Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. In fact, we now live in a buyer-led digital age, where the traditional media push-marketing efforts just don’t work.

Marketing 174

Marketing Invest Demand Metrics 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Start with feedback from real customers, set measurable objectives, and make sure rewards and incentives are tempered by customer experiences, rather than only internal thresholds.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

Key Functions with High Impact Generative AI is revolutionizing sales by enabling dynamic pricing and personalized customer interactions, boosting conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Post-sale, AI analyzes customer data to improve service and loyalty, making it a cornerstone of modern sales methodologies.

Generative AI 295

Generative AI TechEmpower CTO Hire Outsource Development 295

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

Customer 150

Customer Custom Design Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2022

We are living in a new generation of business, where customers drive the experience, and highly engaged employees are required to keep up with customer expectations. The bottom line is that by directing your actions toward helping others pursue their dreams and customer dreams, you will make amazing progress in achieving your own.

Customer 152

Customer Custom Coach Satisfaction 152

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late.

Marketing 141

Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

As a long-time business executive and adviser to entrepreneurs, I see a definitive shift away from customer trust in traditional business messages, and the executives who deliver them. I summarize the key elements of the transformation as follows: Customers are seeking control in a run-away world.

Customer 173

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. Start with feedback from real customers, set measurable objectives, and make sure rewards and incentives are tempered by customer experiences, rather than only internal thresholds.

Customer 168

Customer Custom Services Startup 168

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2018

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. In fact, we now live in a buyer-led digital age, where the traditional media push-marketing efforts just don’t work.

Metrics 57

Metrics Demand Marketing Paramount 57

Berkonomics

JULY 31, 2014

Marketing is a science devised to help drive customers to your door. There are lots of ways to define how to market well, including the four P’s of marketing (1): product, price, promotion and place. These are still the driving focus behind most marketing courses, and deserve to be so. We can go on forever.

Marketing 201

Marketing Demand Pricing Customer 201

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Wrench , the Seattle-based on demand vehicle maintenance and repair service for consumers and fleets, has raised $20 million in its latest round of financing. RepairSmith , which operates a similar service out of Los Angeles and San Francisco, is backed by Daimler to provide much the same on-demand repair services.

Demand 100

Demand Services Los Angeles Mobile 100

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 11, 2021

Photo by Vanna Phon on Unsplash Customer acquisition is the lifeblood of many startups from e-commerce to gaming to marketplace companies, among others. Most of these startups spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget in today’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snap, TikTok and so on because?—?no no surprise?—?that’s

Product 424

Product Platform Advertising Acquisition 424

socalTECH

APRIL 16, 2019

Santa Barbara-based software developer HG Insights is powering a new market research offering from research and advisory giant Forrester, to power Forrester's new Business Technographics Service.

Research 133

Research Marketing Santa Barbara Sales 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Viral marketing and word-of-mouth are not enough these days to make your product and brand visible in the relentless onslaught of new promotional media out there today. Innovation in marketing is perhaps more important than product innovation. Yet in the business plans I see, the marketing content and budget are smaller than ever.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Marketing Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2022

Market your solution and user benefits, not the mysterious technology behind it. There seems to be an insatiable demand from consumers for a better shopping experience, meaning they will pay a premium to a company that can present them a better match in products to their interests, without jeopardizing their good name.

Customer 137

Customer Custom Technical Review Symantec 137

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2021

It’s a project that will create solar-powered home batteries for eligible ConEd customers. It’s what’s called a “non-wires solution” to the demand problem, Swell’s spokesperson said. Early Stage is the premier “how-to” event for startup entrepreneurs and investors.

Southern California 237

Southern California Company Companies Glendale 237

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2023

Sales people tend to remember the latest product when selling to clients, not the one best for that customer. Even good decisions today will require adjustments as the environment or customers change. It is possible to be creative on demand, and to demand creativity in your startup. Not always to good effect.

Marketing 119

Marketing Metrics Demand Statistics 119

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2011

Santa Monica-based Demand Media said today that it has enhanced the firm's Pluck Reviews product, which power online ratings and reviews for brand websites. Demand Media said that it has added a new set of capabilities called "Trust Filters", which sorts reviews from Facebook friends and community friends on top of other reviews.

Demand 153

Demand Media Santa Monica Commerce 153

Berkonomics

AUGUST 16, 2018

Markets and competitors change. Over the years, I have often heard the complaint from CEO friends that they have become so swamped by the demands of their growing businesses that they feel themselves further and further from the center of their industry, no longer at the forefront of information and competitive development.

