by tomnora | May 24, 2012 | Business Development, CEO Succession, early stage, founder, Revenue Growth, Scalability, startup, startup CEO, Tom Nora, venture
I’m paraphrasing a Clinton/Carville line “It’s The Economy, Stupid” in the title above. They used this to win the 1996 election by rallying people who were tired of such a weak, debt ridden economy. Sound familiar?
The Bubble Begins To Pop
Today it was announced that Betterworks is shutting down after $10.5 million in investment and 18 months of operation. Incredible but not. Around town people have been saying that BetterWorks is one of the strongest startups in L.A. They actually threw a party a month ago “The Silicon Beach 500”, celebrating the amazing growth of local startups.
Betterworks is one of many companies these days that aren’t really companies, they’re an idea, good hype, the ability to trick the public while they’re trying to work it out (We’re doing Great, We’re killing it. We’re hiring.) and the arrogance to say we don’t need any help. I could name another 20 startup in L.A. alone that are in the same boat – they are failing and will shut down eventually, but right now are promoting the facade of success and growth when they’re not either. I won’t names names, but I see their ads on the web. “we’re growing”, “dog friendly workplace”” We Love Startups!”. What about REVENUE and GROWTH and PROFIT and PREDICTABILITY? These are the definitions of Scalability.
Currently early stage startups all want the Facebook model – L U C K. Mark Zuckerberg invented something by accident that grew so far beyond his wildest dreams that it could cover a thousand mistakes. He got funded while wearing jeans and a hoodie. But eventually Facebook had to make Revenue and Profit. Be Scalable.
Most companies aren’t like that. They require good decisions and actions DAILY for YEARS.
Betterworks actually has/had a great idea, they just didn’t quite know how to properly build a business for the long term, and refused to listen to advice. I know that’s harsh, but another few hundred companies are doing the same right now. These companies stifle innovation, not promote it and teach the wrong skils – they need to be called out.
The result will be thousands of pissed off, unemployed people sitting on the beach in Santa Monica wondering what the hell happened. After the 2000 crash Profit and Revenue came back into style, spawning and reinforcing real companies like Google and Salesforce.com which are Profitable and Grow. 2013 will repeat the cycle, so let’s all change our thinking, get back to basics, put the egos aside and respect the expertise available to us. Contact me if you’re in this camp. @tomnora
by tomnora | May 14, 2012 | Angel Investor, Business Development, CEO Succession, early stage, founder, Launch, Revenue Growth, Scalability, startup, startup CEO, Tom Nora, venture
I started a new group 2 months ago in Los Angeles – Startup Workshops – #SUWSLA to teach startup success concepts and try to launch new startups.We have over 100 members now, have had a few meetings and are in the process of launching a new startup with some of the members. Below is my update to the group today. Please feel free to join (it’s free to join) even if you’re not in LA, you can get involved in the discussion and we travel to many other places. And if you are in So Cal, please join us for one of these events. The next one is a Happy Hour Thursday night in West Hollywood.
Message to group 5/14/2012:
This group now has over 100 members, with minimal exposure – pretty cool.
I never had a goal of maximizing overall # of members, just to provide tools that can be used immediately as well as a network where members actually help each other to start and grow startups. So far, so good – we have some pretty amazing people in the group and we’ve (almost) started a startup.
HAPPY HOUR – looking forward to this, 16 rsvps so far plus a few more I know of. The goal of this is to make connections and hear about the startup we launched together in April. There’s a lot of frustration in trying to get a business going, especially when it relies on technology to succeed, so please come if you can and bring a friend who is interested in the startup thing.
STARTUP #1 “LAUNCHED” – WE’RE STILL EARLY EARLY STAGE – Last week we had our second meeting, this week we’ll have our third, with home work assignments, so it looks we may be actually doing something here. It’s an experiment so stay tuned. We have a strong team, but we’re still looking for more development skills.
