Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2022

I have long believed that each of you is responsible for documenting and communicating your own value, without bragging or hyperbole. Documenting your input early, and follow-up later by quantifying customer revenue is your only way to make sure your value in the revenue growth process is not forgotten.

Examples 133

Examples Metrics Startup Customer 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

After many years in business, working in large companies as well as startups, I’m no longer surprised at why mature and successful companies struggle with introducing innovative new ventures as the market and environment changes. A documented business plan for the new venture is critical here. Entrepreneurs crave more ownership.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

For example , when Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia , a successful outdoor products company, his real goal was building safe products to help the environment. Document and communicate a solid business plan. Some people love starting companies, while others enjoy scaling them. Select your destination to land after the start.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

Here’s Why You Should Just Send the Deck I know you have your document sending tool to send your fund-raising deck to VCs and track who read your deck, which pages they read and how much time they spend on each page. Your deck should be so good that a VC asks you for permission to show it to his or her portfolio companies.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Companies and cooks who rest on their laurels don’t last. Don’t stand still.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

You can’t build a great company without help. Data – Define a handful of key metrics to free you from managing personalities, egos, subjective issues, emotions, and intangibles. Each must be documented clearly and refined regularly. People – Surround yourself with great people. It’s having the right people in the right seats.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Is it really worth the time and effort when measured from the perspective of the company and of the employee? Many companies do not take the time to perform such reviews, and end up paying the price in adverse rulings by courts or commissioners based upon verbal statements alone. Email readers, continue here.] Review the CEO?

Metrics 153

Metrics Email Pricing Tool 153

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product. The real question you should be asking is "When I've built this product and show you the following metrics, would you invest?" What The Heck Does “Traction” Really Mean To A VC?

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. These collective sets of documents form the basis of what somebody looking at investing would call “financial due diligence.”

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

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.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

For example, Elon Musk is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur, but his fortune and his impact has come from the great companies he has built, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal. Sets goals and milestones, with metrics to track progress. They define metrics for each goal, and diligently track themselves against these metrics.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

For example, one of the first home grocery delivery companies, Webvan, was so enamored with early traction in Silicon Valley, it raised and spent nearly a billion dollars and went public, before filing for bankruptcy three years later. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Pilot agreements are provisional contracts under which companies can assess the veracity of a potential, long-term relationship. The “go / no go” structure of such contracts effectively allows big companies to defer their ultimate decision of whether or not they want to work with the startup until after the Pilot is completed.

Sales 215

Sales Outsource Development Metrics Resource 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2021

Most business professionals I know will go to great lengths to take a neutral position on internal business conflicts, on the assumption that all conflict is bad for the company as well as their political future. The more alternatives that you communicate, the more likely you are to find a win-win one.

Activity 145

Activity Organization Examples Satisfaction 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2021

Networking is all about marketing yourself and your company. Build a marketing plan with deliverables and metrics. If I don’t see a documented marketing plan, with measurements driven by industry norms, I assume that you are counting primarily on your passion to assess growth.

Technical Advisors 154

Technical Advisors Tips Marketing Case Study 154

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2020

What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? While it was a good year for our merger and acquisition practice in the SaaS and fintech space, our most exciting news is in our merchant banking sector where we invest in and advise growth companies often for several years. What is the biggest lesson you learned this year?

Capital 100

Capital SoCal Southern California SaaS 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2014

Generally speaking in venture capital financings the legal documents will specify that only “major investors” (a threshold set in the agreement – which can be $500,000 investor or more). We led an investment round in a company a while ago in which we wrote a seven-figure check and have taken a board seat.

Venture Capital 352

Venture Capital Seed Funding Email Blogging 352

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Eric is also author of the book The PayPal Wars: Battles With Ebay, the Media, the Mafia, And the Rest of Planet Earth , where he documented that experience. Jackson: The story behind the company, is we're trying to solve a real world problem. Jackson: The story behind the company, is we're trying to solve a real world problem.

