Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Obviously to understand a “class&# of people you have to make broad generalizations. Here are mine.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission. On the SAT/ACT side, in classroom tutoring, we have used our technology to automate the back office.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I will write more about this in the next 2 weeks. I believe a bubble occurs when a market is willing to pay greater than intrinsic value for an asset class. That asset class need not represent the broader market. They are often bound by geographies and asset classes. customers who paid for services often get burned.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

If you’re not familiar with the term it’s basically trying to help all of us who are deluged with technology to find ways to cope with the masses of information without having it ruin our lives. They can travel the world, take classes in interesting subjects, spend time with loved ones or start new hobbies.

Startup 295

Startup Email Technical Review Course 295

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

The best MBA class I took was an investment strategy class. Despite my cynicism of MBA’s , this class was very valuable to me. High burn-rates fueled by over investment – One of the most damning things that happened to the start-up markets in 97-00 and 05-08 was the overfunding of technology companies.

Venture Capital 263

Venture Capital Startup Invest Funding 263

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

I finally got around to writing it having read Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does. Once you’ve been around for a few years, attracted some great people, landed real, paying customers and raised venture capital you’ve likely got a talented team around you. Both are basically people businesses.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Startup Sales Customer 319

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Yet, despite his exceptional courtroom theatrics, you would be foolhardy to hire good old Johnnie to review your software cross-licensing agreement. In order to get the most out of your discussions with your lawyer, take one or more Business Law classes. They make mistakes. Sometimes You Do Get What You Pay For.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. For parents, if you're interested in how your kids are doing, you can find out what their schedule is like, what homework is due when, what their grades are, and how they are progressing, plus you can communicate with their teachers.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. Today voice is becoming more dominant as an “input” to computing but in the future cameras and sensors will become even more important.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

You do a startup and decide you want somebody to step in and run the company so you can focus on technical excellence. I learned that I wasn’t the strongest kid in class but wasn’t a wimp either. The toughest or coolest kids in class often like somebody who is willing to stand up to them – but not cross them.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

No rule is ever absolute no matter how it sounds when one writes a blog. That is when no customers wanted to work with Internet startups because we as an industry had burned so many customers. I learned how to integrate customers into our product development process. We fought for every customer together.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

For decades the “layering&# of technology has allowed us to develop IT systems and networks in a specialized way that let’s best-of-breed technology solutions to emerge at each layer of the stack and to allow people with different skill sets to specialize in key areas without having to have competence in every technology arena.

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Background: Joel Spolsky studied Computer Science at Yale University (class of 1991). But I loved reading them and so did my team.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error. recently did a lecture at a Babson MBA summer class on Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217