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

Berkonomics

MAY 9, 2024

Test yourself as to whether you can identify the size of your market niche, and whether you can overcome the many barriers to access customers within your niche. Is it the advantage of time – years of development ahead of any competitor? A strategic relationship with one or more of the largest customers? Are margins high enough?

Patents 156

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 156

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Social Networks: Past, Present & Future. The Past (1985-2002). Brands didn’t advertise their web pages they advertised “AOL Keywords.&# If you were a newly minted, venture-backed consumer Internet company you had to have a deal with AOL to reach your customers. This version is the shorter, ADHD version.

Social Network 297

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Web 297

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Here’s one for executives of any company with next generation products in mind. It is not uncommon to hear that they will approach you and state that their work has become more boring, and that there is no time left for creative thinking or next generation experimentation and development. First, let’s recognize the problem.

Company 156

Company Companies Resource Cloud Computing 156

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Chris Lorenz, Geoffrey Anderson, and James Borow may have spent their days over the past few years working at Snap, but on nights and weekends Anderson and Lorenz were laboring on a different project — improving Ethereum development tools. . “We were really working on scalability testing.” ” .”

Platform 216

Platform Outsource Development Tool Startup 216

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

JANUARY 27, 2022

Or when a major customer signs a significant deal. It’s human nature for investors to want to buy into a fast growing future, proven by some event in the immediate past. Why is this important advice? Because the first rule for raising money is to do it on good news – right when sales are increasing at an accelerating rate.

News 156

News SaaS Platform Sales 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

As a long-time business consultant and investor, especially to entrepreneurs, I recognize your sparkle of vision , to build the ultimate world-changing product. I found these maladies summarized well in a new book, “ Radical Product Thinking ,” by entrepreneur Radhika Dutt. Locked-in syndrome – do what worked in the past.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

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. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. Commit to a major customer.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Berkonomics

MAY 20, 2021

Enterprise time, as opposed to personal time management, is 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. The relationship between time and money. An easy way to fall into time bankruptcy.

Resource 156

Resource Outsource Development Metrics Customer 156

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

“Our mission is to bring the world’s great products together from the past, present and future, while providing a premier end-to-end customer experience with a point of view on culture and style,” said co-founder and chief executive Eddy Lu, in a statement. ” Money, it’s gotta be the shoes.

Commerce 255

Commerce Journal Los Angeles Research 255

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Making such predictions is a skill that can be developed, and here’s one method of doing so. Will the marketplace accept your product? Is there a market for your class of product at all? Second is product risk. Not only is the enterprise threatened, but confidence is shaken among employees, suppliers, even customers.

Competition 156

Competition Marketing Class Product 156

TechCrunch LA

JULY 23, 2019

On Tuesday, Haptik announced it has acqui-hired Convrg, a Los Angeles-based startup that develops chatbots, to serve customers in North America. Founded in 2017, Convrg has made a name for itself by developing several popular chatbots and voice products. 60% of all software is bought in the U.S.,

Los Angeles 209

Los Angeles Angel Startup Google 209

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

That great productivity drain that we somehow all buy into. My last one went out past midnight. So I ask you – if you’re being reactive to somebody else’s emails are you really being as productive in your company as you could be? I spent a late morning meeting with a product exec at one portfolio company.

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Berkonomics

APRIL 13, 2017

Test yourself as to whether you can identify the size of your market niche, and whether you can overcome the many barriers to access customers within your niche. Is it the advantage of time – years of development ahead of any competitor? A strategic relationship with one or more of the largest customers? Are margins high enough?

Patents 291

Patents Pricing Ideas Marketing 291

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Many entrepreneurs never get past their first-stage focus on their innovative product, to scaling the business globally, organizing a structure to handle thousands of employees, and concentrating their focus “on the business” rather than working “in the business.” Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. Before you finalize the product is the best time to talk about it and see if you can get some buzz started. Evaluate customer response prior to development. Demonstrate a minimum viable product (MVP).

Marketing 105

Marketing Startup Search Engine Optimization Ideas 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2020

Entrepreneurs talk to customers and competitors talk to each other about the new trends and technologies they see. Before you finalize the product is the best time to talk about it and see if you can get some buzz started. Evaluate customer response prior to development. Demonstrate a minimum viable product (MVP).

Search Engine Optimization 174

Search Engine Optimization Ideas Startup Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 29, 2022

Software products and apps can be quickly wire-framed with free tools such as MockFlow , or even Microsoft Powerpoint to lay out the key screens. When you wave your arms and describe your future product, everyone sees what they want to see, and it looks great. Show investors that you are committed, and past the idea stage.

Outsource Development 110

Outsource Development Ideas Tool Outsource 110

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Creating a gerat company in a relative vacuum is an exercise in complete trust that the entrepreneur knows what’s best for the customer, perhaps even without interaction with such a customer. So, I’ve developed the three step dance in order to help form a repeatable method of how to create a great company from an early idea.

Company 229

Company Companies Startup Customer 229

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We are mostly running the same playbook we have for the past 25 years. We back very early stage companies and work alongside executive teams as their build their teams, launch their products, announce their companies and raise their first downstream capital rounds. How our VC Firms Like Ours Organizing to Meet the Challenges?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

There has always been tension between CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies and the retailers who sell their products to consumers. 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.

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296

Berkonomics

AUGUST 16, 2018

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. First, speak to your customers often.

Marketing 120

Marketing Demand Media Entrepreneur 120

TechCrunch LA

JULY 16, 2020

Openpath , the developer of software-based security systems for office access, has raised $36 million in new financing as businesses try to find ways to make employees feel more comfortable about coming back to work. Openpath is clearly one of the most innovative companies in PropTech. ”

Los Angeles 177

Los Angeles Mobile Sales Venture Capital 177

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Investors, partners, team members, and customers implicitly value or devalue a startup based on the leader’s physical presence, emotional identity, social skills, intellectual agility, moral values, and past performance in the domain. Leadership brand development. Strategic proficiency. Focus on talent and people growth.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

Rather, these were the words given in response to the opening question to a panel of product managers to “describe their occupation” in 3 words or less, + an additional word on what their biggest challenge was. Jay Stakelon , VP Product Design, Fullscreen. Jen Robinson , Head of Product Manager, Bigframe.

Product 87

Product Fandango Design Startup 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2011

Every startup needs to understand that the customer paradigm has dramatically shifted over the past two years with pervasive social networks and smartphones. If your business doesn’t connect with your customers, individually and as a community, demanding customers will not only ignore you, but will actively keep other customers away.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Startup Networking 91

Inverted Software

JUNE 15, 2018

At Inverted Software we often help our clients manage offshore and onshore development teams. Our proprietary processes and unique experience helps us evaluate and correct software development practices that have proven inefficient and instill practices that insure productivity and success. Developers love to experiment.

Software Review 51

Software Review Software Development Outsource Development Development Team Review 51

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

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. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary. Commit to a major customer.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. That's where I learned I enjoyed interacting with customers and working with development teams to build and launch products. Tell me a bit about your background.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users. Over the past 2.5

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. Serverless technologies have gotten mature enough over the past two years that were building our entire company using serverless technologies.

Startup 100

Startup News SaaS Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2022

These entrepreneurs find it hard to respect customers or team members, and their ventures usually fail. As a team member, low self-esteem leads to low confidence, poor productivity, and no job satisfaction. Forgive yourself for past mistakes and poor decisions. Fortunately, both can be fixed.

Startup 101

Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur Competition 101