Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2021

Even with product businesses, it’s the ultimate way to build your brand credibility, bring in customer leads, and get feedback from your target market. Studying other people’s blogs will help you identify what you like and don’t like, and how you want yours to look and feel. Conversational style. Add outgoing links.

Blogging 135

Blogging Services Search Engine Optimization Web 135

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

I recently wrote a blog post in which I pointed out that many investors & advisors discourage enterprise startups from having a professional services (PS) business and I think this is a big mistake. I think it’s important for enterprise startups to layer in professional services into your revenue stream.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Netflix as a service has always prided itself on movie recommendations that are tailored specifically to you plus user ratings on the quality of films. Some customer segments value the DVD business and these may be more price sensitive. Some customer segments value the convenience of instantly available films.

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 21, 2020

The automaker Tuesday said its Maven car-sharing service, which launched in 2016, will shut down for good. Maven had paused service due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company sent an email to customers Tuesday that after examining the business, the car-sharing industry and COVID-19, it decided to shutter the service permanently.

Los Angeles 215

Los Angeles Technical Review Email Services 215

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2015

Entrepreneurs and business executives seem to be even more focused on their technology than the rest of us, and less inclined to listen to the voice of the customer, even if they remember to ask. Real two-way conversations with real customers, including the all-important body language, are unheard-of these days.

Customer 104

Customer Custom Startup Social Network 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2014

Entrepreneurs and business executives seem to be even more focused on their technology than the rest of us, and less inclined to listen to the voice of the customer, even if they remember to ask. Real two-way conversations with real customers, including the all-important body language, are unheard-of these days.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Social Network 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2018

Entrepreneurs and business executives seem to be even more focused on their technology than the rest of us, and less inclined to listen to the voice of the customer, even if they remember to ask. Real two-way conversations with real customers, including the all-important body language, are unheard-of these days.

Customer 53

Customer Custom Social Network Study 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2016

For too many small businesses, customer service is still seen as a “burden.” Entrepreneurs don’t realize that this burden is actually costing them over $200 billion in repeat sales, according to a recent study by the W. These days, relationships and online reviews are key drivers for over 80 percent of new customers.

Customer 56

Customer Custom Startup Satisfaction 56

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2021

In that context, I came across an old study of 27 startups featured in Inc’s annual “Anatomies of a Start-up,” done for “The Journal of Business Venturing,” and published by George Gendron in Inc Magazine. As it turned out, 17 of the 27 companies were still in business seven years later, which is at least double that of other studies.

Startup 170

Startup Study Journal Sample 170

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2015

It is not limited to the realm of the top executive or board of directors, who could bring in consultants for studies and analysis. Treat a startup as a customer, not a client. A client relationship suggests that the consultant is in charge, whereas the customer designation recognizes the more modern model of the customer in control.

Services 100

Services Startup Software Review Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2022

Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with studying and learning from the wisdom and experience of others. There are already a variety of cloud computing solutions available for common business usage, including the following: Software as a Service (SaaS). Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Technology 133

Technology Cloud Computing Social Media Networking 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2017

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Customer support chasm. Product development chasm.

Customer 76

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Technical Review 76

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2021

If customers don’t know you exist, you can’t solve their problem, they won’t buy. Getting customer attention often takes more innovation today than solving the tough technical problems. Talk to real live customers in addition to marketers. Avoid the use of jargon, big claims, and special promotions.

Technical Advisors 154

Technical Advisors Tips Marketing Case Study 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2020

According to studies , the alternative of acquiring new customers still costs you five to seven times more than retaining existing ones. But customers today are fickle, instantly aware of every new alternative, due to the Internet and social media, and not afraid to change. Appeal to all your customer senses all of the time.

Customer 136

Customer Custom Social Media Startup 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Customer support chasm. Product development chasm.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

Per a recent study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic has grown 17-fold over the past 5 years, reaching 11.5 Digital commerce: infinite options for buying goods and services online. More and more company and personal services are being virtualized to the Cloud. Big data:” learning from the flood.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

Los Angeles-based e-commerce service provider Onestop Internet --which is backed by Bessemer Ventures and Fung Capital USA--said it has run a new consumer survey, which shows that Amazon is a "serious threat" to its customers, apparel brands. The company said it tapped Survata for the study, which interviewed 501 online respondents.

