TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Stella Wu, who formerly worked as a growth product manager at Wish, got firsthand experience of the pain points related to the process when she bought her own house in 2017. “I Eano, she said, offers competitive and transparent pricing so that homeowners aren’t surprised as a remodeling project goes on.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2022

by 15 million users since 2017, as young people ages 12 to 17 migrate to Snapchat and Instagram. Engagement occurs when customers and stakeholders become participants by sharing ideas with you, or talking to their friends about you, rather than merely viewing what you publish. That won’t build any competitive advantage.

Social Media 140

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 140

socalTECH

JULY 25, 2016

Carlsbad-based satellite broadband provider ViaSat has scored a high profile customer win, saying this morning that it will be providing in-flight Internet and connectivity services to Air Force One , along with other aircraft for senior leaders of the U.S. Government.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Conference Competition Pricing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Old views of change rates are no longer competitive. Count the number of new projects, time and resources required to implement, and measure the return in revenue, customer satisfaction, or cost savings. Create a non-online memorable customer experience. Build a community with face-to-face between customers.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Given the competition coming into the market, it’s no wonder that Wrench is raising additional capital to expand its footprint into new markets. Wrench raised $4 million in its first round of financing, which TechCrunch covered back in 2017. It’s a model that’s attracted some competitors with big backing.

Demand 100

Demand Services Los Angeles Mobile 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

It’s clear things have changed for good and the need for managing remote communities of employees, customers and partners has become ever more important. In marketing materials founders often refer to their customer base as a “community”, but there’s a huge gap between having customers and creating a community.

Software 234

Software Startup Tool Platform 234

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

exabytes per month at the end of 2017, of which more than half was video. This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers. Crowdsource: putting your audience to work beyond customers.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

From its start in 2015, the number of registered users has “suddenly” climbed from 45 million in 2017 to a reported 300 million by the end of 2020. And, like the story of Discord and Twitter, it takes continual product and feature updates to stay ahead of the competition or overtake a sleepy competitor. Here is my list.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to every worker today: Develop and highlight your competitive differentiation. Today, customers and future managers put a higher value on relationships, and expect to know you from industry conferences, social media, or recommendations from peers. Walk away from a bad role or customer.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2017

Unfortunately, often the result is potential customers who are confused, the limited resources of your business are spread too thin, and customers and investors look elsewhere for a better fit. Customers want a solution from you, not many. Realistically characterize the competition. Eliminating world hunger is too broad.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 63

Tech.Co

APRIL 24, 2018

Being one small company amongst the sea of thousands of startups vying for customers, capital, and talent, the way to get noticed above the crowd, connect with that next big partner, and raise some capital is to throw your hat in the ring to compete at Startup of the Year. A Strong Alumni Network.

Startup 70

Startup Competition Google Capital 70

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2017

Every opportunity is global, but so is the competition. Evolving customer expectations and technology are the norm, forcing every company, from startups to large enterprises, to innovate quickly, despite their fear of change, uncertainty, and doubt. Get in sync with customers by frequent customer interaction.

Competition 60

Competition Customer Custom Social Media 60

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Let’s say you have built a SaaS company where a large part of the early revenue comes from a few big customers or a large part of the revenue is services based vs. software based. The investor is a customer and they have money to spend but only for a limited number of companies. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Xconomy

DECEMBER 28, 2017

ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals 2017. ICPC World Finals 2017, held in Rapid City. In 2017, it was in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was always sort of shocking to people, even on a national level, when they would hear [that Rapid City was hosting ICPC 2017],” Jensen said. “And

Coach 75

Coach Technical Review Carson Networking 75

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019

by 15 million users since 2017, as young people ages 12 to 17 migrate to Snapchat and Instagram. Engagement occurs when customers and stakeholders become participants by sharing ideas with you, or talking to their friends about you, rather than merely viewing what you publish. That won’t build any competitive advantage.

Social Media 95

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2017

I’m convinced that you can’t stay competitive that way with today’s customers, and today’s employees. It’s time to push decision making down into the organization –insisting that the people closest to the customer and the markets learn and make the decisions. Define customer value as the only path to business value.

Competition 50

Competition Organization Customer Custom 50

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

I’m sure you understand that every new business starts with passion, and maybe even some deep domain experience, to fully appreciate a painful market need, with a large and growing set of customers with money for your solution. Never under-estimate or ignore the competition. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 02/06/2017.

