Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days. Marty Zwilling.

Marketing 141

Marketing Startup Social Media Technical Review 141

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

There were many moments in each space when pioneers were funding startups and the press hadn’t written much about them and if you were a typical investor you were still funding the last trend while some VCs were trailblazing into new categories. Almost nobody believed and now look at it. Online education. 6SensorLabs.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

Technology environment savvy. Of course, many are still fighting it as well, due to privacy concerns. In my view, the increasing consumer demand for personal marketing and personal assistants will soon overcome paranoia, and reasonable boundaries will emerge. There are already many examples of startups edging into this space.

Web 152

Web Entrepreneur Software Review Google 152

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

It’s not clear that there was big customer demand for some of these products yet entrepreneurs were egged on by VCs to “take the money&# and try and push the market. I recently read this anecdote in the press (withholding company name because I actually really love the concept). It seemed to be purely speculative.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days. Marty Zwilling.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 97

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. Do Not Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. Allow the Other Side to Draft the Agreement. Deploy a Free Pilot.

Outsource Development 170

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 170

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

My simple answer is that they keep their focus on customers, rather than technology. They present a convincing story that every entrepreneur has the same potential, but most get sidetracked and bogged down by their technology, competitors, and internal organization. They help hiring managers raise the bar for every interview.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

InfoChachkie

MAY 9, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. BDCs often ask to “private label” or “white label” a smaller company’s technology. This generally involves the BDC selling the startup’s technology under the BDC’s brand. Do Not Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. Allow the Other Side to Draft the Agreement. Deploy a Free Pilot.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Press Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

How could Bird really be worth the reported $2 billion valuation that I read about in this press? While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. Not really.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2017

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. Yet I see many technology entrepreneurs that focus on the basics of marketing too little and too late. Marketing is everything these days. Marty Zwilling.

Tips 75

Tips Marketing Technical Review Startup 75

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. Although necessary, “stepping stone” approach of initially utilizing smaller VARs to enter new geographic markets can become problematic as your business grows, because large VARs often demand uncontested, broad, multi-country coverage. Allow the Other Side to Draft the Agreement.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. As a startup in this phase you often raise capital, get press, hire staff and everything feels possible. and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Prorata rights are one of the most important rights of a private market technology investors and yet are seldom fully understood. Also, because the entire industry has changed because it is cheaper to start a tech company these days – there are simply way more angel rounds. Why prorata rights are becoming a bigger deal to angels.

Guide 336

Guide Venture Capital Startup Writing 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 19, 2013

You can have the best technology, but if customers don’t know you exist, or they don’t know how your technology solves a real problem for them, your startup will fail. In fact, this article was driven by a startup press release I just saw today, highlighting a startup’s “geo-fencing technology” as a new basis for discount coupons.

Startup 103

Startup Marketing Social Media Technical Review 103

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens. It’s worth a quick read. My argument is pretty simple. But it wasn’t to be.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

InfoChachkie

MAY 5, 2011

Relinquish Press Release Capabilities. By demanding a payment that is meaningful to you yet nominal to the BDC, you are conveying that your company is in demand and that you do not have to give away your time or technology in order to entice BCDs to partner with you. Press Release Rights. Deploy a Free Pilot.

Outsource Development 244

Outsource Development Entrepreneur Resource Press 244

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2013

Technology environment savvy. Of course, many are still fighting it as well, due to privacy concerns. In my view, the increasing consumer demand for personal marketing and personal assistants will soon overcome paranoia, and reasonable boundaries will emerge. There are already many examples of startups edging into this space.

Web 98

Web Entrepreneur Software Review Google 98

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. It really wouldn’t take much to turn a great technology ecosystem into a truly electric one. You need to have passionate tech entrepreneurs who want to build businesses locally. The ingredients are all here.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2011

You do a startup and decide you want somebody to step in and run the company so you can focus on technical excellence. I honestly believe I learned more by rising up the ranks and becoming the president of my fraternity than I did in the class room reading about supply & demand curves in economics. Most people work in groups.

CTO Hire 363

CTO Hire Technical Review Startup Demand 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I get approached about clean tech or biotech periodically – I don’t focus on these. In ad tech there’s Seth Levine at Foundry Group and both Dana Settle & Ian Sigelow at Greycroft. Not what you read in the press. Press the flesh. Right for my stage? Focused on my industry? (I REAL information.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

I want to know how many people, their level of tech sophistication, their age and their interests. And if we’re reflective, it’s also one of the most important success criteria for investors, senior executives, tech writers and virtually anybody involved in business leadership. So I thought I would. That’s a shame.

Writing 356

Writing Startup Ideas Summary 356

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. Creating Incremental Strategic Value - Ask the Angels , June 17, 2010 We can easily overlook the level of demand pull when we are assessing strategic value.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

For decades the “layering&# of technology has allowed us to develop IT systems and networks in a specialized way that let’s best-of-breed technology solutions to emerge at each layer of the stack and to allow people with different skill sets to specialize in key areas without having to have competence in every technology arena.

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343