Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

Entrepreneurs who search for real pain points, and build solutions around them, have the best chance of changing the world. As an alternative, if you are an entrepreneur looking for the next big thing, where should you look? That’s the great thing about being an entrepreneur. People are slow to accept change.

Custom 167

Custom Customer Startup Outsource Development 167

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Even though I’m a big proponent of becoming an entrepreneur, it is definitely not for everyone. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. Test your entrepreneur instincts through crowdfunding.

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Sample Entrepreneur Ideas Startup 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2023

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. 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.

Social Media 120

Social Media Startup Entrepreneur Education 120

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? Interview potential customers, hold focus groups, meet with existing customers. Attend trade show education sessions. Ask you field representatives to debrief you about what they are hearing. But listen!

Marketing 156

Marketing Metrics Education Resource 156

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

In fact 61% of all mobile searches where a customer contacts a business it is via a phone call (source: Google). Only naive people believe that but for inexperienced entrepreneurs you can be fooled into the narrative by the press who sometimes write stories without the actual data. I don’t want to speak to customer service reps!!

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Xconomy

JULY 14, 2016

The shootings that targeted police officers at a peaceful protest in Dallas, which followed the officer-involved shooting deaths of Philando Castile near Minneapolis and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA, also have raised distressing questions about racism in America and our criminal-justice system. Need more convincing?

Entrepreneur 40

Entrepreneur Education Training Invest 40

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. The result, called resourcefulness, allows entrepreneurs to create opportunities in the face of scarcity. Rethink or reframe the challenge.

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Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2019

Image via Flickr by jardenberg Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Yet it is the one element that too many entrepreneurs focus on only as an afterthought. Educational. Your content must continue to deliver new ideas.

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Customer Custom Marketing Tips 93

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

One of the biggest complaints that local entrepreneurs have with Los Angeles has been a dearth of local sources of venture capital. We sat down with TX Zhuo , who is heading up the firm's venture investments, about the fund and his path here after a recent stint at Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors fund in Palo Alto.

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Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Yet it is the one element that too many entrepreneurs focus on only as an afterthought. It’s all about content that will bring the masses to your business: Highly relevant.

Content 146

Content Newsletter Competition Writing 146

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

Gerber wrote a best-selling business book called The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. The E-Myth (“Entrepreneurial Myth”) is the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with tangible business skills, when in fact most are started by “technicians” who know nothing about running a business.

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Technical Review Startup Social Media Satisfaction 136

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

These sites (so far) have managed to balance facilitating product discovery and purchase capabilities with users'' desires to entertain and educate themselves without feeling like they are in a marketplace. What approach should they be thinking about as they test out Pinterest, Polyvore, Toplist and similar sites?

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2019

What entrepreneurs forget or don’t realize is that most customers are wary of all technology, educating the market on new technology is expensive, takes a long time, and people buy problem solutions rather than technology. We heard a lot of this sort of thing about Pinterest in the early days. This Twitter thing.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Technology Startup Social Media 87

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2023

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. If your solution alleviates a high level of existing pain, customers more readily change.

Case Study 89

Case Study Customer Custom Study 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

Even customers, while they all want the next big thing, want it to happen with minimal new learning. I believe these principles, paraphrased here, should be adopted by every entrepreneur struggling to accomplish innovation in a startup in any market: Innovation can come from anywhere in the organization.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Google Startup Organization 114

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

(In case it’s not obvious it’s a play on the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.&# ) I believe that being successful as an entrepreneur requires you to get lots of things done. Entrepreneurs make fast decisions and move forward knowing that at best 70% of their decisions are going to be right. This paralyzes most people.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2021

The ultimate compliment that any entrepreneur can get is that they can “see around corners.” Great entrepreneurs seem to all exhibit a common set of attributes which go well beyond the basic skills required to be an entrepreneur: “Larger than life” personality and presence. Design is not just about making things look pretty.

