Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

In fact, they are probably in such a hurry to give you money that they don’t want you to waste time writing anything down and passing it along to new investors. There is no substitute for knowing your customers first hand, and iterating on a minimum viable product to find the most marketable solution.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service?

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2023

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Key factors gating your success will always be your level of competency in your chosen field, level of demand for that skill, and how easily you can be replaced. Be a great resource for others. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Build a team.

Social Media 94

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 94

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Key factors gating your success will always be your level of competency in your chosen field, level of demand for that skill, and how easily you can be replaced. Be a great resource for others. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Build a team.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

Obviously, it’s not that simple, but making the right first impression is critical for an entrepreneur, not just with investors, but also with partners, customers, and even yourself. Great entrepreneurs seek out critical customers and industry experts, and actively listen, but are not afraid to trust their own judgment as well.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2015

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 109

Startup Resource Training Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Today, customers and future managers put a higher value on relationships, and expect to know you from industry conferences, social media, or recommendations from peers. As a business, you should always be looking for your next customer, as well as satisfying your current one. Walk away from a bad role or customer.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 57

Startup Resource Training Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 106

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

To grow faster businesses need resources in today to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. I want to understand how many units the company is selling, whether this is increasing over time and how well they’re doing at retaining the customers that they do acquire. See appendix if you want to know more on this.)

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Obviously, it’s not that simple, but making the right first impression is critical for an entrepreneur, not just with investors, but also with partners, customers and even yourself. Great entrepreneurs seek out critical customers and industry experts, and actively listen, but are not afraid to trust their own judgment as well.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Activity Ideas 110

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Big companies make seductive promises, including access to large markets, significant financial resources and vital public validation (see Pulp Facts for tips on how to maximize such validation). If you allow your prospective partner or customer to milk the cow for free , they will resist paying for it. Paul Somerson, Author.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

Obviously, it’s not that simple, but making the right first impression is critical for an entrepreneur, not just with investors, but also with partners, customers, and even yourself. Great entrepreneurs seek out critical customers and industry experts, and actively listen, but are not afraid to trust their own judgment as well.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Product Startup Activity 63

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2011

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2015

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Key factors gating your success will always be your level of competency in your chosen field, level of demand for that skill, and how easily you can be replaced. Be a great resource for others. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Build a team.

Social Media 104

Social Media Ideas Media Writing 104

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Moving a VC from an A to a B doesn’t mean they aren’t still your top pick, it just means your chances are less likely and your extremely limited resources should be allocated elsewhere. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.” Why 8–10 and not just 3–4?

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Thus, you must first create the playbook by which an independent sales rep can readily sell your product, including: identifying objections and developing strategies to overcome them, creating reference accounts and establishing meaningful customer adoption. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. 3) Attempt To License An Idea.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2008

to the business of script writing, and is looking to combine a free online tool for writing scripts with matching those scripts with content producers. We put together the screenwriting resources ideas and collaboration platform, and the two combined to become Scripped. What's Scripped? Sunil Rajaraman: That's a good question.

Content 138

Content Writing Software Review Hollywood 138

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2013

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Key factors gating your success will always be your level of competency in your chosen field, level of demand for that skill, and how easily you can be replaced. Be a great resource for others. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Build a team.

Social Media 92

Social Media Ideas Media Writing 92

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2016

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Key factors gating your success will always be your level of competency in your chosen field, level of demand for that skill, and how easily you can be replaced. Be a great resource for others. Find those arenas where your needs are met. Build a team.

Social Media 63

Social Media Ideas Media Writing 63

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

Later, when I was in the tax business at Intuit and H&R Block, running those businesses, every year we had to hire a couple hundred tax professionals, who had to unwind the tax code, and who had to write it all down to give again to developers, in order for them to interpret and provide a usable product to consumers. How are you funded?

Startup 150

Startup San Diego Entrepreneur Tool 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you. Both are basically people businesses.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Custom 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. After a year in the market, MakeSpace was growing rapidly and our biggest issue was CAC (customer acquisition costs) relative to payback period (when we get our marketing investment back) and relative to LTV (lifetime value).

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2010

Usually that means writing something down, since it’s hard to maintain something, or track yourself against it, if it’s not written down. What resources do you have, skills and functions, and what do you do best? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?”

Startup 53

Startup Resource Training Ideas 53

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

Running a new business starts with building a solid and credible business plan, working the investor funding process, and building an organization from nothing, with minimal resources. An important key is NOT to dodge the discussion up front, come to some agreement quickly, and write it down. Domain expertise and connections.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Twitter as a company has encouraged this by granting DataSift “re-syndication rights,” which means that the company can ingest the full Twitter fire hose and resell subsets of it to other parties who want to consume a smaller stream, which is more cost effective in data licenses and in IT resources needed to consume the data.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

Running a new business starts with building a solid and credible business plan, working the investor funding process, and building an organization from nothing, with minimal resources. An important key is NOT to dodge the discussion up front, come to some agreement quickly, and write it down. Domain expertise and connections.

Equity 91

Equity Startup CTO Hire CTO Coach 91

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

I had been selling large content management systems and storing documents for industrial-scale customers. Many of the biggest customers wanted to be able to physically walk through our data center – how could I give up something so strategic? I was dead set against it. Especially to a company that sells books!

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2011

An inflated sense of financial well-being can result in sloppy budgeting and accounting as you write checks here and there without pause. As your services gain demand, your time becomes more valuable and you can charge more. Ask satisfied customers to spread the word on yelp, tripadvisor, Angieslist, etc.,

Startup 92

Startup Capital Blogging Ideas 92

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

He listed all of the product releases that were up coming, the customers that were in the pipeline and where he saw his competition moving. A key deal not only helps you raise venture capital but it can help attract employees, garner press attention, help with product focus & importantly drive customer adoption and/or revenue.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317