have confidence in the new price. some may get caught out paying too high of prices for what perhaps will be great deals but not at the prices being paid. Much of this historically didn’t matter to entrepreneurs.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2023

As the business economy is rebounding from the pandemic, many entrepreneurs are thinking that life will soon get easier, and their opportunity can only grow. Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Way back in 1979, Michael E.

Competition 88

Competition Startup Framework Pricing 88

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Product is simply about defining a physical good or service that would be valued by consumers of the product more than existing alternatives based on functionality, quality and/or price.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The founders felt that having a legitimate site for content would discourage Silicon Valley VC’s from funding entrepreneurs to create the next big TV killer. The goal of any cartel is to control production, distribution & marketing of a set of goods with the goal of maintaining high prices. Older shows might allow a single season.

Hulu 292

Hulu Technical Review Content Advertising 292

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

” In this week’s discussion with entrepreneurs I think the word impending wasn’t used often enough. But if you raise the money at the big price (or any price) please go in with the expectation that you are going to build a large, long-term business. to justify a “strategic” price.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2021

In my view, the gig economy is a key driver to the current boom in entrepreneurship – every professional and consultant is actually a solo entrepreneur. One question I often hear from solo entrepreneurs, and she addresses directly, is “How do I set the right price for my services?” Know your competitive value.

Pricing 149

Pricing Mentor Entrepreneur News 149

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

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