Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2014

We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects.

Outsource Development 92

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Startup 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Solution development and delivery. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects.

Outsource Development 121

Outsource Development Outsource Entrepreneur Summary 121

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2014

If you have a software development background like mine, Im sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe.

Outsource Development 95

Outsource Development Outsource Offshore Software Review 95

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2012

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.

Outsource Development 89

Outsource Development Outsource Software Development Software 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Solution development and delivery. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Most of you prefer to ignore the feedback from analysts that your chances of creating the next unicorn startup may be as low as one in five million. Customers line up to believe and buy from people who are viewed as leaders or experts relative to a specific solution. Facilitate rapid growth through contracted resources.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2011

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.

Outsource Development 90

Outsource Development Outsource Software Development Software 90

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. My first startup was no different. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual.

Sales 382

Sales Help Startup Pricing 382

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

This post is part of my series “ Startup Lessons &#. Elephants, Deer and Rabbits – Some thoughts on start-up segmentation. I know that this advice won’t apply to every possible startup – but I think it applies to many. So when I started my first company I naturally went for elephants.

Startup 389

Startup Customer Custom Resource 389

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2021

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. I’ve extracted here some key ones relevant to startups entering the growth stage: Communication clarity is essential. Most startups begin first, and think about organization later.

Startup 171

Startup Organization Training Entrepreneur 171

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2010

Since my background includes software development, I often get the question about when to build a solution in-house, versus outsourcing it to a local company, near-shore service, or off-shore organization in China, India, or Eastern Europe. Don’t outsource your core competency. It’s like giving up control of your company.

Outsource Development 51

Outsource Development Outsource Software Offshore 51

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

APRIL 20, 2010

I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team. Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 22, 2014

You have probably already absorbed many obvious caveats about setting up your own startup; don’t blow money you don’t have on fancy equipment or splash out on expensive rental space. Paying for an accountant when you’re just starting out may seem like a luxury you can’t afford, but it will more than prove its usefulness.

Startup 97

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 97

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2021

workers now say they would start looking for another job if they aren’t offered remote options. With contract players, you assume a project duration, with easy transition to new players for the next campaign. Think in terms of projects to keep up with an evolving strategy. More than 40% of U.S.

Demand 143

Demand Training Outsource Development Organization 143

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.

Technical Advisors 123

Technical Advisors Outsource Development Startup High Tech 123

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2019

How do you create a tool to help address unconscious bias in the workplaceand why would you create a new startup in that area? We caught up with Michele and Dan to better understand why they founded the company, and why this market was such an interest to them. That's what we do over the course of our two year contract.

Content 150

Content Training Education Outsource Development 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 10, 2012

When I started my first tech company in 1999 I had pretty good tech chops and had led teams but had very little exposure to many other things that matter in a startup including sales, marketing & business development. Negotiating was a subset of every activity in a startup – it really was a way of life.

Startup 322

Startup Training Outsource Development Design 322

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Develop your business plan.

Startup 107

Startup Outsource Development Training Outsource 107

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Article first published as Why Selling To The Government Can Downgrade Your Startup on Technorati. Now, more than ever, government agencies in the US and abroad are lousy startup customers. I am not a government contracting expert. The Downside Of Government Contracting. First Greece, now Spain and Italy.

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. If you’re an early-stage enterprise startup services revenue is exactly what you need. We like software.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.

Technical Advisors 57

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 57

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

When you are starting a new business, every resource is precious, including time, funding, and people. People with the wrong tools or no training. As your business starts to scale, you can’t do everything manually anymore. It’s no secret that some people are more productive than others, due to skills, training, or commitment.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.

Technical Advisors 98

Technical Advisors Startup Outsource Development High Tech 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. I’ve extracted here some key ones relevant to startups entering the growth stage: Communication clarity is essential. Most startups begin first, and think about organization later.

Startup 109

Startup Entrepreneur Organization Training 109

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

With contract players, you assume a project duration, with easy transition to new players for the next campaign. The most effective people to execute strategic initiatives are likely ones who have recently led similar activities in multiple related environments, not ones who have been grown and trained inside.

Demand 92

Demand Startup Training Outsource Development 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Solution development and delivery. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

Although the carriers made a lot of money initially by selling dial-up Internet services, customers never took their software because, well, it sucked. So the value on the Internet went “up the stack” to portals such as Yahoo!, Why Exclusivity Matters to Your Customers or Business Development Partners.

Outsource Development 150

Outsource Development Startup Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

There is no substitute for diving into the key details of a new startup. Others hire consultants, or outsource much of the real work. These executives won’t survive long in a startup environment. Team members and customers expect startup founders to be innovative. Strategy and the resultant plan must match up seamlessly.

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Template Mentor 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 6, 2012

A good many startups I know have been “successful” over a couple of years in overcoming the challenges of starting the business, including incorporation, services development, funding, and setting up operations. It’s important to stand up to competition and wear your reputation on your sleeve. Mix things up.

Startup 94

Startup Outsource Development Sales Social Media 94

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

And, even more, how to do you manage the jump on the viral video train again, and keep those viral hits coming? We caught up with Lee Essner , the President of Jukin Media, to learn more about how the company thinks it has figured out how to make a business round viral videos. What is Jukin Media? Can you talk about those businesses?

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Develop your business plan.

Startup 102

Startup Outsource Development Writing Training 102

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Solution development and delivery. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan.

Ideas 62

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Competition 62

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2011

A good many startups I know have been “successful” over a couple of years in overcoming the challenges of starting the business, including incorporation, services development, funding, and setting up operations. It’s important to stand up to competition and wear your reputation on your sleeve. Mix things up.

Tips 92

Tips Startup Services Outsource Development 92

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2010

By Ernst Gemassmer Once you have succeeded in developing a solution and obtained initial funding, the next challenge is to penetrate the relevant domestic and international markets. The simplest way to start is to identify channel partners (also known as distributors) to handle your business in specific and well-defined geographic regions.

Startup 85

Startup Outsource Development Training Resource 85