Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The reason for this is that the executives who founded the company have so much tacit knowledge of how to position their product relative to the competition that they can easily win campaigns when they’re involved. So I often work with teams to get them to codify the key things they do well that the competition does not.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2013

I decided we''d patent a sliding mechanism on our Bluetooth, and use 3D printers to take pictures that people send to us, and my company will design a Bluetooth based on their picture, on our 3D printer. This is a crowded market. What''s your competitive advantage against others in the headset/accessories market?

Startup 241

Startup Slides Orange County Design 241

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Thought leadership position in your market and customer set.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Thought leadership position in your market and customer set.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. Your pitch deck should really be your best marketing tool Your pitch deck shouldn’t contain your deepest, darkest secrets and plans. What should be in your deck?

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

BookRenter – plus a discussion about Chegg … what is going on in the university book market? We talked about the analogies between what NetFlix achieved in movies and whether this is relevant to the book market. Metrics: 50mm users (up from 40mm in Dec 2009), -Competition includes: Spotify , Last.fm. Competitor: Slide.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 19, 2011

CapLinked , the online platform for private investment funded by members of the “ PayPal Mafia “—announced that it is launching a worldwide pitch competition for entrepreneurs to present their business ideas to a panel of all-star judges from Idealab, Rincon, Rapidfire, and Actarus. The deadline for entering is November 15.

Competition 70

Competition Idealab Slides Startup 70

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. Yes, even bootstrappers. liquidation preference. This pitcher has retired 5 of the last 7 batters."

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2010

I have a few slides later that address that.&# (obviously if you say that you need to come back to the question either later or after the meeting. If it’s OK with you I’d love to answer it in just a couple of minutes after the next few slides. Do you mind if I answer that a little later in the presentation?

Venture Capital 318

Venture Capital Startup Sales Writing 318

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

. - you also need to update your marketing documents including your website. new features need to go into the sale people’s slides so that they know the latest and greatest about how to differentiate from the competition. . - new features need to be rolled into PR strategies and competitor analyses. -

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

One of the most obvious places where you see this is in sales & marketing. So he hired an intern plus a junior marketing person and tasked them with mechanising responses. Each sales person tends to slot in their own slides to win deals or to position things in their own words or style in order to win deals.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

A perfect round number is ten slides, with the right content, that can be covered in ten minutes. Here are the ten slides you need: Problem and market need. Make sure to communicate the relevance of your product / services to market needs. Investors like $1B markets with double-digit growth rates. Executive team.

Slides 93

Slides Competition Sample Sales 93

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

The deck itself was produced by a committee of functional team lead who were asked to do 5–7 slides each for an update. Each section head reads his / her 5–7 slides. If you put up 5 slides on “what should we order for lunch today” the board will spend 30 minutes debating that. There are too many pages. It passes the weight test.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. Quantify the market opportunity in business terms. Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. In reality, they need a separate pitch about the business, carrying over only a slide or two about the solution. Competitor positioning and sustainable competitive advantage.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 6, 2010

Join because you know you’ll be earning less than you could elsewhere at some meaningless job cranking out non-core code, producing Powerpoint slides or shuffling paper. rounds and still be competitive. We’re a meritocracy. You can always earn more. But join here if you want to grow. Join because you like the culture.

Startup 294

Startup Sales Venture Capital Slides 294

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features. Customers, press and the market responded positively. ‘ Here are some steps in the Inside Out organization.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I recommend a pitch deck with about 10 slides backed up with a written business plan of approximately 20 pages, both containing quantified answers to the following key questions. This is also the place to first mention patents and any other differentiators that put you ahead of competition.

Invest 108

Invest Startup Slides Equity 108

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. Eugene Cho: I saw this market opportunity when I realized that the larger microscope companies, like Nikon, Olympus, and so on were really only focusing their efforts on high end systems, which cost $200,000 plus. How did you start the company?

Tech Coast Angels 124

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2020

Lead with your best marketing pitch and conviction. Of course, it’s always good to speak with conviction, but marketing terms such as “improved productivity” or “lower cost” won’t make your offering memorable. Describe technology and features, not competitiveness. Too much technology and too many features can scare off both.

