Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

First of all, a definition. Obviously this definition is generic, so my first recommendation is that you take the lead in defining traction metrics for your startup, and then selling your results convincingly to investors. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

Poorly implemented this category was the definition of shelfware. The problem with shelfware is that if you have great sales people, you have raised tons of VC money from prominent investors, you have some marquee clients and you thus likely have some great press about you it can be hard to tell true success from that which is ephemeral.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

If entrepreneurs answer these questions for their startup, they will definitely stay ahead of most of their competitors in the startup world: What is the “secret sauce” that my startup brings to the problem? Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership.

Startup 155

Startup Resource Metrics Technical Review 155

Berkonomics

APRIL 7, 2016

Define success : Think of what an ideal outcome would look like and find metrics to measure progress along the route. Simplify the process: Reexamine the definition and milestones. Increase sales closing rate? Measure the outcomes. Was the intent to remove a barrier? Increase marketing effectiveness? Speed the processes?

Metrics 120

Metrics Report Email Sales 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2015

Congress' latest attempt to impose an "Internet sales tax" is just another misguided tax grab that will do more harm than good to American small businesses. As it currently stands, online sellers must collect sales tax in the states where they have, "sales tax nexus." Online sellers are already awash in sales tax complexity.

Sales 100

Sales Customer Custom Metrics 100

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

By definition?—?I’m Our fund (Upfront Ventures) recently returned >1x an entire $200 million fund just selling small minatory in secondary sales while still holding most of our stock for an ultimate public market exits. The market definition has changed but what we do mostly hasn’t. Are we in a bubble?”

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

First of all, a definition. Obviously this definition is generic, so my first recommendation is that you take the lead in defining traction metrics for your startup, and then selling your results convincingly to investors. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Startup 56

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 56

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Sales 96

Sales Metrics Startup Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2014

If entrepreneurs answer these questions for their startup, they will definitely stay ahead of most of their competitors in the startup world: What is the “secret sauce” that my startup brings to the problem? Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership.

Startup 108

Startup Resource Metrics Technical Review 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

Investors will impatiently expect a winning business model, customer segment definitions and volume projections. Customers may be attracted to your marketing message, but investors look harder at the startup team, seeking superior expertise in the key areas of growing a business, product domain, financial, marketing and sales.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

It’s different than working with a group like us that’s trying to optimize every small piece of the funnel, and being accountable for the entire funnel to drive as much sales or revenue. I oversee sales, marketing and partnerships, and my role is really trying to figure out which brands make most sense to partner with MuteSix.

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2013

If entrepreneurs answer these questions for their startup, they will definitely stay ahead of most of their competitors in the startup world: What is the “secret sauce” that my startup brings to the problem? Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership.

Startup 101

Startup Resource Metrics Technical Review 101

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

However, I definitely see value in video discovery beyond what''s already been built. However, I got to set up and run the sales team in Venice Beach, and was running technology for cross platform at the Venice Beach office, because they relocated me back here at my request. The metrics are very solid.

Google 233

Google Content Startup Venice 233

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe your market penetration strategy, sales channels, pricing, and strategic partnerships. Financial forecast and metrics. Funding requirements.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2015

Based on my own many years of experience as both an employee and an executive, here are my key recommendations to improve your business productivity, traction and momentum: Implement business metrics, and tie incentives to results. Perfection is not an affordable target in product development, sales or customer support.

Training 105

Training Entrepreneur Tool Metrics 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe your market penetration strategy, sales channels, pricing, and strategic partnerships. Financial forecast and metrics. Funding requirements.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

InfoChachkie

JULY 20, 2015

When you can live where you want to live and make money doing what you love to do, you are, by my definition, a screaming success. Lifestyle businesses are typically looked upon with derision by investors, as they generally do not have economic metrics that lead to large exits. A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes.

Santa Barbara 100

Santa Barbara Startup Sales Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

Then you can do a little bit of research and find out that very few companies ever achieve this valuation in a trade sale so you’re clearly gunning for an IPO. Prices have definitely gone up in 2011 as depicted in the anecdotal chart below. The risk wouldn’t be appropriate. And of course there are always outliers.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Training Outsource Metrics 92

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

It wasn’t just front-end processes like sales tools, marketing funnels, dynamic pricing, driver routes and so forth but we also had to build comprehensive systems to manage numerous warehouses across four different cities. Summary Startups are fun and exhilarating and filled with challenging problems to solve.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 10, 2011

Metrics-Guided. Vision-Driven (You’re definitely going to need a strong vision when those sleepless nights, crying kids, and angry spouse enter the picture). Iterate until validated (through sales or tangible exchange). Lean Approach. Model-Focused.

Startup 86

Startup Santa Monica Los Angeles Custom Development 86

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Marketing, sales, and partners. Describe your market penetration strategy, sales channels, pricing, and strategic partnerships. Financial forecast and metrics. Funding requirements.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Even if you are doing the work yourself, you need to document requirements, features, metrics, and milestones.

Startup 95

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 95

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

What is the definition of traction for a business startup today? Unfortunately, your personal assessment that you have traction probably won’t be convincing to potential investors and partners, so it’s important that you create and track your progress against some metrics. Define metrics on customer feedback and user counts.

Tips 79

Tips Metrics Technical Review Customer 79

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I guess this is the ultimate definition of implementing a business model when you’re not clear on strategy! Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources. My take on his argument is this: 1.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 22, 2016

Brands and businesses should definitely take advantage. Snapchat has a pretty comprehensive guide to all the rules you need to follow when creating a filter here, but there are a few that you might not be as obvious that you definitely need to keep in mind. But enough about Snapchat; what does it mean for you, a user? GUIDELINES.

Customer 40

Customer Custom Snapchat Design 40

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

First, let me recommend reading a previous blog, called omg I’m just a startup, I can’t do those fancy metrics. Once you create a small list of these queries, then you can start to formalize the ideas into specific metrics that you track daily. Aggregate metrics. Still metrics about traffic are not leads.

Startup 29

Startup IP Email Report 29

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

They dropped their number one selling product and switched to a competitor’s product while managing not to lose a single sale. EcoMom’s metrics improved throughout this process and that’s when I decided to invest. Naval says valuations are definitely going up, but isn’t completely sure why. I argue the opposite.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2021

As a counter, here are some situations where it definitely makes sense to short-circuit the traditional approach: The market won’t wait for your planning cycle. The ready-fire-aim approach makes sense here, but it should be combined with metrics to learn from feedback, and make pivots as required.

Marketing 138

Marketing Demand IBM IBM 138