Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

Marketing is everything these days. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I like the guidance from marketing coach David Newman’s classic book “ Do It! Don’t fall into the marketing-speak trap. Good marketing is not rocket science.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors or a cutthroat competitive environment. Suddenly “closing the sale,” no matter what is required, takes precedence over the grand team vision of changing the world. The culture changes to satisfy the investors at any cost.

Startup 128

Startup Social Media Organization Entrepreneur 128

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

It’s also a massive market — and by Danna’s estimates, still with a lot of untapped business — with Boulevard quoting figures that forecast personal care and beauty sales passing $1.4 But for now, it’s a startup its investors believe is on solid footing in its home market. “As Focusing on the U.S.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

Marketing is everything these days. Yet I see many entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. I found some help from marketing coach David Newman’s new book “ Do It! Don’t fall into the marketing-speak trap. Instead of asking themselves “How and when will this generate sales?”

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

In short, acknowledge they exist, be transparent about strengths & weaknesses and use your differences to talk about how you want to position yourself in the market. A healthy respect for your competition will serve you well. Or that we’ve invested in a company where there is no market demand. You know, frenemies.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

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. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

There is still infinite room for new startup sales modes and models. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. Nascent startup markets are like fine wine, they take time to develop.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2016

Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors or a cutthroat competitive environment. Suddenly “closing the sale,” no matter what is required, takes precedence over the grand team vision of changing the world. The culture changes to satisfy the investors at any cost.

Startup 96

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Organization 96

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2015

There is still infinite room for new startup sales modes and models. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths.

Startup 106

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 106

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

The framework of his book has profoundly altered how I think about the technology market and affects how I thought about building my businesses and how I think about investing in venture capital. Let’s start with the incumbents position in a market. They were serving a latent market need for mid-sized businesses to use CRM.

Startup 376

Startup Framework Marketing Customer 376

Frank Addante

MAY 23, 2012

The dad was, of course, alluding to Google's frequently-used strategy to make available free services in otherwise paid markets to rattle competition and gain market share for advertising-supported products. Many markets have free alternatives. The boy's father, my colleague, was quick to exclaim, "He was Googled!"

Oracle 111

Oracle Google Competition Marketing 111

InfoChachkie

APRIL 13, 2015

Because I am cheap and I know that car dealers are incentivized by the manufacturer to hit quarterly and annual sales goals. The rewards are in the form of co-marketing dollars and commission spiffs. 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

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2017

There is still infinite room for new startup sales modes and models. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths.

Startup 55

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 55

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 9, 2012

Pressure Helps You Break Through Your Breakdowns. "Mickey In Pressure , I note how singer/songwriter Jim Croce wrote several top ten songs immediately after learning that his wife was pregnant. To paraphrase marketing guru and author of the Little Red Book Series , Guy Gabriele, "Your brand resides in each consumer's head.

Tips 277

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Entertainment 277

InfoChachkie

MAY 23, 2011

Marketers have long known that people are drawn to exclusivity. Unfortunately, many Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) assume they must unfairly skew the market in their favor by precluding you from freely working with anyone you choose. Note: This is part IV of the four part series. Access part I HERE , part II HERE and part III HERE.

Technical Review 183

Technical Review Marketing Sales Competition 183

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2013

Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors or a cutthroat competitive environment. Suddenly “closing the sale,” no matter what is required, takes precedence over the grand team vision of changing the world. The culture changes to satisfy the investors at any cost.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Social Media Organization 103

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2014

There is still infinite room for new startup sales modes and models. Surdak emphasizes that the goal is to either mitigate some of the pressure caused by data growth or to put that pressure to work for you in growing your startup and remaining competitive: Focus: play to your strengths.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

When I was running startups I felt like a horse with blinders on because I was super focused on the content management market and ignored many other markets. They outline the problems that exist in markets, their approach to the solutions, they update me on competitors and they show me their economic models.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2012

Yet all too many succumb to the pressures of survival, driven by demanding investors in a cutthroat competitive environment. Suddenly “closing the sale,” no matter what is required, takes precedence over the grand team vision of changing the world. The culture changes to satisfy the investors at any cost.

