Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

While you all recognize that reacting to weak market signals is critical to staying in business and staying competitive, I find that many don’t have the skills and focus to trigger change decisions on a timely basis. You may be getting killed today by customer expectations you never worried about just a few years ago.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H. Build a relationship and trust quickly.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H. Build a relationship and trust quickly.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Salaries or hourly wages must be within reasonable limits set by the industry and matched by the competition, both regionally and for the same job classification. And there are some industries where tools such as stock options are considered mandatory for a company to be competitive. Some obvious qualifiers.

Design 156

Design Examples Competition Pricing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2014

The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. So what can you do to expedite this event, or even improve the odds that it will happen at all? Customers don’t buy the impossible dream. A product, without customer support, is not ready for sale.

Sales 99

Sales Customer Custom Entrepreneur 99

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” These decisive moments, and how to respond, are outlined in Robert H. Build a relationship and trust quickly.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2023

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Competition Press Commerce 82

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Strategic investors validate a business, by their presence creating the very value they pay for with increased price per share purchased.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2012

The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. So what can you do to expedite this event, or even improve the odds that it will happen at all? Customers don’t buy the impossible dream. A product, without customer support, is not ready for sale.

Sales 96

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

What neither group seems to fully comprehend is that retail needs to fundamentally change to succeed, far beyond the addition of an online component, to meet the experience expectations of today’s generation, an oversupplied global marketplace, and technology for instant pricing and distribution. Look outside for benchmarks.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers. Today’s customer is especially attracted to companies like TOMS , who donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, or Patagonia, with its support for grassroots environmental groups.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2022

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. So what can you do to expedite this event, or even improve the odds that it will happen at all? Customers don’t buy the impossible dream. A product, without customer support, is not ready for sale.

Sales 97

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 97

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2020

We all face pressure in our lives, but there’s nothing like that of an entrepreneur facing customer crises and the competitive challenges of a new business. Thus, here is my own reframing of the authors generalized rules into some specifics for an entrepreneur or business leader: Reframe competitive threats to opportunities.

Startup 134

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Press 134

Berkonomics

JUNE 18, 2015

natural disasters, sudden political or economic events that rattle the entire economy, and more. Too often the person you call your chief financial officer is trained in accounting, which is primarily a process of looking backward over events in the past. Fourth is competitive risk , which consists of two separate risks.

Competition 120

Competition Marketing Class Product 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. Overtly connect every operational problem to your strategy, rather than putting strategy on a different plane and making it only an annual event. Don’t make growth a big-bang event.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

I call this “arming & aiming&# your sales teams where you need to standardize both the assignment of territories, industries & accounts (aiming) as well as the process of selling, the collateral, the legal agreements & pricing. We moved toward more standardized pricing (e.g. Ditto the CFO.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

However, its unique-for-the-industry monthly subscription model has helped it maintain healthy profits from its loyal customer base in 2023. Source: gumroad.com Gumroad really started to take off in 2023, smashing revenue records for three months straight, a feat that was attributed to a price hike it carried out at the start of the year.

Startup 207

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 207

Berkonomics

AUGUST 27, 2015

They financed their companies, to the extent possible, in a manner minimizing the cost of capital, planning for organic growth in the number of customers served and in associated revenues. They are also very competitive, and highly value the intellectual property of the Flipper.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Equity Competition Pricing 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

The right strategy for branding these days is to create a most memorable total customer experience for customers, rather than a focus on hyping the product and the company name. Here are some key recommendations for building your branding plan: Find out who your customers are through social media.

Social Media 73

Social Media Customer Custom Mobile 73

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2011

We are an offer-based platform that allows users to negotiate the price they buy and sell tickets for, on the secondary market. Wes Brodsky: The ticketing industry, since its inception, has been on a fixed price model. For example, at an event, say at the Staples Center, of the 20,000 seats they might have four or five price groups.

Ticketmaster 253

Ticketmaster Pricing Sales Activity 253

Berkonomics

APRIL 30, 2015

Salaries or hourly wages must be within reasonable limits set by the industry and matched by the competition, both regionally and for the same job classification. And there are some industries where tools such as stock options are considered mandatory for a company to be competitive. What a title. Of course money motivates.

Design 120

Design Competition Pricing Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 31, 2010

In the first part of this post I talked about how sales in a startup is often evangelical , requires as consultative sale and needs constant adjustments based on customer feedback. Or the sales decks will all be customized by your “feet on the street&# and won’t resemble the way you THINK your company is being positioned.

Sales 286

Sales Newsletter Technical Review Activity 286

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Competitive sportswoman. Getting involved with political events and fund raisers. And still able to make it out to LA networking events. Kara on one side of the table showing me market sizes, competitive dynamics, product roadmaps, pricing plans for physical products with COGS and gross margins. Stanford MBA.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In every case, the relevant pitch needs to start by highlighting a real customer problem, then outlining a new solution, with all the features and disruptive technology.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Apparently with a physical storefront where it can convince customers of the wonders of on-demand mobility. They’ll also be throwing live events to build Lime’s hype. Instead, it’s the fierce competition from hometown startups like local favorite Bird that Lime wants to overcome through brick-and-mortar marketing.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Technical Review Education 221

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now. Investors are looking for a concise description of your product or service without technical jargon or fuzzy marketing terms with value quantified in customer terms. What is your specific solution and value proposition?

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Strategic investors validate a business, by their presence creating the very value they pay for with increased price per share purchased.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Many are reluctant to really “market” themselves, and have trouble differentiating their offerings to clients, except by price. 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.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

socalTECH

JANUARY 2, 2014

You fill out the short questionnaire, lawyers submit their price quotes, and they get hired. You put your project up, and shortly thereafter, you get price quotes from lawyers. One day, I was talking with a friend who was trying to develop and app for a school event, and had created his own app creation company.

Help 240

Help Startup CTO Hire Pricing 240

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

Their product suite, PREtect, contains 5 cyber risk management solutions designed to optimize the protection of data assets and the detection of malicious events by addressing the most common vulnerabilities in the enterprise. Panamplify (Dallas, TX). Panamplify is the reporting easy button for businesses. How do cloudy days affect sales?

Artificial Inteligence 90

Artificial Inteligence Startup Platform Training 90

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Great benefits and a workplace that is fun and dedicated to making customers happy all fit in with the Zappos approach to company culture — when you get the company culture right, great customer service and a great brand will happen on its own. Portions of the budget are dedicated to employee team building and culture promotion.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

Great benefits and a workplace that is fun and dedicated to making customers happy all fit in with the Zappos approach to company culture — when you get the company culture right, great customer service and a great brand will happen on its own. Portions of the budget are dedicated to employee team building and culture promotion.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Unfortunately, customers look for value in solving their problem, and new technologies alone scare them, so these solutions don’t get bought by customers, or funded. Attracting business investors is as tough as attracting customers, but it’s a different challenge. Business model showing costs, pricing, and margins.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. How much money will airlines companies, hotel companies or event companies pay me as a referral or for booking?

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Competition and sustainable advantage.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113