Berkonomics

JULY 26, 2018

These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. It would pay you to work over this set of questions in a special session with sales, marketing and senior management in the room at once.

Sales 226

Sales Custom Customer Pricing 226

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Projecting financials is a natural extension of the homework every entrepreneur needs to do on customer opportunity size, product costs, pricing, competition and customer value. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint. Your competition is global, so today’s customers are demanding world-class service. Set the expectation for continuous improvement.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 3, 2020

Imagine the room in which several graduate business school student groups have gathered, tasked with coming up with an idea for a business plan competition. Where’s your bottleneck in production or sales or development?” “If you could invent a solution, what would it be?”. A thought exercise. Then I’d advise them to visit the CEO.

Startup 156

Startup Ideas Custom Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

Every one of you business leaders I know struggles with the competing demands of finding and keeping employees motivated and satisfied, versus building and enforcing a set of repeatable processes that work. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding. Development schedule and checkpoints.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Customer 112

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. This is not just sales traction, but a proper balance between resources, product, and customers. A startup must gain balanced traction.

Education 151

Education Customer Custom Sales 151

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint. Your competition is global, so today’s customers are demanding world-class service. Set the expectation for continuous improvement.

Custom 168

Custom Customer Services Startup 168

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. There is no black magic involved in predicting the future, if you use these four simple steps, with my basic rules of thumb to keep you on the right track: Determine your margin on sales. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit. Instead of asking themselves “How and when will this generate sales?”

Marketing 141

Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

The problem with shelfware is that if you have great sales people, you have raised tons of VC money from prominent investors, you have some marquee clients and you thus likely have some great press about you it can be hard to tell true success from that which is ephemeral. Have sales bonus plans based on more than just sales targets.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

It’s also a massive market — and by Danna’s estimates, still with a lot of untapped business — with Boulevard quoting figures that forecast personal care and beauty sales passing $1.4 trillion, and the spa sector passing $150 billion, both by 2025.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

I recognized this as I was reading the classic book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Opening relationships and creating opportunities.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Startup Sales Customer 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

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. In the end, engagement drives customer retention, sales, growth and profit. Leaders need direct and open team communication.

Coach 128

Coach Mentor Organization Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Executives, marketing & sales, financial projections, and funding. Development schedule and checkpoints.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

My background is I was a sales rep in this industry for fourteen years, with Nikon. Eugene Cho: We had a seed round for less than $3M, and we did a note round with the Tech Coast Angels for $2M after we won their Quick Pitch competition, over about 150 other companies. So how was it you were able to ramp up sales so quickly?

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124

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. You know, frenemies. When Enemies are Good.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 13, 2016

Well, even though that acquisition is still playing itself out on the field of battle, it appears quite clear that the new parent has directed its new subsidiary to abandon the lower end of the market and focus upon the larger sales, corporate customers, and major brands.

Resource 120

Resource Competition Examples Custom 120

Berkonomics

JULY 9, 2011

These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. It would pay you to work over this set of questions in a special session with sales, marketing and senior management in the room at once.

Sales 222

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 222

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

My background is I was a sales rep in this industry for fourteen years, with Nikon. Eugene Cho: We had a seed round for less than $3M, and we did a note round with the Tech Coast Angels for $2M after we won their Quick Pitch competition, over about 150 other companies. So how was it you were able to ramp up sales so quickly?

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors or a cutthroat competitive environment. Suddenly “closing the sale,” no matter what is required, takes precedence over the grand team vision of changing the world.

Startup 128

Startup Social Media Organization Entrepreneur 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Every startup demands logical changes along the way. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO. Investors want to see a willingness to follow outside guidance, tempered by your own convictions.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Berkonomics

MARCH 6, 2014

Imagine the room in which several graduate business school student groups have gathered, tasked with coming up with an idea for a business plan competition. Where’s your bottleneck in production or sales or development?” “If you could invent a solution, what would it be?”. Then I’d advise them to visit the CEO. Dave’s workshops.

Startup 176

Startup Ideas Customer Custom 176

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. “COGS” represents the amount that each sale costs you.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

I recognized this as I was reading a new book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Opening relationships and creating opportunities.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Sales Startup Custom 106

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Apparently with a physical storefront where it can convince customers of the wonders of on-demand mobility. As for what will happen at the store, Fifth Wall’s Adam Demuyakor tells me “There will be deployment of scooters, charging of scooters, and some sales of apparel and accessories that are related.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Education Technical Review 221

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2018

I recognized this as I was reading the classic book, ” The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need ,” by Anthony Iannarino, who is an international sales leader and expert on optimizing results. His focus is on sales, but I see the same skills needed for entrepreneurs. Opening relationships and creating opportunities.

Startup 98

Startup Sales Entrepreneur Custom 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. If you take investor money, expect a push for hockey-stick growth and a liquidity event, like going public (IPO) or sale (M&A), to get the payback. That’s not an attractive statistic if you crave control and power.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Equity 130

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 7, 2013

And what upsets people is that there are different quantities of those components available in the economic marketplace; and the law of supply and demand is pretty good about consequently assigning a value to them. How excited am I likely to be when I see a plan for a new generation of buggy whip, or another me-too social network?

Startup 189

Startup Sales Ideas Entrepreneur 189

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. Be wary of crafty shysters who will flood your mailbox with official-looking mail offering to help for a fee, or demanding fees you forgot to pay. Now get real (cook it). Before you get too excited, it’s time to do some homework.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

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. MySpace wasn’t ready for this, and it soon faded.

Platform 118

Platform Snapchat Startup Course 118

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

Its primary goal is to focus on identifying what is truly driving demand, analytically, so that our customers can optimize their activities. We have a very sophisticated, analytics and software platform that over half the Fortune 50 are now using, to help guide how they invest in marketing and sales activities and investments.

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2019

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. This is not just sales traction, but a proper balance between resources, product, and customers. A startup must gain balanced traction.

Startup 97

Startup Education Custom Customer 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit. Instead of asking themselves “How and when will this generate sales?”

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

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.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels CTO Coach Startup Pasadena Angels 100

Inverted Software

JANUARY 2, 2019

In order to be competitive with other cryptocurrency miners, though, a cryptocurrency miner needs a computer that can keep up with the calculations, one that is loaded with GPUs. gaming GPUs, assuring investors that NVIDIA’s computer gaming customer base would compensate for any decline in revenue from cryptocurrency-related sales.”.

Class 58

Class Sales Demand Marketing 58