Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2021

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. This early stage is often called basic research , well before any specific commercially viable products might be envisioned. Commercial product prototypes. Product verification and clinical trials.

Help 165

Help Research Startup Funding 165

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Consumers buying through smart phones, travelers using the new, shared economy and businesses replacing old software with modern cloud-based solutions. It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Reasonable people will attempt to make the best of the status quo – unreasonable entrepreneurs with the proper dose of Confidence, Courage and Conviction will shape the status quo to facilitate your adVenture’s ultimate success. As made clear in Optimistically Pessimistic , most entrepreneurs’ experiences are not linear.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Paramount Startup Organization 252

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2017

How to you take the recurring revenue model--which has been popular with software and other online services--an apply that to physical products and services? Employees love it, because not only are they getting better tasking, healthier products, but also because they are continually discovering new snacks.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Services Sales Customer 124

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. Perspectium recently raised a funding round from TVC Capital.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Specific measures that go beyond the traditional linear thinking include the following: Develop new products for your existing segment. Rather than enhancing the offering you have, develop and offer new products that capitalize on the customers that you already know well. Redefine your product to reach a new category.

Examples 99

Examples IP Acquisition Social Media 99

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. While Hide.me

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2012

Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at the startup stages. It’s especially important to highlight your uniqueness in some easy to remember way, so people will think of you and what you do, in case they need your product or service. Dominate the category (even if you have to create a new one).

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Startup Customer Custom 98

socalTECH

JUNE 30, 2016

Phil Hui-Bon-Hoa , the CEO of El Segundo-based Kaleo (www.kaleo.com), is a serial entrepreneur who has previously built and sold four companies, including one acquired by IFILM, and another by Sun Microsystems. We're trying to save companies money, and increase the productivity of employees.

El Segundo 169

El Segundo Southern California Startup CTO Hire 169

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2019

com), which is developing analytics software which leverages mobile phones for data on customers. Portnoy is a serial entrepreneur, having previously founded ThinkNear, a startup which went from the Techstars startup accelerator to an exit in only 14 months. That's the basic premise of the company.

Startup 113

Startup Culver City Competition Customer 113

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? I want to understand how many units the company is selling, whether this is increasing over time and how well they’re doing at retaining the customers that they do acquire. Is it one product line or multiple? Thus the trade off between profits & growth.

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2013

Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at the startup stages. It’s especially important to highlight your uniqueness in some easy to remember way, so people will think of you and what you do, in case they need your product or service. Dominate the category (even if you have to create a new one).

Startup 109

Startup Customer Custom Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2018

As an advisor to new business owners, and an occasional angel investor, I see new business proposals daily, many seeking investors to fund early research and development (R&D) of a new product idea. Funding new product research and development is just too risky, with a large time delay before any return is likely.

Research 57

Research Develop Development Funding 57

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2009

Helping entrepreneurs succeed. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. Murano Software (www.muranosoft.com). Your Software Development Partner. Cox Communications - Orange County - Looking for Product Marketing Manager. Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com).

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California IP 100

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2019

Richards--a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in a number of technology companies here, including NTI Group (sold to Blackboard), Internships.com, MP3.com, Now we have a thousand large companies into it, and if you name a big company, they're a customers of ours, from Starbucks to NASA. What is CareerArc?

Content 193

Content Social Network Coach Help 193

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2013

We caught up with CEO Dev Bhatia --a serial entrepreneur who''s been involved with such companies at Hotsocket, Screaming Media (IPO), and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo)--to learn more about. Dev Bhatia: Search2 is next generation search software, built from the ground up. Who are the customers for your technology? What is SRCH2?

Technology 216

Technology Google Commerce Southern California 216

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. 6:00 – 7:30). 11:40-14:15).

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2009

Helping entrepreneurs succeed. Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Murano Software (www.muranosoft.com). Your Software Development Partner. Cox Communications - Orange County - Looking for Product Marketing Manager. Silicon Valley Bank (www.svb.com).

