Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Too many entrepreneurs think that expert external advisors are suspect, or will slow them down.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2023

In my experience with entrepreneurs, there seems to a wealth of self-proclaimed “idea people” who aspire to start businesses, but only a few who are willing and able to dig in and get the job done. Only rare great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates and Elon Musk, have proven to be both. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline.

Startup 155

Startup Ideas IBM IBM 155

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? Email readers, continue here…] Measure the results of your changed program in as many ways as possible. Focus upon you as marketing genius. Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you.

Marketing 156

Marketing Metrics Education Resource 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. Nurturing stage email performance. The fuel for any good demand generation program is relevant, buyer-centric content.

Marketing 174

Marketing Invest Demand Metrics 174

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments. Bringing us to today – Viewers or profit? Great revenue projections from a small user base lead to worries over sustainability.

Metrics 296

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 296

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

Investors have to look behind the plan and at the entrepreneur and his or her team, knowing that, over time, most of us have come to the conclusion that it is the execution of the ever-changing plan, not the plan itself that makes a company a success. Anyone can build a good – or great – plan. A personal story of a pivot – Tyson style.

Summary 156

Summary Metrics Class Email 156

Berkonomics

JULY 15, 2021

Many senior managers and early entrepreneurs create their own mess with this one. The first professional senior manager that an entrepreneur hires to share the growing workload does not last more than a year. Email readers, continue here…] I’ve seen this happen so many times, it is almost a rule for me.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Startup 156

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2020

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. Email readers, continue here…] It’s easy to find someone to quote a size of market estimate. Sources for your data.

Company 156

Company Companies Metrics Resource 156

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for a disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to InvoiceTracker. There is no magic lever for growth, so several initiatives are required, with metrics to assess value returned. Ask every employee to focus on sales.

Startup 134

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. No-one challenged this number, and it became an unattributed source of the metric for market size for years. Email readers, continue here.]

Metrics 239

Metrics Startup Marketing Demand 239

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Being that the theme of the night was community, it was perfect that the event was held at CoLoft , a workspace in Santa Monica that focuses on start up entrepreneurs. Noah has what I believe he called “Thank You metrics”. His email list is everything. Some of you may be thinking, ‘Emails! But you need to pay the bills!’

Metrics 87

Metrics Email Startup Technical Review 87

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Email readers, continue here…] Making the effort to gather metrics from the field in any form and then ignoring it, takes guts and determination – and in most cases a measure of stupidity. The second step: Take feedback seriously. .

Product 156

Product Customer Custom Ideas 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

As an entrepreneur, what steps can you take to help your business not only survive the data hurricane, but to thrive under these new and challenging conditions? Data enable: use metrics and measurements. Extend data metrics into non-traditional channels, such as email, internal social media, and customer collaboration platforms.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup. There is no magic lever for growth, so several initiatives are required, with metrics to assess value returned. Ask every employee to focus on sales.

Search Engine Optimization 131

Search Engine Optimization Startup Social Media Metrics 131

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

In a funding round with 1 or 2 VCs and 15-20 angels or 4-6 seed funds if you gave every investor you financial information and performance metrics your proprietary information would increase in its probability of leaking out. Does he blog about venture capital and try to advise entrepreneurs? There is a reason for this. You betcha.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

Berkonomics

MAY 5, 2016

Email readers, continue here…] Then comes the strategic thinking and planning that leads to what must be done to achieve the vision. The best leaders find metrics to measure progress in achievement of these tactics, then don’t interfere with the execution of these tactics unless negative metrics signal a reason to do so.

Metrics 120

Metrics Ideas Conference Email 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Investors have to look behind the plan and at the entrepreneur and his or her team, knowing that, over time, most of us have come to the conclusion that it is the execution of the ever-changing plan, not the plan itself that makes a company a success. Email readers, continue here.] Anyone can build a good – or great – plan.

Startup 245

Startup Summary Metrics Class 245

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Unfortunately, your personal assessment that you have traction probably won’t be convincing to potential investors and partners, so it’s important that you create and track your progress against some metrics. Define metrics on customer feedback and user counts. Count connections with experts, media, and influencers.

Tips 79

Tips Metrics Technical Review Customer 79

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 3, 2011

People argue over whether an entrepreneur with a sense of fairness, a desire for collegiality, a want to share the profits can succeed in the long run within a business world full of lions and tigers that eat timid entrepreneurs for lunch. Email readres, continue here.] He lost the suit and paid both sides’ fees.).

