Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

Today more than ever, the evidence is clear that business people need to find and communicate a purpose that goes beyond making a profit, in order to ensure customer engagement, as well as your own, and drive results in the marketplace. As you grow, so will your team and customers. Driven to reduce personal hardship and suffering.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Coach Mentor Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. If you can explain the problem to a mentor, or even write it down, you will more likely get to the root cause quickly, and avoid emotional and blame-infused responses. Explore solutions, outcomes, and options calmly.

Startup 135

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review 135

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

JANUARY 25, 2016

If you can’t provide a memorable customer experience, your startup won’t survive very long these days. According to many observers , we can thank or blame technology for these higher expectations, providing information at the speed of light, leading everyone to expect more. Every job on your team drives your customer experience.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Startup Coach 55

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. Look for technologies to adapt from other domains.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Ideas Satisfaction Customer 114

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Even an extraordinary engineer or product lead who have built a breakthrough product aren’t guaranteed success unless they can get access to capital, get much needed press to drive low-cost customer acquisition and persuade fickle business leaders to join their company and help them shape their businesses beyond tech innovation.

Mentor 150

Mentor Venture Capital Marketing Product 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

In fact, I think the evidence is clear that many entrepreneurs started their journey while still in college, and capitalized on all the resources there, before moving on: Extend your technology focus with business basics. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

Based on my experience as a business advisor, I recommend that every business owner and entrepreneur focus on the following tips to provide a better work culture: Invest in integrating new technology, not just forcing it. Technology as an add-on by edict is not satisfying. Spend more time mentoring and coaching your team.

Tips 159

Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2021

Every entrepreneur with a new technology tells me that his innovation will be industry-disrupting, meaning that it will render the existing technology obsolete, and create a new market. Pick a technology that somehow seems inferior to the major incumbents. Look for sizable customer populations unattractive to incumbents.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Entrepreneur Marketing Customer 157

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

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2014

to hear about how the program is both helping the studio tap into the energy and ideas of the startup community, as well as helping those startups find new customers in the media and entertainment business. warner bros media camp mediacamp technology startup content hollywood accelerator incubator interview' READ MORE>>.

Startup 159

Startup Technology Hollywood Media 159

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. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers. Find new ways to augment. Create new kinds of solutions.

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Every entrepreneur and every business I meet in my consulting and mentoring role has great intentions of bringing real innovation to the market, yet I find that most ideas are merely small extensions to existing solutions. Inventors are always talking about what they can do with technology, before sizing the need and the market.

Startup 146

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas 146

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2010

At VT KnowledgeWorks we screen prospective clients for their Market opportunity, for the Magic that they offer to their prospective customers, and for the Moxie displayed by the start-up team. There is a growing fellowship of special-case start-up programs operated by closely-knit, permanent groups of angel-mentors.

Incubator 80

Incubator Mentor Capital Startup 80

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

Today there are a wealth of disruptive technologies available, including the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced virtual reality (VR), and high-function robotics. But we all know that these are not solutions by themselves, but require integration into an innovative framework to solve real customer problems.

Startup 134

Startup Artificial Inteligence Ideas Entrepreneur 134

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

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

In this world of constant change, new technologies, and a thousand cultures, it’s evident and somehow comforting to me that the basic rules for business prosperity really haven’t changed in the last hundred years. Business success is still more about the people than the technology or idea involved. Master-mind alliance. Imagination.

Technical Review 119

Technical Review Ideas Entrepreneur Customer 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2022

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. Today’s pace of change in the market and in technology is unprecedented. Customers demand more engagement and flexibility. Priority is placed on employee mentoring and coaching.

Coach 128

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 128

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas. Access to entrepreneurs-in-residence, business mentors. Most schools have a rich pipeline of real-world executive volunteers available for mentoring.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2021

But privately, as a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I see mindsets and attributes that may be equally critical to success, but are not readily admitted, for fear of being too wacky. Don’t look to customers for breakthrough ideas. You now have many bosses, including partners, investors, and customers.

Entrepreneur 171

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Demand Customer 171

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. In fact, they are well-qualified overall, having worked with high technology and computers for at least 20 years, are highly educated, and highly motivated.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur Report 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

While these investors, and early customers, will always argue that they found you, I’m convinced that there is no substitute for aggressive networking on your part. Ability to relate aspirations to customer needs. You need to show insights to real customers and their needs, that get beyond your passions and projections.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In my own business career, many years as a business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I have validated the following strategies to practice and guide you. A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

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. Loners need not apply.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

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. Waste in a startup is any activity that burns resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers. Then always measure customer results, not work.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. I define business agility for my consulting clients as the ability to change your business rapidly to meet customer and environmental changes, with minimal organizational disruption and cost. Be proactive rather than reactive to market change.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

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. Subtraction leads to simplicity, better usability, and easier education of your customers. Find new ways to augment. Create new kinds of solutions.

Startup 164

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Competition 164

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Workship - Mentor. Unlike the mentor, who is a coach and teacher, the advocate inspires you to be the best that you can be. The quality of relationships with customers, investors, partners, and suppliers can easily be their sustainable competitive advantage, or their death knell. Workship - Advocate.

Mentor 91

Mentor Competition Summary Coach 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

As an advisor to technical entrepreneurs, the most common mistake I see is the “If we build it, they will come” approach with no sales plan, under the assumption that the technology is so spectacular that customers will buy the product. Effective value propositions are quantified and personalized for each customer or target segment.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. The core of the investing job of course is investing dollars into startup companies and helping as a mentor, advisor and board member on the companies in which you’ve invested. She has an amazing ethical compass with heart, compassion and drive.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

One way to do this is to nurture mentoring relationships with experts in other disciplines, as Bill Gates did with Warren Buffet. Plus you can challenge yourself to keep abreast of technology advancements in related industries, looking for a fit in your own. Initiate a regular program of customer experiments.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2022

In my role as a mentor, I challenge every business leader to be more open-minded as they face the challenges of change and new competitors entering their space. Winning business owners really listen and act on feedback from customers and advisors. Don’t be totally driven by a key customer. Listening to customers also helps.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Customer Custom Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2020

Based on my experience and a business advisor and mentor, this is the ideal time to get back to the basics of business leadership and innovation. Elon Musk , as an example, is impressive in his broad knowledge and interest in electric vehicles, getting humans into space, and new energy technologies.

Mentor 122

Mentor Ideas Competition Examples 122

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

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.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

Tech may be the tool, but hospitality – making life a little easier, more comfortable, and more enjoyable for your customer, is the winning focus. Unfortunately, too many of the technical entrepreneurs I mentor and advise are focused on their technology, and assume that the value will be self-evident to customers.

Technical Advisors 82

Technical Advisors Artificial Inteligence Customer Custom 82

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. Jeff Bezos has kept his focus on customers.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

In this world of constant change, new technologies, and a thousand cultures, it’s evident and somehow comforting to me that the basic rules for business prosperity really haven’t changed in the last hundred years. Business success is still more about the people than the technology or idea involved. Master-mind alliance. Imagination.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Ideas Entrepreneur Customer 126