Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2020

Here are some key principles that I recommend to keep you on a track to maximum business results in the shortest period of time, in the unstructured world of startups: Don’t do “easy” tasks before “challenging” ones. You may see this as a quick way to shorten your task list, but it usually means that important things don’t get done on time.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. There are many ways to add levity to a tough challenge, and engaging the team occasionally in some fun activities will work wonders for your team’s productivity and motivation.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Tech.Co

JANUARY 10, 2018

Purchasing products from a brand you trust can be more of an emotional buy, and trust is one of the key factors to attracting the female shopper. If they know a product is good enough for their family and children, they will share that information with friends. “Focusing on emotion is key when communicating with female customers.

Tips 71

Tips Customer Custom Dollar Shave Club 71

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. How many times have you actually made up work to keep an idle person busy? Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Sure, we built SaaS products before the term even existed but at 31 it was hard to delineate reality from what all of the monied people around us were telling us what we were worth. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Until we weren’t.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Bottlenecks to team productivity. Time utilization inefficiency is wasted time.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2022

You may focus only on Facebook, and missing customers who expect to see you on Instagram and YouTube. Get interactive with online users and customer feedback. Publishing your content is positive, but responding to customers online multiplies your impact. Sponsor customer events for visibility and giveaways.

Marketing 119

Marketing Social Media Mentor Conference 119

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

I think you’ll learn more in watching the 20-minute interview that Troy Carter and I did than you will in most tech interviews because he cuts down to the raw essence of what it takes any product to be discovered and nurtured and the power of being able to connect the right emerging artist with the right influencers in a market.

Mentor 150

Mentor Venture Capital Marketing Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Unfortunately, many of the business professionals I meet these days in my mentoring and consulting activities feel perennially stressed and out of control, versus calm and satisfied with their position. They realize that their productivity is suffering, as well as their health, but they don’t know what to do about it.

Demand 103

Demand Activity Email Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2023

Listen to your team, mentors, and customers to recognize real successes and failures, and surround yourself with people who can fill in the gaps. Allocate your time and resources to customer expectations and competitor challenges. Research indicates this alone leads to higher performance much of the time.

Mentor 104

Mentor Startup Coach Satisfaction 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

Every business needs repeatable processes to grow and thrive, but modern business processes need the right people to make them efficient and productive. In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Of course, some balance is required.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

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. Project management is essential to getting things done on time, with a minimum number of problems and crises.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2020

As I was watching the investor show, Shark Tank , on TV the other night, I was struck by how quickly and how extensively the sharks focused on the background and character of the entrepreneurs, compared to time spent evaluating their products. These can be honed over time, and can’t be easily faked.

Entrepreneur 168

Entrepreneur Mentor Metrics Customer 168

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

There is always the next generation of workers coming of age who expect more, as well as the current generation already having the lowest engagement and productivity levels that business has ever seen. Spend more time mentoring and coaching your team. Giving orders and assignments is not coaching.

Tips 159

Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Time is too precious to waste trying to close a deal with the wrong investors at the wrong time. For example, if you have a proven product, real revenue, a big potential market, and are ready to scale up the business, every investor will be interested. The final product works great, and all the early users love it.”

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. Balance of passion with reality and customer feedback. Today, customer loyalty is based on the “ total customer experience ,” as opposed to price or service alone.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2022

It’s been happening for some time, but business changes, accelerated by the recent pandemic, have highlighted the need for all of us to review our positions, image, and satisfaction at work. They predict many of us will be changing jobs multiple times, either by choice or necessity, in this new world. Do I need new skills?”

Social Media 125

Social Media Summary Startup Mentor 125

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers.

Resource 121

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2023

In addition, relationships found through networking can make your life a lot more satisfying as well as more productive. I have found that the effort you put into these strategies can easily make the difference between positive and satisfying results versus just wasting your time: Do your homework to find the best opportunities for you.

Networking 104

Networking Mentor Conference Summary 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Many people believe that new ideas are the critical element of innovation, but in my experience as a mentor and investor, long-term business success is more about implementation than ideas. Search for customer pain rather than high margins. New customers don’t see incremental improvements. First, failure is not always bad.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

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.

Startup 118

Startup Satisfaction Customer Custom 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2021

Most entrepreneur that fail are quick to offer a litany of constraints that caused their demise – not enough money, time, customers, or support from the right players. How many times have you actually made up work to keep an idle person busy? Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2023

Entrepreneurs need to be effective team leaders, since no one can transform an idea into a product and a business without some help. Unfortunately many founders I work with as a mentor are experts on the technical side, but have no insight into leading a team. If your team has trouble finding you, you won’t make productive connections.

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Development Team Review Startup Activity 127

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

Not so long ago, business leaders operated behind the scenes, and even long-time employees rarely heard from them or saw them in the news. Today, with the Internet and social media, if you aren’t visible in a positive way to everyone, including customers, your leadership efforts will be lost.

Mentor 145

Mentor IBM IBM Social Media 145

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2018

Most of our mentors are people who have been successful entrepreneurs and investors, who have been there, and understand how to get a company to the next sage. They're willing to give their time, a few hours a week, to help out startups. They fail to understand what the market is, what their differentiation is to their customers.

Startup 172

Startup Seed Funding Mentor Ideas 172

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2023

It has a huge impact on productivity, as well as morale and loyalty to the company. In this age of interactive social media, your culture image quickly spreads to customers, and determines their loyalty. Trust causes the brain to release oxytocin, which stimulates productivity and raises motivation. So, how do you build trust?

Claremont 101

Claremont Mentor Study Startup 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

The market is changing so fast these days, and if you are not planning a solution today for tomorrow’s customers, you may be setting yourself up for failure and don’t even realize it. There are many free generalized tools, including Google Trends , which can be used to track customer behavior in looking for things that don’t exist yet.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Many experts have said for a long time that running out of money is not the primary reason. My idea is just too far ahead of its time.”

Startup 135

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 23, 2022

Many of you business leaders I work with, and entrepreneurs I mentor, have a great strategy and an innovative solution , but struggle with building and motivating the team necessary to run your business. Becoming a totally connected business leader is a very different challenge from building a product, or defining a good strategy.

Mentor 108

Mentor Social Media Coach Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Yet, as a business consultant, I still find many of you business leaders relying primarily on your technology, word-of-mouth , or location to attract necessary customers.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Tool 121

Tool Statistics Entrepreneur Metrics 121

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2021

Others are really marketers out to make money fast, and believe that they can entice customers to any offering. It’s that part of our being that wants to be in the right place at the right time, leveraging timing to make as much money as possible. Ultimately, most get the best help from business advisors and mentors.

Entrepreneur 134

Entrepreneur Framework Mentor Web 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

As a long-time business advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs, I consistently find that the most thriving businesses are people-centric, and those team members create the best processes, rather than the other way around. Leaders who focus on team communication are also more successful in dealing with partners and customers.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2022

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Spend more time on the future than today.

Startup 137

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. Before you get too excited, it’s time to do some homework. Now get real (cook it). Keep thieves away (protect it).

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136