Metrics 168

Metrics Entrepreneur Email Organization 168

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

If you’ve got the skills to be a strong entrepreneur then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find people who know a partner at a VC firm and if you can build relationship with them you can get introduced. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. Entrepreneur : “Sure. Some people find this elitist?—?I

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Creating a gerat company in a relative vacuum is an exercise in complete trust that the entrepreneur knows what’s best for the customer, perhaps even without interaction with such a customer. Email readers, continue here.] The second step: Take feedback seriously. And most of us are not Steve Jobs.

Company 229

Company Companies Startup Customer 229

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. It’s a weekly email we send to AngelList, with 3 high-quality startups who want intros.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

socalTECH

JUNE 15, 2017

We have them add their name, email address, and input the percent amount. We then subsequently email each individual, if they don't already have Stem, for them to accept their position and confirm their share. I come from the agency business, where we're all about making deals, and the metrics that matter are revenue.

Startup 140

Startup Content Metrics Platform 140

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, we investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments. Email readers, continue here.] Great revenue projections from a small user base lead to worries over sustainability.

Metrics 207

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 207

Berkonomics

JANUARY 8, 2015

The first professional senior manager that an entrepreneur hires to share the growing workload does not last more than a year. Entrepreneurs start businesses with a strong vision of what and how , involved in every process from buying supplies to hiring and directly supervising early employees.

Coach 120

Coach Metrics Training Entrepreneur 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2015

In my experience with entrepreneurs, there seems to a wealth of self-proclaimed “idea people” who aspire to start businesses, but only a few who are willing and able to dig in and get the job done. Only rare great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates and Elon Musk, have proven to be both. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline.

Ideas 115

Ideas Startup IBM IBM 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often hear the desire to run their own company, to avoid having someone else telling them how to run the business. Email status reports to board members and key employees should be delivered more frequently, as key events unfold. Personally manage cash flow processing and procedures.

Technical Advisors 125

Technical Advisors Startup News Resource 125

InfoChachkie

MARCH 23, 2015

A company''s Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a beloved metric slavishly tracked and reported by product marketing and customer support executives of both established and nascent enterprises. However, rather than obsessing on a single metric, entrepreneurs should focus on improving their Net Profit Score.

.Net 100

.Net Startup Satisfaction Technical Review 100

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked that question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Email readers, continue here.] Well-tuned metrics are an absolute must. What are the elements needed to focus upon in making the attempt to take a product viral?

Social Network 179

Social Network Metrics Ideas Sites 179

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2021

Cold calls to strangers and email blasts are not so productive. Many entrepreneurs I know faithfully monitor social media to quickly respond to problems and react to customer feed back, both positive and negative. Build a marketing plan with deliverables and metrics. Use social media for marketing, not just feedback.

Technical Advisors 154

Technical Advisors Tips Marketing Case Study 154

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

It was as much in reaction to my getting blank stares from entrepreneurs when I asked the above question as it was for me to better understand the problem itself. Email readers, continue here…] Second: channels. Well-tuned metrics are an absolute must. Intrigued by the thought, I recently made a list. Here is my list.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

As an entrepreneur, what steps can you take to help your business not only survive the data hurricane, but to thrive under these new and challenging conditions? Data enable: use metrics and measurements. Extend data metrics into non-traditional channels, such as email, internal social media, and customer collaboration platforms.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

Every entrepreneur I know feels the pressure of the thousands of things that need to get done, all seemingly at the same time. These are the endless stream of email, phone calls, and daily crises which prevent really important accomplishments, like closing customers. Define clear goals and metrics for your productivity.

Tips 100

Tips Activity Startup Product 100

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

David Loo: Ultimately, at the C-level, the CIO requires data metrics and intelligence, in order to compete and make decisions and take actions to further a company's agenda. They end up either calling or emailing, and someone literally takes that same content, and manually enters it into a trouble ticket in a system like ServiceNow.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2015

As an entrepreneur, what steps can you take to help your business not only survive the data hurricane, but to thrive under these new and challenging conditions? Data enable: use metrics and measurements. Extend data metrics into non-traditional channels, such as email, internal social media, and customer collaboration platforms.

Startup 106

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2016

In my experience with entrepreneurs, there seems to a wealth of self-proclaimed “idea people” who aspire to start businesses, but only a few who are willing and able to dig in and get the job done. Only rare great entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates and Elon Musk, have proven to be both. Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline.

Ideas 53

Ideas Startup IBM IBM 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup. There is no magic lever for growth, so several initiatives are required, with metrics to assess value returned. Ask every employee to focus on sales.

Search Engine Optimization 57

Search Engine Optimization Startup Social Media Metrics 57