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Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process and of sales people themselves. My first startup was no different. Sales people: Are motivated by cash.
A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. You learn by asking.
Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process and of sales people themselves. My first startup was no different. Sales people: Are motivated by cash.
This is part of my ongoing posts on Startup Advice. There are people who tell startups that they should hire the most senior people that they can find. Weight Class : Let’s take sales. Bringing in a senior person who’s “done it all before&# is often a mistake in a startup. Your solution?
It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO. I think usually a COO title at a startup is an ego thing. CEO’s run things.
We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on.
In a VC business when you raise additional capital you need to “level up” and act the round you are. I’d say 20% of startups I see level-up early after their A round. These are important leveling-up activities but the CEO is often still up at 10pm f **g around with QuickBooks entries.
That''s what Los Angeles-based FieldLevel (www.fieldlevel.com) has been working on, making it easier for coaches to network and exchange information on athletes. Brenton Sullivan: What we are is a private social network and platform for coaches to connect with each other, to exchange information on athletes. What is that process?
An edtech startup called Entity Academy — which provides women with training, in areas like data science and software development; mentoring; and ultimately job coaching — has raised $100 million on the heels of strong growth of its business, and an ambition to improve that ratio.
When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. As You Start to Mature. In the Early Days. You’ll get empathy. Experience.
This is part of my Startup Advice series. So I was surprised at the sheer volumes of decisions that had to be made when I became a startup CEO. Your head of sales thinks she should fire somebody. Somebody asks whether you plan to set up 401k’s and do contribution matching. I think this paralyzes many people.
Preparing for the game… If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.
I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.
A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. We both felt that most startups are not taking a very systematic approach to defining with they need in terms of advisors. Connected Advisors?
His willingness to add value wherever his coach needed him most, not only helped his teams win three consecutive World Championships, but it also allowed Bert to extend his career by making himself Indispensible. By subsuming multiple responsibilities under one individual, a startup can invest more of its cash into furthering its mission.
The link-in-bio business is heating up as more mobile website builders compete for a coveted slice of real estate on a creator’s TikTok, Instagram or Twitter. Linktree has been around since 2016 and has more funding than its up-and-coming competitors. Now, Snipfeed enters the ring with its own $5.5 Image Credits: Snipfeed.
Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. – while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot. She started it with a partner, 50-50.
VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. In the end it will be up to you to figure out what to do. Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. I call them “ VCs Seagulls.”
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!”
Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. ” So it’s now March 2014 – 5 years since I started investing. Disney Acquires Maker Studios f0r $500 million and with earn-out potentially up to $950 million. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. Since then?
Los Angeles-based ringDNA , the venture-backed startup which is developing artificial intelligence tools to help sales teams, says it has acquired a popular podcast focused on sales. According to the company, it has acquired the sales podcast "Accelerate!", Financial details of the deal were not announced.
Fred Wilson also wrote on a similar topic in his usual more succinct manner , with a great quote being: “One thing I know for sure is that those who advise and invest in startups cannot and should not meddle in the day to day decision making. It’s harmful and hurtful to the startup and those that lead it. I did this.
If you have been following our recent insights, you’ll be up to speed knowing that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more.
We had a training session from somebody who put up the four-quadrant graph you see above. This is really important as extroverts like to have the answers presented to them up front. For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Drain in quickly.
Several people have been asking me to weigh in publicly on the “20 under 20″ initiative announced by Peter Thiel in which he will award up to $100,000 to 20 people under the age of 20 who agree immediately to pursue entrepreneurship (the implication of which is that they’d drop out of university to do so). Experience life.
This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I came several times to NorCal (where I grew up, actually) and went and met several partners from each Silicon Valley firm.
If there happens to be a gas station along the way where you can fill up for a reasonable price, great. In 2000, at Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting, acquired by Citrix), we raised $30 million at an $80 million pre-money valuation – for a startup with absolutely zero revenue. However, do not count on it.
billion two years ago and is expected to double by 2027, attracting startups, like alternative meat food tech company AKUA , that aim to solidify a prominent place in the up-and-coming industry. Ultimately 1,000 customers signed up, and The Kelp Burger is now the “hero product,” Boyd Myers said.
This insight follows closely the conclusions from the previous declaration, that professional investors negotiate tough terms, from provisions of control over asset acquisition, eventual sale of the company, future investments, forced co-sale when others attempt to sell their shares and more. Startingup Raising money.
He’s bound to be able to help a company or two at the time of a sale. My own firm was involved with the sale of our portfolio company BillMeLater (an online credit company – think PayPal but for credit) to eBay for $1 billion in October 2008. People don’t forget. I suspect many will match the S&P 500 or worse.
And a key point is that when it comes down to “negotiations&# you need to turn up your personal heat and dial back the middle man. Let me start with an example. She told me, “start with the price you want but the move in date he wants.&#. I said, “If I start with your position I have nowhere to go but down.
Next week, we begin again with new insights from startup through liquidity event, including guest postings by some of the nation’s best known angel investors and entrepreneurs. Some immediately start to plan their next venture. Amazon Kindle Edition: [link]. Stay tuned! – Dave.
You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I just saw today, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.
As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. Training and coaching. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. Idea management.
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).
This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . It is never as rewarding when you’re the coach (but coaching has many other benefits. I came several times to NorCal (where I grew up, actually) and went and met several partners from each Silicon Valley firm.
We will be selecting 10 startup companies to participate. Encourage the most successful LA tech entrepreneurs who had previously started companies to get involved as mentors, instructors or just informal advisors. When we started I told everybody we would run the organization as a startup itself. The rest is history.
As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare. Training and coaching. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply. Idea management.
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).
You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.
Next week we return to the start of the journey, focusing upon the “what and how” to ignite a successful enterprise from start-up to exit. Allow me to reminisce. This is the final post of this cycle. But, for this short moment…. Looking back over an entrepreneur’s journey. The rewards of angel investing.
I would start by asking the candidate, “How did you decide on these five people” as part of your review process. I usually start with, “Obviously Stacy has made it far into the process or I wouldn’t be calling you. CFOs often know the other CFOs and same for heads of sales, marketing, tech, etc.
Always use multiple methods, including verbal and written, for defining an assignment, including accountability, with checkpoints and follow-up from you along the way. Make sure that metrics and goals are set up front, and not modified as the project progresses. Provide assessments based wholly on facts.
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