Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. o CPM model gave him control over the information in the acquisition cycle so he focused on that. - Since selling Matt has gone on to become one of the smartest angels I have seen operate. Do whatever it takes to get it done.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

They actually lost about $175 million in cash in that quarter, FWIW. I know this seems obvious but I promise you that even smart people forget this when talking about profitability. Do 20% of the customers make 80% of the revenue or do the top 3 customers represent 80% of the revenue. Is it one product line or multiple?

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

I roughly know about MakeItWork, but tell me a bit about where you spend your time day-to-day. I have a few meetings with the team, perhaps about the website design, radio show structure, an event we are working on, a sponsorship (perhaps the uniforms for our youth basketball team). I recently posted about SEO for Startups.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

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?

Customer 143

Customer Custom Examples IBM 143

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Many have seen the acquisition as an attempt to fight back against Shopify's rampant growth during the coronavirus pandemic. The Amazon/Selz Acquisition. Nothing is changing for our customers at this time, and we’ll be in touch with customers as and when we have further updates. What is Amazon Getting from the Deal?

News 136

News Acquisition Platform Sales 136

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

And we wanted a head of global marketing. When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. RedBeacon went on to sell to HomeDepot in what was considered a very successful acquisition on all sides. But Ethan had left by the time of the acquisition. What do we like about OpenTable? Nice sweep!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Berkonomics

AUGUST 7, 2014

Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you. How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? The first rule of marketing and positioning is to listen to the marketplace. There’s an answer for that. Hire consultants. But listen!

Marketing 176

Marketing Metrics Education Resource 176

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

But LA-based performance marketing agency MuteSix didn’t wait that long to build its business around scaling DTC brands. If you have growth marketing agencies or freelancers to recommend, please fill out our survey !). What can you tell us about MuteSix as an agency? Image Credits: MuteSix.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. The point isn’t to “build a business on YouTube” but rather to use YouTube as a marketing platform to build a video business that works across many platforms. This is 14% of world population and 33% of all people online.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

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 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2016

Last week El Segundo-based Wpromote acquired fellow marketing agency Standing Dog, in a deal which brings the company to 260 employees, and continues to grow the company. Tell our readers who haven't heard of Wpromote, what your business is all about? 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

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Pasadena-based Near, which provides marketing data about audiences to brands, has named technology veteran Gladys Kong as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Kong was previously the CEO of UberMedia, and had joined near after its acquisition of UberMedia. Near's CEO is Anil Mathews.

Pasadena 113

Pasadena Acquisition Marketing Customer 113

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. Jason looks at the issues around "sunk cost."

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Unfortunately, the market is changing so fast these days that any upward climb can level off quickly, as the core business growth begins to stall. I’m not talking here about a small pivot. These are appearing earlier and earlier in emerging companies, as well as in mid-sized and mature companies: Your original market becomes saturated.

Startup 106

Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Customer 106

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

How can marketers make better decisions and get better results from their online marketing? Pasadena-based Smartify (www.getsmartify.com)''s CEO, Carla Bourque , recently talked to us about the company''s online marketing platform, and how it differentiates itself from a lot of other competitors in the market.

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

When people talk today about buying food, alongside traditional grocery stores and other physical food markets, they increasingly talk about grocery delivery companies, restaurant delivery platforms, meal kit services and more that make or provide food to people by way of apps. ” I don’t doubt that he means it.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

recently wrote a post talking about how some VCs meddle in operating company decisions or some executive teams are too reliant on VCs to jump in and make hard calls for them. It isn’t uncommon for CEOs to talk about biz dev deals prematurely, hint at product announcements or even hint at acquisitions.

Startup 150

Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Startups in a world of massive markets can be confusing. The law of large numbers, platforms that can make your company blow up unexpectedly and the trendy nature of tech markets can be deceiving. This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.”

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. The problem is you don't yet have product/market fit, and until you do, you don't really know what to build. These companies are very early-stage and definitely have not shown product/market fit.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

In one industry I know well, the dominant player with 22% market share was acquired by one of the largest companies in the technology world. What if you had abandoned that market, reallocated your resources, and focused instead upon other non–competitive geographical or industry segments? Been skewered for slow customer service?

Resource 156

Resource Competition Examples Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Ric Dragon, an expert in online marketing, in his classic book. Due to the information overload felt by consumers today, marketing at the generic segment level no longer works.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

However, savvy startups can leverage LinkedIn to create a customer acquisition and a churn reduction tool. Not knowing about a paper they have published, a talk they have given, or a job change they’ve made is just laziness. However, in some cases, especially with its larger customers, the company displaces a competitor.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Software Review Technical Review 100

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The latest investment is being used to finance the acquisition of another company in the space — Appetize, a digital and mobile commerce payments platform for enterprises such as sports and entertainment venues, theme parks and zoos. The acquisition of Appetize extends SpotOn’s reach to the enterprise space in a major way.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

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

MARCH 20, 2020

Unfortunately, the market is changing so fast these days that any upward climb can level off quickly, as the core business growth begins to stall. I’m not talking here about a small pivot. These are appearing earlier and earlier in emerging companies, as well as in mid-sized and mature companies: Your original market becomes saturated.

Pricing 123

Pricing Cloud Computing Customer Custom 123

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2012

Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based Wittlebee (www.wittlebee.com) announced the acquisition of its own, clothing company--Cottonseed Clothing Company--as it continues to build out its subscription, children's clothing service. As a quick refresher for those who haven't used Wittlebee yet, can you briefly talk about what you offer?

Acquisition 167

Acquisition Help Social Media Startup 167

TechCrunch LA

JULY 23, 2019

Now the five-year-old firm, with newly found significant capital in the bank , is attempting to replicate its success in international markets. On Tuesday, Haptik announced it has acqui-hired Convrg, a Los Angeles-based startup that develops chatbots, to serve customers in North America. 60% of all software is bought in the U.S.,

Los Angeles 209

Los Angeles Angel Startup Google 209

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. I suggest looking for painful problems to solve, rather than “easier to use” or “nice to have” solutions, for customers with money.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the go-to-market strategy.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

Expand the market for both. Typically, there are market opportunities that neither of your core competencies can win alone. If your customers would benefit by having products from both companies, you might negotiate the opportunity to include the other’s product as an add-on. Think about the future.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Many experts are certain that successful entrepreneurs are the ones with the most inspiration (passion and dream), while others will assert that it’s about more perspiration (working harder). Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. Increasing customer focus and loyalty.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

When people talk about “online food delivery” services, chances are that they’ll think of the Uber Eats, Instacarts and Getirs of this world. “We are still the first mover in this space,” Xu said when I asked him in an interview about rivals. It is currently is the company’s biggest customer.).

Startup 249

Startup Platform Software Los Angeles 249

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should select only social media for marketing, or stick with digital media, or just count on traditional media. Social media as a marketing tool is here to stay, and is now widely accepted. These give good customer connection and SEO. The tools and measurements are the same for both.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

As a result, we shared in capturing a new high-end market, without major new marketing or development. All this was done without damaging anyone’s credibility, or stealing customers. Here is a summary of each: Complementary strengths allows extended market penetration. Ability to up-sell customers with related products.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Customer acquisition cost.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150