Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

Many entrepreneurs assume that everyone will love their solution as much as they do, so they tune their marketing focus based on their own needs and wants. That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. Update your technology to reach new customer segments.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2016

In my role as a business advisor, I often see well-meaning entrepreneurs try to be everything to everyone, which results in many things done poorly, and few totally delighted customers. People are confused by multiple messages, and employees are frustrated trying to personalize customer experiences.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2016

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2017

The average business person fights a customer culture shift, rather than looking for it. Thus I recommend that the rest of us need to step outside our comfort zone, and start practicing some specific strategies to recognize cultural shifts, and maybe even start a few trends of our own: Embrace online social interaction with customers.

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InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2016

It may seem hard to believe, but even in 2016, there remain a number of successful consumer brands that are not sold online. I thought it would be interesting to understand the challenges and concerns of entrepreneurs who began selling online for the first time in 2016, so I sat down with Heidi Muther, COO at Z S upply , LLC.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2016

There are a few entrepreneurs who seem to always be ahead of the rest, and are able to sense where the market is going tomorrow. Everyone wants to support the entrepreneur with the courage to make bold decisions, and can make it happen. So what does one have to do to get on the list? Exhibit almost superhuman energy and focus.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2016

The cost of entry to the entrepreneur lifestyle is at an all-time low, but the challenge of winning and success is at an all-time high. Anyone can build a new web site, or publish a smartphone app for a few thousand dollars, but getting market penetration requires a lot more. People who shape the future, like Steve Jobs, do this.

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Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2016

For too many small businesses, customer service is still seen as a “burden.” Entrepreneurs don’t realize that this burden is actually costing them over $200 billion in repeat sales, according to a recent study by the W. These days, relationships and online reviews are key drivers for over 80 percent of new customers.

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Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 26, 2016

6 Entrepreneurs share their predictions for this year’s evolution of online industries, which will be key for small businesses across the globe in 2016. In 2016, the price of mobile data will remain relatively stable. wireless carriers will begin to treat enterprise customers differently. Wireless Global Connections.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I’ve met many aspiring entrepreneurs, and I often get asked the question, “I have a great idea for a startup – do you agree that it real potential?” If you are dreaming of an opportunity to get rich quick, the entrepreneur route is not for you. You enjoy building relationships as well as products.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs understand the difference between a good business relationship with more people and having more friends. In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, professional relationships are critical. You need business partners, investors and customers. You can’t start a business with friends alone.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I find that more and more entrepreneurs avoid using the term “profit” in pitching their new venture. Of course, I understand and don’t condone bad actors who get greedy, and exploit ways to unjustly squeeze customers and employees. Solve a painful problem for customers who have money to spend.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2016

Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle that requires staying power, because starting a new business is a long-term process with many tough challenges. Great entrepreneurs will tell you that they may have pivoted many times, down to their last dollar, but have never given up. I look for that same determination in every new founder.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2016

As an advisor to startups and an angel investor, I encounter many Millennials as entrepreneurs who are leaders and great role-models for the rest of us in business. Most great entrepreneurs, including Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell, have talked about their failures as the key to later success.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

Thus the top priority of every entrepreneur who wants funding should be to build and highlight their “dream team” of co-founders, executives and advisers, to attract the biggest and best investors. Solo entrepreneurs rarely find an investor. Investors talk to each other and they love warm introductions to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2017

With the Identity Theft Resource Center® reporting a 40 percent increase in data breaches in 2016, there seems to be a growing population out there worried about all the people intent on hurting them. My plea to entrepreneurs is to recognize these concerns as an opportunity, to make people’s life better, rather than stoke the fires.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

It only takes one person come up with a great startup idea, but in my experience as an investor, it’s a rare entrepreneur who has all the skills and resources to build a business as well as a solution. Often times, the help you need is outside your familiar domain, and more into marketing, distribution, or manufacturing.

