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? And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Whenever I heard why we didn’t feel a sales process at an important customer was going well (or if we lost) I would get involved myself. Customers buy solutions to solve their problems.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

A big trend in business these days is hiring freelancers or contract personnel for the duration of a project, rather than permanent staff. In essence, as a contractor, you are a consultant who is competing regularly for new work, and you constantly have to differentiate your offering from other candidates, including price.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Having paying “Customers” is what makes the cash register roar. An entrepreneur having low self worth is the number one deterrent for a potential customer not buying into what you are selling. Using your service or owning your product isn’t why a person buys, it’s the experience your customer will have. Second, how to get leads.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

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!” If you had huge customer growth but just didn’t focus on revenue that’s a different story. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

Ask your customer why you lost. Write things down. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

Ask your customer why you lost. Write things down. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. We helped the write out their requirements for a system. Be gracious.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The company--which is in the business of operating a content delivery network (CDN) to accelerate the delivery of web graphics, multimedia, applications, and more to end users-- recently disclosed it more than doubled its revenues in 2012, and has grown to over 230 employees--all due to a huge amount of demand for CDN services by its customers.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

But the thing I am most proud of about Rob is that he has taken a company with a uniquely talented founder & CTO – Nick Halstead – and managed to build a very tight working relationship with Nick where we drive world-class product development without having the usual founder / CEO conflicts. ” I know it sounds obvious.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2012

The product plan tells your developers what to build, and the marketing team what to market. Enough detail is required so that someone else can build it without you (outsourcing). Equally important, marketing and sales people should be able to identify benefits and marketing strategies, set prices, and validate a business model.

Product 92

Product Outsource Development Competition High Tech 92

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. The initial contract was worth about $500,000 and the whole value of the contract would have been worth a couple of million over the years.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2011

The product plan tells your developers what to build, and the marketing team what to market. Enough detail is required so that someone else can build it without you (outsourcing). Equally important, marketing and sales people should be able to identify benefits and marketing strategies, set prices, and validate a business model.

Product 93

Product Entrepreneur Outsource Development Competition 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2010

The product plan tells your developers what to build, and the marketing team what to market. Enough detail is required so that someone else can build it without you (outsourcing). Equally important, marketing and sales people should be able to identify benefits and marketing strategies, set prices, and validate a business model.

Product 48

Product Outsource Development Competition High Tech 48

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

As a teenager he experimented with writing & producing his own rap music and received a lot of feedback from elders that he had a talent with words. He wanted to create awareness for himself to generate marketing buzz and demand and then get the retail stores to pay wholesales prices for his cds. Here are some take away’s: 1.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

InfoChachkie

MAY 23, 2011

Hipster-wannabes routinely wait in line for hours for the opportunity to buy exorbitantly priced drinks in an exclusive nightclub. As noted in Contract Traps Entrepreneurs Should Avoid , exclusivity can kill a small company. Write this number down. As such, deals are not exclusive, they are excludesive.

Technical Review 183

Technical Review Marketing Sales Competition 183

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Nobody commits, nobody wants to set a price, nobody wants to stick their neck out then BOOM! It’s like the entire industry wants to outsource its brain to the smartest person they know and then follow that person. I have successfully used this in business development, sales, fund raising and even the press. Reid Hoffman is in?

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? But I didn’t write it for you; I wrote it for myself. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

There are hundreds of entrepreneurs here in Los Angeles who are building awesome companies, writing awesome books, making awesome movies and are trying to solve important problems to help make this world a better place. He previously led business development for Affiliate Fuel, leading to its acquisition by Experian in 2005.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Pricing models, the freemium myth and why you may not be charging enough for your product - Seth Levine's VC Adventure , August 12, 2010 I’ve been pulled into a number of product and pricing meetings recently (for reasons unknown I’ve become the Foundry pricing and productization guy). clearly didn’t cause this.” How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. DataSift is one of only two companies today that has the rights to re-syndicate the way it does. Let me quickly take these in turn.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

This ended up developing into Visual Basic for Applications , the strategy for programmability in Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office ended up beating its competitors because it was able to read and write to file formats other than its own. Lesson: You dn’t want your customers to feel locked into using your software.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285