SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. I moved into writing software to analyze audience data, and wrote a lot of computer graphics software. for face-to-face general networking events.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. It makes customers feel special, and gives you the opportunity to highlight your broad experience and credentials.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

million, our Seed Funds mostly between $200–300 million and have delivered median ownerships of ~20% from the first check we write into a startup. We could talk with customers, meet the entire management team, review financial plans, review customer purchasing cohorts, evaluate the competition, etc. By 2021 we had to write a $3.5m

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 23, 2011

Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. You need somebody who REALLY understands your company, its customers and its competitors. I write on my blog how I think in my head.

Startup 349

Startup Writing Press Blogging 349

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

What that did, is it helped us to expand the service to help publishers do the following: identify what content to write, how to distribute that content to various mediums, and how to monetize that content. Journalists are notorious for not wanting to write based on revenues or commercial intersts, or having anyone tell them what to write.

Marketing 232

Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans. Marketing futures can be really good for enterprise software companies where the information is passed between sales rep and potential customer in terms of near-term roadmap. You don’t.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

With all these companies vying for attention & others just here to soak up the vibe I thought I’d write a much broader piece on how startups can make the most of their attendance at conferences & events. Feel good in knowing that while they’re at the latest conference, you can be back home stealing all their customers !

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

What is it about the content delivery network market which has enabled Santa Monica-based EdgeCast to go from startup to over $100M in revenues in only a few, short years? We serve up four to five percent of the global Internet on our network. For those who don't know about EdgeCast, CDN services, who/what kind of clients you serve?

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 2, 2009

Twitter is the new CRM (customer relationship management) channel. On Facebook (and nearly all social networks that preceded it) the relationship was always reciprocal – if I accept your invitation to follow me then I have to follow you. People write their thoughts knowing that anybody else can see them.

Social Network 235

Social Network Writing Tool Startup 235

SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

More Visible Networking? Vince: On the consulting side we are working with a unique social network, a new television network and some original video content businesses. Tony: I personally am torn by choices around Networking Events in Los Angeles – you can go to something almost every night. this time with Vince Thompson.

Startup 225

Startup Los Angeles Twiistup Social Network 225

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 17, 2009

If you live somewhere where this is the case you’re better off discussing with your employer that you may from time-to-time work on private projects outside of work hours and you want their clearance in writing that this is OK. Get customer input. Interview customers to better articulate their problems. Register a company.

Startup 365

Startup Technical Advisors IP Ideas 365

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

. - 500 Hats , July 30, 2010 Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 Customer Development Checklist for My Web Startup – Part 1 - Ash Maurya , February 16, 2010 How-to learn about angel/vc term sheets - Gabriel Weinberg , June 28, 2010 Why Every Entrepreneur Should Write and 9 Tips To Get Started - OnStartups (..)

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

If you are a millenial entering the workforce, what would you be most comfortable with -- a tool designed to work and look like a social network, or a tool built around an old fashioned corporate enterprise software UI? PromoJam debuted its brand new, self-service version of its social promotions tool today, PromoJam 2.0,

Tool 190

Tool Services Social Network Template 190

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2010

In writing anything positive about any of the companies I’m not suggesting that it means that I prefer them to any of their competitors. Also, some of the deals I write about I have actually seen as part of their fund raising process. They have done 3 startups in the customer support space and one that wasn’t.

Venture Capital 265

Venture Capital Capital Email Blogging 265

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

But, they could not write, and did not know what to write from the travel perspective. Every one of those writers has a byline and a bio, and are paid twice a week at a pretty decent rate for that writing or assignment. They couldn't find enough people to write the content they needed, at the quality they need.

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

I get paid to network – I love meeting people. My job doesn’t involve the daily grind of customer complaints, product outages, business partner / channel problems, hiring / firing, etc. I get to network with angels, VCs, entrepreneurs, lawyers, etc. I’ll write about that in a couple of weeks.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

This post covers the first out of 10 that I’ll write about. The moderator asked the question, “if an entrepreneur writes an email to a VC and doesn’t hear back what should they do?&# This VC responded, “Move on. Your customers don’t care that you went to Stanford, Harvard or MIT. Yeah, right.

