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

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Startups often pursue such arrangements, hoping it will reduce the friction normally encountered during the negotiation process and lead to revenue more quickly. For this reason, startups who perform Pilots have failed the Business Development Idiot Test. Successful startup selling is largely predicated on velocity.

Sales 215

Sales Outsource Development Metrics Resource 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. Emeril Lagasse is always ready to “kick it up a notch!”

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. I like the ten steps he outlines, which I characterize here as follows: Seek major capital infusion. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Search Engine Optimization 131

Search Engine Optimization Startup Social Media Metrics 131

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

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!” The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. One of them is profitability. Internet scale. Operating Costs.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. 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. Large companies can be strange sometimes. Sometimes it actually does.

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. The Spark Capital website (it’s one of my favorites). How did they end up with such an irreverent site and what was their objective? Other Deals.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources. I see many companies these days just race to raise capital. They see capital raising at the success validator. LEAN STARTUP MOVEMENT.

Startup 401

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 401

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

When sales fall off, you need to dig deep for the “why,” rather than just assuming the price needs to go down. Often new competitors do fail, but they may highlight a consumer trend that you can capitalize on now, before it comes back to haunt you later. Establish and evaluate metrics at multiple levels.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Custom 162

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

I will outline here his six required activities of every successful business to get you started down the right path for you: Wonder: identify the value and need for change. I recommend that you start online to find data sources. This work requires market feedback, managing trials, and working with the sales team as well as developers.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. It is to out friend. Enjoyed this post? Disruptive. We get it! I Be specific. Tesla is not.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

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? The most connected and high-potential founders start with wads of cash.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

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

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. I like the ten steps he outlines, which I characterize here as follows: Seek major capital infusion. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2022

No business or startup wants to be the next Myspace, or even the next RIM (BlackBerry), where changes in the marketplace were subtle. For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. The list goes on and on.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. Perspectium recently raised a funding round from TVC Capital.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Custom Customer 113

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. Mike Starkenburg: The company was founded in 2000, and was started in Manchester, UK, by a handful of computer vision specialists. How did a company started in the UK end up here?

Metrics 100

Metrics Startup Sales Newsletter 100

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. The top 10 companies only make up 45 percent of the entire space. As fragmentation starts to go away and there's consolidation in the space, the bigger guys get bigger.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Custom Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. The list goes on and on.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results. Concentrate your efforts on two to three platforms to start.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 30 Startup Posts in June 2010 Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March The following are the top items based on social signals.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. I like the ten steps he outlines, which I characterize here as follows: Seek major capital infusion. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

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 said both in the article but felt compelled to provide a statement up front for the skimmers.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

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. Great startups have budgets.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

They decide to wake up early to read the materials. In town board members also only scan it because they, too, have morning meetings before the board meeting starts. The meeting starts. It probably starts late. If you put up 5 slides on “what should we order for lunch today” the board will spend 30 minutes debating that.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

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. What's your background, and how did you decide to start the company? My other co-founder, Rusty Jenkins, was also with that company, doing sales.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. then you can start writing a recipe. Don’t stand still.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. He spoke about ROCE (return on capital employed).

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

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.  —  @msuster 8/ Don't spend undue time advising other people's startups until your business is successful, scaling & stable.

Software Review 242

Software Review Technical Review Pricing Metrics 242

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2018

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. Emeril Lagasse is always ready to “kick it up a notch!”

Startup 81

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

In the spirit of helping you avoid some of our own learning experiences with startups, I will paraphrase here the nine key stages that he and I both see most businesses going through in their evolution from a startup to a successful and stable entity: You can’t sustain a business without positive cash flow.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. The list goes on and on.

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109