Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

Every business owner and entrepreneur like you I work with wishes they could better predict product demand and sales, for managing inventory and long-term business planning. We all have our favorite metric and our passion, but keeping up with real-world changes and trends seems to be always just out of reach.

Metrics 81

Metrics Demand Statistics Sample 81

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Switch your attention from product development to sales. Second-stage growth usually requires a formal sales model, an experienced and disciplined sales team, and a well-defined process to meet your new goals and demands. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2023

Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Effective marketing requires converting ideas to real content, creating programs to educate channels, and managing metrics to see what works and what needs to change. Lack of follow-up after a sale can cost you more customers than poor service or poor quality.

Startup 155

Startup Ideas IBM IBM 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

While his insights have come from large organizations, I give many of the same recommendations to every startup: Channel engagement performance. Selecting the right sales channels is one of the first strategic decisions that every startup faces. Understanding culture is paramount, but measuring results is even better.

Marketing 174

Marketing Invest Demand Metrics 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2013

Most struggle with the idea and practice of marketing and sales, and see these as a necessary evil, if even required. Of course, for a price, there are many marketing organizations and gurus willing to come to your aid. entrepreneur startup metrics marketing sales business' Attract and get found by the right prospects.

Sales 105

Sales Startup Metrics Customer 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

Leaders and investors need to know if you have and are tapping into your key sources of relevant data, including web analytics, sales management data, and customer relationship management (CRM) software. You must have a strong Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with a clear strategy for spending, and metrics to gauge results.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Acquisition Technical Review 100

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 6, 2021

A while back, I spotted a book for change management leaders in large organization, and I realized that many of the issues they face are the same as ones faced in every growing startup. Here are ten of the key questions that apply equally well to the world of startups and entrepreneurs, as they do to large organizations.

Startup 155

Startup Resource Metrics Technical Review 155

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Make sure that metrics and goals are set up front, and not modified as the project progresses. Unfortunately, I often see goal misalignments with teams, such as marketing measured on sales volume, or sales measured on customer retention. This will generate trust, loyalty, and continued accountability within the organization.

Startup 132

Startup Training Metrics Examples 132

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

This work requires market feedback, managing trials, and working with the sales team as well as developers. Great people leadership and communication skills are critical here, as well as managing an organization. Some people are very good as defining metrics, roll-out programs, and reward systems for marketing and sales programs.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Many entrepreneurs never get past their first-stage focus on their innovative product, to scaling the business globally, organizing a structure to handle thousands of employees, and concentrating their focus “on the business” rather than working “in the business.” Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2020

Managing marketing metrics and the sales pipeline. Effective marketing requires converting ideas to real content, creating programs to educate channels, and managing metrics to see what works and what needs to change. Lack of follow-up after a sale can cost you more customers than poor service or poor quality.

Ideas 122

Ideas Entrepreneur Startup IBM 122

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Switch your attention from product development to sales. Second-stage growth usually requires a formal sales model, an experienced and disciplined sales team, and a well-defined process to meet your new goals and demands. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

I’m not suggesting that you model your startup after the complex corporate organizations you hated in your last job, but there are at least eight key functions and activities that every investor expects to find in a startup proposal with any real potential to change the world. Marketing, sales, support, and service operations.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

The Most Important Metric. Near the conclusion of our discussion, I asked each CEO to name any non-obvious metrics by which they guide their businesses. However, these metrics measure your company’s success, not that of your customers. Such metrics will obviously differ.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2020

They outline and give some positive recommendations to counter the key organizational impediments to fast transformation that I see all too often, even in businesses with top management committed to first-mover speed and agility: Passive resistance to change from within the organization.

Metrics 122

Metrics Training Satisfaction IBM 122

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Our fund (Upfront Ventures) recently returned >1x an entire $200 million fund just selling small minatory in secondary sales while still holding most of our stock for an ultimate public market exits. How our VC Firms Like Ours Organizing to Meet the Challenges? That never would have happened 10 years ago. just to name a few!

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2021

That means keeping all the players and all the organizations centered on what matters amid the crosscurrents of change. If you have had to pivot from the consumer market to enterprise customers, that requires new pricing models and new sales channels. The experts advise taking your time initially to listen, learn, and gather data.

