Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

Many MBA programs still cater too much to the needs of large, corporate management jobs or prepare students to enter big consulting companies or investments banks. That student is Erin McCann who formerly worked in sales at Google, so she has some ground to stand on in her assertions. And that leads me to today’s post.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2013

help you integrate your product with other systems making it harder for your product to be replaced by competitors. So when I meet with GRP portfolio companies that do enterprise sales I try to emphasize the following: 1. Only Work on Projects That Support Your Core Product Effort. Protect Your Intellectual Property.

Software Review 321

Software Review Software Services Company 321

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 29, 2014

Most products out there suck so mom gets stuck with angst of wanting to have decorations, activities and chatzkies for other kids to take home. We built great eCommerce tools from scratch, spent a great deal of efforts deeply integrating with Pinterest and build great corporate relationships with Target and the like.

Startup 296

Startup Southern California Marketing Activity 296

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2015

. “the ecommerce company gained fauxmentum by raising artificially high amounts of venture capital and spent lavishly on customer acquisition despite long payback periods and questionable LTV” __. I’m not saying don’t hire sales staff or market your products aggressively. We live in heady times.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Custom Customer 150

TechCrunch LA

MAY 13, 2020

So, an eight-year product veteran from Facebook and an internationally renowned barista walk into a coffee bar… It’s not a joke. The company started off as a direct sales business, giving away coffee to friends and friends-of-friends. the two co-founders began dropping off their brews at corporate offices.

Startup 284

Startup Los Angeles Seed Funding Product 284

socalTECH

APRIL 18, 2012

According to Eucalyptus, the round was led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), and also included existing investors Benchmark Capital , BV Capital, and New Enterprise Associates. The firm will use the new funds for product innovation, sales, and customer support. IVP's Steve Harrick joins the company's board.

Cloud Computing 154

Cloud Computing Santa Barbara News Software 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

socalTECH

APRIL 24, 2020

For our interview this morning, we spoke with Carey Ransom , from OC4 Venture Studio (www.oc4v.com). I've had every role in a company, from CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, chief product officer, head of business development, corporate development, and sales. What is OC4? I have really been through the life cycles of a company.

Invest 124

Invest Startup Ideas Examples 124

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Venture Capital is a game of pattern matching. Given the thousands of startups Venture Capitalists review annually, they must adopt efficient methods of quickly assessing if a person/opportunity is worth further diligence. Sales Guy who can package and promote the opportunity, but who has minimal product development capabilities.

Technical Review 244

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital RSS 244

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Based on my experience and data from the field, over seventy-five percent of new startups fail, even with venture backing. 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

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

These sites (so far) have managed to balance facilitating product discovery and purchase capabilities with users'' desires to entertain and educate themselves without feeling like they are in a marketplace. A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. John Greathouse : Albert, thanks for taking the time to chat.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

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). It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2009

Redpoint Ventures (www.redpoint.com). Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. Cox Communications - Orange County - Looking for Product Marketing Manager. We are seeking a Product Marketing Manager, who plans, develops, and implements marketing programs designed to increase product penetration of commercial customers.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California Westlake Village 100

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

I was previously at Salesforce Ventures for almost four years, focused on investments in companies in the enterprise software space which were strategic to Salesforce. One thing that struck me, was just how practical the advice as, from team building to fundraising to scaling out a product and operations. It's a great event.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

He’s bound to be able to help a company or two at the time of a sale. Imagine the positions of Sequoia (Google, Zynga, YouTube), Kleiner Perkins (Google), Accel (Facebook), Union Square Ventures (Zynga, Twitter) and so on. didn’t buy the company but having them on board as serious potential buyer helped our ultimate sale.

Invest 280

Invest Angel Venture Capital Yahoo 280

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". Dear Friends, We have no income and no venture capital funding.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2018

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Research 87

Research Marketing Statistics Report 87

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 30, 2012

In Michael's case, he promised his parents that he would return to school if the sales at his startup did not meet his expectations. "I But it's also about operations and customer relationships." Innovation is commonly associated with either the introduction of new products or new features added to existing products.

Tips 247

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Santa Barbara 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans. For the rest of us, we need a business plan, as well as a product plan. Some of you may be convinced that your product specification communicates the product message even better than a business plan, so why be redundant?

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Note: Rincon Venture Partners is an investor in Launchpad LA, but otherwise has no affiliation with Divshot.). If we hadn’t done well on Hacker News we would have needed to have some serious product/market fit discussions.". No one wants to hear corporate doublespeak in comment responses.

