Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

exabytes per month at the end of 2017, of which more than half was video. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths. Accelerate: speed is life in this new world.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

From its start in 2015, the number of registered users has “suddenly” climbed from 45 million in 2017 to a reported 300 million by the end of 2020. In today’s world of social marketing, it takes someone knowledgeable if not expert in understanding how to use available resources in promotion and marketing. Third: cost.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Given the competition coming into the market, it’s no wonder that Wrench is raising additional capital to expand its footprint into new markets. Wrench raised $4 million in its first round of financing, which TechCrunch covered back in 2017. Wrench raises $4 million to bring auto repairs to your door.

Demand 100

Demand Services Los Angeles Mobile 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2023

Millions have bowed out of the labor market. Many of these retired from the labor market. Thanks to COVID-19 and the policies of previous US administrations, immigration to the US sharply declined from 2017 to 2022. Compared to previous decades, fewer people are looking for jobs. Since the pandemic, the US has added more jobs.

Layoffs 113

Layoffs Technical Review Startup Class 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Yet I find that few of today’s workers realize that succeeding as a freelancer requires a whole new focus on “marketing” yourself. As you know, things can change quickly, as businesses try to survive and adapt to an evolving market, so it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Be an advocate for change in your current role.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

What sized team can I afford in order to sell, market & provide service to these customers? In the case of MakeSpace we had huge initial successes in New York City as Rahul led the scaling of our drivers, our trucks and our warehouses and we figured out the right price points to beat the local competition.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. Anyone who has worked in a large company further knows that timing a product launch or a new marketing strategy has more to do with internal politics than reading market forces. When should you start a company?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Xconomy

DECEMBER 28, 2017

ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals 2017. ICPC World Finals 2017, held in Rapid City. In 2017, it was in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was always sort of shocking to people, even on a national level, when they would hear [that Rapid City was hosting ICPC 2017],” Jensen said. “And

Coach 75

Coach Technical Review Carson Networking 75

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

exabytes per month at the end of 2017, of which more than half was video. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths. Accelerate: speed is life in this new world.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019

Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president of Ignite Social Media , one of the best known social media marketing agencies.

Social Media 95

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 95

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2017

Every opportunity is global, but so is the competition. You must capitalize on the uncertainties in your market, rather than letting the unknowns slow you down. Seek direct customer feedback, via social media and personal interactions, rather than old market research. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/29/2017.

Competition 60

Competition Customer Custom Social Media 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2017

Focus simply means launching your first and most memorable initiative where you see a unique skill and experience fit, your best competitive positioning with the least risk, and the greatest potential return. Zero in on a specific market segment. Realistically characterize the competition. Eliminating world hunger is too broad.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 63

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

I’m sure you understand that every new business starts with passion, and maybe even some deep domain experience, to fully appreciate a painful market need, with a large and growing set of customers with money for your solution. In this age of information overload and the Internet, even the best solution needs marketing to get noticed.

Startup 65

Startup Competition Resource Snapchat 65

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

Kevin sold his last company, Santa Barbara-based Graphiq, in July of 2017 to Amazon, but has a long history of successful companies, including founding DoubleClick. We're looking for companies that have already brought a product to market, with $500,000 to a million dollars in revenues in ARR. Tell us a little bit about the firm?

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

A huge mistake I see is that VC tells an entrepreneur no based on a set of reason that this VC felt weren’t right with the business (market size, traction to date, too many competitors, no big exits in the category or whatever easy excuses VCs have developed to politely say no) and the entrepreneur lets this get inside his or her head. “I

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2017

I’m convinced that you can’t stay competitive that way with today’s customers, and today’s employees. It’s time to push decision making down into the organization –insisting that the people closest to the customer and the markets learn and make the decisions. Anything you or your team knows about the market today may change tomorrow.

Competition 50

Competition Organization Customer Custom 50

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 19, 2020

Although Arena of Valor didn’t quite take off in Western markets, it has done well in Southeast Asia in part thanks to Tencent’s publishing partnership with the region’s internet giant Garena. That raises the question of whether Tencent can replicate its success in overseas markets where its social apps are largely absent.

Tips 149

Tips Activision Mobile Tool 149

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. The market scope for your solution should be quantified in non-technical terms, with data sourced from professionals in the industry, rather than your own opinion. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

In my role as an angel investor in startups, almost every pitch I see highlights some real innovation in technology, business model, or market opportunity. You may attract early adopters, who love everything new, but the mainstream market will be elusive. Create an entirely new market space or new category.

