Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

As I write this in late 2024, legislation is being proposed at the national level to eliminate non-competes. Further, there is no expiration date on these poisoned documents. You cannot complain that the document or information in question is more than five years or two employers old. Digital or analog!

Design 156

Design Writing News Email 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. My first company launched in 1999 and we were offering a SaaS document management in the cloud (we were called ASPs back then). So the whole customer development cycle is very streamlined.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. One of our core tasks was “market analysis,&# which consistent of: market sizing, market forecasts, competitive analysis and then instructing customers on which direction to take. 18% of all errors come from people using the wrong documents.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

With all these companies vying for attention & others just here to soak up the vibe I thought I’d write a much broader piece on how startups can make the most of their attendance at conferences & events. Feel good in knowing that while they’re at the latest conference, you can be back home stealing all their customers !

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

The Lean Startup approach dictates that successful customer development is an iterative process. Eric (Ries) was a student in one of the very earliest customer development classes at Berkley. Large companies write business plans, why of course, that’s the organizing document for a startup. Preaching What You Live.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

This post covers the first out of 10 that I’ll write about. The moderator asked the question, “if an entrepreneur writes an email to a VC and doesn’t hear back what should they do?&# This VC responded, “Move on. Your customers don’t care that you went to Stanford, Harvard or MIT.

Entrepreneur 338

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Packaging, pricing & discounts – In the early days of my first company we always had “list prices&# we quoted to customers and of course we were always willing to negotiate based on who the client was, how important the business was to us, who the competition was and how well the deal was negotiated.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Customer 296

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

There is a common misconception that an idea can be protected by documenting it, placing it in an envelope and then mailing it to yourself. Underlying this presumption is the belief that if the envelop is unopened, the postmark will “prove” the date the idea was conceived (or at least when it was documented). Know Thou Prior Art.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

Here’s Why You Should Just Send the Deck I know you have your document sending tool to send your fund-raising deck to VCs and track who read your deck, which pages they read and how much time they spend on each page. I Know Everybody Told You to Send Your Fund-Raising Decks as a Link. What should not be in your deck?

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2023

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Tips 123

Tips Writing Startup Summary 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2016

Even in this age of videos and text messages, the quickest way to kill your startup dream with investors, business partners, or even customers, is embarrassingly poor writing. You have to be able to communicate effectively in all the common forms, including business writing, as well as talking, presenting, and producing videos.

Writing 62

Writing Summary Email Ideas 62

Berkonomics

APRIL 27, 2023

Everyone who manages a company, a workgroup or a sales force wants to write as many new deals as possible and is usually wary about doing anything that might threaten the positive outcome of a pending sale. Reasons your customer might hesitate. Do so within the offer document and with a personal comment with delivery of the offer.

Sales 156

Sales Tool Customer Custom 156

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. They have done 3 startups in the customer support space and one that wasn’t.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

If I could persuade you that they’re already in these documents would you consider abandoning this structure? Those terms you fought so hard to get out of “clean term sheets” by using TheFunded, VentureHacks and the like are in your current documents. That’s right. ” Sure, you gave them a 15-20% discount.

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Microsoft Office ended up beating its competitors because it was able to read and write to file formats other than its own. Lesson: You dn’t want your customers to feel locked into using your software. It helps with sales cycles because customers know that they can switch away if they so choose. Defensibility in Software.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

When to get a lawyer - If you plan to be a venture or angel backed technology company (what I mostly write about) the best time to start meeting and getting to know lawyers is long before you ever start your company. I write about some of the lessons in my post on Startup Mistakes. Many people start companies arse backwards.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

A business plan is the outward facing definition of the business you hope to drive with your hardware solution, with a hardware overview in the intro to highlight customer value and competitiveness. Use non-fuzzy terms to quantify customer value. Provide specifics on the customer business model.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Another mistake many consultants make is to charge by the hour, and customers lose track and lose confidence as things change. Speak to people, rather than write a document every time you want a change. Have "customers", not "clients." This is a minor semantic point, but an important one to the customer.

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product."

Metrics 264

Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

You thought it was going to be as easy as just having term sheet transferred to a longer form document. But every freakin’ week there are delays in getting the lawyers to “turn around&# the documents. Very customer focused. But as it goes to the legal docs naturally 20 issues arise the require negotiations.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

Everyone who manages a company or its sales force wants to write as many new deals as possible, and is usually warry about doing anything that might threaten the positive outcome of a pending sale. Do so within the offer document and with a personal comment with delivery of the offer. Deadlines are an important sales tool.

Sales 120

Sales Tool Writing Customer 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

My experience is that the discipline of documenting a plan will improve your likelihood of addressing all the right issues , as well as finding the right partner or investor. You really need at least a prototype product or customer to make the video come alive. Prepare a business plan 20-page document.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business. In fact, they are probably in such a hurry to give you money that they don’t want you to waste time writing anything down and passing it along to new investors.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business. Writing it down promotes both understanding and commitment.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

They therefore often play the role of the “voice of the customer” and bring important relationships. I’ve been on boards with independent directors who are hugely responsive, read important legal documents, get briefed by the CEO and company counsel and know the company’s financials. But if they could even write $2,500?—?money

Startup 187

Startup Writing Venture Capital Oracle 187

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

Research and talk to existing and past customers. It is highly recommended that legal document are created and/or reviewed by a business transaction attorney. All agreements should be in writing and signed by all parties involved. Review long term company debt, goals, objectives and financial projections.

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2010

They mostly understand your company, your customers, your competitors and your market but never as precisely as you do. Here’s what I recommend: Create a Google spreadsheet listing your top customer prospects, biz dev prospects and other companies you would like to meet. Make sure when you write it you assume this.

Startup 301

Startup Venture Capital Software Review Email 301

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2020

The Internet is the problem, by facilitating constant change, and it’s the solution, by providing an absolutely current view of customers, trends, and best practices. The Internet is the source of data for alternative views, and social media allows direct customer interactions to test these views.

Social Media 127

Social Media Startup Education Entrepreneur 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

People cite sources like this BusinessWeek story last year “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ,” or even my own article a while back, “ 10 Reasons Not To Write A Business Plan First.” Disciplining yourself to write down the plan is actually the best way to make sure you actually understand it yourself.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. Of course there are scenarios where a written business plan is not critical, but I haven’t seen one yet where a well-written 15-page document, or at least a 10-slide pitch, is a negative.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2023

The Internet is the problem, by facilitating constant change, and it’s the solution, by providing an absolutely current view of customers, trends, and best practices. The Internet is the source of data for alternative views, and social media allows direct customer interactions to test these views.

Social Media 120

Social Media Startup Entrepreneur Education 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2012

It’s a key skill for success in every business role, from accountant to customer support. Whether it’s a frustrated employee, or a dissatisfied customer, what you first hear is usually someone yelling with emotion or talking so fast the you don’t know what they are talking about. Put the decision in writing to prevent ambiguity.

Tips 116

Tips Satisfaction Training Entrepreneur 116

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. There are many free generalized tools, including Google Trends , which can be used to track customer behavior in looking for things that don’t exist yet.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2020

Too many of you business owners think success only means being the next Amazon, or you stress yourself out trying to be everything to every customer. Understand and write down every expense, and budget for required costs, especially initial inventory and accounts receivable delays. Meticulously manage cash inflow and outflow.

Customer 125

Customer Custom Tool Writing 125