Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2022

Potential startup founders are always looking for ideas to implement, when they should be looking for problems to solve. Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. My reaction is, if there is no competition, then there is no market demand for your product, so why are you building it? Marty Zwilling.

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Ideas Startup Tips Competition 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. To legally facilitate startups who want to give top priority to socially conscious solutions, thirty-five states, starting with Maryland way back in 2010, have passed legislation allowing incorporation as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp).

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Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no

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Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

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Customer Custom Design Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Change is about the only thing constant in the world of startups. The solution is to establish and maintain a culture and processes that don’t view change as a discrete event to be spotted and managed, but as an ongoing opportunity to improve competitiveness. Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

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Startup Training Statistics Summary 116

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Wrench , the Seattle-based on demand vehicle maintenance and repair service for consumers and fleets, has raised $20 million in its latest round of financing. RepairSmith , which operates a similar service out of Los Angeles and San Francisco, is backed by Daimler to provide much the same on-demand repair services.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2022

From my observational experience, as well as my personal struggles on both sides of this equation, here are some of the key parameters of that balance: Start with a solid family and business foundation. Don’t assume that your focus will change once your startup gets past the initial struggle.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

Most entrepreneurs start their company with the highest of ideals, and wouldn’t dream of building one with a culture of indifference or downright unethical behavior. Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors or a cutthroat competitive environment. Misunderstood pivots.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. 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. It’s no fun for either side.

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Technical Review Startup Innocal Offshore 138

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. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it.

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Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Do you need a board when you first start you company? If you haven’t raised any money or if you raised a small round from angels or friends & family I would suggest you avoid setting up a formal board unless the people who would join your board are deeply experienced at sitting on startup boards.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Capital 236

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 26, 2022

Many grocery delivery startups begin small, in one city, building up locations to cater to a certain neighborhood. 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. We are creating new habits of customers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

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Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

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Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. In all cases, the transformation starts with placing leaders with a purpose at the core, hiring talent with a purpose at the frontier, and then building and extending the culture of purpose both inside and outside the organization.

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Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

As inflation rates spiral and consumer demand takes a hit, business owners are forced to be more mindful of their bottom lines than ever. FedEx Small Business Grant For: Small businesses Amount: Up to $50,000 Grantor: FedEx FedEx's Small Business Grant is a grant contest run by delivery company FedEx. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 193

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. For example, I recently picked up my phone to call a well-advertised local company for a TV repair.

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Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 3, 2020

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. The group starts with a blank sheet, and toils through idea after idea, trying to come up with a product or service that might become the next FedEx. Then remove it.

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Startup Ideas Customer Custom 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

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 continues to decline. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it.

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Customer Custom Startup Services 92

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. Storytelling and projecting a vision are foundational skills that are required from the first moment in starting a business. It’s up to you to clear the way.

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Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2015

On-demand, delivery startup Schlep and Fetch (www.schlepandfetch.com) wants to be the place you contact first to get practically anything delivered for you, whether that's a food order or something you forgot to pick up from home. We spoke with co-founder Bryson Strauss about the startup. That's what we're here to do.

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Demand Tech Coast Angels Startup Pasadena Angels 100

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. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

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Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

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.

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Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

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. While these investors, and early customers, will always argue that they found you, I’m convinced that there is no substitute for aggressive networking on your part.

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Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Amazon is very customer-centric, but it can make all the difference in retail as well as online. Status factors are more important than demographics.

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Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

There could be more demand for electric vehicles post COVID-19 crisis, believes Energica founder Livia Cevolini. One of those is greater demand for EVs after the pandemic. Before the health crisis shutdown most of Italy, Energica had already seen larger demand for its high-performance e-motos, with a price range of $17,000 to $23,000.

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Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2019

Image via jisc Potential startup founders are always looking for ideas to implement, when they should be looking for problems to solve. Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. My reaction is, if there is no competition, then there is no market demand for your product, so why are you building it?

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Startup Ideas Competition Demand 80

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Two years after the Los Angeles-based fintech startup Dave launched with a suite of money management tools to save consumers from overdraft fees , the company is now worth $1 billion thanks to a nascent banking practice that had investors lining up. The company also provides up to $100, interest-free, overdraft protection.

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Company Companies Startup Tips 262

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Grocery delivery startup Good Eggs is announcing that it has raised $100 million in new funding, and that it’s planning to launch in Southern California in either the summer or fall of this year. In addition to the funding, Good Eggs is also announcing that it has hired Vineet Mehra as its chief growth and customer experience officer.

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Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above.

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Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2022

Entrepreneurs and startups are big believers in innovation, but sometimes they forget that innovation must be continual to assure long-term success, rather than the one big-bang idea that initiated their journey. Recognize that customers care about the whole experience. Today they demand it or walk to competitors, who are not far away.

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Metrics Startup Organization Demand 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2022

In these changing times, if you already have a startup, with no plan, maybe it’s time to think ahead for a change. Do you love managing your own schedule, overcoming obstacles, starting a new adventure, facing financial risk, and relish the opportunity to change the world? Assess customer demand.

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Startup Resource Training Ideas 115

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. These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment.

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Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2016

If you can’t provide a memorable customer experience, your startup won’t survive very long these days. You now need more than loyalty from your customers -- they need to be your best advocates. Here are some key ideas to get you started: It all starts with the right people on your team.

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Customer Custom Startup Coach 55

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. As you start, it’s important to take a hard look at your own drivers, matched against the critical success elements I see in every business, no matter what the domain. Pay attention to all.

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