Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. It the second rule of sales, “Why Buy Me?”

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). Naturally I’m excited about this investment or I wouldn’t have done it.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

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. an investment in your company.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

With PPC, the goal is for the search user to not only see your ad, but to click on it to get to your website (click-through), and buy your widget (conversion to sale). Campaign setup and ad copy writing. Both have the same end goal of getting people to your website. You may be getting great traffic, but poor conversions.

PPC 154

PPC SEO Paid Search Search Engine Optimization 154

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

Actually, I think the advice in this post applies to any sales meeting also. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

Slides 296

Slides GRP Partners Venture Capital Writing 296

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

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!” The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. Just be careful that it doesn’t come at the expense of investments in growth.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2: As expected at least one person accused me of writing this post because I want to see lower valuations. If you invested in the first angel round of a startup company it is usually very hard to sell your stock – usually for many years if ever at all. I acknowledged this in the article. I’m just making the commentary.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

1) Expect Independent Channel Sales Reps To Perform Missionary Sales. Rationale: I cannot afford to hire a direct sales force. Fallacy: Third-party, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) representatives succeed once the sales process is defined, proven and documented. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. An obvious example would be in sales. By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. List key competitors and alternatives, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantages, such as patents and trademarks. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive. Project revenues, costs and investment needs.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2013

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 92

Sample Writing Startup Summary 92

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

It’s why in this article I advise that people “market today not futures” because you don’t want your playbook in the hands of the competition. The reality is that a journalist who’s writing a story about you – a relatively unknown entity – wants to hear directly from the founders and/or the CEO. I do it myself.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Berkonomics

MAY 29, 2014

Included in a business plan are financials, competitive landscape, marketing plans, and projected sales to name a few. I’m not seeking a bank loan or investment. Studies found that people who write plans are more likely to put their goals in action and increases your likelihood of success. assess past performances.

Startup 166

Startup Guide Help Mentor 166

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

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.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

I know that our repeat purchase rate is lower than the industry average now, but …” “I know that our margins are lower than VCs like to see, but …” “I know our revenue decelerated in the last 2 quarters of 2017, but …” Remember that fund raising is a sales process. What to do about that chip on your shoulder ? Remind me why I love you?

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

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. I was the laggard.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2012

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Sample 96

Sample Writing Summary Startup 96

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. In addition to paying the consultant, you must invest time to educate them. Thus, you have negotiating leverage as long as a legitimate, competitive threat exists.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. They’re competitive. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. Write things down. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. They’re competitive. Last year I lost a deal in a company that I wanted to invest in and that I thought I should have won. Write things down. Entrepreneurs are neurotic about it.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

You decide how much you want to invest in your employees and then you give your employees the control to build a custom perk package for themselves. 3) I’ve heard some great stories about your weekend sales “boot camps.” We hired people who did not have outside sales experience. In fact, we are co-investors in The Resumator.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 25, 2011

How are they different from the competition? Maybe fast return on investment is just one of the messages. You might also want to highlight certain capabilities that the competition doesn't have, speed of delivery or implementation, or responsive customer support. Going into projects, I want to understand.

Case Study 162

Case Study Study Customer Custom 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

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.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less). Gross margin (GM) is the amount of profit you make per sale of your product or service taking into account your total costs of selling that product or service. They tend to have many more investments than a concentrated VC and thus can’t cover all their bets as easily.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2010

This is sad, since “how to write a business plan” is a frequent topic found in every business journal, and a common title in the business section of every book store. Forcing yourself to write down a plan is actually the only way to make sure you actually understand it yourself. What is the definition of a good business plan?

Startup 91

Startup Funding Sample Writing 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Alain Theriault, better known as StartupCoach , tells entrepreneurs that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start by writing a cook book (business plan), you work in the kitchen for a while, you learn some tools of the trade, you experiment with a few recipes, you test on willing clients. then you can start writing a recipe.

Startup 96

Startup Writing Metrics Marketing 96

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

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.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. 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. And covered we did.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

Most advisors will tell you to write the business plan first (20-30 pages), then distill the key points into a set of Microsoft PowerPoint slides for standup presentations to potential investors. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and position your competition, or alternatives available to the customer. Exit strategy.

Slides 94

Slides Competition Sample Sales 94

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We worked together for four years, and I ended up heading up media buying at that company, and he headed up sales. We started looking at the landscape, and as I was getting my MBA at the time, ended up writing the business plan for ConsumerTrack. How have you managed to build the company to the size you have without outside funding?

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

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. They are more likely to be the “bottom end of the sales funnel” or in other words close to “point of purchase.” Try writing long reviews of a restaurant. They do both well.

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2011

Alain Theriault, better known as StartupCoach , tells entrepreneurs that, on your way to being a great chef, you don't start by writing a cook book (business plan), you work in the kitchen for a while, you learn some tools of the trade, you experiment with a few recipes, you test on willing clients. then you can start writing a recipe.

Entrepreneur 91

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Metrics 91

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

We want to invest in early-stage technology enabled startup businesses – upfront in the funding cycle. In fact, 90% of our investments are either Seed or A-round investments (10% are B-round). We’re a national venture capital investment firm but with our roots firmly in Los Angeles. That’s healthy.

Startup 150

Startup Coach Course Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get to do a deep dive on their business model, product roadmap and competitive positioning. I’m not saying I don’t spend time trying to help entrepreneurs that I am not planning to invest it – anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I do. I’ll write about that in a couple of weeks.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. The problem is that stakeholders, like marketing and sales, don’t know what the latest version of the roadmap is.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115