Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Ironically, the most common desire I hear from entrepreneurs selling wholly online, is the need for their entry into retail, as the next step in their growth strategy. Old views of change rates are no longer competitive. Create a non-online memorable customer experience. Build a community with face-to-face between customers.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. 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. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

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

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In addition, like an entrepreneur with a new business, you have to factor in all the indirect costs previously covered by employers, including training, health care, and time off for vacations. In fact, thinking like an entrepreneur is a good strategy today for success, even if you are currently in a long-term employment situation.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

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. It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked the above question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Here is my list.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

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

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Unless you are a serial entrepreneur with a string of successes behind you, you need a business plan to convince investors that you can build a business out of the dream that has been driving your passion to change the world. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marketing, sales, and customer experience.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Most budding entrepreneurs don’t realize that nine out of ten startups fail within 24 months. 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.

Startup 65

Startup Competition Resource Snapchat 65

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

“We want to inspire, but we also want to be realistic and show beauty in real life,” Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss said in a 2017 interview with Inc, just as the brand had reached what Weiss herself described as “cult status.” billion company in the brutally competitive beauty industry, especially one with such broad appeal.

Startup 280

Startup Netflix Los Angeles Innocal 280

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

Entrepreneurs are people who dream up new ideas, and then commercialize them into new businesses. Yet, in my experience as a mentor to entrepreneurs, the majority of failures I see are related to starting and growing the business, not developing the solution. Then assume the customers will change over time, so never stop listening.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

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

MAY 31, 2017

Many startups and entrepreneurs I advise still default to growing their business via the traditional top-down, order-taking culture. I’m convinced that you can’t stay competitive that way with today’s customers, and today’s employees. Define customer value as the only path to business value.

Competition 50

Competition Organization Customer Custom 50

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews. Don’t start from how you want to sell.

Search Engine Optimization 58

Search Engine Optimization Startup SEO Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2017

In my own work as an advisor to many entrepreneurs and startups, I see many who are focused on that single big disruptive innovation that will change the world. 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.

Startup 81

Startup Metrics Organization Ideas 81

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

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

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.

Product 55

Product Pricing Startup Customer 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2017

Thus every entrepreneur and business owner needs to see their market in that context, understanding the global forces that will impact them sooner or later. According to Small Business Trends , over half of the existing small businesses in the US already have international customers. Use two-way communication.

Social Media 74

Social Media Demand Customer Custom 74

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2017

In my view, the gig economy is a key driver to the current boom in entrepreneurship – every professional and consultant is actually a solo entrepreneur. The bad news is we have to think like a business, with all the implications of branding, finding customers, and competitors. Know your competitive value.

Pricing 68

Pricing Entrepreneur Mentor News 68

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

In my experience as an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs in business, one of the biggest failures I see is a lack of self-leadership. For example, I often hear from aspiring entrepreneurs that “I had that idea first, and he stole it, and is now making money on my idea.” Values are your most valuable assets.

Coach 59

Coach Satisfaction Ideas Entrepreneur 59

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

As an angel investor and business advisor on new ventures, I expect to see five-year financial projections from every entrepreneur. Does this entrepreneur understand the basics of business costs in the selected business domain, growth dynamics, and the competitive environment?

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

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

JANUARY 11, 2019

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

IP 93

IP Invest Patents Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2017

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Tool 53

Tool Entrepreneur Statistics Metrics 53

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

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I was mentoring some graduate students at a local university recently, and I sensed again that profit seems to be a dirty word these days to many aspiring entrepreneurs. 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.

Pricing 66

Pricing Customer Custom Advertising 66

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2017

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs and new businesses, I often get asked to critique an idea, but rarely get asked to comment on an implementation plan, or execution actions to date. While you are still thinking, your competition will be stealing your market or the opportunity itself may go away or evolve.

Ideas 72

Ideas Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 72

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

JULY 12, 2017

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts an angel investor pitch to me by touting his new technology. They have forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they eliminate. Is your product tempered with actual market and customer feedback?

Technology 53

Technology Customer Custom Marketing 53

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). The “product” value is difficult to quantify, the costs are nebulous, and entrepreneurs have to clone themselves to scale the business.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2017

I have found that the most successful entrepreneurs and business executives have an impressive work ethic, and they surround themselves with a team of comparable commitment. These will provide the competitive edge you need with customers and less-focused team members. Starting and running a business is hard. Never makes excuses.

Funding 55

Funding Satisfaction Customer Custom 55

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

DECEMBER 4, 2017

“Design thinking” is a methodology used to solve complex challenges, such as the ones faced by every business in today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive environment. A design mindset is not product-focused - it’s solution focused and action oriented towards creating better customer experiences and value.

Design 62

Design Coach Organization Ideas 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. Most entrepreneurs work long hours and weekends to get the job done. Marty Zwilling First published on Huffington Post on 07/15/2017. Conflicting visions won’t work.

Software Review 56

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

I hear it all the time as an angel investor, but I also see that same naïve or cavalier attitude come back to haunt entrepreneurs once they really get out in the marketplace. You need quantified value for customers to see, feel, and pay for. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 07/17/2017.

Metrics 58

Metrics Resource Startup Training 58