NEXT GENERAL MEETINGS – I’m getting ready to announce this, leaning toward Funding The Startup as a topic. I’m trying to finalize sponsors and the venue. Not sure if we should try to launch another startup after this one, what does everybody think? Starting to look like an incubator here. Also working on an Orange County meeting for late June, details coming. Also looking at Palo Alto, Scottsdale, Boulder, Austin from inquiries there.
Hopefully I’ll see/meet you Thursday night or soon after. @tomnora
by tomnora | May 5, 2012 | Angel Investor, Business Development, CEO Succession, early stage, founder, Launch, Revenue Growth, Scalability, startup, startup CEO, Tom Nora, venture
The current massive movement of new startups is an awesome moment in our time. The power of the individual is unprecedented.
But one of the problems with the new would be all-functions entrepreneur is lack of training in some of the key areas of entrepreneurship – SALES skills. The technology has changed, but the art of selling and closing sales has not. Humans make decisions by being convinced by other humans, even if the convincing is implemented by automation, data mining, and semantics. Respect the human sales skills.
In most of the pitches I get from early stagers these days, they start talking and demoing and don’t know when to quit. They keep “selling” me. This one one of the most fundamental mistakes of selling. It’s much better to say as little as possible, then shut up and listen as much as possible. Pretend you’re interviewing the other person and you want them to talk. You’ll be amazed.
When I hear a pitch, I want to ask questions, probe, dig deeper into specific subjects. If someone talks too much I often forget or lose interest in my original questions. I also feel like they must be a bit desperate. The other night someone was trying to show me a demo of their mobile app in a loud bar. Since we couldn’t hear the audio, they were trying to scream the features to me. Very sad demo.
So don’t talk so much, listen more, you’ll close more sales. @tomnora
The Art of Sales by Alec Baldwin :
http://j.mp/ILFWw3
by tomnora | Jan 23, 2012 | Angel Investor, early stage, founder, Launch, Revenue Growth, Scalability, startup, startup CEO
This article written by Mark Henderson of Plancast took a lot of courage. The Uphill Battle Of Social Event Sharing: A Post-Mortem for Plancast | TechCrunch http://j.mp/wCnYov
By putting the words Post-Mortem in the title he made it very clear that the company is failing, a shocking move in our current startup world. So many companies/people/vcs pretend they are succeeding when they are stuck – can’t scale revenues, especially over the past 5 years or so. Once they finally shut it down they often still claim success, or invoke the over-used “pivot” panacea.
By calling it as it is, Mr. Henderson allows a true discussion about what went wrong and other strategies that could possibly change the fate of Plancast and other startups in the same position. He is also helping other startup leaders and investors to possibly follow his lead of raw honesty, so this industry can focus more resources on a smaller number of companies that truly have something special and defendable. That helps people to better learn how to do it right, contribute to bigger better businesses, create profits.
In several of my past postings I’ve touched on this problem. It’s endemic to the startup world right now, and can’t lead to a good future. Of course startups always have a low probability of success anyway, but this current environment of pretending like every company that gets angel or super-angel seed funding is made up of geniuses with genius ideas is a house of cards. Articles like that above could start the process of correcting the market back to realism and eventually streamline resources. Mark has put his ego aside and done a great service to all of us. And who knows, by publishing the companies issues he may crowd source some answers (and funding) to actually save his company.
Here are some of the comments people made about this article:
“I hope TechCrunch publishes more well-composed articles like this in the future.”
“This industry is lacking such honest analysis. Thanks for keeping everything so real.”
“I greatly respect you posting this as a way to help others learn when you could have just disappeared in the startup abyss.”
Ii looks like the beginning of several who will come forward soon. What’s the lesson here? I guess more journalists should launch startups. @tomnora
by tomnora | Sep 19, 2011 | CEO Succession, early stage, founder, Launch, Scalability, startup CEO
Responses to my Santa Fe Friends + Cali Friends + + letter. In chronological order.
So you and Rich Murray became friends? how long did he last at NMCC?LOL
peggy
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Hey Tom Baby!!! Im HERE!!!Patsy
Lets get together soon
Loved this message!
Thank you.
I have some good ones for you to meet.
Can you send more info on your social media (or otherwise) focus?
