Startups

Even though small businesses collectively generate $5 trillion in sales in the U.S., the biggest challenge of an individual small business is survival. 80% of all new business start-ups are out of business within five years. And if that doesn’t get your attention, 80% of the 20% that survive the first five years don’t survive the second five![read more]

There is always less risk with a well-defined problem in a large and growing market. All the people in China is a large and growing market, but all the people with cancer is much more well-defined. It’s hard to make money in a shrinking market, or with a solution that is “nice to have” versus painfully needed.[read more]

Whether you're a non-profit fundraiser or someone selling b2b, understanding the profile of what's succeeded before you is a little like understanding where it snows. Sure, it's possible to invent an entirely new market dynamic, to persuade the previously unpersuadable. But should you?[read more]

We make a lot of early stage investments and we work hard with those companies to help them succeed. But if you hung out at USV, you would see that we spend a lot of time on policy stuff. And that begs the question "why do you do that?"[read more]

Every startup, as well as mature business, needs to learn as much as possible from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, who have set the standards for fast growth and success in today’s business world.[read more]

The combined forces of shifting investments to Asia, strength of the Asia economies, the size of Mainland China’s population and technological advancements have contributed to the success, and potential, of China. But achieving the potential will require continued reform, workforce development and incentive programs to attract foreign investment.[read more]

When I got into the business in the mid 80s, I was schooled that you needed to produce at least 20% annual returns net to the limited partners to stay in business. In the last 10 years, venture capital hasn't had returns the break the double digits.[read more]

The more generous you are with your ideas, and the more they spread, the more likely it is your perceived value goes up. If you're an up-and-coming band building an audience, then free, free, free. If you're busy doing free work because it's a good way to hide from the difficult job of getting paid for your work, then stop.[read more]

My intention is to inspire you to take a long hard look at your business and imagine and brainstorm how you could reinvent your business model so that you are able to make an even bigger impact.[read more]

As an aspiring start-up, your path to prosperity can feel blocked from the onset. Lacking the huge promotional budgets of the major players, as well as the economies of scale, markets can seem impenetrable.[read more]

Before QR codes, the only way for business owners to encourage customers to go to their website or print out their coupons was to provide a link. While links are easy to follow for customers already online, they are less likely to be used by those not at a computer.[read more]

Don’t be lulled into complacency by early adopters as your first customers. Temper your feedback assessments, product changes, and marketing strategy to the mainstream market. 10% of your projected market won’t make your investors very happy.[read more]

Looking to start a business? Take advantage of the consumers who spend most of their day online, switching between their PC, mobile device, tablet and TV. Connection speeds have increased sharply and businesses as well as consumers are doing more and more things online.[read more]

Most businesses fail. It’s a harsh reality to accept, but the awful truth is that the odds are against you as soon as you decide to play the game. How can you avoid being on the wrong side of those statistics?[read more]

Today appears to be government day on Feld Thoughts. This morning I wrote about the Colorado PUC trying to shut down Uber in Colorado (bad). Now I get to write about Senators Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) re-introducing the Startup Visa Act of 2013 (good). Mark – thank you – you’ve been an awesome supporter of...[read more]

Do you still believe the negative and contracting assumptions that have been our guidance system for the past few years? You're not alone. Yet those assumptions won't drive growth in 2013. Here are 3 simple mind shifts to get yourself thinking out of the box and your business growing.[read more]

Being a good entrepreneur means being able to effectively convince an investor that you have a great idea, persuade partners that your approach is right, and convince potential customers that the solution is right for them. If all your ideas are intuitively obvious to everyone, you probably aren’t thinking outside the box, or don’t really have the next big thing.[read more]

I read the announcement today that Canada has just launched a Start-Up Visa Program. By doing so, they are saying to the world “welcome immigrant entrepreneurs – please come start your business in Canada.” It’s brilliant, well executed, and modeled after the Startup Visa movement that a number of us have been trying to get started in the...[read more]

Jason Calacanis interviews David Cohen, the CEO of TechStars. Highly recommend if you are interested in TechStars, accelerators, early stage investing, ramping your startup, and how David thinks about angel investing from his fund Bullet Time Ventures.[read more]

Let's think creatively about how we do good in our communities. I just ran across my notes from 2011, when I heard Alon Nir (@TheKotel) explain his project, Tweet Your Prayers. He called his talk "The Anti-Startup," and he proceeded to tell us how he ignored all the "rules" of business to make a difference.   Alon Nir...[read more]