Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2015

Image via Pixabay.com Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Economies of scale also apply to marketing, distribution, and sales.

Organization 100

Organization Startup Competition IBM 100

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Economies of scale also apply to marketing, distribution, and sales. Economies of scale.

Organization 97

Organization Competition Startup Acquisition 97

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 24, 2011

There has recently been a common theme among the entrepreneurs I have interviewed and the conferences I have attended: despite the relatively weak state of the world economy, now is a great time to create a high-tech startup. Marketing is free or cheap because of social media. People are free or cheap because of the recession.

Company 257

Company Companies Startup Study 257

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2015

Funding sources for this stage extend from grants to large private fund incubators, such as the IBM Watson initiative. Product development at this stage is the process of scaling up for manufacturing and marketing rollout. Thus the best entrepreneur strategy for funding is to build solutions, not technology.

Develop 102

Develop Development Product Funding 102

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Way back in the early eighties, I was privileged to be part of the original IBM PC development team, led by Don Estridge. For example, even though we were leading an entrepreneurial effort within IBM, we found it a challenge to deal with the inbred mainframe culture, reverence for process, and accounting practices of a large company.

IBM 85

IBM IBM Entrepreneur Technical Review 85

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Economies of scale also apply to marketing, distribution, and sales. Economies of scale.

Startup 93

Startup Organization Competition IBM 93

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Industry & market sizing. Start with the evolution of the overall industry, market segmentation, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Startups are usually so focused on selling more of their branded product or service to their own customer base (organic growth) that they don’t consider the more indirect methods (non-organic growth) of increasing revenue and market share. Economies of scale also apply to marketing, distribution, and sales. Economies of scale.

Acquisition 85

Acquisition Startup Organization Competition 85

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Industry & market sizing. Start with the evolution of the overall industry, market segmentation, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

Many entrepreneurs scare away potential investors by claiming that their technology represents “truly disruptive technology.” Industry & market sizing. Start with the evolution of the overall industry, market segmentation, market dynamics, and customer landscape. Marketing, sales, and partners.

Invest 74

Invest Tips Competition Metrics 74

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today most startup investors still register with the SEC as “ accredited ” investors before they buy any startup equity in the U.S. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 89

Invest Entrepreneur Startup Equity 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2022

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today most startup investors still register with the SEC as “ accredited ” investors before they buy any startup equity in the U.S. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Startup 120

Startup Invest Equity Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today you still need to be registered with the SEC as an “ accredited ” investor to legally buy any startup equity in the U.S. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Invest Incubator 102

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. awards dinner on Thursday night I started reflected on what it would take to “change the trajectory&# for Seattle or for any regional market, really. This article originally ran on TechCrunch. I’m in Seattle this week.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on startup advice but also filed under my sales & marketing posts. You’ve invested $1 million in building the perfect application the meet a large market need. The sales market is as pure capitalism as it gets. Imagine your visiting IBM and telling them to buy your product.

Startup 293

Startup Sales Marketing Product 293

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Everyone in the outside world is talking about how great you are but internally you know that your sales aren’t ramping, your product isn’t shipping on time, you have doubts about the quality of your code, you’re not convinced you’re doing a good job on marketing – whatever. Your solution? My advice: don’t.

Startup 327

Startup Sales Class CIO 327

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today most startup investors still register with the SEC as “ accredited ” investors before they buy any startup equity in the U.S. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Invest 73

Invest Startup Equity Incubator 73

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. love to find great products and services made by entrepreneurs who are trying to change the world. It may be that all the doomsayers are right.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today you still need to be registered with the SEC as an “ accredited ” investor to legally buy any startup equity. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust. Join an existing Angel investor group.

Startup 87

Startup Invest Incubator Ideas 87

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Reuters TV Interview by Rhonda Schaffler Investing in entrepreneurs and startups is a fun but different world from investing in conventional stocks, bonds, and commodities. Today you still need to be registered with the SEC as an “ accredited ” investor to legally buy any startup equity. Fund an entrepreneur you know and trust.

Startup 91

Startup Invest Incubator Ideas 91

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2013

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Investors like laser focus on a market-need causing real pain. Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Startup Social Network IBM 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

It’s the market, stupid.” There is no substitute for understanding the market, and sizing the opportunity, before you climb out on a limb. “If In most cases, viral marketing only begins to work after you prime the pump with several million in real marketing over a couple of years. If we build it, they will come.”

Startup 95

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2011

The hot term these days is “viral marketing”, meaning we won’t do any marketing, but our product is so great that everyone will know about us anyway by word of mouth and through Internet social networks. Investors like laser focus on a market-need causing real pain. Entrepreneurs who utter this line are kidding themselves.

Startup 98

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2010

It’s the market, stupid.” There is no substitute for understanding the market, and sizing the opportunity, before you climb out on a limb. “If In most cases, viral marketing only begins to work after you prime the pump with several million in real marketing over a couple of years. If we build it, they will come.”

Startup 52

Startup Social Network IBM IBM 52