Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

I’m generally not a believer in too much PR until you have a product built or at least well designed. This is somewhat changing in the world of crowd funding where people actually raise money so that they can build products but at a minimum your product design ought to be complete and ready to execute.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Yet, in the interest of full disclosure, and an honest intent to save future entrepreneurs some grief and money, I would remind you that starting any business has key dependencies on at least five major elements, including product design and delivery, the right people on the team, adequate funding, a sizable market opportunity, and marketing.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. The funding rounds will also build customer confidence and they’ll help journalists feel air cover in writing your more important pieces when you brag about customers, traction, revenue or whatever. ” Funding IS the story. Funding is news.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 25, 2011

How are they different from the competition? So, among the many questions I ask my client contacts before starting any stories, there's one that's chief: If you could design the perfect case study what key messages would it include? Going into projects, I want to understand. 1 - The client's business. What do they do, for whom and how?

Case Study 162

Case Study Study Custom Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

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. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

By Mahesh Raj Mohan Writing a business plan can be a difficult process. Even if you know your product/service suite down cold, understand the strengths/weaknesses of the competition, and have built pro forma financials that are sane. you still have to write the plan for a particular audience. Hi, I’m writing this plan because.”

Writing 97

Writing Summary Ideas Research 97

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Defy Ventures runs business plan competitions and has people like us who attend and give business advice and feedback. Catherine (Cat) Hoke founded the program in 2010 and launched the business plan competition in 2012. I will write about that as soon as Caroline is ready. You can go. You SHOULD go. Here is how.

Writing 150

Writing Startup Design Training 150

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 12, 2015

Most men in the 1940's and 50's did not know how to use a keyboard and thus could not write code. Despite men's inroads into software development, many women continued to make significant contributions in the field of software design until the early 1970's.

Company 100

Company Companies Santa Barbara Education 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

I told him only 2 weeks ago when we were in London together that I wanted to write a blog post that has been in my head for 2 years. When he writes them online his Tourette’s comes out and sometimes the substance gets lost in the style. My pal Dave occasionally presents “headline risks” for investors. I’ve been told so. Sounds obvious.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures wrote a great post the other day that reminded me I’ve been meaning to write about this topic. And that has had me thinking about the tech sector and how dismissive both startup teams & VCs can be about both their competition and the “hot” companies in any sector.

Startup 313

Startup Press Writing News 313

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 24, 2016

These exchanges are designed to promote competition between major health insurance companies in those states which, in theory, should lead to more generous health insurance plans that are offered at competitive costs for all Americans. The Future of Medical Benefits is Highly Competitive.

Startup 49

Startup Competition Study Writing 49

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify’s close mentoring is by design. Building a standout destination site for video gamers takes moxie in the highly competitive and lucrative on-line game industry. Amplify’s portfolio companies are schooled on every challenge they need to master in order to achieve success. Amplify Mentor Panel in full swing.

Web Design 103

Web Design Social Media Design Seed Funding 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2012

A simple differentiation is that a product plan is designed for internal use, to get the product out. Competition analysis. Here is where you pick a few of these, characterize what they do, and position your own product to show your competitive advantage. Market research and competition. Don’t get me wrong.

Product 92

Product Outsource Development Competition Outsource 92

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

Another $30 billion is designed to be targeted toward rural development; and finally the $40 billion in upgrading research infrastructure. Energy storage and renewable technologies are going to get a boost through a clutch of tax credits designed to accelerate their deployment. The administration doesn’t stop there.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Now, you’re handling payroll and doing writing as well. You may even discover that you enjoy writing more than crunching numbers. Piaw Na, who spent over six years at Google, writes on Quora that she recommends fresh grads to join a startup instead of big companies. Evernote office image courtesy of Design Milk via Pinterest.

