Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Packaging, pricing & discounts – In the early days of my first company we always had “list prices&# we quoted to customers and of course we were always willing to negotiate based on who the client was, how important the business was to us, who the competition was and how well the deal was negotiated. Ditto the CFO.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Some readers have commented that in today’s world you shouldn’t even need a PowerPoint presentation – in this era you should always just demo your product. I also recently wrote a post about a company that came in for a presentation and never even got the slides out or presented a demo. Very few people ask.

Venture Capital 238

Venture Capital Slides Startup Sales 238

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

Why You Need to Be Sure You’re Not the Sucker ” I talked about how VCs (or other investors) get deals sent to them and how to interpret a referral. I wrote here about the importance of proprietary dealflow . I wrote here about why I avoid party rounds. I avoid Demo Days like the plague and have publicly said so.

Venture Capital 337

Venture Capital Invest Ideas Entrepreneur 337

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2010

I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. I’ll start with an obvious one – I talk with the entrepreneur about competitors. You can tell if they have a deep-seated competitive spirit. Can’t go a mile deep on competition?

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire Sales 286

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 29, 2013

I was just down at Demo Day for the USC Incubator. I just found out about a great award opportunity for people connected to USC (or who can figure out a connection in time). Apply here: [link] ABOUT THE PRIZES Significant cash prizes will be awarded to the top 3 teams: First place: $25,000, Second place: $15,000, Third place: $10,000.

USC 159

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Startup Conference 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2023

I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. That’s about the same ratio that angel investors claim. According to some recent feedback, YCombinator takes roughly 3 percent of applicants who apply to each batch cycle.

Organization 92

Organization Incubator Startup Resource 92

SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 20, 2011

How can you stay ahead in an increasingly competitive marketplace? Over 300 of the most influential decision-makers in the games industry gather for the LA Games Conference to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of console, PC, online and mobile games. What trends will be shaping the games industry?

Conference 124

Conference Press Hollywood Competition 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

For example, I usually hear about an aggressive marketing budget, with a plan to penetrate a few big retail chains, and some videos to catch your attention on YouTube. Sponsor some friendly competitive events with prizes. Let your highly motivated customers be your best marketing advocates for new customers.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

There is a lot to say about retaining control. Whether the partner is a supplier looking to gain a lock on your business as it grows or a customer looking to create a competitive barrier through use of your product, such an investment typically carries fewer restrictions than from a professional investor and less oversight.

Venture Capital 295

Venture Capital Startup Class Invest 295

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 22, 2018

There will be demos, tutorials, and presentations on how to be safe.” They can make it clear that they care about the constituency there. He explains that scooter companies have thought about expansion too purely from the standpoint of acheiving market saturation.

Santa Monica 221

Santa Monica Startup Technical Review Education 221

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

These will put your proposal in the circular file, and even future good opportunities from you may go to the bottom of my list: “Give me a call to hear about an opportunity that can’t fail.” Talking about competitors should be your opportunity to make positive statements about the advantages of your own product.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Statistics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

I believe their competitive advantage is their top on-site leadership, exclusivity, and connections to investors. That’s about the same ratio that angel investors claim. According to some recent feedback, YCombinator takes roughly 3 percent of applicants who apply to each batch cycle.

Resource 159

Resource Startup Incubator Seed Funding 159

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

These will put your proposal in the circular file, and even future good opportunities from you may go to the bottom of my list: “Give me a call to hear about an opportunity that can’t fail.” Talking about competitors should be your opportunity to make positive statements about the advantages of your own product.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Statistics Startup 119

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

We thought we''d catch up with Erik on what he''s learned about this market, advice he''d give to companies hoping to get into an accelerator, and what gets a company funding. We just had the demo day for our third batch of companies. It''s not a three month program, demo day, and folks move out or move on.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2018

These will put your proposal in the circular file, and even future good opportunities from you may go to the bottom of my list: “Give me a call to hear about an opportunity that can’t fail.” Talking about competitors should be your opportunity to make positive statements about the advantages of your own product.

Funding 62

Funding Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 62

Tech.Co

APRIL 24, 2018

Being a part of the SOTY alumni lasts well beyond the pitch competition. One of our advisors heard about the Startup of the Year competition and thought we should consider pitching. The Startup of the Year competition has always recognized that great ideas and talent live everywhere – not just the coasts.

