Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Creating a gerat company in a relative vacuum is an exercise in complete trust that the entrepreneur knows what’s best for the customer, perhaps even without interaction with such a customer. So, I’ve developed the three step dance in order to help form a repeatable method of how to create a great company from an early idea.

Companies 229

Companies Company Startup Customer 229

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. For example, Elon Musk is recognized as a visionary entrepreneur, but his fortune and his impact has come from the great companies he has built, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and PayPal.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Metrics Ideas 106

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2021

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company.

Social Media 127

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 127

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

APRIL 26, 2012

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company.

Social Media 98

Social Media Metrics Media Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 12, 2022

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. True entrepreneurs love the tactical and problem solving challenges.

Startup 137

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 137

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Changes in your organization’s core performance metrics. Broad disruptive events.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2013

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company.

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 102

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2022

Facebook has created an environment where millions of people can hold billions of conversations with people and companies, transforming how people expect to interact with each other and the world. Digital commerce: infinite options for buying goods and services online. Data enable: use metrics and measurements.

Startup 126

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Obviously, the platforms and how you use social media would be different for lead generation versus service and support.

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2010

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company.

Social Media 84

Social Media Metrics Media Satisfaction 84

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. And the truth is that several entrepreneurs prefer it this way. By definition?—?I’m dot-com bonanza. Seed has become an option factory for many.

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

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. What makes their story more remarkable, in the age of 20-something billionaires, is that both of the company’s founders are in their 50’s.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Most leaders agree that poor customer service is a business killer today, in terms of lost customers, reduced profits, and low morale. Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

Many of the entrepreneurs like you that I have met in my role as a business advisor are really product creators versus business creators, convinced that a great product will generate a great business. In most businesses, this means selling something, and proving that your product or service has value. Stay in your personal sweet spot.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. For larger and mature companies, the hard part seems to be giving up the familiar space that isn’t working so well anymore, so that you can focus on a new segment or opportunity. Just ask J.C.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2019

If you are an entrepreneur these days, or trying to grow an existing business, everyone is telling you that you need to use social media. There are many ‘experts’ out there telling you how to do it, or even offering their services. Action is when people are drawn into a profitable and sustainable relationship with your company.

Social Media 98

Social Media Media Metrics Satisfaction 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2015

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Changes in your organization’s core performance metrics. business entrepreneurs Loc de Brabandere startup weak signals'

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Startup 106

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

I’d like to do a few posts on what life looks like on the way up and perhaps how to keep your head on straight and avoid drinking your own Kool Aid because as I often advise entrepreneurs on irrational exuberance, “ In a strong wind even turkeys can fly.” And it’s when mediocre companies get pulverized.”

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

The Most Important Metric. We had a spirited discussion regarding a number of issues related to blowing past $10M in annual recurring SaaS revenue, in front of a sold-out crowd of about 400 entrepreneurs. Near the conclusion of our discussion, I asked each CEO to name any non-obvious metrics by which they guide their businesses.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 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. per registered user of ICQ, the early messaging service. I am an investor and advisor to one such company.

Metrics 207

Metrics Sites Advertising Web 207

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2020

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. True entrepreneurs love the tactical and problem solving challenges.

Startup 125

Startup Training Entrepreneur Organization 125

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. My first job out of school was at one of the early bioinformatics companies in Silicon Valley, working as the head of technical services. This time I'm getting to know Mark Geller ( LinkedIn , @markgeller ). Tell me a bit about your background.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

So, I’ve developed the three-step dance in order to help form a repeatable method of how to create a great company from an early idea. On the other hand, most products or services are created in response to a real or perceived need. It’s probably happened, but not often enough to trust this method as a formula for success.

Product 156

Product Customer Custom Ideas 156

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. Perspectium recently raised a funding round from TVC Capital.

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Berkonomics

MAY 5, 2016

By far the most enjoyable for most of us is visionary leadership – the time we spend thinking ahead, creating new ideas for products or services, focusing on the big picture and how we can change the world with our creation. It must be the lifeblood of a company that is going to make a difference in an industry or the world.

Metrics 120

Metrics Ideas Conference Email 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2016

As a business advisor, I have too often seen technical entrepreneurs get a product or service off the ground with ease, but then struggle mightily when their business reaches a couple of million in annual sales, or the employee count grows beyond a handful. True entrepreneurs love the tactical and problem solving challenges.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Training Organization Examples 55

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. There is no free lunch.

Startup 97

Startup Sales Metrics Guide 97

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2014

Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe, in an HBR article a couple of years ago on change readiness for large companies, define it as “the ability to continuously initiate and respond to change in ways that create advantage, minimize risk, and sustain performance.” business change rate comfort zone entrepreneur startup' Marty Zwilling.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Startup Training Statistics 110

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

I realized a while back that creating a new company for the first time is a lot like whipping up a great dinner entrée for the first time – you need a recipe, even though it may look simple. You need a good cook, good marketing, and first-class service. Companies and cooks who rest on their laurels don’t last. Don’t stand still.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Metrics 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little thought given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Obviously, the platforms and how you use social media would be different for lead generation versus service and support.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

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, too, is a must read for any entrepreneur. But if users don’t come back to your product directly and often I question whether you have a sustainable product / company.

Product 150

Product Startup Metrics Technical Review 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2022

For example, if it’s getting harder to charge a price premium for the product you’re marketing, or others are offering your subscription service for free, it may be time to start thinking in a new box. Changes in your organization’s core performance metrics. Broad disruptive events.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2020

I’m sure you have all seen entrepreneurs and startups with great ideas that never seem to live up to their potential, while others with more mundane solutions seem to take off quickly and never slow down. Define success metrics, and measure progress regularly. Look for tools to automate and simplify strategy execution.

Startup 123

Startup Outsource Development Entrepreneur Outsource 123

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2019

Facebook has created an environment where millions of people can hold billions of conversations with people and companies, transforming how people expect to interact with each other and the world. Digital commerce: infinite options for buying goods and services online. Data enable: use metrics and measurements.

Technology 97

Technology Social Media Startup Entertainment 97