Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

Others schedule exhaustive training sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone paints a consistent picture. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

As an aspiring entrepreneur, one of the most important things you need is a memorable “ elevator pitch ,” to communicate your startup value proposition and leave a great first impression on friends, investors, employees, and future customers. Describe technology and features, not competitiveness.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Most people will be engaged by a single-page double-sided glossy executive summary, and offer support or the right people to move forward. Whether you are looking for partners, investors, or future customers, you need to show a level of professionalism and leadership very early that will draw people to your idea.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

People mistook extra doses of Ajax for a successful product. The last couple of years has also seen the huge initial success of Ycombinator, the Lean Startup and many other product driven approaches to going to market. I have seen really great product people espouse the death of the business plan. Do so at your peril.

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

Few investors these days have the time or patience to read a full business plan, so a better way to catch their eye is with a tightly written and well formatted two-page executive summary. I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2019

Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. A related “red flag” in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section, or a short paragraph that essentially says, “this product has no competition.” Yet most products can be made dramatically cheaper as technologies improve.

Startup 80

Startup Ideas Competition Demand 80

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. I’m a big believer in product stability & performance before adding too many features. I’m a big believer in product stability & performance before adding too many features. Customer Acquisition. That’s not acceptable.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

They are the classic case of the Innovator’s Dilemma because they fundamentally can’t innovate on their product and can’t lower costs or their business craters. And it’s easy to run circles around them as our product differentiation shows. Growing our Product Lines. Little old us. Sound familiar?

Startup 150

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 150

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

In most cases, I provide some combination of the following advice: Brevity - Maximum length: two pages. Hopefully this straightforward format will help you avoid overly obtuse verbiage, while keeping your executive summary to two pages. Competition. Entrepreneurs routinely seek my advice regarding their executive summaries.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

They are tasked with “getting deals done” so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. Sales is simply defined as income from customer purchases of goods and services, minus the cost associated with things like returned or undeliverable merchandise.

Metrics 100

Metrics Technical Review Sales Customer 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2019

Even with product businesses, it’s the ultimate way to build your brand credibility, bring in customer leads, and get feedback from your target market. You should start blogging about your business before you have a product, to test interest and establish your credibility. Add content regularly.

Blogging 88

Blogging Search Engine Optimization Web Writing 88

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. Unlike [competition], we [differentiation].” Here are some additional recommendations to increase the impact: Describe your product or service. Quantify the market.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. I have always worked on early stage products. Some of the products I’ve helped validate and launch include GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and AppFolio.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

Tech may be the tool, but hospitality – making life a little easier, more comfortable, and more enjoyable for your customer, is the winning focus. Unfortunately, too many of the technical entrepreneurs I mentor and advise are focused on their technology, and assume that the value will be self-evident to customers.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2014

Sponsored by VISA Business Running a small business as an entrepreneur is a never-ending challenge of new products, customers, competitors, and an unpredictable economy. A good entrepreneur feels the incentive to offer a new service/product that no one else has offered before. Beat the competition. The cycle never stops.

Startup 92

Startup Tips Satisfaction Entrepreneur 92

Southern California Edison Blog

APRIL 21, 2020

Network speeds are closely tied to an organization’s ability to stay productive and remain competitive and profitable at all times. In a world shifting to a work-from-home reality, employees using VPNs to access secure data remotely require networks with enough bandwidth to prevent slow page speeds and general downtime.

Networking 75

Networking Organization Demand Activity 75

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches? I am a VC.

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

Gordon Gould , the co-founder of SmartPants, talks about the company and how it's applying what he learned founding ThisNext and from a long experience in the social media market to the consumer products goods area--what he describes as Brands 2.0. First, talk about what SmartPants Vitamins are? We give it to our own kids.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I recommend a pitch deck with about 10 slides backed up with a written business plan of approximately 20 pages, both containing quantified answers to the following key questions. Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2013

Today’s platform is built of people, including yourself, followers, and contacts, who can amplify your message through social media and spread it to your target customers. Building your home base with personal and product traction. Make your customers your platform. You have to get your customer’s attention.

Platform 105

Platform Entrepreneur Startup Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

Tech.Co

AUGUST 1, 2017

Once a novelty act reserved for indie band albums and curious art projects, crowdfunding is starting to play a major role in the world of startups and new products. Your campaign page should clearly highlight your track record, what you’ve already put in place to make your vision a reality, and why you are the one with the skills for the job.

Startup 93

Startup Social Media Tips Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion. There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content. I wasn’t feeling it.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

The lessons learned by Divshot confirm that obtaining, and more importantly maintaining, visibility on the front page of a major social news site results from the congruence of three factors: audience, timing and engagement. If we hadn’t done well on Hacker News we would have needed to have some serious product/market fit discussions.".

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

But then your customes start using your products, your competitors come out with new offerings and your business partners decide to launch a similar product rather than working with you. Did you know that their original product wasn’t a video camera? They were product and cost focused. And then the BIG pivot.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Startup Google Yammer 291

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Startups should begin by selecting just a few of the vast array of social media offerings out there, and customize based on results. Ask yourself where are the influencers in your market, the majority of your target customers, and what type of interaction will be most productive to your business?

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

The first page of the business plan better be an executive summary which gives the investor a taste of the financials, as well as opportunity, competition, and key executives. “I Investors are buying part of the business, not the product or service. Too much detail at first contact is just as much of a turnoff as no information.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2012

Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. A related “red flag” in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section, or a short paragraph that essentially says, “this product has no competition.” Yet most products can be made dramatically cheaper as technologies improve.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Ideas Competition Startup 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2013

Probably every one of you who has a business and a website have been approached through email or personal contact, and asked to spend money on paid search results (appear on the first page of search results, right hand column, despite low SEO rank). This is NOT the same as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Cost per click (CPC).

Paid Search 90

Paid Search PPC Organization SEO 90

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! Solution product & technology. Here is how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

No, that IS NOT a competitive advantage - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 12, 2010 This is part 1 of the series: 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches. 0160; If I need $250,000 to get to 100 customers, or $1 million to get to X, and I can raise both amounts from either Angels or VCs, where do we turn? Make it unique.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2017

Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. A related “red flag” in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section, or a short paragraph that essentially says, “this product has no competition.” Yet most products can be made dramatically cheaper as technologies improve.

Ideas 55

Ideas Startup Competition Demand 55

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2013

Customers pay for solutions, but there is no market for ideas. A related “red flag” in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section, or a short paragraph that essentially says, “this product has no competition.” Yet most products can be made dramatically cheaper as technologies improve.

Ideas 99

Ideas Startup Competition Demand 99