Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

For what ever reason we’re wired to have amnesia during the run up and prescient memories of how we ‘knew it all along’ as soon as the slide begins. Once you understand both sides of the cycle you start to recognize signs of behavior during each phase. ROI studies were published.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. There is no free lunch.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2021

At the highest level, startups must remember what Jim Barksdale of Netscape and FedEx famously said, “The main thing is to keep the Main Thing the main thing.” That means keeping all the players and all the organizations centered on what matters amid the crosscurrents of change. Revisit your startup vision and values.

Social Media 143

Social Media Startup Framework Course 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2020

So do your homework before you talk, to get up to speed on the current topic, identify new information that others don’t have, and quantify value to you and other relevant people. You as the leader have a responsibility to define goals, strategy, and operational metrics. Always open to be influenced by new information.

Startup 124

Startup Ideas Examples Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Startup 131

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 131

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

We all have our favorite metric and our passion, but keeping up with real-world changes and trends seems to be always just out of reach. In my experience, all business metrics are still used too often for people management and accountability, rather than business management. Assess your measurements for trustworthiness.

Metrics 81

Metrics Demand Statistics Sample 81

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. Of course, you need to show how your business will make money and provide an impressive investor return, but that should be only the beginning.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right? Probably not.

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Under the heading, “The Book On Bezos,” the callout lists ten actionable and impactful nuggets of startup advice. We don’t give up on things easily. We didn’t give up.”. “ If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details….

Tips 279

Tips Startup Framework Customer 279

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. There is no free lunch. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Of course, margin and profitability are important, but must be committed to adding more value to the lives of your clients, and making the world a better place. Measure progress through metrics on sales, revenue, and penetration. Define and focus on a mission to add value. Seek to dominate your market over competitors.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Of course, starting and running your own business comes with financial and personal risks, so I always recommend that you do your homework first, and follow some tried and proven strategies to improve your odds of success. These days, you can’t start and run a business alone. Define key metrics to measure progress and success.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2021

In my experience, a level of disagreement among key team members is a sign of a healthy organization, allowing it to survive and prosper in this age of multiple disruptive trends. Of course, any highly emotional and unmanaged conflict can certainly lead to chaos and a dysfunctional organization.

Activity 145

Activity Organization Examples Satisfaction 145

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. Importantly we also discussed: should startups raise small amounts of money or large? how should you organize teams in a startup? And make sure to pick up a copy of his book.

Social Media 301

Social Media Startup Metrics Media 301

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Of course, it takes both short and long-term focus to survive, but I see too many businesses fall into some common product maladies, which ultimately keep them from becoming a unicorn, or achieving the level of disruptive change they initially envisioned. Hypermetricemia – metrics for everything.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

In addition to being a thought leader within the Lean Startup Movement , Steve is also a professor at Stanford and Berkley. He met with the editors of the three Mac magazines that his customers read and showed them metrics that confirmed that SuperMac's boards were the fastest on the market. "I Lean Startup Lessons - For Free.

Marketing 271

Marketing Startup Sales Customer 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2016

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Startup 55

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Organization 55

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. There is no free lunch.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Further, based on results from the Sierra-Cedar HR Systems Survey , businesses that use data and tools in their people management, rather than traditional manual processes, see a 79% higher return than other organizations, suggesting the time is ripe for relying on data and analytics. Use data analysis and metrics to measure for results.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

When should you start a company? What company should you start? Most startups die. It’s obvious that we can be too late to these decisions of course. We can miss the round of financing, we can start a company a year or two behind someone else and lose the first-mover advantage. When should a VC invest?

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2020

They outline and give some positive recommendations to counter the key organizational impediments to fast transformation that I see all too often, even in businesses with top management committed to first-mover speed and agility: Passive resistance to change from within the organization. Transformation fatigue from continual challenges.

Metrics 122

Metrics Training Satisfaction IBM 122

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

To do it well requires a focus on several key activities and practices, including the following: Maintain a positive attitude, since startup problems are normal. If you feel angry or exhibit a negative attitude to the team about problems, you will jeopardize the potential success of your startup. Very few startup problems are unique.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2013

At the highest level, startups must remember what Jim Barksdale of Netscape and FedEx famously said, “The main thing is to keep the Main Thing the main thing.” That means keeping all the players and all the organizations centered on what matters amid the crosscurrents of change. Revisit your startup vision and values.

Startup 94

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Framework 94

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2019

How do you create a tool to help address unconscious bias in the workplaceand why would you create a new startup in that area? We caught up with Michele and Dan to better understand why they founded the company, and why this market was such an interest to them. That's what we do over the course of our two year contract.

Content 150

Content Training Education Outsource Development 150

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. What's your background, and how did you decide to start the company? We've gone through this before in startup companies and pushing things forward.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2015

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Startup 99

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 99

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

I love the enthusiasm, the boundless energy and the sense of possibility that comes from having an idea that hasn’t yet been beat up in the marketplace of competing ideas, customer contracts, VC skepticism, jaded journalists or fickle consumers who are on the The New, New Thing. Great startups have budgets.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

As our first time covering a 500 Startups demo day , we could only imagine the stratospheric levels of stress our Batch 8 founders must have gone through to get on stage and present their progress from their last four months of startup bootcamp. In true 500 Startups fashion, Demo Day had an almost cathartic feel.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

You must have a strong Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with a clear strategy for spending, and metrics to gauge results. In my experience, your biggest challenge will be to rationalize the disparate input from your sales and marketing organizations, who each want more resources and more credit for ROI. That’s $300 a lead.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2018

If these still exist in your organization, they are huge red flags and you can be certain that you are losing your best employees as well as customers. In that context, I found in a new book, “ The Unstoppable Organization ,” by Shawn Casemore, some good steps for every business owner: Schedule time for personal feedback from employees.

Startup 62

Startup Organization Customer Custom 62

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. If you are one of the many entrepreneurs who aspire to get beyond the “art of the start,” there are some proven principles to follow. Very few startups are cash-rich enough to self-finance aggressive second-stage growth. There is no free lunch. Marty Zwilling.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

Dell announced years ago that it had earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, and other businesses report daily on increases in web traffic up to 800%. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start. Start social networking with peers.

Social Media 106

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 106

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Dell announced years ago that it had earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, and other businesses report daily on increases in web traffic up to 800%. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start. Start social networking with peers.

Social Media 115

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2012

At the highest level, startups must remember what Jim Barksdale of FedEx famously said, “The main thing is to keep the Main Thing the main thing.” That means keeping all the players and all the organizations centered on what matters amid the crosscurrents of change. False starts or obvious mis-steps will derail even the best pivots.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Framework 93

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Greathouse: We’ve known each other for a long time but let’s start with the basics for my readers. How did you and your co-founder, Greg Goodman, get started? Had you worked together before?

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2017

Of course, nobody really knows all of what tomorrow will bring, in terms of globalization, digital technology, or demographic shifts, but most experts agree that certain elements are already obvious, and things must be done today to get your business ready in time. Relationships in all directions are critical to success.

Company 55

Company Companies Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 55