Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

It’s what life was like as an entrepreneur. According to the SEC we’re not allowed to market the fact that we’re fund raising, so I won’t. But this is nothing like the stress of being an entrepreneur. What’s it really like being an entrepreneur? I didn’t sleep much back then.

Blogging 420

Blogging Press Entrepreneur Venture Capital 420

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

The common reason given is that this prevents any competitor from stealing their idea and beating them to market. Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. If there really are no competitors, then there is likely no market opportunity, or you haven’t looked yet.

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. I recently wrote a piece for Mashable on how to create a company blog. Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. What should you blog about?

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2020

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. The days are gone when marketing was all “pushing product.” by the so-called godfather of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi.

Custom 127

Custom Customer Marketing Content 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2020

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. Highlight the problem and your concerns in industry blogs, speaking in public forums, and making yourself visible on social media and networking opportunities. Proactively seek out thought leaders and journalists.

Ideas 124

Ideas Tips Marketing Social Media 124

Berkonomics

MAY 9, 2024

Ten tests for your business success: Is your market identifiable and accessible? Test yourself as to whether you can identify the size of your market niche, and whether you can overcome the many barriers to access customers within your niche. How large is your total market? Can you dominate that market?

Patents 156

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2020

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Entrepreneur 137

Entrepreneur Tips Startup Education 137

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). In my experience, entrepreneurs who are overly paranoid or are information hoarders rarely do well.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible. Trada – Guerilla Marketing In Action.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. My blog was wiped out.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. The best entrepreneurs are not just dreamers of the next big thing – they have to be great facilitators and problem solvers.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Examples Blogging Custom 129

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2013

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a few years ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. People are more demanding and have more choices than ever before.

Marketing 99

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup SEM 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2012

These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 300 million other new websites created last year, and attract the customers you need.

Examples 93

Examples Content Marketing Entrepreneur 93

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided. Be flexible.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2017

Blogging has come a long way in the past few years, from a social release for narcissists, to today’s required vehicle for promoting your consulting business and gaining valuable online exposure. If you can’t justify both a web site and a blog, skip the old-fashioned web site, and make your blog do double duty as described below.

Blogging 69

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Web Writing 69

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2016

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. The days are gone when marketing was all “pushing product.” by the so-called godfather of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi.

Marketing 100

Marketing Content Advertising Custom 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2010

I call it the entrepreneur thesis. I’m not talk about the age old debate amongst investors whether you back entrepreneurs, markets or products (or as people like to hedge – product / market fit). It’s entrepreneurs I back. I’m on the record as saying I’m 70% management, 30% market. A thesis.

Entrepreneur 321

Entrepreneur GRP Partners Venture Capital Invest 321

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

Traditional marketing says you have to “push” your message out to customers, over and over again, to get you remembered. Here are some of his recommendations for web sites and blogs that I particularly recommend to entrepreneurs and startups: Provide good content. Refresh it often. Skip the Flash videos. Help visitors navigate.

Custom 160

Custom Customer FAQ Technical Review 160

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Ric Dragon, an expert in online marketing, in his classic book. Due to the information overload felt by consumers today, marketing at the generic segment level no longer works.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. The days are gone when marketing was all “pushing product.” by the so-called godfather of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi.

Content 92

Content Marketing Advertising Custom 92

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

To be a great entrepreneur you really do need talent. You need to be great at something: technology back-end, front-end design, usability, sales, marketing, quantitative analysis, leadership –> whatever. So they set out a grass route’s effort to go directly to the market. And they have done hundreds of them.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 398

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2018

As a long-time advisor to aspiring entrepreneurs, and a technology fan myself, I still meet dozens of techies with great solutions who assume they don’t need marketing to change the world. In fact, with today’s information overload, modern marketing is the key to raising even the most innovative solution above the crowd.

Marketing 97

Marketing Startup Examples Technology 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. Every entrepreneur, especially an introvert, can benefit from the perspective of another business person, ideally one who has prior experience in the domain you are about to enter.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. That was fine with me – the market is the market. That was the market. In today’s market you can prove your worth, in 1991 that was a bit harder. I was a serial entrepreneur.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. - First Principles.

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 5, 2014

For me, after nearly a decade in the trenches of being an entrepreneur I felt I was un-brainwashed from trying to pretend I had all the answers. We are not to lead them into some vision in our head of how their markets should work. The more self-assured the VC is and the more impressionable the entrepreneur is the worse the outcome.

Entrepreneur 337

Entrepreneur Technical Advisors Startup Venture Capital 337

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2012

Blogging has come a long way in the past few years, from a social release for narcissists, to today’s required vehicle for promoting your consulting business and gaining valuable online exposure. If you can’t justify both a web site and a blog, skip the old-fashioned web site, and make your blog do double duty as described below.

Blogging 96

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Writing Social Network 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2010

And there is relationship between debating and blogging. I started blogging in 2005 and then re-started blogging about a year ago. The most important experience I have in blogging is the debate it encourages. So it goes with blogging. So it goes on my blog. Let me explain.

Blogging 250

Blogging Social Media Writing Startup 250

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 About this Blog Ive been thinking about doing a blog with my thoughts on technology and whats happening in the Los Angeles area technology scene for a while, but it was Ben Kuos recent start of a blog that inspired me to actually go ahead and do it. Thanks Ben.

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2023

One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. Help entrepreneurs with constant learning. Learning doesn’t have to be all work.

Startup 108

Startup Education Entrepreneur Tool 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2019

Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. Be delightfully authentic and honest.

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Social Media .Net Blogging 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2023

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. Highlight the problem and your concerns in industry blogs, speaking in public forums, and making yourself visible on social media and networking opportunities. Proactively seek out thought leaders and journalists.

Ideas 126

Ideas Startup Social Media Blogging 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2013

These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 51 million other new websites created last year, and attract the customers you need. Start creating content today.

Content 114

Content Marketing Startup eBook 114

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

.&# It was my investment philosophy that observing teams’ performance over time was far more insightful than reacting to how good of a product demo they do, how good they present Powerpoint slides or how great tech blogs say they are. Market Opportunity. But what about markets? Dots is all about people. Let me explain.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 20, 2013

.” I have long thought about and written about the personal toll that being an entrepreneur places on your life. These were amongst some of the most read blog posts I have written, which shows me that the stress, pressures and loneliness of being and entrepreneur resonates. They start with their own journey. ” .

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Social Network 370

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

New technology markets and paradigm shifts have traditionally been bad bets when seeking investors, since these were known to take decades to develop, and cost lots of money. For example, consider how many years it took for the market to move from radio to television, or fully accept personal computers on every desktop.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92