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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. In today’s information overload, marketing is everything. Use every marketing channel available.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2016

Steve Jobs was a one-in-a-million entrepreneur who seemed to violate many conventional rules of starting a business and dealing with people, yet undeniably achieved great success. As a result, I don’t recommend to aspiring entrepreneurs that they try to emulate his style as a model for their first startup.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And here’s an important point that I think modern entrepreneurs often forget: Investors are “co-owners” of your business. The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc. Mentorship.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. Lead with your intent to offer the solution free to customers. Of course, customers love free, but investors hate it. Skip the hype.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2016

I found this illustrated well in a new book I just finished, “ A Paperboy’s Fable ,” by a young entrepreneur and writer Deep Patel. Although just seventeen years old, Patel has some great insights that I can extrapolate for every aspiring entrepreneur to answer the most common question I get as an advisor and mentor – “Where do I start?”

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Does your business have a visible positive strategy, or do your customers and employees still see your primary focus as closing more sales and killing competitors? Certainly that has been the strategy of many companies, and has worked in the past, but today’s customers and workers are looking for more. Market and customer positioning.

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2017

We also saw a few of our portfolio companies grow steadily, notably one that made a risky/painful pivot in 2016 that is just starting to show exciting results. Techand the markets overall--has enjoyed a surprisingly long stretch of prosperity. It also means going to bed earlier! What are you looking forwardtomost in 2018?

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

As an angel investor, I’ve learned to believe in this approach, since I have seen great ideas go astray, due to poor execution and I have seen apparently marginal ideas make millions, managed by a savvy entrepreneur. Similarly, mentioning viral marketing without specifics won’t assure fundability. Focus on customer needs.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs put their best creative thinking into the startup idea, and believe that the business implementation simply requires following tried and true business practices. To win, you need to think outside the box to deliver a better customer experience, business model, and new positioning. Start thinking outside the box.

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

In fact 61% of all mobile searches where a customer contacts a business it is via a phone call (source: Google). It’s why opt-in marketing databases can be so incredibly valuable for companies like Gilt Groupe, One King’s Lane and AdoreMe. That number is projected to GROW to 70 billion by 2016 (Source: BIA Kelsey).

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Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

Examples of VC platform services include: recruiting, marketing, design support, inside sales reps, consulting, accounting services and so forth. Side Note : Upfront has hired Kerry Bennett as a member of our executive management team to run marketing – please follow her on Twitter here ].

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

The biggest challenge for every entrepreneur and every startup today is to get noticed and remembered in today’s information overload. The number of entrepreneurs worldwide is huge, starting an estimated 50 million new businesses in the past year, or 137,000 per day. Stories relay events, and these events have to happen somewhere.

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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. How does your business model make money?

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socalTECH

DECEMBER 26, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. You'll be able to browse all of those contributions here. Here's Jim Andelman of Bonfire Ventures. Happy Holidays!

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2016

Things change so fast these days in business that your first priority as an entrepreneur is to stay current, by talking to customers, peers, and experts. Now it’s all about how fast you recognize and adapt to market change, new competitors, and new technology. Define and use market metrics to tune your plan.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2016

I’m a strong proponent of new entrepreneurs starting with a big vision, and believing anything is possible -- but I’m also a pragmatist who believes in factoring some realism into any plan. Entrepreneurs who expect funding at the idea stage are usually disappointed. First-to-market is a key competitive advantage.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2016

After listening and working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I have heard many focused only on their next million dollar idea, but very few make any money from an idea alone. Both groups are missing the essence of an entrepreneur – the business focus. Most importantly, it requires the discipline to integrate all of these.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

For example, if you watch the TV show “Shark Tank,” you will remember several entrepreneurs with specialty products doing well online who want money to move into big box retail. The right channel for marketing and distribution is one of the basic “four Ps” of business (product, promotion, price and placement).

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TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

After all, Glossier’s founder and CEO Emily Weiss is very, very far from the first entrepreneur to profit off of our desire to look good. Like with many consumer brands geared toward women, we buy in not just because of the marketing, but because of the product itself. And who cares? She stepped down from that company in 2020.

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