Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2019

For example, I grew up in IBM when Bill Gates was helping us deliver the first IBM PC. In a very real sense, we funded him, and he superseded even IBM. Build connections with key customers and competitors. Very few businesses can grow organically fast enough to stay ahead of competition.

IBM 87

IBM IBM Ideas Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2022

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. In summary, whether you are running a startup, a family business, or a famous brand like IBM, you are all part of the jungle.

Startup 112

Startup News Framework IBM 112

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2019

Rather than punish them, it may pay you to nurture and manage their outside-the-box thinking, and capitalize on their innovations that help your customers and keep you ahead of the competition. Sometime employees on your front lines have a better handle on what customers need next than external entrepreneurs.

IBM 53

IBM IBM Java Google 53

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2020

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to work and learn for many years in both the corporate environment (IBM), as well as the exploding Silicon Valley startup environment of the 90’s. Businesses require people relationships, to find the right team, investors, contract vendors, and attract customers.

Training 144

Training Entrepreneur IBM IBM 144

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2015

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. A partnership was announced last year with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC's startup ecosystem.

Startup 100

Startup IBM IBM Examples 100

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 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Most experienced business people love to help, but they don’t have the time or interest to give you a course on basic business concepts, like the need to be competitive. I get much more satisfaction, and can provide more realistic help, in steering you through specific pricing, organizational, or competitive challenges you face.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2015

Image via Pixabay.com Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Fresh customer base. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly.

Organization 100

Organization Startup Competition IBM 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2014

The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. A partnership was just announced with the City of New York, to connect and grow NYC''s startup ecosystem.

IBM 100

IBM IBM Startup Examples 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2014

Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition. Keep these balanced and aligned between people (customers, employees) and process (quality, service, revenue), and keep the scope realistic (eliminating world hunger is too broad).

Entrepreneur 103

Entrepreneur Competition Oracle Technical Review 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2019

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. In summary, whether you are running a startup, a family business, or a famous brand like IBM, you are all part of the jungle.

Startup 94

Startup News Framework IBM 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2018

The stalwarts should be making the big leaps to be competitive, rather than the other way around. Many large companies, and even startups, often forget their core competencies and direction in an effort to grow their business and customer base faster. In fact, almost 90 percent of the Fortune 500 firms that existed in 1955 are gone.

Startup 59

Startup Competition IBM IBM 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 85

Course IBM IBM Social Media 85

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2013

Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition. Keep these balanced and aligned between people (customers, employees) and process (quality, service, revenue), and keep the scope realistic (eliminating world hunger is too broad).

Startup 103

Startup Competition Technical Review Oracle 103

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Fresh customer base. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. New management skills.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Competition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2015

None should be considered competitive mutually exclusive to any other. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. These give good customer connection and SEO. Integrate your social media content with some traditional media.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Marketing Resource 108

Xconomy

JULY 19, 2016

The bigger public players – Cisco, Check Point, HP, IBM, Symantec, and others – need to continually add to their arsenal of security solutions as the threat landscape continues to evolve. Symantec Forces the Industry to Stay Competitive. In general, M&A is a natural part of the IT security market. Why is this happening?

Symantec 40

Symantec IBM IBM Acquisition 40

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

In the mid 1960’s, large mainframe manufacturers, such as IBM, Burroughs and Honeywell, provided complete IT solutions. IBM might not have offered the best printers, but buyers had no choice because early mainframe vendors provided a closed set of proprietary technologies. Six Reasons Why The Time Is Now.

IBM 100

IBM IBM Networking Software 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2016

First-to-market is a key competitive advantage. If they want growth and sustainability, they often increase the smart risks, meaning more risk for growth or competitive advantage. If we build a great product, customers will find it and us. Entrepreneurs who expect funding at the idea stage are usually disappointed.

Startup 58

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Ideas 58

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Fresh customer base. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. New management skills.

Startup 93

Startup Organization Competition IBM 93

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

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 316

Sales Startup Pricing Custom 316

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. Key Information Systems (www.keyinfo.com) Providing IBM Storage Solutions. www.pitchtheangels.com) Join Tech Coast Angels members and other start up investors at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Fast Pitch Competition. Costello and Sons Insurance Brokers (www.costelloandsons.com).

Southern California 113

Southern California Tech Coast Angels IP Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2017

None should be considered competitive mutually exclusive to any other. Every business should look at its cost of customer acquisition (COCA) and return on investment (ROI) twice a year and after each campaign. These give good customer connection and SEO. Integrate your social media content with some traditional media.

Media 59

Media Marketing Social Media Resource 59

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2015

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Startup 102

Startup Course IBM IBM 102

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2014

We''re rolling it out to finance and Wall Street, monitoring thousands of sources of continuously changing information, such as news, social media, internal email systems, and analyzing specific, material conditions that our customers are looking for. We grew that up, and did very well, and eventually sold it to IBM.

Orange County 245

Orange County Startup News IBM 245

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

Customers and analysts are always looking for innovation indicators. I will suggest to you as a business owner and entrepreneur that focus on certain key behaviors will drive innovation without waiting for the next competitive crisis: Be outspoken in communicating proactive required change.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. In summary, whether you are running a startup, a family business, or a famous brand like IBM, you are all part of the jungle.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup News Framework 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

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 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2013

The opportunity for change is huge, with everyone taking a new look at the world after the recession, but the competition is also huge, since the cost of entry is at an all-time low. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. That’s the good news and the bad news. If you want to be feared.

Startup 99

Startup Competition News Framework 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2011

It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Or worse yet, the entrepreneur is so arrogant that he hasn’t even used Google to figure out he has competition just down the street. We have strong interest from a major customer.”

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Funding Innocal Competition 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 59

Course IBM IBM Social Media 59

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Fresh customer base. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. New management skills.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2014

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Course IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2017

Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. With no competitive advantage, startups with new ideas gaining traction are never feared, and are usually eaten for lunch as sleeping giants wake up. In summary, whether you are running a startup, a family business, or a famous brand like IBM, you are all part of the jungle.

Startup 57

Startup News Framework Entrepreneur 57

StartUp Beat

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

It’s a competition where entrepreneurs take the stage and proceed to pitch their startup ideas and their visions for the future. Winners of the competition receive a fully-paid trip to London and San Francisco, and pre-arranged meetings with venture capitalists in their respective cities. Disrupt SF ( Sep 18-20).

Conference 40

Conference Startup Artificial Inteligence Competition 40

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 12, 2015

One of these bright lights is Santa Barbara-based HG Data - developers of the world's largest competitive-intelligence database. <Note: Our customers are some of the world's largest, most diverse organizations on the planet, such as IBM, HP and Dell.

Company 100

Company Companies Santa Barbara Education 100