Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2023

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency.

Marketing 119

Marketing Metrics Demand Statistics 119

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2020

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. With a startup, everything is an experiment. Many don’t survive the change.

Startup 125

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 125

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 157

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. Set your startup health gauges and use them.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 98

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. What's your background, and how did you decide to start the company? My other co-founder, Rusty Jenkins, was also with that company, doing sales.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs tackle starting a business as a random walk into a business minefield, and they count on their street smarts, thick skin and pure determination to get them to their destinations alive. One preparation example is the value of building a business plan before you start. Define success as it relates to this startup.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Follow-up on receivables and watch the terms of big orders.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

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. I realized that he and I see several common patterns that account for a large percentage of new venture failures.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2022

In my role as a mentor, I challenge every business leader to be more open-minded as they face the challenges of change and new competitors entering their space. Passion and optimism are great for starting a business, but you need to add realism to keep it growing and thriving. Put metrics in place to track decision results.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Customer Custom Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

In the spirit of helping you avoid some of our own learning experiences with startups, I will paraphrase here the nine key stages that he and I both see most businesses going through in their evolution from a startup to a successful and stable entity: You can’t sustain a business without positive cash flow.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

To do it well requires a focus on several key activities and practices, including the following: Maintain a positive attitude, since startup problems are normal. If you feel angry or exhibit a negative attitude to the team about problems, you will jeopardize the potential success of your startup. Very few startup problems are unique.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

Just as national cultures influence and shape a country, so does the startup culture set by founder strategy drive the future of a new venture. I believe this new focus on culture is a key to startup success today. Establish metrics on the culture, as well as the product. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done.

Metrics 57

Metrics Startup Netflix Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2015

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. In the startup world, this is often seen as a lack of focus.

Resource 105

Resource Startup Entrepreneur Training 105

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

As our first time covering a 500 Startups demo day , we could only imagine the stratospheric levels of stress our Batch 8 founders must have gone through to get on stage and present their progress from their last four months of startup bootcamp. In true 500 Startups fashion, Demo Day had an almost cathartic feel.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2014

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Metrics Demand Statistics 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

Others still routinely have phone hold queues for customer contact that can last up to an hour, with no alternative options. You need to communicate quantified and updates goals quarterly, including the metrics to assess progress and success. It takes a well-rounded and motivated team to run a competitive business today.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Unfortunately, many aspiring leaders I mentor are not aware of the signals people are looking for, or are not attuned to the subtleties of their own actions. Define metrics to measure what you want to achieve. For example, measuring marketing team members on sales leads may not get you the revenue growth or trust you expected.

Mentor 98

Mentor News Summary Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2013

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 110

Metrics Entrepreneur Demand Statistics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency.

Metrics 60

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 60

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my experience and data from the field, over seventy-five percent of new startups fail, even with venture backing. There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that absorbs resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. In the startup world, this is often seen as a lack of focus.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2018

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. In the startup world, this is often seen as a lack of focus.

Resource 52

Resource Training Entrepreneur Activity 52

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Jason Nazar

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2016

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. With a startup, everything is an experiment. Many don’t survive the change.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Training Organization Examples 55

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

TechZulu caught up with Michael Piermont, amSTATZ Chief Executive Officer and this is what he revealed. Through ongoing analysis and refinement of existing processes, establishment of standards and metrics, team building and mentoring, Sergey has established a foundation and culture in which developers can flourish.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 13, 2013

People can buy anything, look up news, watch videos, and the list goes on and on. App developers are coming up with new ideas daily to make our lives easier. TechZulu reaches out to Matt Lucido , founder of Porter, and discuss Porter, LA, and startups. You don’t have to do them yourself and you can free up time.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Mobile Startup Los Angeles 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Your focus for momentum could be sales, profitability, or number of customers, but trying to keep all possible parameters growing is simply not practical. It’s important to define your growth strategy, document it, communicate it to your team, and align metrics and employee rewards to target goals.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

community in many ways, including his weekly Internet TV program on entrepreneurism, and participation in several mentoring programs. . Example: percent of ownership, officer/operational, director/board member… What are the parties willing to give up in return for the prospect of business success? Is it by committee?

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2019

Thus I offer the following prioritized initiatives from my own experience to get you started: Make sure everyone knows the business, good and bad. Your role is to provide mentoring and support as required. It also means listening and following-up on feedback. Provide training and mentoring directed at career growth.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Mentor Training 92

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March The following are the top items based on social signals.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217