socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2017

Here, we feature the contribution of John Greathouse , an investor with Rincon Venture Partners and Professor Of Practice at UC Santa Barbara, where he teaches courses on New Venture Creation and Entrepreneurial Sales. As such, I'm also looking forward to helping non-SaaS Founders, which has been my primary focus for the past 15-years.

Santa Barbara 113

Santa Barbara SaaS Southern California Course 113

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2018

Jon Ferrara: I firmly believe that Service is the New Sales and that the Sales starts after a customer buys. Customer service is critical to customer retention in the SaaS subscription model. Finally, how can entrepreneurs make sure they're creating something their customers will keep coming back for?

Customer 166

Customer Custom Conference Social Media 166

socalTECH

OCTOBER 29, 2013

Convertro''s products help companies understand the attribution of the marketing efforts, to determine which marketing efforts are converting best to sales. Zwelling is a serial entrepreneur, who sold his last firm, Echosign, to Adobe, and was also the founder of YLighting. READ MORE>>.

Santa Monica 153

Santa Monica SaaS Advertising Software 153

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And there is so much money around being thrown at so many entrepreneurs that many firms don’t even care about board seats, governance rights or heaven forbid doing work with the company because that would eat into the VCs time needed to chase 5 more deals. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

All of the big SaaS movement was causing this problem with business processes and data. The CFO requires financial acumen driven from metrics, which can be had from sales and operational information, however, they're often locked into these silo'ed application stacks. What's your biggest lesson you've learned as an entrepreneur?

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). The tl;dr version is this: Many have been taught to focus on LTV/CAC ratio and if that number is substantively > 1 said entrepreneur feels great. Gross margin positive

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2016

Given TimeHop’s failed experiment, I was especially intrigued when I learned that a team of a dozen remote entrepreneurs hack the typical corporate structure and creates a company that generated nearly $100 million in revenue. Dan Engel, Co-Founder and former CEO of FastSpring, is a highly successful serial entrepreneur. FastSpring.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Email Outsource Development 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” Have sales bonus plans based on more than just sales targets.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. Let’s say you have built a SaaS company where a large part of the early revenue comes from a few big customers or a large part of the revenue is services based vs. software based. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2016

I learned the hard way that during a startup’s early days, entrepreneurs should give slightly greater emphasis on developing buyer features, in order to reduce the friction of the sales cycle. In the early 2000’s, SaaS was a nascent concept and most companies were reticent to rent software. Car Door Slam Features.

SaaS 100

SaaS Startup Software Review Development Team Review 100

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

I had the honor of moderating a panel of three SaaS CEOs who have collectively raised nearly $40 million of venture capital and are on their way to breakout success: Reed Shaffner of Workpop , Jerry Jao of Retention Science and Ara Mahdessian from ServiceTitan. The Most Important Metric. Such metrics will obviously differ.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

And here’s an important point that I think modern entrepreneurs often forget: Investors are “co-owners” of your business. There are just as many bad entrepreneurs who do bad things. how much energy to put into channel partners vs. direct sales. how to build an initial sales organization.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

All the data actually suggests with the growth of mobile, inbound sales calls will double from 30 billion to 60 billion in 3 years (source: Kelsey). Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2011

I suspect the real challenge is not the semantic web technology , but new attractive business models from smart entrepreneurs. Many software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications now allow on-demand collaboration. It’s too expensive to fly across country for marketing trade shows and big sales meetings. are appearing.

Web 95

Web Entrepreneur Doc Examples 95

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Our interview today is with Andrew Schydlowsky , the CEO and founder of Santa Barbara-based TrackStreet (www.trackstreet.com), a startup which is backed by Okapi Capital, The Cove Fund, Early Light Ventures, SaaS Venture Capital, and Stage Venture Partners. We provide analytics on the velocity of sales across their channels.

Artificial Inteligence 140

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Sales 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

If you are an entrepreneur not using this model, it may be time to consider a pivot. If your startup is in the Business-to-Business (B2B) world, you need to realize that the subscription model has evolved considerably since SalesForce.com introduced Software as a Service (SaaS) way back in 1999.

Startup 117

Startup Pricing Customer Custom 117

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Traditional software vs. SaaS. Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Most entrepreneurs I encounter seem to make their decisions more on perceived brand, past successes and ability to intro. Think of web vs. mobile.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. The mistake entrepreneurs make is either writing a lengthy email (everybody has too much email so it will get skimmed / not digested) or not having a deck which means the VC can’t quickly determine his or her fit as a potential investor. The key is WHAT you send.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2020

If you are an entrepreneur not using this model, it may be time to consider a pivot. If your startup is in the Business-to-Business (B2B) world, you need to realize that the subscription model has evolved considerably since SalesForce.com introduced Software as a Service (SaaS) way back in 1999.

