Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 128

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 128

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

We talked about what startup CEOs should do in these situations and how to think about these renegotiations. In a bear market executives are paid to: consolidate the number of contracts and renegotiate prices. What Do You Need to Prove to Raise an A Round? Do I Believe VCs Are Really Open for Business?

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

I’m a believer in the old saying that investors look for great people, more than great ideas. For example, even though Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook as an innovative product, most experts believe it was successful due to his relationship with Peter Thiel and other top VCs that he convinced to invest early.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2013

.” In the article I discussed the downside of raising capital at a too high of a price and referred people to a previous article I had written encouraging founders to raise “ At the Top end of Normal ” as opposed to stratospheric prices. Whatever I do now it going to affect my future deals. A down round.

Pricing 302

Pricing Seed Funding Invest Venture Capital 302

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. For example, I believe Bill Gates would have failed without his partners Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 9, 2013

As I outlined in my talk, I believe the greatest Internet companies created over the past 15 years have been “deflationary” meaning they are driving down the prices or goods & services. Declining prices & margins in a small market is much less interesting. Prices down. Network Up. But what else?

Marketing 361

Marketing Course Pricing Networking 361

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Do real tests with real pricing to see if customers will pay you, without being pushed. Nail the solution. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.”

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

” The post talked about how to find the lowest acceptable price & terms in a deal through testing. In the post I made clear that I believe that all negotiations should seek to find fair deals where both parties can feel good about the outcomes. You’ve got to have some wiggle room on price and on terms.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Pricing Startup 293

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

If you truly believe that you, your company and your products are exceptional and your company will be valuable then you’re actually doing them a FAVOR by helping them invest in your startup. If you don’t believe in your bones that you’re amazing then it’s no wonder you don’t want to sell them on making the investment.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2019

I think, to be a great entrepreneur, you have to look at what is missing in the category that you will be playing in the industry, and figure what you can deploy with a little bit of strategy and technology to bring a better service and price. People were not just going to Google, they were looking all over the place.

Content 193

Content Social Network Coach Help 193

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

I have seen bad behavior from later-stage VCs, believe me. Do investors always take up their prorata rights in later rounds? ” Some do, some don’t. New investors sometimes want early investors to put in money to “prove” they have confidence in the new price. Thus begins the dance.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2011

We are an offer-based platform that allows users to negotiate the price they buy and sell tickets for, on the secondary market. Wes Brodsky: The ticketing industry, since its inception, has been on a fixed price model. For example, at an event, say at the Staples Center, of the 20,000 seats they might have four or five price groups.

Ticketmaster 253

Ticketmaster Pricing Sales Activity 253

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

Of course the VC is looking to have specificity in how you plan to spend the money you’re going to raise and plans that show a pie chart that says, “25% on marketing, 30% on technology and R&D, 20% on infrastructure, 25% on G&A” do not get funded. Every VC wants to fund a deal that seems to have too much demand.

Venture Capital 247

Venture Capital Capital Funding Demand 247

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

When you start your company the very first question you need to ask yourself is which kind of customers do you want to serve. Because it will vary dramatically by different segments I believe you need to pick an animal size and go for it. If you do catch them, it could be even worse. We had to do intense training sessions.

Startup 389

Startup Customer Custom Resource 389

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

This is important because the customers they serve (the red line) demand a product that meets their complex requirements. In 1999-2000 they weren’t doing enterprise-wide installations at Merrill Lynch, Dell and Cisco. And weirdly the buyers of this technology often have a vested interest in buying from the incumbent.

Startup 376

Startup Framework Marketing Customer 376

socalTECH

MAY 8, 2015

In a world awash with on-demand startups, Los Angeles-based Serviz (www.serviz.com) stands out--not because of the market segment it is tackling, but because it was founded by two, very experienced serial entrepreneurs-- Zorik Gordon and Michael Kline. Our vision is really to become the premier provider of on-demand home services.