Startup 70

Startup Competition Google Capital 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

Describe technology and features, not competitiveness. Customers think about alternatives, and investors worry about competitors. For customers, a sample, demo device, or at least a brochure will solidify the message and your readiness to deliver. Too much technology and too many features can scare off both.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. They demoed the electricity transfer with a physical device that looked like something that would never be allowed on an airplane. But it seemed to work. I spent one hour with them.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

On December 2nd, 2006 I wrote the blog post published later in this post when I was CEO of startup Koral about my experiences in pitching VCs. I had seen many cycles and decided that since I was going to do it all over again I should write about it. I decided to write about my experience and to be blunt.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

It’s that time of year where we think about new beginnings. Ability to source information easily to help build a thesis around companies / industries / competition. And believe me they were vocal about it. Even though my wife thinks my true mental age is still around 13, sadly I am not in this youth demo.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 21, 2011

I dropped in to check out the contest a few times during the competition and the environment was uplifting and exciting. Sparqlight – parts prebuilt before competition. Quick Web App Builder (QWAB) – parts prebuilt before competition. The coolest part about these products was that most of the were live working demos.

Santa Monica 90

Santa Monica Startup PHP HTML 90

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 2, 2011

If you ever wondered about the potential of Augmented reality and wanted to check it out up close, you will be excited to know that “The Auggies” returns to the world’s largest augmented reality event, ARE 2011 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. The competition is still open for additional nominations until May 10th.

Competition 70

Competition Technology Activity Media 70

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2013

It has even gone so far that we now have evocative headlines in the tech press such as “ Buy or Die ,” which is what got me thinking about this post. While at initial glance this sounds unfair, when you think about it – it doesn’t. Those 1-3 you’re talking about? But what is so corrosive about this?

Press 357

Press Startup Yahoo Venture Capital 357

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2012

Every investor is annoyed by persistent messages that say “Give me a call to hear about the most disruptive technology since the wheel.” Don’t say things about your competitors or customers that you wouldn’t be able to defend if they were in the room with you. Prototypes and demos attached. Prototypes and demos attached.

Summary 97

Summary Technical Review .Net Ideas 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

There are too many deals to look at, too many seed funds or angels asking you to look at deals and weekly “demo days” with manicured and monocultural presentations crafted by experienced story tellers to help even the mundane idea sound like it will. “Yeah, we think about going every year.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

Your entire process should be about “testing” whether your prospect has Interest Authority to make a decision Budget Is willing to continue spending actual time with you and analyzing you. Today I want to talk about the process and how to allocate your time. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Every investor is annoyed by persistent messages that say “Give me a call to hear about the most disruptive technology since the wheel.” Don’t say things about your competitors or customers that you wouldn’t be able to defend if they were in the room with you. Prototypes and demos attached. Prototypes and demos attached.

Summary 97

Summary Technical Review .Net Ideas 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

In this section, you need to be passionate about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry.

Slides 99

Slides Competition Sample Sales 99

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 8, 2013

TowerFall brought in the biggest crowd at IndieCade because of the competitive nature it brings out of gamers. Oculus VR’s exhibit showed a lot of promise about the Oculus Rift. IndieCade wasn’t all about the consoles and TV screens. The game is fast, ridiculous, and 8-bit nostalgia.

Screening 79

Screening Competition Develop Development 79

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 21, 2014

On the upper lever in the bleachers, sponsors held booths to tell attendees about their products and help students with their programs. “We The demos were high energy and exciting, as several hundred students flooded the floor visiting over 200 submitted projects, which were set up in rows. The LA Hacker community is about to blow up.”

UCLA 108

UCLA Los Angeles Snapchat USC 108

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Although the exact sequence of events is a bit unclear, it appears that Hacker News user "lukethomas"(who is unaffiliated with Divshot) was prompted to create the Hacker News post after reading a tweet about the initiation of the company's private beta. The posting resulted in 40points and about 30comments. Share and Enjoy.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2013

So how do you go about proving the business model? Make sure they are real customers, and that they get the whole story (not just a technical demo), including price and channel. All this assumes you have done the right job first in assessing competition, establishing the sales and marketing channels, and optimizing costs.

Product 94

Product Pricing Customer Custom 94

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

There is a lot to say about retaining control. Whether the partner is a supplier looking to gain a lock on your business as it grows or a customer looking to create a competitive barrier through use of your product, such an investment typically carries fewer restrictions than from a professional investor and less oversight.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2012

So how do you go about proving the business model? Make sure they are real customers, and that they get the whole story (not just a technical demo), including price and channel. All this assumes you have done the right job first in assessing competition, establishing the sales and marketing channels, and optimizing costs.

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Pricing Customer Custom 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

In this section, you need to be passionate about recurring revenue, profit margin, and volume growth. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Highlight your sustainable competitive advantages, and barriers to entry.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 12, 2017

For instance, we ask what makes your solution special and, in another question, ask you to specifically drill down into your competition and how you are better. You don’t need to list your competition in both places. What’s unique about your solution? Q: Tell us about your customers/users ….

Tips 70

Tips Startup Statistics Metrics 70

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

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? There''s an awful lot of job search sites out there, what''s different about what you do? Los Angeles-based Workpop (www.workpop.com) thinks so. Reed Shafnner: There are a few things.

Design 174

Design Sites Cornerstone OnDemand Startup 174