Social Media 143

Social Media Startup Framework Course 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Radhika teaches entrepreneurship and innovation, and advises organizations around the world on how to build radical products that create a fundamental change instead of optimizing the status quo. Obsessive sales – must meet revenue goals. Hypermetricemia – metrics for everything. Make sure your vision is clear and communicated.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Your story should include childhood initiatives, industry organization leadership roles, and online influencer organizations that you support. These show a focus on the business elements required for success, and metrics for ensuring accountability, management control, and feedback along the way.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Measure progress through metrics on sales, revenue, and penetration. These start with your brand image, search visibility and process, and extend to the actual sales transaction. Seek customer feedback on ways to improve value and satisfaction. Seek to dominate your market over competitors.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

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

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Your goal must be to make every aspect of a customer interaction a joy to both you and them, starting from the shopping experience, to the sales close, to delivery and service. I still see organizations that penalize teams for change requests, and try to live by the old adage of “it’s always been done this way.”

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

David Loo: Ultimately, at the C-level, the CIO requires data metrics and intelligence, in order to compete and make decisions and take actions to further a company's agenda. David Loo: In my mind, at this stage, it's the ability to have sales efficiency with enterprise customers. What specific problem were you seeing?

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

He met with the editors of the three Mac magazines that his customers read and showed them metrics that confirmed that SuperMac's boards were the fastest on the market. "I I let them talk me into giving them my internal benchmark suite, which was being written by a group called The Potrero Benchmark Organization.

Marketing 271

Marketing Startup Sales Customer 271

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.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

He also still gets excited to donate one percent of sales to environmental groups around the world. 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. You make decisions from data, or from the gut.

Startup 94

Startup Ideas Metrics Entrepreneur 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

I’m not suggesting that you model your startup after the complex corporate organizations you hated in your last job, but there are at least eight key functions and activities that every investor expects to find in a startup proposal with any real potential to change the world. Marketing, sales, support, and service operations.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

Sounds simple but in practice I promise you most organization fall into the latter trap. So they create a task list of all the marketing activities an organization can do: press releases, web site updates, customer case studies, blog posts, daily Tweets, Facebook fan page, attending conferences, etc.

Activity 164

Activity Conference Press Case Study 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Switch your attention from product development to sales. Second-stage growth usually requires a formal sales model, an experienced and disciplined sales team, and a well-defined process to meet your new goals and demands. Managing business growth is more than metrics. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Startup 108

Startup Sales Metrics Entrepreneur 108

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2019

With the real data from that surge, you need to take a hard look at business model realities, cost of customer acquisition, inventory costs, and other key metrics. Document processes and metrics for economies of scale. Key metrics for scaling, such as customer loyalty, are very important after initial rollout.

Metrics 86

Metrics Startup Training Customer 86

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It freed up Ophir to grow out our sales organization, to work more closely with agencies, to innovate on product and to raise capital. The last thing you want the CEO (or heads of sales, marketing, product) doing is sinking 3 days every month into preparing board packs. The full financial details and metrics were in the deck.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Metrics Startup Sales 150

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2021

Network with local organizations and industry groups. You won’t need the multiple follow-ups and time to close new sales. Build a marketing plan with deliverables and metrics. You will likely be amazed at the kind of requests you get, and what you can learn, which could lead to new opportunities, new products, and new customers.

Technical Advisors 154

Technical Advisors Tips Marketing Case Study 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

No matter how passionately you believe that everyone needs one, and positive feedback from friends and early adopters (false positives), before you invest in scaling the business, make sure you set and meet good metrics in cost of customer acquisition, recurring sales, and margin. The market is unpredictable and changes fast.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2021

The ready-fire-aim approach makes sense here, but it should be combined with metrics to learn from feedback, and make pivots as required. If you have a development organization which is never ready to ship, and insist on continually adding new features, or doing more testing, the ready-aim-fire approach will not likely happen.

Marketing 138

Marketing Demand IBM IBM 138

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Customers today quickly get beyond these, and put a competitive priority on the experience of others, reflected in reviews and social media, and their own total experience with your sales process, delivery, returns, and support on their schedule. You need to be part of a larger ecosystem. Find funders who seek long-term returns.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

Sometimes we measure things and see that in the short term they actually hurt sales. But we do it anyway, because we believe that the short-term metrics probably aren''t indicative of the long term.”. If improperly administered, meetings become counter-productive, especially as an organization grows beyond its initial startup phase.

Tips 223

Tips Framework Metrics Cloud Computing 223