Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2018

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Quantify the difference for your customers.

Customer 63

Customer Custom Examples Product 63

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 116

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 116

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. He took me.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2013

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing and sales chasm.

Marketing 101

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2019

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing and sales chasm.

Technical Review 102

Technical Review Customer Custom Satisfaction 102

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. My list of excuses includes: product, pricing, competition and lack of sales support. However, I advocate a more nuanced approach for early-stage startup teams” 1.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Startup 147

Startup Pricing Sales Statistics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing and sales chasm.

Marketing 95

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Customer 95

socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2019

In an age of ever increasing marketing spend to attract customers, how do you make sure you aren't spending more acquiring a company than they are worth? Los Angeles-based Retina is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to figure out customer lifetime value (CLV) for such businesses as Dollar Shave Club.

Dollar Shave Club 113

Dollar Shave Club Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

We spoke with one of those companies-- El Segundo-based ConsumerTrack (www.consumertrack.com)--which is a $30M, bootstrapped an online marketing company which is driving millions of customers to big name, financial customers. Brett Rossman: ConsumerTrack is a performance-based, online marketing company.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. I see way too many startup founders who don’t have experience in selling and probably don’t feel that comfortable going to customers and asking for orders. I only found out through customer meetings.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Customer 346

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2015

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Quantify the difference for your customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Examples Social Media 100

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 9, 2014

All the while, you have product to maintain and a team to manage, but the very thought of hiring a VP or consulting firm makes you cringe. Today, we have Stephen Robert Morse, Head of Marketing and Communications at SkillBridge.co. Marketing & Branding. Investor Decks. Due Diligence. Training Materials. Financial Models.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review Outsource 105

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. My literal response was, “She went to Princeton undergrad and has a Stanford MBA. Marketing, recruiting, building data products & tools, event management, analyzing the portfolio, etc. I promise you, he really said this out loud.)

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

When you start your company the very first question you need to ask yourself is which kind of customers do you want to serve. Many start-ups (and even growth firms) lack this discipline and they therefore serve customers off all sizes. These are really massive customers. We knew how to land huge corporate customers.

Startup 389

Startup Customer Custom Resource 389

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2017

Techand the markets overall--has enjoyed a surprisingly long stretch of prosperity. The attractive by-product is that I am reading more and working out more. I continue to be surprised by some clever SoCal entrepreneurs who are creating out-of-the box companies that are opportunistic and reflect our markets ingenuity.

Capital 124

Capital Southern California SaaS SoCal 124

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. The Lean Startup approach dictates that successful customer development is an iterative process. By conceptualizing, selling, gathering feedback and then developing a product, startups achieve success more quickly and economically. Preaching What You Live.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2012

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing and sales chasm.

Startup 101

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Stanford MBA. She learns how to ship product, how to deal with merchants, how to hire product managers. Always meeting her product ship dates. She was always able to get into the weeds on product or biz dev discussions. She speaks about ethical sourcing of eco-friendly products. Competitive sportswoman.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

But for my sins I got an MBA and did “strategy&# consulting. 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. And then they market the F out of that result.

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

Being tenacious without the mental flexibility to pivot based on market feedback is a disaster. They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. And we’re lucky because they deliver many of the great products, services and content that we consume in our lives every day.

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

InfoChachkie

MAY 12, 2011

" 5) At Pepperdine you earned a joint MBA/JD degree. Despite (or maybe because of) my Wharton lineage, I am not a huge fan of MBAs in the startup world. What are the primary factors driving your impressive growth and how do you plan to leverage these market forces over the next twelve months? "That’s

Pepperdine 234

Pepperdine Startup Santa Barbara Class 234

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. Think about how profound a difference adding Sheryl Sandberg early at Facebook was to Mark Zuckerberg and knowing that he should stay in charge of product and strategy while she ran operations.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 150

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

I was running the largest deals in the media and entertainment video area across many different Google products. I worked with the head of each product area, such as YouTube, on how to drive more value for our large partners. We have our product in the market, and launched our beta in January. One of our customers is Inc.

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

I invested in LA-based Gogii , one of the fastest growing, most exciting mobile social networking companies you’ve never heard of and maker of a product called textPlus. Gogii is the creator of the 36th most downloaded application in the history of the iPhone app store – a product called textPlus.

Gogii 310

Gogii Invest Blogging Startup 310

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. "Authentic" is dead - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , May 3, 2010 It's time to retire the following phrases. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2013

The online flower delivery market is now an old and established market. The second big part of this, is the user experience, the brand, and the customers. It''s all about being very simple, very honest, and very straightforward in how you treat the customer. Closing this $1.1M Plus, a really simple and elegant UX.

Services 215

Services Technical Review Startup Pricing 215

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 3, 2022

Like with many consumer brands geared toward women, we buy in not just because of the marketing, but because of the product itself. Watson, who holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has raised $4.5 And who cares? That Cloud Paint is pretty magical, if we’re being honest. It’s not a compliment.

Startup 280

Startup Netflix Los Angeles Innocal 280

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

These innovative products ranged from digital comic books to sports data analysis. Pelv-Ice , founded by USC MBA graduate Jill Bigelow, won third place and the $10,000 prize. Jill Bigelow, an MBA graduate from Marshall who took third place in the competition, stated, “It was great to be back on campus. Startup Pitch Competition.

USC 98

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Southern California Netflix 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2010

In fact, it’s all about the “focus” required to get early stage technology products across the deadly chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers. Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. Product development chasm. Marketing and sales chasm.

Startup 90

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2015

Most aspiring entrepreneurs understand that you can’t build a business if you won’t commit to delivering a product or service, but many are hesitant or refuse to commit to any financial forecasts. Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Pricing Sales 102

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

We’ll be conducting a series of educational programes covering: fund raising, team building, product development, sales, marketing, business development and how to prioritize your time as a CEO. The company’s analytics comprehensively monitors customer behavior over multiple networks, including location-based mobile networks.

Company 276

Company Companies Startup Southern California 276

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 11, 2012

And negotiation technique is one of the few areas on my MBA that was truly new information to me by the time I had attended. I learned concepts such as BATNA (Best alternative to a negotiated agreement, which every MBA will remember). In booming markets the best firms operate on a 33% basis. Getting to Yes. I enjoyed both.

Pricing 305

Pricing Startup Examples Writing 305

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

He stood up, grabbed the mic and gave a heartfelt overview of his experiences in experimenting with new technologies to build relationships with his audience, get feedback on his product quality and to market his music all the way to the top of iTunes. To stay the crowed was “wowed&# was an understatement.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Topics of discussion will be Saas, Cloud, Mobile, Gaming, Social Markets, what surprises are coming for 2013, creating value with your company, hiring problem solvers, and building sensible businesses. Erik holds a BS from the University of Delaware and an MBA from Duke University. Custom ad deals and partnerships.

Startup 110

Startup Activision Santa Monica SaaS 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Many entrepreneurs I know don’t realize that the language they learned in the corporate world, or even their recent MBA class, won’t get them ahead in the startup world today. Minimum Viable Product (MVP). It suggests the minimum features to allow the product to be deployed and get feedback, and no more. Osmosis marketing.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup Web Equity 109

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

They have seen one side of a market where many of us have seen the ebb and flow multiple times. Still, market amnesia by ordinarily rational actors always surprises me. I believe a bubble occurs when a market is willing to pay greater than intrinsic value for an asset class. I spoke about a lot of things during the keynote.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309