Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. Look for validation from your mainstream customers. A growing team needs skilled managers and an HR organization.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

For the business to prosper, every employee, and your customers, must know and relate to your core values, such as product excellence, care for the environment, and personal integrity. Implement the key business metrices you will live by. Increase you focus on coaching, training, and mentoring.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business leader believes that he or she has the full trust of their team and their customers, and in fact most do in the beginning. Unfortunately, many aspiring leaders I mentor are not aware of the signals people are looking for, or are not attuned to the subtleties of their own actions.

Mentor 98

Mentor News Summary Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2020

Implement metrics and set objectives for every organization. Processes and organizations that have no objectives will produce less and less over time as they attempt to remove risk and potential problems. Growing the company means growing people through mentoring and training. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Startup 125

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Other customers routinely pay late, or only after they receive one or more prompts from you.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. Jeff Bezos has kept his focus on customers.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Assess who you can get for value and mentoring. These relationships must be nurtured over time, balanced against your personal life, and grow to include major customers, competitors, and potential acquirers. You may be comfortable driving your future based on vision and emotion, or have long been a stickler for details and metrics.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. Every business team becomes inwardly- focused by default, comparing themselves only emotionally to others they know within the organization. Attract, train, and reward only the best leaders.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2019

In this era of rapid change, you can’t afford to stop learning, or you will find that your competitors, your customers, and your team, may soon be following someone else. Most people agree that leadership is primarily a set of behaviors that capitalize on relationships and a current market and customer understanding in a complex world.

Tips 97

Tips Mentor Coach Metrics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs over the years, I see many of you who don’t communicate enough, others who seem to do all the talking, and some that are hesitant to be direct and open. You as the leader have a responsibility to define goals, strategy, and operational metrics. Always open to be influenced by new information.

Startup 124

Startup Ideas Examples Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Startup 115

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 115

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Startup 113

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Resource 64

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 64

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

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

That means practicing non-defensive listening to key advisors, team members and customers. Don’t hesitate to call in an experienced advisor or mentor to help. If everyone is incented to find new customers, there will be little focus on resolving problems with current ones. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t see one.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

After various roles in this one, he worked his way up the corporate ranks to run the organization of now almost 30,000 stores. If your job is processing transactions, you need to work on ways of enhancing transactions from a customer perspective and how to attract more business, rather than just counting transactions.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2017

In my years of mentoring and advising business leaders, I find that real planning for the future always gets the short shrift. The command and control leadership of the past is proving to be too inflexible, devoid of values, and not empathic to people issues – customers, employees, and partners.

Company 55

Company Companies Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 55

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Delivery and cost milestones are missed, which derail marketing and rollout plans, de-motivate the supporting organizations, and drive costs into worst-case scenarios. Bring in expert advisors and mentors to set initial goals, and build recovery plans. Written product specifications and business plans pay big dividends.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2017

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Bigger organizations should invest in the new “big data” tools. Working on the wrong problem or assumption.

Tool 53

Tool Entrepreneur Statistics Metrics 53

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2016

Implement metrics and set objectives for every organization. Processes and organizations that have no objectives will produce less and less over time as they attempt to remove risk and potential problems. Growing the company means growing people through mentoring and training. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Training Organization Examples 55

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Using amSTATZ athletes can track workouts and search for trainers and local events and event organizers can use the network for their events publicity and partner with trainers to develop training programs for their registrants. We have 115 paying customers right now. For the client: Before: 60 minutes of training with a trainer = $60.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

This was a chance to blow open the story on their companies, to address a room full of potential investors, mentors, partners, customers, and press. They showed very impressive average customer repurchases. through organic interactions from the community. through organic interactions from the community.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 30, 2012

We make it trivial to quickly aggregate and monitor your key metrics in real-time! CallFire provides Voice and SMS Solutions to over 40,000 customers including political groups, non-profits, insurance agents, small business owners, and marketers. This way we keep the questions fresh and up to date with current events. Silver Sponsor.

CalTech 91

CalTech Company Companies Idealab 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2022

One of the attributes that I often recommend to the business professionals and entrepreneurs I mentor is to always be totally accountable for your actions and ideas. I too often see people who are quick to make excuses, blame failures on peers or customers, or see management as the reason for their lack of productivity.

Activity 109

Activity Organization Mentor Training 109

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

What metrics are going to be the key startup metrics and how do we get those metrics without too much cost? Unlike some larger, more mature organizations, most startups don't spend much time or effort helping grow their employees beyond the immediate needs of the startup. Get in front of customers as often as you can.

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2015

So it behooves every aspiring entrepreneur to understand their own DNA before picking a project to bet their life on, and to facilitate effective communication with all constituents, including partners, investors, team members and customers. Venture capital investors have the resources to travel to entrepreneurs with high potential.

Startup 106

Startup Incubator Entrepreneur Metrics 106