Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

He lived the philosophy that companies must be paranoid in order to survive, and continually disrupt their own markets to prevent overrun by competition. How serious are you about really listening to customer feedback, your own teams, and participating in industry forums? Foster a collaboration culture, rather than competition.

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Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

According to an old but still relevant survey by Bain & Company , 80% of businesses believe they have differentiated offerings, but only 8% of customers agree. Even back then, experts projected that businesses with truly differentiated offerings had only an 80% chance of long-term success, compared to ‘me-too’ companies with a 20% chance.

Competition 123

Competition Customer Custom Examples 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

In case you hadn’t noticed, the key elements of a competitive advantage for your business have changed as businesses move online, and your domain is instantly global. As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Berkonomics

AUGUST 2, 2018

There can be nothing more important in your business planning that selecting the proper pricing niche, making your story clear using that niche, and the defending your position against the competition. There are five major classes or niches a company should examine and make its own in calculating positioning in the marketplace.

Pricing 226

Pricing Competition Examples Class 226

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The Truth About the Scooter Economy?—?An The company started the year with no revenue and at it’s peak had a run rate well in excessive of $100 million / year. Pause to think about how remarkable that truly is. No, the scooter companies were not incredibly well prepared for just how steep the drop would be.

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. That says you are competitive today, have a real barrier to entry, and the potential to remain ahead of the competition for a long time.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. Your company and team members have to be seen as going above and beyond to solve the problems of internal and external customers. Companies that matter focus beyond the buy/sell transaction view of the world.

Company 116

Company Companies Customer Custom 116

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

With a background in management and technology, he gives us something to think about regarding today’s top-of-news subject. Which companies are most at risk? The obvious companies that would suffer the most quickly are mall locations, strip mall locations, theaters, restaurants, and many many more.

News 156

News Competition Capital Entrepreneur 156

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” I thought I’d write a post about how to talk about valuation at a startup and give you some sense of what might be on the mind of the person considering funding you.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 324

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

Competition. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. Here’s some thoughts on the competition slide and also how to talk about it: Competition.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 16, 2013

Tracy DiNunzio, Founder and CEO of Tradesy , recently shared her insights regarding the best approach for entrepreneurs to address competition. Tracy addressed the issue of competition head on, telling the largely student audience, "As I started to think about launching Tradesy, I looked around and there was a lot of competition but.

Competition 254

Competition SaaS Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 254

Berkonomics

JANUARY 11, 2018

And good board members can add real value to you and the company. But sometimes there is a barrier, an impossibly high cost not considered, a social backlash never thought of, or competition already covering the idea that is unknown to the originator. Strategic thinking: Board members who ask: “What is the competitive landscape?”

Company 243

Company Companies Ideas Competition 243

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

Berkonomics

APRIL 11, 2019

An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. We have no competition.”. Whether you have not been able to find companies doing “something like” the plan, or you has not considered the most obvious killer of new ideas – doing nothing, it is a faux pas that should never be allowed to happen. Do your homework!

Competition 120

Competition Slides Research Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

I actually really enjoyed many of the points Muhammad made about marketing in general and I found myself nodding through the entirety of the article except for it’s core premise. I believe growth hacking is about all of this. I’d like to make the case that the article is wrong. I’d strongly encourage you to read it.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2020

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. But many decisions were made within my company walls, and surely by competitors, based upon those numbers. Or cost estimation.

Company 156

Company Companies Metrics Resource 156

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Competitive (Athlete: skier & rowed at Princeton, hates losing at everything she does). Helped merge company with Seedling – on track to do $20 million combined revenue in 2015 – will now become Chairman). Thus began my marketing campaign. Investment experience (5 years a VC at Battery Ventures).

Venture Capital 408

Venture Capital Startup Outsource Development CitySearch 408

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. What excites me about this space is that there’s so much low-hanging fruit.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

I find that many entrepreneurs are so passionate about their own idea that they can’t stop selling it to potential partners. A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization. On the other hand, there are many technology companies successfully started and run by non-technologists.

Competition 174

Competition High Tech Startup Social Media 174

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

If one entered between 2009-2015 he or she is no doubt in the “hazard” phase where one need to be careful about thinking he know more about the industry than perhaps he do. Too much money too early often f s companies up. No – I’m not talking about YOU – everybody is doing it. ” Well.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 3, 2020

NASA and a clutch of startup and established companies are moving forward with plans to transform mobility in urban environments through the Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge. The Grand Challenge series brings together companies developing new transportation or airspace management technologies, the Agency said. AirMap, Inc.,

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Company Companies Mobile 250

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Competitiveness - One attribute that I believe most VCs look for in entrepreneurs is competitiveness. I replay things in my mind about why I lost and I try to correct my mistakes. I had to say it.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

socalTECH

JANUARY 10, 2013

It looks like competition is heating up in the smart parking market--and for local parking technology firm Parkme , which is based in Santa Monica--as yet another company announced Thursday more funding for giving consumers real-time information about available parking spaces.

Competition 187

Competition Santa Monica Funding Marketing 187

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

We all know about AngelGate by now. Here’s what you need to know… As a funny coincidence I happend to have written about the topic of collusion 3 weeks prior to the fateful dinner. They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company.

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). BuildOnline (the company I founded) has just announcement plans to be more aggressive in growing in the US. Let me not bury the lede.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees , the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up. “We think the company is quite a bit more valuable than [$1 billion].

Company 262

Company Companies Startup Tips 262

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Last week, the University of Southern California 's Viterbi School of Engineering announced that it had established a new, business plan competition, the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition ([link] specifically aimed at students in the engineering school. Why a business plan competition, and why in engineering school?

Competition 154

Competition Southern California Mentor USC 154

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side.

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2015

Yesterday I saw two biopic films: “ Amy ” about the life of Jazz sensation Amy Winehouse who died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 and “ Montage of Heck ” about the life of Kurt Cobain , the grunge-rock generational voice who died of an overdose of heroin and valium at the age of … 27.

Press 150

Press Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 150

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Often, we joke together as managers of companies or of people that our goal is “world domination” or “to crush the competition.” How about companies formed to profit and give to charity? But no matter how stated, the primary goal of an enterprise is to make money. The three measures of progress.

Company 156

Company Companies .Net Google 156

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 28, 2020

There’s a new company that’s sitting on top of some of the fastest growing consumer-facing businesses in the world — liquor and marijuana delivery — and its name is Pacific Consolidated Holdings Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Company 188

Company Companies Los Angeles San Diego 188

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. You rely on your team for the continuing creativity required to thrive in a today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

Company 148

Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. YouTube takes too high of a revenue split (45% vs. 30% that Apple and many other distribution companies take – FWIW, YouTube argues this is because their costs are much higher since they host and stream the video). But think of this.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Danielle goes through some commentary from Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen about burn rate and then goes on to discuss her own burn rate and others publicly weigh in. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

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Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

From apps to hardware, to KickStarter successes and international startups, we’re inching closer to finding out who will take home the title of Startup of the Year competition at our annual Celebrate Conference in October. Among the dozens of participants that applied for the online competitions, only a few progressed into the semifinals.

Competition 123

Competition Mobile Startup Technical Review 123