SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 17, 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 -- Competitive Intelligence: 007 Market Intel. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to estimate market size, competitive market share, how many potential customers are there, and price points. Several case studies will be presented, although the names will be changed to protect the innocent.

Competition 100

Competition Innocal Case Study SoCal 100

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

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

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

Competition 107

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

As an entrepreneur, I understand your passion when pitching your solution to investors and customers, but passion alone won’t make one more technology pitch stand out above all the rest. Good relationships are the primary basis for trust in business, leading to supportive investors, loyal customers, and effective partnerships.

Startup 145

Startup Competition Customer Custom 145

SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 19, 2010

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 -- TechAmerica Century City Greater LA Finance Network Group Presents: 5 Financial Strategies that will always beat your Competition. 5 5 Financial Strategies that will always beat your competition: 1. Have provable and quantifiable customer benefits 5. Invest in CPI 3.Improved

Competition 100

Competition Century City Customer Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

As a member of the local angel group Selection Committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

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. During CEO roundtables which I attend regularly, fellow CEO’s analyze a compatriot’s use of time during the once-a-year personal presentations each makes in turn. But, do your customer know that they want?

Customer 120

Customer Custom Course Email 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. I think it works well for startups because in startups there are inherently less rules and with customers there is less clarity about your product category. This includes presentations, ROI calculators, competitive analyses and so forth.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. A competitive advantage to a non-problem or tiny niche is not interesting to investors.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2010

In my own effort to keep up with the times, I just finished a new book by Landy Chase, titled “ Competitive Selling: Out-Plan, Out-Think, Out-Sell to Win Every Time.” This concept applies equally well to convincing investors to fund you, employees to join you, or customers to buy from you. Establish the competitive playing field early.

Competition 92

Competition Entrepreneur Startup Customer 92

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

We talked with Noah about how the company grew out of a business plan competition at the University of Southern California, his recent funding from the Maverick Angels, as well as how the firm hopes to stand out among a crowded list of comparison shopping sites. Noah Auerhahn: Our difference, is we're customer centric.

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

Berkonomics

JULY 9, 2011

Turning these into statements instead of questions provides a framework for the sales presentation from the highest levels of collateral materials and marketing support, to the salesperson on the front line. Is your product or service one that responds to a customer need, real or perceived? Why buy it?”.

Sales 222

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 222

Berkonomics

JULY 26, 2018

Turning these into statements instead of questions provides a framework for the sales presentation from the highest levels of collateral materials and marketing support, to the salesperson on the front line. Is your product or service one that responds to a customer need, real or perceived? Why buy it?”. Why buy MINE? .

Sales 226

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 226

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

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

You can always tell during this discussion whether the entrepreneur has logged into their products, talked to their customers, read all the news stories and gotten all of the back channel info on the competition. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. Can’t go a mile deep on competition?

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

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? Do I have data or facts to present so the story has legs? You can imagine the press release, “New innovative model allows us to do audits differently than the competition!” I am a VC. I hand out money.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

He has forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they hope to eliminate. Yet we all know that many customers delay their adoption of the latest software platform, and fancy new hardware, for a year or two until all the “kinks” are worked out of them.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Technology Marketing 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

after all you aren’t presenting this at TED. Summary: Send the Deck Pitch decks are sales & marketing decks and like in any sales activity, any great sales person assumes his or her competition will eventually get their deck. Competition isn’t won or lost by your marketing decks?—?it’s What should be in your deck?

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

Customers are harder to sign than you want. You’ve got to accept customer losses as learning experiences and see how you can improve next time. You’ve got to put the competition into perspective. I presented a revised plan that I had created in 24 hours with the help of my team. Not lose your cool.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners Venture Capital 298

Berkonomics

JULY 30, 2011

Second, some of the original employees, occasionally one or two friends of the founders, are discovered to be falling behind as more professional employees show them up to be less competitive in their jobs. So management reorganizes the structure of the organization to fit the new needs of the growing enterprise.

Startup 222

Startup Customer Custom Funding 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2019

Much has been written recently about the requirement to focus today on the total customer experience, as a competitive edge or even for survival. The challenge I hear from savvy business owners and entrepreneurs operating on a shoestring is that providing a superior customer experience costs money.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Coach Pricing 96

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

One of our core tasks was “market analysis,&# which consistent of: market sizing, market forecasts, competitive analysis and then instructing customers on which direction to take. There are so many ways to present data to tell the story you want that I can’t even list every way data is skewed. How is it skewed?

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

The recent pandemic was a strong signal for change, and I see most of you entrepreneurs and business owners responding to the business changes required and new opportunities presented. Here are some key strategies that I recommend to prompt you when changes to your business may be required: Look for a changing customer sense of value.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

As a CEO you never stop needing to go on sales calls (or to work the phones in telesales or customer support) and ceasing to do this as your company grows because you’re focusing on investors, recruiting, PR or whatever is a mistake. I also make visits to senior level customers of portfolio companies with which I’m involved.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

To keep you on a positive track with potential investors, I recommend the following logic principles, to balance your passion in presenting your vision of a new business: Make sure your plan includes some business metrics. For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Ask for time to give a full presentation, or ask for a referral to someone who can help. Unlike [competition], we [differentiation].” Quantify the market.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2020

It’s clear things have changed for good and the need for managing remote communities of employees, customers and partners has become ever more important. In marketing materials founders often refer to their customer base as a “community”, but there’s a huge gap between having customers and creating a community.

Software 234

Software Startup Tool Platform 234

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 25, 2012

If so, is it one critical customer or a trend? Is it time to focus more resources upon collections, credit research, or even time to “fire some customers” who continually break your rules or take up too much of your resources? A missed cash discount by your accounting department probably means that cash flow is getting tighter.

News 166

News Statistics Resource Sales 166

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Partly out of the fact that in 1 week I depart for England to speak at LeWeb, attend our DataSift board meeting and generally make myself available to the DataSift team to meet their customers, partners and employees. In Rob’s spare time he always seems to be going to a boxing class or some other competitive, physical activity.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. Our first big institutional round was $16.5

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Those selling property want to present ready-to-inhabit homes for a quicker turnaround and to lower the barrier to sales. That’s presented an opportunity for developers (or as they are more commonly called in the US, property investors) who buy up those properties and put in the work themselves to make them more sales-friendly. .”

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2011

Amarillo’s advice is consistent with my comments in the Startup Competition ; get to know your competitors on a personal basis, while appearing as innocuous as possible. Be vigilant and keep your eyes on your competition, especially when they are dealt their hands. The same is true with poker. Seven Card Entrepreneurial Stud.

Startup 207

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Guide 207

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2022

Are you working with or selling to a particularly important competitor to your target customer? Dropping that name will often immediately draw a response if the decision maker is curious or particularly competitive. Let me reinforce this: never reveal competitive information to gain access or advantage. But what power.

Ideas 156

Ideas Sales Competition Venture Capital 156