Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2014

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Social Media Outsource Development 96

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2021

Zeb Evans: Holistically, there's a huge demand for more flexibility or remote work. The demand is there, we've certainly seen that. We were flexible pre-pandemic, and definitely more flexible post-pandemic. Who are your typical customers? We see a lot of people in engineering demanding the flexibility to work remotely.

Doc 203

Doc San Diego Demand Product 203

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2015

In addition to obvious economic challenges, the emerging generation of customers is determined to radically change the rules for customer engagement. He makes a convincing argument that it’s time for every company to get prepared for the next customer generation, or your company is heading toward life support.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Social Media Outsource Development 97

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

It seems that most of you entrepreneurs I meet in my role as business advisor are convinced that starting a new business requires equity investors, exponential growth, and a plan to go public via IPO. If your passion is customers, you definitely will be happier as a lifestyle entrepreneur.

Statistics 124

Statistics Equity Satisfaction Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2022

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Startup 115

Startup Resource Training Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

In the creation of a young company, there are five principal risks to be addressed by the entrepreneur. So, it is important for the entrepreneur to identify, address and mitigate each of these in order to increase valuation and decrease the risk of ultimate loss of the business. Second: Market risk. . Third: Management risk. .

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

I hear too often from business owners and entrepreneurs that they are bombarded by so many requests and problems, that they have trouble sorting out the daily crises from opportunities with a major payback for the business. In fact, you need to carve out time every day for improving customer relationships.

Coach 120

Coach Satisfaction Customer Custom 120

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

The logic in this is simple: once a company has market share, other issues can be sorted out to monetize the market, make the company profitable, scoop up wavering competitors, or even sell the company to a larger firm looking for a large customer base. And it’s a contemporary problem. Angel investors are more tolerant of this than VCs.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2021

As a business adviser, I often see entrepreneurs practicing what Tom Peters calls the “ ready-fire-aim ” go-to-market strategy to their detriment. There is no substitute for talking to customers, analyzing your competition, and honing your solution to meet a target market segment. You already have a large and loyal customer base.

Marketing 138

Marketing Demand IBM IBM 138

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2020

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. Crowdfunding to gauge demand is not recommended, since failed campaigns don’t usually recover later.

Startup 151

Startup Equity Funding Demand 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. What you don’t realize is these famous investors only deal with entrepreneurs who sold their last company for a $100M dollars or more.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2022

If every entrepreneur could predict the future, starting the right new business would be easy. That means that starting soon, our doctors, hospitals, eldercare, hospice and even death care systems are going to face unprecedented demand. Autos for drivers: Waning market demand. Technology won’t solve this one. Women: On the move.

Demand 103

Demand Startup Course Summary 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Entrepreneur 97

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Activity 100

Activity Customer Custom Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

One of the big decisions every aspiring entrepreneur has to make is when to quit your current job to devote yourself fulltime to your new startup. I’m definitely a proponent of the multitasked approach, since every new venture is inherently risky, and startups usually take longer to ramp up than you imagine. Which is right?

Startup 153

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Statistics 153

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Resource Training 106

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Startup 94

Startup Resource Training Ideas 94

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In addition, like an entrepreneur with a new business, you have to factor in all the indirect costs previously covered by employers, including training, health care, and time off for vacations. In fact, thinking like an entrepreneur is a good strategy today for success, even if you are currently in a long-term employment situation.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Berkonomics

MAY 21, 2015

The logic in this is simple: once a company has market share, other issues can be sorted out to monetize the market, make the company profitable, scoop up wavering competitors, or even sell the company to a larger firm looking for a large customer base. Scaling a business is an art as well as a science.

Venture Capital 120

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2022

In my work with entrepreneurs and business leaders, a common question I get is how to be a better communicator. Showing more empathy definitely requires that you focus on increasing your emotional intelligence , or EQ. A business leader’s time demands never end – it’s impossible to focus on every request with the same urgency.

Activity 113

Activity Organization Guide Demand 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2019

I like the more appropriate definition of courage, and how to use it in business, in a new book, “ Return On Courage ,” by Ryan Berman, whose leadership consultancy has trained many brands how to do it right. You need to make believers out of your board, employees, prospects, as well as customers.

Ideas 89

Ideas Training Examples Organization 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2015

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Startup 109

Startup Resource Training Ideas 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

A theme I often hear from the entrepreneurs and startups I advise is that once they see that first surge of traction from customers, they can relax and enjoy life for a change. Most businesses have learned to ask their customers what they want, and then work diligently to provide it.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2019

I saw that, if you build a good product that customers love, that people love to use, how you need to market it, how you need to run that project, and so forth. That's when it clicked for me, realizing that for some reason, everything online is on-demand. That definitely applied here, and that's the way it usually works.

Startup 124

Startup Content Demand Netflix 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Activity Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Successful entrepreneurs must never stop looking for ways to improve their own productivity, as well as the efficiency and momentum of the team. The need for this focus may seem obvious to you, but I still hear many complaints from entrepreneurs and employees alike on the hours they work, and how they are underpaid for their time.

Training 105

Training Entrepreneur Tool Metrics 105

Steve Reich

JUNE 5, 2016

This week, I met a prospective customer who was interested in our Apps, but had a real problem. “What happens to me when you get acquired?” ” he demanded angrily. Customers buy innovation from young companies, but worry that that innovation may evaporate post exit. It was a fair question.

Startup 40

Startup Customer Custom Demand 40

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Startup 57

Startup Resource Training Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Most of the guidance you see for entrepreneurs is aimed at those who are selling a product (Apple, Tesla, Xiaomi), or selling a service (Uber, Airbnb, Snapchat). The “product” value is difficult to quantify, the costs are nebulous, and entrepreneurs have to clone themselves to scale the business.

Social Media 56

Social Media Pricing Technical Review Demand 56