Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2022

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” What separates an idea person from a visionary leader? Visionary leaders radiate a sense of energy, strong will, and personal integrity. Willing to take bold actions.

Ideas 149

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 149

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2021

I’m often surprised when you as an aspiring entrepreneur, looking for investors, tell me your solution is so innovative that you don’t have to worry about differentiating it from competitors, and customers will flock to it without a real marketing campaign. Focus your marketing on real customer value. Perception is better than reality.

Social Media 134

Social Media Case Study Customer Custom 134

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2020

Here are eight key points that I believe should be taken from the show by every startup founder looking for investors in real life, across the range of venture capitalists, angel investors, or even friends and family: You will be judged first as a person, then by your idea. Personalize your presentation, if possible, for every investor.

Entrepreneur 127

Entrepreneur Sample Ideas Customer 127

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

I know all of this because every VC knows this because we’ve all either funded companies that have marketing technology or we’ve seen a pitch with a company that does this. Your pitch deck should really be your best marketing tool Your pitch deck shouldn’t contain your deepest, darkest secrets and plans.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

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. Personal privacy protection. Technology is the means, not the end.

Technology 165

Technology Social Network Training Startup 165

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2022

True business success and leadership starts with real personal values, extends to building a team, and finally to inspiring customers and your community. I fully support and appreciate his case studies and conclusions on specific required personal initiatives, and how these can change people, organizations, and even entire industries.

Case Study 139

Case Study Customer Custom Tool 139

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2021

In my view, it starts with your communication of real personal values , and ends your focus on results. Focus on customers and people over profits and ego. Especially in these modern times, both your customers and your team are looking for personal relationships to incent their engagement and loyalty. billion buyout.

Customer 157

Customer Custom Metrics Ideas 157

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2016

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. I still hear too many excuses for not working early on the elevator pitch, like wanting to fly under the radar, don’t have the team together yet, or can’t afford an agency. Craft and hone your elevator pitch early.

Customer 58

Customer Custom Social Media Startup 58

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2021

His focus is primarily on improving the results for traditional sales professionals, but I’m convinced that the same principles are equally critical for entrepreneurs selling their startup to investors, strategic partners, and customers. These attributes include the following: Specific moment-in-time indication.

Startup 125

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Customer 125

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point. Remember you are pitching to investors, not customers. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that their product pitch is also their investor pitch.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

TechCrunch LA

JULY 29, 2019

When Stackin initially pitched itself as part of Techstars Los Angeles accelerator program two years ago, the company was a video platform for financial advice targeting a millennial audience too savvy for traditional advisory services. It turns out that consumers didn’t want another video platform.

Services 212

Services Mobile Platform Los Angeles 212

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 30, 2019

For brands, the pitch is a new way to find customers and engage with them. The company’s personalized connection with its community allows brands to better understand and interact with consumers – establishing a long-term relationship rather than simply a transaction.” ”

Newsletter 212

Newsletter Los Angeles .Net Platform 212

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

The short answer is that you should have multiple versions of your “pitch deck” (a short, visual presentation in Keynote, PPT or similar and shared as a PDF) and each occasion has a specific goal. During the Meeting One last pitch for why you should send the teaser deck in advance. A great meeting is a debate, not a pitch.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Startup 261

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 30, 2021

Pilot-authors tell their stories in the first person, and all of us readers slow down to think while reading of these events, wondering “what if” or whether this could happen to me. We ask ourselves “what if?”. In aviation circles, we read in our pilot magazines about “Never again!” or “I learned about flying from that.”

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Training Invest Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2020

Savvy entrepreneurs start testing their ideas on potential customers even before the concept is fully cooked. I still hear too many excuses for not working early on the elevator pitch, like wanting to fly under the radar, don’t have the team together yet, or can’t afford an agency. Craft and hone your elevator pitch early.

Ideas 124

Ideas Tips Marketing Social Media 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2021

Here is my outline of key deliverables that could convince me that you are a cut above the “average” entrepreneur that approaches me with nothing but a dream and a prayer: Personal video introduction with elevator pitch. Investor and strategic partner pitch. Pitch your company, not your product.

Entrepreneur 156

Entrepreneur Tips Funding Startup 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

These range from companies pitching me to portfolio companies presenting at board meetings. Here are some guidelines for you – particularly for VC pitch meetings. Weave in their pitch to an overall pitch narrative. Sometimes it is the CEO and sometimes it is the number 2 person. This is really annoying.