Peter
Tom,Thanks for the thoughtful note. We miss you and look forward to seeing you soon.The NM Green Chamber of Commerce wants a ‘buy local’ app. Does such a thing already exist?Would you be interested (or know someone) in creating it? Alex works with the chamber and I know the folks involved.
Don’t get shot out there.
Joe
Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.
yeah very good friends. he runs the poker game! Not long with Jarrett. He barely remembers him.
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show details Sep 16 (3 days ago)
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I missed the excitement of the real business world and the water.
I made amazing friends out there and enjoyed small town life very much, but needed to plug back in and wanted to launch a startup here.
New Mexico is a weak startup location – missing many parts and move too slowly. The best of both worlds is to have both, but I can only live in one place at a time.
Napa is probably similar to Santa Fe in many ways, I could see you living there. Hope all is well for you, have a glass of wine for me.
Tom: Congrats on your move, I wish you the best.
Enjoyed our discussions and adventures. Hope we can stay in touch and please let me know when you get back this way.
Best personal regards,
David
yeah just say when. lunches are pretty open. will you have a car?
T
Yes I’m interested, building up a strong little team here of app developers. Tell me whom to connect with.
Also interested in Teres Kids progress. Did u guys get funding yet?
I’m sure 9/11 was a thoughtful day for you. Take care.
Tom,Wow, what a great letter, what a great way to catch us all up on your move.
As someone who still hangs on to her LA area code, I love your new city and consider it still “my city” even though after seven or eight years here,
I have to admit I’m not living there anymore.
I’m going to be out there in early October to attend Indiecade…do you have a free couch?
You should see my paintings! I am making major progress!
I wish you all the possible best in your new environs and really do hope to stay in touch.
Note my new phone number and I cc’d you on my go-forward email address after I leave EPIC in January.
BE WELL!
Big hugs,
Stephanie
Good luck Tom, thanks for staying in touch.
Stephen Hadwin
Hi Tom. Thanks for your soulful update. Gotta get tough if you’re gonna stay in LA though! Just remember, compliment everyone on everything and you’ll fit right in. – JB
yes i’m back in the groove, moving faster, no mo “manana”, headed to Arrowhead today to catch up with OC friends.
Good luck, Tom. Let’s try to keep in touch.
I had a great weekend in San Francisco and I’m trying to figure out how to get back more often.
Need to start generating some income so I can afford a small apartment in the city.
Trying to figure out how to schedule a trip to India with my new partner in our social enterprise.
Anyway, give me a call when you get a chance. Enjoy the urban life.
Thanks for the official welcome – i’m stuck in town this weekend but could go next wkend if ur still painting. Are u painting walls or canvases?
Heather: Now that Tom is living in Los Angeles, it would be a real favor to my friend if you would drag him along to some events there so he
can get integrated into the social media and tech scene there.Stewart
wow. Life changes, the one thing we can always count on. Back in LA, must feel strange in some ways,
exciting in others. . . curious Tom, as we haven’t talked in awhile, what prompted the move? And, did you rent a u-haul?
I know you like Nascar and all, drive fast and all, but somehow you and Frieda in a u-haul? Nah. . .
I may be in LA to look at some projects there, so maybe we’ll connect.
Texas is unreal, even for me, but here I am.
Brazos y besos
Iim at district 13 right now u gotta check it out.
Gonna miss you! I had no idea that you left to the bigger city. I do get out there as my sister lives near you, in the West Hollywood area and my son, is enrolled at Claremont McKenna College.
So, I’ll be sure to give a call when in the area. Let me know when you are visiting NM and I’ll make a point of taking you for drinks.
Have fun and make a difference out there! Lillian
Hi Tom—
Wow I had no idea you were moving!!! We are definitely going to miss seeing you and hearing about all your entrepreneurial experiences at our events.
Best of luck in California and next time you are visiting in NM let me know. J
Take care! Shandra
Absolutely.
Tom, please feel free to email or call me. Social Media Week LA is happening right now and I believe there’s some events
(looking into it). If not this week, there’s a few good events every month. Would love to connect.Heather
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