Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 7, 2023

Young entrepreneurs often are so excited by new technology or their latest invention that they forget to translate it into a value proposition that their customers or potential investors can understand and relate to. Customer data integrity and security. This priority applies to big companies, as well as startups. Martin Zwilling

Social Network 108

Social Network Training Startup Technology 108

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

AUGUST 17, 2020

Don’t forget to consider customer alternatives, like trains versus airplanes. These days, you can find existing patents and trademarks through Google and the US Patent Office online site without spending thousands of dollars with your favorite patent attorney. Choose projects with financial resources within your reach.

Technical Review 173

Technical Review Ideas Patents Startup 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced. Internal services, like marketing and accounting, are more manageable and have less customer visibility.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2019

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. Money from customers and investors is the same color.

Competition 120

Competition Patents Resource Invest 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem-solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers.

Equity 99

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Most aspiring entrepreneurs look to their alma mater, or any university, as a source of classes that can help them, but neglect to think outside the box or take advantage of all the other resources to be found there. Get help with grant funding and incubator resources.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2023

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. Patents and trade secrets are more powerful advantages than missing competitive features, which might be quickly filled in as you gain traction.

Competition 111

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 111

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

AUGUST 15, 2020

Young entrepreneurs often are so excited by new technology or their latest invention that they forget to translate it into a value proposition that their customers or potential investors can understand and relate to. Customer data integrity and security. This priority applies to big companies, as well as startups. Martin Zwilling.

Technology 165

Technology Social Network Training Startup 165

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

Berkonomics

MARCH 14, 2019

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Any new enterprise is at risk if there are not enough resources to get the company to breakeven, which is a proxy for stability.

Outsource Development 120

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 120

Berkonomics

AUGUST 23, 2012

By carefully recognizing and focusing upon the very core of the business, these CEOs are allocating their scarce cash resources to hire the best talent they can find to support that core business, and then reaching out to partners, independent contractors, and other small businesses to provide all other functions.

Patents 159

Patents Training Resource Advertising 159

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

These requirements must be based on market analysis, expert input, and existing customer feedback. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business. Development schedule and checkpoints.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

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

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Social causes are great, but your ability to sustain your value contribution is directly linked to your ability to find paying customers.

Startup 124

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

Value is embodied in previous success with investors, proven problem solving ability, and having built and executed a business plan with minimal resources. Value factors include your related product breadth and depth, relationships with thought leaders, key vendors, and large potential customers.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

Major innovation, with major payback, requires real change, addresses a major pain point, and hits a large customer segment who can pay. I do recommend non-disclosures and patents, but more can be gained than lost by talking to outside experts. For example, smart entrepreneurs look for recognizable patterns in disconnected domains.

Startup 162

Startup Metrics Ideas Entrepreneur 162

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2023

In addition, we all know that patent disclosure rules often facilitate legal reverse engineering, and innovation at this point is now much cheaper. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Timing is critical, as well as focus on marketing and customer satisfaction. Martin Zwilling

Social Media 92

Social Media Study Research Satisfaction 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

It starts with a vision, but benefits quickly from a structured process of idea generation, evaluation, prototyping, customer feedback, and success metrics. Innovative technologies have no value until they are turned into solutions to real customer problems. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions.

Coach 144

Coach Metrics Social Network Competition 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2022

For example, Elon Musk, who owns many battery patents , normally kept for a competitive edge, decided to open them all to any competitors in an effort to expand the market for his electric vehicles. Initiate a regular program of customer experiments. Always practice thinking outside the box.

Competition 139

Competition Examples Customer Custom 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2023

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Look for customer-focused value creation. Seek innovation that begets invention. It doesn’t always work the other way around. Failure is an option.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Competition 101

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

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Assess your own resources as well as funding sources. In business, there will always be someone out there with more money, a better location, or more resources, ready to take your idea and squeeze you out. You need intellectual property , such as a patent, trade secret, or process expertise that will be a barrier that you can defend.

Social Media 105

Social Media Writing Ideas Resource 105

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend. Prepare your marketing story for customers and investors.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2020

In addition, we all know that patent disclosure rules often facilitate legal reverse engineering, and innovation at this point is now much cheaper. Market research can thus be based on real customers and a previously tested market. Timing is critical, as well as focus on marketing and customer satisfaction. Martin Zwilling.

Startup 157

Startup Social Media Study Research 157

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. These have the vision and the resources to fund long-term digital success.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

According to an MIT study a while back, only about 10% of patents granted in the United States have any meaningful commercial importance and less than one percent are of seminal importance. Look for customer-focused value creation. Seek innovation that begets invention. It doesn’t always work the other way around. Failure is an option.

Startup 171

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Competition 171

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base. Social causes are great, but your ability to sustain your value contribution is directly linked to your ability to find paying customers.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

Obviously, where you need to be is somewhere in the middle, and certain that you are the right person with the right resources to win. The right answer to this question is that you bring some new intellectual property to the table – like a patent or other secret sauce. Do you have the resources to build a business?

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Ideas Resource Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2020

Most entrepreneurs spend far too much time thinking negatively about competitors, and can’t resist making derogatory statements to their own team, to investors, and even to customers. Patents and trade secrets are more powerful advantages than missing competitive features, which might be quickly filled in as you gain traction.

Competition 125

Competition Entrepreneur Patents Customer 125

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. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Second: Market risk. Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? And fifth: Competitive risk.

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2021

There are lots of resources available for that question, including the Internet and mentors like me. As an example of a good resource, I enjoyed the classic book, “ Idea To Invention ,” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, that does a great job on the key steps. File at least a provisional patent and one or more trademarks.

Ideas 136

Ideas Entrepreneur Mentor Resource 136

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2020

Despite some recent advances, there are still some cultures which have less regard for patents and other intellectual property. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced. Internal services, like marketing and accounting, are more manageable and have less customer visibility.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Software Review Technical Review 122