This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. For 1991 I was very technical and also had a lot of practical business implementation experience in technology.
I am looking for one or two startups that I can work with on their road to success as a virtual C-level officer, board member, advisor or other relationship. This is actually fairly common and I think it’s a bit challenging in that the technology roles (from technology advisor to CTO) in a startup vary widely.
Get customer input. People design their products in a box assuming that they’ll show customers later and get feedback. Interview customers to better articulate their problems. If not, at least find someone really technical that you trust to help act as an adviser to you. This is another big mistake.
He told me this was a service the BBB provided to its customers since they saved so much money on the same service. In most cases these viewings are done by potential customers who are checking on your company’s rating. We also want you to use and understand this valuable product so that you may attract and retain customers.
If customers don’t know you exist, you can’t solve their problem, they won’t buy. Getting customer attention often takes more innovation today than solving the tough technical problems. As a business adviser, I still see too many new venture founders who skimp on their marketing focus, or start too late.
I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. He would have found somebody technical and inspired that individual to work for equity or deferred payment. Good entrepreneurs have a penchant for doing vs. over-analyzing. obviously don’t read this as zero analysis).
Most people totally advise against stealth. Marketing futures can be really good for enterprise software companies where the information is passed between sales rep and potential customer in terms of near-term roadmap. When it’s time later to talk about some major customer wins or big biz dev partnerships you’ll do so.
Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.
As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often hear the desire to run their own company, to avoid having someone else telling them how to run the business. I strongly advise you create a separate bank account and credit card for your business, even though it is all your money. You will also need a line of credit for financing.
Most small businesses I advise still rely on traditional advertising models, assuming they can create enough media “noise” to get customers attention and sway them. Instead, it publishes actual customer “Photos of the Day,” highlighting the customer’s thrill of adventure purpose. These engagements well accepted by all.
Many of the entrepreneurs I advise or invest with spend considerable time on the Internet, keeping up with technology, customers, and competitors, but very few feel the need for an early personal presence. In fact, some totally avoid it, assuming their product or solution will speak for itself later.
In my business of mentoring new entrepreneurs and advising small company owners, I recognize that most don’t start as experienced leaders, and most don’t realize that people leadership is a primary key to their future success. Building a business is not a one-person job, and leading by edict rarely works today.
Tech may be the tool, but hospitality – making life a little easier, more comfortable, and more enjoyable for your customer, is the winning focus. Unfortunately, too many of the technical entrepreneurs I mentor and advise are focused on their technology, and assume that the value will be self-evident to customers.
Our own subsidiary, of a major technology company, started to repair and service competitive products in order to maintain our own technical staff and service capabilities. Respect local customs and practices. We retained legal council in Milan and were advised that we would loose if the case went to trial.
In my years of advising startups, and also as an occasional angel investor, I still recommend this set of best practices to prepare you for platform applications: Formalize a business entity immediately. Collect target customer testimonials and advocacy. Prepare a slide deck to highlight product and business.
The team needed would consist of at least 1 non-technical business person (me) and 2 or more technical people—designer and developer. I was only able to create a team with non-technical business people and a designer. The next day, the technical team started coding away, building a cool game for developers to battle skills on.
Most of the entrepreneurs I advise today are ready to declare success when they get that first surge of traction with a real customer. You need to find investors for funding, vendors for volume manufacturing, processes for repeatable execution, as well as marketing and distribution to attract customers far beyond your pilot rollout.
Even when you do sign-up initial customers it’s still not clear that your company will be a success and you’re still likely paying yourself under market rates. ” My friend Ian Sigelow wrote about this last week and advised people not to take on this kind of job. ” (Warren Buffett).
I made the jump myself from IBM several years ago, and now have a satisfying startup advising small businesses and mentoring entrepreneurs. I look for interests and plans that ignite a fire inside you every day, solves a real problem in the marketplace, and can attract customers with money to spend.
Our own subsidiary, of a major technology company, started to repair and service competitive products in order to maintain our own technical staff and service capabilities. Respect local customs and practices. We retained legal council in Milan and were advised that we would loose if the case went to trial.
One of the biggest turn offs for investors are founders who don’t know the basics of their business, especially their market and customer. They have to know their industry, know their customers, and understand what it takes to make their customers happy.”. I would advise trying not to get into an argument with an investor.
We provide turnkey digital messaging appliances for enterprises, service providers and software developers to send marketing, e-commerce, CRM and customer service email. StrongMail’s software ensures reliable and timely delivery of their critical customer communications. SMS, MMS, Instant Messaging, etc.)
You are particularly vulnerable if: You have revenue concentration (few customers each providing a large total of percentage of your revenue). You have a large number of startup customers (because when markets crash they have a funny way of going bankrupt quickly or cutting burn precipitously). Valuation.
I would argue that this mostly consists of consumer Internet companies (although not exclusively) and it is predominantly early-stage people who are product gurus and have a mildly technical bend to them. Who are your key customers? Talk about the customer problem and how you solve it. I’m sure there are many more.
Your lawyer is a trusted advisor, but in the end, you run your business, your lawyer does not. In other words, find a lawyer who will take the time to understand the issues underlying your business and advise you how to best accomplish your objectives while minimizing your legal exposure. but They Make Great Guard Dogs. Do not do it.
Do you know how many people I meet these days who are “packaging up money in SPVs (special purpose vehicles),” or raising syndicates or doing secondaries or advising high-net-worth individuals how to get into unicorns? ” When I asked his area of technical speciality he said, “Oh, no, I’m not technical. .”
Steve Jobs started his technical career creating circuit boards at Atari, before joining Steve Wozniak to build personal computers in his garage. If your job is processing transactions, you need to work on ways of enhancing transactions from a customer perspective and how to attract more business, rather than just counting transactions.
. – Premium Online Advertising Company Age: 21 - 25 Time Period: 1997 - 2001 My Role: Chief Technology Officer, Technology Founder and Chairman, Advisory Board High Point: $500 million market cap; 3,000+ customers; 8 billion transactions per month; 65% Internet reach Warning, this will be a long posting. We had customers and revenue.
You attend five customer meetings together over a two-week period and after each meeting you replay the results in the office about what it meant. The sales rep that brings back news from the front line that is shared with the office adds to our collective knowledge about customer needs, product design flaws or partnership opportunities.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content