Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Tech.Co

SEPTEMBER 3, 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 at our annual Tech.Co Celebrate Conference in October. Among the participants that applied for the online competitions, only a progressed into the semi-finals.

Competition 101

Competition Startup Ideas Conference 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. Mark Zuckerberg seems to be me to be one of the most talented young technology professionals of his generation and seems to have an amazing vision for technology and product. The list is getting quite long. I know I do.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. In stead of doing my typical big long post with 10 PR tips (like I did there), I’m going to break them up into individual (I hope more digestible) chunks.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. The Case Foundation (Washington, DC).

Startup 140

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 140

StartUp Beat

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

What do entrepreneurs do when they finally establish their startup? Do they hibernate in their offices, trying to come up with creative solutions? Or do they read up on other success stories for inspiration? Europe’s largest invitation-only event for early-stage startups, set in Cologne, Germany emerges in its 7th iteration.

Conference 40

Conference Startup Artificial Inteligence Competition 40

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

I recently wrote a post about avoiding the “ Deferred Life Plan &# and some related thoughts about personal productivity that came from Tim Ferriss’s book, The Four Hour Workweek. I would love to say that I’m the productivity guru. I scan it for the most important messages to be sure nothing urgent has popped up.

Product 280

Product Startup Email Technical Review 280

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

The Alliance is following the classic start-up trajectory: transition from the big idea to your beachhead product offering. What new technology area, startup, service, or app did you find most interesting or useful this year, and why? We'll be featuring contributions all through the holiday season.

SoCal 140

SoCal Southern California Startup Venture Capital 140

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. It is to out friend.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

In my experience with business leaders, real innovation thinking is rare, compared to the urge to add just one more feature to an existing product, or make a small tweak to an existing business model. I call this linear thinking , and it’s a sure way to be ultimately overrun by your competition. BlackBerry was left behind.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The reason for this is that the executives who founded the company have so much tacit knowledge of how to position their product relative to the competition that they can easily win campaigns when they’re involved. So I often work with teams to get them to codify the key things they do well that the competition does not.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Tech.Co

JANUARY 9, 2018

TechCo and CES teamed up again for 2018 to showcase innovative startups from Eureka Park before the conference begins. Both companies will be automatically fast tracked into the Top 100 semifinalists at the 2018 Startup of the Year competition which takes place during the Innovate Celebrate conference this fall.

Startup 70

Startup Competition Conference Product 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. Influencers are recognized experts and pseudo celebrities who can pick favorite products or start new trends. Participate in trade shows and industry conferences. They won’t find you.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Social Media Conference Customer 142

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 29, 2013

USC’s Marshall School of Business will host the second annual Silicon Beach Awards (SBAs), a $50,000 venture competition focused on innovation in technology & entertainment. Startups that consist of at least one USC student or alum (less than 10 years from graduation) are encouraged to enter – and have a chance of winning up to $25,000!

USC 159

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Startup Conference 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2023

Perhaps because they are optimists by nature, or they just hate to disappoint others, they end up hurting their health, credibility, and effectiveness by not being able to deliver on everything they promise. In other cases, you may actually get back more than you give up. Explore the possibility of a reciprocal favor. Marty Zwilling

Startup 117

Startup Entrepreneur Tips Conference 117

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders. It starts as a debt instrument (e.g. They might put the kibosh on company travel and not attend some key meetings or conferences.

Startup 290

Startup Funding Venture Capital Pricing 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

While you all recognize that reacting to weak market signals is critical to staying in business and staying competitive, I find that many don’t have the skills and focus to trigger change decisions on a timely basis. Scan for unmet needs to match new products. Don’t dismiss any new thing as a “flash in the pan.”

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. I’ll start with an obvious one – I talk with the entrepreneur about competitors. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit.

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. In a startup this is a mistake. In this instance I typically recommend that startups NOT hire a big, well-known PR firm.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

Starting and running a business requires many different skills and interests, and not many of us have all of them. For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. Balance of passion with reality and customer feedback. Pay attention to all.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

This is the confirmation that your product or service fills a real need in the marketplace. Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. Note the growth of your team and your own leadership.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Customer Custom Outsource 174

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

Nowhere is this more apparent than working in a startup where you are definitionally under-resourced and trying to make big accomplishments in compressed periods of time. Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees. It starts seemingly innocent enough.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. Use it in every networking situation and business conference introduction.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

For what ever reason we’re wired to have amnesia during the run up and prescient memories of how we ‘knew it all along’ as soon as the slide begins. Once you understand both sides of the cycle you start to recognize signs of behavior during each phase. How frequently they’re using the product?

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2016

However, if history is any lesson, downturns actually have created some of Southern California's most successful technology companies, whether through forcing those companies to swizzle their business models, by removing competition from the market, or even spurring customers to more readily adopt their products to save money.

Southern California 100

Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Technical Review SoCal 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about “ the politics of startups ” in which I asserted that all companies have politics, which in its purest sense is just about understanding human psychology. I think as a tech industry we have bred a culture that places more emphasis on product excellence than managing human behavior.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). When to start PR? ” Many CEOs act like VPs of product or CFOs.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Tech.Co

JULY 18, 2016

startups wanting to get recognized, Tech.Co’s Startup Showcase in Los Angeles on July 26th is the perfect opportunity. Several startups have been selected to demo their products for other founders and entrepreneurs. The startups in the showcase will be considered for the Tech.Co and Celebrate conference.

Los Angeles 70

Los Angeles Angel Startup Newsletter 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2021

Perhaps because they are optimists by nature, or they just hate to disappoint others, they end up hurting their health, credibility, and effectiveness by not being able to deliver on everything they promise. In other cases, you may actually get back more than you give up. Explore the possibility of a reciprocal favor.

Tips 159

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Conference 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2023

In addition, relationships found through networking can make your life a lot more satisfying as well as more productive. For example, if you are an entrepreneur seeking investment or a cofounder, there is no substitute for networking at industry and startup conferences in your area. I recommend treating all people as equals.

Networking 104

Networking Mentor Conference Summary 104

socalTECH

APRIL 21, 2017

What's the secret to creating a profitable, successful, physical subscription based business--and to do that at the scale of large, consumer product goods (CPGs) companies? xWe spoke with a few companies in the recurring revenue area space, ahead of the Recurring Revenue Conference ([link] which we are helping to sponsor next week.

Startup 145

Startup Product Customer Custom 145

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Every business I know has teams, some working collaboratively to great advantage, while others sadly operating as collections of individuals who work alone, often in competition with each other. Then revisit these agreements as part of a regularly scheduled relationship maintenance check-up. Behave consistent with shared expectations.

Resource 106

Resource Startup Study Conference 106

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

A Silicon Valley conference is a room full of suits, with the occasional skirt suite. pitch and technology competition at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, I couldn’t help but feel like it might be a hall of crickets with a few passionate women warming the front row. So when I heard about Women 2.0

Conference 77

Conference Startup Technical Review Software Review 77

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

They are tasked with “getting deals done” so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

If you are like us, a huge number of the conference calls you participate in are enabled by a company called FreeConferenceCall.com , which has enabled free conference calls for millions of startups and large businesses alike. David Erickson: We provide a conference calling service, like any other kind of conference call.

Conference 100

Conference Startup Services Networking 100