Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I like the guidance from marketing coach David Newman’s classic book “ Do It! Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back.

Marketing 141

Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Too many entrepreneurs confuse action with momentum and results. That’s a deadly waste you can’t afford.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). And even with the significant cost of credit card debt, many entrepreneurs aggressively use existing cards to finance a startup.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I like the guidance from marketing coach David Newman’s recent book “ Do It! Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2012

All the experts these days are talking about the increasing need for customer focus and maximizing sales. Typically entrepreneurs and even professional sales people think this means more emphasis on the customer selling process, when in fact it really means spending more time understanding the customer buying process (view from the customer).

Sales 96

Sales Customer Custom Competition 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2011

All the experts these days are talking about the increasing need for customer focus and maximizing sales. Typically entrepreneurs and even professional sales people think this means more emphasis on the customer selling process, when in fact it means spending more time understanding the customer buying process (view from the customer).

Sales 93

Sales Customer Custom Competition 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre. Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? You know the basic ingredients, and you can visualize the results you want. For now, get cooking!

Startup 112

Startup Metrics Coach Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Any startup coach or business advisor will tell you that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start your journey by inventing the ultimate entre. Have you projected sales and marketing costs, cash flow, and capital requirements? You know the basic ingredients, and you can visualize the results you want. For now, get cooking!

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Jason Nazar

APRIL 2, 2016

The following checklist is my comprehensive criteria for how to grade entrepreneurs. I, like many entrepreneurs, never followed directions that well. Balance “Coaching and Cheerleading” vs. “Doing and Directing” (via Bob Walters ). Make their product different and better than the competition. Sales / BD.

Entrepreneur 46

Entrepreneur Tips Organization Sales 46

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2016

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Creating intellectual property, including patents, is the kay to long-term value and a sustainable competitive advantage. Training and coaching.

Metrics 64

Metrics Coach Competition Ideas 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2019

Much has been written recently about the requirement to focus today on the total customer experience, as a competitive edge or even for survival. The challenge I hear from savvy business owners and entrepreneurs operating on a shoestring is that providing a superior customer experience costs money.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Coach Sales 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Thus I believe that business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus first on people leadership, rather than process leadership. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching.

Coach 94

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2019

These things are clearly good for morale, but its not so clear that they translate into a competitive advantage. HR leaders are your culture coaches, and responsible for aligning managers and employees with the desired culture. In addition, most business knowledge, such as the reason for a lost sale, is subject to interpretation.

Competition 76

Competition Coach Case Study Statistics 76

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. I think of VCs as coaches. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Continuing to micromanage both as your business grows is the downfall of many entrepreneurs. For example, in the sales silo of my former organization, it was common to point to marketing or development as the source of a sales issue, but communication across to these organizations took forever, and agreeing on a common solution was difficult.

Sales 69

Sales Organization Entrepreneur Examples 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Too many entrepreneurs confuse action with momentum and results. That’s a deadly waste you can’t afford.

Resource 105

Resource Startup Entrepreneur Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business leader believes that he or she has the full trust of their team and their customers, and in fact most do in the beginning. For example, measuring marketing team members on sales leads may not get you the revenue growth or trust you expected. Show humility while acting as a mentor and coach.

Mentor 98

Mentor News Summary Metrics 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I like the guidance from marketing coach David Newman’s classic book “ Do It! Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. An obvious example would be in sales. By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2018

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Too many entrepreneurs confuse action with momentum and results. That’s a deadly waste you can’t afford.

Resource 52

Resource Training Entrepreneur Activity 52

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

Training and coaching. Ongoing coaching from the top is essential to maintain the attitude and spirit. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Idea management. Observe and measure.

Coach 98

Coach Ideas IP Sales 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I found some help from marketing coach David Newman’s new book “ Do It! Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. They will call you back. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2011

Training and coaching. Ongoing coaching from the top is essential to maintain the attitude and spirit. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Idea management. Observe and measure.

Coach 93

Coach Ideas IP Sales 93

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

You can find a mentor, a coach, a project, or experience, to help you prepare for the role you are looking for. We were originally operating as a coaching company, and we built out this assessment technology for our own clients. Anne Fulton: I've always been an organizational psychologist crossed with a serial entrepreneur.

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. As with any sales campaign you need to: Qualify your buyers early so you focus your scarce resources on people likely to buy your product. .

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

But I would posit that in order to sustainably build great products in an intensely competitive industry with skills shortages – people management is one of the most critical soft skills organizations need. – while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2010

Training and coaching. Ongoing coaching from the top is essential to maintain the attitude and spirit. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Idea management. Observe and measure.

Coach 49

Coach Ideas IP Sales 49

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Traditional” marketing, sales, and product management organizations often lead to mediocrity. Get your team right and do it quickly.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

Examples of VC platform services include: recruiting, marketing, design support, inside sales reps, consulting, accounting services and so forth. The new war for platforms has mostly been waged by Andreessen Horowitz who have raised astounding amounts of capital and therefore had the fees to put into providing more services for entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2010

By Ernst Gemassmer Some entrepreneurs are so caught up in their dream that they jump immediately into implementation, with no focus on strategy and tactics first. During this process you are looking for affordable space, defining the roles of your team members, defining the product/service, developing initial sales channels and customers.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Summary Entrepreneur Coach 91

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it. They’re competitive. It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits ;-).

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2012

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Traditional” marketing, sales, and product management organizations often lead to mediocrity. Get your team right and do it quickly.

Training 109

Training Startup Study Customer 109