Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. Incorporate AI-powered data and metrics systems. Their pricing algorithm crawls the Web daily, and adjusts prices to always match the lowest price found anywhere, offline or online.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2021

In business, few things are totally in your control, so many of you find it easy to put the onus for negatives on someone else or the market. Proactively market and defend your trust image. Trust is your personal brand, and it must be marketed and protected much like your business brand. This approach is not conducive to trust.

Company 165

Company Companies Metrics Entrepreneur 165

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Here is my selection of ten key metrics that every six-sigma joint like GE tracks without thinking, but too many small businesses only monitor haphazardly, if at all: Sales revenue.

Metrics 106

Metrics Startup Sales Statistics 106

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

However, many people are not aware that prior to entering academia, Steve was a wily and creative marketing entrepreneur. During the late 1980's, Steve accepted a senior executive role at SuperMac, a Macintosh graphics card company that Steve jokes was, “Fifth in a group of three.". The first thing I did was raise our prices.".

Marketing 271

Marketing Startup Sales Customer 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2019

Now customer support is called the “customer experience,” and everyone is expecting you to actually anticipate their personal needs, and totally delight them with all aspects of the shopping experience, price versus value, as well as help with any follow-on questions or problems. Company amazingly finds you based on your interests.

Customer 84

Customer Custom Company Companies 84

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. Him: But when I raised my first round we didn’t know how to price the company. There were no metrics. How will you price the next round? Him: On metrics. Me: With a cap?

Venture Capital 417

Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entree for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

According to one study a decade ago, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage. Optimize the total customer experience.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

As a consumer, I rarely pay attention to your marketing pitch, but I certainly always remember a exceptionally positive total experience with your team, based on a memorable set of interactions from first contact to discussions with friends. Incentives should be a combination of metrics and recognition to highlight results.

Customer 147

Customer Custom Technical Review Metrics 147

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. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2016

Santa Monica-based TrueCar has begun ranking vehicles, based on how well their values hold up in the pre-owned vehicle market, through an annual "TrueCare Pre-Owned Value Awards" program, the company said over the weekend.

Truecar 100

Truecar Santa Monica Metrics Pricing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills. In addition to listening, they spent much of their time communicating their vision and marketing themselves to everyone they encountered.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2022

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. Later, after that initial success builds resources, and your penetration of the target market approaches 30 percent, it’s time to expand your horizons and make anticipatory changes to your focus.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the growth and therefore the ultimate financial outcomes. What sized team can I afford in order to sell, market & provide service to these customers?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

Exactly what is that customer experience that every modern marketer is talking about, and how do you measure it? This will create a connection with them, which demonstrates more value than price or quality. One metric now commonly used is called the Net Promoter® Score (NPS).

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Marketing 85

Berkonomics

MAY 20, 2021

Enterprise time, as opposed to personal time management, is the sum total of resources available to a company expressed in terms of time – time to develop, to debug, to produce, to deploy, to respond to issues, and to make changes in plans that are not working. But first, identify what those critical resources are in your company.

Resource 156

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

In my experience, less than half of founding entrepreneurs even aspire to stay and scale their company. Explosive growth to an enterprise normally requires a scalable sales model, a well-documented process with incentives, training, and metrics for tracking and management. Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I was speaking recently to the team at NuOrder , an LA-based company we’re an investor in about “realism in startups” — an impromptu talk I have given to any of our portfolio companies who ask. I spend hours thinking about the products, competitors, market opportunities, recruiting and financing of these businesses.

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. While Google and Facebook will buy “acquihires” (at least as of Dec 2011), many acquirers hate the idea of buying companies that aren’t profitable. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!” ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8 Ways the Internet has Changed Software Marketing Great post - 8 Ways The Internet Changed Software Marketing - is an interesting take on how different it is these days to market software. Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Software 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Control costs and adjust prices to maintain your margin.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today. Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry. The real challenge is to win massive consumer preference repeatedly.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

According to one study a while back, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage. Optimize the total customer experience.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

The big price increase : 5 out of 5 stars. Some customer segments value the DVD business and these may be more price sensitive. They might be willing to pay higher prices (and perhaps not an “all you can eat” price but a “pay as you go” price per film). No, probably not. A blog post!

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Scott tells us how the company--backed by St. Cloud Capital--has managed to coax those equipment rental yards into the digital age, and how the company has tackled other challenges in focusing its business. Scott Cannon: We are an online marketplace for companies in the rental construction equipment space. What is BigRentz?

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. In a larger public company, it’s all about making your quarterly numbers, versus investing in strategic growth alternatives that may not pay off until several quarters later.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

This is part of a series on sales & marketing. Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. Some examples of common objections across many companies: 1. More experienced sales leaders seldom compete on price.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It turns out that to build a successful company you ultimately need this strange thing called “revenue” that people don’t just hand you: You need to earn it. Most of this advice boils down to an argument in favor of basic planning before starting a company or raising money. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 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. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Startup 81

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 81

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

We need venture debt, factoring companies and public markets. So what took me $2 million at my first company now takes $20,000. Some companies should raise less money and consider early exits – We had a discussion about whether companies should raise less money and have smaller goals for an exit.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

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. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Enterprise time, as opposed to personal time management, is defined as the sum total of resources available to a company expressed in terms of time – time to develop, to debug, to produce, to deploy, to respond to issues, and to make changes in plans that are not working. Extending the Runway book available at www.berkus.com.

Resource 176

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 176

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. What makes their story more remarkable, in the age of 20-something billionaires, is that both of the company’s founders are in their 50’s.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115