Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Positive inspirational communication.

Ideas 101

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 101

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

Know your market and competition, or don’t spend a dime on anything else. But wait for the mic drop… [Email readers, continue here…] Here’s where some intelligent market research might have saved the company and my investment. In this case, the competition was not from a company but from a new technology.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 6, 2023

Or the important one: “Is this idea on mission?” Some ideas sound unbelievably creative – and may be that. But sometimes there is a barrier, an impossibly high cost not considered, a social backlash never thought of, or competition already covering the idea that is unknown to the originator. Is this idea sustainable?”

Company 156

Company Companies Ideas Competition 156

Berkonomics

APRIL 19, 2012

Professional investors laugh when they hear an entrepreneur state, “We have no competition.” That statement has killed more investment deals than almost any other. Doing nothing is the main competitor for most products and services, whether a compelling new idea or a seasoned product long proven to be effective.

Competition 189

Competition Slides Sales Ideas 189

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2023

He succinctly outlines the key behaviors that I believe every business leader must focus on, to drive innovation without waiting for the next competitive crisis: Avoid the assumption that current gifts will keep on giving. They need to regularly listen to a few mavericks and outsiders who routinely generate nonlinear ideas and trends.

Framework 96

Framework Competition Ideas IBM 96

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem. 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.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2015

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader who can execute. Elon Musk execution idea startup'

Ideas 115

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 115

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

He succinctly outlines the key behaviors that I believe every business leader must focus on, to drive innovation without waiting for the next competitive crisis: Avoid the assumption that current gifts will keep on giving. They need to regularly listen to a few mavericks and outsiders who routinely generate nonlinear ideas and trends.

Tips 160

Tips Framework Competition Ideas 160

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Just this past September was a year with Amazon, when I left, and we started investing in September under the new name, ScOp Venture Capital.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Berkonomics

MAY 11, 2023

The quest for a great management team is not a fluke, but rather a result of backward looks at the failure rate from past investments by those same angel investors and venture capitalists. Among professional investors, almost all would rather back a great team with an average idea before backing a great idea and inexperienced team.

Statistics 156

Statistics Startup Ideas Entrepreneur 156

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. Ability to source information easily to help build a thesis around companies / industries / competition. And effective immediately Jordan will have the authority to make investments. I think there are two reasons for this: 1.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Among the participants that applied for the online competitions, only a progressed into the semi-finals. Tech.Co: What was the road like leading up to your initial pitch for the competition? In sports wagering, if you have a favorite team that you feel partial to, it’s a good idea NOT to bet on them.

Competition 92

Competition Startup Ideas Conference 92

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution , holding your own, and growing to the next level is a constant challenge that can never be ignored. Very few organizations communicate internally with the same investment of thought and professionalism as when implementing their customer-obsessed strategies.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2010

This time, Frank gives the Top 10 Ways to Win a Business Plan Competition. I'm a judge in a local university's business plan competition. Over the past few years I've been involved in different ways in the UC Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business, Business Plan Competition. They came in 2nd place. 1 Be kind to the judges.

Competition 153

Competition Mentor Software Review Invest 153

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

Competitiveness - One attribute that I believe most VCs look for in entrepreneurs is competitiveness. If you stumble on to a really good idea believe me it will get competitive really quickly. I know that people who aren’t competitive always find competitive people slightly distasteful.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute. In reality, it doesn’t take a huge investment of money and time to build a prototype today.

Ideas 107

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Tool 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. Now you see why no one should judge business success potential by the idea alone.

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 26, 2022

At the time, the company raised $2 million, and Alexandrov said about the perceived competition, “The level of competition in this market in the U.S. From day one, we’ve had the idea of eventually converting all of our dark stores to micro fulfillment centers that will have local marketplaces to deliver their items.”.

Funding 246

Funding Demand Los Angeles Competition 246

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

Entrepreneurs are people who dream up new ideas, and then commercialize them into new businesses. Most people believe that the hard part is coming up with the idea, and the easy part is turning it into a business. Normally the goal is to make enough money to be sustainable and provide a return on the investment of constituents.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

However, to be a great VC you have to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. They might be ideas they hatch internally (via a Foundry) or a founder who just left SpaceX and raises money to search for an idea.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

JANUARY 11, 2018

Or the important one: “Is this idea on mission?” Some ideas sound unbelievably creative – and may be that. But sometimes there is a barrier, an impossibly high cost not considered, a social backlash never thought of, or competition already covering the idea that is unknown to the originator. Generative.

Company 243

Company Companies Ideas Competition 243

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Small Business Grants to Apply For Today If your business doesn't have enough capital to take on future debts or has a unique specialism or back story that could catch the eye of grantors, it might be a good idea to apply for a grant. It's competitive though – last year 18,000 applicants competed for only 12 slots.

Technical Review 186

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 186

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He presented the idea at the TED conference in the mid 90′s and was literally boo’d while he was on stage. The idea actually came to him from the Yellow Pages business. He came up to Bill after the event and said, “clever idea, we should do that with you.&# Summary notes, as always, provide below.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2012

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader and a plan. Positive inspirational communication.

Ideas 103

Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Resource 103

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. That’s why investors say they invest in people (bet on the jockey, not the horse), rather than the idea.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

Los Angeles-based dog sitting marketplace DogVacay has raised $25M more in a Series B1 funding, the company disclosed this morning, as the competition heats up for the "top dog" in the market. rover dogvacay sitting marketplace market competition dogs venture capital investment aaron hirschhorn' READ MORE>>.

Competition 166

Competition Venture Capital Startup Capital 166

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader and a plan. Positive inspirational communication.

Ideas 104

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. Now you see why no one should judge business success potential by the idea alone.

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

What I’d like to do is tell you the story of how the investment came to be, what my thesis is / was and share some thoughts on macro trends. The Team – I’m on record as saying that 70% of my investment criteria are team related. I’m also on record as saying I invest in lines & not dots. He wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Invest 303

Invest Company Companies Web 2.0 303

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Either of these qualms can ultimately sidetrack your startup as not worthy of investment, so it pays to do your homework on what you say and how to communicate effectively. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. Investors invest in people more than the idea.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business. Even if you are not requesting outside funding, I would expect a clear process for sourcing and managing the investment you plan to apply.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2013

Explain what kinds of investments TenOneTen makes or hopes to make? David Waxman: We''ve been making investments since the beginning of the year. Our investments include companies in the search technology space, such as SRCH2, which is one of our early investments. David Waxman: Right now, it''s just us. READ MORE>>.

Invest 159

Invest Technology Startup Venture Capital 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2012

A startup begins with a great idea, but all too often, that’s where it ends. Ideas have to be implemented well to get the desired results. That’s why investors invest in entrepreneurs, rather than ideas. Good implementation requires a plan, and a good plan and good operational decisions come from good people.

Ideas 94

Ideas Startup Summary Competition 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. Investors love entrepreneurs who come across as constantly on the lookout for new ideas, and able to grasp the larger implications for market change.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 8, 2013

You can also do some competitive analysis at this point, researching similar companies to find out their gross margins, profit, and overhead, and use these findings as a guidepost. Is your original idea enough to sustain growth or will you need to seek out expansion opportunities? Is it a good time for this idea?

Invest 95

Invest Capital Startup Venture Capital 95

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

The first thing to remember is that banks only do loans – they generally don’t do equity investments like angels and venture capitalists (and vice versa). You have to get past how great the product is to address clearly what your business rationale is, why it is different from the competition's, and why it will succeed.

Equity 121

Equity Technical Advisors Funding Ideas 121