Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2022

I saw some real guidance in the classic book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center. The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint.

Customer 106

Customer Custom Startup Competition 106

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2021

It has historically been the case that VCs would rather fund the promise of 100x in a company with almost no revenue than the reality of a company growing at 50% but doing $20+ million in sales. The Valley has obsessed with a quick up-and-to-right momentum story because we were thought to live in “winner take most” markets.

Venture Capital 363

Venture Capital Capital Funding Startup 363

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

If you haven’t read Adam Lashinsky’s awesome new book about Apple , you should. Jeff (also an HBS alum) co-teaches the LTV course with Professor Eisenmann about a student of theirs who had written a blog post about sales taking on some of my previous assertions. My guess is that we are likely in total agreement.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

That great productivity drain that we somehow all buy into. I shifted my thinking a few years ago after I read Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Workweek (link is to a short summary I wrote). I try to bucket my tasks into major categories and spend some time doing each of them. ” Brilliant! Is that OK? I think so. [I

Email 314

Email Product Startup Writing 314

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

She created and launched an overall brand and a swim collection , then came the book deal ( “This is Not a Fashion Story: Taking Chances, Breaking Rules, and Being a Boss in the Big City” is expected out May 2020). Last month, the product launched with $1.2 With new followers — today her account, @weworewhat , has 2.2

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing.

Social Media 103

Social Media Media Marketing Startup 103

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2020

The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center. The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint.

Customer 168

Customer Custom Services Startup 168

Tech.Co

MAY 31, 2023

Yet, with so many tools vying for the attention of business owners, navigating the over-saturated market can be overwhelming. Best Marketing Tools for Startups Getting the word out about your business is essential, especially if you're early on in your journey. Here are some tools that can help expand your startup's reach.

Tool 128

Tool Startup Software Review Technical Review 128

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months. Is it one product line or multiple? ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2012

Entrepreneurs and startups often ask if they should use social media for marketing, digital media, or traditional media. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing. The place to start today is if your company only uses traditional media for marketing, or no marketing.

Media 92

Media Social Media Marketing Resource 92

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

I saw some real guidance in the classic book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

ReachLocal (www.reachlocal.com) was born in the age of Internet search marketing, and helped define Internet marketing from local service providers--letting people know about your local business via the Internet. What's the idea behind the rollout of all these new products, and the expansion beyond the search marketing area?

ReachLocal 217

ReachLocal Technical Review Woodland Hills Services 217

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2020

Despite the fact that most of the CEOs I advise would claim to be in the first category, when I dig deeper I find that at best they are fast followers , due to the time consuming challenges of transforming any business in this digital age. They grew sales by 28% in 2009, while most companies were hunkered down and losing share.

Metrics 122

Metrics Training Satisfaction IBM 122

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

Turn on your phone and look at the productivity folder. Kind of like a disarrayed choose your own adventure book about your life. You’ll be more productive within three weeks time. We discuss productivity, emails, communication, and the dynamics of the team. We’ve been there. We’ve all been there.

Product 99

Product Ideas Email Organization 99

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

In my previous post, The VC Ice Age is Thawing (for now) I wrote about the reasons why the VC market came to a screeching halt in September 2008 and remained largely shut until at least April 2009. There are now signs the VC market has gathered pace meaning it’s a great time to be fund raising. This is one book-end of the cycle.

Venture Capital 255

Venture Capital Marketing Startup Social Network 255

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

BookRenter – plus a discussion about Chegg … what is going on in the university book market? We talked about the analogies between what NetFlix achieved in movies and whether this is relevant to the book market. Online text book rental service. Metrics: 2.5mm members, 1,000 brands, 2,500 sale events to-date.

