Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

Decide early where and when money will come from, set some milestones and metrics, and work to a plan, or be caught short. Word of mouth is not adequate for marketing and sales. Even though the Internet is pervasive and free, you should not assume that a website is all you need for sales and marketing.

Sales 165

Sales Customer Custom Social Media 165

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

As a business consultant and angel investor, I often ask for your own assessment of marketing ROI , or customer acquisition cost (CAC). Leaders and investors need to know if you have and are tapping into your key sources of relevant data, including web analytics, sales management data, and customer relationship management (CRM) software.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

socalTECH

MAY 10, 2013

Four years ago, Los Angeles-based Adly (www.adly.com) launched to much fanfare as one of the first local startups to tie into the brand-new, Twitter micro messaging platform. We really pride ourselves in the amount of buzz and interest we drive for brands, which hopefully drives back directly to their sales. Others are catching up.

Social Media 237

Social Media Advertising Media Metrics 237

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

I am a raving fan of AppSumo because the creator of the brand, Noah Kagan , leads his company focusing on community first and sales second. To prove that point, tonight I had the privilege of hearing him speak at Lean LA , a Los Angeles group that helps high tech start-ups build great companies on a budget. It makes sense.

Metrics 87

Metrics Email Startup Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2021

If you have had to pivot from the consumer market to enterprise customers, that requires new pricing models and new sales channels. Re-evaluate processes as they are today and set metrics to better represent the new sales, operational, and service needs. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Social Media 143

Social Media Startup Framework Course 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Social media is not rocket science.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. New startup founders keep all the operating metrics they need in their head. 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

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Unfortunately, in my experience as an angel investor, about ninety percent of new business efforts fall short , leading me to believe that many of you may be better off staying where you are. He also still gets excited to donate one percent of sales to environmental groups around the world.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

For these reasons, I always look for an overt exit strategy in every startup I might consider for an angel investment. New startup founders keep all the operating metrics they need in their head. 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

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Social media is not rocket science.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

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. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. The solution here is to never stop the fundraising cycle, moving quickly from friends and family, to angels, to venture capitalists. Smarter entrepreneurs don’t wait for a crisis to drive change, by defining key milestones and metrics for tracking progress.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2011

This site aggregates and filters content from thought leaders who talk about topics such as Marketing , Sales , Design , Revenue , Hiring , Social Media , Business Models , Metrics , PR , Venture Capital , Angel Investors , Bootstrapping , Incubators , Agile and many others.

Content 175

Content Startup Social Media IP 175

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or angel investors in Arizona, where I live. billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. My other co-founder, Rusty Jenkins, was also with that company, doing sales. We're also funding it out of pocket.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

Decide early where and when money will come from, set some milestones and metrics, and work to a plan, or be caught short. Word of mouth is not adequate for marketing and sales. Even though the Internet is pervasive and free, you should not assume that a website is all you need for sales and marketing.

Startup 107

Startup Sales Customer Custom 107

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2017

We're pretty much in every major market, particularly in music strong communities, like Los Angeles, New york, Nashville, and Toronto. David Baird: We're primarily in North America, in the US and Canada, though we have users in 30 countries in total. The bulk of our users are in the U.S. and Canada. How does this work as a business?

Startup 150

Startup Metrics Offshore Sites 150

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2011

from a group of VCs and angels. The angels included in the round included Matt Coffin and Stephen Kim. Those can be sales, coupon redemptions, or downloads. We're looking to staff up pretty aggressively, and are buildling out our engineering team, sales team, and ad operations team. Which VCs were those?

Advertising 198

Advertising Startup Santa Monica Social Network 198

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. “COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Our fund (Upfront Ventures) recently returned >1x an entire $200 million fund just selling small minatory in secondary sales while still holding most of our stock for an ultimate public market exits. At Upfront we have always done 40% of our investing in Greater Los Angeles and it’s precisely for this reason.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

For our Friday interview, we thought we'd catch up with Los Angeles-based MarketShare , the Elevation Partners-backed software provider, to hear where the firm is nowadays. We now have teams in our headquarters in Los Angeles, and offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo, and Bangalore. Did the TV stimulate search?

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

It’s different than working with a group like us that’s trying to optimize every small piece of the funnel, and being accountable for the entire funnel to drive as much sales or revenue. I oversee sales, marketing and partnerships, and my role is really trying to figure out which brands make most sense to partner with MuteSix.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2017

I hear it all the time as an angel investor, but I also see that same naïve or cavalier attitude come back to haunt entrepreneurs once they really get out in the marketplace. What metrics should you use to measure success? Just because Google sales hit $1.5 Make sure all the elements are aligned before you commit.

Metrics 58

Metrics Resource Startup Training 58

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Social media is not rocket science.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2019

That's where Los Angeles-based Rolebot (www.rolebot.net) comes in. Shane Bernstein: We look at actionable data points and data metrics which are quantifiable across the web, and we qualify them and normalize that data, and sort them based on what they've done. Shane Bernstein: We're an evidence-based, recruitment engine.

Sites 240

Sites Startup Tool CTO Hire 240

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., Metrics related to customer acquisition, lifetime value and churn.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

According to Los Angeles-based FEM (fem-inc.com), video recommendations can make a significant difference in how long a user spends on a website or app. How did you end up in Los Angeles? Rachel Payne: I''m originally from Los Angeles. The metrics are very solid. We are also seeing really high retention.

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Social media is not rocket science.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe your market penetration strategy, sales channels, pricing, and strategic partnerships. Financial forecast and metrics.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or Angel investors in Arizona, where I live. billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Through advertising or direct sales, these sites harvest intent. Instead of making a few dollars per sale and hoping for thousands of sales, you sell to only a few customers, and charge much higher rates. it’s about measuring online influence and I’m big on metrics as a key element of business planning; 2.) I know I do.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young. Social media is not rocket science.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe your market penetration strategy, sales channels, pricing, and strategic partnerships. Financial forecast and metrics.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

Maybe its because Im 66", but I think most clothes shopping really stinks and when was the last time that a sales person was actually helpful. ► January (5) Los Angeles Web Developer Startup CTO or Developer When to Use Facebook Connect – Twitter Oauth – Goo. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles.

MyShape 150

MyShape CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2018

As a member of an angel investment group, I have to admit this is probably the most common rejection we issue. It takes real money to sustain a business, with a margin in the 50 percent range, and some realistic milestones and metrics. Traction is marketing and sales results. Document and initiate a multi-faceted marketing plan.

Customer 59

Customer Custom Pricing Startup 59

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

Combine this significant pool of sophisticated Angel capital and expertise with UC Santa Barbara’s world-class entrepreneurial program and throw in a critical mass of entrepreneurs bold enough to build businesses around their passions, it’s understandable how a modest-sized community has produced so many successful tech startups.

Santa Barbara 100

Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2013

If you have had to pivot from the consumer market to enterprise customers, that requires new pricing models and new sales channels. Re-evaluate processes as they are today and set metrics to better represent the new sales, operational, and service needs. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Startup 94

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Framework 94