Sample 127

Sample Summary Startup Slides 127

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. I like how Mark Suster handles the question in 10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups. Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 2: They Raised Money With My Slides?! You’ll get suggestions for improvements. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

It’s no secret that the rate of failure of new business startups may be a high as ninety percent , so we all need all the help we can get, validating the opportunity, clearly positioning against competitors, projecting financials, and planning all the necessary marketing and operating activities.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Tech.Co

MAY 22, 2018

.” “[Founders underestimate] how difficult it is to get a deal done, and how few deals get funded out of how many deals that are pitched,” said Thomas Flake , Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of bcause , and who has been on both sides of the table. What startup teams don’t realize is that having competition is good.

Tips 70

Tips Help Slides Technical Review 70

socalTECH

APRIL 26, 2017

One, is an upright, traditional looking microscopes, where you look at glass slides. Eugene Cho: I saw this market opportunity when I realized that the larger microscope companies, like Nikon, Olympus, and so on were really only focusing their efforts on high end systems, which cost $200,000 plus. How did you start the company?

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Startup Sales Slides 100

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. I like how Mark Suster handles the question in 10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups. Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 2: They Raised Money With My Slides?! You’ll get suggestions for improvements. You’ll refine your sales and investor pitch.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2015

Rely on marketing content and emotion vs. facts. For example, “I have patented a new LCD with double the intensity at half the cost, already proven locally, and I just need resources to scale for this market.” Your second sentence should acknowledge competition, but highlight your added value.

Startup 104

Startup Summary Patents Examples 104

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2016

There are a lot of other competition shows and reality show, which are much more predatory and cut-throat, and it's nice for our entrepreneurs to not only get a real investment, but get great feedback. Lots of these guys come on the show, already have a niche market, but need some help to step it up to the next level.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Let me be quick to say that a plan doesn’t have be a book, and probably should start as a “pitch deck” of maybe a dozen slides which cover all the right bases. Opportunity segmentation and competitive environment. Marketing, sales, and customer experience. No mention usually means no plan and not competitive.

Startup 65

Startup Writing Patents Competition 65

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

On the other hand, everyone is doing it, so that means more competition, and the market and technology are changing faster than ever before. Advisors and investors need to see your whole story in as few as ten slides. A local pilot is a necessary move to test your manufacturing, operational, and marketing assumptions.

Funding 73

Funding Social Media Slides Platform 73

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Having a defensible competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” is another critical step to funding, and another common stumbling block during all phases of the funding process. Investors expect a one or two-page executive summary sheet for the initial screening, backed up by a ten-slide Powerpoint investor presentation.

Angel 89

Angel Funding Technical Review Startup 89

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Another impetus for this was I saw some of the slides that Mary Meeker had done in the Kleiner Perkins annual PDF that they send around, and I realized that the market was being underserved by Airbnb and other key players in the market. You mentioned some of the other big players in the market, like Airbnb.

Startup 100

Startup Los Angeles Mobile Pricing 100

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2012

From visualization to conception, and actually taking the product to market, a company usually takes about 1-2 years to create. Business Development (BD) worked on a business plan, market research and customer validation. The biz dev finished out the power point slides and tech kept adding more and more to the features.

Startup 99

Startup Technical Advisors Ideas USC 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

Certainly a slide or two needs to carry over describing the product and features at a high level. Here are the unique business elements that I expect to hear as a potential investor: Target market size and growth projections. Intellectual property and sustainable competitive advantage.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

AeA Los Angeles Council

APRIL 10, 2008

Competitiveness. In a separate interview, Mr. Hansen told Congress Daily that "The upside is that technology jobs pay considerably more than most other posts in the private sector and although the labor market remains tight, unemployment rates are below 2% across many tech occupations."

High Tech 40

High Tech AeA Education Slides 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

I’m not recommending that you saturate your discussions with lingo, but responding with a blank stare once-too-often won’t convince anyone that you can build the next world-changing business or outpace the market. Growth-hacking” marketing. Deep-dive meeting. Although the term may sound negative, it’s actually a very positive sign.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57