Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

I think you’ll learn more in watching the 20-minute interview that Troy Carter and I did than you will in most tech interviews because he cuts down to the raw essence of what it takes any product to be discovered and nurtured and the power of being able to connect the right emerging artist with the right influencers in a market.

Mentor 150

Mentor Venture Capital Marketing Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2023

Customer service has traditionally been focused on the resolution of complaints , primarily after a transaction. My recommendations always include adopting a customer mindset, as well as the following steps: Accept today’s definition of relevant customer support. Treat every customer exceptionally before they complain.

Competition 109

Competition Services Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Yet I find, as a mentor and outside consultant, that many of you focus only on working conditions and compensation as the key factors determining team engagement , health, and productivity. by Donna Cutting, who is a globally-recognized guru on employee culture and optimizing customer service. Emotional stability.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Customer 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

Every business needs repeatable processes to grow and thrive, but modern business processes need the right people to make them efficient and productive. In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

There is always the next generation of workers coming of age who expect more, as well as the current generation already having the lowest engagement and productivity levels that business has ever seen. Spend more time mentoring and coaching your team. The future of work is definitely changing, accelerated by the current pandemic.

Tips 159

Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2023

Establishing and maintaining the right company culture is a major key to success in any business these days, especially with the growth of the millennial generation of workers. It has a huge impact on productivity, as well as morale and loyalty to the company. He says trust is the key to a good culture. Marty Zwilling

Claremont 101

Claremont Mentor Study Startup 101

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2018

It's a term to help people understand that we're here to help companies get ready to scale. Most of our mentors are people who have been successful entrepreneurs and investors, who have been there, and understand how to get a company to the next sage. Explain what Startup Boost is? How did Startup Boost start?

Startup 172

Startup Seed Funding Mentor Ideas 172

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2023

For example, witness the current creation of the space tourism industry, vaccines to control new viruses, or simply providing a free product to the needy for every product sold. As a mentor to many business professionals, I find many who are risk-averse or not confident in their own abilities to make forward-looking decisions.

Capital 142

Capital Netflix Resource Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. 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.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue).

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. Many people believe that new ideas are the critical element of innovation, but in my experience as a mentor and investor, long-term business success is more about implementation than ideas.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2017

As a mentor for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, I talk to a fair number who may have a great vision and a strong engineering background, but have a negative interest in the role of public speaking in business. The implications to you and your company are also large, so be prepared.

Company 97

Company Companies Entrepreneur Customer 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Every entrepreneur and every business I meet in my consulting and mentoring role has great intentions of bringing real innovation to the market, yet I find that most ideas are merely small extensions to existing solutions. Both fail to look first at what customers really need, and are willing to pay for.

Startup 146

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas 146

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Establishing and maintaining the right company culture is a major key to success in any business these days, especially with the growth of the millennial generation of workers. It has a huge impact on productivity, as well as morale and loyalty to the company. He says trust is the key to a good culture. Marty Zwilling.

Claremont 172

Claremont Mentor Study Startup 172

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

Today, with the Internet and social media, if you aren’t visible in a positive way to everyone, including customers, your leadership efforts will be lost. You need to be visible in marketing efforts, viral videos, and interactions with key customer segments. Build relationships with known business leaders.

Mentor 145

Mentor IBM IBM Social Media 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Too many relationships never advance beyond this stage, resulting in poor communication, no cooperation, low trust, and low shared productivity. Workship - Mentor. This is a productive working relationship where one party, more knowledgeable and/or experienced, takes an active role in fostering the advance of the other.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Every startup mentor has his favorite list of basic strategies to avoid pitfalls, and I’m no exception. Start early by registering your company, and reserving the name as your website domain name. Every new startup needs to fight the urge to get the product out, and then start selling it. Create intellectual property.

Mentor 100

Mentor Startup Social Network Patents 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2022

These now provide better quality, better paying, and more exciting jobs than big companies. Build a personal marketing plan, as you would for a new product, including regular highlight reports, progress, and results. Seek expert mentors and always evaluate feedback. Use the same mindset with new team members and customers.

