Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2013

Like most startup entrepreneurs, when I began my first company in 1999 I had no formal sales experience. This is a very important to do when you first start a company. But before you achieve product / market fit you’re often in “consultative sales” mode where your objective is to tease out customer needs.

Sales 393

Sales Startup Resource Customer 393

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2012

Entrepreneurs tend to remain in the business arena they came from. Some are alumni from companies that would be a competitor to the enterprise being created or joined. What is the rule about those pesky non-compete agreements signed upon discharge or sale of the previous company?

Company 136

Company Companies News Design 136

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

One of the vivid memories I have from being a startup CEO is the feeling that most people in your company have a look in their eyes that like they can do your job as well as you. Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. Engineering?

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

As I look back over more than fifty years as an entrepreneur, I can think of the financial focus of my three entrepreneurial businesses as a prime driver in my life during the early stage of each. And yet, as I recall the greatest thrills, the memorable events, the best of memories, almost none are about the money.

Coach 120

Coach Startup Organization Invest 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe that a great idea alone will assure business success. Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. Your first idea about where pain resides is nearly always wrong.

Sales 106

Sales Entrepreneur Customer Custom 106

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. I don’t think this is the job.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Hodes talks about how you might position your company for a sale, and some of the things you need to do as part of that process. In times of recession there is pent-up demand by entrepreneurs to sell their companies. What needs to be prepared to position a company for sale? Continued.).

Sales 124

Sales Company Companies Demand 124

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2014

Southern California has a growing number of companies in the customer relationship management area, including a fairly new company in the area, Pipeliner CRM (www.pipelinersales.com). We spoke with Nikolaus Kimla , the CEO of Pipeliner CRM, to learn more about the company, its move here, and its software.

Sales 229

Sales Startup Software Customer 229

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

I recognized this as I was reading the classic book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Diagnosing and understanding the customer problem.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 28, 2015

One of the reasons I know way more about online sales taxes than I ever thought I would is due to Rincon Venture Partners’ investment in TaxJar , one of the leaders in this emerging space. Taxes may not be fun, but I am proud to be affiliated with a company that takes much of the pain out of the process. Oh Crap, I Have Nexus.

Sales 100

Sales Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Our interview today is with Amos Schwartzfarb , the author of Sell More Faster: The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Start-Ups , which comes out tomorrow, Wednesday. We caught up with Amos to learn about his new book, and to gain some tips for startup entrepreneurs on how to figure out when you're actually ready to scale your sales team.

Sales 113

Sales Startup Custom Development Framework 113

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Now, I’m pretty on the record that being an entrepreneur is about being great at The Do. But trust me when I say that my observations across many startups (and other companies, frankly) is that not enough time goes into thinking. I’ve talked in the past about how I manage my own creative process.

Venture Capital 400

Venture Capital Conference Ideas Entrepreneur 400

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

I’d like to talk about Crocodile Salesmen in 3 scenarios: 1) when YOU are selling (or someone on your team), 2) when you are trying to recruit a sales person. You learn much more about how other people think when you’re asking. But how to apply “listening&# in a sales meeting? Nobody likes that.

Sales 314

Sales Startup Venture Capital Customer 314

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. Most entrepreneurs seem confused by my reaction and often say something like: “VCs love demos. Note: I invest almost exclusively in b-to-b software companies. GUI Fever – Entrepreneurs are often justifiably proud of their clever, clean user interfaces.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. What they should be doing is hiring only “entrepreneurs,” meaning people who think and act as if this is their own business. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.”

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Training Sales Technical Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

With the appearance of do-it-yourself services on the Internet, entrepreneur curriculums at every university, and a wealth of new books on the subject, the need for expensive consultants and business advisors has also been mitigated. Social media facilitates marketing and sales. Isn’t it time that you joined the movement?

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. I got started in investment banking, focused on helping medical companies buy technology companies, and then later in the enterprise space and in the cloud.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). There is a lot to say about retaining control. For those of you who fit that description, nice work.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. It starts with documenting and communicating a real purpose and mission in terms everyone can get excited about.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

All the data actually suggests with the growth of mobile, inbound sales calls will double from 30 billion to 60 billion in 3 years (source: Kelsey). It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. Much more data in the full post. PHONE CALLS.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

I was recently approached by Fast Company to comment on “crisis management&# at startups in the wake of the Airbnb “ranksackgate&# story. I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular. Make the story be about your market.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. You learn by asking.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Now let’s talk about the basic components of a business plan.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

If one entered between 2009-2015 he or she is no doubt in the “hazard” phase where one need to be careful about thinking he know more about the industry than perhaps he do. Too much money too early often f s companies up. No – I’m not talking about YOU – everybody is doing it. ” Well.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Danielle goes through some commentary from Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen about burn rate and then goes on to discuss her own burn rate and others publicly weigh in. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? I often see companies burning $100,000 per month (net) looking to raise $6-8 million.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

I recognized this as I was reading the classic book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Diagnosing and understanding the customer problem.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

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 In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Good entrepreneurs are wrong often.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

This is part of my series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. The best entrepreneurs focus on details.

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs. I know I didn’t. Why Buy Anything?

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. By dedicating at least one percent of sales to environmental groups, he locked in engagement from both employees and customers.

Company 148

Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 22, 2011

Feature, not a company. Whether something is a feature or a company is clearly subjective. And sometimes features (say, Twitter) turn into companies. It’s about 10 minutes long. We spoke about my interest in cloud computing, digital media and mobile. It’s a market commentary, not a company commentary.

Company 295

Company Companies Gogii Google 295

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Bruce, along with his wife Lynda, created a learning company from their garage, initially by holding in-person classes and later selling VHS tapes via mail order. Under Bruce’s innovative guidance, the company was an early adopter of the Internet, creating online videos long before platforms such as YouTube became ubiquitous.

Sales 113

Sales Education Startup Class 113

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. In the last six weeks, I have been pitched by five entrepreneurs under 20. Find A Concept You Are Passionate About.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

I’ve spoken before about our desire at Upfront Ventures to fund really big ideas that solve hard problems, are science led and if successful will both have a positive effect on people’s lives as well as make great financial returns. We’re not Pollyannaish about this. In short, we’re after venture returns.

Company 207

Company Companies CTO Coach Funding 207

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

I use George Bush vs. Al Gore as allegory and I’ve been using it with entrepreneurs for years to sink in a simple point about how to communicate with the market. But the narrative in the press about Al Gore was that he was a smarmy know-it-all. They wrote about his verbal fumbles. Before that he was a US senator.

Entrepreneur 370

Entrepreneur Startup Press Venture Capital 370

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? If you’ve taken the roller coaster ride that is a startup – you know what I’m talking about. On Being an Entrepreneur. There is no shame in being an exec at a company or whatever.&#.

Entrepreneur 384

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 384

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2015

Congress' latest attempt to impose an "Internet sales tax" is just another misguided tax grab that will do more harm than good to American small businesses. As it currently stands, online sellers must collect sales tax in the states where they have, "sales tax nexus." Online sellers are already awash in sales tax complexity.

Sales 100

Sales Customer Custom Metrics 100