Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

From apps to hardware, to KickStarter successes and international startups, we’re inching closer to finding out who will take home the title of Startup of the Year competition at our annual Celebrate Conference in October. Among the dozens of participants that applied for the online competitions, only a few progressed into the semifinals.

Competition 122

Competition Mobile Startup Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Even with advantages that independent startups can never hope to match, including brand recognition, customers, financial capital, and distribution, I don’t often see the entrepreneurial passion for innovation, agility, and team perseverance exhibited by new startups. Commit a source of internal or external seed funding.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Angel groups, accelerators, and incubators are pervasive. Marty Zwilling

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2023

It all starts with a customer perspective to uncover problems and frustrations, and then design solutions from the customer backward. But customers also tend to think linearly, so they don’t always know what they want. Back away for a while to let the problem incubate in the unconscious mind. Marty Zwilling

Startup 128

Startup Entrepreneur Tool Ideas 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

By Jim Flowers A few months ago, Marty invited me to comment on business incubation and what a startup company ought to expect from an incubator. Of course, they also have to bring a cleverly identified marketplace opportunity, and some value proposition that will set them apart from the competition and generate serious profitability.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Angel groups, accelerators, and incubators are pervasive. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. These also get used for guest lectures in business classes, judges for business plan competition, and introductions to accredited investors. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2020

It all starts with a customer perspective to uncover problems and frustrations, and then design solutions from the customer backward. But customers also tend to think linearly, so they don’t always know what they want. Back away for a while to let the problem incubate in the unconscious mind. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 127

Startup Tool Entrepreneur Ideas 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2018

Research shows that such insights are actually the result of hard prior work on the problem, usually followed by time to incubate in the subconscious mind as we connect threads, before the ideas pop out as new innovations. This myth arises from the fact that new ideas can sometimes seem to appear as a flash of insight. Breed myth.

Competition 51

Competition Research Ideas Incubator 51

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. External forces (competitors and customers). But none have any lock on success.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. These also get used for guest lectures in business classes, judges for business plan competition, and introductions to accredited investors. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

We’ve had an explosion of alternate sources of financing from crowd-sourcing, angels, accelerators, incubators, corporates, corporate incubators. It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. And importantly we’ve had revenue. ROI studies were published.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2022

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. In fact, people lower in the organization are often closer to the customer and have more insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Ideas 111

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

Get help with grant funding and incubator resources. These also get used for guest lectures in business classes, judges for business plan competition, and introductions to accredited investors. If looking for help, you can find interns willing to work for the experience, and real insights into new customer segments.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

Instead, you have to prepare those companies, and make them competitive with the best companies in Silicon Valley who are getting funded. An idea, prototype, customers, where? A prototype is one, but it could also be customer acquisition testing they''ve done. That''s why we work really closely with them. READ MORE>>.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2013

We''re very much a global footprint company, and we have customers from all over the world who fit that type of description. Right now, we have around 380,000 customers, with about a third of those outside the United States. Simon Anderson: There''s a lot of competition in the market, undoubtedly. At UC Santa Cruz. READ MORE>>.

Software Review 238

Software Review Cloud Computing Technical Review Platform 238

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Hoffman should know, as an icon in the Silicon Valley, having educated and trained hundreds of startup founders as the CEO of “ Founders Space ,” designated by Inc.com as one of the top ten incubators and accelerators in the world. Lock in customers with loyalty and high cost of change. Establish exclusivity as a high barrier to entry.

Netflix 54

Netflix Social Media Competition Customer 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

It all starts with a customer perspective to uncover problems and frustrations, and then design solutions from the customer backward. But customers also tend to think linearly, so they don’t always know what they want. Back away for a while to let the problem incubate in the unconscious mind. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Tool Ideas 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. These and other strengths may actually give you a competitive edge over your more extroverted constituents. Increase your visibility and expertise in your domain. Surround yourself with allies who have complementary skills.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

. · Divshot, a tool for web designers and developers, won a national pitch competition and one of it’s founders Michael Bleigh created a popular open source library now included in Ruby on Rails. Less Neglect helps companies reduce churn, upsell users, and increase customer acquisition rates.

GRP Partners 96

GRP Partners Startup Tech Coast Angels Bertelsmann 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. In fact, people lower in the organization are often closer to the customer, and have more insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Ideas 94

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

So it behooves every aspiring entrepreneur to understand their own DNA before picking a project to bet their life on, and to facilitate effective communication with all constituents, including partners, investors, team members and customers. The Builder excels at constructing a business from the ground up.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Angel groups, accelerators, and incubators are pervasive. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 61

Startup Social Media News Tool 61

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 6, 2013

To progress and be LA tech-focused, we started incubating ideas. It is to produce branded content, to build custom content and leverage our ad network to distribute the content. Are incubating companies one of the main focuses of Engage:BDR? We are constantly incubating projects since Engage:BDR started.

Marketing 96

Marketing Startup Incubator Advertising 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2012

The competition never stands still, and new opportunities are evolving, based on culture changes in your customers, new technologies, and new problems in the world which need to be solved. Look for competitors that have the same capabilities as you in a different market area, or for different customers.

Startup 98

Startup Customer Custom Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2016

It all starts with a customer perspective to uncover problems and frustrations, and then design solutions from the customer backward. But customers also tend to think linearly, so they don’t always know what they want. Back away for a while to let the problem incubate in the unconscious mind. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Tool Ideas 57

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

After a year in the market, MakeSpace was growing rapidly and our biggest issue was CAC (customer acquisition costs) relative to payback period (when we get our marketing investment back) and relative to LTV (lifetime value). We need to market to that customer to make them aware of our product or service. Choose that market.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

I've been engaged in about thirty startups, anywhere from in incubators, being an angel investor, to leading the charge. This is a new medium through which consumers validate brands, and where brands are in a position to have a direct relationship with the customer. I've been doing that for 25 years. What's the opportunity you see?

Southern California 200

Southern California Startup Customer Custom 200

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The second annual USC Silicon Beach event, hosted by the four professional schools at USC, featured a pitch competition and a conference filled with informational panels and interviews. Startup Pitch Competition. I tried to treat it as a learning experience and refined my pitch for this competition.”.

USC 98

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Southern California Netflix 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

I know this will fall like a lead balloon to the many people who believe it is possible to have a [insert: startup incubator or technology accelerator or technology consultant or outsource firm] build your technology. They care about the quality of what is build more than they care about end customers. I don’t believe it.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

Are facilities available to students post-graduation to incubate their businesses? What is the process required to create a custom degree? Is there a venture competition with cash prizes? How much Angel and institutional money did they collectively raise? Are funds available to invest in student businesses?

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

The competition never stands still, and new opportunities are evolving, based on culture changes in your customers, new technologies, and new problems in the world which need to be solved. Look for competitors that have the same capabilities as you in a different market area, or for different customers.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Customer Custom .Net 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product. I had my sales teams telling me we needed certain features to be competitive. Rinse & repeat.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

InfoChachkie

APRIL 14, 2014

ABC has even created an incubator-style program in which startup non-profits compete for $100,000 in seed funding. It’s an open competition that awards $100,000 and a year of management support to the most promising early stage nonprofit that is helping low-income Chicagoans to rise out of poverty. Project Impact is our answer to that.

Organization 199

Organization Startup Technical Review Invest 199

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. External forces (competitors and customers). But none have any lock on success.

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Mentor Framework Web 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. In fact, people lower in the organization are often closer to the customer, and have more insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Ideas 56

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 56