Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2016

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Writing 62

Writing Summary Email Ideas 62

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

I’d like to talk about Crocodile Salesmen in 3 scenarios: 1) when YOU are selling (or someone on your team), 2) when you are trying to recruit a sales person. But how to apply “listening&# in a sales meeting? Let’s assume you run a Customer Support software company. I still do this sometimes, too.

Sales 314

Sales Startup Venture Capital Customer 314

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 31, 2020

A company like this grows in value to its customers and to prospective buyers of the business, but without any dilution of control or ownership for the founders. The effort to write a grant request is not trivial. Email readers, continue here…] Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time. How refreshing!

Equity 156

Equity Writing Education Research 156

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

In my case as a young software entrepreneur, I had a different approach: Fail Locally, one customer at a time. I was fortunate that I could write software and doubly fortunate that my despair at working for ‘the Man’ – and feeling compelled to strike out on my own – coincided with the dawn of the personal computer era.

Customer 120

Customer Custom Writing Southern California 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

Berkonomics

JANUARY 13, 2022

Email readers, continue here…] But what about the pause to celebrate? To celebrate with your customers, who worry over continuity and look to you for assurances that the transition will not negatively affect them. Write a book. Write a handwritten letter to someone who helped you make it to the finish line.

Writing 156

Writing Entrepreneur .Net Sales 156

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know that you can use an email system with this to track my open rate, whether I forwarded the email, the IP address where I read it, whether I was on a mobile device or a wired computer and you can tell who else read the document. What should not be in your deck?

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

An approach I suggest these days is for freelancers to contract for the actual role, probably part-time, of startup CFO, VP of Sales, or President. Another mistake many consultants make is to charge by the hour, and customers lose track and lose confidence as things change. Have "customers", not "clients."

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

Eric Greenspan

MAY 29, 2010

Using social media to increase your company’s touch and reach with each of your customers may be the most important reason to jump in to this game changing strategy. Social media can help bridge a long standing gap between customers and the companies they trust with their hard earned cash. 40,000) to join me on Facebook.

Social Media 214

Social Media Customer Custom Media 214

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

If you follow the tech media you would be subject to a lot of narrative biases that are completely off base – and this includes the value of email and phone calls. All the data actually suggests with the growth of mobile, inbound sales calls will double from 30 billion to 60 billion in 3 years (source: Kelsey). THE FULL STORY.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. Big thank you to Darius Vasefi , of EyeOnJewels for the write up. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. Passion: Have to be able to motivate people, customers, team, yourself.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

It also handles the back end as well by automating the posting, sale and shipment of unsold inventory while offering immediate payment to creditworthy sellers. She went on to write, “Dee and Josh are the exact right team to tackle it. The equity will go toward hiring more talent to join Ghost’s 25-person team.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Enterprise Sales – The very first thing a potential customer does when you email or call to set up a meeting is Google you. So does the enemy who is fighting for the customer to choose another vendor. Customer Acquisition - I left customer acquisition for last intentionally. Ironic, of course.

Press 415

Press Google Course Writing 415

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions. Specifically, 1.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. and then asking to take a brochure home with you.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2017

As executives we’re all seemingly accessible at any moment to anybody via email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Text. We’re expected to be at conferences, events, sales meetings and be publicly visible. It’s why sometimes I respond to emails in 5 minutes at other times I go dark for a week at a time.

Activity 297

Activity Blogging Email Startup 297

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

They get pissed off if a senior executive at Google doesn’t take a meeting with them, if people are late to their meetings or if they have emails that are unreturned. The 70% of entrepreneurs that simply can’t get past an un-responded-to email. You need to know how to write good & action oriented emails.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. The company grows in value to its customers and to prospective buyers of the business, but without any dilution of control or ownership for the founders. Grant writing takes skill and immense amounts of time.

