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“he quit his job and threw himself into a start-up company, which has him on the road in constantly changing environments. My whole life I have surrounded myself with what I call “completer-finishers” because I know my weakness for giving up when the task is at 80% and I know the importance of 100%.
I made every textbook mistake at my first startup, which is why I believe I was much more effective at my second one. The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans.
Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. In stead of doing my typical big long post with 10 PR tips (like I did there), I’m going to break them up into individual (I hope more digestible) chunks.
But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? People often ask me why I started blogging. It really started simply enough. Not only would it be less authentic but if you’re a startup it’s not immediately clear that other startup CEOs are your target market.
If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. The truth is that in my experience very, very few people really enjoy the “pure&# startup environment: months with no salary, months with no live product and lots of trial, error & rejection. Our user numbers are up.
As I’ve said before, all startups need to realize that every other company still has to see itself naked in the mirror in the morning. In my interview I talked about the biggest stress that really comes from startups – dealing with all the other people with whom you work. They are only one aspect of the startup experience.
Her post is short & well written so definitely worth a read if you’re a startup person and want to hear some sensible views on sales. Erin’s main points: “As a former tech sales executive, I agree with many of [Mark's] lessons — when applied to later-stage, post-traction point startups.
I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. What makes up revenue?
In a startup this is a mistake. In this instance I typically recommend that startups NOT hire a big, well-known PR firm. All too often I’ve seen senior PR people from big firms come in and pitch for new business to startups while having 22 year-olds who do all the work once it’s won. There is one carve out.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. Think the next big startup can’t come from Dallas, TX? Think again.
In startup-land, however, the presumptions about where housing demand is going looks a bit different. A Crunchbase News analysis of residential-focused real estate startups uncovered a raft of companies with a shared and temporary housing focus that have raised funding in the past year or so. This isn’t a U.S.-specific
This article originally appeared on Inc.com. Like most startup entrepreneurs, when I began my first company in 1999 I had no formal sales experience. This is a very important to do when you first start a company. I’m going to set up the framework today and in future posts I’ll drill down into each area. Compelling Event.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. This morning I was reading my social media and came across an article that Christine Tsai had posted on Facebook. I moved back to the US and after a stint in Palo Alto moved to LA where I started to notice Cholula sauce at some of the best Mexican restaurants I visited.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. 2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. I acknowledged this in the article.
This article initially appeared on TechCrunch. The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. I believe it’s flawed. We only want software revenue.”
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. Partisan rancor aside, we had just come off a boom decade – especially in tech – and many people at the start of the election thought Al Gore was a shoe in. Whenever I think of messages to communicate I always start by thinking about the audience. It is election season.
It’s a fantastic startup that has had a amazing impact on society. It’s not just about people like me who can (and do) turn up in nearly any city in the US and immediately book a ride. They were a little too fierce in their competitive practices against Lyft to sign up drivers. Is Uber evil? That’s silly.
One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5
Even bigger is the desire to stick one’s middle finger up at all of the people who doubted you all along. ” In the article is cites: Page estimates that only about 50 investors are chasing the real breakthrough technologies that have the potential to make a material difference to the lives of most people on earth. .
And while Eric Garcetti is leading in the polls by 7%, according to recent articles a victory is not certain. If you live in LA please turn up to vote on Tuesday. Consider the case of LegalZoom, one of our cities great startups. We can continue to innovate in LA or watch our jobs and our engineers move up North.
An edtech startup called Entity Academy — which provides women with training, in areas like data science and software development; mentoring; and ultimately job coaching — has raised $100 million on the heels of strong growth of its business, and an ambition to improve that ratio. That, too, is evolving with online engagement.
Before I tell you the reasons I’m concerned about investment banking intros, I should start by saying I think bankers are enormously helpful for entrepreneurs in raising money. start-ups are overvalued. And I’m seeing this even at some really well run startups. They are venture bankers not investment bankers.
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Although UCSB has room to grow with regard to the total number of VC-backed startups it generates, the Santa Barbara region fares well when its relative size is taken into account. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles!
A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles! If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles! Parsing The Confusion.
This article initially appeared on TechCrunch - with a minor update highlighted in red below. When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. I’m starting to hear it more often. Enter “the cap.”