Startup 102

Startup Social Media Writing Google 102

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

It’s true the some VCs have started writing so many checks that they resemble stock pickers but the majority of us still have less than 10 board seats at any time and tend to go pretty deep so the result is that we care deeply about where we commit our time. Could we produce this at cost? Would they build a world class team.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2011

A simple differentiation is that a product plan is designed for internal use, to get the product out. Competition analysis. Here is where you pick a few of these, characterize what they do, and position your own product to show your competitive advantage. Market research and competition. Don’t get me wrong.

Product 93

Product Entrepreneur Outsource Development Competition 93

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. 3. We then addressed competition in the context of SiteAdvisor and how it is important for journalists, customers, and the companies themselves. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

The team subsequently earned a coveted position in Launchpad LA's current accelerator class after winning the Crowdstart LA competition. We’re a tool for hackers, designers, and entrepreneurs - effectively everyone who reads Hacker News. For us, the audience was perfect.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. But having no process does not make you more competitive.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. How do you access the Internet, what servers do you need, applications required, databases designed, and backups scheduled? But having no process does not make you more competitive. Develop your business plan.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

InfoChachkie

JUNE 20, 2011

Competition – Make it clear that only the best Interns will be granted offers for full-time positions. This explicit competitive element will cause the high-achievers to excel. . Such tours were effective because we were designing and building cutting-edge medical robots, thus there was a lot to see and touch.

Startup 244

Startup Software Review Technical Review Class 244

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. But having no process does not make you more competitive.

Startup 95

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 95

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 6, 2012

We have a configurable alarm that reminds people to write down their dream when they wake up. Competition? Dream Writer is the app that people can only write down their dreams without any features. How unique are you from the competition? How does it work? Any challenges?

Template 82

Template Social Media Research Media 82

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

I’ve wanted to write a blog post called “Mobile Second” for a long time to make this point more forcefully. Try writing long reviews of a restaurant. I think it’s a beautifully designed product that is also tremendously useful and focused. Use that as a source of competition. They do both well.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Fast early growth in a market is often eroded when competition gets fierce and prices are forced down due to competition.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. How do you access the Internet, what servers do you need, applications required, databases designed, and backups scheduled? But having no process does not make you more competitive. Develop your business plan.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Training Outsource Metrics 92

From the Venture Trenches

APRIL 30, 2013

Amplify’s close mentoring is by design. Building a standout destination site for video gamers takes moxie in the highly competitive and lucrative on-line game industry. Amplify’s portfolio companies are schooled on every challenge they need to master in order to achieve success. Amplify Mentor Panel in full swing.

Web Design 40

Web Design Social Media Seed Funding Design 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2010

A simple differentiation is that a product plan is designed for internal use, to get the product out. Competition analysis. Here is where you pick a few of these, characterize what they do, and position your own product to show your competitive advantage. Market research and competition. Don’t get me wrong.

Product 48

Product Outsource Development Competition High Tech 48

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2012

My first job was as a page at NBC, and after that I went and did a year and a half of writing and production at MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Chuck Scarborough. Under the executive leadership of Michael Jones, there's a great designer, great CTO, great operations guys, and great lawyers.

Dollar Shave Club 210

Dollar Shave Club Startup Pricing Sample 210

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

It was a pleasure to write them myself. I brought up the fact that I find many larger companies abusing the patent system to slow down smaller competitors which is actually anti competitive. His first “real&# business came in college where he designed audio speakers. Summary notes, as always, provide below.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product Ideas 350

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 23, 2012

Once you’ve decided on an idea to move forward with, you’re ready to start deciphering the data you’ve compiled on the existing competition and choosing what to do with your own app. If you forget everything else I write about creating an app, remember this: every app needs a hook. What makes them stand out from the competition?

Marketing 84

Marketing Software Review Tips Competition 84

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

This started as a post in which I was going to write out tips to personal branding and became in stead an essay of my own branding journey. I was 23 and had been programming computers, designing computer networks and selling software for 10 years. In my next post I will take on the topic of how to control your brand. Persistent?

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. Fortunately I was mostly a technology consultant, which meant that I coded computers, designed databases and planned system integration projects. Here’s how I learned my lesson: I started my life as a consultant. OK, yes.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415