Berkonomics

JANUARY 13, 2022

Not many founders or entrepreneurs do experience the success of a favorable sale of the business they dreamed would make them rich. Others are diluted by subsequent investors to the point where there was nothing for them to celebrate at all in a sale. Write a book. Many fail multiple times. Start dreaming of the next big idea.

Writing 156

Writing Entrepreneur .Net Sales 156

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 17, 2020

There is a rather new term for those large, individual investors who are usually former entrepreneurs made rich through sale of their previous ventures. This class of investor typically writes checks from $50,000 to $250,000. Individual super angel investors. Accelerators. And the one thing in common?

Equity 156

Equity Technical Review Class Organization 156

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. It the second rule of sales, “Why Buy Me?”

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Custom 336

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2020

Business partnerships come in all shapes and sizes, from finding a single partner to help you run your startup, to signing a strategic agreement with another large company for development, marketing, distribution, or international sales. Both sides should write down the shared objectives and vision.

Sites 155

Sites eHarmony Writing Summary 155

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least one percent of their sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups around the world. Write it down, make it specific, expressive, yet succinct and jargon-free. Outside of work, it’s important to join a club, do volunteer work, and help at local events.

Framework 95

Framework Custom Customer Tips 95

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

amSTATZ is an online community that brings fitness professionals, athletes and fitness events together into one place. Founded in the summer of 2011 and their first product out a few weeks ago amSTATS wants to help users to follow fitness events and programs near them and find a great fitness trainer to help them stay fit.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2020

In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least one percent of their sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups around the world. Write it down, make it specific, expressive, yet succinct and jargon-free. Outside of work, it’s important to join a club, do volunteer work, and help at local events.

Tips 174

Tips Framework Custom Customer 174

Berkonomics

APRIL 3, 2014

Second, there is a rather new term for those large, individual investors who are usually former entrepreneurs made rich through sale of their previous ventures. This class of investor typically writes checks from $50,000 to $250,000. For early stage investors, the usual expectation is seven years from investment to expected liquidity.

Equity 232

Equity Startup Organization Invest 232

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 13, 2011

With all these companies vying for attention & others just here to soak up the vibe I thought I’d write a much broader piece on how startups can make the most of their attendance at conferences & events. Be very targeted in which events you attend. Plan out your most important events to attend.

Conference 289

Conference Startup Technical Review Writing 289

SoCal CTO

MARCH 18, 2010

Vince: I’m an author, speaker and management consultant with a special expertise in online media sales. I started out as screenwriter, went into local television, ran ad sales in the west for AOL and joined Facebook in the companies very early days. Vince: In addition to my management writing I’ve interview many CEOs and innovators.

Startup 225

Startup Los Angeles Social Network Twiistup 225

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

I worked with an entrepreneur who was to appear at a startup networking event where he was to talk about his company’s plans. He considered pulling out of the event because he wanted to stay in “stealth mode&# and felt an event like this compromised him. A funding announcement is a stand-alone event.

Marketing 380

Marketing Startup Press Technical Advisors 380

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2017

We’re expected to be at conferences, events, sales meetings and be publicly visible. Recruiting, business development, shipping product, writing blog posts, networking … it’s all the same. We are over-intro’d and at the same time under-resourced in terms of staff to handle the barrage of in-bound requests.

Activity 297

Activity Blogging Email Startup 297

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

My sales tax payments were due in the next few days, and I didn’t have the money. But I did have an appointment, a sales opportunity the next morning. I made the sale, and paid my debts. Frank Peters made his money writing software for Wall Street. Frank speaks and networks at angel events around the world.

Startup 204

Startup Software Review UCLA Sales 204

InfoChachkie

JULY 22, 2013

Brad is in the midst of writing a series of startup-oriented books. I caught up with Brad between promotional events for Startup Life. When writing Startup Life , Brad noted that he and Amy''s primary goal was to avoid a YARB (Yet Another Relationship Book). You can watch our 10-minute discussion below. Don’t YARB Me Bro.

Startup 248

Startup Writing Santa Barbara RSS 248

InfoChachkie

JULY 22, 2013

Brad is in the midst of writing a series of startup-oriented books. I caught up with Brad between promotional events for Startup Life. When writing Startup Life , Brad noted that he and Amy''s primary goal was to avoid a YARB (Yet Another Relationship Book). You can watch our 10-minute discussion below. Share and Enjoy.

Startup 210

Startup Writing Santa Barbara Entrepreneur 210

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans. Set specific targets on the sales channels and marketing initiatives you need, including the use of social media, brand building, franchising, trade shows, affiliates, and distributors. Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

What that did, is it helped us to expand the service to help publishers do the following: identify what content to write, how to distribute that content to various mediums, and how to monetize that content. Journalists are notorious for not wanting to write based on revenues or commercial intersts, or having anyone tell them what to write.

