Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team. They care about the quality of what is build more than they care about end customers. They are sticklers about managing unit tests , system tests and regression tests. CTO’s max out at about 3.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

I saw him on stage at the event talking about how he used social media to engage audiences. And after one meeting they started asking for his advice about marketing, customer engagement, product design, monetization – whatever. Five-and-a-half years ago I first met Chamillionaire at a tech conference in LA.

Conference 150

Conference Slides Social Media Summary 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

We have made 5 online video investments in total – some we will talk about later this year. But here is the most misunderstood fact about YouTube that I think most smart business people have missed in their rush to criticize revenue splits* or CPMs. I’ve written about that, too. But think of this. But think of this.

SEM 150

SEM Content Platform Acquisition 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2013

It was useful because I was new to sales and as the CEO it gave me some comfort to feel more informed about how our leads where going and to know the likelihood of our hitting our quarterly goals. Simply, this is identifying a customer need that has economic value to them if they can solve it. The USP solves the, “Why Buy Me?”

Sales 328

Sales Customer Custom Examples 328

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

recently wrote a post talking about how some VCs meddle in operating company decisions or some executive teams are too reliant on VCs to jump in and make hard calls for them. It isn’t uncommon for CEOs to talk about biz dev deals prematurely, hint at product announcements or even hint at acquisitions.

Startup 150

Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2013

In part two I talked about how to ensure that your professional services practice doesn’t take over your software company although I’m on record that there is nothing wrong with a services company as long as you’re not VC backed. One way of slicing customer segments is by size. That’s why I like deer.

Customer 297

Customer Custom Pricing Startup 297

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Startup Course 146

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As such, the primary goal of your executive summary is to open the door to an in-person meeting. Entrepreneurs routinely seek my advice regarding their executive summaries.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

I’ve always believed it’s been one of the most important attributes of business success yet something very few business leaders talk about. So I thought I’d write a post about how I drive my personal creativity. (A So no whinging about what a long post this is! Creativity. Strange, I know.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

Paige is a gifted communicator and my summary does not do him justice. He offers a number of worthwhile tips and tricks that I was not able to capture in the textual summary, so the 14-minute audio file is well worth your time. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Paige’s responses. Click here to listen to the Audio File.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 4, 2012

I recently wrote about the 12 tips to building successful startup communities. I had this discussion with Steve with the camera rolling and we talked about “ The Secret History of Silicon Valley ” as place that largely grew out of defense and government spending plus research labs around the Stanford campus.

Startup 350

Startup Ideas Education Class 350

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

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. You learn much more about how other people think when you’re asking. Let’s assume you run a Customer Support software company. Nobody likes that.

Sales 314

Sales Startup Venture Capital Customer 314

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

There’s a healthy balance between allowing a design team to dream up functional requirements, talk with customers, analyze competitors and for technical projects – research the latest cool-kid tools to play with. I wrote about it in this post on The Urgency Addiction. Design with no constraints becomes a research project.

Software 344

Software Startup Design Course 344

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2013

I’ve written a lot about recruiting and hiring at startups including my controversial post on whom not to hire and my rapid response to the flame war. I’ve also written extensively on sales and on which sales execs to hire and how to think about the different kinds of sales leaders. Not always, of course.

Sales 375

Sales Technical Review Organization Case Study 375

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

That’s how prepared we were and how serious we were about the issue. We requested that the journalist either broaden the story to talk about how this problem existed on the Internet (and whatever judgment or angle he wanted to make about that topic) and include us as “one of many” (or bury the story altogether).

Press 336

Press Blogging Journal News 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. Here is my summary of the seven most successful lead-generation vehicles he and I still recommend today, despite the popularity of viral marketing: Search-engine marketing. Email marketing.

Customer 146

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 146

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

With nearly 25 million customers using Netflix it’s clear that everyone will have an opinion on this. In it I talked about how I believe that Netflix has a very strong lead in the battle for the “head end&# of the digital living room. But for now feel free to read my short summary of the key principles. No time soon.

