Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

I frequently work on networking through the social web and building new relationships that will foster knowledge gathering or business growth. A day might include a discussion with a finance partner, an investor, a customer or a fusion partner. I'd rather invest time investing in social media to drive traffic to our site.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Custom Customer Ideas 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Do research on investor visibility via Google and social media. Invite the investor to dinner or fun-related activity.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2023

Ask questions of your customers, team members, and experts now to determine what the landscape will look like in the next five or ten years. Use social media, video, and other channels to build new relationships with customers and other constituents. Start early to envision the future landscape.

Tips 116

Tips FAQ Startup Social Media 116

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Competitor annual reports, white papers, press releases, and presentations are great sources of data and trends that you can use to support your own efforts. Conduct your own customized market research. With social media and the new survey tools, it’s easy and fast to set up and run your own focus group, or opinion survey.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

Entrepreneurs get so used to friends and family congratulating them on their press coverage that they forget sometimes that this isn’t real. Press doesn’t mean anything other than free advertising. Press coverage really matters – The good news – your press coverage really does matter.

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

One of the advantages of blogging, using social media, public speaking, etc as a VC is that you get a more nuanced view of these shifts by watching your own successes and failures. But succinctly this press places a marker in the ground for your company. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News? That used to be the standard.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

LAVA.Successfully marketing your startup to customers and investors can be challenging. Get tips on mastering social media and earning coverage for your company in the press and on the web. Get tips on mastering social media and earning coverage for your company in the press and on the web.

Startup 124

Startup LAVA Social Media Tips 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

In fact 61% of all mobile searches where a customer contacts a business it is via a phone call (source: Google). Social media users are over 60% more likely to check email at least four times a day than those who don’t use social media. People don’t want to speak to customer service reps.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

So they create a task list of all the marketing activities an organization can do: press releases, web site updates, customer case studies, blog posts, daily Tweets, Facebook fan page, attending conferences, etc. You have a marketing department with three people. They’re tasked with doing … marketing.

Startup 323

Startup Press Development Team Review SEM 323

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Competitor annual reports, white papers, press releases, and presentations are great sources of data and trends that you can use to support your own efforts. Conduct your own customized market research. With social media and the new survey tools, it’s easy and fast to set up and run your own focus group, or opinion survey.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When a product is truly unique and demanded a retailer willingly promotes and sells it en masse in part because it does get margin on the good but also because it brings customers in the door who spend on other products. Ariel understood her customer?—?the So Why Does This Matter? the modern buyer of home products?—?better

Product 296

Product Course Custom Customer 296

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 30, 2014

There have been many business gaining the good, the bad, and the controversial press from social media. Social Rank 2.0 At the time [back when Social Rank 1.0 Now Social Rank is building version 2.0 We really listened to what our customers wanted. Social Rank 2.0 Where can this go?

Social Media 88

Social Media Media Platform Startup 88

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Do research on investor visibility via Google and social media. Invite the investor to dinner or fun-related activity.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). Make sure you’re not spewing out meaningless reams of press releases.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw recently, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

We listened way too much to what the press said. We instructed customers about how eCommerce was going to change their future. It kind of reminds me a bit of how “social media experts&# are talking to customers today). Make sure you focus on what matters – your customers. We felt invincible.

Startup 310

Startup Venture Capital Press Journal 310

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

That doesn’t mean that everyone needs to participate in creating the typical marketing hype, or needs to face the press on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I often find team members who are not believers, or have a different view of the customer. I believe the real challenge is make your whole team a marketing machine.

Marketing 71

Marketing Tips Technical Review Social Media 71

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2014

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Put out regular press releases for search purposes and general visibility. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers.

Marketing 102

Marketing Funding Social Media SEM 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2017

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Media 55

Media Social Media Startup Training 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I just saw today, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2013

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Put out regular press releases for search purposes and general visibility. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers.

Marketing 106

Marketing Startup Social Media SEM 106

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

I pointed out the fact that they only ever talked to the press when the had an announcement and that it was a continual process. You need somebody who REALLY understands your company, its customers and its competitors. And you need somebody who is committed to keeping up your presence in blogs, social media and other online forums.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2015

Customize your organizational structure based on individuals' strengths. Technology can be used to facilitate customer support and sales, as well as enhance your product. Comparisons should always be with competitors and customer expectations of excellence. If there is no consistency, there is no culture.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Training 102

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

Use the fact that you were on an anointed list to build credibility when you eventually approach journalists (and VC’s, customers, employees). Not talking to the press is a bit like a politician saying they don’t want to talk to the press because they’d rather save that time for drafting legislation.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Clearly in an enterprise customer this is unlikely. “We don’t have budget for that this year” “I don’t believe in social media advertising.” Calling high means reaching the highest level appropriate person in an organization that you can reach to hear your pitch. It’s too strategic.

Sales 375

Sales Technical Review Organization Case Study 375

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Whether it be guest posting, creating a press release, generating videos, listing one sites in a high quality business directory, or creating citations, high quality link building is sure to help increase your rankings on the various popular search engines. Utilize Popular Social Media Platforms. Collect Email Lists.

Commerce 58

Commerce Search Engine Optimization Sites Marketing 58

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 29, 2012

My latest interview with tech entrepreneur Andrew Draper helped me realize what an important part passion plays in the whole tech entrepreneurial process.

Draper 77

Draper Startup Social Media Web 77

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

Competitor annual reports, white papers, press releases, and presentations are great sources of data and trends that you can use to support your own efforts. Conduct your own customized market research. With social media and the new survey tools, it’s easy and fast to set up and run your own focus group, or opinion survey.

Research 87

Research Marketing Statistics Report 87

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start. Put out regular press releases for search purposes and general visibility. Do something unique to get customer attention. This step requires thought because you need to identify what can set you apart from your competitors and how to retain customers.

Marketing 94

Marketing Startup Social Media SEM 94

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 27, 2012

Enter social media and its importance as a traffic source. The Innovators Dilemma – which means that if you have large customers with big profit margins it’s impossible to throw that all away to destruct your industry. We once thought nobody could unseat Google since all inbound traffic to the web came from them.

Technical Review 299

Technical Review Venture Capital Yammer Google 299

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

That's funding our new product, FanMix, which is a a social media tool. We have about 8500 customers there, but only a small percentage have built great communities that took off, and the rest floundered. That's why we built FanMix, to solve our own problem, and help our SocialEngine customers to promote their own sites.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2015

For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. Turn technology into a productivity engine, rather than a burden, to battle the avalanche of email, texts, and social-media alerts that threaten your productivity. That’s productivity.

Product 111

Product Entrepreneur Framework Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Do research on investor visibility via Google and social media. Invite the investor to dinner or fun-related activity.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Innocal Offshore Entrepreneur 103