TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led both the Series D and E rounds for the company, which says it has seen 100% growth year over year and a tripling in revenue over the past 18 months. 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

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

Past investors also included Y Combinator, where GrubMarket was part of the Winter 2015 cohort), and for some more context, GrubMarket last raised money in April 2019 , $28 million at a $228 million valuation, a source says. Its opportunity comes in the form of disruption and a gap in the market.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

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

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

However, savvy startups can leverage LinkedIn to create a customer acquisition and a churn reduction tool. However, in some cases, especially with its larger customers, the company displaces a competitor. A key component of SimpleLegal’s strategy is the strong relationships it establishes with its customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Software Review Technical Review 100

Berkonomics

AUGUST 1, 2013

But businesses that expose their story to tens of millions of potential customers through the Internet need additional tools. You will recognize the value of these for any business, even if they have not been in common use in the past. CHURN (% customer cancelling each month). CHURN (% customer cancelling each month).

Acquisition 189

Acquisition Statistics Sales Customer 189

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Many entrepreneurs never get past their first-stage focus on their innovative product, to scaling the business globally, organizing a structure to handle thousands of employees, and concentrating their focus “on the business” rather than working “in the business.” Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

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

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

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Messenger : Rob Duva , Co-Founder, COO RingRevenue, prior Director of Customer Acquisition, CallWave. Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2012

Most then add customer service at the rollout, but very few really understand what it means to be truly customer centric, and even fewer really achieve it. Customer centricity is far more than providing excellent customer service, although that’s a step in the right direction. Focus on individual customer value.

Customer 90

Customer Custom Startup Pricing 90

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

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

For example, a few years ago, the company Beepi had a vision to build a new market for buying and selling used cars, but became overly focused on fundraising to grow fast, and ignored many customer complaints. Locked-in syndrome – do what worked in the past. Thus you are driven to short-term growth fixes versus radical change.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. Every business and brand has unique requirements to fit into their market environment. Strategic proficiency. Leadership brand development.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

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. There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

InfoChachkie

MARCH 2, 2010

In fact, in one instance, a dealer purchased all of our sets in order to “take them off the market.” However, as the number of non-collectors entering the sports memorabilia market in pursuit of financial gain increased, the dynamic of the industry changed and evolved in a manner similar to other mature collectible markets.

Pricing 138

Pricing Advertising Marketing Startup 138

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When a product is truly unique and demanded a retailer willingly promotes and sells it en masse in part because it does get margin on the good but also because it brings customers in the door who spend on other products. Ariel understood her customer?—?the So Why Does This Matter? the modern buyer of home products?—?better

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Of course it’s a competitive market so MCNs competing for top talent not only compete on rev share to talent but also to services that they provide talent. Building direct customer relationships with viewers (who want to tune into your channels). Selling at smaller retailers will net you fewer customers and higher margins.

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

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. In fact, the lessons we learned allowed us to effectively convert the majority of our 50,000 free GoToMyPC Beta users into paying customers.

Customer 162

Customer Custom Technical Support Startup 162

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 13, 2016

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. Email readers, continue here…] What if you had abandoned that market, reallocated your resources, and focused instead upon other non–competitive geographical or industry segments?

Resource 120

Resource Competition Examples Customer 120

socalTECH

JULY 9, 2012

We thought it would be insightful for our readerswho are usually looking to get acquired by other companieson what the thought process of those large companies making those acquisitions are. For a company like yours, what goes into your acquisition strategy and what thoughts went behind the Anue acquisition?

Acquisition 173

Acquisition IP Networking Marketing 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. It still amazes me that some entrepreneurs seem totally at a loss on this question, or customer retention rate, or even margin expectations. Show that you have to ability to move the ball forward.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

And we wanted a head of global marketing. 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. I wanted them to have a market lead before others could try and build what Ethan was working on. Nice sweep!

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. Every business and brand has unique requirements to fit into their market environment. Strategic proficiency. Leadership brand development.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Organization Coach Invest 124

socalTECH

JANUARY 3, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions from Southern California's technology industry. Lexus upended the US car market with vehicles that were light years ahead of the junk Detroit was producing. Two big lessons in 2018. I doubt it. Just maybe.

Capital 113

Capital Southern California El Segundo SaaS 113

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

We are bridging the gap between casual, self service dating apps, and traditional matchmaking, and doing it for business professionals in the dating market. Right now, there are no real efficient products in the dating market. Constance Curtis: I have been a successful entrepreneur for the past thirteen years.

Startup 203

Startup Entrepreneur Southern California Netflix 203

socalTECH

MAY 16, 2019

We're going after the fat middle of the market. However, there's this huge middle area, where people are looking for account executives, customer success reps, account managers, enterprise reps, that is a big market. How did you start Sales Insider from your past company, Central Desktop, after you sold it?

Sales 133

Sales Startup Software Marketing 133

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

We caught up with co-founder and COO Alexander Israel late yesterday, ahead of the announcement, to have a quick chat with him about the acquisition and his experience--along with co-founder Sam Friedman--of starting up and selling his company. How'd the acquisition come about? The acquisition really has brought things to fruition.

Santa Monica 100

Santa Monica Startup Acquisition Ideas 100

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

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2012

Last week, Pasadena-based Punchcard (www.punchcard.com) launched its mobile apps, which help local retailers provide rewards to loyal customers. It provides consumer rewards, and on the merchant side, it allows them to identify local customers and reacquire them by pushing them offers and incentives to come back. What is Punchcard?

Southern California 245

Southern California Idealab Startup Customer 245

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 4, 2016

Many of the tactics we deployed simply do not work in today’s market. According to Nielson, Expertcity was a top-five online advertiser for an 18-month period, based on our total marketing spend. I knew that every dollar I spent to acquire a customer resulted in a 4x return. The More Things Change, The More Things Change.

SaaS 100

SaaS Yahoo Advertising Customer 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

We''ve spent the past year and a half working with two of seven board-certified, Neuropsychologists, to develop a strength assessment test, to develop a strength profile for each kid. Jon Kraft: One of the things we''re doing, is a lot of testing, early--not just the product, but testing the market. Tell me about your new company?

Help 252

Help Idealab Activity Startup 252

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2018

For this morning's interview, we caught up with Elizabeth Cholawsky , the new CEO of Santa Barbara-based HG Data (www.hgdata.com), which develops software which helps marketers and salespeople understand the "technology stack" of their potential customers and prospects. Those are just two examples of the customers we well directly to.

Santa Barbara 113

Santa Barbara High Tech Outsource Development Startup 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

The biggest hurdle, initially, was getting suppliers past the �friend or foe� question. From a customer standpoint, though, it's pretty clear. So, from the customer side, it was much easier. We bring value to those small guys who can't compete against a $60 million marketing budget. The supplier is the hard part.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

As a model, think high-quality marketing collateral, with text and graphics in columns and sidebars, but focused on the value of your business, rather than selling your product. I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future. Clearly define your business model.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2019

Ian talked to us about the rewards and challenges of being an entrepreneur, plus how important it is to manage lifetime value (LTV) of a customer versus customer acquisition cost (CAC) in making a successful company. (We I worked a lot and didn't have a lot of free time, but my past time was going out. What is Discotech?

Startup 113

Startup Equity Customer Custom 113

InfoChachkie

MAY 14, 2012

During my tenure at Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting), one of my responsibilities was leading our online marketing, a role I retained until our eventual acquisition by Citrix. When we launched GoToMyPC in 2001, the rules of online marketing were still being written.

Content 171

Content Platform Paid Search OpenX 171