Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2023

With interactive social media and video everywhere, everyone needs to feel they have a relationship with their leaders, and every brand needs leader personification for customers to relate. You need to look at everything through fresh eyes, continually ask questions not usually asked, and actively listen to contrary views.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. During today’s dynamic customer journey, consumers often find themselves at a point of indecision.

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Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 122

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2016

In order to pay his college tuition, young Stephen created a sole proprietor startup with a very entrepreneurial pricing structure. Papers that resulted in an “A” grade earned him $20, “B” papers cost his customers $10. Activities Vs. Results. Startup selling is largely predicated on velocity. When can we start?”.

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Tech.Co

DECEMBER 28, 2022

With over 305 million start-ups being created every year globally, standing out from the crowd is a huge challenge. We've scoured the startup scene to find out which budding businesses have made big waves in 2022 — and whose growth is showing no signs of slowing down. Sign up to Tech.co's weekly newsletter today.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Platform Newsletter 118

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2023

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. There is real value in doing the key things yourself, before your startup is even started: Demonstrate thought leadership before selling a product. Follow up personally on every new connection.

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Ideas Startup Social Media Blogging 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. The conundrum is that once you have really proven the business model, you no longer need the investor money you asked for to start the business.

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Customer Custom Satisfaction Sales 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

As I talk to many of you in my role as business advisor, I still often hear the concern for maximum return to the business and stakeholders, more than a passion for sustainably enriching the lives of your customers and team. This applies to your own team, as well as customers. Make every customer experience memorable.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2022

Instead of sizing up new opportunities and actively courting every new customer, you start worrying about cutting costs, repeatable processes , and overtaking known competitors. As a consultant, I hate to see you lose that startup focus on innovation, change, and customers. Don’t forget these.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Metrics Netflix 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Focus on activities rather than results.

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Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2020

As an angel investor and a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always disappointed to see founders who seem stressed out most of the time, and more annoyed than energized by the abundance of challenges they see in building their startup. Able to balance right-brain and left-brain activities.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Change is about the only thing constant in the world of startups. Since the startup environment is usually more volatile, the challenge there in balancing advantage, risk, and performance, is more critical than in big companies. It starts at the top with the founder and CEO, but has to extend quickly to the bottom of the organization.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2023

Hopefully, between the two of us, more of you with big business dreams will follow the leads and generate more successful business results: Start by getting your hands dirty. Never give up in the face of adversity. One of the biggest causes of startup failure is simply giving up too early. The time to get started is now.

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Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Social Media 105

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Not all this teen’s activities were above the law. Ultimately Billy quit his night job and became a legitimate businessman hauling cargo out and back from ships that could not tie-up at the busy docks. Or maybe Billy’s story is the same story as so many start-ups. Lessons Learned: Start-ups are not for wimps.

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Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Not all this teen’s activities were above the law. Ultimately Billy quit his night job and became a legitimate businessman hauling cargo out and back from ships that could not tie-up at the busy docks. Or maybe Billy’s story is the same story as so many start-ups. Lessons Learned: Start-ups are not for wimps.

Startup 100

Startup Blogging Activity Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

It’s still popular these days for startup founders to operate in stealth mode, meaning no details about the idea or progress are shared with anyone until the big reveal and rollout. Pivots and corrections are inevitable for startups in this age of rapid change, and the earlier you make them, the quicker you get to success.

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Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

socalTECH

MARCH 27, 2013

the developer of enterprise software for managing M&A transactions, venture deals, and other business deals, said yesterday that it has launched a new, activity tracker, which helps its customers figure out who has viewed files and information in the service, filterable by date range and more. READ MORE>>.

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Activity Software Review Software Examples 178

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

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Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2021

Customers are people too, so customers tend to take their relationship with a brand personally. But how do you know if your brand is projecting warmth and competence to your customers? For loyal customers, a business has to first demonstrate genuine warmth, concern, and commitment. Brands are people first.

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Customer Custom Commerce Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2021

Every business I know is intimately familiar with outbound marketing, or pushing your message out to customers through email, newspaper, and television advertising. Only a few really understand the process and value of inbound marketing, for pulling customers to your brand. Don’t just monitor – engage customers.

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Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 29, 2020

They become frustrated when they are unable to build their startup over a weekend, and give up way too soon when the path to real success seems to be interminable. A successful startup needs to be a daily task, with consistent focus. Getting started is always a challenge. Frequency keeps insights current.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

In my experience with startups, that is still necessary, but not sufficient. Today’s business world has become totally customer driven, so customer-centric and people abilities really make the difference between winners and losers. When problems arise in a startup, blame is a useless tool.

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Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Of course, the response depends upon lots of variables, including whether the company is in a fund-raising mode (in which case the CEO may be spending up to 80% of their time on this alone). How much time do you devote to each type of activity?

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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. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

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Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. It’s no fun for either side.

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Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

If you are seriously looking to start the next billion-dollar startup, you need to get beyond the realm of enhancing a current solution. But we all know that these are not solutions by themselves, but require integration into an innovative framework to solve real customer problems. Be forever curious and optimistic.

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Startup Artificial Inteligence Ideas Entrepreneur 134

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.

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Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

As an advisor to many startups today, I still see that most of you entrepreneurs see yourselves as the sole driver of your new solution, and the key driver of your new business. You need them to make a personal commitment to customer service, improved quality, and change to improve the future.

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Startup Customer Custom Ideas 147

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

The good news is that a recent Kauffman Early-Stage Entrepreneurship (KESE) Index shows the highest level of new business activity recorded in the last two decades, and the cost of entry at an all-time low. In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success.

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Startup News Framework Outsource 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

Everyone knows that startups are risky, but they also expect that the job will be exciting and potentially very lucrative (think early employees at Facebook and Google). The truly indispensable person in a startup is a problem solver, because every startup has plenty of problems. Educate yourself one notch up.

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Startup Journal Outsource Tips 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

I believe the Maker Movement and hardware startups with limited resources are made for each other. They come at the early stage while a startup has no revenue or valuation, so professional investors are hard to find. There are already more than 1500 active hackerspaces worldwide, with info on Hackerspaces.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Think of Blockbuster and Toys ‘R’ Us , both of whom missed customer changes and the move to online. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends. Remember when you were a startup?

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Customer Custom Examples IBM 143

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2020

Almost every entrepreneur starts their journey by developing a solution, based on their idea of a new technology or required service. A real business requires leadership – thought leadership to attract customers and mind share, as well as people leadership around a team, partners, and investors. Manage the stepping up process.

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Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Summary 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

Businesses see this as the Holy Grail for finally being able to predict who, where, and when customers will buy their existing solutions, and what their future solutions must look like to be attractive. Datafication of offline and back-office activities. quintillion bytes a day.

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Customer Custom Social Media Research 115

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

You know exactly when you want to sell to this customer and presumably it’s this quarter! And when I say this I’m assuming that you’re already identified the customer pain and talked about how you’re uniquely qualified to solve their business problems. .” Which customers to target: Elephants, Deer or Rabbits ?

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Customer Custom Marketing Newsletter 324

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. In fact, I believe modern entrepreneurs need to be super sales people, in the most positive sense, to their team as well as customers. You and the customer have to be on the same side.

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Sales Training Startup Customer 139

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. But you do need to find a way to do activities that are more scalable. I’d say 20% of startups I see level-up early after their A round. CEO’s need leverage. Act your stage. But at what cost?

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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. It’s what every customer looks for in every transaction. For a startup, you don’t have a recognized brand to bring in the leads.

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