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Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Business success requires customers to see a solution as exciting, and they rarely care about the technology behind it. Patents are not worth the effort, since big companies will win.
Disclosures relative to patents. Entrepreneurs should never disclose the details of a planned or current patent application to any outsiders, even with a CDA in place. Product details in the public domain can never be patented. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 1/16/2015. Sharing trade secrets.
Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. An international brand will command higher prices and additional customer demand.
Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. An international brand will command higher prices and additional customer demand.
Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. An international brand will command higher prices and additional customer demand.
I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future. " Investors want to buy into an entrepreneur with a startup that can provide evidence of an ability to double customer productivity, at half the cost, with patented technology.
Passionate entrepreneurs tend to talk on and on about their disruptive technology, their intent to change the world and free services, but if a business can’t provide quantifiable value to real customers, the dream will likely turn into a nightmare. Investors worry about competitors more than customer features.
A few years ago, before the Internet was pervasive, before everyone carried a smartphone and before do-it-yourself software tools were available for free, it was difficult to reach a critical mass of new customers without spending a million dollars on a website, custom software and television advertising. The control is yours to keep.
Sometimes great new businesses, such as Starbucks, are built on the oldest of base products, but with better customer service, distribution, marketing or a new pricing model, by a smart, determined entrepreneur such as Howard Schultz. The passion of a good entrepreneur is contagious to the team, investors and customers.
Instead, find and quantify the specific demographics of the subset that your solution best fits, and target all your features and messaging to those customers. A near-term customer value proposition. In all cases, you need customer support, formal processes and training in place. Solution production and support.
Gartner says our market will be $50 billion in 2015.” That’s probably the soft way of saying, we don’t have a patent or any “secret sauce” for a competitive advantage. We have strong interest from a major customer.” Otherwise talk about paying customers only. Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.
Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. According to Gartner, the opportunity is 100 million by 2015, with 12% compounded growth.” Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. According to Gartner, the opportunity is 100 million by 2015, with 12% compounded growth.” Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. According to Gartner, the opportunity is 100 million by 2015, with 12% compounded growth.” Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. According to Gartner, the opportunity is 100 million by 2015, with 12% compounded growth.” Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
Those technologies allow us to scale and offer a superior product for customers. Who are your core customers? Those are the three active areas, and we have several customers and have made lots of headway there. Why do these customers choose you rather than build their own systemsin particular, the carriers?
Smart investors, competitors and smart customers, will listen and watch carefully as you position your new offering. Taking action to file even a provisional patent shows you have the conviction and skill to execute while others have no barrier to entry. Use real case studies and customer feedback.
I built my own company around marketing services, and have been around business development, marketing, custom service, and sales, and also on the consumer side of technology, a little bit a mix of the two. Barry Lieberman: My backgruond is about 35 years in technology, business development, and sales and marketing. How did you two connect?
Entrepreneurs who have no patents, trade secrets or trademarks are usually deemed non-fundable and non-competitive. Demonstrate a concentrated focus on customers early on. Investors look for entrepreneurs who are customer-centric, rather than technology-centric. Accumulate customer advocates, testimonials and “letters of intent.”
Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. According to Gartner, the opportunity is 100 million by 2015, with 12% compounded growth.” Investors don’t need to know the implementation details of your patent or customer support plan. Don’t forget to ask for the order.
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