Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

Your idea may indeed be a worthy cause, like feeding the hungry, but hungry people rarely have any money, and third-world governments are not a viable market. On the other hand, if you can find ten or more similar existing competitors, your chances of being found by even a large market is small.

Entrepreneur

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. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Metrics

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Integrate social media into your overall marketing strategy. Most businesses need a mix of offline and online marketing, promotions, loyalty programs, and community involvement. Use business metrics and tools to tune your efforts. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 04/25/2019. Do your homework before you begin.

Social Media

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2019

The marketing metrics covers support as part of experience. If your marketing metrics and budget ignore the fact that you have call center queues thirty minutes long, or no coverage of online reviews or social media, your customer service is not keeping up with competitors.

Customer

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

In 2019 market conditions often are such that founders retain control of the board through the A-round, usually in a 2–1 (common to investor) ratio but sometimes it’s 3–2 (common to investor). If your metric move immediate up-and-to-the-right? I’ve outlined above why I think boards are important so I won’t repeat it here.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? I predict that one day soon customer-centric strategies, and metrics like customer lifetime value, will be seen as the standard in business management, rather than an exception in a product-centric world. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 02/19/2019.

Customer

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2019

Most people agree that leadership is primarily a set of behaviors that capitalize on relationships and a current market and customer understanding in a complex world. You need their commitment, feedback, and continued support as the market changes. Marty Zwilling First published on CayenneConsulting on 05/09/2019.

Tips

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

Set target date milestones and metrics to gauge progress. The result was a product that was bloated and late to market. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 01-09-2019. Don’t forget the local Chamber of Commerce and local business executives. Quantify expected results, and the measurements you will use.

Ideas

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

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. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/25/2019. Granting trust is a strong signal that motivates returning the favor.

Mentor

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. This requires constant study of what your customers value, what competitors offer, and your target market. Strategy can’t be a one-time effort.

Technical Review

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2019

The biggest challenge these days doesn’t seem to be in starting a new business, but sustaining it against the onslaught of market changes and new competitors that emerge every day. For a successful launch and scalable growth, they need to establish many checkpoints, with metrics to assess their progress and alignment with the vision.

Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I recommend a ten-slide pitch to start, reviewed by friends and advisors, to be expanded to a ten-to-twenty-page business plan with opportunity sizing, cost and price details, competitors, marketing and sales strategy, financial projections, and resources required. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors.

Ideas

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?

Venture Capital

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. Incorporate AI-powered data and metrics systems. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 12/12/2019. My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology.

Marketing

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

Some chaos is normal in every new business, but many wait far too long before they install metrics based on “best practices,” and fail to attack obvious bottlenecks with a vengeance. Ineffective and expensive marketing campaigns. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 11/26/2019. Use multiple small orders at first.

Outsource Development

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

Owners realize that customers and the market change rapidly these days, and innovative change is necessary to keep ahead of competition and survive. Help your owner get beyond the misleading metrics of employee overtime and salary increases. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 03/18/2019.

Technical Advisors

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2019

More and more customers these days are doing their own marketing research, scanning internet reviews and feedback from friends, rather than trusting messages that you push out through advertising. Inbound marketing requires that you be where your customers are, or they won’t find you or care.

Marketing