Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

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. I see many companies these days just race to raise capital. They see capital raising at the success validator. My take on his argument is this: 1.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2009

Los Angeles-based Image Metrics (www.image-metrics.com) recently landed a $6.5M, Series B funding round for the firm's facial animation products. After I left Sprout, I worked with a dozen venture capital firms to help them grow their startups and figure out what to do with technology. I fell in love with it. We're that close.

Metrics 100

Metrics Startup Sales Newsletter 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

He comes from a background in venture capital from inside and outside the Valley, as well as entrepreneurship work with startup efforts around the world. I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

I had the honor of moderating a panel of three SaaS CEOs who have collectively raised nearly $40 million of venture capital and are on their way to breakout success: Reed Shaffner of Workpop , Jerry Jao of Retention Science and Ara Mahdessian from ServiceTitan. The Most Important Metric. Such metrics will obviously differ.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

You have to understand whether they’re likely to yield revenue growth in the near term OR whether you have access to cheap enough capital to fund your losses until your investments pay off. Have easy access to capital by investors who are committed to building businesses at Interent scale. Internet scale. Investors value growth.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product. The real question you should be asking is "When I've built this product and show you the following metrics, would you invest?" What The Heck Does “Traction” Really Mean To A VC?

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

Not everybody agrees that entrepreneurs should take investor meetings outside of “funding season&# when they’re raising capital. And VC’s are tough customers. And make sure you have some metrics or some way of demonstrating why you believe this is going to be a really big market. during your meeting.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

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

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

The funding was led by Okapi Venture Capital, and also included Serra Ventures, Cove Fund II, 1855 Capital, and Mooring Ventures LLC. According to the company, it has developed a platform that addresses the critical steps of data extraction, transformation, and analysis to give end users access to business data and metrics.

Metrics 113

Metrics San Diego Venture Capital Commerce 113

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 5, 2018

Scott McCorkle has spent most of his professional career thinking about business to business software and how to improve it for a company’s customers. If customers are doing the things i want them to be doing through my product. “It is API embeddable and we have a full user experience layer.”

Chief Technology Officer 145

Chief Technology Officer SaaS Metrics Customer 145

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 17, 2018

." Revenue doesn't pay your bills, GM does  —  @msuster 2/ Founders obsess with revenue as a vanity metric. Payback periods on customer acquisition way more important to you in the near-term. Some even grow "bad" revenue just to show growth.

Software Review 242

Software Review Technical Review Pricing Metrics 242

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2020

Today, we share the thoughts of Peter Cowen , Managing Director of Sutton Capital Partners (www.suttoncapitalpartners.com). Socaltech has partnered with Sutton Capital Partners with their Recurring Revenue Conference for several yars. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? Two lessons learnedand relearned!

Capital 100

Capital SoCal Southern California SaaS 100

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

For investors, it gives them a dash board of key metrics, and ensures those investors stay in the loop. For entrepreneurs raising capital, the tool makes it easier to be transparent and share information. At one point, we had to turn around our model, when our number one customer--eBay--became our biggest competitor.

Southern California 243

Southern California Entrepreneur Software Review Yammer 243

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. The whole reason for PBW’s is to drive incentives of a partner or customer to help you succeed. Common Mistakes.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

We raised a seed round of capital in 1999 and our first venture capital round was the first week of March 2000 (e.g. I was on an airplane 2-3 times / week meeting potential customers, investors, employees, business partners and the press. Dinners were consumed with customers or in hotels and often past 10pm.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Cloud Capital--has managed to coax those equipment rental yards into the digital age, and how the company has tackled other challenges in focusing its business. From a customer standpoint, though, it's pretty clear. So, from the customer side, it was much easier. Cloud Capital. BigRentz is based in Irvine.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

The total funds include backing from a Republic campaign, pre-seed investors and capital from the co-founders. Ultimately 1,000 customers signed up, and The Kelp Burger is now the “hero product,” Boyd Myers said. Boyd Myers explained that there are sales and repeat customers, but it was too early to discuss growth metrics.

Startup 191

Startup Los Angeles Sample Funding 191

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Invest CTO Coach Southern California 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Some make big mistakes, such as Webvan expanding too fast with a huge infrastructure, and Pets.com , trying to grow the business with a negative margin, under the mistaken assumption that winning customers is more important than making a profit. Capitalize on competitor weaknesses that you can fill with minimal new investment.

Startup 134

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2020

Capitalize on the lessons from early adopters and competitors. Smart startups save cost and time by capitalizing on the pivots of others before them. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Timing is critical, as well as focus on marketing and customer satisfaction.

Startup 157

Startup Social Media Study Research 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Some make big mistakes, such as Webvan expanding too fast with a huge infrastructure, and Pets.com , trying to grow the business with a negative margin, under the mistaken assumption that winning customers is more important than making a profit. Capitalize on competitor weaknesses that you can fill with minimal new investment.

Search Engine Optimization 131

Search Engine Optimization Startup Social Media Metrics 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Most of the entrepreneurs I meet as an investor and advisor have no shortage of right-brain thinking, showing vision and creativity, but often don’t realize that their potential is being limited by a balancing focus on results, metrics, and customer specifics. Listen to customer feedback and tune your vision.

Technical Review 133

Technical Review Satisfaction Metrics Startup 133

SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Software 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. The full financial details and metrics were in the deck.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

If you can’t identify customer interest, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. Don’t be afraid to test your ultimate entree on customers. Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? This means find some hungry people who would love a good dinner, and be willing to pay for it.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

Networking 150

Networking CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2008

magnify360 said its new Google Cost Optimizer automatically synchronizes with AdWords accounts, and provides campaign performance metrics to users about return on investment in individual keywords, cost per click, conversion rates, and other information. The firm is venture backed by MHS Capital and angel investors. READ MORE>>

Advertising 100

Advertising Tool Yahoo Google 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 5, 2007

Common revenue streams are consulting, training, support, customization, upgraded versions for corporate applications, etc. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta.

Southern California 150

Southern California CTO Coach CTO Hire Social Media 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Before you bring on partners, develop intellectual property, raise capital, or generate revenues, you need to establish an official business entity. Early customer feedback will position your solution, and help you make pivots before critical time and money are lost.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2007

Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -. User Interface Beyond the Web Site ► November (7) Negative Customer Acquisition Costs - Creative Sta. ► February (2) CTO Founders / Cofounders Part-Time Startup CTO? Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

MyShape 150

MyShape CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

For the business to prosper, every employee, and your customers, must know and relate to your core values, such as product excellence, care for the environment, and personal integrity. Implement the key business metrices you will live by. Don’t try to do it all – capitalize on your strengths. Stay in your personal sweet spot.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

seed and they are writing $1.25m of it you can expect them to require a board seat) The competitive landscape (If you have several sources of capital you can likely politely decline the board request or can grant them a seat but ask for it to be “common appointed” and those revokable if you need in the future). But it’s quite rare.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Board meeting gets scheduled Nobody thinks too much about it until a week or two before Management team has a last-minute scramble to pull materials together Management is super focused on its daily work of … winning customers, signing biz dev, shipping product … so this prep is a last minute “fire drill” and is seen as a slight distraction.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

In my experience, here are some of the key elements of that “second-stage” of entrepreneurship: Move from small investors to major venture capital. Explosive growth to an enterprise normally requires a scalable sales model, a well-documented process with incentives, training, and metrics for tracking and management.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151