Venture Capital 377

Venture Capital Slides Course Summary 377

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2022

You may think it’s great that demand exceeds your supply chain, but customers only remember it as a loss of your credibility, and will tell others. Proactive customer communication should be your first recourse, followed by cost and service concessions. The result is low productivity, mistakes, and poor customer experiences.

Startup 134

Startup Training Tool Demand 134

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Others schedule exhaustive training sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone paints a consistent picture. The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Even though I love technology, I always cringe when an entrepreneur starts his pitch by touting his new technology. He has forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they hope to eliminate. Is your product tempered with actual market and customer feedback?

Customer 95

Customer Custom Technology Marketing 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2020

As an angel investor in startups, I’m a believer that smart investors invest more in you as the entrepreneur than the next billion dollar solution you are pitching. These days, customers expect to hear and see social and environmental value from a new business, rather than just a new technology or profit.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Examples Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2021

People listen and remember a personal story and impact more than a large chart of facts. Highlight a personal anecdote and keep it in sight to make your message hit home and become real. Do something more, like assembling a group of potential customers, and convey unique insights you learned.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Examples Google Funding 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2020

According to studies , the alternative of acquiring new customers still costs you five to seven times more than retaining existing ones. But customers today are fickle, instantly aware of every new alternative, due to the Internet and social media, and not afraid to change. Appeal to all your customer senses all of the time.

Customer 136

Customer Custom Social Media Startup 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2019

In my role as a mentor to entrepreneurs and an angel investor, I find that too many are stuck in this myth that a good pitch, and good marketing content, should consist of more product features, and more hype on customer benefits. That’s why I recommend every solution pitch must start with a painful problem, not just “nice-to-have.”

Startup 102

Startup Customer Custom Social Media 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

That’s why I caution my aspiring entrepreneur clients against proclaiming to investors that they are a great “idea” person. In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 26, 2020

Startups across the nation and around the world are looking for ways to relieve shortages of much-needed personal protective equipment and sanitizers used to halt the spread of COVID-19. In fact, Kentucky was outbid by the federal government for personal protective equipment. “We break it up into three different programs. .

Company 281

Company Companies Mobile Organization 281

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2021

It takes a long time and lots of effort to overcome existing momentum, and both investors and customers want to see results on a small scale in their lifetime, before they line up to join the movement. Think personal computers compared to mainframes, or smartphone cameras compared to professional cameras. Marty Zwilling.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Entrepreneur Marketing Customer 157

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2020

Here are some example strategies to pitch and practice: Adapt an existing product to a new use. Target viable customer segments overlooked by competitors. Consider a non-mass-market segment less interesting to incumbents, such as needing a highly-customized solution, or customers who can’t afford the main-stream solution.

Startup 129

Startup Artificial Inteligence Examples Google 129

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

They’re pitching to you. I’d like to talk about Crocodile Salesmen in 3 scenarios: 1) when YOU are selling (or someone on your team), 2) when you are trying to recruit a sales person. Let’s assume you run a Customer Support software company. My favorite was when I guy told me to beware of Crocodile Salesmen.

Sales 314

Sales Startup Venture Capital Customer 314

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

I’ve recently had a chance to reconnect with Eric David Greenspan ( LinkedIn , Twitter ) He’s the CEO of Make It Work a high quality, personal, high touch technology service provider for homes and small businesses. A day might include a discussion with a finance partner, an investor, a customer or a fusion partner. Great posts.

Acquisition 170

Acquisition Customer Custom Ideas 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

You need to work just as hard to convince investors that you are the best person to take your idea from a dream to a successful business, and provide an impressive return on their investment at the same time. Develop a personal story as a visionary and learner. In reality, that’s only half the story. The other half is you.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). I wrote about how to build relationships with journalists in this post.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

On the other hand, if you are a new entrepreneur, still in the idea stage, professional investors will only tell you to come back later when you have traction (customers and revenue). Tune your investor pitch and funding expectations accordingly.

Funding 125

Funding Startup Ideas Equity 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” What separates an idea person from a visionary leader? Visionary leaders radiate a sense of energy, strong will, and personal integrity. Willing to take bold actions.

Ideas 101

Ideas Startup Entrepreneur Resource 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

Others schedule exhaustive training sessions for everyone on the team, including showcase customers, to make sure that everyone paints a consistent picture. The Founder needs to remember that meetings up to this point have been primarily off-site, with staged demos, and managed personally by the CEO or a small team.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

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. Then craft an irresistible pitch, and iterate often to keep tuning it.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90