Berkonomics

APRIL 11, 2019

An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for 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. We investors see this all the time.

Competition 120

Competition Slides Research Sales 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. I outlined what investors expect to see in an old article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2021

In the last few years I have seen a popular business model emerging which embodies a greater focus on social and environmental responsibility, and a new requirement for trust and sharing, as well as customer and community collaboration. Customers and team members must be inspired, rather than pushed.

Customer 140

Customer Custom Slides Commerce 140

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA. Customers sometimes buy things spontaneously without thinking through what their actual need is. ” In truth many companies had no idea why they actually needed Facebook Likes but there was still a pain point. .”

Sales 367

Sales Slides Startup Customer 367

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

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

The “competition slide&# of your investment deck is such a great opportunity to talk about how you’re positioned (premium product vs. economical product? which features do you believe your customers care about and where you’re try to differentiate? Harvey Balls. It is a great place to talk about your future roadmap.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Another mistake many consultants make is to charge by the hour, and customers lose track and lose confidence as things change. Dress to fit into the company culture, no more, no less. Results” these days are not PowerPoint slides, or theories and recommendations. Have "customers", not "clients." Produce results.

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

Bijan Sabet – investor & board member in some small companies you might have heard of like Twitter, Tumblr, Boxee & OMGPOP – took issue with the whole notion that you even need a Powerpoint deck anymore. First, if it’s an early stage company, I don’t need to see a powerpoint deck. I funded them 8 weeks later.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. Assign out slides: The best way to involve your team members is to assign out slides they will own. But I find when you don’t assign slides that each person owns often the quiet team members get silenced.

Venture Capital 377

Venture Capital Slides Course Summary 377

socalTECH

MARCH 18, 2009

But it turns out that parents who used the site only wanted basic features, like the ability to see a picture of their kids sliding into third base. After your launch, you can improve the business by listening to your customers. Brian suggests taking Guy Kawasakis advice. When you launch, dont worry. Continued.).

Mixergy 113

Mixergy Slides Company Companies 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2021

Every startup fears that one angry and unfair customer who can jeopardize the business by a negative post on Ripoff Report , Yelp , or one of the hundreds of other consumer complaint and review sites on the Internet. On the other hand, if you let your reputation slide early to be “cool,” it may take a lifetime to recover.

Search Engine Optimization 163

Search Engine Optimization Content Social Network Google 163

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. So what’s next?

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. Your deck should be so good that a VC asks you for permission to show it to his or her portfolio companies. after all you aren’t presenting this at TED.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

They are looking for startups that have a sustainable advantage over direct and indirect competitor offerings, as well as obvious value to customers living without your product today. Non-specific terms, like better usability and low cost don’t incite customers to action these days. Investors check connections.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Tell them about your personal background but also tell the story about how the idea for the company came about and talk about the early days. Who are your key customers? Competitors?

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

Even if it’s only a few PowerPoint slides or typed paragraphs, writing something down is the first step toward making it real. Before you know it, you will have a ten-slide pitch that you can use to gauge interest from potential customers, as well as friends, family, and early investors.

Ideas 99

Ideas Slides Writing Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2015

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. I outlined what investors expect to see in an old article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch.

Slides 105

Slides Technical Review Startup Research 105

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. Fool A Fool – I sold surgical robots from PowerPoint slides in the early 1990’s, before the robots existed. As such, I understand the degree to which hand waving and vaporware can influence investors and potential customers. Customers Are All That Matter.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

We''ve put a spin on this, where you can use your own personalization or custom designs for your own Bluetooth headset, just like you would create a personalized case for your smartphone. Where''d the idea for the company come from? Those other companies are based on technical functionality. This is a crowded market.

Startup 241

Startup Slides Orange County Design 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2022

In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. Only a few of these slide into farming, as the company grows in employees and products. All this made more sense to me as Dini defined the types of entrepreneurs into four categories.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Marketing News Slides 124

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 20, 2013

It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to influence journalists, business partners, potential employees, customers and VCs. Don’t confuse this with a tour-de-force education on the finer details of how your company operations. Show some energy!

