Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2013

In my experience as a mentor, I find that keeping creative thinking in the balance is a challenge for every startup, due to the natural employee tendency to resist change. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency. Failure to learn.

Metrics 110

Metrics Entrepreneur Demand Statistics 110

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 realized that he and I see several common patterns that account for a large percentage of new venture failures.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Implement the key business metrices you will live by. Identify the three most important metrics your business must hit every week to achieve growth goals. These will almost always be related to sales and marketing, since they must tie back to cash flow. Increase you focus on coaching, training, and mentoring.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2022

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Implement metrics and set objectives for every organization.

Startup 137

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 137

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Customer 131

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2020

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Implement metrics and set objectives for every organization.

Startup 125

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 125

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Unfortunately, many aspiring leaders I mentor are not aware of the signals people are looking for, or are not attuned to the subtleties of their own actions. Define metrics to measure what you want to achieve. For example, measuring marketing team members on sales leads may not get you the revenue growth or trust you expected.

Mentor 98

Mentor News Summary Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

Image via Pixabay As a mentor to many small business owners, I always caution them that you can never relax completely, just because your initial solution or product set appears to be getting traction, and the market buzz is positive. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2015

Don’t hesitate to call in an experienced advisor or mentor to help. Make sure there are metrics for problem counts, resolution time and revenue impact. Usually it pays to dig deeper on lost sales opportunities and negative customer reviews to resolve a deep-seated product deficiency or delivery channel issue.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2022

In my role as a mentor, I challenge every business leader to be more open-minded as they face the challenges of change and new competitors entering their space. It’s easy to jump to conclusions and attack the symptoms of a new problem, such as blaming the marketing team for declining sales.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Customer Custom Social Media 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2019

Your role is to provide mentoring and support as required. Annual bonuses tied to production metrics are nice, but these will not generate the long-term trust and loyalty you need to set the culture. Provide training and mentoring directed at career growth. It also means listening and following-up on feedback.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Mentor Training 92

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

You need to communicate quantified and updates goals quarterly, including the metrics to assess progress and success. The best companies have found that it’s important to constantly prepare team members for moving to the next level, through mentoring and training, rather than trying to keep them in their current role.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

He also still gets excited to donate one percent of sales to environmental groups around the world. Assess who you can get for value and mentoring. You may be comfortable driving your future based on vision and emotion, or have long been a stickler for details and metrics. Document and communicate a solid business plan.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2016

In my experience as a mentor, I find that keeping creative thinking in the balance is a challenge for every startup, due to the natural employee tendency to resist change. Using data metrics alone for decisions, without seeking the root problem and alternative solutions, kills creativity. Tricked by recency. Failure to learn.

Metrics 60

Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

It’s easy to see how cultures go astray, for example, when you pay only for sales volume, but expect a high focus on customer satisfaction. Establish metrics on the culture, as well as the product. These metrics need the same top management attention as customer retention and sales metrics. Place shapes culture.

Metrics 57

Metrics Startup Netflix Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

There are lots of resources available for the challenge of that activity, including the Internet and mentors like me. This is the point where you must manage to metrics, work on the culture of the organization, and look for partner-based growth. Just because you think it’s a great idea doesn’t mean there is a business opportunity.

Ideas 94

Ideas Slides Technical Review Patents 94

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 9, 2014

This was a chance to blow open the story on their companies, to address a room full of potential investors, mentors, partners, customers, and press. About $37B worth of lost sales a year, worldwide. In seed stage funding, we’re often told that the investments are ultimately about the people/teams, and not necessarily the metrics.

Startup 111

Startup Mobile Commerce Education 111

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Through ongoing analysis and refinement of existing processes, establishment of standards and metrics, team building and mentoring, Sergey has established a foundation and culture in which developers can flourish. Bobby’s strong sales acumen, genuine charisma and leadership abilities make him an invaluable asset to the founding team.

Social Network 92

Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

Jason Nazar

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2016

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. Implement metrics and set objectives for every organization.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Training Organization Examples 55

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 13, 2013

My every day is trying to fundraise, reaching, re-reaching out, and trying to keep people updated with metrics. I have three sales guys, who are on commission only. ML: I do mentor and advise a lot of young entrepreneurs, especially from USC since I went to that school. What about the good times? We are building a team.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Mobile Startup Los Angeles 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

As a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I also encourage an entrepreneur exit focus early, and I really like the specific steps outlined in the classic book, “ Exit Signs ,” by Pamela Dennis, who has helped companies through this critical transition for decades. New startup founders keep all the operating metrics they need in their head.

Startup 173

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

In my perspective as an advisor and mentor to many entrepreneurs, there are a set of basic strategies that can be applied to every startup to dramatically improve the odds of success, no matter what the business domain. Define metrics to keep on track for the journey.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 124

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 108

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 108

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2021

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. Inventory and features added too soon.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Training Entrepreneur 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked for the magic that has made Amazon the world's most valuable brand , from a total unknown only twenty years ago. For example, when delivery costs and delays were still a major online sales hurdle, Amazon Prime membership was invented to offer free next day shipping.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cashflow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Search Engine Optimization 103

Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media Equity 103

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

As a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I also encourage an entrepreneur exit focus early, and I really like the specific steps outlined in the classic book, “ Exit Signs ,” by Pamela Dennis, who has helped companies through this critical transition for decades. New startup founders keep all the operating metrics they need in their head.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

As a mentor to many entrepreneurs, I also encourage an entrepreneur exit focus early, and I really like the specific steps outlined in the new book, “ Exit Signs ,” by Pamela Dennis, who has helped companies through this critical transition for decades. New startup founders keep all the operating metrics they need in their head.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Metrics Acquisition 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. As a mentor to many entrepreneurs and startups, here are my best recommendations for keeping the burn rate low, planning ahead and maintaining credibility with investors: Manage cash flow personally every day. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Startup 89

Startup Search Engine Optimization Outsource Development Social Media 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2015

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. Inventory and features added too soon.

Resource 105

Resource Startup Entrepreneur Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2014

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. Inventory and features added too soon.

Entrepreneur 115

Entrepreneur Resource Training Product 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2018

The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. Inventory and features added too soon.

Resource 52

Resource Training Entrepreneur Activity 52

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

Though this was 2000 , and all startup & VC blogs we've grown to love didn't exist yet, I did have mentors available. Metrics availability. The Phantom Sales Forecast – Failing at Customer Validation - Steve Blank , July 22, 2010 Startup CEO’s can’t delegate sales and expect it to happen. Not so bad. Performance.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217