Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

Image via Pixabay Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. Ric Dragon, an expert in online marketing, in his classic book. Due to the information overload felt by consumers today, marketing at the generic segment level no longer works.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments. Bringing us to today – Viewers or profit?

Metrics 296

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. The next thing that entrepreneurs need to realize is that the process and framework for making social media marketing work are different from traditional marketing, and trial and error certainly doesn’t work.

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2016

Almost every entrepreneur looking for outside investors has heard the annoying rejection, “You are just too early – come back when you have more traction.” That should make you wonder - how do you measure traction in a metric? A useful traction metric is how many constraints have been removed, with resolution times.

Metrics 57

Metrics Funding Startup Customer 57

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. This post looks at the implementation details of HTML 5 video.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Cost of customer acquisition.

Metrics 106

Metrics Startup Sales Statistics 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Yet as a business advisor I am convinced that making the jump from a startup to a the next unicorn takes a different mindset, and actions most entrepreneurs are reluctant to face. In my experience, less than half of founding entrepreneurs even aspire to stay and scale their company. Switch your focus from product development to sales.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. Market penetration. Customer acquisition cost. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Startup 121

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 121

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. Pivot early, as required, to tune your features and marketing to meet the market and technical realities.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS. Most companies have a roadmap describing what they’re planning to build, deliver or market. That causes friction internally.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2015

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 111

Jason Nazar

MAY 1, 2016

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Jason Nazar

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

I’ve been a part of dozens (maybe hundreds) of product launches And in each of these cases I ask my team to put together a simple dashboard of a small set of metrics for our paid and free products that let me know the success of our efforts. For startup entrepreneurs, you can also track these metrics with Google analytics.

Marketing 40

Marketing CPC Metrics .Net 40

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. get the attention of the market they choose. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. It decreases your odds of being bought.

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Leadership brand development.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

As a long-time business consultant and investor, especially to entrepreneurs, I recognize your sparkle of vision , to build the ultimate world-changing product. I found these maladies summarized well in a new book, “ Radical Product Thinking ,” by entrepreneur Radhika Dutt. Hypermetricemia – metrics for everything.

Metrics 133

Metrics Product Yahoo Examples 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

Based on my own years of experience in startups and big business, and more recently as an angel investor, I often cringe when I see one of you entrepreneurs missing a cue that I have seen work for many before you. A passionate entrepreneur I met a while back had found that a certain algae could be grown cheaply, and could end world hunger.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

In the interests of helping you work smarter and last longer, I would like to offer my top ten list of key resource drains to avoid in early businesses and startups, based on my years of advising entrepreneurs and my own business experience: Expanding your product line too quickly for scaling. Ineffective and expensive marketing campaigns.

Outsource Development 122

Outsource Development Outsource Metrics Technical Review 122

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Startups in a world of massive markets can be confusing. The law of large numbers, platforms that can make your company blow up unexpectedly and the trendy nature of tech markets can be deceiving. This is why I loved Brad Feld’s recent post about the “ illusion of product / market fit.” Not vanity metrics.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 13, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8 Ways the Internet has Changed Software Marketing Great post - 8 Ways The Internet Changed Software Marketing - is an interesting take on how different it is these days to market software. Early Stage Marketing and Branding – Farida Fotouh.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Software 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2015

Every entrepreneur is quick to tell friends and potential investors about his or her vision of changing the world, about all the customers who have expressed an interest, and about all the other investors who are lining up to get a piece of the action. Is your customer-acquisition rate accelerating? Margins should be increasing.

Acquisition 100

Acquisition Entrepreneur Customer Custom 100

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Back when we were all trying to figure out the real value of traffic on the web, we investors – and acquiring companies – got a bit crazy with metrics used to value acquisitions and investments. That is the quandary which entrepreneurs face today in building models for new companies around a web presence.

Metrics 207

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 207

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Leadership brand development.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Organization Coach Invest 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2013

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. The first thing that entrepreneurs need to realize is that the process and framework for making social media marketing work are different from traditional marketing, and trial and error certainly doesn’t work.

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Product Metrics 102

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2017

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. The first thing that entrepreneurs need to realize is that the process and framework for making social media marketing work are different from traditional marketing, and trial and error certainly doesn’t work.

Social Media 62

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 62

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2016

Things change so fast these days in business that your first priority as an entrepreneur is to stay current, by talking to customers, peers, and experts. Now it’s all about how fast you recognize and adapt to market change, new competitors, and new technology. Smart entrepreneurs restrain their ego and don’t react defensively to input.

Social Media 67

Social Media Metrics Startup Technical Review 67

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs tackle starting a business as a random walk into a business minefield, and they count on their street smarts, thick skin and pure determination to get them to their destinations alive. Some entrepreneurs run with passion into the minefield, only to find it’s harder to recover than to plan ahead.

Startup 101

Startup Metrics Resource Mentor 101

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. get the attention of the market they choose. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. It decreases your odds of being bought.

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2018

In this era of rapid market and technological change, I know I have to challenge my small business advisory clients to keep innovating and stay ahead of the game. They have the courage to make bold decisions, often contrary to conventional market research and linear thinking. Allocate funds for intrapreneurship and acquisitions.

Metrics 58

Metrics IBM IBM Competition 58

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term. These days, the market is moving so fast that it is rarely adequate to rely only on internal development to keep up with change.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2015

When pitching to investors, entrepreneurs always seem to start with a customer pitch, then add a slide or two about the business. Investors are business experts, while the entrepreneur is more likely the product expert. Here are the motivation elements that investors expect to hear: Size and growth potential of the market opportunity.

Product 103

Product Slides Customer Custom 103

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

We bring value to those small guys who can't compete against a $60 million marketing budget. Really, we're the sales and marketing arm of those companies. You have to make sure your cost of acquisition, retention rates, and conversion metrics are all in place. How we made it easy, is a system we call Quickrentz.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2012

Most startups, and many big businesses, still don’t have a clue on how to use social media productively for marketing their business. The first thing that entrepreneurs need to realize is that the process and framework for making social media marketing work are different from traditional marketing, and trial and error certainly doesn’t work.

Social Media 91

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 91

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Traction is evidence that your product or service has started that “hockey- stick” adoption rate which implies a large market, a valid business model, and sustainable growth. Market penetration. Customer acquisition cost. Marty Zwilling First published on Young Entrepreneur on 02/18/2013.

Startup 106

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 106

socalTECH

AUGUST 31, 2009

True is really unique, in that it is extremely focused on people and teams, and specifically on entrepreneurs and founders. Their strategy is very much early stage, focusing on entrepreneurs that they know, and like, and who they believe in. It's more the stage and entrepreneur. Is there a specific type of industry of interest?

Southern California 164

Southern California Venture Capital Advertising Entrepreneur 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

I still have to tell some entrepreneurs that even with the best idea, they have to move to Silicon Valley to find the investors they need, or they need to move to the U.S. get the attention of the market they choose. But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. It decreases your odds of being bought.

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

We thought we''d catch up with Erik on what he''s learned about this market, advice he''d give to companies hoping to get into an accelerator, and what gets a company funding. When we look at companies, the simplest way to think of it is product-market-fit. What''s your one piece of advice for entrepreneurs? That''s the minimum.

Incubator 187

Incubator Southern California Startup Ideas 187