News 198

News Sites Startup RSS 198

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. It included one firm who I asked not to call Salesforce.com as a reference (they were our largest pilot customer) and in their kindness they called Marc Benioff (the CEO) and asked his opinion.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Blogging Startup Slides 274

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2013

Jackson said, “We’re using the proceeds from our financing round to invest in our technology, build new features, and increase sales and support.”. Jackson added that the firm was proud of its product, and even uses its own software to manage their capital raised from investors. Over $3M Raised. million in the Series A round.

Draper 68

Draper Google Software Engineering Invest 68

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2013

Those services work on volume, and the designs you can send--and which you receive--are from a limited selection, not at all personalized to the recipient, and for the florist delivering the flowers, provides slim margins and no opportunity to build a customer base. Both of them are getting screwed in this transaction.

Beverly Hills 157

Beverly Hills Technical Review Design Startup 157

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I find that more and more entrepreneurs avoid using the term “profit” in pitching their new venture. Of course, I understand and don’t condone bad actors who get greedy, and exploit ways to unjustly squeeze customers and employees. Solve a painful problem for customers who have money to spend.

Entrepreneur 58

Entrepreneur Ideas Pricing Custom 58

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.”. Work hard to get the right people on your team.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2013

Venture capital investments are returning to startups. Venture capital firms raised $4.1 The continuing rise in the price of fuel, combined with the ongoing evidence of global warming, has highlighted the need for alternative energy sources, and green products. That should be true even if your customer is really a distributor.

Startup 86

Startup Tips Venture Capital Demand 86

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

One useful technique for keeping your eyes focused on what really matters is Cayenne Consulting’s Venture Value Scorecard™. The Venture Value Scorecard is a one-page summary of your company’s achievements and assets: the factors that contribute to the value of your organization. Detail isn’t important; tracking your progress is.

.Net 89

.Net Metrics Competition Template 89

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

In many ways that might be one way to interpret even Facebook where Sheryl stepped in as COO but by all accounts ran much of Facebook for a few years (other than product). He called this initiative VEDO and launched it quietly to some of our bigger customers. It now seems that Mark is more firmly in control.

CTO Hire 309

CTO Hire Organization Google Course 309

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Putting their expensive educations to good use, they aptly named their novelty product a "MouseDriver". Dear Friends, We have no income and no venture capital funding.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Peter Csathy - CEO Manatt Digital Media Ventures. Peter Csathy is CEO of Manatt Digital Media Ventures, a division of Manatt Digital Media, which offers innovative full-service business consulting and legal services, as well as venture capital. Babak Razi - Founder Third Wave Ventures. On Demand).

Startup 111

Startup Entertainment Media Santa Barbara 111

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 17, 2011

He also designed the Farmville iPhone application (top iPhone app), and worked on corporate development deals including Microsoft, Yahoo, Zynga Japan, and Zynga corporate strategy. Alex Maleki , Member of New Venture Group at Idealab. Alex is a member of the New Venture Group at Idealab, headed by Allen Morgan.

Tech Coast Angels 100

Tech Coast Angels Idealab Angel Design 100

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

I am a Board Member and an investor in The Resumator via Rincon Venture Partners. It’s your relationship with employee #1 that will define the direction of your company and lay the groundwork of your corporate culture. Sales Mentality. You, my lucky friend, are ready to hire your very first employee. What was the result?”.

Tips 182

Tips RSS Ideas SaaS 182

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 5, 2011

As noted in RIP RFPs , entrepreneurs should generally avoid RFPs because they cannot afford to expend the time and resources required to participate in such regimented and lengthy sales processes. You can effectively do so by utilizing an online meeting product, such as GoToMeeting or LogMeIn. Corporate Beyotch. Shocking HP.

Startup 216

Startup Slides Resource Organization 216

socalTECH

JANUARY 12, 2015

However, for today''s interview, we''ve decided to venture a bit farther afield--talking to Samit Varma , founder of Los Angeles-based pizza franchise Pizza Studio (www.pizzastudio.com). Eighteen of our restaurants are franchised, and the other six are corporate. Samit Varma: I was an entrepreneur before going to the VC world.

Startup 100

Startup Anthem Venture Capital Technology 100

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. Quiet-as-a-mouse Roger Ehrenberg of IA Ventures. True-to-his-heritage Rory O’Driscoll from Scale Ventures. Wallflower – yours truly.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. These are also important for your product positioning in the competitor section of your business plan.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97