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? Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Berkonomics

APRIL 19, 2012

Professional investors laugh when they hear an entrepreneur state, “We have no competition.” It is a failed litmus test for the entrepreneur, even if the plan is for a totally new device or service that could take the world by storm. That statement has killed more investment deals than almost any other.

Competition 189

Competition Slides Sales Ideas 189

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply.

Coach 137

Coach Metrics Competition Ideas 137

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. Can’t go a mile deep on competition?

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

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

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2010

A good entrepreneur is not necessarily a good salesman. In my own effort to keep up with the times, I just finished a new book by Landy Chase, titled “ Competitive Selling: Out-Plan, Out-Think, Out-Sell to Win Every Time.” Establish the competitive playing field early. New employees may know someone in your company or family.

Competition 92

Competition Entrepreneur Startup Customer 92

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

When do you sell your company? Those of us in the business of calculating (guessing) this mythical peak in value often make the same mistake as our entrepreneurs. Companies sometime run out of cash in the midst of their increasing success, and often find that sources of loans or investment are not freely flowing at the moment of need.

Pricing 156

Pricing Invest Equity Entrepreneur 156

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Some people feel that organic growth is “better” because it requires real innovation and sustained effort to create long-term competitive advantage through differentiation and efficiency. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business.

Organization 97

Organization Competition Startup Acquisition 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

One of the big differences between an entrepreneur and an employee of a big business is that employees tend to have a very narrow focus on their job, while entrepreneurs have to keep the broader focus on business. entrepreneurs consistently claim to be happier , and have a higher net worth than employees. In fact, U.S.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Customer Custom 93

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

From apps to hardware, to KickStarter successes and international startups, we’re inching closer to finding out who will take home the title of Startup of the Year competition at our annual Celebrate Conference in October. Among the dozens of participants that applied for the online competitions, only a few progressed into the semifinals.

Competition 123

Competition Mobile Startup Technical Review 123

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

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. At minute eight I spoke about group messaging companies as “features, not companies.&# It’s a market commentary, not a company commentary.

Company 295

Company Companies Gogii Google 295

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We believe that it is incrementally harder to differentiate on simple Internet products or mobile apps and while great companies are built doing this, our goal as a fund is to try and fund things that can be 100x returns if they work. We’re not Pollyannaish about this. In short, we’re after venture returns.

Company 207

Company Companies CTO Coach Funding 207

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2020

For best results, my advice is to think like an entrepreneur, even if you are a corporate employee. According to many studies, entrepreneurs tend to be happier , and over 80 percent of self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs. Committed to the success of the company. Maintain a meaningful competitive advantage.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Sales Customer Custom 117

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

I recognized this as I was reading a new 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. Building a company and selling are all about gaining commitments.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sales Startup Customer 106

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 253

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 253

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. Why Buy Anything ? Why Buy Me? Why Buy Now? I boil this process down to “ Why Buy Anything ?”

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2018

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply.

Entrepreneur 64

Entrepreneur Coach Metrics Competition 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

As a startup advisor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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? Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. In my experience, finding real innovation in existing company environments is even tougher. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Followers and linear thinkers need not apply.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. No one has heard of you, your company or your solutions. Thus, you have negotiating leverage as long as a legitimate, competitive threat exists.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

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? Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Based on my experience as an investor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, one of the quickest ways to kill your credibility and your startup is to offer a poorly written business plan, or none at all. An entrepreneur who can’t manage a plan, probably won’t be able to manage the new business.

Startup 102

Startup Writing Mentor Sample 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2021

I often wonder whether you as the entrepreneur have worked as hard on your pricing strategy as you have on your innovative solution. If your innovation is real, it brings added value to the table, so most customers, especially early ones, are willing to pay a premium over competitive products.

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Competition Examples 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2012

All the experts these days are talking about the increasing need for customer focus and maximizing sales. Typically entrepreneurs and even professional sales people think this means more emphasis on the customer selling process, when in fact it really means spending more time understanding the customer buying process (view from the customer).

Sales 96

Sales Customer Custom Competition 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2016

For best results, my advice is to think like an entrepreneur, even if you are a corporate employee. According to many studies, entrepreneurs tend to be happier , and 80 percent of self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs. Committed to the success of the company. More sales are the only way to reach real business success.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Sales Customer Custom 55

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. You’ve got to put the competition into perspective. Resilience is one of the tell tale signs of an entrepreneur. That was our first year of sales.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners Venture Capital 298

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Based on my experience advising new entrepreneurs as well as more mature businesses, I recommend the following strategies for building business momentum, while still optimizing the limited resources of every small business: Find more customers that like what you do best. The company has since gone public, and is still a market leader.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his investor pitch to me by touting his new technology. I usually get pushback about the success of all the great technology companies, like Intel and Apple. A great company finds a balance between these two forces, but makes the business side the driver.

Technology 109

Technology Entrepreneur Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint. Michelli, with inspiring stories on how one well-known company, Mercedes-Benz, made the transition and is profiting as a result.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

For example, quarterly sales on one of your most important products suddenly decreases, or your inventory across a whole category has surged. Taxi or bus companies are often slow to recognize a new popular travel location based on population shifts or resort communities. Changes in your organization’s core performance metrics.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2017

Every new business or product owner wants to attract the broadest possible audience, so they are prone to adding more features, multiple sales channels, and appealing to every demographic. Thus one of my key messages to entrepreneurs, as a business advisor and angel investor, is “focus.” Realistically characterize the competition.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 63

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 29, 2012

However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. Handled appropriately, these questions provide investors a window into an entrepreneurs’ soul, which minimizes the chances of a future misalignment.

Entrepreneur 145

Entrepreneur Google Invest RSS 145