Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2017

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Entrepreneur 67

Entrepreneur Ideas Startup Resource 67

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

Startup 98

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2015

How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)? They consistently take bold steps to stay ahead of the curve, often contrary to conventional wisdom. Mine the organization for expertise (exploration).

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur IBM IBM Summary 105

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 116

InfoChachkie

JUNE 16, 2016

Entrepreneurs create their own jobs, why shouldn’t they also create their own degrees? As described in Should Millennial Entrepreneurs Skip College? most young entrepreneurs benefit greatly from the college experience. Custom Wharton Degree. This list is intended to cover non-obvious courses relevant to entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Writing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2012

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Ideas 103

Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Resource 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Ideas 101

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

Many entrepreneurs assume that everyone will love their solution as much as they do, so they tune their marketing focus based on their own needs and wants. That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. Update your technology to reach new customer segments.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the manner in which Pink Floyd created DSOTM. Instead of refining their material based on customer feedback, they often lock themselves away in a recording studio, isolated from their fans' reactions. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles!

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Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2019

How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)? They consistently take bold steps to stay ahead of the curve, often contrary to conventional wisdom. Mine the organization for expertise (exploration).

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Summary Organization SpaceX Ideas 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2010

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a dialogue on their current hot “idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Marty Zwilling.

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Ideas Entrepreneur Startup Resource 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the solution. Nail the business model.

Startup 64

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2011

For most new high-tech products, the first customers are always “early adopters.” The conventional wisdom is that early adopters are the ideal target for new products, to get business rolling. The dilemma that we all face is that the most valuable customers might be the least vocal (silent majority).

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Customer Custom High Tech News 91

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 24, 2014

This might be wise counsel for Jerry Maguire, but it is the exact opposite approach an entrepreneur should take. If an entrepreneur were to strictly follow Mr. Greene''s rules, they might have a shot at producing a screenplay, but they would almost certainly fail in business. 1) Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary.

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Hollywood Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Customer 227

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 9, 2012

As Seth Epstein makes clear in this talk , entrepreneurs constantly experience breakdowns, followed by breakthroughs. A common theme among successful entrepreneurs is that making money is not a primary motivator. You must convince dispassionate, objective customers that your value proposition is worthy of their cash.

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Tips Startup Entrepreneur Entertainment 277

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the solution. Nail the business model.

Startup 118

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 118

InfoChachkie

APRIL 28, 2011

Many entrepreneurs encounter a similar dilemma. Thus, entrepreneurs must decide when to stop listening to the Sirens’ song of a quick buck and position their company to take advantage of long-term, sustainable business models. However, in the long run, entrepreneurs always benefit from delivering Maximum Utility for a fair price.

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Entrepreneur SaaS Pricing Cloud Computing 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2015

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Ideas 115

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 115

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2012

Thus, when Come Together – The Business Wisdom of The Beatles was released, my hopes were high for a great read. Despite the book’s shortcomings, it contains a number of insightful lessons for budding entrepreneurs. Although successful entities, including the Beatles, have much to teach entrepreneurs, 100 lessons is about 80 too many.

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Tips Startup Entrepreneur Product 259

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2014

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Authentic entrepreneurs lead through the power of personal influence, rather than coercion.

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Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Customer 103

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. The Lean Startup approach dictates that successful customer development is an iterative process. Eric (Ries) was a student in one of the very earliest customer development classes at Berkley. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

the most counter-intuitive fund-raising advice you’ll ever get I’m about to offer you some fund-raising advice that flies directly in the face of what most conventional wisdom will tell you. Most entrepreneurs (and VCs raising from LPs) think this means progress. Entrepreneur : “Sure. Some people find this elitist?—?I

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Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Ideas 104

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2012

For true entrepreneurs, risk is viewed as a positive, with its implied challenge to overcome the unknown and hitting the big return. One way to learn is to understand better how successful entrepreneurs approach risk, and look at actual strategies they use for success. Buck the conventional wisdom.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the solution. Nail the business model.

Startup 114

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 114

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about. We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton home.

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Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2019

Conventional business wisdom tells us that entrepreneurs are today’s main source of innovation. In fact, a Wharton Business School study in this decade of the “Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years,” concluded that only eight were first conceived by entrepreneurs, and twenty-two were conceived by employees.

IBM 53

IBM IBM Java Google 53

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Other installments include: Words of startup wisdom from Jeff Bezos. He did more for Apple’s shareholders, customers and employees than any other CEO has ever done for their shareholders, customers and employees. I gathered ten such examples which are particularly relevant to entrepreneurs. We built it for ourselves.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 279

InfoChachkie

MARCH 1, 2011

Although this approach was common in the UK, it ran counter to the then current Conventional Wisdom in the US music industry. To learn how to not launch a Freemium solution, see Making Freemium Customers Pay. Assuming the fans had bought the single, I figured they wouldn’t want to hear it again on the album.”. A Valuable Brand.

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Product Marketing Sales Customer 232

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2014

How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)? They consistently take bold steps to stay ahead of the curve, often contrary to conventional wisdom. business creativity entrepreneur G.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur IBM IBM Summary 106

InfoChachkie

JUNE 6, 2011

Entrepreneurs win by changing the Rules of the Game , rather than by trying to best Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) at their own game. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to believe that they must pay top-dollar for the ideal booth location, compelling give-aways, and an imposing booth that will capture the imagination of its potential customers.

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Sales Customer Custom Conference 174

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2017

How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)? They consistently take bold steps to stay ahead of the curve, often contrary to conventional wisdom. Mine the organization for expertise (exploration).

IBM 65

IBM IBM Summary Organization 65

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 21, 2010

Real Problem – When buying behavior is boiled down to its essence, it becomes clear that customers purchase solutions to problems. Even luxury goods solve a perceived problem, such as a customers need for enhanced social status. Solvable – Unknown at the outset, although conventional wisdom indicated that the problem was not solvable.

Course 124

Course Examples Ideas Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

For true entrepreneurs, risk is viewed as a positive, with its implied challenge to overcome the unknown and hitting the big return. One way to learn is to understand better how successful entrepreneurs approach risk, and look at actual strategies they use for success. Buck the conventional wisdom.

Tips 89

Tips Entrepreneur Advertising Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2011

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family.

Ideas 98

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2013

One of the big advantages of being an entrepreneur and starting your company from scratch is that you get to set the culture, which is much easier than changing the culture of an existing business. Mission statements tend to be narrow, business oriented statements such as “Be the leader in customer satisfaction.” Train all the time.

Startup 101

Startup Training Study Customer 101

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 9, 2012

I had a very enjoyable day in Cincinnati meeting many local entrepreneurs, angels and accelerators. It’s how you gain customer insights. But, Mark, the [investor, biz dev parter, customer, M&A buyer] told me a telephone call would be fine for the first meeting!” I went even further when I was an entrepreneur.

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Press Course Startup Email 364