Both Sides of the Table
JULY 23, 2013
I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. It will affect your ability to get the right jobs and promotions as well as your ability to attract talent and capital.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
There are many times when being overly capitalized before you’re ready is a negative. Plus, most early-stage M&A fails so this isn’t likely a good use of capital for a young company). Availability of Capital. In these kinds of businesses I’m on the record as advising “ Ring the Freakin Cash Register.”
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Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. Your head of sales thinks she should fire somebody. He was stuck on capital raising. This was such a guy.
Tech.Co
NOVEMBER 28, 2017
Composed of a three-month boot camp , the program aims to help startups build their brand while figuring out the nitty gritty of finance, manufacture, distribution and sales. Minnesota food and agriculture brand Land O’Lakes — yes, the one you know from butter packages — launched an accelerator in July 2017. The goal: Dairy innovation.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 27, 2016
I still generally advise software startups to file a patent as a barrier to entry from competitors and to increase their valuation by investors, but every entrepreneur needs to understand the tradeoffs. The patent application process has become a legal negotiation. Patents can become a commodity for buying and selling.
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 13, 2011
I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. It’s the same as in any sales-oriented meeting and make no mistake raising money is sales.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 27, 2011
Most people totally advise against stealth. Marketing futures can be really good for enterprise software companies where the information is passed between sales rep and potential customer in terms of near-term roadmap. They think that only by being open and testing your ideas in an open marketplace can you be successful.
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