Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

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 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

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. Developing O&O (owned & operated) businesses (outside of YouTube).

Networking 366

Networking Media Content Customer 366

TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

Upgrade’s e-commerce marketplace has two sides: one that enables consumers to choose a vetted stylist and have their wig colored or customized based on their desired look. A hairstylist can help a woman feel better about themselves. Remember Mary J. Blige’s hair at the Super Bowl ? That was via Upgrade. Rebundle raises $1.4M

Tool 179

Tool Customer Custom Marketing 179

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

So instead, we fill it with a completely custom blurb, written just for him: Hello! Thanks to his custom blurb, instead of closing his browser and feeling inadequate for the rest of the day, Mark completes his bio and becomes a happy customer. Which means better conversions and happier customers.

Generative AI 295

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence TechEmpower Tips 295

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

More people are focused on the beginning of the product lifecycle; very few are focused at the end.”. The end of the product lifecycle is where Murthy and Kaplan feel Ghost has “an enormous opportunity to help people be more efficient in that process,” Murthy added. Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Enterprise time, as opposed to personal time management, is defined as the sum total of resources available to a company expressed in terms of time – time to develop, to debug, to produce, to deploy, to respond to issues, and to make changes in plans that are not working. Extending the Runway book available at www.berkus.com.

Resource 176

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 176

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

APRIL 13, 2015

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Develop 102

Develop Development Product Funding 102

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

And yet, such relationships properly used and never overused, can quickly and precisely help you cut through delays in government agencies, speed the process of product planning and ultimate release, aid in positioning in the market and help you avoid a myriad of mistakes that could prove costly in time and money.

Class 194

Class Organization Technical Review Activity 194

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2020

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. According to Tim Cook at Apple, there were over 20 million registered developers in 2018. We don’t hear about the remaining several million apps that are mostly free, and garnering only trivial revenue through advertising.

Mobile 126

Mobile Develop Development Platform 126

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

I’m going to take that thought out into the field and validate it with my customers." I’ve spoken to dozens of customers, I have a validated customer persona, built an MVP to test key behavioral hypotheses, and the data doesn’t back what you’re saying." " One was an enterprise software product.

Customer 227

Customer Custom CTO Coach Startup 227

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). ” So Ethan went to work as a product manager at Google Video. When Ethan was considering leaving Google we talked about it.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

We developed this at our first company and called it PUCCKA – the overall methodology is described here. This post talks about the last part of the PUCCKA methodology – an Aligned Purchasing Process. You know exactly when you want to sell to this customer and presumably it’s this quarter! Unique Selling Proposition.

Customer 324

Customer Custom Marketing Newsletter 324

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2023

Customers buy from people, not companies. That means relationships with team members, investors, customers, and vendors. Entrepreneurs who like to be argumentative, complaining, or disagreeable, will have a hard time closing a contract, investment, or a customer contract. Investors invest in people, not ideas.

Customer 90

Customer Custom Outsource Development Entrepreneur 90

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

And even then Microsoft has substitute products as anyone who has taken Econ 101 will tell you. The “competition slide&# of your investment deck is such a great opportunity to talk about how you’re positioned (premium product vs. economical product? It is a great place to talk about your future roadmap.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 26, 2023

You’re fighting to put out the fires from customer complaints, or incomplete work, or are suffering from an inability to focus upon new development or new customers before cleaning up the mess inside your organization. The customer pays for all or at least 90% of the bill, perhaps holding back a retainer awaiting completion.

Resource 156

Resource Customer Custom Software 156

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

A product at the concept stage contains feature-functionality that customers may not want or be willing to pay for, or which just might not work well enough for release to the public. Allow for the cost and extra time for tweaks to the product or service. Surprises when the market meets your product. Cowboy coding.”

Customer 156

Customer Custom Writing Product 156

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. Who are the customers?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Are there specs?

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Many of these founders have talked with several developers or development firms about their plans. Think of these as the big upfront questions: Who are the customers? Are there specs?

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

In my opinion, real pain points for most people do not include a new user interface for Facebook, a new programming platform for app development, or a new size smart phone. So why do I see some many funding requests for products along these lines? That’s the great thing about being an entrepreneur. You get to choose your pain.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Startup Outsource Development 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2022

The challenge for each of you is to get it handled quickly and effectively, without losing the trust of constituents , as well as customers. Forget about assigning blame until later, since that will only complicate matters and make it an emotional battle. Every business leader expects to encounter one or more crises eventually.

Develop 138

Develop Development Coach Satisfaction 138

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

It should convince you that no matter how much you know about technology, leading a team, as well as vendors and customers, is a whole new challenge. True leaders are never satisfied with what they know about their leadership, as well as their products, and are always in pursuit of new learning.

Develop 124

Develop Development Technical Advisors Satisfaction 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences. And after one meeting they started asking for his advice about marketing, customer engagement, product design, monetization – whatever. And I can’t wait to see you guys further develop your tech insights.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 24, 2020

Divergent, the Los Angeles-based startup aiming to revolutionize vehicle manufacturing, has cut about one-third of its staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended startups and major corporations alike. “This was about making the company as totally weatherproof as possible,” Czinger said. The company’s No.

Startup 251

Startup Technical Review Outsource Development Platform 251

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

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

You’ve figured out your channels of distribution, pricing model and how to support your growing list of customers. You can be the one to develop a product or service, promote it, and support it when you are a small operation. The first crisis is financial, funding the business, development, inventory, and marketing.

Class 156

Class Customer Custom Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm.

Startup 150

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 150

Tech.Co

JANUARY 10, 2018

In the Harvard Business Review Female Economy 2009 report, women purchasing power was predicted to control about $28 trillion in annual global consumer spending, if not more. Purchasing products from a brand you trust can be more of an emotional buy, and trust is one of the key factors to attracting the female shopper. Tasteful Humor.

Tips 71

Tips Customer Custom Dollar Shave Club 71

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. We respond very quickly to all of our customers.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Services Conference 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2010

Chris Dixon wrote a blog post last week titled, “ Techies and Normals &# in which he defined “Techies&# as people who are not just “early adopters&# but also have more of a geeky, technical, product bent. They use products because the products solve a need they have. He is both. Blah, blah, blah.

Product 348

Product Startup Design Blogging 348

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular. 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?

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Social Proof in Action … Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of using social proof and authority in raising venture capital. 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. We are evangelists.

Marketing 294

Marketing Customer Custom Technical Review 294

socalTECH

JUNE 2, 2017

The world of mobile apps has added serious challenges for software developers, who don't just have to deal with crashes�they have to deal with slow performance, strange hangs, multiple carrier networks, and more. We spoke with Eric Futoran , the CEO of Embrace.io, who also was co-founder of Scopely, to learn more about the company's software.

Mobile 178

Mobile Develop Development Tool 178

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Angel investors and venture capitalists are looking for startups with real products and a proven business model, ready to scale. Yet I still get too many business plans that clearly are looking for money to do research and development (R&D) on a new and unproven technology. Commercial product prototypes.

Resource 102

Resource Ideas Funding Research 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2019

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. In fact, they need an early focus on developing their moral compass, as well as setting the right ethical tone. The reality is different. Marty Zwilling.

Software Review 77

Software Review Summary Examples Offshore 77