Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Write it down. On the other hand, most people don’t hesitate to write down excuses. It is vague and insubstantial.

Writing 121

Writing Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur 121

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2021

This is what we refer to when we say “thinking outside the box”. Productive group activity. A “downer” in a group takes the whole group down, whereas a fun person can bring the whole group to a more productive and innovative plane. If you want to be heard, write down the message and deliver it in a positive tone.

Ideas 161

Ideas Study Writing Activity 161

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

After years mentoring young aspiring entrepreneurs , I am now convinced that getting along and becoming more productive with other people is a skill that any professional can learn, or accomplish via a dedicated strategy. Write down your key goals and refer to this list before any interaction with your colleague.

Startup 114

Startup Examples Satisfaction Mentor 114

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

San Diego-based Wildfire Systems , led by startup veteran Jordan Glazier , has developed software which product referrals and automatically transform them into trackable links across email, text messaging, chat, and social messaging. Those references drive trillions of dollars of commerce. They're doing that billions of times a day.

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

I would write the email and be as scathing as I wanted to be. Truthfully, it’s a great idea to write it if you can be disciplined and not send it. But isn’t that a waste of productive time? Final note: I never try to write about an individual to send a message. Sometimes they just slip out. Not really.

Writing 292

Writing Email Startup Ideas 292

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Simply put – I’d be in search of a VC who had an intuitive sense of my product, my customers, my organizational issues, my competitors, etc. The best way – of course – is to reference check.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2018

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Write it down. On the other hand, most people don’t hesitate to write down excuses. It is vague and insubstantial.

Writing 97

Writing Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur 97

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You join teams that got good write-ups on TechCrunch, have great VCs, have star CEO’s, whatever. When you’re hiring most reference checkers focus on the person’s former bosses. Just literally this week I had breakfast with a guy giving a reference who said, “He’s brilliant. You REALLY know.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

The reason for this is that the executives who founded the company have so much tacit knowledge of how to position their product relative to the competition that they can easily win campaigns when they’re involved. Way too many sales reps demo products by showing features, which seldom resonates with users who are thinking, “OK, that’s cool.

Sales 336

Sales Startup Competition Customer 336

InfoChachkie

APRIL 25, 2011

If you are a leader at a startup and you are reading a business book, you are not closing customers, raising capital, improving your product, or spending time with your loved ones. It has also influenced my thoughts, as evidenced by the six infoChachkie blog entries which reference Art. I was not disapointed. No doubt, he did.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Blogging Class Entrepreneur 279

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Journal or Blog – Writing about your experiences will force you to be contemplative and thoughtful. It will also allow you to refer back to past experiences without risking an erroneous decision based on a false memory. Journal or Blog – Writing about your experiences will force you to be contemplative and thoughtful.

Startup 206

Startup Journal Writing Blogging 206

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

In our personal lives we’re having to change our routines and figure out how to remain productive?—?often You need to consider: Has demand for my product fundamentally changed in ways that will persist? It feels a bit like choosing a fork in the road amidst dense fog and with nobody to guide us what to do. What do we eat? What is safe?

Demand 215

Demand Guide Customer Custom 215

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I know I can’t be in every deal and I know that the easy part of being a VC is writing the first check in a deal. Products that ship late and place entire companies under serious stress. You can’t reference check your way into a “yes.” They worry too much about missing out on a deal. I don’t.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Write it down. On the other hand, most people don’t hesitate to write down excuses. It is vague and insubstantial.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Writing Organization Satisfaction 102

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 23, 2013

I’ve been writing a series on a simple methodology that we used at my first enterprise software company. Do the best you can to measure the success of your product in quantifiable terms. In an early-stage business where your product is less developed the business case might be higher level.

Sales 328

Sales Customer Custom Examples 328

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2020

That means writing down and signing the terms of the agreement, after making sure everyone understands them. Tie payments to your product or service revenue. These realities are part of the reason that this first tier of very early investors are often referred to as “friends, family, and fools.”

Funding 123

Funding Startup Equity Venture Capital 123

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2010

I started with the hosted version and then migrated to an installed version so I could use Google Analytics and some other products. Much of my traffic is through referring websites and/or social media. Don’t just write a carbon copy of what somebody else is doing. Every time I write a post I send it out on Twitter.