Services 100

Services ReachLocal Demand Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Today, customer loyalty is based on the “ total customer experience ,” as opposed to price or service alone. If you do it right, you have a huge opportunity for long-term success. The competition will improve, the market will change, and your customers will demand more. Pay attention to all.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. They are pretty illiquid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. So what are the right motivations, and how do you candidly assess your own? People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 110

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. If you can’t out-Amazon Amazon, then move on and do something else. Here are some ideas of what I believe matters.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

He had an idea for a startup that would help consumers better book service jobs and would take on Service Magic, which he believed had a business model that could be disrupted. As you know I believe in Lines, not Dots. What do we like about OpenTable? And we wanted a head of global marketing. “No choice at all!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

In fact, the cost may be minimal, if you do your networking and build a relationship with an experienced business executive or two in your domain who are willing to share and give back for a nominal retainer, perhaps one percent of your new startup equity. The cost of a co-founder is usually fifty percent of your equity.

Startup 142

Startup Technical Review Equity Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2017

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 59

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 59

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2017

No customers, including yourself, are willing to tolerate multiple bad experiences, just to get the lowest price. For your business to prosper, don’t associate good service only with high-price products. Being unreasonably demanding of others. I think we all believe that loyalty is not an entitlement.

Customer 89

Customer Custom Demand Pricing 89

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

Because it is a “series&# I plan to get into some of the deeper complexities of funds such as “cross over funds&# and “why VC’s hate to price their own deals&# at a later stage. I believe these VC funds have suffered some amount of reputation fall out. Why are VC’s really doing seed deals?

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about. We will continue to do more of this. As a result I had to do a down round.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2014

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 91

Startup Organization Pricing Customer 91

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. And how much do others providers make? But not doing basic research makes no sense. MakeSpace provides physical storage.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In the first post in this three part series I described why I believe the VC market froze between September 2008 – April 2009. It is also a result of pent-up demand. If these factors impact earnings the stock market may be headed South – If unemployment rises housing prices won’t. See point 2 below.

Venture Capital 269

Venture Capital Startup Funding Technical Review 269

Tech.Co

JUNE 28, 2021

” Remember when every new tech company seemed to promise a revolution in the way of doing things? . ” Remember when every new tech company seemed to promise a revolution in the way of doing things? The car, emblematic of personal freedom to go anywhere to do anything, had suddenly become a semi-public space.

Startup 104

Startup Ideas Venture Capital Course 104

InfoChachkie

JULY 11, 2012

Hire applicants that show a desire to be a part of something truly special — to do their best work for the team — not just collect a paycheck. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Success is like anything worthwhile. Will to Win.

Coach 160

Coach Tips Competition Pricing 160

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. As I like to tell people who ask about Bird, “consumers have literally voted with their feet.” Is Bird really defensible?

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2013

Vikram Mansharamani provided some great insights on the financial side in his book, “ Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst, ” and I believe these can be equally applied to bubbles for startup ideas as follows: Avoid the herd mentality. Supply and demand ignored. Cheap money. Policy-driven distortions.

Demand 89

Demand Google Commerce Pricing 89

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2013

We spoke with CEO and co-founder John Tabis about how TheBouqs believes there''s an opening for a modern online flower delivery service, because none of the existing players are catering to the new generation of consumers. What was it that you were doing which attracted investors to your company? What is the Bouqs?

Services 215

Services Technical Review Startup Pricing 215

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

Corey Brundage: Honk is an on-demand, roadside assistance service. We offer towing, jumpstarts, tire changes, fuel delivery, and lockout service--pretty much assistance for anything that could go wrong on the side of the road, and we do that within fifteen to 30 minutes, without the need for any membership. That''s really exciting.

Startup 173

Startup Services Southern California Mobile 173

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2013

I believe this option will spread quickly to other companies, states and countries. Investors believe these startups demonstrate more integrity and less risk, as well as being better positioned to deliver long-term, sustainable value to their stakeholders. Socially responsible products typically sell at a premium price.

Startup 101

Startup Organization Entrepreneur Customer 101