Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Many businesses have found that raising the price of a product to give it status can win more customers than a price war. If you study the Amazon 1-click patent long enough, you’ll likely find something of your own worth patenting. Ten customer referrals is better than “no complaints.” Think the unthinkable.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. I like patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, so this answer is a better sustainable competitive advantage than the other five answers. Martin Zwilling.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. You have figured out how to undercut your competitor’s price, and still hold your margin. Maybe it’s that first customer testimonial, or that first congratulations from someone you respect, or seeing your story in the newspaper. A business model that works.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Target market. Production.

Sales 102

Sales Custom Customer Outsource 102

Berkonomics

AUGUST 31, 2023

There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel. In most cases, it is the competitor with a better product, lower price, faster service, better reputation that is the threat. Fast forward just a few years to 1996. But that was back to 1996.

Competition 156

Competition Research Summary Pricing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 31, 2020

The company created a product that could be delivered as a service to medical clinicians anywhere in the world, enhancing their ability to understand their patents’ problems and needs in less time, using the expertise built into an AI expert system created by the best minds in many medical specialties. How refreshing! Other sources of grants.

Equity 156

Equity Writing Education Research 156

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. . Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? Third: Management risk. . And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

They are looking for startups that have a sustainable advantage over direct and indirect competitor offerings, as well as obvious value to customers living without your product today. All of these are competitors in terms of speed, price, or luxury. Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers. Today’s customer is especially attracted to companies like TOMS , who donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, or Patagonia, with its support for grassroots environmental groups.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Custom 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. I like patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, so this answer is a better sustainable competitive advantage than the other five answers. Martin Zwilling.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2015

It might be a patented technology, but it could also be the creativity of employees or logistic competencies of the company. This could be the utilization rate of a plant, the price premium of the brand, or the service offered or products sold. It is about identifying a core competence which others cannot match.

Custom 102

Custom Customer Organization Course 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Look for customer-focused value creation. Seek innovation that begets invention. It doesn’t always work the other way around. Failure is an option.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

A while back, I wrote about the importance of a “ sustainable competitive advantage ,” and outlined the business plan value and limitations of patents and competitor feature comparisons. But once you start selling products, all of these pale in comparison to your level of customer service. Exceed customer expectations.

Custom 90

Custom Customer Services Startup 90

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2019

Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. An international brand will command higher prices and additional customer demand.

Marketing 94

Marketing Patents Offshore Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Custom 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Look for customer-focused value creation. Seek innovation that begets invention. It doesn’t always work the other way around. Failure is an option.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. . Email readers, continue here…] Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service?

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 22, 2019

Blueland’s cleaners — a bathroom cleaner, glass cleaner, and multi-purpose cleaner — are sold as tablets that customers add to the cleaning containers the company provides. That would have been a botox bar that would sell cosmetic treatments to folks who wanted treatments, but didn’t want to pay high prices for them.

Design 161

Design Patents Los Angeles Ideas 161

Berkonomics

JULY 6, 2017

There was even talk of some phone companies using the patented system for serving communities of guests, not just from a single hotel. In most cases, it is the competitor with a better product, lower price, faster service, better reputation that is the threat. Back to 1996. So, I lost over a million for lack of market research.

Competition 266

Competition Research Summary Pricing 266

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

In other words, inventions are necessary but not sufficient to create real value for investors and customers. You need a viable business model and customers. Investors expect proof that your invention can be manufactured in volume, and can justify a sales price at least double the cost, to a large customer set that has money to spend.

Technical Review 86

Technical Review Patents Ideas Journal 86

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

We certainly want to hear about any positive feedback you have from potential customers on your idea, your prototype, and your business model, but that better not be the end of the story. Promote any inside relationships or customer base. Thus any order-of-magnitude cost reductions or customer value increases are very important.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Custom 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2022

It might be a patented technology, but it could also be the creativity of employees or logistic competencies of the company. This could be the utilization rate of a plant, the price premium of the brand, or the service offered or products sold. It is about identifying a core competence which others cannot match.

Organization 118

Organization Course Patents Entrepreneur 118

Berkonomics

MAY 8, 2014

The company has created a product that can be delivered as a service to medical clinicians anywhere in the world, enhancing their ability to understand their patents’ problems and needs in less time, using the expertise built into an expert system created by the best minds in many medical specialties.

Company 166

Company Companies Writing Education 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend. Any startup with no patents, trade secrets, or other secret sauce is very high risk today. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors. Implement a strategy for growth and improvement.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

I see too many executive summaries that are simply heavy-duty customer pitches, or lightweight visions of the future. " Investors want to buy into an entrepreneur with a startup that can provide evidence of an ability to double customer productivity, at half the cost, with patented technology.

Summary 101

Summary Patents Technical Review Competition 101

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2015

Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designed and marketed to deliver value that has genuine local relevance. An international brand will command higher prices and additional customer demand.

Patents 106

Patents Startup Offshore Demand 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2014

In other words, inventions are necessary but not sufficient to create real value for investors and customers. You need a viable business model and customers. Investors expect proof that your invention can be manufactured in volume and can justify a sales price at least double the cost to a large customer set that has money to spend.

Ideas 106

Ideas Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. I like patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, so this answer is a better sustainable competitive advantage than the other five answers. Martin Zwilling.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

Ask some potential customers to see if there is real interest, and start thinking about price versus cost. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks. Find out if something very similar is already selling, and who your competition would be if you proceed. Look hard at the technology for feasibility and risk.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Instead, find and quantify the specific demographics of the subset that your solution best fits, and target all your features and messaging to those customers. A near-term customer value proposition. In all cases, you need customer support, formal processes and training in place. Solution production and support.

Pricing 100

Pricing Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 100