Startup 65

Startup Competition Resource Snapchat 65

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Since this document is outward facing, it is important to keep the terminology and tone consistent with that of your customer set, investors, and business partners. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Make sure your measurements are customer-oriented, as well as focused on internal processes. Design your invisible competitive advantage. What has your business done lately to excite your existing customers and keep them loyal?

Startup 81

Startup Metrics Organization Ideas 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2018

In my experience with technical entrepreneurs, they work hard on creating an innovative and elegant solution, and assume that customers will flock to them (“if we build it, they will come”). The founder had simply not done the work to validate a price and the perfect customer segment. Make every pilot customer commit to be a reference.

Product 55

Product Pricing Startup Customer 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. Kristin Zhivago, in her classic book “ Roadmap to Revenue ,” makes the point that the selling system is broken, since sellers no longer sell the way customers are buying. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews.

Search Engine Optimization 58

Search Engine Optimization Startup SEO Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

If it’s not an order of magnitude better or cheaper, customers usually conclude that the risk and cost of change are simply not worth the potential payback over what they have today. Look at competition for the numbers to beat, but in the consumer space, it usually takes millions to be the dominant player.

Netflix 54

Netflix Social Media Competition Customer 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2017

As an advisor to many new businesses, I see a host of advantages for every new business by being socially responsible today: Expands the potential customer target market size. Social contribution and sustainability are features that appeal to a whole new class of customers for any solution. Incents customers to pay a premium price.

Customer 64

Customer Custom Statistics Pricing 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

In fact, I can condense the sum of my business experiences into eight key disciplines: Start with a total and ongoing customer focus. Don’t assume anything until you have done market research and listened to real customers. Then assume the customers will change over time, so never stop listening.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

In the heat of scaling the business, it’s tempting to skip the cost and time of finding qualified job candidates, and enlist those close at hand, without paying them a competitive wage for the hard work and commitment you need. Focus on products and customers, and trust your accountant. Work hard, but work smart.

Entrepreneur 72

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 72

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2017

According to Small Business Trends , over half of the existing small businesses in the US already have international customers. This kind of disruption used to happen only a few times per century, but now it is commonplace Customer and employee power trumps stakeholders. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 03/21/2017.

Social Media 74

Social Media Demand Customer Custom 74

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I’m certainly not a fan of customer rip-offs, but even non-profits have to be cash-flow positive, or have deep pockets, to help anyone for long. It’s naïve to think you can sell below costs, and make it up by attracting more customers. The challenge is to get the first million customers, before advertisers will sign up.

Pricing 66

Pricing Customer Custom Advertising 66

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2019

A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. Significant differences will confuse your customers, and open the door to imitators and scam artists. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents.

IP 93

IP Invest Patents Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2017

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 58

Startup Education Ideas Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2017

Success in today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive business environment requires a total alignment between the needs of each business function and the priorities of all team members. Failed strategies erode your competitive position. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 05/09/2017.

Company 54

Company Companies Technical Review Coach 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world. Every business purpose must be customer-centric and even altruistic. In this highly competitive world, no growth means falling behind, as a business or in your career.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Unfortunately, in this age of vacillating customer trends and a wealth of new competitors scratching and clawing for a piece of the action, long-term growth requires constant focus. The new strategy here is to focus on unmet new customer needs, rather than enhancing the offering you have – product, price, promotion, and place (4Ps).

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Product 67

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

founded in summer of 2017. That makes it difficult to figure out what it costs to acquire a customer, and what a customer is worth. Dan LeBlanc: I used to run customer analytics for a brand called ProFlowers. Their customers are starting brands, and using their e-commerce platform to really accelerate and grow.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2017

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Entrepreneur 56

Entrepreneur Competition Press Mentor 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2017

Chowdhury is one of the world’s leading management consultants, and he argues that accountability is only one part of a real caring culture that must be built and maintained to achieve a sustainable competitive difference. Is what you are about to do the best long-term solution for the customer, or merely an expedient?

Examples 80

Examples Organization Customer Custom 80

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2017

They have forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they eliminate. Yet we all know that many customers delay their adoption of the latest software platform, and avoid new hardware, for a year or two until all the “kinks” are worked out of them. Focus on user pain points.

Technology 53

Technology Customer Custom Marketing 53