Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). I call this “marketing futures.&# You need some guidelines to make decisions.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2012

I recently spoke at the Blue Glass conference on the topic of marketing. I’ll write up some thoughts in a blog post format soon. I’ve been spending time looking at marketing conversion metrics at portfolio companies lately.

Conference 297

Conference Marketing Metrics Writing 297

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

Shots on Goal Being great as a startup technology investor of course requires a lot of things to come together: You need to have strong insights into where technology markets are heading and where value in the future will be created and sustained You need be perfect with your market timing. I’ve definitely been wrong on market value.

Funding 294

Funding Startup Writing Invest 294

SoCal Tech Calendar

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008 -- "Writing Your Press Releases" SDSIC. If you're writing your press releases like it was still 1994, you're not maximizing the value of this tool in this Internet-centric age. Discover how to write for the 3 audiences that delivered-by-Internet releases can reach: media, search engines, and direct-to-public.

Writing 100

Writing Press Education Media 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency Wpromote said on Monday that it has launched a new set of scholsrships, which will go to students interested in digital marketing. According to Wpromote, the new scholarships--which will be awarded bi-annually--will total $3,000, with the first award in December of this year. READ MORE>>.

Marketing 100

Marketing Blogging Writing Los Angeles 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As an investor, I sometimes see CEOs who negotiate to send their VP of Marketing to talk. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Many would argue that Steve Jobs impact at Apple came more from his public speaking ability than the other four skills put together.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Guide Custom 113

InfoChachkie

JULY 23, 2012

Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. If you have amazing products, the marketing of those products is trivial. If you have $hitty products, the marketing is impossible. Trada – Guerilla Marketing In Action.

Marketing 233

Marketing Blogging Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

If you don’t have the time to write things down, or your writing skills leave something to be desired, don’t be afraid to get some help. No executive I know writes all his own contracts, but every smart one owns every one that is written for him, and understands every element.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. Online marketing uses techniques for driving promotion and place.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

The momentum from an old decision that took lots of effort to implement is worth something to a marketing professional. Pull out a piece of stationery that had been sitting unused for over a decade and write in longhand? And that’s a lesson for all of us in marketing. I was in such shock, I did not respond in kind.

Marketing 199

Marketing Email Custom Customer 199

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

This morning, Pasadena-based Perfect Market (www.perfectmarket.com) announced a new, $9M round of funding for the firm's technology, which is used to help publishers monetize their content. Journalists are notorious for not wanting to write based on revenues or commercial intersts, or having anyone tell them what to write.

Marketing 232

Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened? People were building.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup LAMP Marketing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2019

Image via Flickr by jardenberg Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. Then write it down. It’s pretty simple to do.

Customer 93

Customer Custom Marketing Tips 93

socalTECH

APRIL 23, 2021

Hawke Ventures, a new, venture capital fund that is part of marketing company Hawke Media, said Friday that it has raised $5.6M The company said it plans to write checks of between $100,000 and $250,000 in digital marketing startups. for its first, venture capital fund.

Funding 113

Funding Invest Venture Capital Writing 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. I suspect those days will end soon, and 61% of LPs polled said they felt VCs were coming back to market too quickly.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

Here is my edited summary of their ten principles, which I like and may convince you that you don’t need a business plan at all, or at the very least will help you write a better one later: A new venture is a means, not an end. Too much hesitation will kill any new venture, as markets move quickly and difficulties mount.

Writing 102

Writing Startup Entrepreneur Capital 102

Berkonomics

MARCH 28, 2024

They write in their investment documents that they will occupy a seat on the board for as long as they are invested in the company, thinking of this as a protection for their investment and tool for them to influence growth. All other board functions are secondary.

Class 282

Class Coach Invest Venture Capital 282

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

Another thing that Dave has done well is to look at the value of different marketing channels: There’s a lot of value in this presentation. Please write us at blog@techempower.com ! Dave’s model provides a much richer understanding of what’s happening, but in a way that’s understandable and measurable.

