Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Startup Platform 126

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

I'm going to be looking at aspects like: Things to consider before building your MVP Features often overlooked when documenting an MVP for developers Understanding important metrics you want to measure Risks and challenges in developing an MVP. Have you conducted Problem, Solution and Feature Interviews with customers?

CTO Coach 219

CTO Coach Metrics Framework Software Development 219

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. People attending marquee conferences with rock bands, prominent speakers, Gartner Group prognosticators and lots of other happy customers. Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share. A better definition of a problem always leads to a better solution. Without this mindset, and the determination to make a decision, nothing happens, and customers find alternatives.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

Me : Product definition, use cases, feature list, wireframes, comps, really whatever you have. This should be an iterative process with advisors and customers providing feedback on the product. For example, if you are trying to determine viral coefficient (see Startup Metrics ), then the focus should be around those aspects of the MVP.

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

They don’t realize that they are missing out on a great opportunity for “free” promotion, as well as taking a great risk by not listening to what customers are saying, and not monitoring or responding to undeserved challenges to their reputation. Use business metrics and tools to tune your efforts. Do your homework before you begin.

Social Media 99

Social Media Media Tool Startup 99

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

By definition?—?I’m The market definition has changed but what we do mostly hasn’t. We can’t wait for customers to use the product for 12–18 months and do customer interviews or look at purchase cohorts. Are we in a bubble?” I often answer the same way … * “First, yes, nearly every corner of our market is over-valued.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Thus, startups must quickly determine which prospects are most likely to purchase in the near term and focus their energy on delivering these prospective customers an incredible experience. Recast Pilots as the first phase of a multi-phased, definitive agreement. product, geography, customer segment, etc.).

Sales 215

Sales Outsource Development Metrics Resource 215

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

By definition, the world of startups today is one of rapidly changing unknowns, where the inputs you receive will often conflict. You continually get frustrated with your team members, customers, vendors, and partners. Instead of controlling the business, the business is controlling you. It’s very frustrating.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Most customers today won’t pay you five times the cost of alternatives, just because yours is “green.” That’s a win-win business for the customer and the entrepreneur. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2021

Customers always have alternatives, most notably continuing to do what they do today without you. Every startup should start with a set of values that would fit the definition of a good cause. Plan to make it the best experiment that you can, with metrics to focus on the “why,” as much as “what.” Marty Zwilling.

Ideas 117

Ideas Entrepreneur Netflix IBM 117

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

Many of the factors are not obvious and include building mystery to drive margin, why boring B2B companies often win but are challenging in other ways, how bootstrapping wins, integrating metrics from the start and many other similar lessons. What is our lifetime customer value and how can we drive that up?

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Startup Metrics eHarmony 175

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

Who are the customers? Please be able to provide me with a few specific examples of different types of customers, what they need, what the system will do for them. What are your key Startup Metrics ? How does it address the customer scenarios from the start? Iterate until you have a stable definition.

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Nowhere is this more obvious than eCommerce where many companies juice growth through massive over-spending on customer acquisition only to hit a break wall when consumers don’t love the brand and keep coming back once the heroine-induced traffic disappears. So you need to really know what to measure as a definition of success.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. These only come with the proper training, investment in tools, and focus on customer relationships. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2020

This must include metrics and tracking, with the necessary systems and resources to act, recalibrate, and iterate as required. Give special attention to traits that fit your specific customer context, or a higher purpose you espouse, such as a focus on the environment. The process must focus not only on the “what,” but the “how.”

Coach 159

Coach Resource Summary Metrics 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 101

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2019

A recent high-profile one, Theranos , the blood-testing company, had no trouble getting customers, but promised more than their technology could deliver, Another, Shyp , an early on-demand delivery platform, blamed their demise on premature scaling. Focus on existing customer retention and repeat business.

Startup 88

Startup Demand Training Customer 88

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

First of all, a definition. Obviously this definition is generic, so my first recommendation is that you take the lead in defining traction metrics for your startup, and then selling your results convincingly to investors. One customer is not traction, and beta tests with a thousand customers at no cost don’t count.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2019

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 79

Social Media Media Invest Platform 79

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2015

While every state has a slightly different definition of nexus, it is generally defined as, "a physical presence, employee, or products stored in the state." The complexity of simply knowing what rate to charge each online customer will increase exponentially, as there are over 10,000 taxing jurisdictions within the United States.

Sales 100

Sales Customer Custom Metrics 100

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 22, 2016

Less than a month ago, Snapchat opened custom on-demand geofilters to everyone. Industry news was excited, but for how amazing of a product they are, custom Snapchat geofilters have remained stunningly under the radar. Well, Snapchat has made it so that anyone can create and upload a custom filter to any area they want.

Customer 40

Customer Custom Snapchat Design 40

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

InfoChachkie

JUNE 2, 2014

The gowns are then dry cleaned and readied for the next customer, in the spirit of the emerging sharing economy in which goods are communally used multiple times. Quality is definitely key for us.". We keep our eye on a handful of metrics, but we’re focused on customer satisfaction.

Design 208

Design Customer Custom Satisfaction 208

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In every case, the relevant pitch needs to start by highlighting a real customer problem, then outlining a new solution, with all the features and disruptive technology.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2019

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Most customers today won’t pay you five times the cost of alternatives, just because yours is “green.” That’s a win-win business for the customer and the entrepreneur. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

Startup 93

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. These only come with the proper training, investment in tools, and focus on customer relationships. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2017

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. Check your brand definition against the clarity of this one from Xerox for office software. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different.

Social Media 58

Social Media Media Platform Tool 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2017

You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 66

Social Media Media Tips Platform 66

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. These only come with the proper training, investment in tools, and focus on customer relationships. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

socalTECH

APRIL 15, 2016

Brett Bernstein: First and foremost, we are allowing any customer to be an influencer. To get a discount, we ask customers to share information on the brand on Twitter and in the future, other social networks, and that discount is based on how influential they are for that brand. We spoke with co-founder Brett Bernstein.

Social Media 100

Social Media Social Network Examples Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. These only come with the proper training, investment in tools, and focus on customer relationships. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

One of our customers is Inc. However, I definitely see value in video discovery beyond what''s already been built. The metrics are very solid. Because we do auto customization, we''re really. magazine, for example. Other people have worked on content recommendation before, how are you different?

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2015

Customers always have alternatives, most notably continuing to do what they do today without you. Every startup should start with a set of values that would fit the definition of a good cause. Plan to make it the best experiment that you can, with metrics to focus on the “why,” as much as “what.” Marty Zwilling.

Startup 102

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Netflix 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2016

In reality, that’s the definition of a successful startup these days, so every aspiring entrepreneur should take note, as well as every existing corporate executive. You need to quantify measurable criteria for success, using business metrics. It takes the right people to make a breakthrough happen. A dream is not enough.

Startup 56

Startup Metrics Entrepreneur Resource 56

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

By definition, every startup is predictably unpredictable, since new solutions have no proven track record, startups are usually building a new market, and the world around them is changing faster than ever. Smart entrepreneurs have metrics for assessing their progress against milestones and regularly communicate new insights to the team.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Based on my own many years of experience as both an employee and an executive, here are my key recommendations to improve your business productivity, traction and momentum: Implement business metrics, and tie incentives to results. In most businesses, 80 percent of the revenue comes from 20 percent of the customers.

Training 105

Training Entrepreneur Tool Metrics 105