Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Competition 135

Competition Netflix Ideas Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2023

For example, we all remember when Blockbuster realized too late that Netflix was stealing customers by offering videos online rather than via DVDs, but even then they were unable to adapt their processes and their thinking. I see this happening in smaller ways often, where there is minimal focus on competition.

Metrics 71

Metrics Training Netflix Resource 71

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Create an action plan with metrics. See some recent examples in the 10 of the Top Social Media Campaigns of 2021.

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

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

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. No-one challenged this number, and it became an unattributed source of the metric for market size for years. Or cost estimation.

Metrics 239

Metrics Startup Marketing Demand 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Networking to build and maintain positive relationships with the right people outside your company is something you can’t forget in the rush to get your new business going. For example, consider Whole Foods , whose focus on healthy foods and a sustainable environment is legendary, even though their prices are often a bit higher.

Marketing 116

Marketing Resource Training Startup 116

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

For example, even though Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook as an innovative product, most experts believe it was successful due to his relationship with Peter Thiel and other top VCs that he convinced to invest early. Using metrics to measure results and commitments. Marketing your personal brand and your vision.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

For example, Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes attributes his ability to raise a seed round and build a $400M company to his commitment to provide a free pair of shoes to the underprivileged for every pair sold. You need to show you have a “Plan B,” and a never-give-up mindset, in handling any competitive threat or customer reaction.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Current examples include Conscious Capitalism® , popularized by John Mackey, The B Team , founded by Sir Richard Branson, the 1% for the Planet organization, and the Benefit Corporation (B Corp) now available in 35 States.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

A winning linked focus example is to choose a higher purpose common to all cultures, such as protecting the environment, or helping the underprivileged. At every Ritz-Carlton , for example, employees are authorized to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve any guest issue and make the stay positively memorable.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Good examples of startup focus before success include Google with their search engine, Facebook with friends networking, and Apple with personal computers. For larger and mature companies, the hard part seems to be giving up the familiar space that isn’t working so well anymore, so that you can focus on a new segment or opportunity.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

And as I always assert, “Great companies are built in downturns. And it’s when mediocre companies get pulverized.” I remember, for example, when business intelligence swept through companies globally. When markets start to turn shelfware companies are the quickest to die.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

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. Some people love starting companies, while others enjoy scaling them. He also still gets excited to donate one percent of sales to environmental groups around the world.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, it’s great to pursue a higher purpose, like feeding the hungry, but don’t forget that running any business is a hungry mouth you have to feed. For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

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. Make sure the process is respectful of their needs as well as yours. Don’t let it be just a conflict over graphic design.

Activity 145

Activity Organization Examples Satisfaction 145

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

As a founder, when you’ve been dealing with these kinds of objections for a couple of years it becomes natural and you easily handle objections on price, product & competition without much thought. Some examples of common objections across many companies: 1. It is tacit knowledge. You can have best of both worlds.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Everyone in the company must adopt the principles of customer-first focus, agility in responding to change, and constant innovation to improve your processes as well as the solution. Measure progress through metrics on sales, revenue, and penetration. Seek customer feedback on ways to improve value and satisfaction.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Create an action plan with metrics. See some recent examples in the The 10 Best Social Media Campaigns of 2018.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Berkonomics

APRIL 8, 2021

Discord is a great example of a company going viral mostly from word of mouth. I was chairman of a company that distributed its product through over one hundred fifty retail Internet travel channels, all websites where someone else spent the money attracting their users and attempting to go viral. Fourth: measurement.

Sites 156

Sites Product Social Network Press 156

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

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

For example, if you are working on a great social networking idea to replace Facebook, and need funding, you probably won’t find any interested and focused VCs or angel investors in Arizona, where I live. Exposure instills the fear and urgency you need to deliver the right competitive solution. Exposure is another key ingredient.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Companies all around the world use Trello to help manage projects and coordinate team tasks and responsibilities. You can also use Table to provide the big bosses with an overview of progress towards company goals as you can easily collate lots of initiatives in one go. Here's everything you need to know about the new-look Trello.

Software Review 152

Software Review Guide Technical Review Class 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2019

In the popular press, it’s easy to find articles that will convince you that companies with a good culture, such as Google, do it by lavishing perks and benefits , including some combination of free meals, trips and parties, financial bonuses, gyms, and a dog-friendly environment. What the team feels is more important than what they know.

Competition 76

Competition Coach Case Study Statistics 76

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

For example, I’m even getting worried about Apple not showing the kind of innovative leaps that Steve Jobs was famous for. Too many companies try to force a sense of employee urgency through deadlines and performance goals. IBM, for example, regularly buys about a dozen companies a year to supercharge their own innovation efforts.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

Frank Addante

APRIL 7, 2016

Great company culture isn’t just about ping pong tables, free lunches, bouncy ball chairs and free gummy bears. As CEO of Rubicon Project, a lot of people ask me what defines the culture of our company. Here’s my take on a few things effective company culture is about…and a few things it’s not about: 1.

Company 40

Company Companies Class Metrics 40

Frank Addante

APRIL 7, 2016

Great company culture isn’t just about ping pong tables, free lunches, bouncy ball chairs and free gummy bears. As CEO of Rubicon Project, a lot of people ask me what defines the culture of our company. Here’s my take on a few things effective company culture is about…and a few things it’s not about: 1.

Company 40

Company Companies Class Metrics 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

For example, most e-commerce platforms today offer millions of products, with a changing mix daily and a changing market, such that it’s virtually impossible to manually predict a strategy for mapping customer demographics to products displayed online. No human or paper tracking systems are a competitive alternative.

Artificial Inteligence 84

Artificial Inteligence Metrics Commerce Software 84

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

As an example, most of the people I know who have switched to shopping online don’t even mention the product, but are ecstatic about quickly finding exactly what they need on Amazon , with one-click ordering and overnight delivery, without ever leaving the comfort of their home. Assuming that customers fit a bell curve distribution.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. When should you start a company? What company should you start? When should you join a company? Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2019

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Current examples include Conscious Capitalism® , popularized by John Mackey, The B Team , founded by Sir Richard Branson, the 1% for the Planet organization, and the Benefit Corporation (B Corp) now available in 35 States.

Startup 93

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

The most successful companies today build a strategy to proactively anticipate the needs of their customers, as a group and individually, and totally delight them with all aspects of the shopping experience, value, delivery, and help with any follow-on questions or problems. Highlight your competitive value, not your technology.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2020

Most of you realize that survival in business today requires grabbing hold of tomorrow’s opportunities with disruptive innovation , before your competition or a new startup gets there. I see these traps all too often in my role as business advisor to small companies as well as large.

Tips 94

Tips Ideas Metrics Help 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2015

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 106

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Startup 106

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

It’s super hard not to want to spend more time with these companies. Competition is fierce. I always ask when somebody sends me a deal, for example, are you already a shareholder in the company? I got an email recently from a VC who had invested in a company a small amount in a seed round. Why am I so lucky?

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

In top current companies, such as Google, Apple, and Netflix, cultural strategies that include greater employee freedom and fostering creativity are the norm. Thus creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Establish metrics on the culture, as well as the product.

Metrics 57

Metrics Startup Netflix Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Competition 65

Competition Netflix Ideas Metrics 65