Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2012

This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. There is nothing more exciting than finding a lucrative market that everyone else has failed to spot or target. Buck the conventional wisdom. Challenging convention can open the door to competitive advantage.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2012

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Your solution fills a real market need. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing is top priority. Reign-in expenses.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Ideas 102

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. What accelerated this was the collapse of the public stock markets. Others will, too. Fred Wilson wrote a great piece on this.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Have you looked at competition? How well financed is the competition? What is their market traction? So is the market really colluding? We discuss things like what the general prices in the market are but not in a price fixing way but in a general commentary way, like “I can’t believe that guy paid 40 pre!

Pricing 292

Pricing Entrepreneur Technical Review Venture Capital 292

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

Our perspectives on the topic wax and wane with market cycles. Here’s what I believe, but won’t claim to “know” because every time I think I know something the market seems to do something entirely different. And if you’re lucky and hit product/market fit straight out of the gate – awesome.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

His advice is essentially, "buck up, it’s called work for a reason." Bill’s advice reflects Microsoft’s hardnosed culture, which encourages internal competition and a ruthless pursuit of the truth. Microsoft’s success is proof that the best technology is not required in order to dominate a market. Treasure it.

Tips 275

Tips Startup IP Santa Barbara 275

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. But then you can springboard from there to your next gig and you’ll be an experienced startup employee with functional experience at sales, marketing, product or whatever roles you played.”

Startup 409

Startup Invest Venture Capital Writing 409

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. There is nothing more exciting than finding a lucrative market that everyone else has failed to spot or target. Buck the conventional wisdom. Challenging convention can open the door to competitive advantage.

Tips 89

Tips Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2015

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Exactly what is that customer experience that every modern marketer is talking about, and how do you measure it? Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.”

Customer 100

Customer Custom .Net Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Your solution fills a real market need. Love that sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing is top priority. Reign-in expenses.

Startup 88

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 88

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

In fact, for the past 27-years, he has specialized in bringing exotic travel destinations to those of us who are healthy and active but whose competitive sporting days are long behind us. Greathouse : Yes, it always seems to get harder to launch a startup when a market begins maturing. Ever fantasized about climbing Mt.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Resource 187

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

There is no substitute for market research, written by domain experts, to supplement your informal poll of friends and family. Remember, the buck always stops with you. Having no competitors is a red flag (may mean no market), but finding ten or more with a simple Google search means this may be a crowded space.

Startup 100

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2014

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Exactly what is that customer experience that every modern marketer is talking about, and how do you measure it? Now all we hear about is providing the best “customer experience.”

Customer 98

Customer Custom .Net Competition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the market. In his book, “ Out-Executing the Competition ,” seasoned executive Irv Rothman provides tips to corporate executives on how to dig in and “get their fingernails dirty.”

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Template Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

There is no substitute for market research, written by domain experts, to supplement your informal poll of friends and family. Remember, the buck always stops with you. Having no competitors is a red flag (may mean no market), but finding ten or more with a simple Google search means this may be a crowded space.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Statistics 109

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2012

The Dave I know is very insightful about marketing, channel management and building developer ecosystems. He had a philosophy that the future competition for startups would be design led and based on data analysis. He isn’t personally driven by making a quick buck and I’ve seen him go out of his way to help entrepreneurs.

Startup 309

Startup Venture Capital Email Writing 309

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

The airline industry is often mocked for grumpy employees and poor customer service, but Southwest Airlines bucks those trends. Yet, Facebook has the same struggles as similar companies: a highly competitive industry leads to a sometimes stressful and competitive workplace. Great company culture doesn’t happen on its own.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

AUGUST 11, 2015

The airline industry is often mocked for grumpy employees and poor customer service, but Southwest Airlines bucks those trends. Yet, Facebook has the same struggles as similar companies: a highly competitive industry leads to a sometimes stressful and competitive workplace. Great company culture doesn’t happen on its own.

Examples 100

Examples Company Companies Google 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2019

However, it's a very competitive market, and there are a lot of clubs and a lot of cities, and in every city we are in there are venues looking to drive more foot traffic through their doors. Why would a club say they want to work with Discotech to get people in the door? A couple of reasons why it is beneficial for them.

Startup 113

Startup Equity Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2012

An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the market. In his new book, “ Out-Executing the Competition ,” seasoned executive Irv Rothman provides tips to corporate executives on how to dig in and “get their fingernails dirty.”

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Startup Template Mentor 94

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 4, 2014

But I would posit that in order to sustainably build great products in an intensely competitive industry with skills shortages – people management is one of the most critical soft skills organizations need. – while the other might want a quick sale and pocket some bucks while the tech market is hot.

Startup 340

Startup Technical Review Course Press 340

Eric Greenspan

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Jason is another local Santa Barbara CEO and we had a great chat about Make It Work, Ring Revenue, Affiliate Marketing and life in SB. He’s a great guy and taught me a bunch of new things about affiliate marketing and his company. I will share what I’ve learned about affiliate marketing in the past few days with you now.

Santa Barbara 106

Santa Barbara PPC Blogging Google 106

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 21, 2013

To support this growth, Internap has not only taken notice, but in response, has jumped leaps and bounds ahead of their competition to provide a foundation of support structure that Southern California needs. I almost want to move in.

Redondo Beach 104

Redondo Beach IP Southern California Entertainment 104

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

This is the origin of the “first movers” competitive advantage. There is nothing more exciting than finding a lucrative market that everyone else has failed to spot or target. Buck the conventional wisdom. Challenging convention can open the door to competitive advantage.

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media Competition 48

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2010

Value creation is about filling a real need in the market in a way that allows you to enjoy some sustainable competitive advantage. You may think you’re being smart by cutting corners and saving a few bucks here and there. Second, you must communicate the opportunity to potential investors in the most compelling manner possible.

Funding 90

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Capital 90

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 15, 2015

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps your website stand out from the competition. Integrating SEO into your direct marketing strategy will help give you the biggest bang for your buck. People will find your website when they search for important keywords.

SEO 40

SEO Search Engine Optimization Tips Software Review 40

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 10, 2011

We weren’t going to go out and do market research. As Harvard Professor Michael Porter notes, competitive advantage is not derived by doing things, “better, faster, cheaper.” As noted in Go For The Quick Buck , there are times in a company’s maturation when it is forced to pursue activities that are not in its long-term interest.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 279

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2016

Wearables are clearly an important market but to me a much broader use case is bringing real-world objects into the computing world and there is no better mechanism than Computer Vision. A mobile marketing company could track campaigns and then measure increases in retail traffic driven into local stores.

Marketing 150

Marketing Course Startup Organization 150

socalTECH

APRIL 27, 2009

When an entrepreneur call sup, and is interviewing a new candidate for Vice President of Marketing--and asks you to come over on Thursday to interview them to see if you like them too--it's helpful to not have to go get on a plane. We can tell whether they'll have a competitive advantage before we fund then.

Santa Barbara 124

Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Funding Invest 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. Nearly EVERY smart VC I know has been talking privately for the past two years about how ridiculous valuations in private markets have gotten and how a reckoning was coming.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2009

Like most mature markets, the legal profession is highly segmented with respect to the services provided and markets served. Some companies use lawsuits as an arrow in their competitive quiver. Even so, the majority of firms focus on servicing well-established BDC’s. but They Make Great Guard Dogs.

Technical Advisors 124

Technical Advisors Technical Review IP Patents 124