SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

He wanted to get input from me on what he's doing, and he wants to begin to ask developers what it would take to build his product. what format would you and the developer want that in? So, I promised this founder to do a post talking about how you go about create specifications of your MVP. Founder : Ummm. Founder : Umm.

Development 354

Development Develop Technical Review CTO Coach 354

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

I’m sure you have all noticed how today’s customers have changed the way they shop, but I still find, as an advisor and consultant, that many of you aren’t sure how to deal with the new mode, or are still waiting for things to get back to the old normal. Convenience is in the eye of the customer, not your company.

Demand 126

Demand Customer Custom Startup 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

As a long-time business executive and adviser to entrepreneurs, I see a definitive shift away from customer trust in traditional business messages, and the executives who deliver them. I summarize the key elements of the transformation as follows: Customers are seeking control in a run-away world.

Customer 173

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 173

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

Upgrade’s e-commerce marketplace has two sides: one that enables consumers to choose a vetted stylist and have their wig colored or customized based on their desired look. A hairstylist can help a woman feel better about themselves. The company, which raised $1.7 Remember Mary J. Blige’s hair at the Super Bowl ? That was via Upgrade.

Tool 179

Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

Berkonomics

JANUARY 9, 2020

One of your employees is approached by an employee of a customer or of a supplier, stating that “It sure would be great to work in your company.” The rule should be one that includes only one “out”: if a person resigns from the position with the stake-holding company, then you will be happy to talk about a position.

Customer 156

Customer Custom Innocal Email 156

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Enterprise time, as opposed to personal time management, is defined as the sum total of resources available to a company expressed in terms of time – time to develop, to debug, to produce, to deploy, to respond to issues, and to make changes in plans that are not working. Extending the Runway book available at www.berkus.com.

Resource 176

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 176

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The Truth About the Scooter Economy?—?An Pause to think about how remarkable that truly is. As drivers we look out for them, as pedestrians we might be annoyed if they steer in our way but the riders themselves have developed better norms as happens in all forms of transportation. link] The Truth About the Scooter Economy?—?An

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2021

Yet I find that many entrepreneurs struggle and fail with that transition from personally developing an innovative new idea, to building all the relationships necessary to transform their idea into a successful business. These relationships include investors, an operational team , and customers.

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Develop Development Ideas Customer 136

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality.

Customer 117

Customer Custom Technical Review Product 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2023

Almost every entrepreneur starts their journey by developing a solution, based on their idea of a new technology or required service. These idea and developer skills are necessary, but not sufficient, to build a business. Stop hiding in your comfort zone, and branch out for some new outsights. Marty Zwilling.

Development 110

Development Develop Startup Entrepreneur 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2023

Customers buy from people, not companies. That means relationships with team members, investors, customers, and vendors. Entrepreneurs who like to be argumentative, complaining, or disagreeable, will have a hard time closing a contract, investment, or a customer contract. Investors invest in people, not ideas.

Customer 90

Customer Custom Outsource Development Entrepreneur 90

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

I’m going to take that thought out into the field and validate it with my customers." I’ve spoken to dozens of customers, I have a validated customer persona, built an MVP to test key behavioral hypotheses, and the data doesn’t back what you’re saying." Customer Validation 101. Either: "That’s interesting.

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Customer Custom CTO Coach Startup 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there were over 20 million registered developers in 2018. We don’t hear about the remaining several million apps that are mostly free, and garnering only trivial revenue through advertising.

Mobile 126

Mobile Development Develop Platform 126

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

The “competition slide&# of your investment deck is such a great opportunity to talk about how you’re positioned (premium product vs. economical product? which features do you believe your customers care about and where you’re try to differentiate? It is a great place to talk about your future roadmap.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. Because I knew that Ethan was on to a powerful idea and one in which he had developed huge competence and domain knowledge in. What do we like about OpenTable? ” So Ethan went to work as a product manager at Google Video. MyTime personally vets each merchant.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

We developed this at our first company and called it PUCCKA – the overall methodology is described here. This post talks about the last part of the PUCCKA methodology – an Aligned Purchasing Process. You know exactly when you want to sell to this customer and presumably it’s this quarter! Unique Selling Proposition.

Customer 324

Customer Custom Marketing Newsletter 324

socalTECH

MAY 16, 2016

Los Angeles-based ChowNow , which develops tablet-based, online ordering and marketing software for restaurants, has inked a partnership with Google , to help its restaurants accept Android Pay. ChowNow said the support will be a standard feature, and will not cost additional for its current restaurant customers. READ MORE>>.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Google Los Angeles 124

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Are there specs?

