Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Customer 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? If you only sell products, it’s time to realize that times have changed. With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Status factors are more important than demographics.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

Los Angeles-based online advertising technology developer OpenX Technologies said this morning that it has launched a new product, the OpenX SSP (Supply Side Platform). OpenX said that such customers as YP, TVGuide.com, and the New York Observer are already using the product.

OpenX 159

OpenX Product Advertising Demand 159

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

You need a faster and more flexible on-demand hiring strategy, based on the current gig-economy of remote freelancers, contract personnel, and specialists. Today you need that budget for market fluxuations, pandemics, and product updates. Thus they feel more fulfilled, more productive, and more in control of their lives.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Customer empowerment is moving so fast nowadays that many of us are running to just catch up. Blame the Internet for this rise in customer expectations. But don’t close your eyes to the fact that your customers have grown to expect your products or services in the form of…. WHAT I want, WHEN I want, and WHERE I want.’.

Custom 120

Custom Customer Demand Competition 120

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 26, 2022

At the time, the company raised $2 million, and Alexandrov said about the perceived competition, “The level of competition in this market in the U.S. is still manageable, which is why we have the opportunity to become leaders in the sphere of fast delivery of basic products and household goods. locations.

Funding 246

Funding Demand Los Angeles Competition 246

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

There could be more demand for electric vehicles post COVID-19 crisis, believes Energica founder Livia Cevolini. The coronavirus pandemic has forced Energica to hit the brakes on production of its battery powered machines that can reach top speeds of 168 mph. . One of those is greater demand for EVs after the pandemic.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Place your cash bets behind proven demand. The term, “demand pull – cost push” was created by the great economist, John Maynard Keynes, to describe the two primary drivers of economic inflation. Cost push: labor or parts costs increase, causing the product or service to be priced higher without adding intrinsic value.

Demand 136

Demand Resource Pricing Study 136

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Accelerating worldwide competition and financial upheavals are undermining established market positions.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Training 83

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Good Eggs says that in the past year, revenue has grown to the nine figures (more than $100 million), hired more than 400 employees and nearly doubled its customer base. So the team was busy enough trying to operate a new warehouse, meet increased demand for grocery delivery and keep workers safe in the process.

Southern California 318

Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

Well, even though that acquisition is still playing itself out on the field of battle, it appears quite clear that the new parent has directed its new subsidiary to abandon the lower end of the market and focus upon the larger sales, corporate customers, and major brands. Been skewered for slow customer service?

Resource 156

Resource Competition Examples Custom 156

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

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. Startups can use social responsibility as a competitive advantage. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Custom Customer 149

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

Every business owner and entrepreneur like you I work with wishes they could better predict product demand and sales, for managing inventory and long-term business planning. I was impressed with the analysis and recommendation offered in a recent book, “ Trust the Plan: Demand Management For Business Leaders, ” by Greg Spira.

Metrics 81

Metrics Demand Statistics Sample 81

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

In my experience in large businesses as well as years of advising startups, I see far too much focus on product skills, and too little on people and process skills. Diagnosing and understanding the customer problem. They demand interactive relationships with you, and depend on the relationships you have with their friends.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Most innovations come from responding to a customer’s needs, or finding a niche where products need improvement or extension. Imagine the room in which several graduate business school student groups have gathered, tasked with coming up with an idea for a business plan competition. A thought exercise. Then remove it.

Startup 156

Startup Ideas Custom Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Yet the average perception of customer experience has not improved. You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen.

Startup 154

Startup Training Custom Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. I can think of at least five ways that this benefits the business, as well as customers: Products in a purpose culture more readily sell at a premium price. Doing good opens the door to a broader customer base.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

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

JANUARY 29, 2021

Every one of you business leaders I know struggles with the competing demands of finding and keeping employees motivated and satisfied, versus building and enforcing a set of repeatable processes that work. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. The ideal business model is to establish a direct-to-consumer service that enables you to bill the customer directly. Commoditize complementary products. Offer premium services after user is hooked. Look for value points to control.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

I’m convinced that you can’t stay competitive that way with today’s customers, and today’s employees. It’s time to push decision making down into the organization –insisting that the people closest to the customer and the markets learn and make the decisions. Don’t demand or assume immediate and certain answers.

Competition 116

Competition Organization Custom Customer 116

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to. 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.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

I think that’s a largely flawed fight to be picking and of all the uses of Senator Klobuchar’s I could think of some much more productive fights to be having. Customers were happy and restaurants focused on their in-store business. You lose the ability to up-sell and cross-sell products.

SaaS 242

SaaS Custom Customer Press 242

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

The company used its overdraft protection service and money management display to shift customers’ focus away from the total balance that their account would show by giving them a sense of how much was actually left in their accounts once debits were included in their statements.

Company 262

Company Companies Startup Tips 262

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when it comes to getting ahold of an appointment for your hair or another treatment…that’s a different story: The bespoke nature of a lot of the work has meant that a large swathe of the professionals providing these services have stayed offline when it comes to interfacing with customers.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2022

Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. A related “red flag” in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section, or a short paragraph that essentially says, “this product has no competition.” Yet most products can be made dramatically cheaper as technologies improve.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Tips Competition 145

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2022

By default, innovation in every business decreases over time, and continuous innovation requires ongoing initiatives and measures of customer perceived value. Recognize that customers care about the whole experience. People pay for a great user experience, in finding the right product, buying it, using it, and getting support.

Metrics 102

Metrics Startup Organization Demand 102

Berkonomics

JULY 26, 2018

Is your product or service one that responds to a customer need, real or perceived? This question deals with the of fering in general, not yet with your version of the product. Your marketing and sales effort must be focused entirely upon making your product solve an urgent customer need. Why buy it?”.

Sales 226

Sales Custom Customer Pricing 226

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

Marketing 141

Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Marty Zwilling

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service.

Education 151

Education Customer Custom Sales 151

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

A recurring entrepreneurial challenge is to determine the optimal price of a new product, especially absent a directly competitive alternative. When we launched GoToAssist, we offered our customers the option to brand the customer-facing webpages with their logo and brand colors. How Much For A Rib? Price = Value.

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2022

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. This is a problem with many product-based companies. Their goal is to create profitable products, but too often they don’t research what their customers really want, and what they are willing to pay.

Ideas 155

Ideas Entrepreneur Research Demand 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 2, 2022

As an active angel investor, I still hear entrepreneurs asserting large opportunities with minimal risk and no competition. Both risks and opportunities in this area can arise from many aspects of your startup, before and after product development. My conclusion either way is that they have no market, or haven’t looked.

Entrepreneur 153

Entrepreneur Marketing Custom Customer 153

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center. Tie customer experience to all compensation and recognition.

Custom 56

Custom Customer Startup Competition 56