TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. A Biden presidency doesn’t need a Green New Deal to make progress on climate change.

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

I must admit I discuss this very frequently with portfolio companies but hadn’t thought to write about it. No carrier in their right mind wanted to cede control of the software but Apple was willing to offer its products exclusive through one carrier in exchange for not having any carrier software on the device.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

Thus, I will recruit independent distributors and they will sell my new and innovative products on my behalf. Once you prove that a substantial, addressible market segment is willing to pay a price for your solution that exceeds your costs, you can consider a licensing strategy. 5) Allow Partners To Write Your Agreements.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Berkonomics

MARCH 15, 2012

First: Product risk. Is the product or service possible to produce at all, let alone economically enough to compete in the marketplace? Are you ahead or behind the market with your product or service? Second: Market risk. Will the public respond in numbers to buy, license or rent your offering?

Outsource Development 200

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 200

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. I’ve started writing up some of those sales & marketing lessons and I plan to continue to build that section out over time. They are as good at selling you as they are at selling your product to customers. Here’s what I learned.

Sales 316

Sales Startup Pricing Customer 316

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2010

Why is it that most of the business plans I see are really product plans? I define a product plan as a detailed description of your product or service, with a bit of business thrown in at the end. A business plan is a detailed description of your business, with a bit of product description thrown in near the front.

Product 48

Product Outsource Development Competition High Tech 48

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. Write things down. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects.

Outsource Development 333

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. Write things down. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” They have have raised $2-3 million, built a product that has some amount of market traction and got to annualized revenues of around $1 million.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. Finish the product before marketing begins.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 105

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

I keep my competitors as friends and those that didn’t choose me or my product as friends, too. I had been competing to win a contract at Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK. They were looking for a collaboration tool to manage all of their large water development projects. Quite the opposite. I move on.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

It’s important to learn from your own mistakes, but it’s even smarter to learn from someone else’s mistakes, without paying their high price in time lost, cost, and pain. I believe the old adage that you don’t know what you don’t know until you try to write it down. Finish the product before marketing begins.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

We caught on with the right product, at the right time. Instead, they outsource to an expert like Edegcast. Software-as-a-service companies write good software, and network companies build good networks, but rarely do you find both that do that well as the same time. Those two typically don't go together well.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. Trust me – that kind of encounter can mean the difference between securing a contract, protecting yourself from getting turfed or getting acquired one day.

Tips 365

Tips Email Venture Capital CTO Coach 365

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

He writes with a great perspective and is well worth reading. I took an advanced computer course in high school where I learned to build databases in Ashton Tate’s dBase III+ and to compile my designs using a product called Clipper. My first job after college was as a developer at Andersen Consulting. THE FIVE C’S.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

He stood up, grabbed the mic and gave a heartfelt overview of his experiences in experimenting with new technologies to build relationships with his audience, get feedback on his product quality and to market his music all the way to the top of iTunes. There are many analogies here for software development.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Typically entrepreneurs doubt themselves because they undervalue their offerings, but it isn’t about creating a product, setting a price and hoping people will buy. Using your service or owning your product isn’t why a person buys, it’s the experience your customer will have. Valu e and Exp erience versus Price and Product.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

No one wakes up and says to themselves, “I need to buy that product I have never heard of before.” Instead of billboards, affiliates own websites, many of which contain meaningful content associated with the products they advertise. Ideally, such ads should clearly articulate the value proposition including the price.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

InfoChachkie

MAY 23, 2011

Hipster-wannabes routinely wait in line for hours for the opportunity to buy exorbitantly priced drinks in an exclusive nightclub. As noted in Contract Traps Entrepreneurs Should Avoid , exclusivity can kill a small company. Write this number down. An Initial Non-exclusive Deal Precludes Future Exclusivity.

Technical Review 183

Technical Review Marketing Sales Competition 183

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Jason Nazar

JUNE 18, 2009

Music – enable a dead simple player on band and profile pages that lets users upload their songs and have them purchased for any price they set. Leverage a worldwide community to enable a perfect market for outsourcing activities like online research, writing, & content review. Movies – no website has more Hollywood DNA.

Development Team Review 76

Development Team Review Content Sites eHow 76

SoCal Delicious

MAY 6, 2012

There are hundreds of entrepreneurs here in Los Angeles who are building awesome companies, writing awesome books, making awesome movies and are trying to solve important problems to help make this world a better place. He previously led business development for Affiliate Fuel, leading to its acquisition by Experian in 2005.

Los Angeles 78

Los Angeles Entrepreneur Angel Fractional CTO 78

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Clearly a startup should consult its lawyer before filing or not filing.But the attorneys I relied on to write this piece told me that they’ve done lots of Section 4(2) deals in the past, and would recommend it to clients who had relatively simple financing agreements (not tranched-out, not too many investors, etc.) Short answer: no.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Product Friday: Monetizing Content is a Product Problem - This is going to be BIG. m the f%*kin’ boss.”. How it happens.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

Now, he ‘outsources’ his investments through John Frankel of Frankel Asset Management. I appreciate the write-up and your continued support of this blog. After AltaVista, Mike spent a year doing business development for USA Networks ( now IAC – Interactive Corp ). This feature is in development right now.

Google 302

Google Startup Advertising Acquisition 302

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc. First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -

Startup 378

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. And better yet, the company has a product that will turn the stream into a lake. What does that mean? It is the town hall.

Platform 307

Platform News Startup Invest 307

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

This ended up developing into Visual Basic for Applications , the strategy for programmability in Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office ended up beating its competitors because it was able to read and write to file formats other than its own. While customers will be willing to try your product, they think two steps ahead.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software Blogging Startup 285