Commerce 100

Commerce Study Los Angeles Design 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

The challenge is to increase response rates and propagate a single view of the customer, by integrating customer data from multiple Web and social media interactions. Then companies can determine promotional effectiveness by narrowly defined customer segments, by location, or by delivery channel.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Study Guide 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

One of the reasons it’s so tough is that the rules are constantly changing on what it takes to win over customers, as customer attitudes and cultures change, and competitors continually strive to “raise the bar” on product and support. Existing customers can’t envision a new concept, or new behaviors.

Company 152

Company Companies Startup Customer 152

TechCrunch LA

JULY 3, 2018

Postie uses a combination of online data collection and an on-demand print and mail technology to give its customers turnaround times on print orders in as little as 24 hours and what the company boasts is the equivalent of online ad-targeting.

Dollar Shave Club 232

Dollar Shave Club Chief Technology Officer Advertising Los Angeles 232

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

I’ve recently had a chance to reconnect with Eric David Greenspan ( LinkedIn , Twitter ) He’s the CEO of Make It Work a high quality, personal, high touch technology service provider for homes and small businesses. A day might include a discussion with a finance partner, an investor, a customer or a fusion partner. Great posts.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Even before the recent pandemic, when more people began working remotely , I noticed the dynamics changing in many workplaces, both between employee interaction with peers, and interactions with customers. Customers will be impacted and less likely to have a memorable experience. Measure results in terms of customer satisfaction.

Satisfaction 108

Satisfaction Outsource Study Platform 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community. Social responsibility opens the door to a broader customer base. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2011

Every startup needs to understand that the customer paradigm has dramatically shifted over the past two years with pervasive social networks and smartphones. If your business doesn’t connect with your customers, individually and as a community, demanding customers will not only ignore you, but will actively keep other customers away.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Startup Networking 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2020

According to many studies, entrepreneurs tend to be happier , and over 80 percent of self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs. He lays out seven thinking strategies for both entrepreneurs and employees that will make them business winners: Focus on the customers at all times. Think like your ideal customer seeking value.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Sales Customer Custom 117

socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2019

power said that its study focused on 10 factors, including ease of use; ease of install/setup; reliability; energy efficiency; price paid; effectiveness of heating/cooling; internet connectivity; usefulness of app; variety of features; and customer service.

Report 113

Report Satisfaction Study Pricing 113

Southern California Edison Blog

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

As new clients partner with us and we continue to expand our extensive fiber optic network infrastructure, it is time to refresh our brand in a way that emphasizes our mission, successes and outstanding customer-focus. Since 1994, we have had a lot of success as a wholesale carrier selling network capacity to other service providers.

Customer 45

Customer Custom Southern California Case Study 45

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

” by Donna Cutting, who is a globally-recognized guru on employee culture and optimizing customer service. In my experience, a healthy team is a prerequisite for a thriving business, innovation to meet market needs, and high customer loyalty. Other studies have shown a return of up to 400 percent for this approach.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Customer 141

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. ” Case studies get done with ebullient CEO’s espousing the benefits of said software even though their organization was barely using the product. ROI studies were published. It’s when the game slows.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. For example, Starbucks found initial success with professionals aged 25 to 40 in urban areas and with moderately high income but later looked to a new market of millennials who wanted a place to sit and chat, study or work.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 16, 2020

These databases may exist on several different service providers’ cloud computing platforms making it that much more difficult to secure and track the data as it’s accessed by different users. Put simply, data security tools weren’t built to handle this kind of data fluidity across multiple services.

Los Angeles 142

Los Angeles Cloud Computing Angel Tool 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

In my experience of many years as a business founder, consultant, and executive, I offer the following list of situations that always imply a real need for people and business leadership, and have the potential for long-term positive impact to your bottom line and business success: Your business image is slipping in the eyes of customers.

Coach 120

Coach Satisfaction Customer Custom 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. Startups all need that flexibility.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. According to one study a decade ago, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company. Optimize the total customer experience.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Xconomy

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Companies must learn to become ecosystem drivers – even if only for a subset of their customers – in order to survive. A distinguishing feature of this model is that they are the destination in their space for a subset of their customers. And these companies have deep knowledge of their customers through data.

Organization 91

Organization Customer Custom Study 91