Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

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. But very few are talking about how to measure your results and return on investment (ROI), and the right metrics for optimizing your marketing environment. Get attention and reach your audience.

Social Media 98

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs like you that I have met in my role as a business advisor are really product creators versus business creators, convinced that a great product will generate a great business. Entrepreneurs are typically focused on the big picture – creating a vision, purpose, and a long-term strategy.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2010

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. But very few are talking about how to measure your results, and the right metrics for optimizing your marketing environment. Get attention and reach your audience. Get buy-in from your colleagues.

Social Media 84

Social Media Metrics Media Satisfaction 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. New entrepreneurs, especially technical ones, are excited by early adopters, and tend to focus on their feedback, which will always suggest more product features and options. Your long-term success and satisfaction depends on it.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2023

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 82

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 82

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

JUNE 17, 2020

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 131

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2014

The auto industry and others have used this model for generations, so business processes and metrics for innovation are well documented. The world is now a small place, but startups usually don’t have the resources to saturate all the related markets at once. business disruptive technology entrepreneur innovation startup'

Technology 103

Technology Entrepreneur Study Research 103

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

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. I think in the end it’s helped us build a better product because we are resource-constrained. I’ve been there.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

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. But very few are talking about how to measure your results and return on investment (ROI), and the right metrics for optimizing your marketing environment. Get attention and reach your audience.

Social Media 69

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 69

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2016

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 55

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Organization 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

Many startups and mature businesses have not yet accepted the fact that customer satisfaction and loyalty in this “always connected” age are about more than product and service quality. But to engender loyalty, you have to be delivering a good experience and keeping satisfaction high. Customer upsell: Sell more to existing customers.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Satisfaction Social Media 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2013

Many startups and mature businesses have not yet adapted to the fact that customer satisfaction in this “always connected” age is more than product and service quality. But to engender loyalty, you have to be delivering a good experience and keep satisfaction high. The challenge is to measure resources spent against return.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Satisfaction Social Media 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2016

In reality, that’s the definition of a successful startup these days, so every aspiring entrepreneur should take note, as well as every existing corporate executive. I like their seven step approach, which I have paraphrased here for entrepreneurs as follows: Pull together a great multi-functional team. A dream is not enough.

Startup 56

Startup Metrics Entrepreneur Resource 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2015

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. Most true visionary entrepreneurs have unusual energy, creativity, enthusiasm, and a propensity for taking risks.

Startup 99

Startup Ideas Organization Entrepreneur 99

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2016

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Search Engine Optimization 55

Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Entrepreneur Social Media 55

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

Every entrepreneur I know feels the pressure of the thousands of things that need to get done, all seemingly at the same time. I recommend that entrepreneurs test the market with a minimum viable product (MVP), before burning resources on the ultimate solution, only to find the market has changed. There is just not enough time!

Tips 100

Tips Activity Startup Product 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Many soon find that what you do in a personal context doesn’t necessarily translate to your business, and measuring business value is quite different from measuring personal satisfaction.

Social Media 108

Social Media Media Startup Tips 108

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

Entrepreneurs don’t realize that Facebook spent over $100 million, before revenues from advertising turned cash positive. You need metrics to show dominant penetration of the relevant customer demographic, added value over existing media, and real customer testimonials of value. Business founders need deep pockets for this model.

Advertising 63

Advertising Content Social Media Satisfaction 63

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Ann outlines six fundamental principles that are key to building this culture, or changing an existing culture to improve financial return, customer satisfaction, and employee performance: You can’t force culture, you can only create environment. Values start and emanate from you, the founding entrepreneur. Input = output.

Startup 101

Startup Tips Education Customer 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

Ironically, the most common desire I hear from entrepreneurs selling wholly online, is the need for their entry into retail, as the next step in their growth strategy. Measure your agility by putting metrics on change. They may be improving every period, but losing the race. Old views of change rates are no longer competitive.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52