Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2017

Customer service has traditionally been a support function to respond to customer initiated requests, meaning someone waits for the phone to ring or for a website support request form. The old days of routing a customer to a single phone queue for any request will quickly kill any brand loyalty or advocate referral.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Services Technical Review 95

Berkonomics

APRIL 21, 2022

Since then, that company has grown to the largest influencer marketing company in the world, with over $100 million in campaigns, $2 billion in measurable sales and trusted by 60% of the Fortune 500 companies. Expand your definition of advertising to include four, not just two methods of finding your potential customers.

Advertising 156

Advertising Media Social Media Newsletter 156

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Social proof is defined as “looking for others to guide our decisions&# and is also one of the most important techniques in acquiring customers in your company. Sometimes these markets never appeal to “normals&# (Chris Dixon’s definition) and other times it needs to be more effectively marketed to normals.

Marketing 294

Marketing Customer Custom Technical Review 294

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2022

Looking for an entrance into a VC, an angel group, a bank, a CxO for a sales opportunity, or any other entity? Few of your contacts will be willing to use their valuable social or political capital helping you with a sales effort, and you will definitely strain your relationship with the intermediary if not a close friend.

Ideas 156

Ideas Sales Competition Venture Capital 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Be passionate about what you are selling, and decide to be of service, by providing your customers with something of value in exchange for deserved payment. Make it real for you and your customers. Generate leads using social media, but don’t rely on it alone to make sales. entrepreneur focus Julie Steelman sales startup'

Sales 105

Sales Entrepreneur Mentor Customer 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. These only come with the proper training, investment in tools, and focus on customer relationships.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

First of all, a definition. Obviously this definition is generic, so my first recommendation is that you take the lead in defining traction metrics for your startup, and then selling your results convincingly to investors. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The more revolutionary the solution, the more important it is to educate customers on a solution’s existence and value.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. The more revolutionary the solution, the more important it is to educate customers on a solution’s existence and value.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

The canvas is a visual chart with elements describing your value proposition, structure, finances, and customers, to help companies identify and align business activities. I look for evidence of the nine major elements of the model canvas, as paraphrased here from the author’s key points and how they apply to teams: Customer segments.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2015

I write about sales often both because it’s the lifeblood of any organization and because in my experience it is the area in which more startups are least experienced or inclined. I also write and talk about it frequently because raising capital is a part of sales and this is important for entrepreneurs to understand.

Sales 150

Sales Startup Venture Capital Funding 150

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

But if you level up , raise capital and grow customers, revenue and staff – life changes. Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. Most companies that are scaling have CFOs, heads of HR or talent. You set direction. Engineering?

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2021

For example, I believe that Starbucks surprised most people by proving that they could take a commodity business, a coffee shop, and make it a worldwide profit winner, just by justifying premium pricing with a quality product, the right locations, personalized service, and appealing to the professional customer personas.

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Competition Examples 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2021

Entrepreneurs who are great problem solvers within any business are the best prepared to solve their customers’ needs effectively as well. In fact, every business is about solutions to customer problems – no problems, no business. Challenge the definition from all angles. Iteratively question the cause of the problem.

Startup 156

Startup Entrepreneur Sales Course 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2014

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. Thus customers and partners rely more and more on personal engagement with people. Sell yourself as the expert, and business sales will follow.

Customer 99

Customer Custom Startup Content 99

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on. I believe it’s flawed.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Tech.Co

APRIL 11, 2022

on each sale. And, in addition to the sellers themselves suspending sales, the strikers are urging Etsy customers to boycott this week as well, by avoiding any purchases through the platform. While operating your own store can be a challenge, it's definitely easier than ever to get started. Physical Product Sales.

Platform 133

Platform Startup Sales Pricing 133

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. People attending marquee conferences with rock bands, prominent speakers, Gartner Group prognosticators and lots of other happy customers. Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Our technology and Salted Analytics product helps us grow at the rate we want to and still maintain customer experience,” Applebaum said. “We million in annual sales, he added. Salted has created six brands so far, including moonbowls, Califlower Pizza and lulubowls, and serves food from Chinese takeout to pizza to salads.

Funding 186

Funding Los Angeles Invest Examples 186

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

But the no-longer nascent sneaker and streetwear market is a big market, with the potential to reach $30 billion in sales globally by 2030, according to a recent report by the research firm, Cowen ( cited by The Wall Street Journal , which first reported the financing). ” Money, it’s gotta be the shoes.

Commerce 255

Commerce Journal Los Angeles Research 255

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2021

Of course, we would all like to have a magic list based on more definitive tracking of many real startups over time. Offer customized products or services. By definition, a growth industry has a history and an outlook of at least double-digit annual growth. Choose a large market in a growth industry.

Startup 170

Startup Study Journal Sample 170

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions. That student is Erin McCann who formerly worked in sales at Google, so she has some ground to stand on in her assertions. Specifically, 1.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

socalTECH

JULY 17, 2019

We are across many platforms, and have a whole array of enterprise customers. It was a way for us to go to our enterprise customers, put a headset on them, and show them the imagery in 3D. We actually are the only automotive app developed for Magic Leap, and we're definitely developing for headsets.

Sales 124

Sales Research Content Edmunds 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

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. The most obvious, is to drive sales. With such big clients, how do you handle the inevitable requests for customization? How do you make those events happen?

Sales 100

Sales Santa Monica Startup Orange County 100

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

“The only success criteria of my startup career is whether GrubMarket can eventually make $100 billion of annual sales,” he said to me over both email and in a phone conversation. “We had to limit our daily delivery volume in some regions, and put new customers on waiting lists.”

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

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.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Social Media Invest Marketing 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. In fact, I would broaden the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.” Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I guess this is the ultimate definition of implementing a business model when you’re not clear on strategy! Compelling in the sense that you solve a real problem a target group of potential customers has with a product that is significantly better than the alternatives on that market. My take on his argument is this: 1.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2011

Be passionate about what you are selling, and decide to be of service, by providing your customers with something of value in exchange for deserved payment. Make it real for you and your customers. Generate leads using social media, but don’t rely on it alone to make sales. Claim your sweet spot. Craft your irresistible pitch.

Sales 93

Sales Entrepreneur Mentor Customer 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

An approach I suggest these days is for freelancers to contract for the actual role, probably part-time, of startup CFO, VP of Sales, or President. Another mistake many consultants make is to charge by the hour, and customers lose track and lose confidence as things change. Have "customers", not "clients."

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

If so, is it one critical customer or a trend? Is it time to focus more resources upon collections, credit research, or even time to “fire some customers” who continually break your rules or take up too much of your resources? A missed cash discount by your accounting department probably means that cash flow is getting tighter.

News 120

News Statistics Resource Sales 120

Berkonomics

JULY 18, 2019

By definition, your core is your intellectual property foundation, the thing that makes your business most valuable to customers, investors and perhaps someday to potential buyers of the business. Or we do so with brilliant research and development, highly trained sales forces, large advertising campaigns, or secret processes.

Patents 120

Patents Resource Training Advertising 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Very few of them are started, in my experience, by sales people and very few early stage companies really understand sales. That’s why I started the Sales & Marketing Series and at one point I will do a bunch of posts on the sales methodology we developed at my first company called PUCCKA. Almost by definition.

Startup 350

Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Based on traditional research, getting new customers is five to ten times harder than getting additional revenue from existing customers. If you are looking to start a new business in any domain, it’s definitely worth your time to check your fit for one of these models: Membership website model. Front-of-the-line model.

Startup 117

Startup Pricing Customer Custom 117