Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( 200 on Wikipedia ), or another dating site/app ( over 1500 in the USA ). It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Ownership.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

The two look headed for a dogfight, as each looks to gain awareness and find customers--not to mention hosts--for their respective services. Both let dog owners specify their location, and when they're looking to go on vacation, and then lets those owners schedule and book stays, providing photos and text updates to owners via the site.

Competition 159

Competition Funding Los Angeles Capital 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

You may feel good when that first burst of customers arrives, but don’t assume that “ word of mouth ” and those early adopters will grow your business to match your dreams of success. In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. They won’t find you.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Social Media Conference Custom 142

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. No matter how you end up on the front page of a major news site, getting there is just the first step.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Practice being a good communicator.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)?

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Online job and career sites still seem to be in another decade, when it comes to both design--and user friendliness. Can a startup gain a foothold in the competitive market by designing the right UX and user experience to make a job and career site for everyone? Los Angeles-based Workpop (www.workpop.com) thinks so.

Design 174

Design Sites Cornerstone OnDemand Startup 174

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Others schedule exhaustive training sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone paints a consistent picture. The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Practice being a good communicator.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

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 Custom 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2023

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 96

Startup Education Ideas Custom 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Over 600,000 new businesses were created in the last year, or over one per minute of every day.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

For this morning's interview, we talked with Noah Auerhahn , President of San Diego-based Extrabux (www.extrabux.com), an online site focused on providing consumers with comparison shopping combined with discount offers. For people who haven't heard of ExtraBux, what is the site all about? Noah, thanks for the interview.

USC 207

USC CPC Sites Startup 207

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 Custom 166

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Display ads on mobile devices, including video and audio, also offer a new opportunity to reach target customers. Social-media advertising. Email marketing.

Marketing 114

Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. Business tools — from customer relationship management ( CRM ) platforms to accounting software — help to save startups time and money by automating key processes and maximizing efficiency.

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2022

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.” On the other end of the spectrum, Internet dating sites don’t seem to work.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Tips Competition 145

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2016

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Display ads on mobile devices, including video and audio, also offer a new opportunity to reach target customers. Social-media advertising. Email marketing.

Custom 60

Custom Customer Marketing Social Media 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2023

With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. The broad-brush push-marketing is no longer competitive. The very best marketing is word-of-mouth from your very happy customers. Build word-of-mouth into your product or service.

Marketing 107

Marketing Technical Review Startup Innocal 107

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 6, 2016

As the Internet continues to become populated with e-commerce sites, it’s becoming more and more difficult to generate web traffic, leads, and ultimate the sales for your website. Increase Your On-Site SEO. Incorporating a Site Map. Utilizing Alt Text on All Images Found On The Site. Clean and clear code.

Commerce 58

Commerce Search Engine Optimization Sites Marketing 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2023

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

Invest 98

Invest Sites Technical Review Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Jeff Bezos readily admits that his first career in a Wall Street-based investment banking firm gave him some keen insights into business realities, before a fear of regret and a personal passion led him to create Amazon, now the largest ecommerce site in the world. Intellectual property is required for a competitive edge.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 29, 2019

. ” That’s right, ProGuides is pitching a marketplace for experienced gamers so that its customers aren’t randomly matched with some noob if they can’t game with their usual partners. The LA-based company also has some venture-backed competition on the East Coast.

Coach 180

Coach Seed Funding Training Platform 180

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. The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2022

As far back as 2013, Pew Internet & American Life Project started reporting that their focus groups found “waning enthusiasm for Facebook” among teens, that Facebook has become a “social burden” for them, and that “users of sites other than Facebook express greater enthusiasm for their choice.” New can turn old very quickly.

Social Media 140

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 140

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2020

With social media, you can interact more precisely and create custom products and marketing to be almost all things to all people. The broad-brush push-marketing is no longer competitive. The very best marketing is word-of-mouth from your very happy customers. Build word-of-mouth into your product or service.

Mobile 173

Mobile Marketing Technical Review Startup 173

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

You’ll have less competition. Competition is good, but – if there are hundreds of businesses out there that already have gotten to and penetrated this niche – you’re going to find it hard to get through the marketing noise. Keep your customer in mind. So, what other benefits are there to niche marketing?

Marketing 266

Marketing Resource Advertising Social Media 266

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

Exposure to customers, incumbents, and competitors all drive success. Exposure instills the fear and urgency you need to deliver the right competitive solution. Being close to your customers, your vendors, or even your competitors can make all the difference. It’s just the first of many. Exposure is another key ingredient.

Sites 59

Sites Startup Technical Review Oracle 59

Tech.Co

MAY 26, 2020

Amazon used its popular affiliate program to spur additional growth, getting reviewers and publishing sites – including us here at Tech.co – to link to Amazon in exchange for a small payout whenever a reader bought something by following that link. The ecommerce site Bookshop offers a book-specific affiliate program. commission).

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Buzzfeed News Networking 129

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

Startup 126

Startup Sites Technical Review Social Media 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

A few are still trying to make a profitable business out of nurturing startups, but it’s a challenge to make money when your customer startups don’t have many resources to give. I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( over 200 active ), or another dating site (now over 2500 in the US alone). It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Ownership.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2022

Fortunately, despite their lack of basic business experience, the destined-to-be-great entrepreneurs never give up, following Bill Gates after his first failure with Traf-O-Data, and Jeff Bezos after early failure with his online auction site. An innovative solution is necessary but not sufficient to build a business.

Training 117

Training Entrepreneur IBM IBM 117

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

What most people don’t realize is, according to recent statistics , despite top positioning, only a quarter of sites selected comes from paid search. For sites displaying the ads, this is called pay per click (PPC). Thus I recommend that you stick with organic search, and use SEO to raise your ranking. Cost per action (CPA).

PPC 154

PPC SEO Paid Search Search Engine Optimization 154

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2012

There are more than 10,000 people in Japan, and they're the third largest site behind Amazon and eBay, doing over 15 billion, with a 14 billon market cap in Japan. Neel Grover: We've been transforming the site and experience quite a bit. Is Amazon's marketplace the largest competition for what you're doing?

Sites 210

Sites Commerce Pricing Product 210

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Product 129

Product Examples Mentor Activity 129