Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. There are many free generalized tools, including Google Trends , which can be used to track customer behavior in looking for things that don’t exist yet.

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Custom Customer Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

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Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

The result is fewer and fewer new ideas are volunteered by prospective leaders and key team members, and the business suffers from poor customer satisfaction or loss of market share. Find other situations that led to success, or explain why the environment, competition, or opportunity has changed to reduce the risk of failure.

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Ideas Netflix Resource Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

Image via Flickr by Alan Most of you who start new ventures don’t think of yourselves as sales experts. Yet in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world, top notch sales and marketing skills are critical to the success of every business. Stand tall - keep your fears and doubts to yourself.

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Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

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Startup Entrepreneur Examples Custom 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 16, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that many of you have your most creative ideas for your company’s first big bang , but often get bogged down with details as the company grows. By dedicating at least one percent of sales to environmental groups, he locked in engagement from both employees and customers.

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Company Companies Ideas Mentor 148

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

He also still gets excited to donate one percent of sales to environmental groups around the world. Assess who you can get for value and mentoring. These relationships must be nurtured over time, balanced against your personal life, and grow to include major customers, competitors, and potential acquirers.

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Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business leader believes that he or she has the full trust of their team and their customers, and in fact most do in the beginning. Unfortunately, many aspiring leaders I mentor are not aware of the signals people are looking for, or are not attuned to the subtleties of their own actions.

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Mentor News Summary Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. People-centric leaders drive ownership and engagement down to their customer-facing team members.

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Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

You need to build business relationships with partners, team members, investors, and of course customers. As an introvert myself, I remember worrying that I could never be comfortable giving a sales pitch, or networking to find clients. Asking someone to be your mentor is not a sign of weakness, and most mentors love to help.

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Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and business owners, I rarely find someone who doesn’t proclaim that the business world is changing rapidly, with new technology, new customer expectations, and new cultures. Others still routinely have phone hold queues for customer contact that can last up to an hour, with no alternative options.

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Technical Review Custom Customer Startup 84

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2017

There are so many more brands and competition. They love our service, because we actually give them direct access to who their exact target customer is, which is affluent Millennials, which Nelson refers to as Upscale Millennials, who have good jobs, and don't live in their parents' basement. Sean Kelly: Oh, that's a big one.

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Entrepreneur Services Sales Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. People-centric leaders drive ownership and engagement down to their customer-facing team members.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2015

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Then always measure customer results, not work.

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Resource Startup Entrepreneur Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

As an advisor and mentor for many startups and small business founders, following my initial career in big business, I realize that the key strategies to achieve success in small businesses are often different from those that make larger businesses successful. Sharing the same space also facilitates creativity.

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Sales Organization Entrepreneur Examples 69

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that absorbs resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Then always measure customer results, not work.

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Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Based on my experience as an angel investor and a mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs, having no business plan is the quickest way to define yourself as just a dreamer, or at best a hobbyist. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. Skip the acronyms and jargon.

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Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

In fact, most see a more direct relationship between customers and their business success, so employee focus by default will end up in third place. Once this product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change. Recruit, mentor, and promote talent to highlight opportunity. Start today.

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Metrics Startup Netflix Custom 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2018

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that spends resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Then always measure customer results, not work.

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Resource Training Entrepreneur Activity 52

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

In his book, “ Out-Executing the Competition ,” seasoned executive Irv Rothman provides tips to corporate executives on how to dig in and “get their fingernails dirty.” Team members and customers expect startup founders to be innovative. Clean hands won’t out-execute the competition for long in any business. Marty Zwilling.

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Startup Entrepreneur Template Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

In the heat of scaling the business, it’s tempting to skip the cost and time of finding qualified job candidates, and enlist those close at hand, without paying them a competitive wage for the hard work and commitment you need. Very few people are experts in all facets of a new business, including finance, sales, marketing, and operations.

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Entrepreneur Competition Custom Customer 72

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2017

I was mentoring some graduate students at a local university recently, and I sensed again that profit seems to be a dirty word these days to many aspiring entrepreneurs. I’m certainly not a fan of customer rip-offs, but even non-profits have to be cash-flow positive, or have deep pockets, to help anyone for long.

Pricing 66

Pricing Custom Customer Advertising 66

socalTECH

DECEMBER 7, 2016

Barry Lieberman: My backgruond is about 35 years in technology, business development, and sales and marketing. I built my own company around marketing services, and have been around business development, marketing, custom service, and sales, and also on the consumer side of technology, a little bit a mix of the two.

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Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They've got a program called Springboard, which helps really young companies get set up with mentors, and guides you through the startup process. They act as mentors and help companies grow. Back to the service itself-- you've got lots of competition in the space, how are you going to get above that noise?

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UCSD Course Startup Sites 185

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2015

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

Ideas 104

Ideas Mentor Resource Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2012

In his new book, “ Out-Executing the Competition ,” seasoned executive Irv Rothman provides tips to corporate executives on how to dig in and “get their fingernails dirty.” Team members and customers expect startup founders to be innovative. Clean hands won’t out-execute the competition for long in any business.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Template Mentor 94

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

You can find a mentor, a coach, a project, or experience, to help you prepare for the role you are looking for. We got really serious after the success of that customer, who wanted to make this technology available for all of its employees across the globe. How is it your first customer was in Australia? READ MORE>>.

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Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2014

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

Ideas 107

Ideas Mentor Entrepreneur Resource 107

Jason Nazar

APRIL 2, 2016

Seek out and follow the council of advisors in and outside of the business ( watch : court mentors ). Product / Customer Evangelist. Regularly talk with customers to see what can be improved. Make their product different and better than the competition. Sales / BD. Fierce competitiveness, hate to lose.

Entrepreneur 46

Entrepreneur Tips Organization Sales 46

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2017

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed.

Ideas 56

Ideas Mentor Resource Product 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Add an advisory board or experienced mentor to reality-check your financial projections, timeframes, and milestones before you publish them.

Startup 96

Startup Guide Resource Pricing 96

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2013

Big publishers are using that to arm their sales forces, and figuring out what advertisers to go after and what to pitch. Tom eventually left to work on a startup, and I started traveling, reconnected with some former mentors, and really started diving into the space. Similar, we also provide information on what publishers are doing.

Advertising 153

Advertising Startup CTO Coach Study 153

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” Simon Sinek If your customers believe in your mission, then they’ll warm to you and listen to what you offer and how. Happy customers tend to spend more, more often and tell their friends. This is where the Golden Circle comes in.

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Startup Design Custom Customer 78

Tech.Co

MARCH 1, 2018

The event is open to tech enthusiasts who want to join an event filled with some of the top leaders, investors and mentors from tech industry to network, find mentors and build their companies. Think of looking at a dot graph of your business sales in virtual reality. The Mentor Method (Washington, D.C.). Price: $1.99

Startup 79

Startup Mentor Platform Help 79

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Add an advisory board or experienced mentor to reality-check your financial projections, timeframes, and milestones before you publish them.

Startup 93

Startup Guide Resource Pricing 93

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Through ongoing analysis and refinement of existing processes, establishment of standards and metrics, team building and mentoring, Sergey has established a foundation and culture in which developers can flourish. Bobby’s strong sales acumen, genuine charisma and leadership abilities make him an invaluable asset to the founding team.

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Social Network Networking Training Summary 92