article thumbnail

8 Ways To Stay Competitive In Today’s Technical World

Startup Professionals Musings

A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization. Outsourcing to expert freelancers or business partners is often a better solution for startups than managing everyone into the inside team. They are attracted to people who agree, but may not be able to help.

article thumbnail

6 Reasons That Managers Still Add Value In Business

Startup Professionals Musings

We have all heard about the successes of flattened management organizations in the last decade at Facebook, Valve, Zappos, and others. In today’s knowledge-based and highly competitive environment, strategic leadership and company direction can still most quickly be decided and executed in a hierarchical organization.

Outsource 133
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

6 Key Leaders Every Technical Startup Needs To Thrive

Startup Professionals Musings

Outsourcing your core competency does not work. It takes a long immersion in the marketplace for someone to be a true insider, understand the subtleties of the competitive landscape, recognize the people who are true assets (independent of titles), and look through the propaganda of technical collateral and PR campaigns.

article thumbnail

8 Signs Of A New Business Initiative And Not A Hobby

Startup Professionals Musings

I’m not suggesting that you model your startup after the complex corporate organizations you hated in your last job, but there are at least eight key functions and activities that every investor expects to find in a startup proposal with any real potential to change the world. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive.

article thumbnail

7 Modern Day Business Strategies For Long-Term Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. Trade shows and conferences can produce hundreds of new qualified leads for your business, as well as build relationships with industry leaders, outsourcing vendors, and potential partners. They won’t find you.

article thumbnail

7 Strategies To Prepare For The Next Customer Change

Startup Professionals Musings

Traditional waterfall development and outsourcing won’t keep up with change. Rethink how you organize, train, and reward employees. The first step is to break the legacy silos and underground channels in the current organization, which usually means realigning executive leadership and roles.

Customer 173
article thumbnail

7 Ways Your People Skills Are The Key To Your Success

Startup Professionals Musings

With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Startup 111