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Slides Technical Review 260

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2009

He recently landed a round of funding, and shares his experience here: Before you start bitching about investors not writing checks in this economy let me just say this  bullshit. I just finished our capital raise for our new company, Affordit.com and can tell you first hand that I've never seen more people eager to write checks.

Writing 100

Writing Santa Monica Venture Capital Entrepreneur 100

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2022

It's unclear when the new title will hit the market. We're building a survival game in an all-new universe.Join us in writing our next chapter: [link] pic.twitter.com/vWtkDYh1kX— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) January 25, 2022.

Activision 113

Activision Santa Monica Writing Entertainment 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. This started as a post in which I was going to write out tips to personal branding and became in stead an essay of my own branding journey. That was fine with me – the market is the market.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. If you want to connect with customers, put aside your writing formalities.

Content 146

Content Newsletter Competition Writing 146

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

You may recall that Microsoft planned a new file system for Vista but pulled the file system from the product before release, and has not released the WinFS file system yet as of this writing, years later. Surprises when the market meets your product. Rush to market? Cowboy coding.”

Custom 156

Custom Customer Writing Product 156

InfoChachkie

JULY 30, 2012

I always enjoy a great guerilla marketing story, such as TestFlight’s use of T-shirts and Tacos to gain Steve Jobs’ attention at Apple’s 2011 developers’ conference. Trade Show Guerilla Marketing Done Right . Be Closing, No Posing – The ultimate measure of effective marketing, especially at a startup, is revenue.

Marketing 209

Marketing Conference RSS Angel 209

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 213

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 213

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2017

Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. If you want to connect with customers, put aside your writing formalities.

Content 67

Content Marketing Newsletter Writing 67

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Finish the product before marketing begins.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

Fountain Valley-based HyperX , which makes products for the videogaming market, said today that it has rolled out two new solid state disks (SSDs) specifically aimed at videogamers. The new drives not only feature very fast data transfer speeds (550MB/s read and 480MB/s write), but include RGB lighting effects. READ MORE>>.

Writing 113

Writing Marketing Product Technology 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. A balance of conventional and social communication and marketing is always advised. Communication and writing skills are required. Attracting key stakeholders requires sensitivity.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Startup Platform 126

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” I hope to publish that deck and a full write up in the next 10 days in partnership with Dan Primack at Fortune (if my write up doesn’t suck, I guess ;-)).

Venture Capital 362

Venture Capital Capital Startup Writing 362

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. I moved into writing software to analyze audience data, and wrote a lot of computer graphics software. Maybe that would make sense as a marketing channel.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

Berkonomics

AUGUST 17, 2023

A personal story as an investor … [Email readers, continue here…] My very first investment as a professional angel was in a small startup where the entrepreneur’s vision fueled my imagination in the audio market niche where I had run a business in an earlier life.

Invest 296

Invest Capital Startup Entrepreneur 296

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

I recommend that you always use brainstorming, or expert feedback, to define similar approaches and markets, before proceeding to produce and sell a solution that may be expensive to change later. I have found, for example, that “early adopters” love innovation and new features, while “mass market” customers enjoy simplicity and usability.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

TechEmpower

AUGUST 7, 2023

Getting something to market and getting funding override any other concerns. Please write us at blog@techempower.com ! Here’s a graphic from Socal CTO that illustrates the roles as they change over time: In its earliest days, a startup’s top need is often to produce a product. cto , infotech , innovation , product , project , saas

CTO Hire 260

CTO Hire Develop Development Fractional VPE 260

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. In today’s market, so much focus is placed on transacting business online. 10) Rob, why does the world need RingRevenue? . “In

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

In addition, the discipline of producing it, like writing a business plan, will help you immensely in understanding the key elements that drive you and your business. I often hear the excuse that writing a book takes precious time away from building and running your business, which you cannot afford.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19