Social Media 125

Social Media Summary Startup Mentor 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

Others, including Jeff Bezos, spent time in a big company or two before breaking away to form their own. Rather than a focus on salary and perks, your focus is on customers, revenue, and operations. As an employee, you only get to execute what others tell you, even if you enjoy the challenge of new requirements and customer feedback.

Startup 111

Startup Satisfaction Metrics Customer 111

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. Marketing, recruiting, building data products & tools, event management, analyzing the portfolio, etc. So What Does All This Mean? Wait, What About Yves?

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2021

By definition, all of you entrepreneurs are leaders, by taking the initiative to start a new company. Some are great product leaders and innovative technologists, others are leaders in creating new business models , a few can assemble great teams , but only the rare exception can do all three.

Coach 162

Coach Startup Resource Competition 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

will proceed to give you a 20-minute dissertation on their latest health symptoms, the latest company problem, and the sad state of the world in general. Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Here are a few suggestions: Get a medical checkup.

Startup 61

Startup Product Mentor Satisfaction 61

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

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. Although Elon Musk doesn’t talk about it very much, he owns over 350 patents through Tesla, just one of his many companies.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

will proceed to give you a 20-minute dissertation on their latest health symptoms, the latest company problem, and the sad state of the world in general. Ask a mentor for support. Choose a friend or mentor (not your spouse) whom you trust to tell you the truth, and ask for help. Here are a few suggestions: Get a medical checkup.

Startup 129

Startup Mentor Satisfaction Writing 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2022

Many of you business leaders I work with, and entrepreneurs I mentor, have a great strategy and an innovative solution , but struggle with building and motivating the team necessary to run your business. Becoming a totally connected business leader is a very different challenge from building a product, or defining a good strategy.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

Yet there is more and more evidence that jumping tasks on every alert for a new email, text, or phone call actually decreases overall productivity. Practicing these will ensure greater productivity, less stress, more job satisfaction, and an improved overall sense of well-being. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Email 96

Email Activity Product Social Media 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

As an advisor to technical entrepreneurs, the most common mistake I see is the “If we build it, they will come” approach with no sales plan, under the assumption that the technology is so spectacular that customers will buy the product. Effective value propositions are quantified and personalized for each customer or target segment.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2022

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Now the experiments are over, and high productivity is the objective.

Startup 137

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

Most entrepreneurs assume that success is dependent on their product expertise, coupled with some knowledge of how to run a business. In fact, I have found from personal experience and mentoring that both of these are necessary, but not sufficient, for building a business. Top team members rarely quit the company.

Training 142

Training Coach Startup Entrepreneur 142

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2021

When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” Good business leadership begins with defining both the direction and the destination of your company. That’s where you start.

Entrepreneur 138

Entrepreneur Activity Guide Patents 138

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. You probably realize that the leading edge is very near the bleeding edge, where only early adopter customers dare to tread. So hang in there and get busy.

Startup 135

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 29, 2017

Leaders who are able to optimize these find multipliers of 20 percent up to nine times the average productivity. Organizational silos, limited spans of control, and too many layers of management can dramatically reduce the productivity of even your best people. As a role model, what you practice is more important than what you preach.

Product 58

Product Startup Guide Framework 58

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. It’s still your company, so you have to follow-up, step in for disaster recovery, and keep the interplay between tasks and organizations working. Focus on high productivity.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. A business is an entity which exchanges goods and services with people outside the business (customers) for money, social good, or something of equal value. Funding and rollout stage.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2019

Image via Wikipedia The challenge for all of us in business is to improve competitiveness by improving employee productivity and reducing costs. According to Gartner , one of the biggest drags on productivity is employee engagement, still hovering around 30 percent, and costing our businesses over $450 billion per year.

Tips 96

Tips Satisfaction Training Mentor 96