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Capital Metrics Competition 217

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2015

I saw some real guidance in a recent book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” While the focus of the book is really on business creativity, the following triggers were outlined as weak signals which should not be overlooked in your efforts to think outside the box, or think in a new box: A changing value proposition.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Startup 106

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the growth and therefore the ultimate financial outcomes. How profitable is my product or service? As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Lately I’ve been having to say things I thought I’d never have to remind people, like, “getting to positive gross margin in several territories is a very low bar to claim success” or “profitable excluding marketing costs” is not actually a real thing. Market Size. MakeSpace provides physical storage.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2009

Binary Pulse Technology Marketing (www.binarypulse.com). Cox Communications - Orange County - Looking for Product Marketing Manager. Cox Communications - Orange County was recently ranked 2nd amongst Employers Group's, "California's Best Places to Work - 2008" in the Large Companies category. Westlake Village.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California Westlake Village 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. They build businesses as their lifestyle, not as a job.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

The problem, according to Tiffani Bova in her new book, “ Growth IQ ,” is that it’s never just one thing. This experience includes browsing your website, social media interactions, the sales process, as well as your support and follow-up. Expand your product line, staying close to the core.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

(Part I, Team) Tact was founded by Chuck Ganapathi , who was formerly the SVP of Products at Salesforce.com having led initiatives like their chat product, CRM and mobile. For six years before that he was at Siebel who was the market leader in CRM before Salesforce, and he has both a masters in product design from Stanford and an MBA.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2017

I saw some real guidance in the classic book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box.

eBook 52

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 52

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

I don’t think it takes book smart people to build great companies – sometimes it’s a hindrance. They spot opportunities that aren’t being met and the design products to meet these needs. He told me that when the markets soured they were no longer hot. He was at a startup that was in a super hot sector.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2013

I saw some real guidance in a new book by Loc de Brabandere and Alan Iny, “ Thinking in New Boxes.” While the focus of the book is really on business creativity, the following triggers were outlined as weak signals which should not be overlooked in your efforts to think outside the box, or think in a new box: A changing value proposition.

eBook 95

eBook Metrics Startup Examples 95

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

How did what was a staid publisher of phone books become a hotbed of online talent? Before that, I was running product at Spotrunner. Our whole product and technology team is about 500 people. Our owned and operated product has 60 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S. How big is YP? Louis and Atlanta.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

So, we created a site which not just aggregates, but also organizes activities by type, category--land, sea, air--and things like competition, family, culture, adrenaline--to really narrow down the possibilities for what you're looking for. I was in advertising and marketing, working in Newport Beach on the Mazda account.

Activity 164

Activity Startup Sites Web 164

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2017

The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. They build businesses as their lifestyle, not as a job.

Entrepreneur 54

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 54

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

How did what was a staid publisher of phone books become a hotbed of online talent? Before that, I was running product at Spotrunner. Our whole product and technology team is about 500 people. Our owned and operated product had 60 million unique visitors in the U.S. How big is YP.com? Louis and Atlanta.

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

In this context, I definitely agree with the need for new ideas and principles, as was expressed in a new book, “ Wild Thinking: 25 Unconventional Ideas to Grow Your Brand and Your Business ,” by branding though leaders Nick Liddell and Richard Buchanan. A great business purpose is better than a great product.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2015

The classic book, “ Hunting in a Farmer's World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. They build businesses as their lifestyle, not as a job.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur News Slides Startup 106

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 9, 2010

For every layer if I mention companies please don’t assume that I’m suggesting there aren’t other players in that category. I’m just listed who I perceive as the market leaders. Especially to a company that sells books! And then came the debate about storage. I was dead set against it.

Startup 343

Startup Technical Review S3 Services 343

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2014

A recent book, “ Hunting in a Farmer''s World: Celebrating the Mind of an Entrepreneur ,” by serial entrepreneur and business coach John F. In business, entrepreneurs hunt for new innovative solutions to problems, new ways of beating competitors, new markets, and new customers. They build businesses as their lifestyle, not as a job.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Startup News Slides 109

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center. The challenge is to transform and hardwire your entire team to think in these terms, rather than the default focus on distinct towers of product quality, closing the sale, or fixing a complaint.

Customer 56

Customer Custom Startup Competition 56