Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. The VC market has right-sized (returned back to mid 90′s levels & less competition). But markets value high growth over short-term profitability.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019

Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president of Ignite Social Media , one of the best known social media marketing agencies.

Social Media 95

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 27, 2015

Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president Ignite Social Media , of one of the best known social media marketing agencies.

Social Media 101

Social Media Media Marketing Snapchat 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2017

Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president Ignite Social Media , of one of the best known social media marketing agencies.

Social Media 64

Social Media Media Snapchat Platform 64

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2015

Then we launched our service in NYC and in just one year captured 2% of all new storage customers in our target demo in just one year with almost no marketing budget. with further markets being announced later in the year but plans to expand our facilities are already under way. This has been a great start we wanted to push harder.

Snapchat 150

Snapchat Press .Net Customer 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

Isn’t it frustrating to think you understand something new in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? Jim should know, since he is the president Ignite Social Media , of one of the best known social media marketing agencies. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Marketing Platform 100

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2013

I work with a lot of startups. I start to notice when bad behavior creeps into the system as a whole. I remember just a decade ago in 2003 when we all laughed at how dumb people in the 90′s were talking about the race to “capture as many eyeballs as possible” before your competition. I have said so for years.

Venture Capital 412

Venture Capital Startup Funding Snapchat 412

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2019

Image via Max Pixel A question that I still hear debated often is whether a new startup growth strategy should focus on user count or profits. Most startups and investors I know don’t have unlimited funds, so the first question they should ask and do ask today, is “When is your company going to be profitable (self-sustaining)?”

Snapchat 74

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 74

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

As the desk-based Internet emerged it was initially sold through telecom carriers (after players like AOL and EarthLink innovated the market). Although the carriers made a lot of money initially by selling dial-up Internet services, customers never took their software because, well, it sucked. Excite, MSN and eventually Google.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. This term is currently applied to recent startups who profess a current valuation which exceeds $1 billion. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

A question that I still hear debated often is whether a new startup growth strategy should focus on user count or profits. Most startups and investors I know don’t have unlimited funds, so the first question they should ask and do ask today, is “When is your company going to be profitable (self-sustaining)?” So let’s take a look.

Snapchat 55

Snapchat Startup Course Yahoo 55

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

So, if you're a marketer, how do you track and encourage those word-of-mouth recommendations? San Diego-based Wildfire Systems , led by startup veteran Jordan Glazier , has developed software which product referrals and automatically transform them into trackable links across email, text messaging, chat, and social messaging.

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2015

I rarely talk to any startup entrepreneur or VC who doesn’t feel it and somehow long for simpler times despite the benefits we all enjoy from increased enthusiasm for our sector. And even this can’t stop their employees from fleeing after two years of vesting to move on to the next hot startup. What is one to do?

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

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 ;-). In the end it will be up to you to figure out what to do. SEO marketing vs. social marketing. VCs, how to select a VC, etc.) Most VCs are book smart.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). Many are reluctant to really “market” themselves, and have trouble differentiating their offerings to clients, except by price. Be targeted in marketing and lead generation.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

Of course this can be done and of course I am a big proponent of the rise of startup centers across the country as the Internet has moved from the “infrastructure phase” to the “application phase” dominated by the three C’s: content, communications and commerce. Locally we call it “the Snapchat effect.”

Company 369

Company Companies Startup Snapchat 369

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. Most are sitting on large portfolios of private companies that are raising money now or will need to do so in the future and they know that they’re up against some headwinds.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Most budding entrepreneurs don’t realize that nine out of ten startups fail within 24 months. They only see and remember the recent new entrants in the billion dollar valuation club, including Uber, Airbnb, and Snapchat. A lot fewer have experience with the challenges and complexities of launching a startup.

Startup 65

Startup Competition Resource Snapchat 65

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. Assume competition and assume within the buying organization you have enemies. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. Why Buy Me?

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

For six years before that he was at Siebel who was the market leader in CRM before Salesforce, and he has both a masters in product design from Stanford and an MBA. I am often quoted as saying “70% of my investment decision is the people and 30% is the market” and there is a reason. Think about Snapchat. Why Invest?

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

And while many of the people bringing you the great applications and infrastructure you now rely on are benevolent, there is of course an inbuilt incentive for these companies to use their scale advantages to continue to dominate the markets they’re in, making it harder for upstarts to compete. It’s Hobbesian economics 101.

Course 280

Course Startup Framework Marketing 280