Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

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Summary Writing Competition Sample 97

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 90

Summary Writing Competition Sample 90

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Some customer segments value the DVD business and these may be more price sensitive. Some customer segments value the convenience of instantly available films. Netflix needs to segment their customers and charge each what is appropriate. Netflix announced the changes to its company via a blog post. A blog post!

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! 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. Here’s a summary of our interview.

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Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek?

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2019

Every mature company I know is looking for more innovation from within. They are painfully aware that tenure on the list of S&P companies is shrinking – from thirty-three years back in 1964, down to twenty-four in 2016, and predicted to be just twelve by 2027. In this context, strategy deviations can keep the company on track.

Company 93

Company Companies Software Review IBM 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more. To be clear, I define a product specification as the technical definition of your product, to be used for development and testing purposes, with a quick business summary for context.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

Based on my years of experience as a business executive and consultant, I am convinced that most companies gradually lose their ability to be creative as they mature, and over time are overcome by new competitors and market changes. Your people on the customer front lines have the input you need on institutional changes required.

Case Study 117

Case Study Outsource Development Outsource Customer 117

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

One 11-year study of over 200 companies over a decade ago, detailed in the book “ Corporate Culture and Performance ,” found that those working on their culture improved revenue by 516%, and increased net income by 755%. I saw a good summary of these in the classic book, “ Ethical Leadership ,” by Andrew Leigh, an expert in this area.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Software Review Summary Examples 116

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service. A startup must gain balanced traction.

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Education Customer Custom Sales 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

For example, I once worked for a small software company selling a sophisticated enterprise workflow solution. As small companies, neither startup could afford to extend their product alone, but through creative leadership, we were able to negotiate a win-win strategic partnership for a joint product. We both often lost as a result.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

It’s equally easy to go online and incorporate your new entity, register some intellectual property and have some fun with social media for marketing and interacting with customers. You will be in good company with the many legends who used this approach. Operate small, but show a big-company image.

Equity 139

Equity Social Media Startup Summary 139

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2022

These now provide better quality, better paying, and more exciting jobs than big companies. You need to step out of your comfort zone to socialize, meet new people, and collaborate with peers, company leaders, and mentors. Internally, you may need a video summary report of monthly value.

Social Media 125

Social Media Summary Startup Mentor 125

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

In 1994, (I know a long time ago), I invested over a million dollars (two million six hundred thousand in today’s dollars) into a company whose entrepreneurs had a vision that I bought into for many reasons, not the least of which was that I had industry experience and understood the need. Let me tell you a short story at my own expense.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

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. The more revolutionary the solution, the more important it is to educate customers on a solution’s existence and value.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Others schedule exhaustive training sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone paints a consistent picture. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad. Traction in the marketplace.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Dart and Lewis should know, since both have over twenty-five years of experience consulting with dozens of retail and consumer product companies, old and new. Companies that are constantly looking forward, rather than backward, are going to be victorious. Encourage and reward out-of-the-company thinking.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2016

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. You can best help yourself by doing the homework listening to customers and quantifying the pain points before you define a great solution.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Ideas Summary 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, company, or service. You can best help yourself by doing the homework listening to customers and quantifying the pain points before you define a great solution.

Ideas 155

Ideas Startup Summary Examples 155

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe, in a classic HBR article on change readiness for large companies, define it as “the ability to continuously initiate and respond to change in ways that create advantage, minimize risk, and sustain performance.” Imbue customer change focus. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 116

Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

Today more than ever, the evidence is clear that business people need to find and communicate a purpose that goes beyond making a profit, in order to ensure customer engagement, as well as your own, and drive results in the marketplace. As you grow, so will your team and customers. Driven to reduce personal hardship and suffering.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Coach Mentor Customer 143

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. The more revolutionary the solution, the more important it is to educate customers on a solution’s existence and value.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

It’s clear things have changed for good and the need for managing remote communities of employees, customers and partners has become ever more important. In marketing materials founders often refer to their customer base as a “community”, but there’s a huge gap between having customers and creating a community.

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Software Startup Tool Platform 234

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. Kristin Zhivago, in her new book “ Roadmap to Revenue ,” makes the point that the selling system is broken, since sellers no longer sell the way customers are buying. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Search Engine Optimization Summary 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek?

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Johnson accepted full company accountability on Twitter for a racial profiling incident at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. A community requires two-way communication and respect – including advisors, partners, and customers.

Coach 162

Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As such, the primary goal of your executive summary is to open the door to an in-person meeting. Entrepreneurs routinely seek my advice regarding their executive summaries.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized. Call a company meeting to communicate what is happening, and why. Contact key vendors and existing customers. Don’t surprise the team. Size of the market.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

Big company powerhouses, like IBM and Xerox, took fifty years to make the cycle, but new companies today, in the age of the Internet, often make the cycle in five to ten years, or even less. Lewis explore these cultural issues, both national and international, that can make or break your company strategy. Product-line expansion.

Startup 142

Startup Web 2.0 IBM IBM 142

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2023

I saw a good summary of the most effective ways to source prospective investors in a classic book, “ The Art of Startup Fundraising ,” by Alejandro Cremades, who has been there and done that, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. Identify customer executives who need your solution. Reach out to your biggest fans for investor leads.

Statistics 98

Statistics Entrepreneur Funding Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2016

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Display advertising. Email marketing.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 60

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2021

From his experience as a consultant with major brands, and as a Top 50 Keynote Speaker in the World, Simon outlines six key steps in moving your company to this new reality. Customers are looking for a differentiator today. Purpose-driven companies like Airbnb, Patagonia, and TOMS, have shown increased returns by up to 400 percent.

Examples 128

Examples Social Media Summary Satisfaction 128

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2023

These components can totally change your customer value proposition, or the business model that you have honed. Cultural traditions often dictate business roles, procedures, and customer expectations. The local culture affects not only the decisions an entrepreneur must make, but also how a market views the company.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Social Media Entrepreneur Summary 110