startups Archives - Page 4 of 17

Startup Founders, Focus! (Yeah, but on what?)

Thursday, 25 May 2023 by Paul O'Brien

Focus. We hear that word and advice bantered about A LOT in the startup community but rarely is that mentorship capably followed up with WHAT to focus on and why. This is what contributes to founders to wasting time and failing. You think the advice is helpful; it’s not, it’s distracting. Focus? Yes. But on what?? Most

Published in Startups

16 Comments

The Art Making Manchester Startups

Thursday, 30 March 2023 by Paul O'Brien

Have this unusual thesis about innovation and entrepreneurship: Cities and countries throughout the world associate themselves with “tech” or appeal to venture capital, they strive to be known as startup cities or the next Silicon Something; at the end of the day, most fail to achieve the circumstances of such an economy. Startups fail. It’s rather the

culture economic develpoment england entrepreneurship europe manchester music startups sxsw

Published in Regional Development

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Developing Austin’s Startup Ecosystem

Tuesday, 28 February 2023 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. A really a wonderful article about Austin in The New Yorker sparked a series of wonderful discussions of the past and present of the Austin

austin economic development economy ecosystem entrepreneurship startups texas venture capital venture development

Published in Industry, Startup Ecosystems, Startups, Texas Startups

19 Comments

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

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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

A Startup Pitch is NOT a Sales Pitch!

Monday, 24 October 2022 by Paul O'Brien

More than half the pitches I heard this past week went like this, and I want to share this to stress how significantly you should understand how this is NOT a good pitch if you need investors: 1. This is our solution2. This is how it works and all our great features3. We’ve sold it

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Published in Raising Capital

72 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