StartupPro : how to set up and grow a tech business : practical guidance on how to turn your passion, idea, and technical skills into a successful business / Martin Zwilling.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zwilling, Martin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Small business.

Success in business.

Entrepreneurship.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (237 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham : Impackt Publishing, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Biography/History:

C Zwilling Martin: Marty Zwilling has a passion for nurturing the development of entrepreneurs by providing first-hand mentoring, funding assistance, and business plan development. He is the Founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. He writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs, and dispenses advice on the subject of startups to a large online audience of 750, 000 Twitter followers. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur Inc, Business Insider, and the Huffington Post. He also has published two other books, Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur? and Attracting an Angel. He has a 30 year track record of demonstrated results as an executive in general management, computer software development, product management, and marketing, as well as in leading technical business transformations, conducting due diligence for investors, mentoring new technical executives, and overseeing business development, customer service, and outsourcing both onshore and offshore. Marty began his career with IBM, holding an array of positions including executive roles in software development and professional services. Prior to beginning his career, Marty obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Minor in Computer Science from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. A resident of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Marty is also an active member of the local Angel investment group (Arizona Technology Investor Forum), an advisor to the Arizona State University Venture Catalyst program, Executive in Residence at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and member of the Advisory Boards for several startups in the area.

Summary:

If your find yourself daydreaming about your own business and not just your next promotion, this book will help you shape your ideas as you begin your enrepreneurial journey.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur?

Personality traits of great technical entrepreneurs

Are all technical entrepreneurs natural-born?

Every entrepreneur needs multiple intelligences

Technical entrepreneurs have to love learning more than money

Technical entrepreneurs learn best from business networking

A technical entrepreneur must build relationships

Attributes to work on for entrepreneurial success

All entrepreneurs are survivors, never victims

Test the start-up lifestyle before jumping into it

Missteps to avoid for aspiring technical entrepreneurs

Customers and investors like ideas, but measure you on their execution

Succeeding as a technical entrepreneur is really about you

Summary

Chapter 2: Does Your Dream Idea Have the Potential to be a Business?

How to perform a reality check of your opportunity

Recognize the entrepreneur passion trap

The difference between entrepreneurial requirements and engineering perceptions

Assess the opportunity and the risks with a start-up incubator

The importance of frequent tuning and daily determination

Feature creep can turn your leading edge into the bleeding edge

Early adopters don't make your market

Check your alignment with today's customer buying habits

Winning customers from big business brands

Women technical entrepreneurs have some unique challenges

Chapter 3: When, Where, and How Do You Formalize a Technical Business?

Startup location - a critical success factor

Picking the right company name

Paying for a domain name

The official start date of your business is an important milestone

Protecting your start-up founder's stock shares

Minimizing the red tape and taxes of a start-up.

Every technical start-up needs a website

Business blog - an alternative to a business website

Kick-starting your startup with Twitter

Every business needs momentum

Chapter 4: Does a Technical Entrepreneur Really Need a Business Plan?

When do you really need a business plan?

Valid reasons for not writing a business plan yet

The difference between product plans and business plans

Creating a good business plan

Make it a simple but effective business plan

Focusing on investors' questions

Define the problem

Solution and benefits

Industry and market sizing

Explain the business model

Competition and sustainable advantage

Marketing, sales, and partners

Executive team

Funding requirements

Financial forecast and metrics

Exit strategy

How to do market research on a startup budget

What is your business model?

Financial forecasts - a key element of every business plan

Benefits of using a financial model

Chapter 5: When and How Do You Find Funding for a Technical Business?

Finding cash sources to start a technical business

Crowdfunding basics for technical entrepreneurs

Tips on how much money to ask for from investors

Honing your elevator pitch and executive summary

Structuring your investor presentation

Guidelines for pitching to professional investors

Rules of thumb for start-up investment valuation

Every technical entrepreneur needs a start-up exit strategy

Getting ready for the dreaded due diligence

Rejection, and how you learn from it

Investors fund solutions rather than technology

Differentiating start-up viability from fundability

Chapter 6: After the funding, how do you survive the execution risks?

Risks to be avoided

Learn the laws of the jungle for technical startups.

Every technical startup needs business accounting and records

Think carefully before taking legal risks and shortcuts

Register all your intellectual property

Know the value and risks of patents

When to use non-disclosure agreements

Risk factors that scare investors most

Other common startup risks to avoid

Taking smart risks

Entrepreneurship success is recognizing smart risks

Using imitation with innovation to limit risk

Follow strategies of other successful risk takers

Chapter 7: Are You Ready for all the Leadership and Team Challenges?

How to be an entrepreneur role model to lead your technical startup

Traits of a great technical startup founder

Finding the right top executive for your technical startup

Importance of having a startup mentor

How to assure a productive mentor-mentee experience

Mentoring your team efficiently

Recognizing and hiring the smartest people for your startup team

How to turn your team members into an innovative startup team

Keys to motivation that every technical entrepreneur should know

Recognizing people who drain energy from your company

Chapter 8: Do You Understand How Social Media is Changing the Business Landscape?

Making the right use of social media

How to begin using social media in your technical business

Differences between traditional and social media marketing

The big three social networks for business

Steps to social media success for technical entrepreneurs

Some old and broken social media marketing uses

Steps to measure technical entrepreneur social media results

How to balance social media costs versus value

How to make a real social media customer connection

Chapter 9: If You Build It, Will They Find You, and Will They Use It?.

Planning pivots - you may not get it right the first time

Joining the new breed with a new mantra - nail it then scale it

Validating the business model

Pricing your product correctly

Creating a memorable website for your start-up

Optimizing your website for the search engines

Organic versus paid search results

Website ads are not a revenue stream for start-ups

Building your start-up brand

Creating a brand experience for your technical product with digital marketing

Using viral marketing effectively

Above all, maintain a laser focus

Chapter 10: Can You Build the Relationships Needed to Succeed in Business?

Don't work alone

Two heads are always better than one

Partner qualities to test before sharing equity

Why you need business relationships with many others

Don't look to a dating site for matchmaking business relationships

Should technical entrepreneur relationships ever be more than business?

Great relationships are the key to scaling your business

The importance of great customer relationships

Mergers and acquisitions for growth are special relationships

Make your relationship connect deeply

Summary.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed June 15, 2017).

ISBN:

1-78300-143-7