Netflix 54

Netflix Social Media Competition Customer 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2019

A large portion of your competitive advantage and your potential value to investors is the size of your intellectual property portfolio. Select it well – marketers will tell you that you will be selling your name, more than your products. When someone says Intellectual Property (IP), most entrepreneurs think only of patents.

IP 93

IP Invest Patents Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2018

The reality is that successful businesses these days require an equally elegant business model, with the right marketing, delivery channel, price, and target customers, to get real traction. Products too expensive for the market won’t succeed, and prices too low will leave you exposed. Finalize your channel and marketing strategy.

Product 55

Product Pricing Startup Customer 55

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2017

Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president Ignite Social Media , of one of the best known social media marketing agencies.

Social Media 64

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 64

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

So, if you're a marketer, how do you track and encourage those word-of-mouth recommendations? We have our own suite of applications for Android, iOS, Mac, and Pac, and so forth, but our primary go to market is working with the existing channels, carriers, device OEMs, as well as social media and chat applications.

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2017

Let me be clear – technology and market-driven need not be mutually exclusive! The best companies find a way to drive the market with a solution based on their technology, rather than push their new technology as the solution for the marketplace. Is your product tempered with actual market and customer feedback?

Technology 53

Technology Customer Custom Marketing 53

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2017

More than ever, businesses need to take full advantage of automation, data, and analytics to run their business more productively and competitively. Certainly it’s important to optimize current operations, but in this age of rapidly changing demands and competitors, it’s more important change quickly as the market changes.

CTO Coach 59

CTO Coach CIO Startup Competition 59

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

From my perspective, projecting financial returns is part of the homework every business person needs to do in sizing customer opportunity, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value, before expending their own resources in a highly risky venture. Set a target growth and market penetration rate.

Pricing 57

Pricing Startup Entrepreneur Invest 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

In the heat of scaling the business, it’s tempting to skip the cost and time of finding qualified job candidates, and enlist those close at hand, without paying them a competitive wage for the hard work and commitment you need. Very few people are experts in all facets of a new business, including finance, sales, marketing, and operations.

Entrepreneur 72

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 72

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2017

As an advisor to many new businesses, I see a host of advantages for every new business by being socially responsible today: Expands the potential customer target market size. Increases customer advocacy and loyalty in all markets. Is seen by customers as a competitive edge. Improves your team motivation and productivity.

Customer 64

Customer Custom Statistics Pricing 64

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

According to a recent Ernst & Young global report , the first half of 2017 was the most active first half by global number of IPOs since 2007. The reasons are a lot more complex than the meltdown of key investment banks in the US a few years ago, so don’t expect a big change in the numbers soon, even with recent stock market rallies.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Report Entrepreneur 87

Inverted Software

JANUARY 2, 2019

In order to be competitive with other cryptocurrency miners, though, a cryptocurrency miner needs a computer that can keep up with the calculations, one that is loaded with GPUs. When the cryptocurrency market crashed, however, mining was no longer as profitable. Bitcoin value traded at an all time high at the end of 2017.

Class 58

Class Sales Demand Marketing 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. Reports suggest that 90% of today’s shoppers skip marketing pitches, to research online before they buy, and over 50% check user reviews before making a decision. Don’t start from how you want to sell.

Search Engine Optimization 58

Search Engine Optimization Startup SEO Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2017

Success in today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive business environment requires a total alignment between the needs of each business function and the priorities of all team members. Failed strategies erode your competitive position. Update skill requirements as technology and the market changes.

Company 54

Company Companies Technical Review Coach 54

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

“We want to inspire, but we also want to be realistic and show beauty in real life,” Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss said in a 2017 interview with Inc, just as the brand had reached what Weiss herself described as “cult status.” billion company in the brutally competitive beauty industry, especially one with such broad appeal.

Startup 280

Startup Netflix Los Angeles Innocal 280

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

Don’t assume anything until you have done market research and listened to real customers. In today’s world, the market evolves even faster than the technology. Business objectives need to be quantified and measured to assess progress and positioning against competition. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 01/17/2017.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Test new things and keep testing in your market for things that work. Old views of change rates are no longer competitive. Look for growth in emerging global market geographies. There will always be markets where the culture, income levels, or the products don’t lend themselves to online.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

For example, in a new book, “ If You’re in a Dogfight, Become a Cat! ,” Leonard Sherman, executive in residence at the Columbia Business School, suggests that you should stay out of the competitive dogfight and continually redefine the game on your own terms. Expand the market to new domains.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Product 67

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2017

While you are still thinking, your competition will be stealing your market or the opportunity itself may go away or evolve. Action leads to a market reaction, which may spark another new idea. You act, therefore something changes, and in observing that reaction you gain market knowledge. Time is money in business.

Ideas 72

Ideas Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 72