Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Solo entrepreneurs, with a team of helpers, will be assumed to be a hobby rather than a business.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. Think of value propositions as bundles of services or products that create benefits (value) for customers. Then there is the follow-up to provide customer support and satisfaction.

Funding 133

Funding Activity Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. It is no longer enough to just have a great product or service. Start with a market segment that you need to understand more deeply, and invest in the success of your joint customers.

Company 116

Company Companies Customer Custom 116

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2020

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Startup 124

Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital Entrepreneur 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2021

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. If you don’t have a clear idea of why you are there, anything you measure will be useless.

Social Media 127

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2016

If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business. With services, scaling the business often implies cloning yourself, since you are the intellectual property and the competitive advantage. Capture your “secret sauce.”

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

Almost every entrepreneur and new business owner I mentor is certain that his/her idea has a very high probability of success, and all find it hard to believe that ninety percent of startups ultimately fail. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Invest 96

Invest Startup Offshore Tips 96

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

But recently I was asked about success factors for services startups, and I quickly realized that there is very little published to help the thousands of startups that fall in this category. The distinction between product companies and services companies is easy to see. Scaling services means cloning yourself.

Product 91

Product Services Satisfaction Patents 91

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2020

More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. It is no longer enough to just have a great product or service. Start with a market segment that you need to understand more deeply, and invest in the success of your joint customers.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Satisfaction Marketing 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2015

Specialists today can justify their cost based on more direct return on investment calculations at all operational levels. It also highlights all aspects of required customer service, satisfaction, loyalty and referrals to peers. Treat a startup as a customer, not a client. Deliver results rather than recommendations.

Services 100

Services Startup Software Review Social Media 100

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

It’s usually a spreadsheet or PowerPoint (deck) of the upcoming changes to a product or service. Greathouse: Your collective experiences have clearly made bootstrapping a viable option for you, more so than might be the case for a typical, younger entrepreneur who needs more direction, doesn’t have cash discipline, etc.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2014

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Perceived authorities guide decision making, by investing time, resources, and activity in earning a position of influence, leading to a community of loyalists who follow their recommendations.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Even if you ignore all the hype around crowdfunding, there can be no doubt that it is a real alternative for entrepreneurs to achieve visibility and funding today. The crowd gets the satisfaction of helping, with minimal risk, and no expectation of any high return. Product pre-order model. Interest on debt model. In the U.S.,

Venture Capital 108

Venture Capital Angel Satisfaction Equity 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2011

After you have heard a few startup success stories, like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, you may be tempted to invest some money yourself, maybe by pooling your funds with other investors who claim to have a great track record. My advice is to leave the investing in startups to the professionals (or friends and fools). By commission?

Invest 92

Invest Startup Offshore Tips 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. Think of value propositions as bundles of services or products that create benefits (value) for customers. Then there is the follow-up to provide customer support and satisfaction.

Activity 100

Activity Customer Custom Resource 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2019

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. If you don’t have a clear idea of why you are there, anything you measure will be useless.

Social Media 98

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs the last couple of years is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. People can invest (donate) money to a project which has good moral/ethical value. Good-cause crowd funding.

Funding 99

Funding Satisfaction Sites Outsource Development 99

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2020

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often see struggling businesses trying to be too many things for too many people, resulting in customer confusion, initiatives executed poorly, and high costs, few customers, and slow growth all around. Don’t attempt this model without high automation and a big investment up front.

Customer 123

Customer Custom Technical Review Examples 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2022

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Perceived authorities guide decision making, by investing time, resources, and activity in earning a position of influence, leading to a community of loyalists who follow their recommendations.

Customer 122

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2016

I found this illustrated well in a new book I just finished, “ A Paperboy’s Fable ,” by a young entrepreneur and writer Deep Patel. Although just seventeen years old, Patel has some great insights that I can extrapolate for every aspiring entrepreneur to answer the most common question I get as an advisor and mentor – “Where do I start?”

Entrepreneur 99

Entrepreneur Social Media Satisfaction Customer 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2012

The new hot topic for entrepreneurs these days is crowd funding, which is anticipated to at least supplement, if not replace, the slow and mysterious process of current Angel and venture capital investors. This new model will allow large numbers of “regular” people to invest small amounts each online to fund early startups.

Funding 96

Funding Satisfaction Sites Outsource Development 96

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. At this stage, I typically find a solo entrepreneur who creates, manages projects, directs, and oversees every step in the process.

Company 99

Company Companies Technical Review Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2016

One of the myths I often hear as an advisor to many entrepreneurs is that their lifestyle would somehow be better if they could more easily find other people’s money to build their startup. Most entrepreneurs never forget for a moment that having investors means owing money, even if they can legally argue that equity is not debt.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Satisfaction Entrepreneur 57

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

The more conventional VP of Marketing role should cover branding, as well as other marketing advertising, design, public relations and customer service requirements. They should get their satisfaction from building their business, rather than building their title. Chief Risk Officer. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 97

Startup Invest CTO Hire Cloud Computing 97

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

In addition, like an entrepreneur with a new business, you have to factor in all the indirect costs previously covered by employers, including training, health care, and time off for vacations. In fact, thinking like an entrepreneur is a good strategy today for success, even if you are currently in a long-term employment situation.

Startup 98

Startup Outsource Development Competition Social Media 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Yet, as an advisor to startups, I see some common disasters, and recommend some anticipation and recovery moves that can save every entrepreneur some painful time and money. While every entrepreneur needs to remain upbeat and optimistic on all of these, it is also smart to anticipate the worst case scenarios that are possible with each.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2017

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. If you don’t have a clear idea of why you are there, anything you measure will be useless.

Social Media 69

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2012

But recently I was asked about success factors for services startups, and I quickly realized that there is very little published to help the thousands of startups that fall in this category. The distinction between product companies and services companies is easy to see. Scaling services means cloning yourself.

Satisfaction 91

Satisfaction Patents Outsource Development Services 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. Think of value propositions as bundles of services or products that create benefits (value) for customers. Then there is the follow-up to provide customer support and satisfaction.

Funding 57

Funding Startup Activity Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2013

This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. If there are financial anomalies, or someone on the team doesn’t know the current strategy, or is unhappy with you or the company, the investment will be jeopardized.

Technical Review 97

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Solo entrepreneurs, with a team of helpers, will be assumed to be a hobby rather than a business.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business. Solo entrepreneurs, with a team of helpers, will be assumed to be a hobby rather than a business.

Ideas 62

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Competition 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2019

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. Perceived authorities guide decision making, by investing time, resources, and activity in earning a position of influence, leading to a community of loyalists who follow their recommendations.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 85