Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. I can think of at least five ways that this benefits the business, as well as customers: Products in a purpose culture more readily sell at a premium price. Companies with a purpose culture have more productive teams.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

SoCal Tech Calendar

OCTOBER 31, 2008

Thursday, November 6, 2008 -- "Recession-proof Pricing Strategies for a Multi-platform World" Technology Council. Today's technology companies increasingly must deliver products on multiple platforms to satisfy customer demand and competitive pressures.

Pricing 100

Pricing Technology Council Framework Platform 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. Through a free base product, you give the first taste of the service or game away for free, get users hooked, and then convert as many as possible to paying customers. Commoditize complementary products. Be aggressive and alert.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? If you only sell products, it’s time to realize that times have changed. With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Omitting lifetime value beyond dollars and cents.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2023

In my experience in large businesses as well as years of advising startups, I see far too much focus on product skills, and too little on people and process skills. They need to ask customers the difficult questions, and really understand costs versus benefits, as well as competitive alternatives.

Startup 154

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Customer 154

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Berkonomics

JULY 26, 2018

Is your product or service one that responds to a customer need, real or perceived? This question deals with the of fering in general, not yet with your version of the product. Your marketing and sales effort must be focused entirely upon making your product solve an urgent customer need. Why buy it?”. Why buy MINE? .

Sales 226

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Leaders have found that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Bobbie One startup that's proved to have the formula for success this year is Bobbie – the first infant formula to be certified as organic by the USDA, and the fastest-growing product of its kind to enter the US market since the 1980s. Organic milk formula product Bobbie. million site visits in October alone. Gumroad homepage.

Startup 213

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 213

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2019

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. I can think of at least five ways that this benefits the business, as well as customers: Products in a purpose culture more readily sell at a premium price. Companies with a purpose culture have more productive teams.

Organization 128

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

The price of entry can be less than $10,000, so the competition is huge and growing rapidly. Through a free base product, you give the first taste of the service or game away for free, get users hooked, and then convert as many as possible to paying customers. Commoditize complementary products. Be aggressive and alert.

Mobile 126

Mobile Develop Development Platform 126

Xconomy

AUGUST 16, 2016

A recent Wall Street Journal article that raised the possibility of Biogen as the target of another huge pharma buyout cited the lack of productivity as a major driver of M&A in the pharmaceutical industry. The industry can only go so far with growth through hyper-inflated pricing and mega-M&As.

Product 40

Product Journal Venture Capital Demand 40

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Email readers, continue here…] Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk. . Second: Market risk. . Third: Management risk. .

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

It’s really a multi-step process, with the first step getting you from an idea to a viable product, and the remaining steps creating a sustainable business. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. It’s also time to build prototypes to make the product come alive.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. You can be pissed off, but I don’t set prices. That’s stupid.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

There has always been tension between CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies and the retailers who sell their products to consumers. If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

In my experience in large businesses as well as years of advising startups, I see far too much focus on product skills, and too little on people and process skills. They need to ask customers the difficult questions, and really understand costs versus benefits, as well as competitive alternatives.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

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. The pivot can be as simple as changing the pricing model, or as complex as moving from a product business to a services business. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 127

Course IBM IBM Social Media 127

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the growth and therefore the ultimate financial outcomes. How profitable is my product or service? As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2011

We are an offer-based platform that allows users to negotiate the price they buy and sell tickets for, on the secondary market. Wes Brodsky: The ticketing industry, since its inception, has been on a fixed price model. For example, at an event, say at the Staples Center, of the 20,000 seats they might have four or five price groups.

Ticketmaster 253

Ticketmaster Pricing Sales Activity 253

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. These are still good people with an intent to provide great products and services, but making a difference takes a back seat. Entrepreneurs at this level will seek the minimum cost and quality to be more competitive.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 110

socalTECH

MAY 8, 2015

In a world awash with on-demand startups, Los Angeles-based Serviz (www.serviz.com) stands out--not because of the market segment it is tackling, but because it was founded by two, very experienced serial entrepreneurs-- Zorik Gordon and Michael Kline. Our vision is really to become the premier provider of on-demand home services.

Services 100

Services ReachLocal Demand Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2022

Of course, growth is implied in that equation, and is also required for maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. You might sell one of two of your widgets for $1 million each, entering profitability immediately, but then die because you can’t grow sales at that price. Design a product or service that you can sell.

Platform 118

Platform Snapchat Startup Course 118

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

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

First: Product risk. Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk. Second: Market risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. Today, customer loyalty is based on the “ total customer experience ,” as opposed to price or service alone. Pay attention to all. Relentlessly drive improvement, change, and growth.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

When they look at buying your company they often think in terms of “how long will it take until I earn back the profits to pay for my acquisition price?” They have have raised $2-3 million, built a product that has some amount of market traction and got to annualized revenues of around $1 million. ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

In today’s world of constant change and information overload via the Internet, content marketing and branding are often more important to success than product quality or technology. They will have a short memory and no loyalty to “lowest prices” or “easiest to use.” Position your products as delivery for on-demand services.

Social Media 73

Social Media Customer Custom Mobile 73

Berkonomics

JULY 9, 2011

Is your product or service one that responds to a customer need, real or perceived? This question deals with the offering in general, not yet with your version of the product. Your marketing and sales effort must be focused entirely upon making your product solve an urgent customer need.

Sales 222

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 222

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

Let me start with Professor Christensen’s definition: “An innovation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.&#. They offered a product that didn’t even try to compare with Siebel.

Startup 376

Startup Framework Marketing Customer 376

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Conventional wisdom in most companies is that “the competition is the enemy&# – it’s the rallying cry to dig deeper, get more features out the door, issue press releases citing differences and attack the competition’s weaknesses in sales presentations. A healthy respect for your competition will serve you well.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2015

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. I can think of at least five ways that this benefits the business, as well as customers: Products in a purpose culture more readily sell at a premium price. Companies with a purpose culture have more productive teams.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Organization Startup Pricing 117

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

So when Sam Rosen came to me with the idea of disrupting storage with a product that is priced cheaper than existing incumbents and he could build a product that is a better service I was intrigued. The metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency . Given the steady drumbeat of climate disasters that hit the U.S.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229