Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

According to Triller, it will use the acquisition to grow its live event programming. According to Triller, those events are run as a "way to inspire their customers and sales teams.". Financial terms of the buy were not announced.

Entertainment 113

Entertainment Acquisition Los Angeles Sales 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. 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. The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Yet as a business advisor I am convinced that making the jump from a startup to a the next unicorn takes a different mindset, and actions most entrepreneurs are reluctant to face. In my experience, less than half of founding entrepreneurs even aspire to stay and scale their company. Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is talking about the fact that there are over 2,000 billionaires in the world today, and how their innovative idea could make them one of the next ones. Becoming an entrepreneur is actually a commitment to a new lifestyle, certainly very exciting, but also facing many unknowns and risks.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

Startup 134

Startup Training Sales Entrepreneur 134

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2016

Mike Mothner: The business today, is we are a digital agency focused on customer acquisition and growth for businesses of all types. If it's a digital channel, and there are customers to connect with, we are looking to help those companies grow. We also have an office now in Houston as well as a result of the acquisition.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Paid Search El Segundo SEO 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. 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. The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships.

Startup 173

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 173

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Initially, all companies sell to customers who are the easiest to reach and most excited about the new product. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Customer 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

In reality, a simple Excel spreadsheet model customized around your assumptions can save you hours and avoid a wasted expense in validating alternative vendor and marketing decisions. Vendor costs are subject to change, customers are fickle, competitors come out of the woodwork and the economy can take a downturn. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sample Customer 147

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Fallacy: Startup ventures tend to evolve, especially after you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. Rely On A Public Relations Agency.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

The problem is that stakeholders, like marketing and sales, don’t know what the latest version of the roadmap is. Greathouse: Having run these groups, I know all about the inherent friction between sales and marketing with regard to lead quality, volume, etc., That causes friction internally.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2017

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup Training Sales 69

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). The tl;dr version is this: Many have been taught to focus on LTV/CAC ratio and if that number is substantively > 1 said entrepreneur feels great. Gross margin positive

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

We thought it might be interesting to talk with one of the fund's managing directors, Jeb Spencer about the fund's success in technology investments, plus how it managed to raise another fund in this kind of environment, plus its unique goal of getting companies to an acquisition--and not an IPO.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition Software Review Technical Review Equity 168

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Training Sales Technical Review 97

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. Unattributed – There is no such thing as organic customers.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. A passionate entrepreneur I met a while back had found that a certain algae could be grown cheaply, and could end world hunger.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

One or more of the following parameters are viewed by most investors as traction indicators, but good entrepreneurs are often creative and define their own to supplement these: Start with sales to-date for a priced offering. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

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 once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

Every entrepreneur thinks he can relax a bit after his business model is proven, funding is in place, and revenues are scaling as projected up that hockey-stick curve. Initially, all companies sell to customers who are the easiest to reach and most excited about the new product. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Pricing 123

Pricing Cloud Computing Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Fresh customer base. Marty Zwilling.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 13, 2009

Surely a savvy, modern-day entrepreneur can utilize online tools to leverage young peoples’ collective energy and fervor. . Customer Service – As newspaper boys were the face of their employers, savvy carriers learned to establish healthy customer relationships to facilitate timely collections and generous tips.

Web 2.0 222

Web 2.0 Web Sales Outsource Development 222

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

With the current volatile economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. This approach is thus not viable for entrepreneurs already out of money. Increased jeopardy and less fun for the entrepreneur. Yet reverse mergers are not all bad.

Funding 104

Funding Summary Entrepreneur Acquisition 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Activity 100

Activity Customer Custom Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2016

Given TimeHop’s failed experiment, I was especially intrigued when I learned that a team of a dozen remote entrepreneurs hack the typical corporate structure and creates a company that generated nearly $100 million in revenue. Dan Engel, Co-Founder and former CEO of FastSpring, is a highly successful serial entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Email Outsource Development 100

InfoChachkie

MARCH 3, 2011

In the spirit of the “land grab” mentality of the day, we emphasized usage of our screen sharing technology with no thought applied to how we would convert such users into paying customers. We then sorted these email addresses by company and initiated targeted sales campaigns wherever we identified a critical mass of users.

Customer 162

Customer Custom Technical Support Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Fresh customer base.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Competition 99