Southern California 243

Southern California Entrepreneur Software Review Yammer 243

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones. The right question is “What is the minimum that I need?” Product development process. Funding process.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents? Startup Company Lawyer , March 14, 2010 After the recent announcement of the Series Seed Financing documents by Marc Andreesen, Brad Feld points out that there are now four sets of “open source” equity seed financing documents.

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2018

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Companies and cooks who rest on their laurels don’t last. Don’t stand still.

Startup 81

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 81

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Originally created in the mid 1990’s to help with the imprecise problem of how to value early stage companies, especially those in technology, I developed what soon became known as “The Berkus Method” when published in the popular book, “Winning Angels” by Harvard’s Amis and Stevenson with my permission in 2001. Well, it had to happen.

Startup 120

Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 120

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. I also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. If there aren't existing documents, then it means more time to extract the information.

Startup 231

Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

For example, I still find businesses asking you to print, sign, and return documents by mail in lieu of digital signatures or email. You need to communicate quantified and updates goals quarterly, including the metrics to assess progress and success. In my mind, these are killing their businesses.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2013

Here is my summary of her roadmap which I believe can get you back on the right track with a “customer-centric” approach rather than a “company-centric” approach: Find out what customers want and how they want to buy it. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results.

Startup 105

Startup Search Engine Optimization Summary Customer 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

Here is my rendition of how her roadmap can keep you on the right track, like Xerox Data Solutions, with a “customer-centric” approach rather than a “company-centric” approach: Find out what customers want and how they want to buy it. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results.

Search Engine Optimization 58

Search Engine Optimization Startup SEO Customer 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Finally you create and document your recipe (business plan). Companies and cooks who rest on their laurels don’t last. Don’t stand still.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones. The right question is “What is the minimum that I need?” Product development process. Funding process.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Training Outsource Metrics 92

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

Here is my summary of her detailed roadmap to get you back on the right track with a “customer-centric” approach rather than a “company-centric” approach: Find out what customers want and how they want to buy it. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results.

Tips 93

Tips Search Engine Optimization Summary Startup 93

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? Time based as in “a guaranteed right for 12 months, which can be renewed by mutual board consent” and event based “a guaranteed right until the company has raised $x million from new investors.” Should I be worried that I could be fired from my own company? Not really.

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2018

As a business advisor, one of the things I see most often as a drag to productivity and growth is employees who, despite their best efforts, can’t change things that they know are hurting the company. Yet every CEO I know believes that his team is motivated and empowered to make the business better for both customers and the company.

Startup 62

Startup Organization Customer Custom 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

Here is my summary of her detailed roadmap to get you back on the right track with a “customer-centric” approach rather than a “company-centric” approach: Find out what customers want and how they want to buy it. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Search Engine Optimization Summary 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

You can’t build a great company without help. Data – Define a handful of key metrics to free you from managing personalities, egos, subjective issues, emotions, and intangibles. Each must be documented clearly and refined regularly. People – Surround yourself with great people. It’s having the right people in the right seats.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

Of course there are scenarios where a written business plan is not critical, but I haven’t seen one yet where a well-written 15-page document, or at least a 10-slide pitch, is a negative. You need an investor, and want a document to mass-mail to everyone. With bootstrapping, no business plan is expected by anyone.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones. Unless you are bootstrapping everything, you need to have a clear plan on what networking and documents are required to get to friends and family, angel investors, and institutional investors. Funding process.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Every plan must start with the problem you are solving, not a description of your company and product. Usually the reason the big companies are no threat is because the market is too small.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2016

Companies that do this best become market leaders. As a result, Google has become a verb, and the company is a tech giant with record growth rates and a revenue of $74.5 As a result, Google has become a verb, and the company is a tech giant with record growth rates and a revenue of $74.5 billion in 2015. billion in 2015.

Ideas 59

Ideas Technical Review Google Startup 59