Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons. Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back. Marty Zwilling.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

Our business development discussions took longer than planned. Our sales forecasts were revised downward – many times. We downsized, developed processes and found our groove. We downsized, developed processes and found our groove. We developed deep kinship. But still we made progress. Believe me.

Startup 331

Startup Press Customer Custom 331

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

Xconomy

OCTOBER 10, 2016

By popular acclaim, San Diego-based Echo Laboratories founder Eugene Cho claimed top honors, and a $15,000 check, for his two-minute presentation last week in the 10th annual “Quick Pitch” competition, hosted by San Diego’s Tech Coast Angels. Cho, a former sales manager for Nikon Instruments and Vala Sciences, founded Echo Labs in 2014.

Tech Coast Angels 40

Tech Coast Angels Technical Review San Diego Software Review 40

InfoChachkie

APRIL 13, 2015

Because I am cheap and I know that car dealers are incentivized by the manufacturer to hit quarterly and annual sales goals. Thus, the value of a sale at the end of a quarter can be significant, if the sale contributes to obtaining a manufacturer''s incentive. Avoid The End-Of-The-Quarter Trou Drop.

Pricing 100

Pricing Startup Sales SaaS 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons. Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw recently, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons. Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features. Our sales guys were on the front line and heard what they needed to win deals. Tim started to change our processes.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

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. Markets develop for a complex set of factors that are often beyond all of our control. What did he know?

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Berkonomics

AUGUST 30, 2018

They keep me at the leading edge of new development as it is productized, even before mass production. It did not hurt that Apple always seemed to trump the competition in design of the product and the product’s user interface too. The moment of truth: Facing the “no decision” competition. My “way too early” story.

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Pricing Design Product 120

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. The press around the Parachute Home Hotel itself was worth the effort of having created it. I don’t use the word ‘spectacular’ lightly.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Photo by Hope House Press - Leather Diary Studio on Unsplash It’s also true that there will be tough moments in your company’s journey where you will want to be able to carry people behind the tough decisions you want. No great board wants you distracted with doing a whole bunch of financial analysis that is strictly for board purposes.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I just saw today, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons. Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. Ask for help reviewing your press release. Ask them to mention you to the press, speak about you on stage when they do public events, whatever.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 1, 2010

For instance, if you were trying to establish a partnership with a BDC, the front door would be a direct inquiry to the VP of Business Development. A startup is far more likely to respond to an inquiry, especially if they are in your industry yet are not competitive. When they answer, ask for the person mentioned in the press release.

Company 124

Company Companies Email Press 124

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

He spent nearly five years at each of Salesforce.com and Oracle and was an Area VP at Salesforce leading sales efforts at some of the largest clients that Salesforce.com has. To watch a young company win 1,000+ seat deals at Global 100 companies at this stage of development has been simply stunning. Why Invest? I am not over-selling.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. In the case of MakeSpace we had huge initial successes in New York City as Rahul led the scaling of our drivers, our trucks and our warehouses and we figured out the right price points to beat the local competition.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Contrary to some press reporting, the boom in startups, the creation of accelerators and seed funds as well as the deserved popularity of AngelList do not signal doom for our industry. Yes, it’s true that FOMO (fear of missing out) is driving some irrational behavior and valuations amongst uber competitive deals and well-financed VCs.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

The “private sale” market phenomenon was started in France by Vente-Privee (literally means “private sale”) and was replicated in Germany by BrandsforFriends. Gilt Group is currently the largest private sale web site in US. In the show we talked about why this is important to mobile application developers.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

But putting no time into anchoring your beliefs because you’re too busy executing sales, marketing, support, product & engineering is an easy recipe for leadership drift. A regular dialog with peers can be more valuable than reading any amount of tech press and in many cases more valuable than even board input. Conviction.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. Our first big institutional round was $16.5

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I suppose I should have imagined that this line would get more press than all other comments combined. Huge structural under-employment in much of the country and full employment in some niche tech markets where it’s impossible to hire developers, designers or sales professionals. Fair enough. You feel it, too.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

o Huge on PR, “Be Everywhere” is his motto – fly to NY, proactively everywhere he could get press. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. o Put a timeframe/money – competition in the picture. o CPM model gave him control over the information in the acquisition cycle so he focused on that. -

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Berkonomics

AUGUST 18, 2011

They keep me at the leading edge of new development as it is productized, even before mass production. After all that great press, I realized that the industry just was not ready for such a leap, giving up authority to a computer, even if at least one major airline had successfully done so. So we removed the system.

Artificial Inteligence 214

Artificial Inteligence Pricing Design Product 214

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. Guard against a preclusion that would deny you from utilizing the IP developed during the course of executing the agreement. Craft terms which ensure you will not beholden to the BDC with respect to your ability to subsequently deploy and profit from jointly developed technology.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

One of the readers asked my opinion around sharing your startup concept: My first question has always been - how do you protect your idea while shopping around for feedback, partners, developers, etc.? You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

From the Venture Trenches

MARCH 27, 2013

Whether it is launching a website, developing a minimum viable product, making strategic acquisitions or building out your sales team the founder must have a firm understanding of what it is they want to accomplish, the value it will create and how long the milestone will take to accomplish. Can you afford the distraction?

Venture Capital 45

Venture Capital Capital Anthem Startup 45

Frank Addante

JUNE 19, 2006

► February (1) Building and Developing an A++ Team ► 2008 (14) ► December (1) Develop a Culture Roadmap ► November (2) Green Week - Save the Environment and Your Cash Creating a Culture of Innovation: Cultural Values. Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? Build a SWAT team 3.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Web 2.0 Outsource Development 40

Frank Addante

JUNE 4, 2006

► February (1) Building and Developing an A++ Team ► 2008 (14) ► December (1) Develop a Culture Roadmap ► November (2) Green Week - Save the Environment and Your Cash Creating a Culture of Innovation: Cultural Values. Under Process, Over Deliver So, you need to develop a product? Build a SWAT team 3.

Startup 40

Startup Venture Capital Email CTO Hire 40