Starting a Business

Willamette Angel Conference Invests More than $450K

May 10, 2013

Yesterday’s Willamette Angel Conference (WAC) 2013 event invested more than $465,000 in four Oregon startups, highlighted by more than $250,000 in Portland-based Sonivate, which has developed a fingertip-mounted ultrasound probe that enables imaging while leaving both hands free to do work with simultaneous tactile feedback.  Three other startups got WAC investment at the event: Amorphyx, [...]

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Some Hard Advice on Working for Sweat Equity

March 6, 2013

I just posted Why Sweat Equity Often Stinks on the gust.com blog for startups and angel investors. It’s quite cynical, I’m afraid, but it also reflects what I’ve seen for years. Sweat equity is a dangerous concept. It’s way too easy to misinterpret and misunderstand. And whether it’s intended to be or not, it’s way [...]

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On Trying to Start Two Businesses At Once

December 3, 2012

Do you recognize this question: “Do I start two businesses at one or just one at a time?” I received it over the weekend from my ask-me form on my website. And I have two completely contradictory answers and then an explanation.  First, the question (leaving out parts of it that would identify the person asking [...]

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Sticky Questions on Startup Ownership and Buy-Sell

November 27, 2012

I received this interesting detailed question from the ask me form on my website. I’ve decided to answer it here. I think my answer might be useful for others with similar questions. I’m putting the question in quotes, paragraph by paragraph, and adding my response directly where it comes in the question.  It starts like [...]

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Are You an Entrepreneur? Do You Want to Be?

October 29, 2012

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you want to be? Are you living with one? This less-than-five-minute video is worth every second. I subscribed to the GrowConference channel on YouTube as a result of watching this. Good stuff. And if you don’t see it here, click here for the YouTube original. And thanks to VentureBeat for [...]

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Free Online Video Business Planning Tutorial

October 12, 2012

My apologies if you’ve seen this elsewhere. It is available on the SBA community site, where it was posted about a year ago. I developed it originally as a donation to the SBA effort, because I believe what the SBA to help real-world entrepreneurs get started and run businesses is valuable. I cooperate with the [...]

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5 Signs of Patent Sharks Preying on Your Dream Invention

October 8, 2012

I’m really sorry to be the one to throw a bucket of cold reality splashing over inventors’ dreams. But darn, patents don’t mean what they once did, and businesses preying on patent hopefuls are not ethical businesses. These are shark-filled waters. Be careful.  What brings this up is this email I received last week through [...]

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Understand the Critical Difference Between Ideas and Opportunities

September 24, 2012

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Opportunities are much more important. An opportunity is an idea that’s passed the test of planning. It has potential. You can implement it. An opportunity has some of the following elements: Industry and market potential: look at market structure, industry structure, growth rate, margins, costs, etc. Economics: capital requirements, [...]

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What Business to Start? Look in the Mirror

September 6, 2012

So you want to start a business, but don’t know what kind? Sure, you can get a list of franchises or ask the experts what are good businesses to start. That works for some people. Lists of businesses to start are easy to find. My advice, however, is don’t look for a list of good [...]

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Q&A: How Do I Finance My Company Without Losing Control?

September 5, 2012

Question: I need $250,000 to get my business started, but from what I see on the web, I’m going to have to give away the business, practically, to get that money from investors. And I don’t want to borrow the money because it’s a startup and I can’t be sure I’ll succeed. My answer: You [...]

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