Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2014

When second place isn’t good enough because we live in winner-take-most markets. This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It Leadership Tech Market Analysis' In fact, think about it. Larry / Sergey.

Competition 394

Competition Startup Writing Marketing 394

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

I wrote a version of this post four years ago but given the hectic nature of today’s tech markets I thought it was worth revisiting and updating. As the day approached I noticed that there was a conference in LA that I wanted to attend. ” So I didn’t go to the conference. I wrote him the following email.

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Conference Startup Century City Email 369

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

Earlier this month, the annual Montgomery Summit conference was held in Santa Monica, including a special portion of the conference dedicated to the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur. We had over 400 attendees, including some who came from the core conference. I think it's a fantastic program.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

In addition, the discipline of producing it, like writing a business plan, will help you immensely in understanding the key elements that drive you and your business. I often hear the excuse that writing a book takes precious time away from building and running your business, which you cannot afford.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 4, 2016

Modern-society is also littered with over-networkers and over-introducers and professional conference attendees. It’s hard enough building a valuable product or service in competitive global markets without spending time on unproductive tasks. Focus is almost always the right answer.

Innocal 255

Innocal Conference Help Study 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2023

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Writing, audios, and videos are all great ways to do this, since these all facilitate the one-to-many multiplier. Be creative and add value to what you offer your target market. Provide a unique point of view. Forget the old “spray and pray.”

Social Media 94

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Bill was initially the idea person and technologist, while Steve had the business and marketing experience from Proctor & Gamble to close the business equation. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

Avoid fuzzy goals, like making big money or being a market leader. You probably already know the key challenges to complete each step, but it helps to write them down, review them with peers, and have a written list to update as you learn more. Stop talking and writing, and start executing the plan.

Writing 139

Writing Startup Summary Activity 139

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

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. The other thing that tech execs often want to do is to delegate the PR to their marketing person. I wrote about how to build relationships with journalists in this post.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 16, 2019

With a focus on female venture capitalists and founders, All Raise hosts an annual conference, several in-person and virtual fundraising workshops and networking sessions and, recently, the group began creating curated peer groups for investors. I think the movement is just gathering momentum. Scaling a nonprofit, startup style.

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Venture Capital Ideas Los Angeles Tool 184

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Pick a name, location, and marketing strategy early. Even if your plan seems simple and intuitively obvious to you, writing it down and having it reviewed by experienced friends will moderate your passion and assure you that all key elements are addressed. Names and taglines are critical to success.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2014

I recently attended and presented at Dave McClure’s PreMoney conference in San Francisco. I wrote my version here and Scott wrote an excellent write-up of his views here. The only point we didn’t seem totally aligned on was what we happening to the “middle of the VC market.” tl;dr version.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital SaaS Writing Funding 309

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. Where are we today?

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2017

We’re expected to be at conferences, events, sales meetings and be publicly visible. Meeting a lot of candidates to find your head of marketing is all well and good but if 3 months later you still have no one in the role you’re still down a person. People expect blog posts, Tweets, panels, speeches. Get non-core things out of your way.

Activity 297

Activity Blogging Email Startup 297

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

Maybe they’ve hit a few set backs: They’ve struggled to raise money, they haven’t gotten press coverage or they haven’t gotten accepted to present at prestigious conferences. Do you think the SVP of Marketing from Coca Cola is going to respond to your every email? It’s your job to persist.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). And there’s conferences. Oh, the conferences. I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 11, 2010

It’s not just the spammers or marketers trying to sell you products or services. And when I have time I try to write back. So that’s: Marketing / conference invitations – 100 x 5 seconds = That’s still > 8 minutes. Or I’m at BOD meetings or conferences. I understand that.

Email 265

Email Startup Writing Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

Five-and-a-half years ago I first met Chamillionaire at a tech conference in LA. And after one meeting they started asking for his advice about marketing, customer engagement, product design, monetization – whatever. I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I will add to this as I write more in the coming weeks on the topic. The funding rounds will also build customer confidence and they’ll help journalists feel air cover in writing your more important pieces when you brag about customers, traction, revenue or whatever. This is true on all of the major tech blogs. Funding is news.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

If you can’t write it down, you probably don’t understand it. Writing, audios, and videos are all great ways to do this, since these all facilitate the one-to-many multiplier. Be creative and add value to what you offer your target market. Provide a unique point of view. Forget the old “spray and pray.”

