Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Disclosures relative to patents. Product details in the public domain can never be patented.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. They are also seeking to find out how you handle one of the many tough questions that a new founder will get in today’s market.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model. Target market. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Customer Custom Outsource 102

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to. One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

New technology markets and paradigm shifts have traditionally been bad bets when seeking investors, since these were known to take decades to develop, and cost lots of money. For example, consider how many years it took for the market to move from radio to television, or fully accept personal computers on every desktop.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

First of all, I will admit that there is some risk involved with talking to any potential investors, even with an agreement, just as there is risk in all the elements of your plan, product and market opportunity. Disclosures relative to patents. Product details in the public domain can never be patented.

Ideas 159

Ideas Tips Technical Review Patents 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

In their passion and excitement about a new product or service, entrepreneurs tend to continually narrow the scope of potential competitors, and often claim to have no direct competitors. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Order-of-magnitude cost reduction or productivity increase.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them. Your solution fills a real market need. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. Marketing is top priority.

Startup 160

Startup Patents Competition Social Network 160

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2016

Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers. The good news is that early adopters are never reluctant to sign up as beta customers and will provide you early feedback on product quality.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Technical Review News 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2023

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. Investors want to see evidence of specific competitors who make the market, and your sustainable competitive advantage to hold your own.

Competition 111

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. This is the confirmation that your product or service fills a real need in the marketplace. Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring. Increasing customer focus and loyalty.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2023

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 111

Startup Training Services Writing 111

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

You may think that patents and copyrights are not required, since your products are so innovative, but you will find that competitors are quick to copy your idea if you don’t protect it. Although Elon Musk doesn’t talk about it very much, he owns over 350 patents through Tesla, just one of his many companies.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more. Dreams may motivate your team, but customers expect real solutions.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2021

You have done everything to register your brand legally , including domains, copyrights, patents, and trademarks. For example, a few years ago Wells Fargo seriously damaged its brand trying to grow the business by creating accounts without proper customer consent. Evaluate the brand impact of proposed market moves.

Examples 170

Examples Customer Custom Social Media 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

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. Search for customer pain rather than high margins. New customers don’t see incremental improvements.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

Ideas to improve the usability of an existing product, or ways to extend its audience, are not likely to be unique to you, and difficult to win over competitors. Major innovation, with major payback, requires real change, addresses a major pain point, and hits a large customer segment who can pay. Two heads are better than one.

Startup 162

Startup Metrics Ideas Entrepreneur 162

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. This is the confirmation that your product or service fills a real need in the marketplace. Similarly, it will be very satisfying to see the productivity increases from your leadership and mentoring. Increasing customer focus and loyalty.

Satisfaction 174

Satisfaction Customer Custom Outsource 174

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. If you don’t have a high level of commitment and passion, you customers won’t seek you out.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2020

The common reason given is that this prevents any competitor from stealing their idea and beating them to market. 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.

Search Engine Optimization 174

Search Engine Optimization Ideas Startup Customer 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2018

I’m still amazed at how many technical entrepreneurs don’t have a business pitch, and offer me their product pitch or product spec instead. I’m a technologist, so I always love to learn about the product, but every investor needs to make sure you have a business, as well as a product.

Product 58

Product Slides Entrepreneur Invest 58

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. They are also seeking to find out how you handle one of the many tough questions that a new founder will get in today’s market.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

First: Product risk. . Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Second: Market risk. . Second: Market risk. . Email readers, continue here…] Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service?

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2021

Experienced entrepreneurs will tell you that the initial idea is the easy part, and it’s the later implementation, and the competitive business marketing that are the real creative challenges. Many businesses have found that raising the price of a product to give it status can win more customers than a price war.

Ideas 171

Ideas Patents Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2020

Every entrepreneur and startup loves you, but too many forget that every potential customer is not like you. If you are a technical entrepreneur, you can count on early adopters to be first in line for your product, and they are quick to provide feedback on quality, and suggest even more features. Usability is often an afterthought.

Startup 141

Startup Customer Custom Design 141

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced. Internal services, like marketing and accounting, are more manageable and have less customer visibility.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more. Dreams may motivate your team, but customers expect real solutions.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan.

Product 55

Product Startup Summary Entrepreneur 55

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2020

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. Investors want to see evidence of specific competitors who make the market, and your sustainable competitive advantage to hold your own.

Competition 125

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

Yet I find a big difference between “starting a new business” and “creating a new product.” In my experience, most successful entrepreneurs have indeed created a new product, but most people who claim to be inventors have a hard time starting a business. Master of multi-platform communication and marketing.

Startup 124

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Control in business requires teamwork, which occurs in successful companies when team members, products, and processes work in unison. If you don’t market your business, you won’t have one. Marketing and advertising are business realties. With 200,000 new websites per day, customers won’t find you by accident.

Entrepreneur 138

Entrepreneur Activity Guide Patents 138

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. The same is true for filing patents, registering trademarks, and filing copyrights. Social media facilitates marketing and sales.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2019

Most entrepreneurs are quick to assert to potential investors that their product or solution will kill the competition, but unfortunately your opinion alone is not enough to convince most experienced investors. First of all, you need some convincing market research that your solution addresses a real and growing problem.

Competition 86

Competition Patents Startup Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2023

Your concept has to be understood by customers and investors in 30 seconds or less, and everyone needs to immediately see how awesome it would be, or that they would be nuts not to have it. I’m looking for the “hook” right up front, or I lose interest quickly, just like every customer and investor these days. Keep it simple and short.

Startup 96

Startup Education Ideas Customer 96