Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

In this three-part series I will explore the ways that the Venture Capital industry has changed over the past 5 years that I would argue are a direct result of changes in the software industry, not the other way around. million in team costs to code, launch, manage, market & sell our software. I find this strange. And maddening.

Venture Capital 334

Venture Capital Software Capital Startup 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

But while competition remains fierce, the advancement and accessibility of smart solutions are making it easy than ever for startups to find their feet. Business tools — from customer relationship management ( CRM ) platforms to accounting software — help to save startups time and money by automating key processes and maximizing efficiency.

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

TechCrunch LA

JULY 28, 2019

The big winner in today’s solo challenge was sixteen year-old Kyle “ Bugha ” Giersdorf, who won $3 million for beating out the competition in the solo tournament. Indeed, the esports prize pool is one of the biggest awards for a popular competitive event. The tournament wasn’t just about solo-play.

Competition 272

Competition Social Network Los Angeles Study 272

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

There were startups and a software industry but barely. Nobody cared about our valuations any more. If they didn’t care about him they certainly didn’t care about me or Jason Lemkin or Jason Calacanis or any of us. It was a way to make it hard for your competition to compete. There was no money train. It was 1991.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Yesterday I wrote about how to talk to investors about your competitors. 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. But forget talking about them, how should you actually treat your competitors?

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2017

He talks in detail about ten of the key challenges that Facebook faced in their growth, to move from a tiny social media upstart to one of the most successful companies in the world. Revenue and competitive position followed. Speed is a key feature in every customer experience.

Competition 65

Competition Social Media Metrics Customer 65

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 19, 2015

Computers and the Internet have now brought in a new era that relies on data to make profitable business decisions in the competitive environment. Below is a full explanation of how small businesses can leverage technology to earn a competitive advantage in the marketplace. BPM Software. Cloud Services.

Competition 40

Competition Technology Social Media Tips 40

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Unlike a lot of grants on this list, the competition is open to all US small businesses, as long as they have fewer than 99 employees, have been operating for at least six months, and have a FedEx business account that's been open before September 1, 2023. It's competitive though – last year 18,000 applicants competed for only 12 slots.

Technical Review 193

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 193

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2012

In reality, some risks are good and should be embraced for growth and a competitive edge, while others are bad and should be avoided completely. But if you want growth and sustainability, you need to create smart risks, which means intentionally taking a risk to grow your business or gain competitive advantage. Take the strategic risk.

Pricing 103

Pricing SaaS Competition Social Network 103

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 9, 2022

“We started obsessing about this,” Danna went on. The pair posed as UCLA students doing research, Danna said, going from salon to salon asking questions about what worked and what did not with scheduling in their workplaces. In short, it was about “yield optimization,” Danna said.

Help 195

Help Startup UCLA Tool 195

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

As a business consultant with experience in large companies as well as startups, I often hear about dysfunctional management hierarchies, as well as the value provided by exceptional ones. We have all heard about the successes of flattened management organizations in the last decade at Facebook, Valve, Zappos, and others.

Outsource 133

Outsource Training Organization Social Media 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. If your software or your manufacturing process is your “secret sauce,” you need to keep the work in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Consumers buying through smart phones, travelers using the new, shared economy and businesses replacing old software with modern cloud-based solutions. In the software industry we’ve always had a term that’s a bit of an anachronism called “shelfware.” For what purpose are they using your software?

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. This post is about the “U” or Unique Selling Proposition, which in industry terms is often called a USP. The first post covered the topic of “P” or pain.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Most of you business professionals that I know have at least thought about or talked about starting their own business, to get more control, make more money, or to get more satisfaction out of their life. Don’t be shy about networking for advisors with business experience for coaching and mentoring.

Startup 114

Startup Tips Coach Satisfaction 114

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We operate at scale and speed unprecedented in human history.” * I first wrote about the changes to the Venture Capital ecosystem 10 years ago and this still serves as a good primer of how we arrived at 2011, a decade on from the Web 1.0 So in our earliest stages we’re about 70% seed and 30% pre-seed. dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2022

Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. Find global sources now. Selectively protect your intellectual property worldwide.

Patents 106

Patents Offshore Startup Demand 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2021

If you are one of the many professionals still trapped between jobs by circumstances outside your control, or are about to dump the loser job you have now, you should be actively defining and starting your own business, in parallel with looking for that ideal job. Let me explain why this is a win-win deal, no matter what the outcome.

Startup 156

Startup Social Network Activity Ideas 156

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2019

com), which is developing analytics software which leverages mobile phones for data on customers. The hypothesis was, companies are in an extremely competitive environment, and it doesn't matter what company or industry they are in, it's been one of the most competitive environments we've seen in a long time.

