So you have a neat Web 2.0 site and you want to know the value of your site compared to others in your industry?   Bizak.com  is a website that computes the profitability of Internet start ups and compares that data to industry benchmarks. Based on a subscription model, Bizak targets entrepreneurs and investors interested in…

Well, I really do like Special K with strawberries in the morning, but the “serials” I am speaking about here are serial entrepreneurs.  These are the people who have either done a successful startup or somehow acquired the knowledge to do one.  These are the people I like to invest in as they know what…

Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, a “new kind of venture firm specializing in funding early stage start ups”, recently was asked in an Xconomy interview what founders can do to improve their odds of being funded.  His answer was “get good co-founders”. I have often recommended to entrepreneurs that your team is the most…

Every company has energy vampires.  You know, the people that are always negative or subtlety thwart activities that help a company grow and prosper. They tend to suck the creative juices out of your people and spread a bad atmosphere around the office. Energy vampires can be particularly dangerous in start ups. I recently served…

A recent Blog of mine focused on how entrepreneurs often fail to provide the right market context for their proposed business.  My point was that saying your idea was different than anything else in the world was not a selling point because investors and customers could not easily relate to the idea without relevant context. …

There is an expression in the venture community that every fledgling entrepreneur needs to take to heart.  "Buying a vowel", popularized by the TV game show, Wheel of Fortune, often emerges in a partner meeting where new investments are under discussion.  One partner says, "We need to buy a vowel" on company XYZ, meaning we…

I see many different entrepreneurial types in my work.  Most are motivated by building a new, new thing, some are motivated by good works & deeds and some (more than you realize) by money.  It is that last class of individuals that bear a bit more scrutiny.  I can never quite tell up front if…

I have been in a number of "knock-down-drag-out" fights in my life.  Not literally, except for the kid I tried to beat up in Junior High for dissing me in front of a potential girlfriend.  That was a big mistake. And I still have a very short temper as my CFO and others can testify.…

I would estimate that about 50% of the pitches I hear include some variation on the title of this Blog.  The entrepreneur, in an effort to distinguish his or her product or offering, claims that their idea is unlike anything else the world has ever seen.  This often confuses me.  I start by listening intently…