Startup 95

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Organization 95

InfoChachkie

JULY 26, 2010

Entrepreneurs can emulate de la Guerra’s strategy and make their adVenture appear far larger than reality and thus increasing its influence and market reach while discouraging competitive threats by creating an industry alliance. Despite tremendous pressure, we avoided exclusive relationships, with one troublesome exception.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Santa Barbara Startup Conference 168

Xconomy

JULY 19, 2016

Has the consolidation—and creation of this enterprise security giant—put immense pressure on other industry players? In general, M&A is a natural part of the IT security market. It’s why this market segment is so attractive to venture investors. Symantec Forces the Industry to Stay Competitive. Why is this happening?

Symantec 40

Symantec IBM IBM Acquisition 40

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

Frank Addante

MAY 23, 2012

” The dad was, of course, alluding to Google’s frequently-used strategy to make available free services in otherwise paid markets to rattle competition and gain market share for advertising-supported products. ” Many markets have free alternatives.

Oracle 63

Oracle Google Competition Marketing 63

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. But there are other reasons people churn – low product quality, inability to understand the value of the product, costs, competitive products, etc. It has to come from somewhere. You need to win share of mind.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is not unlike a major biz dev deal you’re trying to sign or a big sales campaign into the VP of a major company. I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. EXACTLY like a sales campaign. It is much easier to follow up by calling the junior staff (again, just as you would in a sales campaign).

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Frank Addante

JULY 20, 2012

Sales and marketing become the channels to take that product to market and everything else in the organization-finance, human resources, IT-are there to support the product and those who work on it. A product manager is like the CEO of the product, the engineering lead like the CTO, and the top marketer the CMO.

Product 59

Product Company Companies Organization 59

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 31, 2011

In addition, private companies are not pressured to sacrifice their long-term strategic goals in order to achieve short-term quarterly results. When entering a new market, Richard has consistently changed the rules of the game in order to put his incumbent competitors at a disadvantage. 5) Change The Rules To Match Your Skills.

Tips 264

Tips Startup Guide Media 264

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 9, 2014

Often there can be pressures from customers, investors or other team members, but learning to say no is something you’ll need to get to grips with if you want a usable product. Whilst the tide is turning, there’s still a need to educate startup founders about the competitive advantage well-designed products and services can bring.

Startup 78

Startup Design Customer Custom 78

socalTECH

OCTOBER 7, 2009

Those tools are great for them, but it's like measuring your blood pressure at home if you don't understand the numbers. That's a market of 150 million people. We make it a very competitive amount of money, and it's a great secondary or even primary income source. You need a doctor to look at and interpret those measurements.

Media 168

Media Pricing Sites Training 168

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 31, 2010

TechCrunch Europe ran an article in November of last year that European startups need to work as hard as those in Silicon Valley and I echoed the sentiment in my post about the need for entrepreneurs to be maniacal about their businesses if one wants to work in the hyper competitive tech world. Our first big institutional round was $16.5

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2017

Every new business or product owner wants to attract the broadest possible audience, so they are prone to adding more features, multiple sales channels, and appealing to every demographic. With limited resources, you can sell via ecommerce, but it’s much tougher to support retail as well, or hire a direct sales team.

Entrepreneur 63

Entrepreneur Competition Customer Custom 63

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I’ve raised in boom markets and when everybody thought the Internet was a fraud. Fund raising (as is much of life) is a sale – pure and simple. As with any sales campaign you need to: Qualify your buyers early so you focus your scarce resources on people likely to buy your product. . ” (Zig Ziglar).

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2010

The philosophy of OPEC has been that if they can limit the amount of oil supplied to the world they can maintain high prices in a world where demand and competition should naturally have downward pressure on oil prices. Because they are anti-competitive most countries ban cartels. Tags: Tech Market Analysis.

Hulu 292

Hulu Technical Review Content Advertising 292

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

If you remember your history the market crashed the next week. By mid September the entire market was constipated. History repeated itself in September 2008 with that market crash. If anything changed (stock market crash, real estate crash, somebody trying to buy Salesforce.com, whatever) I could end up with goose eggs.

Venture Capital 301

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Technical Advisors 301

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 22, 2011

It’s true that I have a functional focus on three areas: Performance-based marketing, digital television and mobile computing. It’s the single most influential piece of work in determining my investment philosophy and how I think about markets. But beating free is hard, as is creating a two-sided market (chicken & egg problem).

Startup 386

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 386