Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to every worker today: Develop and highlight your competitive differentiation. Today, customers and future managers put a higher value on relationships, and expect to know you from industry conferences, social media, or recommendations from peers. Walk away from a bad role or customer.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

Many people bandy about the definitions of “disruptive technology&# or “the innovator’s dilemma&# without ever having read the book and almost universally misunderstand the concepts. This is important because the customers they serve (the red line) demand a product that meets their complex requirements.

Startup 376

Startup Framework Marketing Customer 376

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. People attending marquee conferences with rock bands, prominent speakers, Gartner Group prognosticators and lots of other happy customers. Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2018

The facts, as well as what motivates your peers, customers, and business leaders are changing daily. The question is how we develop our future role and potential, while satisfying all the business and personal demands on our time today. Smart employers look for these as they contemplate your competitiveness for new roles.

Examples 85

Examples Social Media Competition Guide 85

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2015

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 109

Startup Resource Training Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

From his own successes and failures in this domain, he explains how the rules and customer expectations have changed in today’s world, and he offers some practical guidance on how to survive in this new world. Announcing that you are a consultant, and hoping demand will set your focus, is not a good strategy.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 57

Startup Resource Training Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2011

Do you believe that you have an idea for a company that you can implement better than anyone, and maintain a competitive advantage? Assess customer demand. Do customers really need what you want to do, or might they see it as “nice to have?” Money should not be the big driver here. Right idea at the right time.

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Can a startup gain a foothold in the competitive market by designing the right UX and user experience to make a job and career site for everyone? There''s a huge demand for a limited supply of employees, in particularly, there a large demand for product developers, and there''s a shortage of experienced people.

Design 174

Design Sites Cornerstone OnDemand Startup 174

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 13, 2009

Broadcast, by definition, is broader than search. Broadcast can convey the idea of making a purchase, and can motivate a purchase--but, by definition, it's not as precise and targeted as search. I believe that the advertisers they started with were probably disappointed that the cost per customer acquisition was not the same as search.

Google 124

Google Advertising Media Startup 124

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 6, 2013

As the demands and supplies grew for advertising, we built a stable capital to create Engage:BDR. It is to produce branded content, to build custom content and leverage our ad network to distribute the content. You definitely want to create some impact. We don’t have any direct competition, more indirect competition.

Marketing 96

Marketing Startup Incubator Advertising 96

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2010

“When I get funded,” the entrepreneur thinks, “I can build a prototype, hire a development team, go to market, scale more quickly, and beat my competition.” But there are some things that DEFINITELY come with other people’s money. Demands on your time. All problems will go away. They’re new and different problems.

Outsource Development 93

Outsource Development High Tech Outsource Startup 93

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2009

We provide three lines of service, one is called Developer Advice, which is not a common service out there--where customers can have confidential discussions with our architects through a secure forum, so that they're not posting specifics about their customers or projects publicly. They all were very different companies.

IBM 100

IBM IBM Mission Ventures Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2010

As always it comes down to competition. They were grateful for the extra money as their launch was overwhelmingly successful and they had to rapidly hire staff to support customer demand. First Round Capital meets Chris’s definition of a “big fund&# and they do seed and A round investments.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Seed Funding Pricing Invest 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

To be clear, I define a product specification as the technical definition of your product, to be used for development and testing purposes, with a quick business summary for context. Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value. Provide specifics on the customer business model. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Definitely tune in Wednesday Sept. Bring your products to your Customers, their social network and their influencers with DoTogether Hosted Facebook Applications. Demand Media is a leading online media company that informs, entertains and connects millions of people every day. The Startups. The Sponsors.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

That, plus I love the space of high-customer-service, focused eCommerce for moms worried about what their kids eat & wear.&#. Starting with exclusive rights to sell celebrity chef, Tyler Florence’s, line of baby food online, SproutBaby began seeing initial traction from customer interest as physical distribution spread.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

These include building products, recruiting, managing your finances, marketing, selling, getting feedback from customers and … fund raising. If they see you when you’ve already got your first term sheet and they’ve got 3 weeks to decide then by definition they have no relationship with you. Make fund raising a habit.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Creating Incremental Strategic Value - Ask the Angels , June 17, 2010 We can easily overlook the level of demand pull when we are assessing strategic value. Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. Which button do you press?

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2015

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Social Media Outsource Development 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2014

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Social Media Outsource Development 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2021

There is no substitute for talking to customers, analyzing your competition, and honing your solution to meet a target market segment. As a counter, here are some situations where it definitely makes sense to short-circuit the traditional approach: The market won’t wait for your planning cycle.

Marketing 138

Marketing Demand IBM IBM 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2021

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Customer 173

Customer Custom Social Media Outsource Development 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2018

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Demand 71

Demand Customer Custom Tips 71

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2018

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Demand 56

Demand Customer Custom Tips 56

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2015

Boy wearing Oculus Rift via Wikipedia As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Making something awesome will cost more than you expect.

Startup 53

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 53