Marketing 120

Marketing Demand Media Entrepreneur 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Place your cash bets behind proven demand. The term, “demand pull – cost push” was created by the great economist, John Maynard Keynes, to describe the two primary drivers of economic inflation. All of our enterprises have limited resources, even the largest of the Fortune 500, and especially the smallest of competitors in a market.

Demand 136

Demand Resource Pricing Study 136

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

The cybersecurity insurance market is expected to become a $23 billion industry by 2025, driven in part by an explosion in connected devices and new regulatory regimes under Europe’s GDPR and more recently California’s state-wide privacy law. It’s a huge move for the company, which only closed its Series B in February.

Startup 288

Startup Demand Los Angeles Customer 288

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Marketing is everything these days. You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Postmates is now rolling out what could be the biggest update to the company’s service in a long time — adding a retail option for users to shop local stores and for local merchants to set up a virtual on-demand storefront in the app. “ Most of the LA metro area will have access to the tab. As case counts spike in the U.S.

Sales 249

Sales Los Angeles Beverly Hills Demand 249

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2015

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. In fact, we now live in a buyer-led digital age, where the traditional media push-marketing efforts just don’t work.

Metrics 101

Metrics Marketing Demand Paramount 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

New technology markets and paradigm shifts have traditionally been bad bets when seeking investors, since these were known to take decades to develop, and cost lots of money. For example, consider how many years it took for the market to move from radio to television, or fully accept personal computers on every desktop.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. Jeff Bezos has kept his focus on customers. Practice continuous bar-raising for your talent pool.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Since 2009 we’ve been in an unequivocal bull market. 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.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Have you ever noticed that some of your business owner friends get all the bad customers, and yours all seem fairly reasonable? I’m always amazed that, in my role as a business advisor, bad customers somehow seem to gang up on certain businesses. Being unreasonably demanding of others. Or is it the other way around?

Customer 89

Customer Custom Demand Pricing 89

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2019

Is your marketing focus product-centric or customer-centric ? With a wealth of products now available, customers look for the most memorable experience , not just the best product. Amazon is very customer-centric, but it can make all the difference in retail as well as online.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Product Metrics 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Accelerating worldwide competition and financial upheavals are undermining established market positions.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 26, 2022

At the time, the company raised $2 million, and Alexandrov said about the perceived competition, “The level of competition in this market in the U.S. On-demand grocery startup Food Rocket launches in the Bay Area, goes up against delivery giants. We are creating new habits of customers.

Funding 246

Funding Demand Los Angeles Competition 246

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

How can marketers make better decisions and get better results from their online marketing? Pasadena-based Smartify (www.getsmartify.com)''s CEO, Carla Bourque , recently talked to us about the company''s online marketing platform, and how it differentiates itself from a lot of other competitors in the market.

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

Every business owner and entrepreneur like you I work with wishes they could better predict product demand and sales, for managing inventory and long-term business planning. I was impressed with the analysis and recommendation offered in a recent book, “ Trust the Plan: Demand Management For Business Leaders, ” by Greg Spira.

Metrics 81

Metrics Demand Statistics Sample 81

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Good Eggs says that in the past year, revenue has grown to the nine figures (more than $100 million), hired more than 400 employees and nearly doubled its customer base. So the team was busy enough trying to operate a new warehouse, meet increased demand for grocery delivery and keep workers safe in the process.

Southern California 318

Southern California Orange County San Diego Commerce 318

TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2020

” The new financing from Humana will go to support Heal’s geographic expansion, product development, and sales and marketing, Desai said. We continue to see high levels of customer satisfaction and improved health outcomes when care is delivered in the home.

Services 244

Services Invest Demand Los Angeles 244

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2022

Unfortunately, in this new age of rapid market change and harder-to-satisfy customers, you can’t assume that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow. Innovative product and process solutions are only temporary, as they quickly become a commodity in the minds of customers and competitors. You and your friends are not the market.

Entrepreneur 144

Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Social Media Commerce 144

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 29, 2021

an on-demand repair app for electric vehicle charging stations, has seen these issues firsthand. One customer assumed that poor usage rates at a particular station was due to a lack of EVs in the area, Terry recalled in a recent interview. . Demand for ChargerHelp’s service has attracted customers and investors.

Incubator 287

Incubator Outsource Development Los Angeles Startup 287