Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The ideal business model is to establish a direct-to-consumer service that enables you to bill the customer directly. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Get out and meet your customers to learn what turns them on these days.

Custom 83

Custom Customer Demand Examples 83

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Founded four years ago by Matt Danna and Sean Stavropoulos, Boulevard was inspired by Stavropoulos’ inability to book a haircut and Danna’s hunch that the inability of salons and spas to cater to customers like the busy programmer could be indicative of a bigger problem. That could be because of the size of the industry.

Software 323

Software Beverly Hills Los Angeles Equity 323

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2022

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. The company's market is the same. These points may sound obvious, but the process is certainly contrary to the popular “shoot from the hip” approach that is practiced by some entrepreneurs.

Ideas 155

Ideas Entrepreneur Research Demand 155

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist. Every relationship requires listening, as well as talking.

Custom 85

Custom Customer Product Marketing 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2021

Based on my experience as a business advisor, I’m convinced that most startup investors invest in the entrepreneur, as much as a solution or product. The attitude of taking nothing for granted, of disbelieving the conventional wisdom, of challenging the way things are done, is essential for a winning entrepreneur.

Startup 162

Startup Entrepreneur IBM IBM 162

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2014

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist. Remember, customers are the reason you do what you do.

Custom 98

Custom Customer .Net Competition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. Early-stage ideas fall in the same category. You need a viable business model and customers. Don’t get me wrong.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Funding Patents Ideas 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2015

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.” Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist. Remember, customers are the reason you do what you do.

Custom 100

Custom Customer .Net Competition 100

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2011

When hiring ATM Operators at a Big Dumb Company (BDC), assessing each candidate’s ability to execute predictable tasks is of paramount importance. In fact, a company filled with inventors would be a dysfunctional mess. As made clear in Optimistically Pessimistic , most entrepreneurs’ experiences are not linear.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Paramount Startup Organization 252

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I don’t think it takes book smart people to build great companies – sometimes it’s a hindrance. If you haven’t spent time over there you should.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Custom 306

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

New unmet consumer or customer needs. For example, quarterly sales on one of your most important products suddenly decreases, or your inventory across a whole category has surged. If one metric changes, it may not be significant, but someone needs to monitor whole categories for fluctuations that may be a weak signal.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

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 Custom 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

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.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. The company''s market is the same. These points may sound obvious, but the process is certainly contrary to the popular “shoot from the hip” approach that is practiced by some entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Ideas Research Demand 105

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Even entrepreneurs that already sold on SaaS should stake note of new research from the SalientGroup : SaaS gets funded - Nearly 50% of SaaS-based startups are getting successfully funded—a rate of funding success no other sector can match. Traditionally, companies have been building their own portal. is du jour. Time to market.

SaaS 100

SaaS Entrepreneur Startup Satisfaction 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. If your solution alleviates a high level of existing pain, customers more readily change.

Case Study 89

Case Study Custom Customer Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. He provides 101 two-page lessons divided into eight learning categories that I like as follows: Learn the ground rules for traditional media. People judge you and your company in the first few seconds.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. If your solution alleviates a high level of existing pain, customers more readily change.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Custom Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2017

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 54

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2017

Ahead of the Recurring Revenue Conference ([link] which we are helping to sponsor next week, we are chatting with a few companies in the recurring revenue area space. We are also launching beverages and coffee, two new categories, next month. The problem is that there's no access. There's no access, for two reasons.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Services Sales Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count.

Funding 121

Funding Startup Equity Invest 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

Most entrepreneurs believe they are “different,” but they can’t quite understand how. A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. Dini makes the case that entrepreneurs are hunters, while the rest of us (large majority) are farmers.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2015

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything.

Product 111

Product Entrepreneur Framework Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2016

As an angel investor in early-stage startups, I’ve long noticed my peers apparent bias toward the strength and character of the founding entrepreneurs, often overriding a strong solution to a painful problem with a big opportunity. Find and enjoy the company of one or more mentors.

Mentor 55

Mentor Ideas Entrepreneur Study 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Michelli, with inspiring stories on how one well-known company, Mercedes-Benz, made the transition and is profiting as a result. Tie customer experience to all compensation and recognition.

Custom 56

Custom Customer Startup Competition 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2021

If you define your self-worth as an entrepreneur by how busy you are, it’s time to find another lifestyle. For survival, entrepreneurs need to be all about accomplishing results that matter for themselves, their team, and their customers. We all know people who are extraordinarily busy, but never seem to accomplish anything.

Framework 153

Framework Product Entrepreneur Social Media 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs. New drugs usually fall in this category, due to side-effect testing.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2022

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and a technologist, I’m happy to report that the tide may be turning, and we are experiencing a new era of opportunity for entrepreneurs, and a new appreciation of the power of the digital world. In his classic book, “ Digital Context 2.0: Norton, Ph.D., Is your business ready to ride the wave?

Social Media 107

Social Media Tool Google Yahoo 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The ideal business model is to establish a direct-to-consumer service that enables you to bill the customer directly. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly.

Mobile 126

Mobile Develop Development Platform 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

I’m sure all of you know one or more of the 200 or more young companies that are currently valued at one billion or more by investors and stockholders. What every entrepreneur is asking me these days, is “How do I get to be a unicorn?” Most unicorns pop up first in new solution categories. These are popularly called “unicorns.”

Company 100

Company Companies Startup Statistics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2013

Most startup mentors tell me that the single biggest problem they have to deal with in small companies is the lack of open, honest, and effective communication, both from the top down and from the bottom up. Some entrepreneurs forget that talking is not communicating. Stereotyping and biases. Information withheld.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Technical Review Guide Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2015

New unmet consumer or customer needs. For example, quarterly sales on one of your most important products suddenly decreases, or your inventory across a whole category has surged. If one metric changes, it may not be significant, but someone needs to monitor whole categories for fluctuations that may be a weak signal.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Just ask former big brand companies, like Blockbuster, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, and Sears, what happened to them. Rather than enhancing the offering you have, develop and offer new products that capitalize on the customers that you already know well. Redefine your product to reach a new category.

Examples 99

Examples IP Acquisition Social Media 99

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2021

For today's interview, we sat down and chatted with >Zeb Evans, the founder and CEO of San Diego-based ClickUp (www.clickup.com), the developer of a workplace productivity software platform which is based by such companies as Google, Airbnb, and Nike. It's a place for companies and small teams to work together to get more done.

Doc 203

Doc San Diego Demand Product 203

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

As an angel investor, I see plenty of startups focusing on building an innovative product, but I’m looking for the few who are also leading with an exponential growth strategy, to put them in the category of the next Amazon or Google. Let your highly motivated customers be your best marketing advocates for new customers.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Custom 170