entrepreneurship Archives - Page 10 of 23

I’m Afraid VCs Will Take Over

Tuesday, 17 January 2023 by Paul O'Brien

How do startup founders protect their company from investors in the shareholders’ agreement? Should they? Protect from what?? Seriously, think about it for a moment. The startup community is flooded with people who ‘don’t want VC,’ think, ‘investors will take over,’ and fear the influence or control of investors. This paranoia is a problem in

Published in Startups

18 Comments

Startup Valuations May Vary, Here’s Why and What You Need to Know

Monday, 05 December 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Businesses are valued based a multiple of earnings and profit. The variation stems from a few things associated with what that multiple might be (since earnings and profit are evident) Investor opinion about the capabilities of the executive team Investor awareness of competition, threats, and opportunities Investor knowledge about the market, trends, and potential regulation

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Published in Startups

9 Comments

Startups aren’t defined by Tech: How a Beverage Venture can Change the World

Sunday, 09 October 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Why is Coca-Cola a super successful company even though its main product does not solve any world problem? The question caught my attention for two reasons: Much of the world seems misled to perceive that startups and technology go hand in hand, as though something can’t be a startup unless it is in tech. Too

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Published in Advertising, Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

13 Comments

Sole Startup Founder? This is Why You’re Struggling

Wednesday, 28 September 2022 by Paul O'Brien

In the past few days alone, half of my office hours with startups have resulted in exactly the same feedback, in a critical but advisory way: I don’t care You’re telling me about the product, the solution I have no idea how to help you, stop selling me 8 different startups fixated on telling me

entrepreneurship

Published in Startups

45 Comments

The Epicenter of Texas Technology

Monday, 12 September 2022 by Paul O'Brien

Regional culture, history, and infrastructure are the qualities of a region of the world that drives innovation, jobs, and economic development because technology is ultimately about people and their potential. Our work in MediaTech Ventures has touched upon that fact a few times, whether in John Zozzaro’s look at Culture and Buildings or our exploration

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Regional Development

35 Comments

Neither Your Product nor Your Idea is Fundable

Sunday, 14 August 2022 by Paul O'Brien

How do I sell a startup that has a validated solution yet neither users nor revenue? Among the primary FAQs within startup incubators and of advisors, is how do I get my product funded? You know the question through the variety of ways in which it emerges: How do I raise startup capital for my

capitalism economic development entrepreneurship funding government innovation patents product startups venture capital

Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Startups

35 Comments

New Business or Startup? It Matters

Friday, 01 July 2022 by Paul O'Brien

I’ve been the “Grumpy Get Off My Lawn!” about this over the years and tend to just roll with the people who are adamant that words are interchangeable, feeling that it’s not worth pushing when people want to say one thing can mean another. Of what have I been grumpy? Words matter. An investor in

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

15 Comments