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California Westlake Village 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

As the Global Customer Growth Evangelist at Salesforce, with implementation roles at many other companies, she makes a host of relevant observations for every business owner. These days, customers remember the total experience with a company longer than they remember the price they paid. Pursue strategic alliances and partnerships.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2011

The device is an alarm-clock like, Internet connected electronic product developed by the firm of the same name, San Diego-based Chumby (www.chumby.com). The firm is now run by Derrick Oien , who an experience entrepreneur, who was the founder of Intercasting Corporation, and a member of the management team which sold MP3.com

Startup 159

Startup Google San Diego Content 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Unfortunately, in this age of vacillating customer trends and a wealth of new competitors scratching and clawing for a piece of the action, long-term growth requires constant focus. The new strategy here is to focus on unmet new customer needs, rather than enhancing the offering you have – product, price, promotion, and place (4Ps).

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Product 67

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. And there’s this other thing called “gross margin,” which shows the quality of your revenue.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

” I mention journalists here because they perpetuate the myth that focusing on profits is ALWAYS the right answer and then I hear many entrepreneurs (and certainly many “normals”) repeating the same mantra. I have had this discussion with many a first-time entrepreneur. Is it one product line or multiple?

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 14, 2016

In the corporate world, events are more than just an event�they are opportunity to connect with your customers and turn potential customers into buyers. Ryan Costello: We're a software company. What that means, is we have a software tool, used primarily by companies who are putting on events for marketing reasons.

Sales 100

Sales Santa Monica Startup Orange County 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2014

Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at early startup stages. It’s especially important to highlight your uniqueness in some easy to remember way, so people will think of you and what you do, in case they need your product or service. Dominate the category (even if you have to create a new one).

Startup 98

Startup Tips Customer Custom 98

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

Jody--an experienced entrepreneur who was most recently co-founder of a firm he sold to the Virgin Group, and has been involved with such firms as Lycos, Buydirect.com, and Xoom--told us the story of EcoMom, plus how he connected with McClure on the investment. We caught up with EcoMom CEO Jody Sherman , to learn more about the company.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. The 10 Most Tempting Software Startup Categories - OnStartups , March 1, 2010 I’ve been in the software startup business for a long time.

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

There was a lot of consumer internet activity again…resurgence of things, but it was still mysterious, venture capital was still kind of closed, 1st time entrepreneurs had a lot of questions that were unanswered, and there was still some sort of hand waiving around all the financing stuff and so we took it on….”. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2018

Jonathan Neddenriep: So, the core of what we've built in Postie, is a machine learning stack that ingests who your current customers are, and figures out who across every household in the United States is most likely to become a customer based on that data. We build on those audiences, and find others that look alike.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Marketing 100

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

Our clients are retail, technology, consumer product goods, and other companies who are trying to address challenges with a very complex, digital marketing mix they face every day. Smartify''s software-as-a-service platform automates all aspects of their digital marketing, across their channels, including mobile, social, email, and web.

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

You’ll learn about competitive products that exist or are being built. You’ll gauge people’s excitement level for the product and for various features. Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2010

Kevin Strong: FutureDash is a software company, and our core technology is actually focused on real-time dashboards, primarily for consumers and small businesses. We're enabling people with access to the channel, to add energy monitoring to their products. Our server software sits on those devices very easily.

Startup 140

Startup OCTANE Outsource Development Google 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2017

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. You can jump into social media with a poor brand definition, poorly focused content, unrealistic expectations of customer service, or be killed by malware or viruses.

Social Media 58

Social Media Media Platform Tool 58

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2017

What we've developed, is an Android app that allows us to open up financial access to customers in emerging markets. The really, really exciting this, is in emerging markets, customers have been underserved by financial institutions for years, because they lack credit scores. Also, as you mention, we're far away from our customers.

Startup 100

Startup Santa Monica Customer Custom 100

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. You could just outspend. You could use brute force to get the word out. Innovative.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248