Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2018

What is the definition of traction for a business startup today? Unfortunately, your personal assessment that you have traction probably won’t be convincing to potential investors and partners, so it’s important that you create and track your progress against some metrics. Define metrics on customer feedback and user counts.

Tips 79

Tips Metrics Technical Review Customer 79

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. Today you have funders focused exclusively on “Day 0” startups or ones that aren’t even created yet. By definition?—?I’m two founders in a garage?—?(HP

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

Just as national cultures influence and shape a country, so does the startup culture set by founder strategy drive the future of a new venture. I believe this new focus on culture is a key to startup success today. Establish metrics on the culture, as well as the product. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done.

Metrics 57

Metrics Startup Netflix Customer 57

socalTECH

DECEMBER 20, 2017

Traxo uses productboard to unite the world’s travel data productboard helps teams resurface key insights about user needs… “productboard has helped me focus on what’s important and avoid the rest… When we started out, our product was very feature oriented. Now everything our company does?—?from centers on the core user needs we’re addressing.”

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Metrics Ideas Product 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2017

PartySlate (www.partyslate.com)--which is backed by a slate of LA area investors--offers up a place to browse photos on events, find venues, and most importantly, planners who put those events on, so your next big event can be an unforgettable one. That's how I came up with the idea. I said, that's what we need for the event industry.

Technical Advisors 100

Technical Advisors Technical Review Metrics Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

In my experience, the Silicon Valley startup model, focused on disrupting established industries, has treated the USA well and created some great global businesses. It has played almost no role in the emergence of current non-US bred startups, including Alibaba in China, Waze from Israel, Paytm in India, and many more.

Ideas 124

Ideas Venture Capital Software Review Technical Review 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

Others still routinely have phone hold queues for customer contact that can last up to an hour, with no alternative options. You need to communicate quantified and updates goals quarterly, including the metrics to assess progress and success. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/25/2018.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2018

The challenge is to rise above the clutter, and stand out in the rush of over 500,000 other new businesses that get started in the U.S. I find that digital marketing is the most visible and effective place to start. In fact, the first challenge is to build a strategy, put together a budget, and define measurement metrics.

Marketing 96

Marketing Metrics Social Media Content 96

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

We love capital efficiency until we love land grabs until we abhor over funding until we get huge payouts and ring the bell for more funding until we attract every non-VC on the planet to invest in startups until it crashes and we start the cycle all over again none the wiser. the more money you give a startup the faster they grow.

Funding 150

Funding Venture Capital Startup Marketing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

In my work with small businesses and startups, I routinely find owners who rely on guessing at key customer drivers, and let their passion drive product focus, rather than data. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/17/2018. Record live data in full for all internal business elements.

Artificial Inteligence 84

Artificial Inteligence Metrics Commerce Software 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2018

I learned this the hard way a few years ago in a startup where customers loved our idea and the free prototype, but we couldn’t sell one for the full price needed to meet our financial projections. Start selling it on social media before you build it. Show team organization and preparation for scale up.

Customer 59

Customer Custom Pricing Startup 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Thus, as an advisor to many startups, without being negative, I often spend hours with them brainstorming on all the possible barriers that may slow adoption rates, and how to plan or modify the business model to work around these obstacles. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 10/24/2018.

Product 86

Product Marketing Education Examples 86

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Being a consultant is a role that works with big companies, but I have found that it doesn’t get much traction in small businesses and startups. I learned this the hard way, when I left IBM a few years ago to share what I had learned with the exciting world of startups in Silicon Valley. Use social media for more visibility.

Social Media 56

Social Media Software Review Customer Custom 56

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

As you can imagine, it is human nature to look for a stable and unchanging business process, after all the pivots and chaos of starting your business. I find that entrepreneurs who change ahead of the times usually start with the “big” vision of making the world a better place. Set metrics and rewards specifically for innovation.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2018

Force yourself to step outside the box and come up with a half dozen innovative changes which might improve the business. Define metrics to assess roll-out progress and value. Tie your implementation to metrics that will allow you to determine whether or not your decision truly achieves your goal. Where are you on this split?

Tips 51

Tips Metrics Sample Statistics 51

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2018

They start second-guessing their own vision, and are prone to making snap decisions suggested by someone else, in lieu of their carefully crafted processes and metrics. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 07/23/2018. When the business is struggling, most business owners I know feel like anything but a leader.

Metrics 57

Metrics Entrepreneur Customer Custom 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2018

Social value alone is not normally a sustainable advantage for a startup with limited resources, since big players can jump in with more money to replicate your social value and add more innovation. You need some innovative new approaches, including digital marketing, as well as metrics to measure effectiveness.

Customer 19

Customer Custom Acquisition Entrepreneur 19

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2019

Thus I offer the following prioritized initiatives from my own experience to get you started: Make sure everyone knows the business, good and bad. It also means listening and following-up on feedback. It’s hard work to get it to go up, and it can come down overnight if you make one wrong step.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Mentor Training 92