Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. It takes on many of the lessons MBA programs and Corporate America have been teaching about business for the past 50+ years and questions whether lessons from Apple might be more applicable in thinking about the future.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2022

Think about the questions that you are asking your advisors. I expect questions about how a business works, or what are best practices, but I really can’t help you with removing doubts on your abilities, or providing a sure-fire idea and formula for success in business. Build positive psychological capital to sustain your business.

Capital 114

Capital Coach Satisfaction Ideas 114

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I recommend you read Fred Wilson’s recent blog post about the need for a well articulated business strategy before pushing a particular business model. Compelling in the sense that you solve a real problem a target group of potential customers has with a product that is significantly better than the alternatives on that market.

Startup 401

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 401

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. A competitive advantage to a non-problem or tiny niche is not interesting to investors.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Custom 86

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.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Custom 124

Custom Customer Startup Course 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

Today the company officially announced its most recent round of capital ?—?having less than 18 months from when the company was created so I thought it was probably a good time to weigh in on the questions I get asked most frequently and why we’re so excited about Bird. having raised $300 million?—?less There is nothing viral!

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? Nobody cared about our valuations any more.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. I know we spoke about it this week. VC funding.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. No blog post about how Tiger is crushing everybody because it’s deploying all its capital in 1-year while “suckers” are investing over 3-years can change this reality.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. However, the recent surge in startup activity has attracted a lot more capital into the area, including a significant amount of capital from LA's latest fund: Karlin Ventures (www.karlinvc.com).

Funding 253

Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued? With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how Of course we can’t.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

This is a post to help you figure out why you should write and what you should talk about. If you care about accessing customers, reaching an audience, communicating your vision, influencing people in your industry, marketing your services or just plain engaging in a dialog with others in your industry a blog is a great way to achieve this.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. I called an (ex) LP to tell him about her and my goals for her. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Custom Customer 304

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2018

The only “sustainable competitive advantage” in business is self-awareness. Here are some key points for benchmarking your own sense of self, and the self-awareness of those around you, with a bit of guidance on how to get to the next level and capitalize on it: At a peak or valley, you are not your greatest self.

Competition 81

Competition Startup Examples Coach 81

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

During my time in Silicon Valley, I was struck by the fact that most successful entrepreneurs seemed to personally know and regularly hear from all the “movers and shakers” who had the investment capital and leadership they needed. Ability to relate aspirations to customer needs. Maintaining an insatiable curiosity about change.

Startup 113

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2019

I’m more convinced that technology merely enables disruption, and changing customer interests and needs really causes it. Other companies keep the focus on their customers, and seem to thrive on disruption, much less survive. They make it their top business priority to understand, anticipate, and gratify customers’ needs.

Custom 54

Custom Customer Technical Review Design 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2022

I’ve learned over the years that you need to start with specific goals, a focused strategy , and a motivated and prepared team in order to penetrate competitive defenses. They assume their innovation will overwhelm any competition, anywhere. Capitalize on territory the competition has not penetrated.

Marketing 125

Marketing Technical Review Startup Resource 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

I found his observations, like the following, to be inspirational for those of us chasing an entrepreneurial dream: It’s all about the people. According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community. Startups can use social responsibility as a competitive advantage. It is easier to recruit and retain human capital.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Custom Customer 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2019

What entrepreneurs forget or don’t realize is that most customers are wary of all technology, educating the market on new technology is expensive, takes a long time, and people buy problem solutions rather than technology. At this point, there can more social capital in saying that we don't like the technology than that we do.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Technology Startup Social Media 87

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards. So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. We talked about patents. I totally agree.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

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 recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Custom 98

Custom Customer Entrepreneur Startup 98

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. If you have a NINA (no influence, no authority) or somebody timid or who cares too much about CYA then your deal may not overcome objections raised.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital Startup Invest 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

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.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Custom 101

Custom Customer Startup Course 101

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

The company used its overdraft protection service and money management display to shift customers’ focus away from the total balance that their account would show by giving them a sense of how much was actually left in their accounts once debits were included in their statements.

Company 262

Company Companies Startup Tips 262

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

I found his observations, like the following, to be inspirational for those of us chasing an entrepreneurial dream: It’s all about the people. According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Small Business Grants to Apply For Today If your business doesn't have enough capital to take on future debts or has a unique specialism or back story that could catch the eye of grantors, it might be a good idea to apply for a grant. It's competitive though – last year 18,000 applicants competed for only 12 slots.

Technical Review 193

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 193

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

with $15 million to Prove It The venture capital world has started firing up a few cylinders again and looking for businesses that it believes will help us all succeed in ways that resonate with new ways of working as we begin to return to work. This had a dual purpose?—?the this is classic community management.

Software 234

Software Startup Tool Platform 234

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Imagine the room in which several graduate business school student groups have gathered, tasked with coming up with an idea for a business plan competition. Then find a short list of users, customers, and consultants in that industry who are known to be advanced in their thinking as demonstrated by their prior work. A thought exercise.

Startup 156

Startup Ideas Custom Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

All this was done without damaging anyone’s credibility, or stealing customers. It’s very unusual for two competitors to have exactly the same strengths – in development, marketing, distribution, or customer support. Capitalize on shared costs and common distribution. Ability to up-sell customers with related products.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Custom 173

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. We all hear about the big winners, such as the game Clash of Clans , which has now surpassed $1 billion in yearly revenue, and the smartphone version of Skype , which is making huge money through credits as an extension of the website version.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Competition. Production.

Sales 102

Sales Custom Customer Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

While you all recognize that reacting to weak market signals is critical to staying in business and staying competitive, I find that many don’t have the skills and focus to trigger change decisions on a timely basis. You may be getting killed today by customer expectations you never worried about just a few years ago.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Custom 162

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

The subject of raising money is critical to many businesses and a passing option to others, depending upon the capital efficiency of the enterprise. There is a lot to say about retaining control. How important is this issue for your business? It is for this group that we explore the implications implicit in raising money for growth.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

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.” Capitalize on the multiplier moment. These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H.

Custom 52

Custom Customer Startup Course 52