Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Anyone who works with entrepreneurs will tell you that all are different. Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. The Opportunist is the speculative part of the entrepreneur in all of us. Of course, discovering your entrepreneur type is only the beginning.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In my role as a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most have the technical challenges well understood, but many are a bit short on some basic street smarts , or basic business realities. It starts with documenting and communicating a real purpose and mission in terms everyone can get excited about.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Tech.Co

MAY 16, 2024

However, despite growing optimism, the path to success for Black entrepreneurs is still paved with systematic barriers in 2024. Here are seven funding opportunities you should know more about if you’re serious about financially safeguarding and scaling your venture. Deadline: Rolling Learn more and apply today 2.

Design 132

Design Commerce Entrepreneur News 132

InfoChachkie

JULY 5, 2012

Coull Entrepreneurs Get More Customers. Skimlinks has proven effective for thousands of publishers (including, for a time, Pinterest), because its frictionless, self-serve platform automatically generates revenue from previously existing online content. What’s So Cool About Coull? Clickable Coull Ad Embedded In Video.

Custom 133

Custom Customer Entrepreneur Advertising 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

Entrepreneurs who search for real pain points, and build solutions around them, have the best chance of changing the world. In my opinion, real pain points for most people do not include a new user interface for Facebook, a new programming platform for app development, or a new size smart phone. You get to choose your pain.

Custom 167

Custom Customer Startup Outsource Development 167

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it. And I had been telling my partners for a couple of years that I thought Ethan was one of the more talented entrepreneurs I had come across in San Francisco. What do we like about OpenTable? ” So Ethan went to work as a product manager at Google Video.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2022

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. We don’t hear about the remaining several million apps that are mostly free, and garnering only trivial revenue through advertising. After this connection, you need not share the 30% of all revenue collected by the store platform.

Develop 138

Develop Development Platform Mobile 138

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

Many entrepreneurs who start technology companies are product people, technologists or savvy business people who worked previously for a larger company. Most start-up entrepreneurs have little or no sales experience. This is the easiest one for most entrepreneurs. But most good entrepreneurs do this naturally.

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

According to Jared Belsky, President, 360i , “We see Search and Social as a 24 hour real-time consumer focus group that helps us stay on top of what consumers care about for our brands. It also gives marketers an opportunity to engage potential customers early on in the discovery phase, and track this journey to a conversion.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Thus the rise of the “ sharing economy ,” with collaborative and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms , including Lyft (rides), Airbnb (lodging), and WeWork (workspace). There are always opportunities to participate in existing platforms, such as becoming an Uber driver, or to start your own platform sharing your favorite hobby.

Platform 145

Platform Startup Social Media Customer 145

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

The law of large numbers, platforms that can make your company blow up unexpectedly and the trendy nature of tech markets can be deceiving. I have written about the deceiving nature of early successes before – in particular in the SaaS or B2B world leading to a phenomenon called “shelfware.”

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Some people are so passionate about a cause that they forget to consider the lack of business potential, while others are so enamored with profit that they jeopardize their ethics.

Framework 95

Framework Customer Custom Tips 95

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. We respond very quickly to all of our customers.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Services Conference 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We operate at scale and speed unprecedented in human history.” * I first wrote about the changes to the Venture Capital ecosystem 10 years ago and this still serves as a good primer of how we arrived at 2011, a decade on from the Web 1.0 And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. dot-com bonanza.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2015

With the advent of social media and the pervasive move to smartphones, even customers who still prefer to purchase in brick-and-mortar stores have dramatically changed their shopping habits. Many people don’t post about their experiences, but still routinely check first to see what others are saying about the brand and the product online.

Customer 103

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors. In the idea stage, get customers involved with an engaging contest. Encourage collaboration by providing the platform, and setting best practices.

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Customer 126

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Launching and growing a startup is one of the biggest missions an entrepreneur can undertake. Business tools — from customer relationship management ( CRM ) platforms to accounting software — help to save startups time and money by automating key processes and maximizing efficiency.

Tool 131

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Some people are so passionate about a cause that they forget to consider the lack of business potential, while others are so enamored with profit that they jeopardize their ethics.

Tips 174

Tips Framework Customer Custom 174

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Entrepreneurs have become more resourceful since the 80s, and your options are more diverse as well. The Instagram lifestyle may have inspired a slew of would-be entrepreneurs to merge work and travel as never done by previous generations. If you decided to become a work-at-home entrepreneur, then you might as well live up to it.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Course Commerce 122

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2022

Or when a major customer signs a significant deal. Or when something happens that makes an investor think this company is about to break out. While working toward good news events, some entrepreneurs plan to take in consulting work to pay some of the costs during the early stage of a company.

