Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2014

I spend a lot of time with startups and thus hear many companies talk about their approach to sales and their interactions with customers. Given customers & sales are the lifeblood of any organization you’d imagine everybody would respect their customers. Starting with a positive.

Customer 341

Customer Custom Venture Capital Software Review 341

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!” The most obvious way to explain this is with sales people. One of them is profitability. You may have leverage when you DO need to fund raise.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

Image via Flickr by Phil Gyford Starting a new venture still costs real money, even though the entry price has come down dramatically in last few decades. Now, with powerful high-level tools and open source software, winning smartphone apps can be built by a good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2021

Gates’ call is being met by startups and public companies hailing from everywhere from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, London to Los Angeles, and Berkeley to… um… Chicago. The company aims to have its first product approved by European regulators by 2023 and notching commercial sales by 2025.

Chief Technology Officer 261

Chief Technology Officer Technical Review Software Review Product 261

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Gross margin positive != That bit is easy.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Tips 104

Tips Startup Technical Review Equity 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 87

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 87

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. Trying outrageous new things or even trying mundane things but in new ways but with extreme quality & innovation is what fuels the tech startup industry. But today I want to give you advice on how to decrease your odds of failure in a startup.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Our interview today is with Andrew Schydlowsky , the CEO and founder of Santa Barbara-based TrackStreet (www.trackstreet.com), a startup which is backed by Okapi Capital, The Cove Fund, Early Light Ventures, SaaS Venture Capital, and Stage Venture Partners. We provide analytics on the velocity of sales across their channels.

Artificial Inteligence 140

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Sales 140

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 128

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 128

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2014

As noted on the label, each bottle of beer, "includes the full length album" in the form of a download code displayed under each cork. I recently caught up with Brian over a couple of cold ones and asked him to share the lessons he learned from Silent Partners'' rollout. Greathouse: I think you have started a trend here.

Marketing 187

Marketing Software Review Startup Ideas 187

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. Some startups opt to partner with larger companies which have pre-established relationships with government customers.

Startup 207

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 207

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

The process for retailers and brands to liquidate excess inventory hasn’t changed very much, if at all, and while some retailers were able to build operational infrastructure to service the off-price channels, it continues to be a constant pain point. Naturally, they started in apparel but are also seeing opportunity in beauty and home goods.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 26, 2012

” The post talked about how to find the lowest acceptable price & terms in a deal through testing. I could sum up my negotiation mentality as a seller in one phrase that I’ve used as short-hand for my portfolio companies for years, “Everybody wants their pound of flesh.” Your Primary Buyer.

Development Team Review 293

Development Team Review Software Review Pricing Startup 293

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

As a business advisor, I have to recommend even to established companies that they review and revamp their competitive strategy now, even if it appears to be working today. Features, availability, and brand are just the price of entry. Thus it’s more important than ever that you keep up with the latest trends and rules.

Competition 142

Competition Software Review Social Media Customer 142

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2016

Startups do not always have the luxury to optimize their product for both buyers and users. I learned the hard way that during a startup’s early days, entrepreneurs should give slightly greater emphasis on developing buyer features, in order to reduce the friction of the sales cycle. Should Startups Build For Buyers Or Users?

SaaS 100

SaaS Startup Software Review Development Team Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 123

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 53

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 53

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Many funds have not performed and will start to disappear. PEHub followed up their analysis with this. It takes less to start a business these days – We all know that it takes less to start a technology company these days. You don’t have to hire as many sales people because much can be sold online.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

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. Growing too fast kills many new ventures, due to staffing costs, inventory, and funding delays.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

I started with a Top 10 list for Nivi (at VentureHacks), but I couldn’t cram it into 10 so it became a Top 11 list. I’ll publish the final post in this series this week and then move on to my next series – sales & marketing. I’ll be covering my PUCCKA sales methodology.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Article first published as Eleven Startup Tips From Mark Cuban on Technorati. Mark Cuban is a lifelong serial entrepreneur, launching his startup career with a variety of teenage schemes, including buying and selling collectable stamps to pay for college. Mark’s Startup Tips. free weekly Infochachkie articles! in 1999 in a $5.7

Tips 274

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Ideas 274

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review Equity 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Funding Startup Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Develop 70

Develop Development Product Startup 70

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

People get too worked up over the word. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value. Rational people can disagree and some may argue that today’s prices are rational and under-pinned by economic drivers. Why I believe we’re in a bubble. That’s fine.

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 11, 2011

I wanted to find out if the 3D effects were useful and people would enjoy playing with or was it just something to tack on to a mobile device to try and increase sales? We answer these questions and really dive into the LG 4G Thrill in our review below. Sporting a 4.3-inch Out of the Box the LG Thrill 4G runs Android 2.2 For the $99.99

Software Review 77

Software Review Screening Orange County Mobile 77

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

This is part of my Startup Advice series. I spent nearly a decade building software for large companies and then advising companies on the same. So I was surprised at the sheer volumes of decisions that had to be made when I became a startup CEO. Your head of sales thinks she should fire somebody.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I wanted to be sure that they felt they knew all of my partners well so they could see why I joined up with them in the first place – they are smart guys who have a 20-year track record of winning. I HATE LOSING.

Outsource Development 328

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review News 328

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I recently wrote a post on angel financing covering the topic of convertible notes but I realized I was thinking about the issue more from investor perspective and a very narrow topic of how to price the round. Good idea & plan: You must start with a good idea and a PowerPoint deck (my outline is here , scroll down mid way).

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series on Start-up Lessons that I learned from founding two companies. But first I’d like to start with a story. I was working hand-in-hand with my close friend and associate Stuart Lander who was running our UK office and with one of our local sales reps. I HATE LOSING. I hate it.

Startup 151

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review 151

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2009

Steve Pelletier: Just as a bit of background, our company started in 2001, and had a product called AdBook, which is a very robust order management, workflow inventory, and billing package for large online publishers. Because of that, the sales team is left with a data entry problem. That has been in the market since 2004.

Advertising 127

Advertising Startup Sales Tool 127

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2018

Most of you new venture founders I meet as an angel investor seem convinced that starting the business is the hardest part. I’m sure you can all think of several examples of businesses that popped up quickly, with great business models, but then faded just as quickly. Examples would include Pets.com, Webvan, and Blockbuster.

Examples 67

Examples Customer Custom Software Review 67

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2013

And a natural sales person. As my wife will tell you – arguing is cultural – you grow up with it or you don’t. I worked in both before leaving to work in a software company at 17. You can’t just name your own price.” Tania once took him up to the couter to pick out a treat. ” Me.

Sales 416

Sales Class Training Technical Review 416

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series of posts and I need to file this one under both Raising Venture Capital and Startup Advice. The last couple of years has also seen the huge initial success of Ycombinator, the Lean Startup and many other product driven approaches to going to market. That died with waterfall software development.

Web 2.0 334

Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

The startup, led by co-founder and CEO Gabriel Halimi , is backed by Crosslink Capital, Anthemis Group, an affiliate of USAA, and such angels as Jamie Siminoff (of Ring fame) and Jason Nazar (who founded Docstoc). We caught up with Gabriel to learn more about the company. How did you start the company? Tell us what Flo does?

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Technology Startup Artificial Inteligence 113