Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic&# organizations and to some extent that should be true. I see two common mistakes in companies (not just in startups, in fact). By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 22, 2010

This is part of my startup advice series. It’s still important advice for startup founders and something that I’m passionate about. Tools like Identified.com haven’t existed for me to do this in an automated way as they are starting to emerge. Yes, if you were a startup CEO I would probably cut you some slack.

Startup 392

Startup Geni Google IBM 392

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. According to recent reports , these come from all the way up and down the age and experience spectrum, including up to ninety percent of the current Baby Boomers, as well as Millennials.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. Innovate In the early years of a startup there is a lot of kinetic energy of enthusiastic innovators looking to launch a product that changes how an industry works.

Startup 287

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 287

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

He lived the philosophy that companies must be paranoid in order to survive, and continually disrupt their own markets to prevent overrun by competition. Start small and move quickly to test new approaches that can be scaled up later, with an understanding that some will fail. Be proactive rather than reactive to market change.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual.

Sales 317

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 317

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 13, 2012

Such innovations include new training routines, inventive diets, and novel gameplay tactics. However, at most startups, competitive advantages are derived from a combination of invention and innovation, as described more fully in Inventor Or Innovator – Which Are You? Harvard Professor Michael Porter notes in, “What Is Strategy?”that

Startup 198

Startup Competition Activity Class 198

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. We were based in London.

Entrepreneur 308

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Conference 308

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. In the late 90′s I saw a dangerous trend creeping into the startup world, which was that companies were suddenly raising huge amounts of money too early in their existence. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

When to start PR? It’s why in this article I advise that people “market today not futures” because you don’t want your playbook in the hands of the competition. In a startup this is a mistake. It’s like “direct” traffic to your website that seems to magically appear.

Press 320

Press Startup Writing Training 320

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed. In any job you either find leadership opportunities for your best people BEFORE they ask or other people start asking them to become leaders somewhere else.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. Yet you may not be so sure where to start, and how to put it all together. In all cases, don’t skip the basic training. Don’t stand still.

Startup 156

Startup Coach Metrics Marketing 156

InfoChachkie

APRIL 13, 2015

Avoid a simple pricing mistake which could sink your startup. However, habitual discounting at a startup is self-defeating, as it reinforces your customers'' proclivity to delay their purchases, patiently waiting for you to reduce your prices. Follow my startup-oriented Twitter feed here: @johngreathouse. Valuable Chits.

Pricing 244

Pricing Startup Sales SaaS 244

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

My friend Ethan Anderson put it best to me after the panel, “You probably shouldn’t have been up there. I wrote about it here (mostly starting at point 7) and Chris Dixon wrote a great post about it here. So in the past we needed VC to really get a startup going. I said almost nothing in the 30 minutes.

Venture Capital 308

Venture Capital Training Startup Entrepreneur 308

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. So starting a few years ago I would hit “publish” on a blog post and wait for the clicks & comments to come rolling in. It’s like a Pachinko machine (yes, I had one in my house growing up). I should know.

Writing 326

Writing Buzzfeed Social Media Blogging 326

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Rarer still is the startup CEO who can make the transition effectively on their own. Unwillingness to devolve power is the bane of many management teams at startup companies. I see the problem directly at many startups I know. The problem is that we started with an SLA that was too favorable to us. This seldom works.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

I grew up believing that human behavior was 20% nature, 80% nurture. of all data is made up. OK, not literally made up. So going into a startup scenario you bring these innate skills or you don’t. You don’t need to be great at all of these attributes to be part of a successful startup team.

Startup 289

Startup Statistics Entrepreneur Study 289

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. It’s a tough job, and inexperienced entrepreneurs just don’t know where to start, and how to do it. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2023

In this context, even “satisfied” is only a “meets-minimum,” and does not put you ahead of your competition. Reward team members who excel in these relationships, and provide training and processes for others. Start by hiring the right people, and providing the necessary training, coaching, and mentoring.

Competition 109

Competition Services Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. My starting salary was $27,000. I can’t make this up. I have published many of these PR Tips before.

Technical Advisors 386

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 386

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2020

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 125

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 125

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. Startup team with experience and connections is this domain.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

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. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Berkonomics

APRIL 11, 2019

An entrepreneur pitches using a deck with no slide for competition. We have no competition.”. If you are training your sales staff, work especially hard on responding to emotional and factual counters to a final close of a sale. We investors see this all the time. When asked (as we always do,) the response is “This is new.

Competition 120

Competition Slides Research Sales 120

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

Although the carriers made a lot of money initially by selling dial-up Internet services, customers never took their software because, well, it sucked. So the value on the Internet went “up the stack” to portals such as Yahoo!, Excite, MSN and eventually Google.

Outsource Development 329

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 329

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Thus, financial projections for up to five years are a necessary element in every business plan. Per the words of an old country song, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” If you are losing money on every unit, it’s hard to make it up in volume. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

And, even more, how to do you manage the jump on the viral video train again, and keep those viral hits coming? We caught up with Lee Essner , the President of Jukin Media, to learn more about how the company thinks it has figured out how to make a business round viral videos. Lee Essner: That''s one of the competitive edges we have.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2023

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 111

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 111

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 31, 2011

The sign up page for the event is here & there is limited availability. The reason it didn’t was that the follower model of Facebook started out as symmetrical, which basically means that if somebody friends you, you needed to friend them back. you’re not following him? ” Sure. Object Communications.

News 324

News Web Email Startup 324

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

As an investor, I always listen carefully to what an entrepreneur says, and does not say, about competition. Every business area has competition and every customer has alternatives, so a smart entrepreneur needs to acknowledge these as a positive in defining a big market, and position the features of a new solution in this context.

Competition 107

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2022

You have to be extra tough mentally to start a new business venture. He spent many years with the SEALs, but has since started and built six multimillion-dollar business ventures. To be an entrepreneur or a Navy SEAL, you must first have vision, focus, and the courage to step up to lead. Are you up to the challenge?

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Mentor Training 150

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Track competition is a secondary arena for Energica. But the competition is closing in on some of the Italian EV maker’s numbers. MotoE Worldcup racing, Image Credits: Energica. Image Credits: TechCrunch.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

On September 10th of this year I spent an entire day in California State Prison with people who had committed felonies and worked with them on business plans to help them create legal enterprise upon their release as part of Defy Ventures 6-month training program. I hadn’t cried this much maybe since childhood. How could I not? You can go.

Writing 392

Writing Startup Design Training 392

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 3, 2009

The topic of &# strategic&# investors came up. They’ll pay up for it and promise much. The other strategic was a train wreck. Another big question you’ll want to answer is whether your strategic investor has a long history in investing in startups. Strategics can have some negative impacts: 1.

Venture Capital 279

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur Framework 279

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Both are required to stay competitive. I have added my own insights, based on my experience advising and working with entrepreneurs and startups: Pay for results, rather than pay for work. People who get paid by results have every incentive to think up smarter ways of getting work done. Freelancers now make up 35% of U.S.

Competition 127

Competition Case Study Platform Yahoo 127