Startup 168

Startup Customer Custom Netflix 168

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

And so do entrepreneurs who are quick to pivot to new businesses or to sell in an acquihire. It’s been high tide since 2009 so an entire batch of entrepreneurs don’t know what low tide even looks like. And the “stay lean” argument isn’t only good for entrepreneurs, it can be good for VCs, too.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

By 2012, total sales exceeded 50 million copies and founding band member Roger Waters was cited by Forbes as the second highest paid musician of the year, pulling in $88 million. Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the manner in which Pink Floyd created DSOTM. Entrepreneurs should always err on the side of long-term gain.

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2016

It's the same way that both investors and entrepreneurs used to think about New York with financial technology or advertising, because of the relationship to Madison Avenue and Wall Street. We have companies here from enterprise SaaS to Internet of Things, to the on-demand economy, to virtual and augmented reality, and health care.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Incubator 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. Even sales reps will invoke a cost plus logic when negotiating with me on behalf of their customers. Experienced entrepreneurs know this is simply not true.

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The path I went down after a few years was to hire more process driven people and devolved more daily operational ownership to people running individual functions such as product management, sales management, finance, etc. One of the most obvious places where you see this is in sales & marketing. Ditto the CFO. I was the laggard.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. That is, how much should your company be willing to lose in cash every month as you make investments in staff and equipment that funds technology, sales, marketing and management.

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 30, 2011

Topics of discussion will be Saas, Cloud, Mobile, Gaming, Social Markets, what surprises are coming for 2012, creating value with your company, hiring problem solvers, and building sensible businesses. Sangster is a serial entrepreneur and M&A executive with experience both founding and acquiring businesses. Venue Sponsor.

Tech Coast Angels 105

Tech Coast Angels Startup Angel Southern California 105

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2019

It's all about a social organization, like a Boy Scout group, a Girl Scout group, a religious organization like a church, K-12 such as when they do field outings, but also holiday parties and company meetings, sales force organizations. What differentiates us, is we help you plan an event, but also help you assign roles.

Startup 212

Startup Evite Organization Software 212

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

Six outstanding entrepreneurs have created this sweet flavor of success in one of the most beautiful places on earth – Santa Barbara, California. As Emmy Award winning comedian Bill Grundfest aptly points out in this video , entrepreneurs should seek the intersection of the things they enjoy doing and the tasks which will make them money.

Santa Barbara 100

Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

He comes from a SaaS background, and enterprise software. What's the biggest lesson you've learned so far as an entrepreneur? W actually opened up a second office in Columbus, Ohio, to serve as our East Coast sales office, and we're building out our sales force here in Los Angeles.

Startup 124

Startup Cornerstone OnDemand Software Review Woodland Hills 124

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Jay Ackerman: I have a tech background, and have worked at a number of software and SaaS companies, primarily in go-to-market. I've been a sales leader, a Chief Revenue Officer, Head of Customer Success. What's your background?

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence SoCal Southern California Software 113

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 21, 2011

My macro theme was “great entrepreneurs&# who mapped to my belief system about the kind of entrepreneurs I wanted to work with. My background was 8 years of telecoms & mobile and 8 years of cloud computing & SaaS – so these two themes were a given. They know what you bought the last time you were shopping.

Mobile 329

Mobile Advertising Media Marketing 329

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

When I started my second company I was a serial entrepreneur. I introduced myself as a serial entrepreneur. I was a serial entrepreneur. When I decided to start blogging again (I had done so as an entrepreneur) I thought about how to brand myself. I could become the SaaS guy. I defined myself. How could I be?

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2015

Let me give you some examples I see of fauxmentum: In the SaaS world I see many business plans where companies have achieved 100-300% year-over-year growth and this is truly impressive. I’m not saying don’t hire sales staff or market your products aggressively. But as with any sales advice, revenue diversity matters.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Customer Custom 150

Steve Reich

MAY 12, 2013

I’ve recently joined Malauzai Software, a developer of Mobile Banking Apps for Community Banks and Credit Unions, as their Chief Sales Officer. Even though I’ve been involved with SaaS products since 1998, the last few months have been quite the education. Entrepreneurs mobile apps'

Mobile 63

Mobile SaaS Platform Education 63

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2017

Combining that with my previous experience, which was in the platform and SaaS market, and sports, was really a home run. What's the biggest lesson you've learned here so far as an entrepreneur? Previous to this, I ran a custom, mobile application development shop. That provides much better reporting to sponsors.

Mobile 162

Mobile Platform El Segundo UCLA 162

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. In sales we often call these USPs (I wrote about them here: Unique Selling Propositions ).

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Thaeres is a SaaS-based, dashboard solution for mid-market enterprises. Now, we''re putting together a team of engineers, sales, and marketing people to launch this nationally. entrepreneur pitch startup processing payment billing subscription thaeres scherzay taher' Where did the service idea come from? READ MORE>>.

Startup 159

Startup Oracle Customer Custom 159