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. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Give your own customers the same consideration.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 10, 2018

I remind founders that the no’s come early because it’s super easy to qualify out a deal that you know is unlikely due to stage, focus, geography, competitive deal you’ve done or even just the fact that you’re too busy right now. When you read about the funding in the press it sounds like it was a walk in the park. It only takes one.

Press 232

Press Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 232

socalTECH

JUNE 23, 2017

The insurance industry today is one of the last industries to fully jump into adopting technology for offering up their products, says Wayne Slavin , CEO and founder of SURE (www.sureapp.com), and just needs some help in getting there. We're here to serve, as a technology distribution platform, to help those insurance carriers become digital.

Southern California 244

Southern California Technical Review Startup Commerce 244

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. 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.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Scot Lawrie , the President and technical Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Coverfly (www.coverfly.com), and John Rhodes , Coverfly's head of Marketing and Business Development, to learn a bit more about the early stage, bootstrapped startup focused on Hollywood script writers.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. This is probably because many founders are product or technology people. I only found out through customer meetings.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Customer 346

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. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Give your own customers the same consideration.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2016

How do you apply technology to help improve that industry? We want to handle everything from helping them with due diligence, making offers and making counteroffers, reporting to sellers, checking out analytics, figuring out how well deals are tracking, and everything to manage properties, to best and finals with buyers.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Startup Mobile Marketing 100

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. The resulting credibility will help you establish future business development and customer relationships.

Outsource Development 170

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 170

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. The resulting credibility will help you establish future business development and customer relationships.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. Focus on your customers and don’t obsess about deals or keeping up with your competitors releases.&#. I’m doing due diligence on a company of another entrepreneur in LA whose company was apparently doing very well.

Technical Review 276

Technical Review Startup Press Pricing 276

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

For decades the “layering&# of technology has allowed us to develop IT systems and networks in a specialized way that let’s best-of-breed technology solutions to emerge at each layer of the stack and to allow people with different skill sets to specialize in key areas without having to have competence in every technology arena.

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343

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. How many customers will have any idea what this means to them? You need to clearly convey what makes your startup the only choice for your customers.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. Try charging customers for your product when you have 12 competitors giving the product away free finances by $20 million of VC.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

An Insider’s Perspective “Bird Zero” that are custom designed by the company There is a story arc of the electric scooter market that took the world by storm in 2018, was second-guessed late in the year and has quietly re-emerged as a powerful force of growth where few really appreciate the speed and scale of what has happened.

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

socalTECH

MAY 7, 2010

Marc Friedmann: SciVee serves the STM - Science, Technical, Medical - market. It's a pretty established, mature market, which has existed since the beginning of the printing press, but has evolved forward for hundreds of years and has been going through a lot of changes in the last twenty years. How did you get involved in the company?

Journal 124

Journal Technical Review UCSD Web 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Photo by Hope House Press - Leather Diary Studio on Unsplash It’s also true that there will be tough moments in your company’s journey where you will want to be able to carry people behind the tough decisions you want. This is part of a broader series on Board Meetings. But what are the KEY ISSUES management is grappling with.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

You do a startup and decide you want somebody to step in and run the company so you can focus on technical excellence. You want somebody who can raise $15 million to build out your R&D, business development and sales organizations. I am a strong believer that leadership and team development comes from these daily interactions.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Develop an attitude of gratitude and humility. Smart business executives learn to use new technology software to give them new insights and more free time. They see customer support as positive lessons to improve quality and processes.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

I suppose I should have imagined that this line would get more press than all other comments combined. Responses ranged from, “hey, they’re in a HUGE market&# to “it is an amazing company and their technology rocks.&# customers who paid for services often get burned. Fair enough. You feel it, too.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

But having lived through 3 downturns in my working career I have developed a point-of-view. I get company portfolio requests (review board packs, sign legal docs, help with fund raising, review a new candidates resume, help with press release, request for meeting to discuss topics, etc.). I read 95% of my email.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. If you use a publisher, they may add more visibility with press releases and book-signing events.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. If you allow your prospective partner or customer to milk the cow for free , they will resist paying for it. If you enter into a development or trial partnership for free, you are allowing the BDC to forestall its ultimate determination of the value of the partnership. Press Release Rights.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

That is when no customers wanted to work with Internet startups because we as an industry had burned so many customers. I learned how to integrate customers into our product development process. I learned how to get press coverage when we were no longer “hot.&# I learned how to manage costs effectively.

Startup 285

Startup Venture Capital Sales Software Review 285

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

I want to know how many people, their level of tech sophistication, their age and their interests. And if we’re reflective, it’s also one of the most important success criteria for investors, senior executives, tech writers and virtually anybody involved in business leadership. So I thought I would. That’s a shame.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. Which button do you press? Your remote control has two buttons.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 1, 2011

We were invited to play with double Grammy winners Arrested Development and got great reviews, but when it came to marketing our shows and our album, we found that the tools out there for artists were a disaster. But when we learned more about what our customers wanted, we definitely took inspiration from others.

Startup 80

Startup Design Advertising Search Engine Optimization 80