Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

In one industry I know well, the dominant player with 22% market share was acquired by one of the largest companies in the technology world. Everyone, including those connected with the newly acquired dominant player, wondered what changes would affect their company and their personal lives and fortunes.

Resource 156

Resource Competition Examples Custom 156

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 10, 2020

The project will pair 200 megawatt hours of distributed energy storage with 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity, the company said. To finance these projects — and others the company expects to land — Swell has cut a deal with Ares Management Corp. The goal is to make local grids more efficient.

Develop 322

Develop Development Los Angeles Custom 322

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Place your cash bets behind proven demand. The term, “demand pull – cost push” was created by the great economist, John Maynard Keynes, to describe the two primary drivers of economic inflation. All of our enterprises have limited resources, even the largest of the Fortune 500, and especially the smallest of competitors in a market.

Demand 136

Demand Resource Pricing Study 136

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2017

Time bankruptcy results from the deliberate over-commitment of core resources. You’re fighting to put out the fires from customer complaints, or incomplete work, or are suffering from an inability to focus upon new development or new customers before cleaning up the mess inside your organization. Time bankruptcy.

Resource 243

Resource Custom Customer Software 243

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Why five risks?

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

Both authors are recipients of numerous academic and management awards for leadership thinking, and I will summarize here their key strategy insights, combined with my own experiences: Lead with a focus on finding customer value. Aim high to build a better world for customers. Don’t confuse the means with the ends.

Capital 142

Capital Netflix Resource Custom 142

socalTECH

APRIL 16, 2019

According to the two companies, Forrester will use "technographics" from HG Insights, to help Forrester's customers see technology adoption trends in more than 45 different markets worldwide.

Research 133

Research Marketing Santa Barbara Sales 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities. I look for evidence of the nine major elements of the model canvas, as paraphrased here from the author’s key points and how they apply to teams: Customer segments.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Custom Customer 133

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 19, 2019

And that certainly counts for customers too, although the customer jungle drums don’t communicate quite as fast as the virtual water cooler system, even with today’s many ways of posting negative reviews about company behavior. People working together with only the customer in mind. Culture done right.

Southern California 156

Southern California Examples Custom Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

I believe the Maker Movement and hardware startups with limited resources are made for each other. Meet the new consumer demand for customization. Customers today increasingly demand solutions that are customized just for them. These ideas can grow quickly into real products.

Startup 159

Startup Tool Design Demand 159

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 2, 2022

Among its fastest-growing challengers is Cider, which, like Shein, relies on China’s responsive clothing manufacturers to sell affordable, trend-led pieces to customers around the world. A browse around Shein today shows the company is increasingly coming after Amazon and is unbounded by its origin in fashion. Data: Data.ai.

Startup 217

Startup Los Angeles Social Media Venture Capital 217

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. Focus on the mainstream customer majority.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Berkonomics

MAY 3, 2018

Many executives and managers have made the mistake of using the financial and sales forecast to plan and execute hiring of new employees – so that they could be trained and up to speed when the demand arrives. In such instances, it is much less risky for a company to execute its plans for spending in coordination with forecast revenues.

Training 226

Training Layoffs Demand Resource 226

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2013

Like most startup entrepreneurs, when I began my first company in 1999 I had no formal sales experience. I did have the wherewithal to visit potential customers and try to understand the pain points that I thought could be solved with our solution. This is a very important to do when you first start a company.

Sales 393

Sales Startup Resource Custom 393

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

Every one of you business leaders I know struggles with the competing demands of finding and keeping employees motivated and satisfied, versus building and enforcing a set of repeatable processes that work. Obviously, both are required for a company to stay healthy and growing. Only good people are capable of thinking outside the box.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors. These are responding to the demands of this new world for collaboration, trust, and transparency. Shared leadership (member and customer led).

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Custom 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

His title “ The On-Demand Brand: 10 Rules for Digital Marketing Success in an Anytime, Everywhere World ” characterizes the challenge of demanding attention from a new generation of consumers who want what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. Ask why it should be, and why customers should care. Want control?

Custom 100

Custom Customer Marketing Demand 100

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 30, 2019

Shell, which is making the acquisition through its Shell New Energies US subsidiary, snatched the company from Energy Impact Partners, a cleantech-focused investment firm. “As For Shell, the deal adds to a portfolio of electric charging assets including the Dutch-based company, NewMotion. Courtesy of Ed Robinson/Shell.

