Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Focus on activities rather than results.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Customer loyalty and retention.

Metrics 106

Metrics Startup Sales Statistics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” You have to hear your customer’s dreams, goals, passions, and aspirations.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Marketing 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to prompt you when changes to your business may be required: Look for a changing customer sense of value. You may be getting killed today by customer expectations you never worried about just a few years ago. Establish and evaluate metrics at multiple levels.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

The challenge is to avoid the bad risks, while actively seeking and managing the smart risks. As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. It’s hard to recover from a tarnished image.

Resource 121

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 121

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Netflix as a service has always prided itself on movie recommendations that are tailored specifically to you plus user ratings on the quality of films. Some customer segments value the DVD business and these may be more price sensitive. Some customer segments value the convenience of instantly available films. No, probably not.

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. One customer is not traction, and beta tests with a thousand customers at no cost don’t count. Average transaction size and revenue per customer.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2023

Test specifics and potential on friends, advisors, and potential customers. To succeed in business, every passion and purpose has to be translated into real products, services, customers, and impact on the community. Measure customer value perception at every stage.

Satisfaction 114

Satisfaction Customer Custom Social Media 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

Many startups and mature businesses have not yet accepted the fact that customer satisfaction and loyalty in this “always connected” age are about more than product and service quality. They are all about how customers broadcast their pleasure or unhappiness to others. Customer upsell: Sell more to existing customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Satisfaction Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2015

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” You have to hear your customer’s dreams, goals, passions, and aspirations.

Customer 100

Customer Custom .Net Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2019

There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. But very few are talking about how to measure your results and return on investment (ROI), and the right metrics for optimizing your marketing environment. Social media is the realm of public opinion and customer conversations.

Social Media 98

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2014

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” You have to hear your customer’s dreams, goals, passions, and aspirations.

Customer 98

Customer Custom .Net Competition 98

Berkonomics

MAY 20, 2021

Building efficiency into every corporate activity should be a corporate mandate, one to be discussed interdepartmentally, to be refereed by the CEO. Most often it is the time of the chief architect of the product or service you provide, or of the best developers of that product. The flip side of efficient time management.

Resource 156

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2013

Many startups and mature businesses have not yet adapted to the fact that customer satisfaction in this “always connected” age is more than product and service quality. It’s more about which customers broadcast their pleasure or unhappiness to others. Customer upsell, selling more to existing customers.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Satisfaction Social Media 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Balance of passion with reality and customer feedback. A strong vision and deep insight may get your business off the ground, but long-term success requires constant data analysis, metrics, and attention to your customer feedback. The competition will improve, the market will change, and your customers will demand more.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I’m not suggesting that you model your startup after the complex corporate organizations you hated in your last job, but there are at least eight key functions and activities that every investor expects to find in a startup proposal with any real potential to change the world. Customer receivables collection and vendor payments.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. Assess social media relevance to your product or service.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Startup Platform 126

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? This is the ability to appropriately analyze problems, assess risks, and take responsibility for problem-dictated and market-dictated changes, while still sustaining the day-to-day business activities.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Incorporating a business entity early through online services. Early customer feedback will position your solution, and help you make pivots before critical time and money are lost. Networking no longer is primarily a face-to-face serial activity.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Potential customers these days rely more and more on name recognition for credibility and new brand adoption. These days, customers are drawn to support worthy causes, such as saving the environment or feeding the hungry. Focus on a customer pain that your solution satisfies better than any competitor.

Marketing 116

Marketing Resource Training Startup 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

It’s always tempting to think that more product variations will satisfy more customers and lead to new sales. 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. Excessive support and return activities.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Obviously, the platforms and how you use social media would be different for lead generation versus service and support.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

The challenge is to avoid the bad risks, while actively seeking and managing the smart risks. As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. It’s hard to recover from a tarnished image.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

According to most investors I know, traction is some clear evidence that the “dogs are eating the dog food” – usually meaning that you have at least one customer paying full price for your solution. If your phone app or service is free, then the number of users or downloads better be impressive and growing exponentially.

Tips 79

Tips Metrics Technical Review Customer 79

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

I believe the right attributes and habits can be recognized and learned, and here are seven key ones that I find in successful entrepreneurs: Actively recruits others and solicits win-win relationships. Asks hard questions, and actively listens to critical feedback. Sets goals and milestones, with metrics to track progress.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I’m not suggesting that you model your startup after the complex corporate organizations you hated in your last job, but there are at least eight key functions and activities that every investor expects to find in a startup proposal with any real potential to change the world. Customer receivables collection and vendor payments.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Please be able to provide me with a few specific examples of different types of customers, what they need, what the system will do for them. What are your key Startup Metrics ? Do you transact immediately or on delivery of some product or service?

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Please be able to provide me with a few specific examples of different types of customers, what they need, what the system will do for them. What are your key Startup Metrics ? Do you transact immediately or on delivery of some product or service?

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Incorporating a business entity early through online services. Early customer feedback will position your solution, and help you make pivots before critical time and money are lost. Networking no longer is primarily a face-to-face serial activity.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2017

There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. But very few are talking about how to measure your results and return on investment (ROI), and the right metrics for optimizing your marketing environment. Social media is the realm of public opinion and customer conversations.

Social Media 69

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 69

TechEmpower

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Content Recommendations in Streaming Services While many streaming platforms suggest content based on viewing history, LLMs have the power to significantly elevate this experience. These enhanced capabilities transform the search experience from a passive retrieval process into an active, dynamic interaction.

Generative AI 346

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Tool Knowledge Base 346

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

There are of course many Seed VCs who take board seats, don’t over-commit to too many deals and try to help with “company building” activities to help at a company’s vulnerable foundations. We can’t wait for customers to use the product for 12–18 months and do customer interviews or look at purchase cohorts. dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2013

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Obviously, the platforms and how you use social media would be different for lead generation versus service and support.

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Product Metrics 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2017

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Obviously, the platforms and how you use social media would be different for lead generation versus service and support.

Social Media 62

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 62

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Building efficiency into every corporate activity should be a corporate mandate, one to be discussed interdepartmentally, to be refereed by the CEO. Most often it is the time of the chief architect of the product or service you provide, or of the best developers of that product. Email readers, continue here.]

Resource 176

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 176

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

” I have seen many companies move rapidly up-and-to-the-right by Google search rankings only to crash when they rewrite the algorithm or start competing by offering the same service directly on the SERP. His point is that you should figure out the metrics that TRULY matter in your business and hold yourself accountable to these.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses. Assess social media relevance to your product or service.

Social Media 101

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 101