socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Last week, the University of Southern California 's Viterbi School of Engineering announced that it had established a new, business plan competition, the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition ([link] specifically aimed at students in the engineering school. Why a business plan competition, and why in engineering school?

Competition 154

Competition Southern California Mentor USC 154

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 29, 2013

They had some pretty high quality companies presenting. USC’s Marshall School of Business will host the second annual Silicon Beach Awards (SBAs), a $50,000 venture competition focused on innovation in technology & entertainment. I also have a discount code below for the event. To join us, register at https://siliconbeachusc-2013.eventbrite.com/

USC 159

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Startup Conference 159

socalTECH

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Chick Launcher , the local effort to help bolster women led startups, has named the five finalists for its Fast Pitch Competition, the group said this week. The group said it also has awarded $5,000 for the Best Fast Pitch presentation to I Heart Savvy. chicklauncher women startups competition fast pitch' READ MORE>>.

Competition 261

Competition Southern California Startup Activity 261

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

The annual Fast Pitch competition pitted 10 companies against each other in 90-second, elevator pitches to a panel of 10 judges. After each 90-second pitch, and a quick Q&A, judges at the event gave both a presentation score and fundability score to each company. READ MORE>>.

Tech Coast Angels 199

Tech Coast Angels Competition Hollywood Tool 199

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Activision said Friday that it has launched a new Call of Duty gaming competition, which will feature a $1 million prize, for the top player of Call of Duty: Black Ops II on the Xbox 360. The competition said that any player can register to compete in the competition. READ MORE>>.

Activision 217

Activision Competition Hollywood 217

SoCal Tech Calendar

JULY 25, 2017

Wednesday, July 26, 2017 -- Startup Demo Competition. 805 Startups is partnering with the City of Thousand Oaks to hold a startup demo competition at their beautiful Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

Competition 100

Competition Thousand Oaks Startup Southern California 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2020

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 125

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2023

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 111

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 111

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 31, 2020

Sunday, September 6, 2020 -- National Business Plan Competition Deadline/Pismo Ventures. Pismo Ventures presents the National Venture Plan Competition (NVPC). Seee [link] (more)

Competition 100

Competition Screening Entrepreneur Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 107

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Don’t expect your storytelling to be a substitute for basic business plan content, including competitive analyses and financials. Providing the fundamentals in a more memorable context, and enhancing their impact, can give you that competitive edge you need for success. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 08/20/2020.

Startup 145

Startup Competition Customer Custom 145

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Conventional wisdom in most companies is that “the competition is the enemy&# – it’s the rallying cry to dig deeper, get more features out the door, issue press releases citing differences and attack the competition’s weaknesses in sales presentations. You know, frenemies. When Enemies are Good.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 15, 2010

Jason started the Open Angel Forum in response to his frustration that entrepreneurs were being charged by some angel organizations to present at their events. Asking young companies with limited capital to pay to present to a group of potential investors is insane. 5 companies presented for 7-8 minutes each followed by Q&A.

Angel 254

Angel Startup Tech Coast Angels MyShape 254

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2017

When you’re in a competition and on the spot, answering questions to industry experts can be a nerve-wrecking process. This competition required the team to answer “…questions on a Food and Nutrition data set that contained 28 features and 30,000+ rows. This article is courtesy of the Galvanize blog.

Competition 88

Competition Slides Artificial Inteligence Tips 88

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2017

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 -- ACG101's First Annual Emerging Growth Pitch Competition and Showcase. These selected startups will pitch to attendees, guest judges (investors and seasoned entrepreneurs) in a showcase/demo table style presentation. See [link] (more)

Competition 100

Competition Los Angeles Entrepreneur Startup 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 30, 2019

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 -- ACG101's 3rd Annual Emerging Growth Pitch Competition and Showcase. 10 selected startups will pitch to attendees, guest judges (investors and seasoned entrepreneurs) in a showcase/demo table style presentation. Three finalists will then be selected to formally do a 2-minute pitch for the grand prize!

Competition 100

Competition SoCal Southern California Los Angeles 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete. Actually, I think the advice in this post applies to any sales meeting also.

Slides 296

Slides GRP Partners Venture Capital Writing 296

socalTECH

DECEMBER 6, 2012

AngelHack, the self-proclaimed leader in hackathon competitions, completed its Fall 2012 season this past weekend with contests held simultaneously in five cities: Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto and Paris. In Santa Monica, Hackathon first-timers and veterans all gathered at CrossCampus to hack almost 30 products within 24 hours.