Acquisition 248

Acquisition Resource Mobile Los Angeles 248

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Venture capitalists sometimes make an error in directing their portfolio company CEOs to push resources to the limit and scale the business to immense size quickly, all to seize market share. It was true for Amazon and other visionary companies that grabbed market share during the early Internet era. But beware.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2014

Mid-level or even top executives who “grew up” in large companies often look with envy at startups, and dream of how easy it must be running a small organization, where you can see the whole picture and it appears you have total control. The job of a big-company executive is very different from the job of a small-company executive.

Startup 103

Startup Company Companies Training 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2022

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 115

Startup Resource Training Ideas 115

Southern California Edison Blog

JANUARY 15, 2019

The telecommunications industry is under increasing pressure as customers demand high speeds and data transport, as well as implementing big data initiatives for their businesses. To keep up with demands, carriers are investing billions of dollar in infrastructure and service enhancements to help them grow. Expand your coverage.

SoCal 55

SoCal Southern California Help Services 55

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2020

The company sent an email to customers Tuesday that after examining the business, the car-sharing industry and COVID-19, it decided to shutter the service permanently. All assets and resources will be transferred to GM’s Global Innovation organization, as well as the larger enterprise, according to a GM spokesperson.

Los Angeles 215

Los Angeles Technical Review Email Services 215

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service. This is not the total opportunity out there, and not the total target market, but the subset of customers who have and will spend the money you need to cure their pain. A startup must gain balanced traction.

Education 151

Education Custom Customer Sales 151

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

On the other end of the spectrum are companies that fell behind the curve and may never recover, including MySpace for social networking, Yahoo with online ads, and Groupon with discounts for group purchasing. Power has been guiding growth companies for 25 years, and now teaches innovation at the Harvard Extension School.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Custom 106

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Of course, we are speaking of increased valuation of your company when we speak of “wealth.” One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. So, let’s examine them and mitigate them.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2020

According to studies , the alternative of acquiring new customers still costs you five to seven times more than retaining existing ones. But customers today are fickle, instantly aware of every new alternative, due to the Internet and social media, and not afraid to change. Appeal to all your customer senses all of the time.

Custom 136

Custom Customer Social Media Startup 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2020

Both have obviously been able to expand their focus and impact, based on learning from early challenges, availability of additional resources, and early success applied more broadly. This culture is best maintained by every business leader at every stage of company maturity. Documented business objectives and a timeline.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Berkonomics

AUGUST 16, 2018

Over the years, I have often heard the complaint from CEO friends that they have become so swamped by the demands of their growing businesses that they feel themselves further and further from the center of their industry, no longer at the forefront of information and competitive development. First, speak to your customers often.

Marketing 120

Marketing Demand Media Entrepreneur 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. A product plan is never a substitute for a business plan.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

There are pretty significant resources there that standalone incubators don't have. Those companies tend to be around for longer than one year, because of course our faculty are not working on those things full time, they're continuing to teach classes. What we do, is regional customer discovery for teams, typically academic.

Marina Del Rey 150

Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 13, 2016

In one industry I know well, the dominant player with 22% market share was acquired by one of the largest companies in the technology world. Everyone, including those connected with the newly acquired dominant player, wondered what changes would affect their company and their personal lives and fortunes.

Resource 120

Resource Competition Examples Custom 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Nearly all of the mistakes I made at my first company I fixed by the time of my second company. This is the only mistake I repeated twice and it is a mistake that I see many, many companies make. When you start your company the very first question you need to ask yourself is which kind of customers do you want to serve.

Startup 389

Startup Custom Customer Resource 389

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2011

Mid-level or even top executives who “grew up” in large companies often look with envy at startups, and dream of how easy it must be running a small organization, where you can see the whole picture and it appears you have total control. The job of a big-company executive is very different from the job of a small-company executive.

Startup 105

Startup Company Companies Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. Avoid employee-related expenses and management.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

On the other end of the spectrum are companies that fell behind the curve and may never recover, including MySpace for social networking, Yahoo with online ads, and Groupon with discounts for group purchasing. Power has been guiding growth companies for 25 years, and now teaches innovation at the Harvard Extension School.

Pricing 123

Pricing Cloud Computing Custom Customer 123

socalTECH

DECEMBER 3, 2012

It's surprising how often we run into rapidly growing companies that not many people have heard of, here in Southern California, but that's the case with El Segundo-based. NEOGOV , which has quietly built an enterprise software company supplying human resources software to the government and public sector. What is Neogov?

Software Review 243

Software Review SaaS Startup Technical Review 243