Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. I define business agility for my consulting clients as the ability to change your business rapidly to meet customer and environmental changes, with minimal organizational disruption and cost. Foster a collaboration culture, rather than competition.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Your customers know what they want more than you do. This week’s insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago. The customer would be the first to receive the new functionality in a new release. Providing feedback to your teacher customer.

Customer 156

Customer Custom Design Conference 156

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. Don’t assume that early input is adequate.

Customer 150

Customer Custom Design Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Customer personalities define customer experience, and sets what they love, and what they hate. There is no one set of exceptional experiences that will work for all customers.

Customer 158

Customer Custom Social Media Satisfaction 158

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2020

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

Competition 125

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 125

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

But if your goal is to develop an audience that can be monetized in other ways, I’ll repeat my argument “you need to fish in the pond where the fish are.” This kind of spend happens all day long inside startup companies and 100% of the spend on attracting customers is a cost. Take for example, an eCommerce company.

SEM 357

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 357

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2023

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition.

Competition 111

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 111

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Simply, this is identifying a customer need which has economic value to them if they can solve it. Simply, this is identifying a customer need which has economic value to them if they can solve it.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

Since Arrested Development is back I thought I’d resurrect Gob Bluth’s answer when he was told he needed a “business model” – he quickly figured out that he was missing one so he asked Starla, the Bluth company secretary, if she would be his business model. My take on his argument is this: 1.

Startup 402

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 402

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2022

In my experience as a business advisor, most organizations, large and small, struggle to keep up with the pace of change and competitive forces today. A question I often get is how to transform that overall team into a smooth-running machine that will keep up with the pace of market change, and competition in today’s world.

Competition 136

Competition Resource Startup Organization 136

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. If you hire truly talented people you end up definitionally with a lot of competitive peers who will inevitably jockey for resources and control. Extremely talented people are ultra competitive. You just assign out tasks to all of us.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

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. They are as good at selling you as they are at selling your product to customers. Customer also buy social proof because others are acting as strong references.

Sales 383

Sales Help Startup Pricing 383

Berkonomics

JULY 4, 2013

But for most, the true sign of success and potential for even more is in the landing of a major account, one that validates the pricing, quality and competitive advantages of a company’s offering. For this reason alone, it makes sense for most of us to aim high once we have worked the kinks out of our offering with smaller customers.

.Net 235

.Net Resource Competition Customer 235

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2021

With real-time online reviews and feedback via the Internet, and instant relationships via social media, a voice from the top that is inconsistent with what is heard from the firing line defines a dysfunctional and noncompetitive company for today’s customer. Thus team makeup is the critical success factor.

Class 155

Class Develop Development Startup 155

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there are over 34 million registered developers in 2022. Build your own marketplace platform.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2014

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. There is a tangible understand that comes from engineers talking with real customers that simply can’t be gleaned from intuition or staring at computer screens.

Technical Review 315

Technical Review Blogging RSS Organization 315

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Of course it’s a competitive market so MCNs competing for top talent not only compete on rev share to talent but also to services that they provide talent. Building direct customer relationships with viewers (who want to tune into your channels). Developing O&O (owned & operated) businesses (outside of YouTube).

Networking 367

Networking Media Content Customer 367

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

Some CTO’s swear that it is a huge improvement in development timeframes and doesn’t cause performance issues. They often aren’t great at planning development work. They care about the quality of what is build more than they care about end customers. I’ve heard both arguments from CTO’s.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

Berkonomics

JUNE 27, 2019

And that behavior results in leaving little time for outreach to the most critical component in your chain – your key customers. Then, what is a benchmark for customer outreach? But, do your customer know that they want? Do customers know what they want from their suppliers for future products? That’s bad behavior!

Customer 120

Customer Custom Course Email 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2020

These leaders are those exceptional team members who have proven themselves or developed the strength of character, behavior, and learning to be the drivers of the next phase of your business growth. Driven first by the needs of your customers. Make this combination a key element of your sustainable competitive advantage.

Develop 125

Develop Development Startup Entrepreneur 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there were over 20 million registered developers in 2018. Build your own marketplace platform.

Mobile 127

Mobile Develop Development Platform 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. Make sure your measurements are customer-oriented, as well as focused on internal processes. Design your invisible competitive advantage. What has your business done lately to excite your existing customers and keep them loyal? Marty Zwilling.

Develop 135

Develop Development Startup Metrics 135

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 329

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 329

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

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. Don’t assume that early input is adequate.

Design 105

Design Customer Custom Product 105

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Because times are slightly better now for fund raising I’d probably say two extra things: a) it may be worth a modest increase in your team size / activities / development IF you can raise more money to do this now & b) if you can raise more than you need right now (within reason) without too much extra dilution I would do so.

Help 303

Help Startup Competition Framework 303

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

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. They are as good at selling you as they are at selling your product to customers. Customer also buy social proof because others are acting as strong references. They’re in beta).

Sales 317

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 317

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 317

Platform Course Customer Custom 317

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Track competition is a secondary arena for Energica. But the competition is closing in on some of the Italian EV maker’s numbers. “Our customers are telling us they are just waiting to ride again.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

4 times / 100 means if a customer uses your app frequently (say 10-20 times / day) then they are crashing nearly every day. And given your stage of development you sure better at least know what your goal is. Customer Acquisition. Do you have a customer referral program? per customer! That’s not acceptable.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product. Markets develop for a complex set of factors that are often beyond all of our control.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

If I’m covering a company can I get evidence of what the competition is doing so the story is balanced? We provide strategic advice to digital media companies in a manner that reflects how corporate development is actually done. Do I have data or facts to present so the story has legs? I am a VC. I hand out money. Final example.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2020

They need incentives to investigate market trends and competitive actions, as well as continuous communication of the bigger picture of the business and current objectives. The most effective teams, through sharing and common interests, develop leaders at all levels. Give credit.

Marketing 130

Marketing Develop Development Startup 130

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

In the same year they won Business Insider’s Startup competition. Because I knew that Ethan was on to a powerful idea and one in which he had developed huge competence and domain knowledge in. I was standing with him when he won the TechCrunch 50 award. Nice sweep! But Ethan had left by the time of the acquisition.

CTO Coach 360

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 360

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

It makes it easier to persuade others to join you, it alerts other angels & VCs that you’re a company to be on their radar screen, it helps potential customers know that you may be worth doing business with and it builds you up to announce other milestones down the line. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News?

Startup 356

Startup Funding News Press 356

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

If you had huge customer growth but just didn’t focus on revenue that’s a different story. And when you’re looking at even earlier-stage companies (as VCs do) you might be even more focused on customer growth than revenue growth. million in revenue three years later is, “So effing what?”

Startup 419

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 419

TechEmpower

MAY 28, 2015

Covering a wide variety of web application frameworks, this project gives developers useful data that can help them find the framework that will provide the performance and features they need for their application. The best results were derived from a real-world environment running physical hardware. versus 1.05M).

Framework 228

Framework TechEmpower Blogging News 228

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 20, 2014

An estimate of the number of customers, of the amount of traffic to your website, of the numbers of products sold or hours spent in development – there are thousands of areas where a number sounds better when it is larger. Sometimes it seems to you to be just an unimportant little stretch of the facts. It goes to your.

Customer 189

Customer Custom Examples Email 189