Marketing 232

Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

Need to represent your company at industry association events. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. But it won’t be long before employees expect to hear and see their executives exercising the sensitivity and communication skills of other industry leaders.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Custom Customer 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 29, 2014

I once went to a startup event where a VC told the audience that if a VC doesn’t respond to your email to move on to the next VC – that VC is clearly not interested. Will every customer who feels bombarded with sales requests want to take your call? You need to know how to write good & action oriented emails.

Venture Capital 389

Venture Capital Email Startup Conference 389

Berkonomics

JUNE 2, 2010

I discovered the power of employee feelings of ownership early in my management career, establishing an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), once popular as incentive compensation as well as a tax write-off for corporations and even a way to slowly transfer ownership of a company from the founders to the employees.

Slides 216

Slides News Equity Writing 216

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Cliff Allen is someone I've known for quite a few years and he's a go to person for me when I'm thinking about issues around marketing, sales, technology, startups and networking. I moved into writing software to analyze audience data, and wrote a lot of computer graphics software. for face-to-face general networking events.

Los Angeles 150

Los Angeles Networking Marketing Startup 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 25, 2013

I’m not talking only about a sales call, getting past the assistant or anything like that. Write your set of bullet points on paper before the call. If I saw their company in the press, heard that they saw somebody at an event that I know, they live in a town where a storm just rolled through – whatever.

Startup 364

Startup Writing Help Email 364

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2015

Not many founders or entrepreneurs do experience the success of a favorable sale of the business they dreamed would make them rich. Others are diluted by subsequent investors to the point where there was nothing for them to celebrate at all in a sale. Write a book; I did. Many fail multiple times.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Writing .Net Sales 120

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

1) Expect Independent Channel Sales Reps To Perform Missionary Sales. Rationale: I cannot afford to hire a direct sales force. Fallacy: Third-party, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) representatives succeed once the sales process is defined, proven and documented. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

socalTECH

JANUARY 8, 2020

We've had event companies, and clubs, and web businesses, all vertically focused on either passions or really exciting subjects like knowledge management, sales, field force automation, and home office computing, small business, bedtime reading. That's absolutely crucial in magazines, and in the way we ran events.

Media 150

Media Report Advertising Content 150

InfoChachkie

JUNE 16, 2016

I have included UCSB’s catalog course numbers in the event a student is interested in learning more about a particular class. marketing, finance, sales, etc.). Contrary to conventional wisdom, success as a millennial entrepreneur does not require that you become proficient in writing commercial-quality software code.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Class Course Writing 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Obviously you should have somebody that helps you research journalists, gets you meetings, pitches stories, helps prep you for interviews & helps make sure your writing is cogent. The reality is that a journalist who’s writing a story about you – a relatively unknown entity – wants to hear directly from the founders and/or the CEO.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

socalTECH

MARCH 28, 2019

It took about half of one day for the event, focused on the Rise of the Female Entrepreneur, and showcasing what women are building. It's a great event. You want to get some candor from the executives who are presenting as part of the event.

Capital 162

Capital Entrepreneur Invest Artificial Inteligence 162

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2015

Trade show veterans know that the louder you scream at an industry event, the less your voice is heard. Dreamforce is the conference for sales and marketing professionals. Hosted by SAAS giant Salesforce, it is more akin to a circus than a professional event. Good question. I am a trade show skeptic.

Conference 100

Conference SaaS Ideas Sales 100

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I promised I would write this post with some thoughts and ideas on the topic. Tech Events / Meetups - In Los Angeles, There are lots of Networking Events in Los Angeles and Southern California that are techie oriented. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. Ask them about your concept.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

I hope to be asked back for next year’s event. In many ways I think general purpose writing & thinking skills are as valuable as math skills. The numerator (return) encourages more sales, which is fine. VC can’t don’t invest in these kinds of companies because they can’t get out (no liquidity event).

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Journalists don’t know enough about your company before the show, don’t have time for proper research, and you will be competing for their time afterward with 49+ other companies that want them to write about you. - Many other great companies are not. -

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

Journalists write stories that have an appeal to readers whether the accusations have merit or not. In any event, I’ll take a free press any day. Journalists aren’t going to write about you all the time unless you’re Facebook. Use it as an excuse to get a journalist to write about you. What a shame.&#.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 17, 2019

Harris writes: “The figures, dating back to 2016, paint a picture of a company desperate to meet over-ambitious autonomy targets and one that is willing to spend freely, even recklessly, to get there. There were mutterings at the event, and wild cries on Twitter, of disappointment (there were plenty of platitudes as well).

San Fernando 217

San Fernando Los Angeles Commerce News 217

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

In fact, I don’t recall any formal post-sale meeting at all; even to digest the lessons learned from the entire experience, a missed opportunity for all. I’ve been involved with well over a dozen successful exits and four initial public offerings over the years, some of them with monstrous gains, some more modest.

Writing 159

Writing Sales Entrepreneur Invest 159

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

The path I went down after a few years was to hire more process driven people and devolved more daily operational ownership to people running individual functions such as product management, sales management, finance, etc. One of the most obvious places where you see this is in sales & marketing. Ditto the CFO. I was the laggard.

Sales 296

Sales Pricing Startup Custom 296