Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

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. This should always be a “bottoms-up” commitment from your sales team, not your own optimistic guess.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. Lenido Startup tool: Accounting software Price: Free Accounting software doesn't need to come at a premium. VPN Startup tool: VPN Price: Free Hide.me

Tool 131

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 131

Berkonomics

MARCH 25, 2012

For those of us who’ve invested in early stage companies, especially technology startups, we have confronted a universal problem. There are many ways to project the value of a company for purposes of pricing an investment, but all rely upon the revenue and profit projections of the entrepreneur as a starting point.

Invest 321

Invest Startup Email Competition 321

InfoChachkie

APRIL 13, 2015

Avoid a simple pricing mistake which could sink your startup. Because I am cheap and I know that car dealers are incentivized by the manufacturer to hit quarterly and annual sales goals. Thus, the value of a sale at the end of a quarter can be significant, if the sale contributes to obtaining a manufacturer''s incentive.

Pricing 100

Pricing Startup Sales SaaS 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

On the one hand, you’re over paying for every investment and valuations aren’t rational. On the other hand, the biggest winners will turn out to be much larger than the prices people paid for them and this will happen faster than at any time in human history. That used to be called A-round investing. of the fund.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 31, 2010

This is part of my ongoing Sales & Marketing Series. In the first part of this post I talked about how sales in a startup is often evangelical , requires as consultative sale and needs constant adjustments based on customer feedback. We had 4 or 5 sales reps that had been around since the early days.

Sales 286

Sales Newsletter Technical Review Activity 286

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2010

Can you raise $750K - $1M with no future investments planned? I’m a regular reader/listener of the Frank Peters Show that talks about Angel Investing. In his recent post, Top 10 Ways to Win a Business Plan Competition , he says: #4 I wanted to push this further down the list, but I just bristle at this: the revenue forecast.

Invest 205

Invest Angel Tech Coast Angels Pasadena Angels 205

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

If you don’t have a destination, don’t waste your money trying to get there, and don’t expect anyone to support you along the way 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.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 5, 2015

In his premier film appearance in the blaxploitation send-up “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Chris Rock inadvertently addresses a key pricing challenge faced by most entrepreneurs. Watch this 93-second clip and see if you can identify the pricing pitfall addressed in this humorous snippet. Price = Value. How Much For A Rib?

Pricing 100

Pricing Product Startup Customer 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

Competitiveness - One attribute that I believe most VCs look for in entrepreneurs is competitiveness. If you stumble on to a really good idea believe me it will get competitive really quickly. I know that people who aren’t competitive always find competitive people slightly distasteful. I had to say it.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Either of these qualms can ultimately sidetrack your startup as not worthy of investment, so it pays to do your homework on what you say and how to communicate effectively. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition. What are your specific marketing and sales plans?

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2014

Last year at this time I spoke at VidCon and gave this presentation in which I said YouTube was “the Walmart of Online Video” but I also commented that I felt YouTube was vulnerable to competition because their rev share to MCNs wasn’t high enough to allow MCNs to build a profitable business inside of YouTube.

Invest 291

Invest Content Media Networking 291

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

He did note that in the four markets where the company has gone live since launching its business in January 2019 — San Diego, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire , and Sacramento — has yielded an annualized revenue run rate of over $400 million in gross merchandise value (the total value of home sales transacted on its platform).

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Even if you are not requesting outside funding, I would expect a clear process for sourcing and managing the investment you plan to apply.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

New offerings which build your brand will increase acceptance and sales of all solutions, not just the new one. Target audience may be limited or new due to price. You will find that customers discount advertising, and look for user testimonials, online influencer reviews, and return-on-investment examples from industry experts.

Product 141

Product Services Technical Review Artificial Inteligence 141

Berkonomics

JUNE 8, 2017

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Strategic partner” investors: If you can find a strategic partner willing to invest in your enterprise, consider it a blessing.

Venture Capital 266

Venture Capital Class Invest Equity 266

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. That’s why investors say they invest in people (bet on the jockey, not the horse), rather than the idea. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. That student is Erin McCann who formerly worked in sales at Google, so she has some ground to stand on in her assertions. My guess is that we are likely in total agreement.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples. Multiple decision makers required to close a sale. The most elegant products have the highest price tags, thus limiting market size. A good tack is to sell exclusivity, or provide case studies to show return on investment and productivity.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2023

All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market. Have you set the right price for your entree, and correctly included all costs? Show return on investment, growth rates, and market penetration.

Startup 112

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 112

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples. Multiple decision makers required to close a sale. The most elegant products have the highest price tags, thus limiting market size. A good tack is to sell exclusivity, or provide case studies to show return on investment and productivity.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2010

In my own effort to keep up with the times, I just finished a new book by Landy Chase, titled “ Competitive Selling: Out-Plan, Out-Think, Out-Sell to Win Every Time.” Show them you are the highest value alternative, not the lowest price. Show them a return on investment (ROI) in their own terms. Selling around tough competition.

Competition 92

Competition Entrepreneur Startup Customer 92

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

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

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 9, 2017

Companies sometime run out of cash in the midst of success, and often find that sources of loans or investment are not freely flowing at the moment of need. Competitors, seeing a successful development of a niche, flock into the competitive void with products or services built with a fresh view of the current environment.

Pricing 120

Pricing Invest Email Competition 120

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. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!” ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 19, 2015

Computers and the Internet have now brought in a new era that relies on data to make profitable business decisions in the competitive environment. Below is a full explanation of how small businesses can leverage technology to earn a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Cloud Services. Social Media Automation Tools.

Competition 40

Competition Technology Social Media Tips 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Even if you are not requesting outside funding, I would expect a clear process for sourcing and managing the investment you plan to apply.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The path I went down after a few years was to hire more process driven people and devolved more daily operational ownership to people running individual functions such as product management, sales management, finance, etc. One of the most obvious places where you see this is in sales & marketing. Ditto the CFO.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

All the investment money in the world won’t make your company succeed, if you have the wrong team. investors invest in people, not ideas) Effective and timely go-to-market. Have you set the right price for your entree, and correctly included all costs? Show return on investment, growth rates, and market penetration.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

If there are conflicts within the team, or differing views of the strategy, or evidence of missing processes and tools, the investment process will likely be terminated. Make yourself available to answer any questions, show your enthusiasm, and explain both the positives and negatives of the external investment process.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. That’s why investors say they invest in people (bet on the jockey, not the horse), rather than the idea. The sales professional.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 123

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

My background is I was a sales rep in this industry for fourteen years, with Nikon. We've created an alternative, a hybrid microscope for the price of one. We got first place in that competition, and they followed up with a $2M investment in the form of a convertible note. After that, we had a $7.5

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124