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

MAY 23, 2020

I’m not suggesting that a startup should ever disclose patent details to others before filing, but I can’t imagine why a startup would not seek visibility and feedback for their idea and solution while they could still make changes with minimal cost. You can’t get any word-of-mouth or media activity by hiding.

Search Engine Optimization 174

Search Engine Optimization Ideas Startup Customer 174

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.

Startup 96

Startup Education Ideas Customer 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2023

And we all know Facebook didn’t invent social media. Certainly I’m not recommending just one more Facebook, with a couple of features from Twitter, since social media has an unlimited potential for innovation. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Martin Zwilling

Social Media 92

Social Media Study Research Satisfaction 92

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. Never argue with customers, public or private.

Examples 170

Examples Customer Custom Social Media 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

They are looking for startups that have a sustainable advantage over direct and indirect competitor offerings, as well as obvious value to customers living without your product today. Non-specific terms, like better usability and low cost don’t incite customers to action these days. Investors check connections.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

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

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

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.

Startup 166

Startup Education Ideas Customer 166

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 8, 2020

And we all know Facebook didn’t invent social media. Certainly I’m not recommending just one more Facebook, with a couple of features from Twitter, since social media has an unlimited potential for innovation. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Martin Zwilling.

Startup 157

Startup Social Media Study Research 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

What I want to hear is an innovative marketing and growth strategy that will set you apart in the minds of investors, as well as customers. Today’s customer is especially attracted to companies like TOMS , who donates a pair of shoes for every pair they sell, or Patagonia, with its support for grassroots environmental groups.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

For example, I’m not sure the world needs one more social media niche site, or another dating site, or yet another flavored drink alternative. 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

JUNE 2, 2021

I like the summary of the competitive reality in a new book, “ Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age ,” by Ram Charan, who relates a wealth of current experience from global clients: Customers expect a personalized experience. Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

You need intellectual property , such as a patent, trade secret, or process expertise that will be a barrier that you can defend. Assess your connections, both social media and financial. Many of the business plans I see are built around a dream, with idealistic costs, margins, and customer demand.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Enthusiastic startup founders may try to deflect or minimize these questions in true media-training style, so you need to be patient, calm, and persistent to get the whole story. Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Invest Patents 174

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Enthusiastic startup founders may try to deflect or minimize these questions in true media-training style, so you need to be patient, calm, and persistent to get the whole story. Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder.

Startup 83

Startup Technical Review Invest Patents 83

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2020

Here are some of the key entrepreneur characteristics most often overlooked by inventors: Driven by customer-centric view of needs, rather than technology. Understanding what drives customers to buy, in different market segments and cultures, is usually just as challenging as creating and combining technology to deliver function.

Startup 124

Startup Entrepreneur Customer Custom 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2022

With today’s worldwide Internet and social media, your brand impact is not set by what you say, but by numbers of followers, influencers, and satisfied customers. Just be aware that building your customer base first requires deep pockets, or many investors. Proprietary technology with a high barrier to entry.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Social Media Entrepreneur Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

An excellent example is the initiative by Elon Musk and Tesla Motors a few years ago to give away their battery patents, to infrastructure and competitive car providers, without transactional agreements. Social media relationships fuel the scaling fire. Maintain the agility to quickly pivot or quit. Not everything will work.

IBM 131

IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Business success requires customers to see a solution as exciting, and they rarely care about the technology behind it. Patents are not worth the effort, since big companies will win.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Entrepreneur Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. You must also learn from your customers. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2022

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.” The best demos to investors are 30 seconds or less.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Startup Statistics Social Media 109

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

Kanaan Jemili: uCast Global is a digital media company that is looking at creating a scalable global solution for online video. Those technologies allow us to scale and offer a superior product for customers. Who are your core customers? We caught up with Kanaan to learn more about uCast Global. What is uCast? I have a Ph.D.

Content 113

Content Startup Mobile Platform 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend. I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2021

Evaluate who might use an invention, patent, or new law to create a bend in the road. Be a voracious reader in all forms of media, both online and offline. Continually increase your mental map of key changes in multiple industries. Use outsiders to multiply your capacity to scan for disrupting patterns.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Summary Patents Examples 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

Many customers now actively seek out new technologies, rather than wait for many others to try it first. For example, if your new product reduces pollution or world hunger, this adds immediate value and confirms a positive long-term strategy for customers today. Use social media and the media to build demand for change.

Marketing 92

Marketing Demand Examples Social Media 92

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

For example, you may feel you are saving money by doing all your own administrative work and monitoring social media feedback. Yet if that leaves you with no documented business plan or unclear strategy, most investors and even customers will walk away. Prioritize your tasks ahead of helping others with theirs.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2015

Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer. Talking to real customers is the best way to keep your inspiration alive, as well as the best way keep on track with changing trends and future innovation ideas. Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry.

Satisfaction 101

Satisfaction Entrepreneur Customer Custom 101

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Team – higher requirements for caliber of team members Product – focus on truly differentiated and not me-too Market – is it really big enough to provide investor returns** Traction – need more users, partners, patents, etc Timing – are you building for yesterday or 2 yrs from now? Business - how are you actually going to make money?

Startup 150

Startup SEM IP SEO 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

A few years ago, before the Internet was pervasive, before everyone carried a smartphone and before do-it-yourself software tools were available for free, it was difficult to reach a critical mass of new customers without spending a million dollars on a website, custom software and television advertising.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Outsource Development 108

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2012

One way is to create your own, custom video clip which you can share via email, text message, or through a social networking site like Facebook. Allison Dollar: SnapCuts is a digital media marketing platform, which uses social video messaging. In a mobile world, what's a unique way to reach out to your friends and others?

Social Network 246

Social Network Mobile Media Examples 246

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

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.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2017

Of course, there are no guarantees, but if can find an independent sizing of the market opportunity, your job of convincing customers, and investors, will be much easier. Not all ideas have cost-effective solutions, or customers able and willing to pay real money. Draft a short pitch for customers, and one for investors.

Ideas 74

Ideas Social Media Startup Customer 74

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

They only want a quick overview of the product, not detailed features and patent secrets. If you haven’t yet finalized the business model, cost projections, and customer segments, you aren’t ready for investors. Look how many social media ‘likes’ my site has generated.” The best demos to investors are 30 seconds or less.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Statistics Startup Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

But they can otherwise save you much time and effort, and are also safer and more productive than the old-fashioned approach of broadcast emailing or cold-calling every investor you can find in online directories, or responding to the risky spam offers you get for funding on social media. Register Internet and social media startup names.

Platform 94

Platform Equity Invest Technical Advisors 94