Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

For new entrepreneurs and startups, I recommend an initial focus on these six steps from the very beginning to set the right culture and save the tremendous cost of a transformation and risky competitive catch-up later: Start with an overriding top-down focus on customer experience. Set the expectation for continuous improvement.

Customer 168

Customer Custom Services Startup 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Know your customers intimately. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2022

As with most investors and advisors, I always look first at some key personal characteristics and leadership strategies that I find often make you a more likely survivor and winner in the highly competitive world of businesses, both new and mature. I believe in the old axiom, “ no risk means no reward.”

Startup 143

Startup Competition Coach Satisfaction 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Ongoing momentum requires a move to mainstream, or even late adopters, who demand simplicity in your base function. Track competition to stay ahead of copycats. Your long-term success and satisfaction depends on it. Incremental changes are always easier to make and market to existing customers than disruptive products.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2022

As you look forward from where you are today, I recommend that each of you consider the following points that the authors and I all agree are key to your satisfaction, as well as your success in business: You love solution creation more than managing business. For example, a whole new level of communication skills is required.

Satisfaction 92

Satisfaction Training Customer Custom 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2022

They are not having the impact they expected, and they are not feeling the personal satisfaction they need for next level motivation. Embrace the real you as your competitive advantage. Your team will quickly sense your insights and sincerity , leading to greater impact and satisfaction by everyone.

Entrepreneur 90

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Coach Mentor 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2022

You will then experience satisfaction, instead of increased pressure. This space must be associated only with rest and recovery, to offset the stress and demands of the office. The stakes are higher than ever in this competitive and rapidly changing world. Save 30 percent of your energy for outside activities.

Class 148

Class Activity Coach Satisfaction 148

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 19, 2022

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. In a critical extension to this thinking, the authors and I would outline another dimension to these personality types and motivators, by defining five motivation grade levels that also impact entrepreneurial motives, actions, and satisfaction: Level A.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required. A solution I often recommend, as least in early growth, is the use of outsourcing for critical tasks.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Turn these top ten dilemmas into your strengths, and you will have a competitive advantage, as well as the fun and satisfaction you sought to find in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 130

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 130

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2018

I believe these basic practices of innovation, paraphrased here, should be adopted by every new venture owner, and every business executive, as the keys to long-term health and success in every market served: Demand and reward innovation from all business elements. Let customer value be the driver, rather than cost savings.

Satisfaction 53

Satisfaction Startup Competition Customer 53

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2018

Most entrepreneurs see their new venture as a fun adventure, until the pressures of a cash flow crisis, or a manufacturing quality problem, or a major customer satisfaction problem hits. Here are the top approaches I recommend, and the entrepreneur mindsets that I see in survivors: Evaluate new competitive threats as new opportunities.

Startup 82

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Mentor 82

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Here are some key strategies that I recommend to every worker today: Develop and highlight your competitive differentiation. That means regularly scanning LinkedIn and job sites for roles and opportunities that you may quality for, and honing your skills and connections to be sure you are competitive. Develop the courage to move on.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution , holding your own, and growing to the next level is a constant challenge that can never be ignored. Treat employees like your most demanding customers. Balance the act of competition with the art of collaboration. The reality could not be further from the truth.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2020

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. In a critical extension to this thinking, the authors and I would outline another dimension to these personality types and motivators, by defining five motivation grade levels that also impact entrepreneurial motives, actions, and satisfaction: Level A.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2015

By demand, entrepreneurs are crisis managers, and can be busy reacting 24 hours a day to urgent short-term issues. Apply the same high bar to product quality, employee satisfaction, social responsibilities and customer service. Don’t let day-to-day demands take the reins and drag you off course.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Training Demand Customer 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2013

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. Startups can use social responsibility as a competitive advantage. That’s a real competitive edge that you can use in your marketing and positioning. Socially responsible products typically sell at a premium price.

Startup 101

Startup Organization Entrepreneur Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Turn these top ten dilemmas into your strengths, and you will have a competitive advantage, as well as the fun and satisfaction you sought to find in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 97

Startup USC Entrepreneur Statistics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2012

But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. Startups can use social responsibility as a competitive advantage. That’s a real competitive edge that you can use in your marketing and positioning. Socially responsible products typically sell at a premium price.

Startup 100

Startup Organization Customer Custom 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2019

You will then experience satisfaction, instead of increased pressure. This space must be associated only with rest and recovery, to offset the stress and demands of the office. The stakes are higher than ever in this competitive and rapidly changing world. Save 30 percent of your energy for outside activities.

Class 93

Class Activity Coach Satisfaction 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Know your customers intimately. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Like startup investors several layers deep, parent company executives often demand approval rights and exert their power, without understanding the issues of starting a new business. Corporate entities operate under strict competitive and accounting rules. Every such deal was an exception.

IBM 85

IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Too many entrepreneurs develop a new product without regard to market demand, then build an entire strategy based on creating a need, rather than acting on an existing market need. Analyze how competition will react. Investors characterize this approach as a “solution looking for a problem.” These don’t get funded. Marty Zwilling.

Technology 91

Technology Funding Competition Entrepreneur 91

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. In a critical extension to this thinking, the authors and I would outline another dimension to these personality types and motivators, by defining five motivation grade levels that also impact entrepreneurial motives, actions, and satisfaction: Level A.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2018

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. In a critical extension to this thinking, the authors and I would outline another dimension to these personality types and motivators, by defining five motivation grade levels that also impact entrepreneurial motives, actions, and satisfaction: Level A.

Entrepreneur 66

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 66

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2014

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Turn these top ten dilemmas into your strengths, and you will have a competitive advantage, as well as the fun and satisfaction you sought to find in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Statistics Equity Satisfaction 107

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Too many entrepreneurs develop a new product without regard to market demand, then build an entire strategy based on creating a need, rather than acting on an existing market need. Analyze how competition will react. Investors characterize this approach as a “solution looking for a problem.” These don’t get funded. Marty Zwilling.

Funding 88

Funding Entrepreneur Competition Pricing 88

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2014

People see you as great for demanding customers and team bonding. In a critical extension to this thinking, the authors and I would outline another dimension to these personality types and motivators, by defining five motivation grade levels that also impact entrepreneurial motives, actions, and satisfaction: Level A.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Organization Customer Custom 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2017

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Turn these top ten dilemmas into your strengths, and you will have a competitive advantage, as well as the fun and satisfaction you sought to find in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur USC Statistics Equity 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2017

You will then experience satisfaction, instead of increased pressure. This space must be associated only with rest and recovery, to offset the stress and demands of the office. The stakes are higher than ever in this competitive and rapidly changing world. Save 30 percent of your energy for outside activities.

Tips 58

Tips Class Activity Coach 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2013

Don’t wait for the harsh reality of the demanding business world to start thinking about these tradeoffs. Turn these top ten dilemmas into your strengths, and you will have a competitive advantage, as well as the fun and satisfaction you sought to find in the entrepreneur lifestyle. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Equity 98