Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Sure, we built SaaS products before the term even existed but at 31 it was hard to delineate reality from what all of the monied people around us were telling us what we were worth. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Until we weren’t.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup LAMP Marketing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Bobbie One startup that's proved to have the formula for success this year is Bobbie – the first infant formula to be certified as organic by the USDA, and the fastest-growing product of its kind to enter the US market since the 1980s. Organic milk formula product Bobbie. million site visits in October alone. Gumroad homepage.

Startup 213

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 213

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

I recently wrote a post about avoiding the “ Deferred Life Plan &# and some related thoughts about personal productivity that came from Tim Ferriss’s book, The Four Hour Workweek. I would love to say that I’m the productivity guru. Tim Ferriss gave this extra emphasis in his book.

Product 280

Product Startup Email Technical Review 280

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. We can’t wait for customers to use the product for 12–18 months and do customer interviews or look at purchase cohorts. Are we in a bubble?”

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Simply, it’s offering a specific product or service to a specific group of people. You’ll have less competition. Where else are consumers going to find your product, if no one else is offering it or if other companies offer it, but haven’t found the right niche audience? Think about your product or service. This is easy.

Marketing 266

Marketing Resource Advertising Social Media 266

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 20, 2012

Why is it that most of the business plans I see are really product plans? I define a product plan as a detailed description of your product or service, with a bit of business thrown in at the end. A business plan is a detailed description of your business, with a bit of product description thrown in near the front.

Product 92

Product Outsource Development Competition Outsource 92

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

When I first started writing this blog several years ago I had less followers than you have right now. But the realist in me knew I couldn’t write daily nor could I convince you to think to check out my blog with regularity. In Gabe’s post he explained why TechMeme was having editors write headlines. I should know.

Writing 326

Writing Buzzfeed Social Media Blogging 326

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Finish the product before marketing begins.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2011

Why is it that most of the business plans I see are really product plans? I define a product plan as a detailed description of your product or service, with a bit of business thrown in at the end. A business plan is a detailed description of your business, with a bit of product description thrown in near the front.

Product 93

Product Entrepreneur Outsource Development Competition 93

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2023

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Anything less makes you non-competitive. Productive networking traffic does not happen by default. Yet peers and customers notice phone calls and e-mails not returned in twenty-four hours or less.

Startup 106

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 106

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2013

Los Angeles-based SBIR Source , which maintains an online database of grant opportunities from the Federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, said this morning that it has launched a new product, GrantIQ.

Research 166

Research Tool Writing Competition 166

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

One of the best ways to assess development risk is to build and test a prototype, or minimum viable product (MVP). Write down your business model and five-year plan. I believe that writing down your business plan has tremendous value for you, even if you don’t need investors. Plan for change before the crisis.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Finish the product before marketing begins.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. Successful businesses require the best people to deliver your vision and services one step better than the competition.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 3, 2013

She entered you reservation by writing in a time slot in a paper calendar and you were in. and there was certainly less competition from everybody pitching local merchant solutions. Today they announced the mobile version of their product – I’d be grateful if you would download it and give it a spin.

Development Team Review 324

Development Team Review Course Writing Mobile 324

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2016

I answered in the same way I always do so I thought I’d just write it publicly. “I I spend hours thinking about the products, competitors, market opportunities, recruiting and financing of these businesses. I am much more attracted to technical product teams than to new business concepts or commerce types. I fall in love.”

Invest 254

Invest Writing Pricing Metrics 254

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 Custom 336

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Anything less makes you non-competitive. Productive networking traffic does not happen by default. Yet peers and customers notice phone calls and e-mails not returned in twenty-four hours or less.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Email readers, continue here…] Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk. . Third: Management risk. .

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2019

Everyone assumes their product or service is so great that “word-of-mouth” will carry the day for them. Even great products need great marketing “content” to fuel the ascent of their online message. If you want to connect with customers, put aside your writing formalities. Then write it down. Conversation inviting.

Customer 93

Customer Custom Marketing Tips 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. From an investor perspective, understanding and acting early to establish a sustainable competitive advantage, and barrier to entry, is the best assurance of a financial return. Effective communication requires real listening, as well as talking.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2021

Their computers then merge your ads with search results when users search words imply an interest in your products. It pays only if a customer clicks through AND takes a further action (conversion), such as buying a product or filling out a web form. Campaign setup and ad copy writing. Keyword research and budget forecasting.

PPC 154

PPC SEO Paid Search Search Engine Optimization 154

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. You may have gotten some articles that covered your product launch or may have gotten into industry rags but this might be your first time on TechCrunch, AllThingsD, PandoDaily, GigaOm, Business Insider or the equivalent. Should I Bundle it With More Juicy News?

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

I find the over-introducers especially corrosive around first-time founders who often struggle with the balance of their time between tasks like building product versus tasks like speaking at conferences or meeting with potential business development partners. In many instances this help is genuine, well-meaning and productive.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Some objections are real and they end up becoming changes to your product, your service plan or your pricing / bundling. As a founder, when you’ve been dealing with these kinds of objections for a couple of years it becomes natural and you easily handle objections on price, product & competition without much thought.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Competitive sportswoman. She learns how to ship product, how to deal with merchants, how to hire product managers. Always meeting her product ship dates. She was always able to get into the weeds on product or biz dev discussions. She speaks about ethical sourcing of eco-friendly products. Stanford MBA.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

So before you decide to move your manufacturing, software development, or call center out of town, make sure you understand the following considerations: Don’t give someone else control of your competitive advantage. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Marty Zwilling.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2011

I have long wanted to write about FNAC (feature, not a company) because it’s part of my normal lexicon to push teams that present to me to think harder about where the economics in their industry is coming from. I said it was a great product that was well marketed.&#. It’s my personality to do this. It lingered.

Email 270

Email Writing Blogging Competition 270

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

One of the most frequent questions entrepreneurs ask about when they raise a little bit of money or are getting close to launching their first product is whether they should hire a PR firm. Whether we like to admit it or not, PR drives behavior with customers, investors, employees and competition. In a startup this is a mistake.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Blogging Press 349

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2010

Why is it that most of the business plans I see are really product plans? I define a product plan as a detailed description of your product or service, with a bit of business thrown in at the end. A business plan is a detailed description of your business, with a bit of product description thrown in near the front.

Product 48

Product Outsource Development Competition High Tech 48

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2016

Dropping that name will often immediately draw a response if the decision maker is curious or particularly competitive. Let me reinforce this: never reveal competitive information to gain access or advantage. It is unethical and your target will immediately worry whether you might do the same someday.

Ideas 120

Ideas Sales Competition Venture Capital 120