Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the entrepreneur, even if the business plan seems able to capture the market. This is serious stuff.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Summary Entrepreneur Incubator 240

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

On sales I often talk about “ Why Buy Anything, Why Buy Now, Why Buy Me ” as a tool to think about a sales process. On teams I have a framework for tech teams “ CTO vs. VP Eng ” or on sales I have “ Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars ” 5. You’ll have to make the hard judgment call.

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And here’s an important point that I think modern entrepreneurs often forget: Investors are “co-owners” of your business. There are just as many bad entrepreneurs who do bad things. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. how to build an initial sales organization.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

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. The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!”

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

I’d say about 80% of the experienced entrepreneurs & VCs I know privately agreed with me. Still, I’ll bet that functionally you divide areas of competence like sales & marketing, product, engineering, biz dev, etc. In summary, tons of early-stage M&A is driven by only one thing: CEO ego.

Startup 292

Startup CTO Hire Sales Email 292

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

A great recent example of this was a successful group of entrepreneurs who had created a company that will do $10-12 million in revenue at their system integration business (read: services business) in 2011 after having done $5 million or so in 2010 and $2-3 million in 2009. And stop effing around trying to create a product company.&#.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2013

On my first real day back the first thought I have is that most entrepreneurs don’t manage their VC relationships as well as they could. My observation is that many entrepreneurs have a strong relationship with the partner at the VC who invested in his or her company. In summary, VC partnerships are like any organization.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Summary Organization Entrepreneur 309

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. An obvious example would be in sales. By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2020

Being very visible in the startup community, I still get an amazing number of badly written emails, rambling executive summaries, and business plans with one paragraph per chapter. That context needs to be set before your sales pitch or background story makes any sense. Before you start, make sure you understand your own objective.

Writing 125

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 125

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Watch the 30-minute interview to hear why but summary notes below. We talked about how business school historically hasn’t positioned entrepreneurs well for success. I wrote about that before in a post about “ whether MBAs are necessary for entrepreneurs. The numerator (return) encourages more sales, which is fine.

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2012

One of the best summaries I have seen is a recent book by Bill Murphy, Jr., titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” which outlines the ten rules of successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. Problem solvers make successful entrepreneurs. In a startup, the entrepreneur leader has to do two things.

Entrepreneur 123

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Summary 123

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. In sales we often call these USPs (I wrote about them here: Unique Selling Propositions ).

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Here’s my advice: A got an email from a young, super bright entrepreneur today. Let’s say it’s for biz dev purposes, or you’re pitching investors, recruiting, or it’s a sales meeting – whatever. It’s great for sales meetings where you can show your prospects what kind of organization you have.

Venture Capital 397

Venture Capital Startup Email Networking 397

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I thought about things I never had to as an entrepreneur: check size, ownership percentage, deal stage, portfolio construction and risk. tl;dr summary. So I encouraged entrepreneurs to think about raising their funds as quickly as they could because. Summary version? I have a young entrepreneur friend who IMs me a lot.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

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. This starts with understanding how VCs and entrepreneurs often see valuation differently. Back then VentureHacks didn’t exist.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Most entrepreneurs are. You can also just generally ask entrepreneurs who have presented to the VC but who didn’t get funded (the majority of companies that actually present).

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. Marty Zwilling.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Time management.

Ideas 110

Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. It’s always impressive to have stand-alone supporting documents for product specifications, sales plan details, and backup financial reports.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 17, 2010

We have many seasoned entrepreneurs who have built successful companies here and made a lot of money for investors and themselves. I like to repeat the mantra, “necessity is the mother of all invention,&# meaning that because investors have this expectation you find entrepreneurs that focus on nearer term monetization.

Companies 290

Companies Company Technology Startup 290

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2010

I would take all of the one-on-one conversations that I have with entrepreneurs from the things I’ve learned and just write them up for anybody to read. It might be a VP of Sales, Marketing or Technology. Or it may just be a junior programmer, sales rep or accountant. When I started blogging I had an idea.

Startup 294

Startup Press Course Writing 294

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2015

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Startup and development stage.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Satisfaction Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Being very visible in the startup community, I still get an amazing number of badly written emails, rambling executive summaries, and business plans with one paragraph per chapter. That context needs to be set before your sales pitch or background story makes any sense. business writing entrepreneur investor startup'

Writing 109

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 109

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Summary: Team Leadership skills, operating knowhow and industry knowledge are all tremendously important. Connections?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Startup and development stage.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

The popular view of a real entrepreneur is someone with a big vision, and a stubborn determination to charge straight ahead through any obstacle and make it happen. His new book on this subject, “ The Lean Startup ,” lays out how today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Channel pivot.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Platform Customer 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2011

Based on my own experience and feedback from friends, every investor is approached by at least ten entrepreneurs with a “hot idea” for a new business, for every one who has a real “plan” for a new business. In fact, you can find websites full of ideas, like these “ Free Innovative Ideas ,” by serial entrepreneur Kim E.

Ideas 104

Ideas Entrepreneur Summary Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. You need both to survive.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

As an entrepreneur I never really knew what to make of VC return data. Here’s what I know: Most entrepreneurs I know would love to work with A16Z. Simple: it is value-added for both entrepreneur and co-investor. Does A16Z attract more than its fair share of amazingly talented entrepreneurs? Do they win competitive deals?

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, are great at both. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Time management.

Ideas 95

Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 95

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

I found a good summary of the most common mistakes in a recent book by Kelly Clifford, “ Profit Rocket ,” written primarily to help you on the other side of the equation – skyrocket your profits. Entrepreneurs should sign every check and manage cash personally, rather than delegate this task to anyone. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Entrepreneur Summary Pricing 100

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? A more complex answer My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the entrepreneur, even if the business plan seems able to capture the market.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2012

Every entrepreneur wishes that he could predict whether his idea could be the “next big thing,” before he spent his life savings and years of energy on it. Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Tips Ideas Product 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. Successful entrepreneurs get the job done quickly, without breaking the bank.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97