Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

When you see startups like SpaceX and Pinterest grow from a low valuation to a billion dollars in just a few years, it’s easy to assume that if you just keep doing what you are doing, you can get there as well. Of course, that means a mindset willing to give up much more equity, and taking on a whole new level of risk.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Tech.Co

MARCH 10, 2022

Amazon could substantially expand their dominance over the ecommerce market, as the Seattle-based tech giant has announced the acquisition of Veeqo, a UK-based ecommerce startup. Everyone knows that Amazon has been pretty acquisition happy over the last few years. Amazon Acquires Veeqo.

Startup 128

Startup News Acquisition Platform 128

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

As a business consultant and angel investor, I often ask for your own assessment of marketing ROI , or customer acquisition cost (CAC). Leaders and investors need to know if you have and are tapping into your key sources of relevant data, including web analytics, sales management data, and customer relationship management (CRM) software.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

There are certain topics that even some of the smartest people I talk with who aren’t startup oriented can’t fully grok. It’s common cocktail party chatter to hear people confidently pronounce that some well known startup is sure to blow up because, “How could they succeed when they’re not even profitable!”

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2020

The way to start is with a sample financial model, available from many sources on the Internet, such as over 200 downloadable free from the Corporate Finance Institute website. For maximum value with the least effort, focus on only the “what ifs” that are the highest priority in your mind for your own startup. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 123

Startup Pricing Sample Customer 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Startup 134

Startup Training Sales Entrepreneur 134

socalTECH

MARCH 30, 2017

The record, $2 billion acquisition of Irvine-based TV maker Vizio has hit some serious turbulence, with reports saying that the deal may be abandoned or cancelled , due to issues China's recent restriction of moving capital overseas. READ MORE>>.

San Gabriel 100

San Gabriel Acquisition Report Sales 100

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2011

Department store firm Nordstrom said this morning that it has completed its acquisition of Los Angeles-based private sales site HauteLook. Nordstrom announced its acquisition of HauteLook on February 17th. Nordstrom paid $180M in cash plus up to $90M in earn out for HauteLook, for a transaction worth $270M.

Acquisition 133

Acquisition Southern California Sales Los Angeles 133

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.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2020

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. According to TheStreet , US IPO market results in Q2 2020 posted a strong bounce-back from Q1 with 58 IPOs, after a slow start due to the Covid19 pandemic.

Startup 127

Startup Technical Review Acquisition Study 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

It’s disconcerting for most to realize that these shares are initially worth nothing, and the challenge is to get that value up as quickly as possible, without losing it just as quickly to investors, lazy partners, and taxation. Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. In the U.S.,

.Net 96

.Net Startup Entrepreneur Acquisition 96

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

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person. Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Customer acquisition cost.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. Customer Acquisition. On measurement.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 27, 2018

How to define “success” for a startup? To some it is financial security, building a base of wealth created from the increased value of the enterprise at the end point of sale or at an IPO. Everyone has a vision when starting a business. Then again, with the fifty percent rule, aren’t all entrepreneurs a bit insane to start?

Startup 120

Startup Entrepreneur Course Email 120

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 27, 2018

How to define “success” for a startup? To some it is financial security, building a base of wealth created from the increased value of the enterprise at the end point of sale or at an IPO. Everyone has a vision when starting a business. Then again, with the fifty percent rule, aren’t all entrepreneurs a bit insane to start?

Startup 120

Startup Entrepreneur Course Email 120

socalTECH

JUNE 26, 2012

the startup business effort run by Mike Jones, the former CEO of MySpace, has made its first acquisition, saying this morning that it has acquired Pinpuff , the developer of a platform which measures the influence of Pinterest users, and awards them with perks. Science, Inc. , Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed.

Acquisition 113

Acquisition Los Angeles Platform Sales 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. He has helped many companies with this problem, and as an advisor to startups, I see the same common themes leading to growth slowdowns.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Customer 106

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.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

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 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Fred Wilson also wrote on a similar topic in his usual more succinct manner , with a great quote being: “One thing I know for sure is that those who advise and invest in startups cannot and should not meddle in the day to day decision making. It’s harmful and hurtful to the startup and those that lead it. I did this.

Startup 150

Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person. Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Startup Course 146

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. An example of a startup which used non-organic growth early and effectively was Microsoft.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Fast forward to almost exactly one year later, and a lot has changed for the payments and software startup. 4 key areas SaaS startups must address to scale infrastructure for the enterprise. 4 key areas SaaS startups must address to scale infrastructure for the enterprise. Image Credits: SpotOn.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. How hard could it be? You just assign out tasks to all of us.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

In one of the biggest acquisitions out of Southern California's technology startup industry in recent years, Los Angeles-based Honey Science Corporation , which develops a savings discovery and price tracking tool, has been acquired by PayPal , in a deal worth approximately $4 billion. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 133

Southern California Commerce Acquisition .Net 133

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Startup Exits: A Primer from msuster. I speak privately a lot about getting an exit at a startup. We also are going to talk a lot about startups getting exits and ultimately: Companies are bought, not sold. Both can hurt you in an acquisition. Often they are “soft landings” for PR purposes. Often it does.

Startup 323

Startup Technology Venture Capital Santa Barbara 323

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

Los Angeles-based MySpace has been among the most visible of Southern California's Internet era success stories, although the site--now owned by News Corporation--has had its own share of ups-and-downs, as well as questions about its future. Here are four startups of them, and what they're doing: Demand Media. www.demandmedia.com).

Startup 178

Startup Tech Coast Angels Demand News 178

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

Shots on Goal Being great as a startup technology investor of course requires a lot of things to come together: You need to have strong insights into where technology markets are heading and where value in the future will be created and sustained You need be perfect with your market timing. the sale of the company for $1 billion.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

socalTECH

JULY 19, 2019

According to Vobile, it will open up a new office in Los Angeles as a result of the acquisition, with approximately 100 employees. The sale is not the first for ZEFR, which got its start posting licensed movie clips to YouTube. Vobile said ZEFR's businesses produced over $40M in recurring, profitable revenue in 2018.

Fandango 127

Fandango Content Los Angeles Startup 127

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

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 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2016

We caught up with founder and CEO Mike Mothner --who we first interviewed back in 2007 --to catch up with the company, gets some hints and tips on growing a company, the challenges of bootstrapping, and why Wpromote hopes to be buying more companies in the future. They don�t need digital sales, they need to drive people into stores.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Paid Search El Segundo SEO 100

Tech.Co

MAY 6, 2022

Ecommerce company Shopify supports small businesses with technology like ecommerce website builders and retail Point of Sale systems. Now, it's dramatically expanding capacity in another area, fulfillment, with the acquisition of Deliverr. It's the biggest acquisition in Shopify's history. Sign up to the Tech.co

Networking 123

Networking Press Newsletter Startup 123