Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The more revolutionary the solution, the more important it is to educate customers on a solution’s existence and value.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Entrepreneurs who are looking to attract investors need to develop and pitch a plan -- preferably written -- that answers every potential investor question about your startup before it is asked. Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now. It’s really not that difficult.

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 18, 2020

Our interview this morning is with Vahid Manian , the Chief Operating Officer of Morse Micro (www.morsemicro.com), a semiconductor startup which is developing chips for the Wi-Fi HaLow market. We are focused on developing Wi-Fi HaLow 802.11ah, which was solidified back in 2016. We have offices in Irvine and in China as well.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2016

Some make big mistakes, such as Webvan expanding too fast with a huge infrastructure, and Pets.com , trying to grow the business with a negative margin, under the mistaken assumption that winning customers is more important than making a profit. Ask every employee to focus on sales. Aggressively enter new markets and sales channels.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

His focus is primarily on improving the results for traditional sales professionals, but I’m convinced that the same principles are equally critical for entrepreneurs selling their startup to investors, strategic partners, and customers. Marty Zwilling First published on Huffington Post on 09/24/2016.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2016

Unfortunately, this approach often turns off mainstream customers, who find the result hard to use. From that base, you can then iterate more effectively, based on customer feedback, to add additional features that really expand the market. Developers should get the last word on implementation, sizing and duration alternatives.

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Product Competition Customer Custom 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

The most common channels in use today include e-commerce, direct to customer, wholesale to dealers, and value-added resellers. In other words, you may have a great new product, but no distributor penetration means no shelf space and no customers. Resist the channel sales pitch for exclusivity. Set marketing plans accordingly.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2016

For example, at any given moment in your business, you may be limited by development, marketing, or sales. These days, there are many companies around the world, with the skills and equipment you need, ready to assist with development resources, marketing programs, or call centers immediately. Think outside the box.

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StartUp Beat

MARCH 29, 2018

Spokespeople from Electric said the funding will directly contribute to developing the company’s fast technology that provides a customer support channel to small- and medium-sized businesses. “Whether it’s sales, product and engineering, or the support team we’ve successfully met or beat our objectives.

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socalTECH

APRIL 21, 2017

For people who send things out, it's a chance to be in front of your customer. We're working with some very large, extremely well known CPGs to help them establish that direct selling channel, and help them create a relationship with their customer. You need to understand what it means when a customer receives a product.

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Startup Product Customer Custom 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2016

They don’t realize that strong team engagement leads to even stronger customer engagement, which can more than double your startup revenue and growth, according to experts. For example, TOMS Shoes matches every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need, driving engagement for employees and customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2016

An initial revenue surge, or a major cash advance from investors often leads to a mentality of building a large customer base at any cost. On the other end of the transaction, customer support, returns, and transportation can add up. Failure to follow-up on customer receivables delays. That’s a win-win combination for everyone.

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Startup Training Entrepreneur Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Lack of focus only confuses customers and dilutes your scarce time and resources. If your comfort zone is relying on gut reactions, it’s time to stretch your understanding of what constitutes customer acquisition cost, margins, pipeline closure rates, and sales ROI. Marty Zwilling First published on Forbes on 09/13/2016.

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socalTECH

JULY 15, 2015

We came from the financial industry space, and have been developing large ERP systems for large law firms around the globe. However, our customers, even with Concur, find those solutions didn't meet all of their needs. Customers would start evaluating them, and it would very quickly narrow to just two companies, us and Concur.

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Software Report Startup IBM 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

After listening to hundreds of startup pitches, and reading even more business plans, most new venture investors develop their own favorite list of “red flags” that signal the beginning of the end of their interest. Lead with your intent to offer the solution free to customers. Of course, customers love free, but investors hate it.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2016

We helped talent with O&O (owned & operated websites) and with ad sales. But if you’re not on FB in 2016 you’re crazy. Each distribution channel you sell products in has its own unique customer base but your goal is to build a relationship with those end customers. We sold brand integration.

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Content Snapchat Platform SEO 150

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

This week we’ll focus on the city of Austin, gain insight into Uber’s spending habits, do a little scooter number crunching, the Tesla Model Y, and the so-called “race” — an overused and inaccurate term — to develop autonomous vehicles. ONM … There are OEMs in the automotive world. Cymbal clash!) Take bike share.

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San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

socalTECH

MARCH 9, 2017

Department of Energy to help develop tools to secure the power grid. OT networks had a parallel development track with IT systems, but had primarily been focused on industrial applications. We also have a development office in Atlanta, where most of our developers sit. Thanks for the time today.

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Networking Startup Incubator Orange County 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2016

Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service. We all make staffing mistakes, so it’s most important to quickly fix them, before the morale of the whole team is impacted, or your business loses some key customers.

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Organization Entrepreneur Satisfaction Screening 57

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2016

Most begin by doing the product development, marketing and sales alone, but struggle making the transition to hiring and coaching others, defining repeatable processes and focusing on future strategy. Now you have real customers who can quickly turn off hundreds of potential customers if you ignore their feedback.

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Social Network Startup Demand Entrepreneur 59

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 18, 2016

However, this year many brands still won’t deliver a full mobile experience, which is to say that, in 2016, many retailers still won’t have apps. Despite the benefits of developing an app, there are valid reasons why retailers choose not to invest in one. MYTH: Development costs are too high. Developing an app is costly.

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Mobile Sites Customer Custom 40

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

In 2016, that represented a couple of unique concepts. There are lots of transaction costs which occur both on acquisition of customers and on returns, and those costs are real, and must be considered in how we price the products. Brad Stewart: There was a lot of business development on this partnership. READ MORE>>.

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Startup Pricing Platform Study 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

If your new venture is still in the idea or development stages, don’t even think about a high valuation. If you don’t yet have a hundred investors knocking on your door, it’s time to put more focus on viral marketing, closing customers, and exponential growth. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/29/2016.

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Company Companies Startup Statistics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2016

Put aside the rose-colored glasses of your passion, and ask a financial expert to validate the total costs required to build the business as well as realistic sales volumes and growth. Interact with real customers to validate passion in their feedback. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 01/01/2016.

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Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2016

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Spend real time on people development and succession planning.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2016

Maintaining that balance between doing good and doing business is a key to success that investors and customers watch carefully. That team has to cover the range from top designers, savvy financial managers, to good marketing and sales leaders. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 05/11/2016.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Keep your focus on customers rather than investors. Thus they will insist on a sale or public offering at every opportunity, which will likely force you out. Marty Zwilling First published on Forbes on 08/31/2016. Your dream of changing the world may take longer, or be the legacy you want to stay with.

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Entrepreneur Startup Equity Outsource Development 67

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

billion in sales and thus controls less than 10% of the market. After a year in the market, MakeSpace was growing rapidly and our biggest issue was CAC (customer acquisition costs) relative to payback period (when we get our marketing investment back) and relative to LTV (lifetime value). That is how great businesses are built.

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Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Walmart’s been investing heavily in its e-commerce capabilities — too heavily for some investors’ tastes , in fact — in an effort to make up ground on Amazon and Google , both of which are already deep into the drone development process. The primary e-commerce change would come in the form of new customer expectations.

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Commerce Customer Custom Product 40

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 11, 2021

Linktree has been around since 2016 and has more funding than its up-and-coming competitors. Snipfeed is free to set up, but if you make sales, the company takes 15% — this percentage is inclusive of any transaction fees. Now, Snipfeed enters the ring with its own $5.5 Image Credits: Snipfeed. With its $5.5

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