Santa Monica 178

Santa Monica Competition Los Angeles Design 178

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. A competitive advantage to a non-problem or tiny niche is not interesting to investors.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Customer 86

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

I presented the deck below – which was prepared with the great help of Upfront Venture’s Principal Jordan Hudson – at Dave McClure’s must attend event called PreMoney with much more data and narrative than I had in my blog post. These are most notable in late-stage, D-round, investments.

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 23, 2019

How to Deal with Electronic Distractions Of course the biggest competition you have with the attention of your board members is their mobile phones. Either ask them to dial in or if they come ask them to really be present. My goal is to make sure every member is present.” Most likely you’d be wrong. Then you’ve lost them.

Slides 275

Slides Email News Startup 275

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 21, 2014

She explains Freestyle VC’s specific “no competition” investment policy with active decisions to bypass investments that compete with companies in their portfolio. The post 500 Startups Presents Bitcoinference appeared first on TechZulu. Dave asks: “What’s bolshevik in Bitcoin?

Startup 104

Startup Venture Capital Draper Invest 104

Berkonomics

APRIL 24, 2014

Although that is still a good idea in many cases, there is a recent alternative available to some entrepreneurs on a competitive basis that seems most attractive and positive. 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 2, 2014

We feel pressure to hit milestones for a variety of reasons: Investor presentations, conference demos, customer sales meetings, competitive pressures, a need to drive revenue, business development commitments – whatever. Obviously you can’t always present at conferences to hit delivery dates or this would happen.

Software 344

Software Startup Design Course 344

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

You can always tell during this discussion whether the entrepreneur has logged into their products, talked to their customers, read all the news stories and gotten all of the back channel info on the competition. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. Can’t go a mile deep on competition?

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 10, 2013

Other investment bankers insist that the company create competition for a deal, even if the buyer has already submitted a letter of interest to the seller. Competition opens the deal to more public access, slows the deal and could give competitors wind of an otherwise confidential process.

Invest 207

Invest Competition Pricing Startup 207

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? Celebrate Conference in October. Climbing the ranks for our Western Region, Picking Duck was one of two semi-final winners.

Competition 91

Competition Startup Ideas Conference 91

Berkonomics

JULY 27, 2017

At the annual user conference, I would often make sure the entire user community present knew of these extraordinary collaborations by naming the teacher-customers in the presence of their contemporaries. Together we would work out solutions in the form of new functions, new controls, new reports, and new safeguards.

Customer 243

Customer Custom Design Conference 243

Berkonomics

JANUARY 11, 2018

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. Strategic thinking: Board members who ask: “What is the competitive landscape?” Which leads us to the second class of creative board thinking….

Company 243

Company Companies Ideas Competition 243

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2011

I have long wanted to write about FNAC (feature, not a company) because it’s part of my normal lexicon to push teams that present to me to think harder about where the economics in their industry is coming from. Yesterday I pushed this passion in the wrong direction. “Whether you are right or wrong doesn’t actually matter.

Email 270

Email Writing Blogging Competition 270

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

The popularity and virality of TED Talks has raised the bar dramatically for any and all presentations. Your competition certainly has! If your goal is only to improve the way you present at group meetings or on sales calls, learning the TEDx format is going to put you in a different league.

Southern California 133

Southern California SoCal Competition Sales 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses and so forth. When you are ready to hire sales staff I don’t recommend bringing in people who are too experienced.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

socalTECH

MARCH 29, 2019

Los Angeles-based XPRIZE , the nonprofit which manages and operates competitions intended to spur significant advances in technology, says it has rolled out a new, $1 million award, which it calls the Moonshot Award. SpaceIL originally began development of its lunar lander as part of the Google Lunar XPRIZE effort.

Google 145

Google Competition Los Angeles Technology 145

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

The “Triple Play&# of VC Presentations. A large part of my series has been outlining what the typical VC PowerPoint presentation should look like. Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

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 Auerhahn: We just had too much free time at USC.

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

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. A business that relies on static skill replacement is falling behind, and ripe for the next competitive crisis.

Tips 160

Tips Framework Competition Ideas 160

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). Note the full presentation deck with additional slides can be found on SlideShare here or you can simply scroll through it at the bottom of this post.]. We’re all socially connected (so great businesses spread faster).

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398