Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Peers and customers alike still expect responsiveness. Yet peers and customers notice phone calls and e-mails not returned in twenty-four hours or less. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards. So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. Overture (Goto.com).

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

Of course, we are speaking of increased valuation of your company when we speak of “wealth.” One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. And fifth: Competitive risk. .

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. I wish more startups were rigorous in defining market needs and competitive differentiate versus throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks but it seems as an industry we’re breeding the culture of the latter. It’s worth a quick read.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

Simply, this is identifying a customer need which has economic value to them if they can solve it. ” and if you can’t persuade enough potential customers they have some pain that needs fixing you probably should stick to your day job. Teams usually start with terminology that is very insular and less relevant to customers.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Stegmaier recommends that you start by writing a regular blog, joining a few related campaigns, building a high-quality video, and completing up to a hundred additional lessons before you even launch your own project. Of course, if the campaign does not meet or exceed the funding objective, you get nothing. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Here is a sample of the reading list for the course that gives you a flavor for just how modern and practical this course is. Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

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? In a startup this is a mistake.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2014

I’ll try to get write-ups shortly but for now here is an overview of my interview with Nanea Reeves – President and COO of textPlus. In this short clip below, Nanea emphasizes this important point – if you create a product customers love, it will ultimately be a good business decision as well. Company Organization.

Technical Review 315

Technical Review Blogging RSS Organization 315

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

But if there is nothing wrong with you then please don’t let early rejections alter your course. Let’s say you have built a SaaS company where a large part of the early revenue comes from a few big customers or a large part of the revenue is services based vs. software based. Let me give you an example. Remind me why I love you?

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

.&# When I talk to people about sales I often describe the sales process as a series of hurdles (objections) that are put up to avoid making a purchase and your responsibility is to work through these common objections with your customer. In the evangelical phase you’re working through these with customers on the fly.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. The funding rounds will also build customer confidence and they’ll help journalists feel air cover in writing your more important pieces when you brag about customers, traction, revenue or whatever. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News?

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Of course, there are no guarantees, but I still see otherwise smart entrepreneurs taking shortcuts in their hiring, or jumping into business relationships based on emotion or low cost. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. Keep control by writing every check personally, and manage receivable and payables tightly.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

Stegmaier recommends that you start by writing a regular blog, joining a few related campaigns, building a high-quality video, and completing up to a hundred additional lessons before you even launch your own project. Of course, if the campaign does not meet or exceed the funding objective, you get nothing. Startup revenues come later.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

If you are looking for funding and customers for your new business, you need to identify your “unique selling proposition” (USP) right up front, in 30 seconds or less, to differentiate yourself in today’s information overload. Investor and customer attention spans are short, and both will write you off quickly.

.Net 73

.Net Examples Customer Custom 73

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Of course it happens all the time?—?especially This is the norm and unless you have a hugely competitive round it’s not worth fighting. This is not true in the majority of cases but rather when you have competition in your round and feel confident in using your leverage. What happens at the A-round of venture capital?

Startup 236

Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. Selling at smaller retailers will net you fewer customers and higher margins.

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2015

We never built our product on one partner’s data platform but on many (20 primary data sources plus 100+ smaller ones) and Twitter’s move doesn’t “shut down DataSift” it simply takes 1,000+ customers who consume Twitter data through DataSift and makes their life more difficult. Just how much?

Platform 150

Platform Course Customer Custom 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

.” Here’s what I mean … Let’s start with what it takes for a journalist to want to write a story. Do I have an “angle” from which to write the story (first company to do X, company does biggest X, consumer behavior is doing X)? ” Of course not. I am a VC. I hand out money.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2021

You must recognize that change is the new norm in business, so problems represent opportunities to learn something new, improve your productivity and competitiveness of the business. Write down your top 5 core values and review them often. Pressure and emotion in business is often an indication of core value conflicts.

Coach 137

Coach Training Satisfaction Mentor 137

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. Throughout all of this we saw a tinkerer, a problem solver and a completely obsessed leader who was competitive and wanted to win.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Peers and customers alike still expect responsiveness. Yet peers and customers notice phone calls and e-mails not returned in twenty-four hours or less. Anything less makes you non-competitive.

Startup 93

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 93

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Your competitive advantage. Don’t kill your credibility by saying you have no competition.

Summary 97

Summary Writing Competition Sample 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

So that we’re speaking the same language I would define “exclusive” as a period in which your company is prohibited from doing business with certain customers or business partners, which is why many incorrectly assume this is necessarily bad. Why Exclusivity Matters to Your Customers or Business Development Partners.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Dont give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost wont help you if you cant make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

But if there is nothing wrong with you then please don’t let early rejections alter your course.” I remind founders that the no’s come early because it’s super easy to qualify out a deal that you know is unlikely due to stage, focus, geography, competitive deal you’ve done or even just the fact that you’re too busy right now.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary. They all offer a list of requirements that might take 50 pages to address, but of course they ask you to write concisely. Your competitive advantage. Don’t kill your credibility by saying you have no competition.

Summary 90

Summary Writing Competition Sample 90

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. If you look at the structure of the travel industry above – of course we know that the hotel industry is fragmented while the airline industry is reasonable consolidated. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2013

Today’s platform is built of people, including yourself, followers, and contacts, who can amplify your message through social media and spread it to your target customers. Build a media kit, publicize endorsements from friends and beta customers, get dialogs going on Twitter, and optimize your website landing pages.

Platform 105

Platform Entrepreneur Startup Social Media 105

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2013

Aspiring creators learn by connecting with top web filmmakers and YouTubers on a topics specific to the web: developing a web series, producing web series, writing for genres like comedy & sci-fi, directing, editing, camera, Kickstarter funding, show hosting, distribution, and marketing. How does it work? Take us through your features?

Web 93

Web USC Course Guide 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 20, 2016

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Outsource Development 53

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 53

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. Whenever I heard why we didn’t feel a sales process at an important customer was going well (or if we lost) I would get involved myself. Customers buy solutions to solve their problems.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316