Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

I was shocked to read an old Gallup study that indicates only 13 percent of employees worldwide are actively engaged at work, and more recent data shows only a small change in the right direction. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product. Don’t take yourself too seriously as well. Start today.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. If your solution alleviates a high level of existing pain, customers more readily change.

Product 95

Product Case Study Customer Custom 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community. Startups can use social responsibility as a competitive advantage. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2021

I’m often surprised when you as an aspiring entrepreneur, looking for investors, tell me your solution is so innovative that you don’t have to worry about differentiating it from competitors, and customers will flock to it without a real marketing campaign. Focus your marketing on real customer value. Perception is better than reality.

Social Media 134

Social Media Case Study Customer Custom 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2023

A common initiative I hear from business owners today is their effort to improve the customer experience. To achieve real growth, business leaders need to improve both employee as well as customer experiences. Flexible – listen to allow flex hours and customization. Personalized – job is relevant to personal needs.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Training Tool 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2020

According to many studies, entrepreneurs tend to be happier , and over 80 percent of self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs. He lays out seven thinking strategies for both entrepreneurs and employees that will make them business winners: Focus on the customers at all times. Think like your ideal customer seeking value.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Sales Customer Custom 117

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

Per a recent study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic has grown 17-fold over the past 5 years, reaching 11.5 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. There are many free generalized tools, including Google Trends , which can be used to track customer behavior in looking for things that don’t exist yet.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2022

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side.

Case Study 125

Case Study Platform Yahoo Social Media 125

Xconomy

JULY 6, 2016

The Obama administration’s push to sign up one million Americans for a long-term health study will start in New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Tucson, AZ, top health officials said today. The VA is running its own long-term study with nearly half a million participants so far.).

Study 59

Study PMI San Diego Sample 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2023

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Competition Press Commerce 82

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

As an entrepreneur, I understand your passion when pitching your solution to investors and customers, but passion alone won’t make one more technology pitch stand out above all the rest. Investors tell me that they invest in people, more than products. Thus it behooves you to highlight your message with a bit of storytelling.

Startup 145

Startup Competition Customer Custom 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

The solution is to establish and maintain a culture and processes that don’t view change as a discrete event to be spotted and managed, but as an ongoing opportunity to improve competitiveness. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback?

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges. Many businesses have found that raising the price of a product to give it status can win more customers than a price war.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. You’d imagine that companies selling tons of shelfware would quickly meet their deserved fate in the market, yet the spin around a category of software can fool buyers into thinking they “must have this product to compete.”

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Salaries or hourly wages must be within reasonable limits set by the industry and matched by the competition, both regionally and for the same job classification. This one seems non-negotiable for many non-production-line workers and offers savings for both the company and employee if properly implemented and supervised.

Design 156

Design Examples Competition Pricing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

Good managers improve focus and productivity through effective communication and coordinating disparate activities. For an in-depth study of the pros and cons of a bossless environment, I found a new book, “ Why Managers Matter ,” by management scholars Nicolai Foss and Peter Klein.

Outsource 133

Outsource Training Organization Social Media 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2020

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Startup 134

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Press 134

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Based on a classic study by the Wharton School of Business , in a survey of 11,000 MBA graduates over many years, those running their own businesses ranked themselves happier than all other professions, regardless of how much money they made. People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. It’s a tough world even for big-company generalists, who take on the complexities of product diversification. Maintain an intimate knowledge of the competition. Just ask J.C.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. For example, Starbucks found initial success with professionals aged 25 to 40 in urban areas and with moderately high income but later looked to a new market of millennials who wanted a place to sit and chat, study or work.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

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.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Xconomy

OCTOBER 5, 2016

However, there is still room for competition. Companies must learn to become ecosystem drivers – even if only for a subset of their customers – in order to survive. These drivers have become the destination for their spaces like Amazon with consumer products, Aetna with healthcare needs, and USAA for life events.

Organization 91

Organization Customer Custom Study 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2018

A classic study based on intensive research, “ The Myths of Creativity ,” by David Burkas tries to demystify the processes and forces that drive innovation. The expert myth often leads to another myth, which argues that bigger incentives, monetary or otherwise, will increase motivation and hence increase innovation productivity.

Competition 51

Competition Research Ideas Incubator 51

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

You are so engaged in building and selling your product or service, that you “don’t have time” to focus on strategy and the next round of changes for the business to survive and grow. Highlight your competitive value, not your technology. before developing new products or carving out a new and untested space for your business.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

In a famous Harvard study of 212 new ventures a few years ago, USC professor Noam Wasserman found that half the founders were no longer at the helm after three years, and over time 80% were forced out. No one wants to put in money until you have a product, and you need money to build the product. The founder succession dilemma.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

Per the latest study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic has grown 17-fold over the past 5 years, reaching 11.5 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2020

Based on a classic study by the Wharton School of Business , in a survey of 11,000 MBA graduates over many years, those running their own businesses ranked themselves happier than all other professions, regardless of how much money they made. People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 126

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. The metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. Did you have any prior background in this, and what were you two studying?

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

InfoChachkie

MARCH 21, 2019

Opportunity knocked when one of her customers was spotted at a high-end boutique, wearing one of Ida’s outfits. The store’s owner, Enid Bissett, asked the customer where she had purchased the dress. The two women established a custom dress shop called Enid Frocks. This public exposure drove wealthy customers to Enid Frocks.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Design Customer Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2015

New studies indicate that a more productive approach would be adopting new good habits and behaviors that clearly move your business forward, like good time management and implementing customer recommendations. Use both competition and camaraderie. Go for a public display of accountability.

Competition 101

Competition Entrepreneur Examples Study 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2014

New studies indicate that a more productive approach would be adopting new good habits and behaviors that clearly move your business forward, like good time management and implementing customer recommendations. Use both competition and camaraderie. business Darren Hardy entrepreneur habits productivity startup'

Competition 98

Competition Entrepreneur Examples Product 98

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Demand pull: too much demand for a product or service and not enough supply cause a competition for the product that drives prices higher without increasing the intrinsic value of the product. Cost push: labor or parts costs increase, causing the product or service to be priced higher without adding intrinsic value.

Demand 136

Demand Resource Pricing Study 136

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 22, 2014

While we have become more productive as a society, with the advent of computers aiding our work, physical inactivity has become a high risk factor in contributing to chronic illnesses. How is Movn different than your competition? HV: Our main competitive advantage is the idea of personalization. This was run out of USC?

USC 104

USC Southern California Activity Study 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2019

The solution is to establish and maintain a culture and processes that don’t view change as a discrete event to be spotted and managed, but as an ongoing opportunity to improve competitiveness. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback?

Startup 94

Startup Training Statistics Summary 94