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

A smart young marketing exec? Help them write other stories. One day they’ll write yours. unless you’re a conference ho … then it’s too much ). Imagine the human progress you could make with 250 short, relationship-focused meetings. Here’s why it’s critical: 1. Recruiting.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. For starters some funds are small and thus while they put $750k into your company to own 10% of your company they might not be able to write another $2 million if you then raise a $20 million round (10%).

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The other worthwhile exercise is to write down what your competitors uses as its USPs – even ones that you don’t think are really valuable to customers. And of course you also need your outbound marketing campaigns to emphasize your USPs so that prospects are already asking about them before the sales reps even start their meeting.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

PR isn’t something that can be delegated – The other thing that tech execs often want to do is to delegate the PR to their marketing person. Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2021

This may mean attending industry conferences, taking college courses, or reading some key books. In many cases, the challenge may just be your ability to market yourself, and what you know. It may be time for you to start your own blog, write a book, or volunteer as a speaker at public events in your domain.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Course Satisfaction Guide 132

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

Some people do the conference circuit too much, get involved in lots of side projects and attend every entrepreneur dinner. When I was running startups I felt like a horse with blinders on because I was super focused on the content management market and ignored many other markets. I get to choose what I write about.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

That is, of course, as long as what you are selling is the absolute best in your market.) Being in business since I was 18 years old has led to a lot of conferences, meetings, mixers, classes, tradeshows and after parties. Find events, conferences, mixers, networking groups, meet up groups who would find value in hearing your insights.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Yet I find that few of today’s workers realize that succeeding as a freelancer requires a whole new focus on “marketing” yourself. As you know, things can change quickly, as businesses try to survive and adapt to an evolving market, so it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Write down some target objectives and milestones.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

Harris writes: “The figures, dating back to 2016, paint a picture of a company desperate to meet over-ambitious autonomy targets and one that is willing to spend freely, even recklessly, to get there. That chatter was confirmed by a new job listing for an autonomous vehicles “market specialist” based in Austin. Nvidia GTC.

San Fernando 217

San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

When you raise money from investors you produce information that you are told they want and care about: A fund-raising deck that articulates your company strategy, plans, team, market, competitors and so forth. He told me to stop responded to RFPs where I wasn’t the person who helped write the specs for the RFPs.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

I had a chance to discuss AngelList Syndicates with Naval at Michael Kim’s Cendana LP/VC conference on a panel with Naval, Roger Ehrenberg (IA Ventures) and Mike Brown, Jr. If you know, VCs end up writing sizable checks into their own funds, which is important in better aligning interests. Must be doing something right!

Venture Capital 356

Venture Capital Invest Course Technical Review 356

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

But my specific point is that while everybody is busy telling you that “kids don’t use email” or “email is dead” I have actual data from portfolio company CEO’s showing the efficacy of email as a communication and marketing channel. The key is understanding the nuance. PHONE CALLS. Enter phone calls.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2015

Dreamforce is the conference for sales and marketing professionals. Why am I writing an article about a trade show that occurred nearly four months ago? He was everywhere: at Invoca’s booth, walking around the expo floors and on the streets of San Francisco near the conference halls during peak traffic hours.

Conference 100

Conference SaaS Ideas Sales 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I’m not going to cover in this post the obvious post-show marketing tasks such as following up on all those business cards you grabbed, communicating with all those people who registered at your site and leveraging your new found fame to score venture capital. Just don’t believe what they write about you. Not so much.).

Startup 310

Startup Press Venture Capital Journal 310

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

On the product side, once you have a proven product and business model, all you need is money to build inventory, and a sales and marketing operation to drive the business. Even artisan-based services, like graphic design and writing good ad copy, have innovative processes and principles. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72