Blogging 286

Blogging Startup Writing Summary 286

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2013

It’s a reminder that unless your prospect has a need to solve a problem they are not going to buy a product. These references make for great discussions with customers. If you have enough references in your arsenal you obviously want to pick out ones that you believe will resonate with your prospect due to job function or industry.

Sales 367

Sales Slides Startup Customer 367

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2013

This term refers to the penchant to add just one more feature to the product or service before first delivery, just because you can. The result is a bloated first product which finally collapses under its own weight, or is too late and too expensive for the intended customer. Define milestones for cost review and sign-off.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review Startup Software Review High Tech 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2010

developing a product you might like to survey prospective customers without biasing their answers. doing a reference call on a prospective employee. I asked him, “What makes consumers want to use your product?&# It was totally vague. THE REFERENCE CALL: Reference calls are hard. And intentionally so.

Startup 311

Startup Invest Course Research 311

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 10, 2012

These highly-regarded workshops teach business professionals the science of usability which ensures that websites, applications or physical products do what they are supposed to do and that their users can succeed with whatever tasks these products are designed to help with. October 13: Usable Usability — Lean UX starts right here.

Culver City 105

Culver City Design Content Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2012

Ask yourself the tough question about how you might spend that time more productively getting your job done well. There are also many times where that meeting isn’t really focused or productive. She looks very competent but you’d have to apply your own filter / check reference. I haven’t referenced him/her.

Email 359

Email Venture Capital Startup Technical Review 359

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

AUGUST 17, 2016

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 61

Services Startup Training Writing 61

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Write it down. On the other hand, most people don’t hesitate to write down excuses. It is vague and insubstantial.

Writing 103

Writing Organization Satisfaction Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. Product or service readiness. Investors are evaluating your process as well as your product.

Technical Review 94

Technical Review Startup Writing Competition 94

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 7, 2011

The title was “The Jerk,” which is a reference to both the Steve Martin film but more precisely to Robert Scoble’s interpretation of Steve Jobs having just read his biography. In today’s economy it is counter productive because the best employees have options.” It’s counter productive.

Press 337

Press Venture Capital Doc Summary 337

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

We are going to write checks of between $100,000 and $500,000, and we are going to invest in what we are calling first institutional capital. Our investment thesis we refer to as the connected consumer. That's anyone building a product, service, or application which can be delivered to a connected device.

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

This process costs money, which professional investors are not willing to contribute, since their interest is in scaling a proven product and business model into a growth business. This phase is intended to allow you to complete the research and development on your innovative product.

Funding 90

Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2013

Most entrepreneurs I know are too busy creating a compelling product to give proper focus to the four phases of building a people and media platform that Hyatt says are equally critical for long-term success: Platform creation prior to launch. Building your home base with personal and product traction. Their startups will get noticed.

Platform 105

Platform Entrepreneur Startup Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2013

This is what we refer to when we say “thinking outside the box”. Productive group activity. A “downer” in a group takes the whole group down, whereas a fun person can bring the whole group to a more productive and innovative plane. If you want to be heard, write down the message and deliver it in a positive tone.

Startup 114

Startup Ideas Study Writing 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 16, 2011

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Write it down. On the other hand, most people don’t hesitate to write down excuses. It is vague and insubstantial.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Writing Organization Satisfaction 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2010

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. Product or service readiness. Investors are evaluating your process as well as your product.

Technical Review 90

Technical Review Writing Competition Tips 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2014

Resumes won’t give you the positive conclusion, but they can highlight negatives, like job gaps, bad writing, and minimal experience. “He Based on the glowing terms I heard from my friend, I’ll just skip the reference check.” In this litigious society, reference checks are more productive if you also listen to what is not said.

Startup 96

Startup Statistics Summary Entrepreneur 96

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2012

This is what we refer to when we say “thinking outside the box”. Productive group activity. A “downer” in a group takes the whole group down, whereas a fun person can bring the whole group to a more productive and innovative plane. If you want to be heard, write down the message and deliver it in a positive tone.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Ideas Study Writing 108