Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

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Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. These are the ultimate chess players in the game of business, always looking to be two or three moves ahead of the competition. Of course, discovering your entrepreneur type is only the beginning. Opportunist.

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Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers. Whole Foods , for example, has built their business with a commitment to natural and organic foods, and have a culture of loyal employees and customers, resulting in 500 stores worldwide. Foster collaboration rather than competition.

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Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced.

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Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. There are many free generalized tools, including Google Trends , which can be used to track customer behavior in looking for things that don’t exist yet.

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Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.

Technical Review 138

Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2022

Every business owner I know wishes that all team members were leaders, to proactively tackle the challenges of growth , interact effectively with customers on their needs, and eventually step into your role. Notice people who always take a customer perspective. It’s no secret today that customers are more demanding than ever.

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Customer Custom Coach Organization 110

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Of course, previous successes provide more direct evidence of a network of the right people.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team. There is a growing fellowship of special-case start-up programs operated by closely-knit, permanent groups of angel-mentors.

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Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Most importantly, you have to deal with customers, and understand their wants and needs.

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Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2023

They are rightly thinking about a strategy to be better prepared for future challenges , recognizing that more are coming in this age of accelerating change and global competition. By demonstrating positivity and mentoring, you can make collaboration and connecting with others a productive and enjoyable experience, rather than a burden.

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Training Resource Competition Satisfaction 86

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Data, however, removes guesswork, biases, and anecdotal reasoning that can throw decision efforts off course.

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Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2020

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around. Extrapolating you as the target customer. Never mix up what you like with what your customers will buy.

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Startup Netflix Social Media Customer 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

Yet in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world, top notch sales and marketing skills are critical to the success of every business. Everyone inside your company, as well as potential customers, needs to be inspired by your message before they believe it. Stand tall - keep your fears and doubts to yourself.

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Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2021

Then there was always the risk of failure, which of course doesn’t apply once your real job is gone. Offer to help a couple of customers free, just to get your act together and your presence known. It will definitely show off your energy and vision, and will make you a more competitive candidate for any role.

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Startup Social Network Activity Ideas 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

I often think of the scope of this example in my role as mentor to a struggling entrepreneur who is quick to blame his problems on employee mistakes, or even changing customer expectations. In today’s world, every organization needs to be in a constant state of change to stay competitive.

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Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I often feel the frustration of someone trying to build a startup in the wrong place and time, and wrongly attributing their struggle to personal limitations. You need partners, mentors, and investors who can complement your own resources to make it a win-win for all involved.

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Resource Startup Capital Mentor 131

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. The world today never stands still.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. Of course, previous successes provide more direct evidence of a network of the right people.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help. These and other strengths may actually give you a competitive edge over your more extroverted constituents.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

As the school year kicks off for college students, one of the big tasks of the year is buying books for their courses. What our site does, instead, is it integrates directly with a student course schedule, so you can just enter your course, and it automated the process of buying all of your books simultaneously.

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UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

They include real mentors, facilitators, visionaries, motivators, and negotiators. Of course, it still pays to keep your eyes open and carry your own weight. Compounding these strategies in today’s startup environment are two divergent concepts: a heightened degree of competitiveness, and a greater emphasis on teamwork.

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Startup Social Network Mentor Networking 127

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. I loved it when my boss gave me the additional responsibility of mentoring others in solving tough problems. Many companies also promote local mentoring and coaching opportunities.

Tips 96

Tips Satisfaction Training Mentor 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Funding Innocal Offshore 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Of course, some balance is required. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. In the end, engagement drives customer retention, sales, growth and profit.

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Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

With some coaching and mentoring from other leaders, I was able to do it myself, so I know you can do it too, by committing to the following strategies: Train yourself to always look for positives, not negatives. Of course, most professionals are optimistic, so they tend to over-commit and underestimate work requirements.

Coach 137

Coach Training Satisfaction Mentor 137

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. Data, however, removes guesswork, biases, and anecdotal reasoning that can throw decision efforts off course.

Metrics 98

Metrics Tool Statistics Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2015

Does it mean the right thing from a customer perspective, societal impact, maximizing business returns or personal benefit? Another article indicates that 80 percent of customers continue to base some portion of their buying decisions on their perceptions of the company’s ethics. Be a coach, rather than a dictator.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Training Demand Customer 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Of course, some balance is required. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. In the end, engagement drives customer retention, sales, growth and profit.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2015

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. Actually, great new customer solutions lead to great platforms, not the other way around. Extrapolating you as the target customer. Never mix up what you like with what your customers will buy.

Startup 105

Startup Netflix Entrepreneur Social Media 105

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I acted as the occasional mentor, advisor and coach to Ethan. In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. Ethan had pointed out to me that merchants were being barraged by “deal site” wanting to drive customers in the door but they didn’t have great tools to manage their customers.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

How do we need to structure the systems to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition? Learning, Networking, Mentors From the question, this person is clearly looking at the issue of how to grow into this role. I believe you will find lots of CTOs quite willing to help you as a mentor. How can we address this risk?

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CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

A few years ago, before the Internet was pervasive, before everyone carried a smartphone and before do-it-yourself software tools were available for free, it was difficult to reach a critical mass of new customers without spending a million dollars on a website, custom software and television advertising.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2013

There is nothing more inspiring than seeing the results of your mentoring and leadership. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Of course, never forget those ongoing perspiration items that seem to haunt you every day: Create intellectual property.

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Startup Patents Competition Social Network 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2012

Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community. Of course, investors still require a profitable business model, and the potential for high returns. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 100

Startup Organization Customer Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

In the heat of scaling the business, it’s tempting to skip the cost and time of finding qualified job candidates, and enlist those close at hand, without paying them a competitive wage for the hard work and commitment you need. Of course, you shouldn’t give away ownership, but squeezing yourself to failure, benefits no one.

Entrepreneur 72

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 72

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2012

There is nothing more inspiring than seeing the results of your mentoring and leadership. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Of course, never forget those ongoing perspiration items that seem to haunt you every day: Create intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Ideas 102