Startup 113

Startup Culver City Competition Customer 113

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2020

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation. Sources for your data.

Company 156

Company Companies Metrics Resource 156

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

A number of teams have recently been looking to turn that vision into reality, as a result of the Qualcomm Tricorder Prize , a $10M competition being run by the X Prize Foundation to create a real life Tricorder. Talk about your team, how did you get interested in this project? Talk about your team, what''s your expertise in this area?

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

For example, I once worked for a small software company selling a sophisticated enterprise workflow solution. In many cases, the products from competitive companies are complementary, or many customers are natural candidates for both. Of course, this path involves some risk, but you never get anywhere unless you take a chance.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

Competition is not always a bad thing, and the real purpose is often to make the world a better place. Design the full stack, not just a new software element. It’s also a good defensive move, to preempt competition, which is bound to come world-wide. In Silicon Valley’s classic model, startups must start “asset light.”

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

Southern California Edison Blog

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Learn about strategies and secure network solutions that can protect tech startups against the most common types of cyberattacks. . Malware is software created to damage or weaken computer systems. Install antivirus and antimalware software on business and personal devices. Install proper antivirus software.

Startup 96

Startup Email Networking Southern California 96

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Eano, she said, offers competitive and transparent pricing so that homeowners aren’t surprised as a remodeling project goes on. We’re also helping these individual contractors increase the brand, and helping them with the administration and customer support side with our software.”. Image Credits: Eano CEO and founder Stella Wu / Eano.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

As a VC with scores of startups in our portfolio we have ringside seats to many, many fund raising processes plus I had to raise money across about 5 different rounds of capital as an entrepreneur so I’ve developed some thought on the process that I hope can be helpful to some of you before you start. Below is the outline Upfront.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2013

We caught up with CEO Simon Anderson to learn more about the big debt funding round and how it came about, the complexities of providing founder liquidity in a bootstrapped company--and how the company is looking to use those funds to take the company to the next level. So, for us, competition is good.

Software Review 238

Software Review Cloud Computing Technical Review Platform 238

TechEmpower

JUNE 6, 2018

Most importantly, the community has been contributing some amazing test implementations and demonstrating the fun and utility of some good-natured performance competition. The only regret is not having done this earlier ( if only someone had told us about Docker !). Now The Destructor comes to us laughing about 10-gigabit Ethernet.

Framework 377

Framework TechEmpower Platform Metrics 377

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 29, 2020

“This could also be due to changes in the competitive landscape … and there may be changes with First Round Capital itself,” says one investor. “LPs are not really happy about what’s going on,” says one investor with knowledge of the venture space. — Dan Primack (@danprimack) January 29, 2020.

IBM 164

IBM IBM Venture Capital Invest 164

socalTECH

JULY 28, 2014

In an intensely competitive area, how do you differentiate yourself and grow a company? With around a hundred employees in Los Angeles, and $40M in revenues, Fonality (www.fonality.com) --a developer of voice-over-IP phone software and systems--has managed to rise above the crowd of commodity voice-over-IP and PBX service providers.

IP 138

IP Culver City Customer Custom 138

socalTECH

JULY 27, 2020

What our software does, is optimizes every signal the discovery algorithms look at when they decide to show results for those terms. For example, everything from quality of the information about that location online, to online reputation, to social profile on Facebook for that location. It's a pretty complex exercise.

Google 113

Google Santa Monica Networking Software 113

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 4, 2015

For example, there are the private company valuation figures that get bandied about: think the numbers people reference for Uber and AirBnB for example. The industry’s competitive dynamics. The post What Are We Talking About When We Talk Valuation? What impacts a company’s 409A valuation: Company milestones. Your investor base.

IP 40

IP Equity Examples Guide 40

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation. Email readers, continue here.]

Metrics 239

Metrics Startup Marketing Demand 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

Software products and apps can be quickly wire-framed with free tools such as MockFlow , or even Microsoft Powerpoint to lay out the key screens. For both software and hardware technology, multiple iterations are usually required to achieve production quality and performance. Proceed with your wits about you.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2023

Studies of software teams, for example, show differences as great as ten to one in productivity between working team members. Much has been written about the external influences of office environments, motivation, and personal health impacts, but I see evidence that there are personal productivity tactics that contribute just as much.

Activity 99

Activity Study Product Email 99

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2020

Croquet is developing software for collaborative applications, which has applications in virtual worlds and augmented and virtual reality. If you think about it, in a multi-player game, for example, you have a very limited vocabulary for interaction. Things like true collaboration, the thing I'm talking about.

Platform 168

Platform Startup Examples Web 168