Slides 399

Slides Startup Conference Writing 399

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Understand Personality Types – One of the benefits of working for a big company (Accenture) was that we had lots of speakers come in and train us in topics like leadership, creativity, presentations, strategy, etc. Don’t dwell on this slide for ever. I’ll usually tolerate this for 2-3 slides or 5-7 minutes.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In reality, they need a separate pitch about the business, carrying over only a slide or two about the solution. These don’t get funded, nor bought by customers.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Berkonomics

APRIL 19, 2012

Whether the entrepreneur has not been able to find companies doing “something like” the plan, or s/he has not considered the most obvious killer of new ideas – doing nothing, it is a faux pas that should never be allowed to happen. So, do your homework especially well by putting yourself into the minds of your potential customers.

Competition 189

Competition Slides Sales Ideas 189

Tech.Co

MAY 22, 2018

One of the biggest turn offs for investors are founders who don’t know the basics of their business, especially their market and customer. They have to know their industry, know their customers, and understand what it takes to make their customers happy.”. Try to keep the presentation tight, 10 slides is ideal,” Gruber said.

Tips 70

Tips Help Slides Technical Review 70

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 5, 2011

A major disadvantage of a public Big Dumb Company (BDC), as well as one that works closely with governmental agencies, is the degree to which they are forced to publicly disclose otherwise confidential information. As noted in Competitive Sleuthing , some partners routinely share information about the companies with whom they are working. .

Startup 216

Startup Slides Resource Organization 216

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. I outlined what investors expect to see in another article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

For what ever reason we’re wired to have amnesia during the run up and prescient memories of how we ‘knew it all along’ as soon as the slide begins. And as I always assert, “Great companies are built in downturns. And it’s when mediocre companies get pulverized.”

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

If you have ten minutes, that means no more than ten slides. I’ve seen several presentations that never moved past the first slide before running out of time. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. I outlined what investors expect to see in an old article “ Adding Slides Does Not Enhance Your Investor Pitch.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

In a two-minute video clip, you can introduce yourself, show your passion and the engaging personality you need to win over customers, partners, and employees. A perfect size is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Pitch your company, not your product. Executive summary glossy.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

Management teams whisk through slides trying to get through a presentation to share how great things are going and they are eager to get through the meeting so they can get back to their real jobs. The board’s job is to review the company’s financial performance and strategy and help provide counsel to the executive team.

Tips 212

Tips Slides Startup Technical Review 212

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

I had a picture in the office of my first company with the logo above and the capital letters JFDI. (In I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. I used to sit on the board of a company (for which I DID NOT invest) with a very smart and very likable CEO.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

You company is the product and you’re selling an equity ownership in your company but much more broadly you’re selling trust & confidence that you’re going to build something enormously valuable and that you’re going to be enjoyable to work hand-in-hand with over the coming decade of each other’s lives.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

Often these projects took 12–18 months so by the time companies shipped product they often found out that the product didn’t meet customer needs. I think the best run companies let executives make most of the hard decisions and should try to be helpful in thinking through high-level strategy and weigh in on difficult topics.

Startup 234

Startup Slides Venture Capital Course 234

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. This kind of a simple model also helps: Define the early proof points for the company. Often, what we are trying to do initially is show exactly how these numbers play out. In fact, this often becomes the mantra that we live by.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Web 2.0 Slides 225

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 13, 2009

My presentation began with a “moon&# themed, song-filled slideshow of the history of the company. The first slide was entitled, “Once Upon a Time in Jorts&# as I found an old picture of myself and Jeremy Anticouni (we’ve worked together for 14 years, 3 companies) and sadly, I was wearing a pair of jorts.

News 172

News Santa Barbara Social Media Customer 172

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. So far at the company I have raised seed funds of $500,000 of which $470,000 is still in the bank so I’m in pretty good shape. My blog was wiped out. After Office 2.0

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274