Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2022

I recommend the ten points in a classic book by Bill Murphy, Jr., titled “ The Intelligent Entrepreneur ,” outlining the keys to successful entrepreneurship, as follows: Make the commitment. It will likely take several ideas, with the learning process of failing on a couple, before you can call yourself a successful entrepreneur.

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Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Resource 110

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. The popularity of the company''s newsletter soon began to grow at a pace that outstripped the MouseDriver''s relatively meager sales. Here''s how they pulled it off.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

With the appearance of do-it-yourself services on the Internet, entrepreneur curriculums at every university, and a wealth of new books on the subject, the need for expensive consultants and business advisors has also been mitigated. Work out of your home, and keep your own books. Social media facilitates marketing and sales.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

A good entrepreneur is not necessarily born a good salesman. In my own effort to keep up with the times, I explored Julie Steelman’s book on selling, “ The Effortless Yes: Demystifying the Selling Process.” Julie is known as the entrepreneur’s selling mentor, for both men and women. Engage graciously. Perfect your natural ask.

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InfoChachkie

JULY 4, 2011

There are a number of other children’s books that also serve as good platforms from which you can impart entrepreneurial values and lessons. One such book comes from a surprising source, the notoriously left-leaning Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. He continues smiling and deploys a rudimentary sales technique.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2020

Every business wants and needs top performers, but most entrepreneurs and executives assume that if they hire and train the smartest and most experienced people, they will get exceptional performance. I saw the key ones outlined well in the classic book, “ Creating High Performers ,” by William Dann, a leading coach to experienced CEOs.

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InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 15, 2014

Multiple surveys confirm that honesty is one of the most common traits of serial entrepreneurs. In his book, The Entrepreneur’s Manual , Richard White cites a survey of venture capitalists which ranks honesty as the single most important characteristic for serial success. Image : Wikipedia. Share and Enjoy.

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Berkonomics

MARCH 7, 2010

I am happy to announce the availability of BERKONOMICS in book channels worldwide, including the eBook edition from Amazon. Purchase either for yourself or for an entrepreneur, board member or executive of a growing business. This book and workbook contain all the material from the BERKONOMICS emails and blogs and much more.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

I’d like to talk about Crocodile Salesmen in 3 scenarios: 1) when YOU are selling (or someone on your team), 2) when you are trying to recruit a sales person. But how to apply “listening&# in a sales meeting? Beware of Crocodile Sales. It is my natural style to want to “tell.&# I’m an ENTP.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed the classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea.

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InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

For those who don’t have the time to listen to our entire talk, I’ve highlighted several key takeaways below, along with the corresponding video timestamp, to facilitate quick access to issues of interest to entrepreneurs. The book Summerhill School greatly impacted Lynda as a child. Certain things like sales was a good example.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

I recognized this as I was reading the classic book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Diagnosing and understanding the customer problem.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Does your business have a visible positive strategy, or do your customers and employees still see your primary focus as closing more sales and killing competitors? I just remember the classic book, “ The Strategic Leader’s Roadmap ,” by Harbir Singh and Michael Useem from the Wharton School, which provides some specific steps along the way.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. You learn by asking.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales. This is the growth equation for a startup.

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Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

Email readers, continue here…] I did forget to tell you that on that day looking into the company’s books I discovered that neither the company nor its founder had filed Federal income tax returns during the three years in business, didn’t I? Our entrepreneur balked at the boldness of that statement. Recovery and success.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

I recognized this as I was reading a new book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Diagnosing and understanding the customer problem.

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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. Overall I like the principles in the classic book “ Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival ,” by Robert F. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I like the guidance from marketing coach David Newman’s classic book “ Do It! Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2011

A good entrepreneur is not necessarily born a good salesman. In my own effort to keep up with the times, I just finished a new book by Julie Steelman, “ The Effortless Yes: Demystifying the Selling Process.” Julie is known as the entrepreneur’s selling mentor, for both men and women. Engage graciously. Perfect your natural ask.

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Sales Entrepreneur Mentor Customer 93

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

It could be as simple as reading the right book. Because I believe that negotiation is so important to our success in the business and in the social world, I re-read my favorite book on the subject again every couple of years, just to keep myself aware and sharp using the tools and techniques so important to a successful negotiation.

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Pricing Sales Tool Entrepreneur 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

It could be as simple as reading the right book. Because I believe that negotiation is so important to our success in the business and in the social world, I re-read my favorite book on the subject again every couple of years, just to keep myself aware and sharp using the tools and techniques so important to a successful negotiation.

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Pricing Sales Tool Entrepreneur 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2021

Some people are good at it and some are not – independent of their IQ or their book smarts (there may even be an inverse relationship here). Entrepreneurs who are great problem solvers within any business are the best prepared to solve their customers’ needs effectively as well. The best entrepreneurs have both.

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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. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2013

If you ever want to read the great American generational immigrant business story read American Pastoral by Philip Roth, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was voted by Time Magazine as one of the best 100 books of all time. How much could the new generation of entrepreneurs learn from that? He wasn’t driven by quick riches.

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Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2015

But what most entrepreneurs fail dramatically at is to celebrate the moment. Not many founders or entrepreneurs do experience the success of a favorable sale of the business they dreamed would make them rich. Others are diluted by subsequent investors to the point where there was nothing for them to celebrate at all in a sale.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I saw some real guidance in the classic book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books. New entrepreneurs are notoriously great at capitalizing on new opportunities, both weak and strong.

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Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

Some people are good at it and some are not – independent of their IQ or their book smarts (there may even be an inverse relationship here). Entrepreneurs who are great problem solvers within any business are the best prepared to solve their customers’ needs effectively as well. The best entrepreneurs have both.

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Entrepreneur Sales Course Advertising 94

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Those of us in the business of calculating (guessing) this mythical peak in value often make the same mistake as our entrepreneurs. Not so long ago, Basil Peters wrote his book, “Early Exits,” after analyzing 150 young companies and their exits. How do you know when you are at or near that right point to sell for maximum value?

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2017

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. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

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Entrepreneur Startup Training Sales 69

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

I want to invest in entrepreneurs that have the capacity to be number one at whatever they are doing, and do it within our skill base, which is direct-to-consumer. So, now, as a VC, I swore I'd never treat entrepreneurs like those VCs treated me. I love entrepreneurs. What's the theme of your investments?

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Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

This is part of my series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Entrepreneurs are inherently risk takers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. 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. The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. More recently, the concepts have been applied to the general business management context, in a classic book by Certified Turnaround Professional, Thomas H. Too many entrepreneurs confuse action with momentum and results.

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