Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2022

We are living in a new generation of business, where customers drive the experience, and highly engaged employees are required to keep up with customer expectations. As a business advisor, I’m always looking for guidance on leadership practices that work, and I was impressed with the classic book, “ The Leadership Mind Switch ,” by D.

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Customer Custom Coach Satisfaction 152

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 9, 2019

Doctours , a Los Angeles-based online platform for booking trips and treatments for medical and dental care around the world, is expanding its services to 35 countries. Once the procedure is booked, Doctours puts together itineraries that provide different options for flights and hotels based on the needs of the patient, the company said.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

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.

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Customer Custom Startup Course 146

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2023

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. Now customers seek out people who are willing and able to add value, with expertise and insight, even before they have a product. The key is consistency.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

In fact, only 100 of the 10,000 multimillion-dollar consumer companies around the world can claim to be an “apostle brand” – one that inspires enduring trust, loyalty, and endorsement. I found some eye-opening insights in the classic book, “ Rocket: Eight Lessons to Secure Infinite Growth ,” by The Boston Consulting Group.

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Company Companies Startup Customer 152

socalTECH

OCTOBER 1, 2018

Santa Monica-based Surf Air said on Monday that it is extending out its flight schedule, and now allows its customers to book flights out as far as 90 days in advance.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. I remember the classic book, “ Driven to Delight ,” by Joseph A. Michelli, with inspiring stories on how one well-known company, Mercedes-Benz, made the transition and is profiting as a result.

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Customer Custom Services Startup 168

socalTECH

AUGUST 19, 2014

Flywheel , the venture backed startup offering up an Uber-like experience for users--except via licensed taxi and transportation services--is rolling out advanced booking to Los Angeles users this week. According to Flywheel, the new service lets customers pre-book a ride to the airport, via either its iOS or Android apps.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

Businesses see this as the Holy Grail for finally being able to predict who, where, and when customers will buy their existing solutions, and what their future solutions must look like to be attractive. I found some help in this regard from a classic book, “ Humanizing Big Data ,” by leading consumer researcher Colin Strong.

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

As I talk to many of you in my role as business advisor, I still often hear the concern for maximum return to the business and stakeholders, more than a passion for sustainably enriching the lives of your customers and team. This applies to your own team, as well as customers. Make every customer experience memorable.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2022

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver exceptional experiences to their customers. Gregg Lederman, in his classic book, “ ENGAGED!: Keep your team happy to create engaged customers.

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Customer Custom Services Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. Solis outlines the heuristics of social psychology that are key to building positive customer experiences today.

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Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

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Customer Custom Social Media Satisfaction 158

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2021

Customers are people too, so customers tend to take their relationship with a brand personally. Thus it’s not a surprise that people love their favorite smartphone brand, cringe when you mention their cable company, or even hate the mention of a particular bank. Brands are people first. According to Chris Malone and Susan T.

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Customer Custom Commerce Social Media 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

I’m sure you have all noticed how today’s customers have changed the way they shop, but I still find, as an advisor and consultant, that many of you aren’t sure how to deal with the new mode, or are still waiting for things to get back to the old normal. Convenience is in the eye of the customer, not your company.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. From these meetings you can really tell the leaders that care deeply about their customers and those the look down on them. You’d be very wrong. You can’t.

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Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2020

Entrepreneurs have always believed that their product or service must show real value to customers, but today the smart ones are even able to make their marketing valuable. Now customers seek out people who are willing and able to add value, with expertise and insight, even before they have a product. The key is consistency.

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Customer Custom Marketing Content 127

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). Thus I was pleased to see this subject, and related strategy decisions, covered well in a recent book, “ Brand Vision ,” by Jim Everhart. Are you making the proper investment, and is it paying off?

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Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2023

Customers buy from people, not companies. That means relationships with team members, investors, customers, and vendors. One of my favorite authors, Brian Tracy, in his classic book “ No Excuses!: Think back on your own recent experiences as a customer or contractor. Investors invest in people, not ideas.

Customer 90

Customer Custom Outsource Development Entrepreneur 90

socalTECH

DECEMBER 20, 2018

The company, led by CEO and co-founder Sean Breuner, says it specifically targets the "authentic experiences millennials crave". The company says its service only features "hand-selected" properties, which include such amenities as in-home games and personalized recommendations. READ MORE>>.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

San Diego-based HouseCall , which develops mobile software to let consumers book home services appointments, along with offering up home services contractors with scheduling and related tools, has raised $6M in a funding round. The company disclosed the funding on Tuesday, saying that August Capital led the funding.

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Mobile Services Software San Diego 100

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Scott, published a classic book that I recommend, ” The New Rules of Lead Generation ,” highlighting the changes wrought by the internet and social media. One of these experts, David T.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 146

socalTECH

APRIL 27, 2017

Los Angeles-based Chrome River , which develops expense and invoice management software, said this morning that it had its largest first-quarter sales in the company's history. It says it now has more than 600 customers. The company is backed by Great Hill Partners, which invested $100M in the company in 2015.

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Sales Los Angeles Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2018

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Social Media Training 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Amazon is very customer-centric, but it can make all the difference in retail as well as online. Status factors are more important than demographics.

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Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2021

Yet, in my role as advisor to small businesses, I find many people who still believe some old myths that work should never be fun, and create a self-fulfilling prophecy that takes down their sense of well-being , as well as their company results. It also attracts more customers. Most people don’t really want to work hard.

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Company Companies Summary Coach 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2019

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver exceptional experiences to their customers. Gregg Lederman, in his classic book, “ ENGAGED!: Keep your team happy to create engaged customers.

Customer 84

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 84

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

This is final part of a series that describes a sales methodology for technology companies or frankly many other types of companies, too. We developed this at our first company and called it PUCCKA – the overall methodology is described here. The buying company many not be able to buy in your time frames.

Customer 324

Customer Custom Marketing Newsletter 324

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

John Lusk, along with his Co-Author Kyle Harrison, leveraged their humble company''s newsletter into The MouseDriver Chronicles , a New York Times bestselling book. The company''s newsletter was initially created to share their entrepreneurial journey with their family and friends. According to John, "So, we, we sent.(an

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Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. People in larger organizations move away from day-to-day contact with the end customer, and focus becomes company internal and isolated.

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Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 147

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Founded four years ago by Matt Danna and Sean Stavropoulos, Boulevard was inspired by Stavropoulos’ inability to book a haircut and Danna’s hunch that the inability of salons and spas to cater to customers like the busy programmer could be indicative of a bigger problem. That could be because of the size of the industry.

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Software Beverly Hills Los Angeles Equity 323

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2019

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. Solis outlines the heuristics of social psychology that are key to building positive customer experiences today.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 85

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Have you ever noticed that some of your business owner friends get all the bad customers, and yours all seem fairly reasonable? I’m always amazed that, in my role as a business advisor, bad customers somehow seem to gang up on certain businesses. The reality is that we all make mistakes, so no customer is always right.

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Customer Custom Demand Pricing 89

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Social proof is defined as “looking for others to guide our decisions&# and is also one of the most important techniques in acquiring customers in your company. The book popularized the technology adoption lifecycle curve that originally came out of Iowa State University shown below. It influenced a generation of tech marketers.

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Marketing Customer Custom Technical Review 294

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it it is also the title of a fabulous book from Internet 1.0 I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

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