Marty Zwilling
Marty Zwilling is the Founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. Marty has been published on Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, Gust, and Young Entrepreneur. He writes a daily blog for entrepreneurs, and dispenses advice on the subject of startups to a large online audience of over 225,000 Twitter followers. He is an Advisory Board Member for multiple startups; ATIF Angels Selection Committee; and Entrepreneur in Residence at ASU and Thunderbird School of Global Management. Follow Marty on Twitter @StartupPro.
Latest
Startup Investor Money Always Comes with Strings
As an Angel investor to startups, I’m still surprised to find entrepreneurs who expect investors to give them money, and then disappear into the sunset. Would you do that if it was your money?
10 Key Outsourcing Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs
These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. We are in the age of outsourcing.
8 Deadly Wastes That Every Entrepreneur Must Avoid
Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often.
How True Entrepreneurs Make Themselves Accountable
Everyone seems to like the aspect of being an entrepreneur that goes with “being your own boss” and “able to do things my way.” But sometimes they forget that this kind of freedom comes with a price of personal accountability. Accountability means “the buck stops here,” and “all the failures are mine.”
Don’t Forget Grants If You Need Early Seed Money
In the US, many entrepreneurs see grants as “free money,” since they are not loans and don’t have to be repaid. A grant is not an equity investment, so the entrepreneur doesn’t have to give up a stake in the company either. Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors.
Why Some Innovative Leaders Get Exceptional Results
How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)?
The Correct Answer to “How Will You Use My Money?”
Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.”
Don’t Let Investors Conclude Your Startup is a Hobby
Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return.
Is the Ideal Entrepreneur Right Brain or Left Brain?
Traditionally, the majority of entrepreneurs have been logical thinkers, problem solvers, and pay attention to details. These are the stereotypical left-brain engineers. Yet I see a big shift from the knowledge age, with its left-brain foundation, to a critical focus today on visualization, creativity, relationships, and collaboration, which are more in the domain of right-brainers.
8 Guidelines for Friends and Family Startup Funding
Friends and family will likely not expect the same level of sophistication on the business model and financials as a professional investor, but they do expect to see certain things. Here is a summary of some key items to think about as an entrepreneur before approaching friends, family, or even fools.