Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2023

In my small business consultancy, I see this daily, per you owners and professionals struggling with the challenges of new markets and new competitors. Leading change is even harder, trying to balance the demands of the customers against the needs and expectations of employees. But you have to change to survive and thrive.

Satisfaction 130

Satisfaction IBM IBM Summary 130

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

I just finished a new book, “ Shortcut Your Startup ,” by the entrepreneur brothers Courtney and Carter Reum, and I like their summary of five critical changes in the market that every entrepreneur should capitalize on: Pervasive computer usage is now the great equalizer. Tools allow marketing in a much more targeted way.

Marketing 57

Marketing Startup Entrepreneur Social Media 57

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

When a product is truly unique and demanded a retailer willingly promotes and sells it en masse in part because it does get margin on the good but also because it brings customers in the door who spend on other products. Ariel understood her customer?—?the So Why Does This Matter? the modern buyer of home products?—?better

Product 296

Product Course Custom Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2022

First, a quick summary of the major U.S. 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. Gronbach is well-known for his generational research and keen forecasting of societal trends.

Demand 103

Demand Startup Course Summary 103

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2022

I believe these same mindsets are equally applicable to the entrepreneurs I mentor, and all of you small business leaders, so I offer you my summary of the authors’ conclusions, paraphrased here, with my own insights: Be bold in vision, strategy, and resource allocation. Get organization alignment through culture and talent.

Template 109

Template Demand Social Media Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2022

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. Here is my summary of the ten top creativity mistakes we both still see too often: Criticize any new idea or employee suggestion.

Ideas 111

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Startup 94

Startup Marketing Training Statistics 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Other customers routinely pay late, or only after they receive one or more prompts from you.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Custom 86

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2019

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Startup 94

Startup Training Statistics Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2019

It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service.

Startup 97

Startup Education Custom Customer 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2019

As an advisor to business owners, and an occasional angel investor, my job is to separate the actual challenges from the common misconceptions that distract many promising entrepreneurs while building the leadership team required for your solution, marketing, and finance success. Partner with experts who share the risk.

Software Review 98

Software Review Ideas Outsource Development Entrepreneur 98

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. As I like to say, “If you’re really on to an enormous idea then other people in the market are going to spot that and want to compete with you. If you don’t, somebody else WILL!” ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

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. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. Here is my summary of the ten top creativity mistakes we both still see too often: Criticize any new idea or employee suggestion.

Ideas 94

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2017

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Startup 56

Startup Training Statistics Summary 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2014

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Training Statistics 110

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2013

It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service.

Startup 117

Startup Education Custom Customer 117

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2012

Montgomery, which does a great job of laying out specifics, but also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant. Selling too early triggers customer defenses and drives them away. A startup must maintain a laser focus.

Startup 99

Startup Education Custom Customer 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2016

It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service.

Capital 58

Capital Startup Education Custom 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2014

Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market. Seek out customer trends before they become an avalanche. Find mentors who have the skills you lack.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Summary 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

By profit, I simply mean offering a product or service to customers for a price that exceeds the total costs associated with the solution, thus providing some basis for recovering sunk costs and generating a return for stakeholders. Solve a painful problem for customers who have money to spend.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Ideas Pricing Custom 58

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Startup 93

Startup Training Statistics Summary 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2014

Following is a summary of the challenges that Susan and other “experts” have outlined: Finding a match between your offering and a celebrity. You should start with a service like Q Scores , which attempts to measure the appeal of various celebrities within your target market. Customers are a fickle bunch.

Help 96

Help Startup Entrepreneur Summary 96

InfoChachkie

JUNE 23, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : DataPop simplifies the lives of marketers and gives them the tools they need to build ads that people love to click on. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Jason’s responses. The catalyst was that we saw the demand and it was confirmed by some of the leading advertisers in the marketplace.

Yahoo 210

Yahoo Startup Advertising Summary 210

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

Service as a bridge to a product business - One of the best ways for young startups to finance their business without any dilution is what I call “customer financing,&# which is mostly only possible in businesses that target businesses rather than consumers. You own the IP you create. It’s pure irony.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2012

Following is a summary of the challenges that Susan and other “experts” have outlined: Finding a match between your offering and a celebrity. You should start with a service like Q Scores , which attempts to measure the appeal of various celebrities within your target market. Customers are a fickle bunch.

Startup 85

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Summary 85

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Following is a summary of the challenges that Susan and other “experts” have outlined: Finding a match between your offering and a celebrity. Does your marketing budget allow you to roll out the red carpet to meet celebrity lifestyles, including the investment in appearances, videos, and perks? Customers are a fickle bunch.

Startup 92

Startup Summary Examples Entrepreneur 92

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. Here is my summary of the ten top creativity mistakes we both still see too often: Criticize any new idea or employee suggestion.

Ideas 56

Ideas Framework Summary Organization 56

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2010

Despite their own focus on changing the world, they often forget that they too have to change rapidly and often as the market evolves. How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Increase change agility.

Startup 78

Startup Training Statistics Summary 78

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

SEO marketing vs. social marketing. I’ve been involved with SaaS companies with VCs who don’t understand demand generation, lead qualification, sales coverage ratios, sales forecasting or frankly when deals should be inside sales vs. outside sales. Think of web vs. mobile. Traditional software vs. SaaS.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Ever had a meeting with a CEO who was really short with you, demanded the answer quickly and was fidgety while you spoke? For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. OK, I understand your market is big. It’s in their personality type.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

If you want to watch the show click the image above or this link , but if you want a quick read – here’s a summary: 1. The A round was done in February 2000 (end of the bull market) and my B round was done in April 2001 (bear market). We will continue to do more of this. A: It’s not best.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

To be clear, I define a product specification as the technical definition of your product, to be used for development and testing purposes, with a quick business summary for context. Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value. Quantify the market opportunity in business terms. They want to see revenue to share in the return.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169