News 156

News SaaS Platform Sales 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his investor pitch to me by touting his new technology. They have forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they eliminate. Is your product tempered with actual market and customer feedback?

Technology 109

Technology Entrepreneur Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

As an entrepreneur advisor, I am surprised at how often I hear the same or very similar proposals of an incremental innovation to an existing process, versus a really new or breakthrough solution. But we all know that these are not solutions by themselves, but require integration into an innovative framework to solve real customer problems.

Startup 134

Startup Artificial Inteligence Ideas Entrepreneur 134

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. Every entrepreneur starts with an idea that they believe makes sense.

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Startup Google Yammer 291

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to spend time getting to know their future VCs early because getting a feel for your chemistry is far more important than how the VC is ranked in some survey. Equally, I encouraged entrepreneurs to thoroughly reference check their VCs – you’ll learn much more from this than anything else.

Entrepreneur 330

Entrepreneur Marketing Venture Capital Hulu 330

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Every entrepreneur and every business I meet in my consulting and mentoring role has great intentions of bringing real innovation to the market, yet I find that most ideas are merely small extensions to existing solutions. Inventors are always talking about what they can do with technology, before sizing the need and the market.

Startup 146

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas 146

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2022

The hard part is providing the leadership required to align and motivate all the constituents and players – from engineers, to investors, vendors, and ultimately customers. Great entrepreneurs are not just idea people and then managers, they are extraordinary leaders. Think about who could help you reflect-on-action.

Coach 114

Coach Framework Entrepreneur Tool 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

In my work with new startups, I often find people who believe that the terms “ entrepreneur ” and “ inventor ” are interchangeable. In my experience, most successful entrepreneurs have indeed created a new product, but most people who claim to be inventors have a hard time starting a business.

Startup 124

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs I know charge into battle with only their passion, and hope for the best. Too many entrepreneurs push their product out without the proper scouting on high return or weak points in the existing market. A broad attack will likely confuse potential customers, and will spread your resources too thin to satisfy any.

Marketing 125

Marketing Technical Review Startup Resource 125

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Dan LeBlanc: Daasity is about two years old., The challenge a lot of those businesses have, is likely have built their sites and are using a lot of different software-as-a-service platforms. That makes it difficult to figure out what it costs to acquire a customer, and what a customer is worth. What does your startup do?

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Pitching app developers with a new way to convert app browsers into actual customers, AppOnboard has raised $15 million in a new round of funding, the company said. Company co-founder Jonathan Zweig has already had one hit as a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur. “Google has been a great partner for us,” Zweig says.

Google 213

Google Los Angeles Southern California Platform 213

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. We all hear about the big winners, such as the game Clash of Clans , which still pulls in over a million dollars a day, and the smartphone version of Skype , which is making money through credits as an extension of the website version.

Mobile 126

Mobile Develop Development Platform 126

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2022

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side.

Case Study 125

Case Study Platform Yahoo Social Media 125

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2017

We caught up with Lauren to hear about Hopscotch, and why teams and schools are turning to the company to power their mobile apps. Laurence Sotsky: I started the company about two and a half years ago, with the intent of connecting people to their passions. We're the official mobile app for whatever our customer is.

Mobile 162

Mobile Platform El Segundo UCLA 162

StartUp Beat

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Grigori Mikayelyan was a failed and an aspiring entrepreneur; furnished with a new idea – and determined to make a success of it – he became a Lyft driver to conduct customer research with his passengers. I spoke to him over the phone about his unique approach to developing a company. Restaurants pay $0.50

Research 40

Research Customer Custom Entrepreneur 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

As an advisor to business professionals and entrepreneurs, I often hear about an innovative new solution that could lead to business growth or a new business. It was no surprise to me that all the investors he approached were less than excited about his plan for growing a new and nutritious algae. Pay attention to the market.

Tips 80

Tips Startup Satisfaction Ideas 80

socalTECH

JUNE 3, 2019

For this morning's interview, with caught up with serial entrepreneur James Citron , the founder of Pledgeling (www.pledgeling.com), a startup which enables any business to help connect their business with social causes. As a serial entrepreneur, oftentimes I wasn't around. What is Pledgeling? A few things happened to me personally.

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Software Review Mogreet Platform 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. I called an (ex) LP to tell him about her and my goals for her. Leadership is about recognizing your next generation of talent and helping lift them up. Or, maybe it’s just about getting out of the way and watching what they can achieve.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361