Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

As organizations we have become more open and I believe this is great for businesses and their customers. We spent time out in the marketplace talking with customers, looking at their solutions, comparing ourselves with our competition and then squirreling ourselves away in our offices designing our next set of features.

Organization 280

Organization Customer Custom Tips 280

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Fast forward to almost exactly one year later, and a lot has changed for the payments and software startup. Since its 2017 inception, SpotOn has been focused on providing software and payments technology to SMBs with an emphasis on restaurants and retail businesses. Image Credits: SpotOn.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Xconomy

JUNE 3, 2016

States have been fighting to collect sales taxes from online retailers since the dawn of the e-commerce age. But today, online companies that sell services rather than merchandise also need to be concerned about state sales taxes. For example, medical services are generally not subject to sales tax.

Sales 62

Sales Company Companies Software Review 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today. The Wal-Mart home page is customized for each shopper based on location, local weather, and the customer search and purchase history.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2020

In 2020, the pandemic radically changed the customer acquisition process for many consumer-facing industries. As well as major innovations like our AI-driven customer sentiment analysis, to help our clients listen and adapt to quickly changing consumer behaviors and expectations. Contact our editors for details.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Software Review Organic Search Startup 140

Tech.Co

JANUARY 3, 2020

Customers are happy, clients are beaming, and the revenue just keeps rolling in. Point-of-Sale Systems. With in-person sales still accounting for more than $3 trillion per year , it's safe to say the original shopping methods are going to stick around. Field Service Software. Great for service businesses.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Software Review Social Media Platform 91

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Technical Review 88

Technical Review Pricing Software Review Customer 88

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Have you noticed how many web apps and content have turned into subscription services during the last several years? Application developers once considered their products as licensed in what would closely be allied to a single sale. Can you convert your model without losing your customer base? Call it the Netflix effect.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Software Review Content Netflix 156

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

I suggest looking for painful problems to solve, rather than “easier to use” or “nice to have” solutions, for customers with money. Customers line up to believe and buy from people who are viewed as leaders or experts relative to a specific solution. Collaborate with customers to tune your solution.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Manage customer service. They probably have arbitrated differences many times before in their lives, and know how important it is to remain calm and soft-spoken in the face of emotional customers and processes that are not working. Software and hardware development architects and designers.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur Report 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Product 159

Product Technical Review Pricing Software Review 159

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

Santa Monica-based TigerText , the secure messaging service provider for the enterprise market, reports that it has seen a spike of 750 percent in its message volume in the first half of the year. The company said the growth comes due to record sales and customer growth at the company. READ MORE>>.

Software Review 138

Software Review Santa Monica Platform Report 138

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Barter your services for their services. Commit to a major customer.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

More specifically, it’s the contractors that service equipment like the heating, ventilation and cooling systems at commercial and residential properties across the U.S. The two men built a suite of services to help contractors like their fathers manage their businesses.

Glendale 271

Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

Software as a service (SaaS) is a popular business model because it facilitates the delivery of incremental value to customers, while allowing the vendor to adjust their prices over time. However, such price increases generally occur after new utility has been provided to the customers. Focus on Existing Customers.

SaaS 215

SaaS Pricing Sales Customer 215

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done.

Software Review 88

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 88

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

I was with IBM in the early PC days when Bill worked with us to provide PC DOS and other software. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Customer retention. More customers are lost to apathy after the sale than poor service or quality.

Activity 133

Activity Startup Ideas Technical Review 133

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 20, 2015

If Smucker’s can annually generate hundreds of millions in sales for a variety of food products, there is little risk that a mediocre company or product name will preclude you from achieving similar success. Instead, expeditiously pick a reasonable moniker and then get back to work delivering value to your customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Take advantage of software tools to automate routine business functions, like taking and delivering orders. Provide website forums to help customers solve their own problems. Use free e-commerce software and services like PayPal before building an expensive customized solution. Automate to the max.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Case Study Software Review Startup 124

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

The process for retailers and brands to liquidate excess inventory hasn’t changed very much, if at all, and while some retailers were able to build operational infrastructure to service the off-price channels, it continues to be a constant pain point. to develop some sweet inventory-planning software. Syrup Tech bags $6.3M

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Berkonomics

JANUARY 3, 2013

Most every business can take advantage of continuing, recurring revenues from its customer base. Even though that reduced short term earnings, lease revenues over time far outweighed any combination of sale and maintenance revenues, and Xerox grew into a major company based upon its innovation and its recurring revenues.

Outsource Development 197

Outsource Development Software Review Sales Demand 197

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Barter your services for their services. Commit to a major customer.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). If you acquire 10 customers a month at $100 per customer and this scales to 100 customers at the same price you may make assumptions about 1,000 customers that don’t hold.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Steve Reich

JUNE 11, 2012

This is not an article about the high moral purpose and the nobility of listening to your customers. It is an article about how to make your company worth a fortune by listening to your customers. It gives the best customer experience of any phone. Listen to your customers and grow rich. Why does Google dominate search?

Customer 97

Customer Custom Software Review SaaS 97

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Now, more than ever, government agencies in the US and abroad are lousy startup customers. Government customers abundantly waste both of these assets by negatively impacting a startup’s cash flows while causing it to spend unnecessary time participating in laborious approval processes and elongated sales cycles.

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is nothing more pure than building a product, putting it out in the world and seeing paying customers using your product and in some cases loving it. He came to work in our offices at Upfront Ventures as an EIR and immediately began building software to improve how storage was picked up, photographed, scanned and routed to a warehouse.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

Manage customer service. They probably have arbitrated differences many times before in their lives, and know how important it is to remain calm and soft-spoken in the face of emotional customers and processes that are not working. Software and hardware development architects and designers.

Startup 124

Startup Technical Review Software Review Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Barter your services for their services. Commit to a major customer.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Now, with powerful high-level tools and open source software, winning smartphone apps can be built by a good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

For today's interview, we sat down and talked with Mike Whitmire , the CEO and Co-founder of Los Angeles-based FloQast (www.floqast.com), a developer of financial close management software for enterprise accounting. Mike tells us about the company, who uses its software, as well as how he was initially turned away from the Amplify.LA

Startup 124

Startup Cornerstone OnDemand Software Review Woodland Hills 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2014

If one of your core values is exceeding your customer expectations for quality and service, and your potential partner ascribes to the low cost, high profit mantra, a successful partnership is highly unlikely over the long-term. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales. Similar values and goals.

Software Review 107

Software Review Entrepreneur CTO Hire Outsource Development 107

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Look for validation from your mainstream customers. No matter how passionately you believe that everyone needs one, and positive feedback from friends and early adopters (false positives), before you invest in scaling the business, make sure you set and meet good metrics in cost of customer acquisition, recurring sales, and margin.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done.

Software Review 56

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach 56