Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. o Huge on PR, “Be Everywhere” is his motto – fly to NY, proactively everywhere he could get press. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. To make PR big you need to find a way to “make news”.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

Understand the Gravity of the Situation for Your Customers. The obvious starting points to think to yourself are: Has something happened that fundamentally affects my customers or partners? We learned that from the original “gate.&# If you were hacked and customer passwords were stolen, get the story to your customers ASAP.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people. So they create a task list of all the marketing activities an organization can do: press releases, web site updates, customer case studies, blog posts, daily Tweets, Facebook fan page, attending conferences, etc.

Startup 323

Startup Press Development Team Review SEM 323

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Use your favorite search engine and keywords describing your solution to find online sales reports, trade association statistics, and online newsletters with the latest statistics. Explore municipal development resources. Conduct your own customized market research. Peruse company reports from your business domain.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

We just knew that we were onto an idea that no one had thought of and we had better be in the press first because, of course, there is a first-mover advantage. Mark implores the students to seek startup opportunities which allow them to develop what he believes to be the two most important startup skills, programming and selling.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR. You can always spot these types because they can’t tell you what their revenue number for last month was or what their sales target is for next month. But ask yourself, what does a COO actually do?

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

But like the company Kyriba, where we recently sold our position at above $1 billion, it took time until the revenue exceeded $100 million recurring and then the industry really competed to back this amazing company since it had scale, defensible technology and long-term, committed customers. Over the past 2.5 Why does that matter?

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

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. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

Founders read the tech press every day filled with stories about these $20 million fund-raisings by this firm and that firm and it sounds like everybody else is doing it except for you. When you read about the funding in the press it sounds like it was a walk in the park. But if you can stay in the game you can often find that one yes.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group with two people. They are tasked with “getting deals done” so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2016

From Aspiration to Hero For companies that do have that moment of success where everything seems to come together: funding, hiring, customers, PR, product releases and so forth — you have a “hero” moment where you feel invincible. Or some teams who start driving revenue paper over the fact that they aren’t acquiring customers profitably.

Startup 150

Startup Press Entrepreneur Funding 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Use your favorite search engine and keywords describing your solution to find online sales reports, trade association statistics, and online newsletters with the latest statistics. Explore municipal development resources. Conduct your own customized market research. Peruse company reports from your business domain.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. Ariel understood her customer?—?the This is an age-old marketplace tension where leverage often determines the value captured.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

We hadn’t even thought about having a customer support line or who would staff it. Our customers were generally happy but they were pushing us hard for promised features. Our business development discussions took longer than planned. Our sales forecasts were revised downward – many times. We were unprepared.

Startup 331

Startup Press Customer Custom 331

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

InfoChachkie

APRIL 13, 2015

Because I am cheap and I know that car dealers are incentivized by the manufacturer to hit quarterly and annual sales goals. Thus, the value of a sale at the end of a quarter can be significant, if the sale contributes to obtaining a manufacturer''s incentive. Avoid The End-Of-The-Quarter Trou Drop.

Pricing 100

Pricing Startup Sales SaaS 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It’s a continual process. Should any money go to PR at all?

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

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. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

Nobody likes to hear you say, “we can’t tell you anything we’re in stealth mode&# so develop some generic talking points that don’t give anything away when you’re asked what you do. But don’t let this information get out into the general press and don’t market more than a few months out.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on startup advice but also filed under my sales & marketing posts. The only problem is that you can’t afford all of these expensive direct sales reps to go and sell it. Sort of amortizing the costs of their sales reps over more products. You decide to go out and hire a sales rep.

Startup 293

Startup Sales Marketing Product 293

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

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. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw a while back, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

StartUp Beat

MARCH 29, 2018

Spokespeople from Electric said the funding will directly contribute to developing the company’s fast technology that provides a customer support channel to small- and medium-sized businesses. The press released added that Bessemer Venture Partners partner Bob Goodman will be joining Electric as a partner.

Funding 40

Funding Startup Press Email 40

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2014

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. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I saw recently, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Tips Marketing Entrepreneur 103

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 a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. How long does it take me to pay back my original customer acquisition costs?

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product. Markets develop for a complex set of factors that are often beyond all of our control.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

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. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I just saw today, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

The best ones bring in more executive leadership so you can appropriate allocate resources across sales, marketing, product, engineering and support. At the B-round great teams often hire their first business development person. B round companies need to also look for scaling opportunities. Objection Handling training.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in. Things go wrong.

Startup 100

Startup Press Design Product 100

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. The resulting credibility will help you establish future business development and customer relationships. Your pitch will be far more compelling to prospective customers and business partners when you have physical evidence of your partnership with a BDC. Deploy a Free Pilot.

Outsource Development 170

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 170

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2016

I ended up really relating to the nuance and intricacies of product supply and customer demand. Some of the more crucial skills in the fashion business include the ability to observe and translate trends, understand your customer and work well with cross-functional teams. Secondly, eCommerce is a powerful marketing platform for us.

Sites 100

Sites Sales Santa Barbara Design 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

What I love about my job is getting to see teams of super-early-stage companies develop ideas that while raw have potential to make an impact on the market. It freed up Ophir to grow out our sales organization, to work more closely with agencies, to innovate on product and to raise capital. It literally can put you out of business.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in. Things go wrong.

Startup 91

Startup Press Design Sales 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

Use your favorite search engine and keywords describing your solution to find online sales reports, trade association statistics, and online newsletters with the latest statistics. Explore municipal development resources. Conduct your own customized market research. Peruse company reports from your business domain.

Research 87

Research Marketing Statistics Report 87

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. So if all I need to do is make some customer calls, interview potential employees or help with his fund-raising decks – hallelujah. Assigns tasks.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in. Things go wrong.

Startup 98

Startup Press Design Sales 98

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. The resulting credibility will help you establish future business development and customer relationships. Your pitch will be far more compelling to prospective customers and business partners when you have physical evidence of your partnership with a BDC. Deploy a Free Pilot.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

I was looking for a person to head up my UK sales team. But he also used to opportunity to emphasize that he is full of stamina, works late and hard and had always performed well in his previous sales leadership roles for which he’s be happy to provide pay slips as proof. One of the people who came to see me was named Nick.

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Startup Training Sales 264