Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2019

Image via Wikipedia The challenge for all of us in business is to improve competitiveness by improving employee productivity and reducing costs. Attempting to make a job more challenging, as well as to improve productivity, managers may sometimes ask for higher outputs, such as 15 customer support calls per hour rather than 10.

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InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Article first published as Eleven Startup Tips From Mark Cuban on Technorati. Mark’s Startup Tips. "It is so much easier to be nice, to be respectful, to put yourself in your customers’ shoes… than it is to try to mend a broken customer relationship." Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Today’s customers are much more proactive in going online for the latest information, rather than simply reacting to the “push” messages that businesses traditionally use to drive commerce. Discipline is required to continually track results, return on investment, and customer satisfaction. A strategy of speedy execution is required.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Partly out of the fact that in 1 week I depart for England to speak at LeWeb, attend our DataSift board meeting and generally make myself available to the DataSift team to meet their customers, partners and employees. In Rob’s spare time he always seems to be going to a boxing class or some other competitive, physical activity.

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Southern California Edison Blog

JULY 31, 2020

Enterprises and organizations are increasingly taking advantage of what the cloud has to offer to stay competitive and expand their services. Wavelength services – customers can configure the network to meet their bandwidth needs. The post 4 Tips to Maximize Internet Bandwidth appeared first on Edison. 1] [link]. [1]

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Richard’s Startup Tips. 1) Give Your Customers (And The Media) What They Want. If you do not have the ability to connect with your employees, customers or other stakeholders on an emotional level, be sure that at least one member of your core team possesses this vital characteristic. . free weekly Infochachkie articles!

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InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 10, 2011

He did more for Apple’s shareholders, customers and employees than any other CEO has ever done for their shareholders, customers and employees. There are numerous reasons for Jobs’ success, not the least of which was his uncompromising pursuit of a delightful customer experience. Steve’s Startup Tips.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

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InfoChachkie

JANUARY 9, 2012

You must convince dispassionate, objective customers that your value proposition is worthy of their cash. Accomplished entrepreneurs are curious about their customers' desires, competitors' future strategic directions and their industry's technological trends. Friendly constituents will not sustain your startup.

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

The company used its overdraft protection service and money management display to shift customers’ focus away from the total balance that their account would show by giving them a sense of how much was actually left in their accounts once debits were included in their statements.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2020

Most of you realize that survival in business today requires grabbing hold of tomorrow’s opportunities with disruptive innovation , before your competition or a new startup gets there. This means talking to your loyal customers, as well as non-customers who are in related market segments.

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InfoChachkie

JANUARY 30, 2012

But it's also about operations and customer relationships." Despite the relative dominance of product-oriented innovations, they seldom create sustainable competitive advantages. It devised made-to-order factories that allowed customers, for the first time on a large scale, to individually configure a personal computer.

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InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Bill’s advice reflects Microsoft’s hardnosed culture, which encourages internal competition and a ruthless pursuit of the truth. Along with your cash, customers and employees, a healthy startup culture will prove to be one of your most precious assets. . ." [Tweet this quote]. Treasure it.

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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. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)?

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2013

As I visit the websites of many startups, as well as more mature businesses, I still too often see a “contact” page offering nothing but a sterile form for customers to submit, never to be heard from again. Customers are not all like you, and they have choices, so a “one size fits all” customer service is no longer a viable option.

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InfoChachkie

JANUARY 23, 2012

When enhancing your value proposition, ask the same question a newcomer would ask, "what is the best way for users to interact with the new features, irrespective of the existing customer experience?" " Even if this quote is apocryphal, it remains instructive.

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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Track competition is a secondary arena for Energica. But the competition is closing in on some of the Italian EV maker’s numbers. “Our customers are telling us they are just waiting to ride again.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

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Tech.Co

MAY 22, 2018

One of the biggest turn offs for investors are founders who don’t know the basics of their business, especially their market and customer. They have to know their industry, know their customers, and understand what it takes to make their customers happy.”. Then apply for the Startup of the Year Competition today.

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Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 19, 2015

Computers and the Internet have now brought in a new era that relies on data to make profitable business decisions in the competitive environment. Below is a full explanation of how small businesses can leverage technology to earn a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Cloud Services. Social Media Automation Tools. CRM Platforms.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2019

Engineering creativity, like innovate low-cost solutions, needs to be combined with marketing creativity, like viral social media campaigns, to build a sustainable competitive advantage today. Don’t be afraid of using your intuition and feelings to guide you with customers, but don’t ignore real data. Creativity is the key word here.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2020

Along with her insights, she offers 50 innovative new tips to grow your business. With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. The broad-brush push-marketing is no longer competitive. Build word-of-mouth into your product or service.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

Make it a point to get to know other teams and customers. Work to make your ability to manage relationships your sustainable competitive advantage. Personal friendships will improve communications and trust, and will definitely improve your personal satisfaction and life balance, between work and play.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results. Ask yourself where are the influencers in your market, the majority of your target customers, and what type of interaction will be most productive to your business?

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

Simply, this is identifying a customer need which has economic value to them if they can solve it. ” and if you can’t persuade enough potential customers they have some pain that needs fixing you probably should stick to your day job. Teams usually start with terminology that is very insular and less relevant to customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2023

Along with her insights, she offers 50 innovative new tips to grow your business. With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. The broad-brush push-marketing is no longer competitive. Build word-of-mouth into your product or service.

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Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. Kristin Zhivago, in her book “ Roadmap to Revenue ,” makes the point that the selling system is broken, since sellers no longer sell the way customers are buying. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. Their goal is to create profitable products, but too often they don’t research what their customers really want, and what they are willing to pay. The team is the same. The company's market is the same.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2018

Unfortunately, most of the entrepreneurs who contact me for guidance only seem to work on strategic issues when they are in a crisis, such as losing a major distributor or being swamped with customer complaints. Often, beneficial changes will have a short-term cost to achieve market growth or competitive advantage.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2017

Most customers today won’t pay you five times the cost of alternatives, just because yours is “green.” The real opportunity for entrepreneurs is to provide solutions that solve a problem better than the competition, while also providing sustainability and social responsibility. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as your team: Document your business plan. For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. Get a real customer and real revenue. Letters of intent or endorsement.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. The sharpest entrepreneurs have a knack for viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. It’s easier than dislodging well-recognized existing products, and waiting for customer change, even if your solution is better. Hit ‘em where they ain’t.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

seed and they are writing $1.25m of it you can expect them to require a board seat) The competitive landscape (If you have several sources of capital you can likely politely decline the board request or can grant them a seat but ask for it to be “common appointed” and those revokable if you need in the future). And importantly?

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

If I’m covering a company can I get evidence of what the competition is doing so the story is balanced? You can imagine the press release, “New innovative model allows us to do audits differently than the competition!” Do I have data or facts to present so the story has legs? I am a VC. I hand out money.

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