Marketing 157

Marketing Design Entrepreneur Ideas 157

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. The result, called resourcefulness, allows entrepreneurs to create opportunities in the face of scarcity. Rethink or reframe the challenge.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

When entrepreneurs introduce new products to the market, their passion and conviction often leads them to assume that every potential customer will see the immediate need and value, and will quickly adopt the solution. If your solution alleviates a high level of existing pain, customers more readily change.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2015

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in founding a startup today. 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.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Social Media Startup Education 102

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2016

The reality television show Shark Tank makes for entertaining content but many of its underlying messages are potentially detrimental to tech entrepreneurs. Thus, emerging entrepreneurs should parse fact from fantasy by watching the show with an experienced business pro. It is also an inspirational alter call to entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Entertainment Technical Review Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I’ve always been impressed with the few who seem to always come out ahead, no matter what the challenge. It seems to be more a function of mindset and principles, more than education or natural ability. Deliver value to your customer, to accrue value in you.

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Education Mentor Customer Custom 148

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2022

Too many customers have long felt distanced from many successful brands, seeing them as closed and mysterious environments, focused only on profits and killing competitors. In the idea stage, get customers involved with an engaging contest. Make decisions openly and be honest about the criteria on which they are based.

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Customer 126

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2015

We come to the end of this cycle of insights with a thought about how you might view your successful exit from the company you have spent so much effort to build. But what most entrepreneurs fail dramatically at is to celebrate the moment. The do as all good entrepreneurs do. Think about investments and tax efficiency.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Writing .Net Sales 120

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 16, 2020

Ksenia Yudina initially founded the company to provide financial planning and services to lower- and middle-class families looking for ways to start saving for their children’s education, she said. As a father of two young boys, I care about their financial future and I know that other parents are feeling the same way.

Services 235

Services Capital Draper Education 235

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2010

It was difficult to make the transition to a “top down&# thinker but as a senior executive – and as an entrepreneur – you’re far less effective without this skill in your arsenal. He taught me much that I know about critical thinking. It is about structuring your thoughts, presentations and communications.

Entrepreneur 372

Entrepreneur Startup Design Framework 372

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2020

Aspiring entrepreneurs who rely only on traditional learning vehicles (teachers, classrooms, and risk-free practice) are doomed to failure in anticipating change today. 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.

Social Media 127

Social Media Startup Education Entrepreneur 127

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2021

When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” Planning is about preparing for the future, not predicting it. With 200,000 new websites per day, customers won’t find you by accident.

Entrepreneur 138

Entrepreneur Activity Guide Patents 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2022

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. My job as a new business advisor is to help entrepreneurs get over this chasm early. In business, consistency is the key to productivity and trust by team members and customers alike.

Case Study 139

Case Study Customer Custom Tool 139

Berkonomics

JANUARY 13, 2022

Email readers, continue here…] But what about the pause to celebrate? What most entrepreneurs fail dramatically at is to celebrate the moment. To celebrate with your customers, who worry over continuity and look to you for assurances that the transition will not negatively affect them. Take a long breath.

Writing 156

Writing Entrepreneur .Net Sales 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2015

As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. Whether we are talking about startups or corporations, innovation requires a leader who can inspire others to step into the unknown. An entrepreneur looking for a sure thing will never innovate. Ownership.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 101

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Gerber wrote a best-selling business book called The E-Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. The E-Myth (“Entrepreneurial Myth”) is the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with tangible business skills, when in fact most are started by “technicians” who know nothing about running a business.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Technical Review 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Optimize the total customer experience.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2014

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. Thus customers and partners rely more and more on personal engagement with people. branding business David Rogers engagement entrepreneur startup'

Customer 99

Customer Custom Startup Content 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2022

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. From my experience, and the experience of other entrepreneurs, here are the key elements you should think about as part of the process: Personal interests and aspirations. Assess customer demand. Visualize the future.

Startup 115

Startup Resource Training Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2016

Some people even believe that entrepreneurs must be born with the right genes, and no element of education is relevant. In my view, the most effective entrepreneurs are those with a background of an array of real-life experiences, both positive and negative, as well as good academic and coaching activities.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Tips Writing Coach 98