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

You can watch/listen to how John and Kyle turned their email newsletter into an international bestseller in the following 9-minute excerpt from John''s recent talk at UC Santa Barbara. an email) to about 35 people. If you want to be kept informed just send me an email and let me know that you''re in, and that was it.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. I’ll bet your customers, business partners or suppliers would love similar. Who are your customers, partners or suppliers?

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. If I check Twitter it’s usually because I’m waiting for a meeting to start and I never write posts during the day. He’s committed to getting through every email. I read 95% of my email.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. Email updates frequently. Key point – if your emails are as long as my blog posts you’re forked. Make your emails actionable.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. One of the pitfalls of optimism is the expectation for early customer growth, and understating the real costs of design, development, and inventory. Don’t underestimate your own value as customers arrive, establishing a line of credit, and borrowing against inventory.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

Remember that the goal of an email to a VC or an introduction from a trusted mutual connection is simply to get you the meeting. You want to send just enough to get the meeting (and of course a great deck sells better than a long email) and not so long that you don’t leave a chance to wow the person in your actual meeting. Poppycock.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2020

Too many of you business owners think success only means being the next Amazon, or you stress yourself out trying to be everything to every customer. Understand and write down every expense, and budget for required costs, especially initial inventory and accounts receivable delays. Meticulously manage cash inflow and outflow.

Customer 125

Customer Custom Tool Writing 125

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

Talented brand sales people? You send them update emails. Help them write other stories. One day they’ll write yours. Understanding customer requirement ? Are you looking for great engineers? A smart young marketing exec? You invite them to cocktail parties. 50 coffee meetings. 50 coffee meetings.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Looking for an entrance into a VC, an angel group, a bank, a CxO for a sales opportunity, or any other entity? Every sales person with a bit of street history will resonate with this question. Email readers, continue here…] Using your attorney or accountant to find who is close to the decision maker sometimes works.

Ideas 120

Ideas Sales Competition Venture Capital 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

As I look back at insights I might share, I wade through the trite suggestions of ‘work hard’ and ‘treat the customer well.’ Email readers, continue here.] My sales tax payments were due in the next few days, and I didn’t have the money. But I did have an appointment, a sales opportunity the next morning.

Startup 204

Startup Software Review UCLA Sales 204

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 20, 2016

With a little bit of structure and ingenuity, you can supplement your sales efforts by leveraging channel partnerships. Just take what you would normally spend on a sales lead, and give that to the Channel partner in the form of a revenue share. Compensation doesn’t have to be complicated, either. My response was: FANTASTIC!

Writing 120

Writing Sales Networking Conference 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

Probably every one of you who has a business and a website have been approached through email or personal contact, and asked to spend money on paid search results (appear on the first page of search results, despite low SEO rank). Campaign setup and ad copy writing. Both have the same end goal of getting people to your website.

PPC 154

PPC SEO Paid Search Search Engine Optimization 154

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

By 2012, total sales exceeded 50 million copies and founding band member Roger Waters was cited by Forbes as the second highest paid musician of the year, pulling in $88 million. Instead of refining their material based on customer feedback, they often lock themselves away in a recording studio, isolated from their fans' reactions.

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 4, 2016

It was a decade ago that I led the sale of Expertcity (creator of GoToMeeting) to Citrix. During the early 2000’s, my team grew the company to one of the largest SaaS businesses of its day, with sales of $70 million. I knew that every dollar I spent to acquire a customer resulted in a 4x return.

SaaS 100

SaaS Yahoo Advertising Customer 100

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

You can watch/listen to how John and Kyle turned their email newsletter into an international bestseller in the following 9-minute excerpt from John''s recent talk at UC Santa Barbara. an email) to about 35 people. If you want to be kept informed just send me an email and let me know that you''re in, and that was it.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. Define your customers, partners and other relevant people to your organization (e.g. That’s blogging to the echo chamber unless they’re your target customers. Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Having paying “Customers” is what makes the cash register roar. This article will cover two things; First, the top mistakes small business owners make that end with inquiries leading you to the exit door before making a sale. Using your service or owning your product isn’t why a person buys, it’s the experience your customer will have.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85