Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

As a founder, when you’ve been dealing with these kinds of objections for a couple of years it becomes natural and you easily handle objections on price, product & competition without much thought. Some examples of common objections across many companies: 1. It is tacit knowledge. You can have best of both worlds.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Burstly, a Santa Monica based company, provides an open and free ad management platform that helps mobile application developers better monetize their inventory. As I naturally get asked all the time why we invested in Company A or Company B, I thought I’d just put forth my thesis in writing.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2013

She entered you reservation by writing in a time slot in a paper calendar and you were in. and there was certainly less competition from everybody pitching local merchant solutions. and then took the lid off of the product by announcing the company – I wrote about that here. After hours there was the answering machine.

Development Team Review 324

Development Team Review Course Mobile Writing 324

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

It’s building a product that is substantially differentiated, and, as Bill Gross, one of the most prolific tech entrepreneurs of our era says, “ It needs to be 10x better than the competition ” (because if you shoot for that then in competitive markets you might achieve 3x. Look at Viddy & SocialCast.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

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. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

However, to a Big Dumb Company (BDC), a startup’s IP is a thing of beauty. Patents held by startups generally have a limited ability to reduce competition. As such, they are hesitant to acquire a company which has not sought formal protection of their IP for two reasons. An example of design patent is shown at left.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). In a startup this is a mistake.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. But some CEOs then try to have more junior people in the company take the interview. In a startup this is a mistake.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should you start a company? What company should you start? When should you join a company? Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? More strategic.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

For example, no one should be convinced that Elon Musk is following someone else’s lead as he charges ahead with Tesla, SpaceX, and other initiatives. Every person and every company needs a set of core values. It may be time for you to start your own blog, write a book, or volunteer as a speaker at public events in your domain.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

For example, “I just patented a new cell-phone technology that will double battery life for half the cost. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have built a SaaS company where a large part of the early revenue comes from a few big customers or a large part of the revenue is services based vs. software based. The investor is a customer and they have money to spend but only for a limited number of companies.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

Investor and customer attention spans are short, and both will write you off quickly. A winning USP example is the FedEx lead “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Ideally the solution embodies intellectual property that you own, giving you a sustainable competitive advantage.

.Net 73

.Net Examples Customer Custom 73

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2020

If you think about it, in a multi-player game, for example, you have a very limited vocabulary for interaction. For example, if I were to have a room full of bouncing balls, we couldn't share that today because of the amount of information involved. Are Android and iOS then your competition? It's so much that it's impossible.

Platform 168

Platform Startup Examples Web 168

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. There is an inherent value that any company has. I acknowledged this in the article.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

It’s super hard not to want to spend more time with these companies. Competition is fierce. I always ask when somebody sends me a deal, for example, are you already a shareholder in the company? I got an email recently from a VC who had invested in a company a small amount in a seed round. Why am I so lucky?

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

I know that they really impacted an entire cohort of startups because every company that was coming to pitch me businesses was (is) saying, “I’m a ‘mobile first’ company.” I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2013

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 92

Sample Writing Startup Summary 92

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2008

We caught up with both Anne and John to learn more about the company. In their case, people write their scripts on a web site, and when they're done, they can submit them to contests with a single click. What kind of writing and writers are you targeting? WordHustler launched in May of 2008 in a beta. Anne Walls: Everything.

Writing 209

Writing Hollywood Startup Sites 209

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2016

Laura Wagner: Digitz is a payment company. On the far right, you have companies like Stripe, which is absolutely killing it in the e-commerce area, with online shopping carts. That percent is actually all over the board, very complex, and very competitive. We spoke with CEO Laura Wagner about the startup. What is Digitzs?

Platform 113

Platform Startup Ticketmaster Writing 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2012

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 96

Sample Writing Summary Startup 96

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2014

As the capital needed to start a small business continues to fall, the number of software companies being started is exploding. There’s a lot of uncertainty in startup companies. Now, you’re handling payroll and doing writing as well. You may even discover that you enjoy writing more than crunching numbers.

Startup 102

Startup Social Media Writing Google 102

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

In the case of SmartyPants Vitamins (www.wearesmartypants.com), it's at the core of the company. There was a real opportunity for me to arbitrage the last decade and a half of my experience in the Internet, and apply that to a products company, and to get some real competitive advantage.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2013

While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. We can all point to examples of successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of college, but still went on to make a big impact. Don’t try to “bet the farm” on your first company.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements. Rationale: My company is small, I am super busy and I am not a lawyer.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

There are a lot of other competition shows and reality show, which are much more predatory and cut-throat, and it's nice for our entrepreneurs to not only get a real investment, but get great feedback. You have had an interesting career path to TV, starting with investment banking and a healthcare company � how did that happen?

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

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. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

They’re not in search of price fixing or collusion, they’re in search of diligence information about the company. Have you looked at competition? How well financed is the competition? I’ll give you an example of information flow at its worst. It’s called competition. Have you reference them?

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 11, 2012

Tech Reporters: These individuals will write and edit informative and practical articles on a range of topics including Startups/Entrepreneurs, Gadgets, Mobile Tech, Tech in Entertainment, Gaming, Apps & Software, productivity, and cover breaking tech news. Think you may be interested? Take a look below and give us a shout.

Technical Review 71

Technical Review Software Review Writing News 71

InfoChachkie

MARCH 10, 2014

Jackson Brown sat at his kitchen table, pulled out a pad of paper and began writing advice to his son, who had just entered college. When there''s a piano to be moved, don''t reach for the stool - lead by example, never ask someone to do a task you would not do yourself. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes.

Competition 274

Competition Mentor Entrepreneur Startup 274

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2011

While I agree that successful company builders usually have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, a good education helps polish that apple. We can all point to examples of successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of college, but still went on to make a big impact. Don’t try to “bet the farm” on your first company.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Course Education 105

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2009

We caught up with Jason and Kurt to hear more about the company. What's the story behind the company and how it started? I am someone who likes to interact with my Representatives and Senators, by way of writing letters, emailing, and what not. What really differentiates us from our competition is the data set we have.

Startup 100

Startup Writing Southern California Email 100