Marty Zwilling Archives

7 Keys to a Compelling Investor Executive Summary

By Marty Zwilling | Aug 7, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. As a model, think high-quality marketing collateral, with text and graphics in columns and sidebars, but focused on the value…

7 Tips on Building Better Connections with Your Team

By Marty Zwilling | Jul 29, 2015

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. But fortunately, team building is a skill that can…

The Peter Principle Can Paralyze Your Startup Team

By Marty Zwilling | Jul 23, 2015

The good news is that recent big company financial woes and layoffs have generated a flood of candidates with real experience seeking positions at startups. The bad news is that many of these frustrated employees may have already reached their level of incompetence (The Peter Principle). They are not the ones you need in the…

Grants May Be Free, But They Do Come at a Price

By Marty Zwilling | Jul 16, 2015

Every investor in your startup, even friends and family, normally expects a share of your company (equity), which means your return for all your effort goes down quickly.

8 Lessons for Entrepreneurs from the Shark Tank

By Marty Zwilling | Jul 9, 2015

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations.

How Entrepreneurs Attract Friends, Family and Fools

By Marty Zwilling | Jul 1, 2015

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors.

These 8 Groups of People Will Never Start a Business

By Marty Zwilling | Jun 19, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know is dismayed by the number of friends who approach them with a line such as “I have an even better idea that will change the world, and one of these days I’m going to get around to starting my own business.”

10 Principles Define Your Startup as Open versus Closed

By Marty Zwilling | Jun 10, 2015

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors.

6 Keys to Proving a Viable Startup Business Model

By Marty Zwilling | Jun 3, 2015

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question.

Realistic Strategies for Funding Product Development

By Marty Zwilling | May 27, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology.