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. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Turn Your Organization Inside Out. This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. The Outside In organization had a one-way flow.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2022

Outbehave Your Competition to Create Customers for Life ,” offers eight key principles for defining and managing the experience to keep it consistent and profitable: Keep every employee on stage, delivering an experience. They have to out-behave and outperform your competition. Walking the talk is the place to start.

Customer 123

Customer Custom Services Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

The largest and most successful businesses of the past have been traditionally driven by autocratic and powerful leaders who managed a highly structured organization of subordinates. Discourage internal team competition and silos. If they see you as the competition or the enemy, you will never get winning results.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

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. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Most entrepreneurs start from a base of one or two co-founders, and their vision and focus is on developing an innovative solution, rather than developing people. They do believe it can be accomplished, with the six specific steps paraphrased here: Culture starts by thinking different and thinking big at the top.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Solution development and delivery.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2022

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 118

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. Influencers are recognized experts and pseudo celebrities who can pick favorite products or start new trends. Effective scaling and growth often requires more investment than is available from early organic returns.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Social Media Conference Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Hiring in any new venture needs to be a structured and high priority task, not the ad hoc informal process I see in many startups that are struggling to grow: Crisis mode hiring rather than planned team growth. The requirements of the desired organization need to be formalized before people are hired. It won’t happen by default.

Organization 104

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Everyone on the startup team knows there is no buffer, and no personal isolation from impact based on your job description that can save you. Risks to the business drift off their radar screen, resulting in poor business decisions, as well as less job satisfaction and declining professional success. Yet nothing stands still.

Satisfaction 124

Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

It’s always been tough to start a new business, even when the bottom line was just making a profit to stay alive. The real challenge with the triple bottom line is that these three separate accounts cannot be easily added up. Starting and running any business is hard work, so the last thing you need is “success” with no satisfaction.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Today, customers are looking for real relationships, a memorable shopping experience, and satisfaction of a higher purpose. Other companies, including Ritz-Carlton , now incent their employees to build real relationships with guests, by authorizing them to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve an individual concern.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Satisfaction Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2023

One of the biggest challenges in changing your lifestyle from an employee to starting your own business, is focusing on the right ownership elements, versus having a boss who sets the business goals, and provides performance feedback. In startups, I see technical entrepreneurs who build things just because they can.

Entrepreneur 85

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

Whether you are an entrepreneur starting a new business, or a corporate executive seeking to revitalize a mature business, the challenge is the same – to become the obvious choice within the hearts and minds of your customers, your employees, and your chosen communities. Be known for your expertise by broadly sharing the message.

Company 116

Company Companies Customer Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

As a business consultant with experience in large companies as well as startups, I often hear about dysfunctional management hierarchies, as well as the value provided by exceptional ones. We have all heard about the successes of flattened management organizations in the last decade at Facebook, Valve, Zappos, and others.

Outsource 133

Outsource Training Organization Social Media 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Bureaucracy can appear quickly in startups as well as large companies. Every organization must constantly review its hiring practices, training, and leadership to make sure the focus is on people who are motivated, open-minded, and empowered. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 106

Startup Case Study Entrepreneur Competition 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

It’s no wonder that 45 percent of startups fail in the first five years, and an even smaller percentage ever see a return for their years of effort. The requirements of the desired organization need to be formalized before people are hired. Don’t bother with previous employment follow-ups.

Organization 135

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 135

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Seek customer feedback on ways to improve value and satisfaction. These start with your brand image, search visibility and process, and extend to the actual sales transaction. Now is the time to learn and adopt these new ways of thinking, whether your business today is a startup or a corporate conglomerate.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

One of the biggest challenges in changing your lifestyle from an employee to starting your own business, is focusing on the right ownership elements, versus having a boss who sets the business goals, and provides performance feedback. In startups, I see technical entrepreneurs who build things just because they can.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2021

In my experience, a level of disagreement among key team members is a sign of a healthy organization, allowing it to survive and prosper in this age of multiple disruptive trends. Of course, any highly emotional and unmanaged conflict can certainly lead to chaos and a dysfunctional organization.

Activity 145

Activity Organization Examples Satisfaction 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

Startup 97

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Even in chaotic startup environments, you normally finish required tasks on time and to high standards.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 110

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2013

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, seventeen states, starting with Maryland in 2010, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

Startup 101

Startup Organization Entrepreneur Customer 101

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2019

Ian Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Discotech , a startup that offers up bottle service booking, discounted tickets and more to clubs and nightspots. What has been the hardest part of a startup? When we started the app about six years ago, that was the idea an vision. So, we had to pivot a little bit.

Startup 113

Startup Equity Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2019

Outbehave Your Competition to Create Customers for Life ,” offers eight key principles for defining and managing the experience to keep it consistent and profitable: Keep every employee on stage, delivering an experience. They have to out-behave and outperform your competition. Walking the talk is the place to start.

Customer 84

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 84

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

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. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Your goal must be to make every aspect of a customer interaction a joy to both you and them, starting from the shopping experience, to the sales close, to delivery and service. At every Ritz-Carlton , for example, employees are authorized to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve any guest issue and make the stay positively memorable.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2022

You will then experience satisfaction, instead of increased pressure. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and courteously explain to bosses or colleagues why certain requests or expectations may be unreasonable. The stakes are higher than ever in this competitive and rapidly changing world.

Class 148

Class Activity Coach Satisfaction 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2019

Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep. A good fight in business is called healthy competition. Check all your emotions at the gate.

Startup 93

Startup Case Study Competition Entrepreneur 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2012

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, eleven states, including New York and California, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

Startup 100

Startup Organization Customer Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Mission statements tend to be narrow, business oriented statements such as “Be the leader in customer satisfaction.” Train all the time.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

I’m convinced that is why many great business leaders remember working their way up the ranks. For example, Howard Schultz was not the founder of Starbucks, but started his career in one of their first 60 shops. This starts with picking your roles carefully – to be in the right place at the right time.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75