Netflix 329

Netflix Evite Pricing Hulu 329

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about. I’m going to save that for a future blog post.

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

During signup, the professional is prompted to enter their profile into a form, with an upload box for a resume, fields for awards, skills and certifications, and then a textbox - 500 characters max - for their professional summary. So instead, we fill it with a completely custom blurb, written just for him: Hello!

Generative AI 295

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence TechEmpower Tips 295

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. He’s thoughtful about markets, investors, products and is always very well reasoned in his arguments. He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

As a CEO you never stop needing to go on sales calls (or to work the phones in telesales or customer support) and ceasing to do this as your company grows because you’re focusing on investors, recruiting, PR or whatever is a mistake. Similarly I liked to keep myself apprised of the technical decisions we were making. A quick example.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

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!” I know this seems obvious but I promise you that even smart people forget this when talking about profitability. ” Harsh, but reality.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

I recently wrote about my philosophy of minimalism that “ less is more &# with the mantra “when in doubt, leave it out.&#. We were young, computer literate and interested in learning about or playing with new technologies. Of course the debates raged about not wanting to make the system less powerful.

Design 325

Design Startup Web 2.0 Tips 325

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I’ve written a few posts about boards recently as part of a series on the subject. I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. In the Early Days. Mentorship. As You Start to Mature.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

Summary notes, as always, provide below. He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards. So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. Overture (Goto.com).

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. Summary notes and then I’ll extend: Should you blog? What should you blog about? If you’re a financial services firm blog about personal finance.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 22, 2014

The story on Uber has been written about ad nauseam, which is why I’ve been reluctant to weigh in. It’s not just about people like me who can (and do) turn up in nearly any city in the US and immediately book a ride. What about opposition research on journalists? Grievances – yes. But scandal? Is Uber evil?

Press 418

Press Journal Startup Training 418

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

That, plus I love the space of high-customer-service, focused eCommerce for moms worried about what their kids eat & wear.&#. We had a great private chat last week in my office about “how to be effective when using AngelList.&# We talk about all of this in the video. We then started talking about Dave McClure.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I recently filmed a show for This Week in Venture Capital in which I talked about how to prepare for a VC meeting: whom you’ll meet, who should attend from your side, what materials you should bring and how you should run the meeting. I wrote the summary notes in this blog post. That notes only told part of the story.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

The thing is – even if your services business is a smaller scale than this – you have complete control over the decisions about where to take the business. True, the 15% rates will likely go up in the future, but I doubt they will approach the income tax percentage level. You own the IP you create.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 28, 2013

I saw a good summary of these in a new book, “ Ethical Leadership ,” by Andrew Leigh, an expert in this area. I like his specifics for business leaders on improving and sustaining the best company cultures, and his summary of the culture myths facing new business leaders: It’s easy to be ethical. The reality is different.

Software Review 100

Software Review Summary Examples Offshore 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2010

One of them was about better understanding personality types. This has proved one of the more valuable lessons about meetings I have learned. For extroverted people I recommend that entrepreneurs have an “executive summary&# slide up front that cuts to the chase. Most of them sucked. It’s in their personality type.

Slides 358

Slides Venture Capital Startup Summary 358

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2012

We sat down for an hour to talk about why what GaiKai built was able to overcome its much better funded rival and to dispel the myth that great engineering teams don’t exist in Southern California. By not forcing the publisher to go through a Gaikai portal where they tried to control customers, they engendered trust from the publishers.

Rustic Canyon 279

Rustic Canyon Venture Capital Southern California Userplane 279

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

If you want a very quick primer on all the stuff nobody ever tells you about raising venture capital check out this video where Mark Jeffrey & I break it down on This Week in VC. A summary of what we discussed is below: Not 100% in order of the video, but close. Don’t talk about wanting to sell any time soon.

Venture Capital 340

Venture Capital Slides Doc Startup 340

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. I’ve seen too many companies go off track by a VC hell bent on the team pursuing the VCs strategy which at times is about chasing the next shiny object. Most VCs are book smart. But don’t over index on brains.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364