Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for due diligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Last week, the University of Southern California 's Viterbi School of Engineering announced that it had established a new, business plan competition, the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition ([link] specifically aimed at students in the engineering school. Why a business plan competition, and why in engineering school?

Competition 154

Competition Southern California Mentor USC 154

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The venture is also one of the few e-motorcycle companies drawing engineering tips from competition. Technology from the track is transferring to production models, according to Cevolini. Energica credits the application of race tech to production e-motos for some of the increased order flow it saw early this year.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Competition Demand Sales 277

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

It is often the fortuitous mixture of new technologies, customer awareness and then acceptance of the technology and then the slow adoption into our daily lives that leads to markets exploding. We technology leaders also make this mistake. I had my sales teams telling me we needed certain features to be competitive.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. 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 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. 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. My first startup was no different.

Sales 383

Sales Help Startup Pricing 383

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2010

It’s an important film and the most important topic of our generation if we as a country want to remain competitive in a world that has globalized. I poured myself into planning and I won the class-wide competition. It’s the story of what’s broken with the education system in the US. Please go see the film.

Class 340

Class Education Technical Review Writing 340

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual. We focused together on improving our sales methodology, our training and our comp plans. Sure, you need to be competitive on price.

Sales 317

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 317

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. It’s hard to stop a train. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and Instead he championed our investment themes into sustainability and food technologies having invested in companies like Apeel Sciences and Ynsect. She had all of the skills and traits we sought?—?leadership, And all the platform stuff.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

Here are my recommendations for training and managing your team to keep their delivery memorable for customers, as well as profitable for your business: Hire team members who enjoy customer interaction. Provide training, tools, and required decision authority. That approach still is meaningful today.

Customer 147

Customer Custom Technical Review Metrics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Many entrepreneurs I have mentored make big mistakes in this area, by hiring low-cost friends and family, with minimal skills or training, and expecting them to have the same work ethic , passion, and business knowledge as the founder. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. with experience.

Outsource 123

Outsource Startup Technical Review Training 123

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. They’re competitive. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks.

Outsource Development 334

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 334

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. They’re competitive. China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks.

Outsource Development 329

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 329

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

The event is a 2-day training in.Net, HTML5, Windows 8, Asp.NET MVC and other Microsoft technologies. In addition, world renowned speakers are invited to discuss the latest trends in technology. Leveraging these techniques should put you on an even playing field or ahead of the native app competition.

Training 65

Training Technical Review Technology Software Review 65

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2010

Due in large part to the current economy and an ultra-competitive job market, a Gen-Y entrepreneurial tsunami is already upon us. For a startup or small business executive serving as mentor, the proverbial “win-win” is created as they benefit from an injection of essential bandwidth, youthful energy, and technical expertise.

Competition 96

Competition Startup Technical Review IBM 96

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

If you’re an early-stage entrepreneur, technology has served you well. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. The Foundation was created in 1997 by tech pioneers, Jean and Steve Case.

Startup 137

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 137

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2023

Some analysis and due diligence along the following lines should be performed on every idea, as a reality check, before committing your efforts and other people’s money to building a business: Look for places where competitors are few. Don’t forget to consider customer alternatives, like trains versus airplanes.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Startup 106

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

However, there is already the technology out therefrom San Luis Obispo-based Whitefox Defense (www.whitefoxdefense.com)  to both detect, and neutralize those drones. We spoke with founder and CEO Luke Fox to learn more about the company, and its technology. Explain how your technology works?

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

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. We have well financed competitors whom despite competing with we respect deeply and when you see your competition launching in many markets it’s tempting to follow suit.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151

InfoChachkie

APRIL 14, 2014

It performs "due diligence" before it makes "investments" and it measures results as a "return on its investment.". Sound Organization: financially healthy and operationally viable, with strong funder relationships, well-trained staff and reliable systems and infrastructure. Project Impact is our answer to that.

Organization 199

Organization Startup Technical Review Invest 199

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.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges. It’s your job as a leader to be the model high performer, quantify the team view with metrics, and expand awareness to the best outside competition and new tools. Attract, train, and reward only the best leaders.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

socalTECH

OCTOBER 4, 2010

I had worked as a tutor for Princeton Review, and Jake for Kaplan. We thought, we could put out a better product than Kaplan or Princeton Review, which would be more compelling, and also would tie in a strong social mission. On the SAT/ACT side, in classroom tutoring, we have used our technology to automate the back office.

Software Review 178

Software Review Technical Review Education Startup 178

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. What new technology area, startup, service, or app did you find most interesting or useful this year, and why? Since 2010, $6.3B READ MORE>>.

Capital 100

Capital Technical Review Truecar Venture Capital 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

According to a classic survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Tips 126

Tips Technical Review Organization Social Media 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Train and coach continuously. Train and coach continuously.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2019

Solo or autocratic entrepreneurs usually don’t survive, due to required skills and a workload far beyond the capacity of a single human. Open office plans simply squeeze more employees in less space, and often reduce productivity and collaboration, due to noise, distractions, and constant interruptions.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Technical Review Ideas Tool 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

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.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I believe that it is part of the DNA of an entrepreneur – being so competitive that you’re practically sick when you lose. They’re competitive. They had a team trained up in Documentum and we certainly had enemies from the inside. They decided to re-open the competition for 3-4 more weeks.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Throughout all of this we saw a tinkerer, a problem solver and a completely obsessed leader who was competitive and wanted to win. But we were sure that Jamie would be maniacally focused on improving the product, marketing the dream to consumers and out-maneuvering the slower-moving competition. We weren’t sure.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2015

According to a survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Organization Entrepreneur Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2014

According to a recent survey conducted by Dimensional Research for Zendesk , 90 percent of respondents asserted that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, and 86 percent admitted buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews. Let your continuous innovation become your sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Entrepreneur Organization Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Sustainable competitive advantage. In all cases, you need customer support, formal processes and training in place.

Pricing 100

Pricing Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 100