Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. There are many ways to add levity to a tough challenge, and engaging the team occasionally in some fun activities will work wonders for your team’s productivity and motivation.

Product 129

Product Examples Mentor Activity 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Most of the time, I’m all about providing encouragement and inspiration to entrepreneurs. They need it and they deserve it, because entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. More accurately, marketing is the process of convincing people that they need your product. It’s not going to get better – it already is.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Sample Guide Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Both are required to stay competitive. I have added my own insights, based on my experience advising and working with entrepreneurs and startups: Pay for results, rather than pay for work. Reward shorter hours of high productivity. Peer pressure keeps productivity standards high. Measuring results in itself is not new.

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127

Berkonomics

APRIL 19, 2012

Professional investors laugh when they hear an entrepreneur state, “We have no competition.” It is a failed litmus test for the entrepreneur, even if the plan is for a totally new device or service that could take the world by storm. That statement has killed more investment deals than almost any other.

Competition 189

Competition Slides Sales Ideas 189

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. New product process. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2019

While thinking about it, I realized that it’s really not that different from the toughness required and trained into America’s elite military force of Navy SEALs, who are known to be cool under fire, able to sense danger before it’s too late, and never give up on achieving their objective. Never be thrown off-guard by chaotic conditions.

Training 87

Training Startup Entrepreneur Mentor 87

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Show that you have a process to hire, fire, and train others as required.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Bottlenecks to team productivity. The result is lower productivity all around.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements about them to their own team, investors and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

Competition 107

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 107

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. There are many ways to add levity to a tough challenge, and engaging the team occasionally in some fun activities will work wonders for your team’s productivity and motivation.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

In my years of mentoring entrepreneurs, a problem I have seen too often is low self-esteem, and over-compensating through arrogance and ego. These entrepreneurs find it hard to respect customers or team members, and their ventures usually fail. He assures us that anyone can train themselves to get on track to stay on track.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction Competition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. People love Apple’s whole customer experience, and willingly pay a premium for the product. Much has been written about product design, but designing the total experience from the front rarely happens yet.

Design 105

Design Customer Custom Product 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2022

Most of the entrepreneurs and business owners I work with recognize that they must occupy and practice a primary leadership position , but many will admit that they are not thriving in this role. Embrace the real you as your competitive advantage. This is a tough challenge for every coach and mentor.

Entrepreneur 90

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Coach Mentor 90

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. Yet I soon found that knowledge is power, and a little training and determination goes a long way toward removing the qualms. Turn existing connections into productive relationships.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. Waste in a startup is any activity that absorbs resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Bottlenecks to team productivity. The result is lower productivity all around.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

He is regarded by many as the number-one authority on virtual staffing and personal outsourcing, and is himself a successful entrepreneur based in the Philippines. I was impressed with his summary of the top ten outsourcing mistakes made by entrepreneurs, followed by real guidance on how they can and should be avoided.

Outsource Development 138

Outsource Development Outsource Summary Training 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe their initial idea and inspiration requires the most important creative thinking. 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.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Will the marketplace accept your product? Is there a market for your class of product at all? Market risk is constant and should be of greatest concern to any executive or entrepreneur. Second is product risk. Fourth is competitive risk. Here are five basic kinds of internal risks that a business faces over time.

Competition 156

Competition Marketing Class Product 156

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

There was no money train. Sure, we built SaaS products before the term even existed but at 31 it was hard to delineate reality from what all of the monied people around us were telling us what we were worth. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Production. Competition.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2021

Most entrepreneurs expect to face the “normal” challenges of starting a business, which include finding the right opportunity, building and executing a winning plan, and financing their venture. Sometimes entrepreneurs are so set on creating a successful business, they forget to create one that they love to work on every day.

Startup 152

Startup Training Entrepreneur Course 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. New product process. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. New product process. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center. The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. New product process. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the key to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. You contract expertise rather than train employees. with experience. with experience.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

While thinking about it, I realized that it’s really not that different from the toughness required and trained into America’s elite military force of Navy SEALs, who are known to be cool under fire, able to sense danger before it’s too late, and never give up on achieving their objective. Never be thrown off-guard by chaotic conditions.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Training 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. People love Apple’s whole customer experience, and willingly pay a premium for the product. Much has been written about product design, but designing the total experience from the front rarely happens yet.

Customer 150

Customer Custom Design Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. There is no room in this realm for negativism, excuses, or lack of confidence.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

With social media and smart phone apps, real product information spreads at astounding speeds. Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing are destined to be left behind even in the best of times. Every entrepreneur must be alert enough to spot the change early, and agile enough to adapt quickly.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151