Entrepreneur 338

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

.&# They know instinctually how customers buy and how to excite them. Because they’re street smart, most great entrepreneurs tend to prefer getting out and talking with real customers rather than sitting in a cubicle all day doing beautiful PowerPoint slides. They have a sixth sense for the competitors’ weaknesses.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” If you had huge customer growth but just didn’t focus on revenue that’s a different story. One of them is profitability.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

I’m writing this post to make sure you’re all on that same playing field. 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. So, where is this all coming from, Mark? What are you on about?

Statistics 415

Statistics Startup Report Research 415

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2017

Every new opportunity and every door opened is at the “top end of your funnel” meaning that may or may not come to fruition: A business development conversation, a first customer meeting, the first candidate in a recruiting process, the first time you talk with a journalist or the first meeting to consider your business strategy.

Activity 297

Activity Blogging Email Startup 297

Berkonomics

MARCH 13, 2014

They told me about their expertise and their network of contacts, and their early customers, and the promising results so far. They wanted to come to pitch to my angel network. None of the angels in my group is likely to write a check without hearing and believing a story about how something dramatic is about to happen.

Invest 237

Invest Examples Networking Writing 237

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She focused on her customer. Tracy is knowledgeable enough to talk tech and swap design & product stories with other founders, but she realized early that networking amongst this group and reading and writing in their journals would not bring her more customers.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

There’s one attribute (coming soon) that I need to have in order to write a check but I don’t believe is vital for success. When Evan Rifkin of.App/Ads launched a new ad network for iPhone (and soon to be other devices) applications I knew he would have a very strong offering out of the box. Another example.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2011

It's the biggest portion of our revenues at our company, and our clients include the Buffalo News, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, JDate, Spark network, and many entrepreneurs. But, with the economy turning south in 2008, lots of those customers went out of business. For example, if a customer has a question on a purchase, we answer that.

Platform 263

Platform Training Software Review Advertising 263

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

Will every customer who feels bombarded with sales requests want to take your call? Well, for starters you need to be a great networker. You need to know how to write good & action oriented emails. Do you think the SVP of Marketing from Coca Cola is going to respond to your every email? It’s your job to persist.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

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

APRIL 25, 2013

And still able to make it out to LA networking events. Talking about how to inspire moms to get their children engaged with iPads and physical activity sets customized for their kids and based in part on their digital lives. She helps write press releases. Somehow she was always on a flight up to Seattle or San Francisco.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 17, 2010

The VC’s & executives were then asked to make “commitments&# (in writing) to 3-5 of the companies that they felt they could make some sort of contribution to. They have developed a cloud-based platform for merchants to publish to multiple distribution networks, including social, mobile and email. Watch this space.

Companies 276

Companies Company Startup Southern California 276

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Microsoft Office ended up beating its competitors because it was able to read and write to file formats other than its own. Lesson: You dn’t want your customers to feel locked into using your software. It helps with sales cycles because customers know that they can switch away if they so choose. Defensibility in Software.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 14, 2012

…” I’ll write soon on my views of why I believe Instagram took off as a social network and what I think comes next. Instagram happens to be one of the few social networks I regularly use along with Twitter. It’s understandably on everybody’s mind these days. Just checked their balance sheet.

Venture Capital 316

Venture Capital Pricing Social Network Acquisition 316

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

As a business advisor and advocate for entrepreneurs, I find myself almost always talking and writing about change. Peers and customers alike still expect responsiveness. Yet peers and customers notice phone calls and e-mails not returned in twenty-four hours or less. Networking effectiveness is a measure of your potential.

Startup 153

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Screening 153

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

But my contact told me that many viral videos start through close networks on Reddit where a degree of formal and informal collaboration of individuals takes place. If you have NO network of promotion for your story? Simply write a great book? Of course websites like Reddit and HackerNews try to weed out such behavior.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

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. I was 23 and had been programming computers, designing computer networks and selling software for 10 years.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Messenger : Rob Duva , Co-Founder, COO RingRevenue, prior Director of Customer Acquisition, CallWave. Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. Who do you view as your biggest competition?

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? Probably the biggest drawback of Los Angeles is the distance and traffic that makes networking more difficult. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Initiate networking to find peer partners and investors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157