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. Who are the customers?

Software Development 292

Software Development Development Develop Startup 292

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

It should convince you that no matter how much you know about technology, leading a team, as well as vendors and customers, is a whole new challenge. True leaders are never satisfied with what they know about their leadership, as well as their products, and are always in pursuit of new learning.

Development 124

Development Develop Technical Advisors Satisfaction 124

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Are there specs?

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. But if your goal is to develop an audience that can be monetized in other ways, I’ll repeat my argument “you need to fish in the pond where the fish are.” This is 14% of world population and 33% of all people online.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2022

The challenge for each of you is to get it handled quickly and effectively, without losing the trust of constituents , as well as customers. Forget about assigning blame until later, since that will only complicate matters and make it an emotional battle. Every business leader expects to encounter one or more crises eventually.

Develop 138

Develop Development Coach Satisfaction 138

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular. Understand the Gravity of the Situation for Your Customers. The obvious starting points to think to yourself are: Has something happened that fundamentally affects my customers or partners?

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Email readers, continue here…] I am chairman of the Technology Division of the ABL Organization, a roundtable organization with multiple CEO roundtables of about twelve members each, meeting monthly. What if?” “How about…” “When should we…” “How could we…” You get the idea. It represents strategic thinking.

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Class Organization Technical Review Activity 194

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

There's a lot out there around Customer Development - read Steve Blank : Entrepreneurship as a Science – The Business Model/Customer Development Stack - Steve Blank , October 25, 2010 Checklists for Chaos, The Path to Success - Steve Blank , October 28, 2010 and reading about Lean, MVPs, etc. is a requirement.

Startup 198

Startup Custom Development Sales Writing 198

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences. And after one meeting they started asking for his advice about marketing, customer engagement, product design, monetization – whatever. And I can’t wait to see you guys further develop your tech insights.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. You may end up hiring these people eventually and you'll know more about them when you do. And in most cases they are not ready to hire developers either. Great post Gabriel!

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Development 205

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. We respond very quickly to all of our customers.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Services Conference 113

Xconomy

MARCH 15, 2019

A global pharmaceutical company based in France has licensed software developed by San Diego digital health startup CureMatch that aims to help cancer doctors customize the combination of drugs they prescribe to patients based on mutations in cancer DNA. The company, which CEO Bob Manning says has raised about $2.5

Customer 76

Customer Custom San Diego Guide 76

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

In my opinion, real pain points for most people do not include a new user interface for Facebook, a new programming platform for app development, or a new size smart phone. That’s the great thing about being an entrepreneur. So why do I see some many funding requests for products along these lines? You get to choose your pain.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Startup Outsource Development 167

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

Vonjour (www.vonjour.com), a Los Angeles startup, has developed a cloud-based customer support and phone system which, in addition to handling all of a company''s usual enterprise phone needs--also lets employers harness employee smartphones to deal with customer support issues, make calls, and interact with customers directly from a mobile app.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Startup Mobile 133

socalTECH

JUNE 2, 2017

The world of mobile apps has added serious challenges for software developers, who don't just have to deal with crashes�they have to deal with slow performance, strange hangs, multiple carrier networks, and more. We spoke with Eric Futoran , the CEO of Embrace.io, who also was co-founder of Scopely, to learn more about the company's software.

Mobile 178

Mobile Develop Development Tool 178

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. 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.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

So instead, we fill it with a completely custom blurb, written just for him: Hello! Thanks to his custom blurb, instead of closing his browser and feeling inadequate for the rest of the day, Mark completes his bio and becomes a happy customer. Which means better conversions and happier customers.

Generative AI 295

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence TechEmpower Tips 295

Tech.Co

JANUARY 10, 2018

In the Harvard Business Review Female Economy 2009 report, women purchasing power was predicted to control about $28 trillion in annual global consumer spending, if not more. “Focusing on emotion is key when communicating with female customers. Most importantly, humor can get customers talking about your product or service.

Tips 71

Tips Customer Custom Dollar Shave Club 71

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 26, 2023

You’re fighting to put out the fires from customer complaints, or incomplete work, or are suffering from an inability to focus upon new development or new customers before cleaning up the mess inside your organization. The customer pays for all or at least 90% of the bill, perhaps holding back a retainer awaiting completion.

Resource 156

Resource Customer Custom Software 156