Most founders who start their venture are inexperienced. One might even say gullible to an extent. Not that there is anything wrong with that… But, as with most things in life, it is not the fact you lack a skill that hampers success, but the acknowledgement of it. Germans nailed that in an expression which loosely translates into “modesty shows the true master”. Looking at their economy, who...
read moreNo Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends, was written by McKinsey directors, and offers insight into which developments will have the greatest impact on the business world in coming decades. Below, we’re recapping their list of the “Disruptive Dozen”—the technologies the group believes have the greatest potential to remake today’s business landscape. Energy...
read moreThere’s no doubt that customer service is essential. Gartner, a marketing research firm, found that by 2016, a whopping 89 percent of the companies it surveyed expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience. Just four years ago, the survey showed that only 36 percent of respondents had that plan. If you’re serious about your future success and the growth of your business, you have...
read moreMiddle-aged entrepreneurs will be critical to the next trillion-dollar business Tim Cook and Steven Jobs both shattered the notion that tech companies should be led by young entrepreneurs only. VC’s still favour the young over the matured however. Why is that? Unfortunately most investors feel that entrepreneurs over 32 are not investable. After 32, the “cut off point”, most...
read moreTips For Hiring The Best Startup Talent. Hiring the right talent can make or break any young startup. Early employees not only increase a startup’s cash burn but also greatly impact company culture. So, for any entrepreneur, identifying and hiring your first non-founding employees is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. Here are key tips...
read moreA new summer season, a new opportunity turned out to be very true. Apart from “doing my own thing”, I also look for other networks and groups to get deal flow from and add some value to the startups. Late February I met the founders of the 7write team while they were preparing their pitch in Amsterdam’s accelerator program Startup Bootcamp (SBC). Ordinarily not something that turns heads, but...
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Although we all want to focus on driving and growing the business, unfortunately we all get distracted from time to time by unwanted, annoying, unneeded attention like claims and lawsuits. Sometimes I think it is a growing pain, a rite of passage if you like, all entrepreneurs need to go through every now and again. I recently had one via one of my startups. Thought I’d share part of the fun…....
read moreWhat’s the best thing about being successful? Some people might argue that boasting about it is a sweet side effect of success. Sure, I think you are entitled to some form of glory after having achieved something. It is however a fine line between gloating & enjoying the taste of success and being perceived as boasting, arrogant and obnoxious. Then again, never by shy or coy either. I...
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New Year resolutions! Do they make sense? Do we actually put any stock into them, and perhaps more important do we limit resolutions to the personal life of also to the business life? Think the difference between the personal and business life is we call it “strategy” when we think it is business. But, see sometimes a fair bit of companies quite relaxed when it comes to strategy. Is that a bad...
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One of the things we love to hate is the paperwork. Finding the opportunity or investor and coming to an understanding is one thing, sealing the deal is a completely different story altogether. Before the lawyers and notaries can pass the paperwork as “done and dusted” all the proverbial i’s need to be dotted and t’s need to be crossed. Reason I want to emphasize this is because this...
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It quite often happens that a company is (about to) run out of money. That can happen for lots of reasons; more costs have been made in order to get ready for market, more money is needed for using the momentum, change of business model, or even external factors can contribute to the fact that a company runs out of money. Basically there are two solutions: reduce your burn rate when you see...
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Last week a starting entrepreneur approached me via LinkedIn. That has happened a few times, and I think it is good that founders try to make contact with potential interesting or helpful people. That often leads to being a send a deck (a pitch or proposal), and quite often unsolicited. But, that is not relevant for this month’s blog. The proposal I was sent claimed to be the next big thing...
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As in investor or entrepreneur it is extremely important to have a good network. And, perhaps even more important, maintain that network. That also means you need to put a fair bit of effort in maintaining it. As so often is it not necessarily the quantity that matters, but more the quality. In maintaining the network you unfortunately need to spend a fair bit of hours zipping coffees, latte’s,...
read moreThe second investment that didn’t fall through was end of June. Although that occurred in June, it is an experience that needs sharing. For this opportunity, a large investment was needed (funds required were $500k to $1M). Quite often these type of investment are syndicated. That means that the investment is to be shared amongst 4 to 5 investors. That is a completely different arena and...
read moreDeal just don’t always fall through…. Guess that’s the best way to describe June. As we were very enthusiastic about two new deals, both didn’t make it through to the finish line. The first one of these deals, we were to be their first investor, and although we had an agreement about the money invested and equity, just the “simple” term sheet turned out to be a hurdle the entrepreneurs...
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As part of the Melbourne Angels we are updating and perfecting our processes. Screening, deal making and Due Diligence (DD) are the three main processes for any Angel group, and should be constantly compared with other Angel groups. Am redesigning the screening process, something I not only like but (in all modesty) think I am good at. As we all know but prefer not to talk about is the fact that...
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Arrived back in Europe, just in time to see the start of European Spring. Always a beautiful time of year spring, filled with a flurry of activities. After a sort of hibernating feeling, everyone seems to want to start with something. Entrepreneurs are no exception. Therefore, heaps of new business ideas and pitches to sort through. Have joined a new network in the Netherlands, with various...
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As part of the Melbourne Angels group I am an active member in, co-hosted the annual AAAI Australian Association of Angel Investors) conference. Set at a great location, the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre, with a great line up of speakers with interesting and challenging topics, all ingredients are there to make it a successful conference. It very much turned out to be so. At the...
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Visited the Start-up Asia event in Singapore which was held 1-4 February. For me the first time to attend such an event in Asia, so had high expectations and really looked forward to it. Met some really nice entrepreneurs, heard some great pitches, and was able to do a fair bit of networking. There are definitely differences between the Asian start-up scene and the American and European one...
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The start of yet again a new year. The past year, 2011, has been an, eh, interesting year. Many challenges and uncertainties have marred the investment playing field and arena. Before the year ended some were actually speculating if not expecting the euro as a currency would falter. Think we are now more than over the worst of it, and are heading towards a more stable year. One thing we have...
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