Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Your customers know what they want more than you do. Find one to teach you. This week’s insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago. I internalized this phrase, recalling the many times I had partnered with customers to design new feature-functionality into my hotel computer system back when such systems were brand new to the industry.
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Thursday, September 28, 2023 -- Insider Insights: Ask Me Anything with Jay Goss and Chris Bostick. Hosted by The Alliance for SoCal Innovation. This event series is for founders looking to level up their fundraising game and gain insights from investors and experts who can help SoCal founders prepare for fundraising. This month, ask your questions about raising capital to leading healthcare investors Jay Goss at Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health and Chris Bostick at OCV Partners.
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Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023
Based on my years of experience as a business executive and consultant, I am convinced that most companies gradually lose their ability to be creative as they mature, and over time are overcome by new competitors and market changes. Only a few have found the leadership to continually innovate in the face of change, and the rest are still looking for the recipe or secret.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 14, 2023
You can take this headline as a rule, not an exception. You’ll recognize the truism, “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy” first stated by German Field Marshall von Moltke in the 19 th century. This variant of the “battle plan” truism is important to internalize. A product at the concept stage contains feature-functionality that customers may not want or be willing to pay for, or which just might not work well enough for release to the public.
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Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
You might be here: You have a great new product or service that you and your associates love. Early adopters should climb all over each other for a look. But are you HERE? But what have you done to test the concept against the realities of the marketplace? Have you developed a prototype, alternate pricing schemes, even a PowerPoint mockup to show to potential buyers?
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 -- Face to Face with Investors Get ready to meet investors up close at "Face to Face with Investors". Special: Maximize Your Startup's Valuation with Actionable Advice. Tech Coast Angels.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 15, 2023
Whether you are a business professional in a big company, or an entrepreneur with a startup, innovation is a key strategy. Many people believe that new ideas are the critical element of innovation, but in my experience as a mentor and investor, long-term business success is more about implementation than ideas. Everyone has ideas, but only a few can make them happen.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
More than ever before, people want to buy from, work for, and invest in companies that matter. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting a new business, or a corporate executive seeking to revitalize a mature business, the challenge is the same – to become the obvious choice within the hearts and minds of your customers, your employees, and your chosen communities.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 17, 2023
One of the biggest challenges in any business, large or small, is overcoming the natural human preference for status quo , or fear of change. It means that most team members and executives alike have a natural tendency to prefer killing innovations rather than implementing them. Even customers, while they all want the next big thing, want it to happen with minimal new learning.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 16, 2023
In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kauffman Foundation , the numbers are here to show it. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2021, from 280 to 360 out of 100,000 of the adult population. They helped create over 5 million new businesses in 2022, a forty percent increase over the previous year.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 4, 2023
Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Simply speaking, culture-driven businesses put their people first, and people make the business, rather than the other way around. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 9, 2023
Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends. People love Apple’s whole customer experience, and willingly pay a premium for the product.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023
As an advisor to many entrepreneurs, I still hear frequently the irrational exuberance that crowdfunding is the quick alternative for startups that are passed over by overly demanding angels or venture capital investors. In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62 billion globally by 2030, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
Having the best solution is a good start these days, but a solution alone is no longer enough to keep customer attention and loyalty. They expect to be surprised and delighted as well by their pre-purchase experience and post-purchase interactions. The most memorable businesses, like Starbucks and Apple, no longer sell products, they sell ‘experiences’ with a product at the center.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
Unfortunately, many of the business professionals I meet these days in my mentoring and consulting activities feel perennially stressed and out of control, versus calm and satisfied with their position. They realize that their productivity is suffering, as well as their health, but they don’t know what to do about it. In my experience, it’s all about work-life balance and enjoying the role.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 10, 2023
Every entrepreneur and most professionals wish there were more hours in a day to get their work done. These days, with all the new technology, including smartphones and social media, many are convinced that multi-tasking is the answer. Yet there is more and more evidence that jumping tasks on every alert for a new email, text, or phone call actually decreases overall productivity.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 2, 2023
In business, the only thing that counts is results, not how hard people work or how many hours they put in. Have you noticed in your startup or around your office that some people are always at work and busy, but others seems to consistently get more done? Studies of software teams, for example, show differences as great as ten to one in productivity between working team members.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
Starting an entrepreneurial business, or maintaining the competitiveness of a mature business, requires innovation. Yet everyone I know seems to have a different perspective on what constitutes real innovation, and why is seems to happen so rarely. Another challenge is to debunk some of the common myths that seem prevent many from even assuming they can innovate.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 8, 2023
Most entrepreneurs, and members of any small team, naively assume that the key to their success is hard work, dedication, and long hours in the business. In reality, their effectiveness is usually more related to how well they develop their work relationships with peers and business leaders. First they need to decipher correctly every relationship as a workship, friendship, or foe.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
How many entrepreneurs do you know that “almost” made it big? Startups are very risky, and most fail. Yet entrepreneurship is one of the fastest growing trends in business today. Surveys show that entrepreneurs are among the happiest people in the world, despite the challenges. Yet it would pay real dividends to know at the start what separates the “also-rans” from the winners.
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