Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. Set your startup health gauges and use them.

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Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2016

That should make you wonder - how do you measure traction in a metric? While thinking about the parameters of traction, and how to measure it, I was impressed with a new book, “ Scaling Lean: Mastering the Key Metrics for Startup Growth ” by Ash Maurya, a serial entrepreneur, and creator of the one-page business modelling tool Lean Canvas.

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Metrics Funding Startup Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. As the end of the year approaches, it’s a good time for every startup to assess the metrics, technology, and platforms they’re using to manage the business. Cost of customer acquisition.

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Metrics Technical Review Sales Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. Set your startup health gauges and use them.

Startup 173

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 173

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Here is my selection of ten key metrics that every six-sigma joint like GE tracks without thinking, but too many small businesses only monitor haphazardly, if at all: Sales revenue.

Metrics 106

Metrics Startup Sales Statistics 106

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. One of them is profitability. You may have leverage when you DO need to fund raise.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. Set your startup health gauges and use them.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 98

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. DTC entrepreneurs are more focused on immediate impact, because if they’re not selling product, there’s no large brand propping them up.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Under the heading, “The Book On Bezos,” the callout lists ten actionable and impactful nuggets of startup advice. We don’t give up on things easily. We didn’t give up.”. “ If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details…. The Two Pizza Rule.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Customer 279

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. How can you get exposure?

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

With the real data from that surge, you need to take a hard look at business model realities, cost of customer acquisition, inventory costs, and other key metrics. As transaction volume increases, delivery costs go up, returns increase, and quality problems can cost you plenty. Ramp up your communication efforts and vehicles.

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Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Happy customers quickly become your biggest advocates, today reaching far beyond friends and family, and they make traditional marketing efforts pale in comparison for growth, loyalty, and new customer acquisition costs. Use metrics to assess needs and growth economics.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

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Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. How can you get exposure?

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

The top 10 companies only make up 45 percent of the entire space. In the last few years, we've seen a spurt of activity where technology has started to penetrate the industry, and has started to change it. Scott Cannon: We started in 2012, when it was basically a couple of people on a telephone and the yellow pages.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs tackle starting a business as a random walk into a business minefield, and they count on their street smarts, thick skin and pure determination to get them to their destinations alive. One preparation example is the value of building a business plan before you start. Define success as it relates to this startup.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

I agree with her seven “product diseases,” where the business execution challenges steal the focus away from that grand vision and holy grail that you all started out pursuing: Hero syndrome – focusing on scale versus impact. Obsessive sales – must meet revenue goals. Hypermetricemia – metrics for everything.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. Mergers and acquisitions also require new skills. Needed help can be your biggest burden.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. Failure is the best teacher I know.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition.

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Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. It’s always tempting to think that more product variations will satisfy more customers and lead to new sales. As your business starts to scale, you can’t do everything manually anymore. Use multiple small orders at first.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Almost every early-stage startup who has approached investors for funding has heard the innocuous sounding rejection “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” A graph that shows a hockey-stick “up and to the right” curve with at least three data points per key indicator is a great visual assist.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Greathouse: We’ve known each other for a long time but let’s start with the basics for my readers. How did you and your co-founder, Greg Goodman, get started? That causes friction internally.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. How can you get exposure?

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

As our first time covering a 500 Startups demo day , we could only imagine the stratospheric levels of stress our Batch 8 founders must have gone through to get on stage and present their progress from their last four months of startup bootcamp. In true 500 Startups fashion, Demo Day had an almost cathartic feel.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. How can you get exposure?

Sites 59

Sites Startup Technical Review Oracle 59

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. How can you get exposure?

Startup 102

Startup Technical Review Oracle Entrepreneur 102

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

“Sometimes we measure things and see that in the short term they actually hurt sales. But we do it anyway, because we believe that the short-term metrics probably aren''t indicative of the long term.”. If improperly administered, meetings become counter-productive, especially as an organization grows beyond its initial startup phase.

Tips 223

Tips Framework Metrics Cloud Computing 223

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2016

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 64

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 64

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Monday, March 12, 2007 MyShape Article - Analyst Misses the Point The NY Times did a piece today on MyShape, a start-up in Pasadena - Log in Your Measurements, and the Clothes May Fit. He has been the CTO for several start-ups, most notably eHarmony.

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MyShape CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

For our Friday interview, we thought we'd catch up with Los Angeles-based MarketShare , the Elevation Partners-backed software provider, to hear where the firm is nowadays. You mentioned that you've been growing the company recently, and made a recent acquisition? We also just made an acquisition of Jovian over the summer.

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Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In every case, the relevant pitch needs to start by highlighting a real customer problem, then outlining a new solution, with all the features and disruptive technology.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

Santa Barbara has become a high-tech startup mecca, rivaling cities many times its size. The latest evidence of the city’s dynamic startup ecosystem is the recent announcement by Citrix to investment significant resources in the Santa Barbara Innovator’s Program. From Lynda.com ’s recent $1.5 UCSB alum Doug Otto had two.

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Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100