Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Think of Blockbuster and Toys ‘R’ Us , both of whom missed customer changes and the move to online. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends. Remember when you were a startup?

Custom 143

Custom Customer Examples IBM 143

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side. In the U.S.,

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

general manager ( Stefano Benatti ) — filled more orders in the first two months of 2020 than all its sales for 2019, according to Cevolini. The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Track competition is a secondary arena for Energica. Image Credits: TechCrunch.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Amazon is very customer-centric, but it can make all the difference in retail as well as online. Status factors are more important than demographics.

Custom 85

Custom Customer Product Metrics 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. For example, I recently picked up my phone to call a well-advertised local company for a TV repair.

Custom 83

Custom Customer Demand Examples 83

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2019

I’m more convinced that technology merely enables disruption, and changing customer interests and needs really causes it. Other companies keep the focus on their customers, and seem to thrive on disruption, much less survive. They make it their top business priority to understand, anticipate, and gratify customers’ needs.

Custom 54

Custom Customer Technical Review Design 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2019

Much has been written recently about the requirement to focus today on the total customer experience, as a competitive edge or even for survival. The challenge I hear from savvy business owners and entrepreneurs operating on a shoestring is that providing a superior customer experience costs money.

Custom 96

Custom Customer Coach Pricing 96

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

To refresh your memory, angel investors are typically high net worth individuals, accredited by the SEC and willing to invest their own money in a high-potential startup for a share of the ownership. If your target customer is a business, rather than a consumer, I recommend you skip crowdfunding as poorly applicable.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2022

We all have to communicate and collaborate with other people at work, but most of us start out instinctively trying to maintain an emotional distance from others in the work environment. Yet the 2019 Office Romance Survey by Vault, Inc. Yet the 2019 Office Romance Survey by Vault, Inc. Can be a competitive advantage.

Startup 119

Startup Course Competition Social Media 119

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. In today’s highly competitive ad environment, both content and data are kings. But these days, ground up is tougher. The key takeaway?

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2019

Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is convinced that his or her idea could be the next big startup, blossoming into a billion dollar unicorn. Yet I find that only a few are able to put their passion aside for a moment, and compare their solution to the attributes that really attract a large market of new customers.

Startup 91

Startup Custom Customer Examples 91

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

We spoke with CEO and co-founder Dan LeBlanc , a veteran of ProFlowers and FTD, on how he started the company and he problem the startup is solving for direct to consumer brands. What does your startup do? That makes it difficult to figure out what it costs to acquire a customer, and what a customer is worth.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. When you look at how much median valuations were driven up in the past 5 years alone it’s bananas. We’ll just wait until companies that last raised in 2019 or 2020 come to market.”

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

As a business and entrepreneur advisor, I have no trouble getting owners and managers to agree that change is happening faster and faster in the consumer and technology world, requiring them to keep their business more agile , just to keep up. They started with a focus on books, but expanded online access to cover almost everything.

Competition 102

Competition Examples Startup Resource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 7, 2019

The simple answer is that we all have to start thinking like entrepreneurs, rather than entitled employees. Start tracking your costs as well as income elements. Every employee or entrepreneur needs to build a competitive reputation on the Internet, through a website, blog, LinkedIn profile, and social media.

Artificial Inteligence 96

Artificial Inteligence Startup Social Media Training 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

Image via Flickr by Alan Most of you who start new ventures don’t think of yourselves as sales experts. Yet in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world, top notch sales and marketing skills are critical to the success of every business. Thus, in my view, it’s never too early to brush up on your selling and marketing skills.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

We all have to communicate and collaborate with other people at work, but most of us start out instinctively trying to maintain an emotional distance from others in the work environment. Yet the 2019 Office Romance Survey by Vault, Inc. Yet the 2019 Office Romance Survey by Vault, Inc. Can be a competitive advantage.

Startup 94

Startup Course Competition Social Media 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

If you are looking for funding and customers for your new business, you need to identify your “unique selling proposition” (USP) right up front, in 30 seconds or less, to differentiate yourself in today’s information overload. Investor and customer attention spans are short, and both will write you off quickly.