I think my mentality to banker pitches was best summed up in this article about Y Combinator in which Paul Graham apparently made the following quotes. start-ups are overvalued. The other quote from the article is this: “The other thing they say is that they can’t tell on Demo Day which are the good start-ups.
A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Startups are an emotional rollercoaster; moments of sheer terror interlaced with bone-crushing, mind-numbing and highly addictive exhilaration. Little Wins Add Up. Follow my startup-oriented Twitter feed here: @johngreathouse. Share and Enjoy.
I often describe “chutzpah” as being able to skate right up to the line of acceptability without crossing over it. Years ago I started using the term “politely persistent” to remind people that you still need to be likable even if you have gumption. It’s your job to persist. Nothing beats a warm intro.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Note: This is the second installment in the Startup Advantage series. Other installments include: Startups Should Avoid Dropping Trou. In the case of a startup, this relative anonymity results in a powerful Rookie Advantage. Political Rookie To Political Hack.
His article is well worth reading anyways. When I first started writing this blog several years ago I had less followers than you have right now. Often you ask somebody, “Did you see that article on Google buying so and so?” It’s like a Pachinko machine (yes, I had one in my house growing up).
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Steve Benson, Founder and CEO of Bay Area Badger Maps , intends to hire so many interns this summer that he will effectively double the size of his startup. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles! Share and Enjoy.
If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. The start of marketing is figuring out a market need and a way to solve that need better than anybody else.
For today's Insights and Opinions section, we have an article on Navigating Turbulent Business Seas: Personal Liability Risks of Directors of Financially Stressed Start-Ups from Michael Sherman, Neil Elan and Karine Akopchikyan at Stubbs, Alderton, and Markiles LLP (www.stubbsalderton.com). earlier this year. READ MORE>>
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I was initially skeptical, but it was a pure delight for me from start to finish. For the same reason I loved the much more flawed story of Anvil , who interestingly came from Toronto, about 100 miles away from where Justin Bieber grew up. It all has to start from talent.
According to a January 2012 Forbes article, nearly 16% of the 400 most affluent Americans do not have a college degree. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles! HIGHEST DEGREE OBTAINED BY AMERICA'S 400 RICHEST PEOPLE Source: Forbes Magazine, Jan 2012.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. The CEO of Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting, acquired by Citrix) was born in Germany and grew up in South Africa. Although his English was impeccable, he was occasionally tripped up by colloquialisms. Sometimes it takes a bold move to get noticed.
That’s why people turn up to Buzzfeed. In working with brands, Jon says: “ Vary creative, try lots of things, the costs are so low, why would we put up one piece of branded content? we started this convo at minute 47]. But of course we also focused on making content go viral. It is absolutely MVP of advertising.
This article previously appeared in Forbes. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles! Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. Follow my startup-oriented Twitter feed here: @johngreathouse. Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series.
For years I saw myself as the new guy in VC but then you wake up one day and realize that 50% of your peers have been doing it for less time than you and time has moved on. Building Startups for Basecamp. To be clear – almost all of the great deals I’ve done started with an intro. It’s exhausting. And so forth.
One of the reasons that now is the time to be an entrepreneur is the explosion of startup assistance organizations, usually called incubators or accelerators. Most of these are non-profits, set up by a university to commercialize new technologies, or a municipality to foster business development for the local economy.
If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles! Jason Nazar, Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc , and a self-professed "Mentee Whore," discusses his secrets to finding and keeping a mentor in this compelling article. and set up meetings with people that you want to be like.
There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “ Growth Hacking is Bull ” written by Muhammad Saleem. I’d like to make the case that the article is wrong. His quip to suggest this is all a slight-of-hand, trickery dreamed up by marketing b *s is quite clever if misguided.
I even prefer to fund entrepreneurs who have experience some level of set-backs in their careers or startups because I think it brings a humility to decision-making that I find healthy. I talk about failure a lot because I think it can be tremendously instructive and I think that success without failure often masks underlying lessons.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. The sharing economy is also proving to be a significant source of bootstrap startup capital. The sharing economy is also proving to be a significant source of bootstrap startup capital. Follow my startup-oriented Twitter feed here: @johngreathouse. Share and Enjoy.
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