Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” ROI studies were published. It’s when the game slows.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 28, 2020

As a new business advisor, I hear facts all the time about how hard an entrepreneur is working, but often have a hard time getting them to quantify results. Even you as the entrepreneur, who may not be getting paid at all, are tricked into thinking that if you had more hours, you could get better results.

Metrics 124

Metrics Entrepreneur Satisfaction Study 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In my own business career, many years as a business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I have validated the following strategies to practice and guide you. A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2014

According to a recent Harvard Research study, first-time inventors spend at least a third more on their initial technology than later innovators. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Studying and learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to reduce your own risks.

Technology 103

Technology Entrepreneur Study Research 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. All entrepreneurs must succeed first as specialists, using pivots as required to zero in on the real and current market. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2014

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. business change rate comfort zone entrepreneur startup' Increase change agility.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Training Statistics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

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. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

Many entrepreneurs assume that everyone will love their solution as much as they do, so they tune their marketing focus based on their own needs and wants. That’s the right place to start, but real growth and scale requires attracting customers who are not like you. Update your technology to reach new customer segments.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

In my view as a long-time business advisor, this problem is driving a new entrepreneur age, with the lure of doing what you love, and loving what you do. The costs of these elements will be more than repaid by employee engagement and customer loyalty. More people as a substitute for technology is not a solution.

Coach 132

Coach Satisfaction Startup Organization 132

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

Per the latest study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic has grown 17-fold over the past 5 years, reaching 11.5 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2019

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 93

Case Study Customer Custom Tool 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

On a regular basis, I am approached by entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like a recent BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this NY Times article. For the rest of you entrepreneurs, consider the value of a business plan when it is not required.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

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. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

InfoChachkie

APRIL 30, 2012

In his book Enchantment , Guy Kawasaki encourages entrepreneurs to immerse their audience in their “cause”, in order to enchant them. One of the immersion techniques Guy promotes is to offer a hands-on trial, in which the prospective customer can touch, feel and experience your product before purchasing it.

Study 243

Study Advertising Research Customer 243

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2015

Per a new study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic grew 69 percent in 2014, reaching 2.5 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Startup 106

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 106

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2018

Your historical trading information including financials and a “customer file” which shows the history of your transactions so that investors can run “cohort” analyses Customer reference, personal references, key team members, compensation, cap table, stock option plan, etc. Some people find this elitist?—?I It doesn’t. Yeah, sure.

Funding 336

Funding Venture Capital Startup Email 336

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

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. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Successful entrepreneurs must never stop looking for ways to improve their own productivity, as well as the efficiency and momentum of the team. The need for this focus may seem obvious to you, but I still hear many complaints from entrepreneurs and employees alike on the hours they work, and how they are underpaid for their time.

Training 105

Training Entrepreneur Tool Metrics 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

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. Managing business growth is more than metrics.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2014

In a recent study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic grew 81% in 2013 and will reach 1.3 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 99

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2017

Per the latest study by networking giant Cisco , the world’s yearly mobile data traffic has grown 18-fold over the past 5 years, reaching 7.2 This gives rise to the personalization and customization that we all want. Analytics will soon drive nearly all business decisions for any company that wants to remain relevant to its customers.

Startup 55

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2019

In this era of rapid change, you can’t afford to stop learning, or you will find that your competitors, your customers, and your team, may soon be following someone else. In fact, you may have noticed in a recent study , that the business CEO turnover rate last year was the highest in 10 years, and may go even higher this year.

Tips 97

Tips Mentor Coach Metrics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2017

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 55

Case Study Customer Custom Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 2, 2015

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. All entrepreneurs must succeed first as specialists, using pivots as required to zero in on the real and current market. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 109

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

He outlines six dimensions of a winning business strategy, with some practical, research-based steps that I like, to focus on in achieving extraordinary results: Above all, deliver an exceptional total customer experience. This requires constant study of what your customers value, what competitors offer, and your target market.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. The metrics were good but we wondered how much better they would be when we expanded our product. Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2019

In my view as a long-time business advisor, this problem is driving a new entrepreneur age, with the lure of doing what you love, and loving what you do. The costs of these elements will be more than repaid by employee engagement and customer loyalty. More people as a substitute for technology is not a solution.

Company 78

Company Companies Coach Satisfaction 78

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

According to a study of 1700 CEOs last year, only 60% of companies today use social media for marketing, and only 12% of those feel that they are using it effectively. Currently, social media is the least used of all customer interaction methods. Define relevant metrics and measure. What’s the problem? Or are you too busy?

Social Media 106

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 106

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2017

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 56

Startup Training Statistics Summary 56

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said. You could just outspend. The Holy Grail of.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2016

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. All entrepreneurs must succeed first as specialists, using pivots as required to zero in on the real and current market. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 59

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 59

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2017

In my view as a long-time business advisor, this problem is driving a new entrepreneur age, with the lure of doing what you love, and loving what you do. The costs of these elements will be more than repaid by employee engagement and customer loyalty. More people as a substitute for technology is not a solution.

Satisfaction 67

Satisfaction Coach Startup Organization 67

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 93

Startup Training Statistics Summary 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

How good are you and everyone on your team at proactively scanning the environment for opportunities, emerging trends, and customer feedback? Imbue customer change focus. Provide direct customer contact to everyone, as well as training. Increase change agility. In summary, change will happen.

Startup 94

Startup Marketing Training Statistics 94

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. One thing I have found interesting is that amongst first-time software entrepreneurs, certain “patterns” of applications kept recurring.

Startup 150

Startup Software Review Competition SoCal 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2011

He is not alone, according to a recent study , which concludes that only 47% of companies use social media today for marketing, despite the fact that 78% of executives polled feel it’s critical for success. Define relevant metrics and measure. What’s the problem? My advice is to pick one, start slow, and spread out as you learn.

Social Media 104

Social Media Media Marketing Social Network 104