Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Customer receivables collection and vendor payments. Solution development and delivery.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

One of the big differences between an entrepreneur and an employee of a big business is that employees tend to have a very narrow focus on their job, while entrepreneurs have to keep the broader focus on business. Both want personal satisfaction and financial success. Focus your role on solving the customer problem.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Customer Custom 93

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs. Social responsibility opens the door to a broader customer base.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

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. I especially like Cushman’s outline of the ten principles which distinguish the organization and operation of an open business from the more traditional closed model.

Organization 126

Organization Social Media Examples Customer 126

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. Employee engagement is a measure of emotional commitment, leading to work focus, which translates to productivity, satisfaction and happiness. No one is happy or satisfied.

Satisfaction 67

Satisfaction Coach Startup Organization 67

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change.

Organization 108

Organization Startup Satisfaction Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. For example, Elon Musk is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur, but his fortune and his impact has come from the great companies he has built, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. Keeping things simple.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Customer Custom 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing are destined to be left behind even in the best of times. Today’s customers are much more proactive in going online for the latest information, rather than simply reacting to the “push” messages that businesses traditionally use to drive commerce.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Organization Social Media Entrepreneur 151

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

We had a spirited discussion regarding a number of issues related to blowing past $10M in annual recurring SaaS revenue, in front of a sold-out crowd of about 400 entrepreneurs. He started by stating, “We track customer success.” In other words, are we measure whether or not we are truly making our customers more successful.”.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. You will see that I believe innovation is only one of many factors that ultimately determine your position with customers and your own legacy: Ideas are everywhere – success is all about execution.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2021

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. Jim Sterne, who has written many books on Internet advertising, marketing, and customer service, tackled this complex world of social media metrics in a classic book titled simply " Social Media Metrics."

Social Media 127

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know finds it a challenge to balance the joys of entrepreneurship against a set of frustrations they never anticipated. Of course, most of you expect that raising money will be difficult, as well as staving off competitors, and handling that occasional toxic customer.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Course Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Unfortunately, in mature companies, a larger and larger percentage of employees forget company survival and customers as the objectives, and focus only on their own personal gain. Keeping things simple.

Satisfaction 124

Satisfaction Organization Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2023

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 85

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change.

Organization 160

Organization Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction 160

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2019

Thus, in my consulting with entrepreneurs, I always encourage them to get more comfortable asking for help. She suspects, like me, that no self-respecting entrepreneur wants to seem weak, needy, or incompetent, and none of us like to feel indebted to someone we see as a peer or a competitor.

Help 123

Help Entrepreneur Course IBM 123

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

Whether you are an entrepreneur starting a new business, or a corporate executive seeking to revitalize a mature business, the challenge is the same – to become the obvious choice within the hearts and minds of your customers, your employees, and your chosen communities. Seek out only the best potential partners and customer leaders.

Company 116

Company Companies Customer Custom 116

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. Employee engagement is a measure of emotional commitment, leading to work focus, which translates to productivity, satisfaction and happiness. No one is happy or satisfied.

Coach 132

Coach Satisfaction Startup Organization 132

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined. Quick to hire and slow to fire.

Organization 104

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2022

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. The challenge is that every new business needs to be innovative and different, in order to rise above the crowd, bring real change to the world, and give you the satisfaction you seek.

Technology 133

Technology Cloud Computing Social Media Networking 133

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. 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.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Customer receivables collection and vendor payments. Solution development and delivery.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2014

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver memorable experiences to their customers. Keep your team happy to create engaged customers. An unhappy team member can’t create an engaged customer.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 106

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Trying to do everything is a sure way to maximize stress, lower job satisfaction, and minimize productivity. Idea people often don’t get funded as entrepreneurs, because a new business is all about results, not just ideas. Timing is important, and communication with your customer set is critical.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2020

Most entrepreneurs relish being their own boss, but find the transition to “ownership thinking” to be more difficult than anticipated. Incidentally, if you never thought of yourself as being an A-Player employee, you probably will struggle even more in the competitive entrepreneur world.

Entrepreneur 159

Entrepreneur Customer Custom Competition 159

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2020

Whether you are an entrepreneur starting a new business, or a corporate executive seeking to revitalize a mature business, the challenge is the same – to become the obvious choice within the hearts and minds of your customers, your employees, and your chosen communities. Seek out only the best potential partners and customer leaders.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Satisfaction Marketing 167

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 don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out. Customers can touch and see a great product, but services are a bit ethereal.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Delight and deliver value to your customers.

Framework 95

Framework Customer Custom Tips 95

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Funding 107

Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver memorable experiences to their customers. Keep your team happy to create engaged customers. An unhappy team member can’t create an engaged customer.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Training Satisfaction 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. Timely follow-up on customer and team member requests. Stretch here also increases job satisfaction.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

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 don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out. Customers can touch and see a great product, but services are a bit ethereal.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

For the elite startups and entrepreneurs who manage to attract the investor they dream of, and survive the term sheet negotiation, there is still one more hurdle before the money is in the bank. Due diligence always involves on-site visits, informal discussions with any or all members of the team, vendors, and good customers as well as bad.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

Finding your sweet spot as an entrepreneur needs to start with a meaningful personal purpose that is also a business opportunity. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Both ends of this spectrum fail to bring long-term satisfaction or success. Delight and deliver value to your customers.

Tips 174

Tips Framework Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Business success is all about having the best team, yet the average entrepreneur has little prior experience with hiring people and building top-notch teams. Most new entrepreneurs assume their passion will attract and motivate the right team members. Hiring before organizational structure is defined. Quick to hire and slow to fire.

Organization 135

Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Screening 135