Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. Even the best solutions require marketing to survive. My answer is that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked.

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Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2022

Most people agree that entrepreneurs have to think differently and take risks to have much chance of building a successful business. In the classic book “ The Entrepreneur Mind ,” from serial entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson, he outlines 100 essential beliefs, insights, and habits of serious entrepreneurs.

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Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 117

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. Some just want to change the world and make it a better place.

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Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2021

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs probably have long searched for that special idea that will catapult you and your startup to success. True entrepreneurs are born, not made. It’s true that some people are natural risk-takers, but these often do not make the best entrepreneurs. Every inventor is an entrepreneur by default.

Entrepreneur 171

Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Satisfaction 171

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. As an investor, I sometimes see CEOs who negotiate to send their VP of Marketing to talk.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

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. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. Don’t hide in your office.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

As an entrepreneur mentor, my mission is to foster the attributes in you as a startup founder that I believe will lead to success. For example, I worked with an entrepreneur a while back who was clearly intelligent, had a great idea, and communicated well. Unfortunately for them, building a business is all about implementation.

Entrepreneur 136

Entrepreneur Ideas Examples Mentor 136

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2023

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Investors and strategic partners look for entrepreneurs who can execute.

Entrepreneur 70

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 70

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Beware of Mentors. His basic point was: If someone, including me, tells you something isn’t a great idea and there’s no market for it there are only two acceptable responses. I’m going to take that thought out into the field and validate it with my customers." Customer Validation 101. " OR… "You’re wrong.

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Customer Custom CTO Coach Startup 227

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, one of the most common requests I get is for an evaluation of a next startup idea. The most successful entrepreneurs focus on solving a problem that they personally have experienced, and are convinced they fully understand. Most startups require leading a team of people, and engaging customers.

Ideas 151

Ideas Entrepreneur Resource Knowledge Base 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2023

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Entrepreneurs have to be careful not to look too hard for evidence that confirms their passion and positive perspective. Failure to learn.

Marketing 119

Marketing Metrics Demand Statistics 119

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. It’s now obvious that there is no market for what I created.”

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Course 121

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I challenge them to think beyond what I call linear extensions to a current trend, such as another “easier-to-use” app for smartphones, a new dating site for pets, or another niche social network. Also evaluate the values of desired customers. Great social entrepreneurs are rare.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

The road to becoming an entrepreneur is a journey , and it’s not a short trip. Every entrepreneur starts by accepting the reality that you have a rare mindset of joy of discovery, with an intense curiosity about how certain things or people work, or why a new technology hasn’t yet been accepted.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Help Incubator Startup 139

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

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Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Perhaps sparked by the recent pandemic, I’m seeing a new era of the entrepreneur, with startups springing up all around. Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. Listen to your customers to arrive at acceptable and marketable solutions.

Startup 135

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2021

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. I suspect that several of these will surprise most entrepreneurs as being counter-intuitive to their thinking.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Entrepreneur Marketing Customer 157

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened? People were building.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). In my experience, entrepreneurs who are overly paranoid or are information hoarders rarely do well.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

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. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. The result, called resourcefulness, allows entrepreneurs to create opportunities in the face of scarcity. Let your constraints drive innovation.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

If an entrepreneur doesn’t find themselves in over their head at least 20% of the time, they are probably not pushing the limits, not taking enough risk, and probably not working on an idea that’s worth doing. Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs I know are terrible at finding and accepting help. You start playing the blame game.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Startup Help Mentor 99

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Nothing is more discouraging to aspiring entrepreneurs than the high failure rate. It’s now obvious that there is no market for what I created.”

Startup 135

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 135

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers.

Resource 121

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2023

The cost of entry to the entrepreneur lifestyle is at an all-time low, but the challenge of winning and success is at an all-time high. Anyone can build a new web site, or publish a smartphone app for a few thousand dollars, but getting market penetration requires a lot more. People who shape the future, like Steve Jobs, did this.

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network SpaceX 118

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. In my experience, both are always required in heavy doses.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2022

If an entrepreneur doesn’t find themselves in over their head at least 20% of the time, they are probably not pushing the limits, not taking enough risk, and probably not working on an idea that’s worth doing. Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs I know are terrible at finding and accepting help. You start playing the blame game.

Help 131

Help Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2015

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Every entrepreneur and every business I meet in my consulting and mentoring role has great intentions of bringing real innovation to the market, yet I find that most ideas are merely small extensions to existing solutions. Inventors are always talking about what they can do with technology, before sizing the need and the market.

Startup 146

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas 146

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. Pew says the Boomer demographic is the largest mainstream pool of experienced talent in the market today, and will be for the foreseeable future. Manage customer service.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur Report 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for others, that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Here are the key recommendations from both of us, based on my own business mentoring insights: Re-launch using your enhanced core competency. Move to a higher platform.

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Technical Review Marketing Mentor Entrepreneur 99