Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Does your business have a visible positive strategy, or do your customers and employees still see your primary focus as closing more sales and killing competitors? Certainly that has been the strategy of many companies, and has worked in the past, but today’s customers and workers are looking for more.

Competition 110

Competition Sales Customer Custom 110

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

<== Our conclusion was that this isn’t a temporary blip that will swiftly trend-back up in a V-shaped recovery of valuations but rather represented a new normal on how the market will price these companies somewhat permanently. First in late-stage tech companies and then it will filter back to Growth and then A and ultimately Seed Rounds.

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2023

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

Customer 131

Customer Custom Social Media Training 131

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. But I believe the necessary skills can be learned, and it isn’t rocket science.

Company 148

Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

I believe this option will continue to spread to other companies, states and countries. Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change.

Organization 108

Organization Startup Satisfaction Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

I’m a believer in the old saying that investors look for great people, more than great ideas. For example, even though Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook as an innovative product, most experts believe it was successful due to his relationship with Peter Thiel and other top VCs that he convinced to invest early.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2018

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Social Media Training 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

I call this linear thinking , and it’s a sure way to be ultimately overrun by your competition. Yet I believe it is possible, and even more fun, to challenge your thinking and practices, to develop that innovative mindset that can keep you on the forefront of business. Always practice thinking outside the box.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

It won’t happen right away but I’ve seen some innovative companies doing exactly this in places like Australia where they are taking a more liberal approach to allowing drone deliveries. they just put up with the food delivery company fees. Customers were happy and restaurants focused on their in-store business.

SaaS 242

SaaS Customer Custom Technical Review 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Some are great product leaders and innovative technologists, others are leaders in creating new business models , a few can assemble great teams , but only the rare exception can do all three.

Coach 162

Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2023

A common initiative I hear from business owners today is their effort to improve the customer experience. Some are doing this at the expense of employee experience , which I believe is one of the major causes of employee dissatisfaction and exit of good employees today. Flexible – listen to allow flex hours and customization.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Training Tool 113

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. Extremely talented people are ultra competitive.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. I often answer the same way … * “First, yes, nearly every corner of our market is over-valued. By definition?—?I’m dot-com bonanza. HP Style) are dead.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

You do this by driving values, letting values shape behavior , and the behavior defines the culture. I believe you must start by being a role model for strong personal values and purpose, as well as empathy for others, sustainable energy, and self-awareness. Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Don’t and you might make one catastrophic mistake that leaves you in the annals of Effed Companies. He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. o Their strong skill was online media buying and optimization – they rarely would do CPA deals – mostly buying CPM.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when it comes to getting ahold of an appointment for your hair or another treatment…that’s a different story: The bespoke nature of a lot of the work has meant that a large swathe of the professionals providing these services have stayed offline when it comes to interfacing with customers.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2015

I know my MakeSpace friends will forgive me because I just don’t believe the conventional wisdom is right. But the bigger truth is the competition is important. We will have two well-funded companies educating the market on why this market opportunity for the $24 billion US storage market is ripe for disruption.

Funding 150

Funding Competition Marketing Summary 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2016

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Social Media Training 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. by your customers.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

As a long-time business advisor and angel investor, I’m a believer that “two heads are better than one” in building a new business. The reason is that good attributes apply equally well to “external” partners, as they do to internal partners, like a co-founder or CTO. Believe in similar values and goals.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2023

Why do a few entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, seem to come up with all the real innovations, while the majority of business leaders seem stuck in the rut of linear thinking? He connects breakthrough thinking to four initiatives, which I believe every entrepreneur should practice: Questioning deeply-held beliefs and assumptions.

Startup 128

Startup Entrepreneur Tool Ideas 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

You may feel good when that first burst of customers arrives, but don’t assume that “ word of mouth ” and those early adopters will grow your business to match your dreams of success. In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. They won’t find you.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Social Media Conference Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

The result is fewer and fewer new ideas are volunteered by prospective leaders and key team members, and the business suffers from poor customer satisfaction or loss of market share. Your challenge is to show examples of forward-thinking companies that are ahead by doing things differently.

Ideas 116

Ideas Netflix Resource Customer 116

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Too many executives believe that things must be either A or B, and can’t be both. It highlights the story of how United Airlines paid no attention to social media while Dave’s story of his crushed guitar and poor customer service went viral around the world. Customers today trust those they know and those they see others trusting.

Social Media 142

Social Media Media Platform Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2019

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Quantify the difference for your customers. Trying to be all things to all people never works.

Product 124

Product Customer Custom Examples 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

The world has changed much since I started my first company in 1999. As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. some came from our customer service, some were to improve performance / scalability from tech ops, some were bug fixes, etc.)

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

Many entrepreneurs still don’t understand that building a business culture today of doing good, like helping people (society) and planet (sustainability), is also a key to maximizing profit. Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 128

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2018

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Quantify the difference for your customers. Customize to differentiate, but do it efficiently.

Customer 63

Customer Custom Examples Product 63

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2022

Entrepreneurs and startups are big believers in innovation, but sometimes they forget that innovation must be continual to assure long-term success, rather than the one big-bang idea that initiated their journey. Get the right players on board and enable them to do great things. Recognize that customers care about the whole experience.

Metrics 102

Metrics Startup Organization Demand 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. Whenever I heard why we didn’t feel a sales process at an important customer was going well (or if we lost) I would get involved myself. Many great ones don’t thrive in the early phase of a company where the sales is more consultative or evangelical.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2022

Once your business is running and sustainable , everyone these days expects it to grow, as an indication of long-term health and competitiveness. Everyone is looking for that magic strategy that will keep them growing, even during market and company changes. Improve reaction time to competitive situations.

Organization 128

Organization Acquisition Competition Resource 128