.Net 73

.Net Examples Custom Customer 73

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

I’m convinced that is why many great business leaders remember working their way up the ranks. For example, Howard Schultz was not the founder of Starbucks, but started his career in one of their first 60 shops. This starts with picking your roles carefully – to be in the right place at the right time.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Custom 75

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

An Insider’s Perspective “Bird Zero” that are custom designed by the company There is a story arc of the electric scooter market that took the world by storm in 2018, was second-guessed late in the year and has quietly re-emerged as a powerful force of growth where few really appreciate the speed and scale of what has happened. Simply put?—?there

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 08/20/2019.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Tech.Co

MARCH 1, 2018

And while that cliché has been said about everything in the Lone Star state for years, it rings particularly true for the hottest startups showcasing their big innovations at SXSW Startup Night 2018 presented by the Kauffman Foundation and TechCo. Beast Mode is taking on a new meaning in the startup world.

Startup 79

Startup Mentor Platform Help 79

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

As a business advisor, when I bring this up, at best I will hear the defense that you are focused on the strategy of the moment, such as such as how to increase sales, or reach a new market. Highlight your competitive value, not your technology. Customers and the market don’t stand still, so your strategy can’t either.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Custom Customer Competition 87

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

A theme I often hear from the entrepreneurs and startups I advise is that once they see that first surge of traction from customers, they can relax and enjoy life for a change. Most businesses have learned to ask their customers what they want, and then work diligently to provide it. Building a business is not a solo act.

Ideas 77

Ideas Custom Customer Competition 77

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Opendoor has opened the door, so to speak, for startups to apply their technical expertise in search, marketplaces and audience segmentation to rethink the very antiquated and analogue world of property. All are previous investors from the startup’s last round, a $16.55 million Series A also led by QED.

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

In my work with new and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most struggle with putting together a written business plan, often pointing out that someone they know started a business without anything written down. Starting a new business starts with selling everyone, including yourself, on the viability and specifics of your idea.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Tech.Co

MAY 26, 2020

Amazon started with books, so we will too. And even better still, it offers a great deal for the publications who participate in the program, offering a competitive 8% conversion rate and an impressive 10% commission on each sale (more than double Amazon’s 4.5% See our full guide on How to Make Money from a Website. commission).

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Buzzfeed News Networking 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2019

People relationships are the key to career growth, more than results, and customer relationships build brands, rather than the other way around. That’s more than enough to put you ahead of your competition. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 06/03/2019. Our social and relationship needs change as we age.

Social Media 96

Social Media News Tool Email 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

The challenge is that many new business owners still don’t know where to start. The right strategy for branding these days is to create a most memorable total customer experience for customers, rather than a focus on hyping the product and the company name. Engage customers with a contest, event, or give-away.

Social Media 73

Social Media Custom Customer Mobile 73

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2019

For example, I grew up in IBM when Bill Gates was helping us deliver the first IBM PC. Yet many business owners and leaders don’t seem to understand the basic principles of building business relationships and connections, or don’t know where to start. Build connections with key customers and competitors.

IBM 87

IBM IBM Ideas Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2019

A platform is a business model and capability that can be accessed and customized by external users. Create and practice an obsession over customers. Make sure everyone knows it’s their job to maintain empathy and exceed customer expectations. Institute deep metrics measuring all aspects of the customer experience.

Commerce 89

Commerce Artificial Inteligence Cloud Computing Platform 89

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

While starting a new business always involves tackling many new challenges, I’ve personally found myself reluctant to ask for help. Most experienced business people love to help, but they don’t have the time or interest to give you a course on basic business concepts, like the need to be competitive.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2019

As an advisor to entrepreneurs for many years, I strongly disagree, and still see the value of at least combining intuition with logical analysis, as we face customers and markets driven by relationships, emotions, and unpredictable social trends. If your inner critic procrastinates, start working on that task right now.

Examples 81

Examples Tool Statistics Tips 81

InfoChachkie

MARCH 21, 2019

Opportunity knocked when one of her customers was spotted at a high-end boutique, wearing one of Ida’s outfits. The store’s owner, Enid Bissett, asked the customer where she had purchased the dress. The two women established a custom dress shop called Enid Frocks. This public exposure drove wealthy customers to Enid Frocks.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Design Custom Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

In my view, success starts with nurturing and bringing in the right people to make it happen, or being one of the right people from within if you want your career to blossom. If you act, you learn from other people, especially customers, and you build momentum. Start your tenure from today.

Company 93

Company Companies Software Review IBM 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2019

If you listen primarily to the popular press, you could easily be convinced that all successful startup businesses are built by one smart person, such as Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, or Jeff Bezos at Amazon. Collaboration has to start at the top. Technology startups need experts more than collaboration.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Technical Review Ideas Tool 94