Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

For example, I commonly see metrics to keep track of revenue per employee, overtime, and absenteeism, but I don’t often see measures of overall customer satisfaction with individual employees. Incentives should be a combination of metrics and recognition to highlight results. Incent and reward employees who delight customers.

Customer 147

Customer Custom Technical Review Metrics 147

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

For example: If you were to invest $41 million into a company (and one could assume that you owned between 33-50%) then the company is worth $82-123 million at funding. while acknowledging that San Fran deals are often higher valuations due to increased competition amongst investors. Use competition to make sure you get a fair price.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Often board members themselves don’t do the work to say “what metrics would we like to see.” Any great board member should tell you, “please don’t create any performance metrics or materials that analyze the business that you’re not already creating for your own management’s use.” Sometimes they don’t even know.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 8, 2020

It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. No-one challenged this number, and it became an unattributed source of the metric for market size for years. Or cost estimation.

Companies 156

Companies Company Metrics Resource 156

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Competition 135

Competition Netflix Ideas Metrics 135

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. Create an action plan with metrics. See some recent examples in the 10 of the Top Social Media Campaigns of 2021.

Social Media 135

Social Media Framework Media Metrics 135

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

It’s important to define your growth strategy, document it, communicate it to your team, and align metrics and employee rewards to target goals. For example, Mark McClain, cofounder and CEO of SailPoint Technologies , created an employee growth culture resulting in growth of forty percent a year, with more than $100 million in revenues.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, it’s great to pursue a higher purpose, like feeding the hungry, but don’t forget that running any business is a hungry mouth you have to feed. For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Postulate competitive reactions and your responses.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Social Media Examples Metrics 162

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. Then, he'll need to patent it and create a plan to show opportunity, competition, and financial projections. For example, I often cite the case of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer , who grew Microsoft together. Create a written plan, with target milestones and metrics.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

For example, Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes attributes his ability to raise a seed round and build a $400M company to his commitment to provide a free pair of shoes to the underprivileged for every pair sold. You need to show you have a “Plan B,” and a never-give-up mindset, in handling any competitive threat or customer reaction.

Ideas 140

Ideas Entrepreneur Equity Resource 140

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

If you are a genius at invention, for example, then that is the role you should seek to keep you motivated and productive. I like his model and examples from the field to help you identify the type of work that is your forte, and will likely bring you joy and energy, rather than frustration and burnout.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

In my experience advising businesses, large and small, I have often been surprised by the level of complacency and general malaise I find in the ranks, with a resultant direct loss of productivity and competitiveness. Develop metrics to monitor work intensity. Let that be part of their job satisfaction.

Satisfaction 108

Satisfaction Metrics Competition Examples 108

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. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

eBook 111

eBook Metrics Examples Startup 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2021

For example, in a conflict over the right branding logo , it may help to understand who and how the ultimate decision will be made, including key elements driving the decision, such as targeted customers and competition. Make sure the process is respectful of their needs as well as yours. Always postulate or support a win-win solution.

Activity 145

Activity Organization Examples Satisfaction 145

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

For example, if you see a TV spot for Toyota, and then Google it, or you see a display ad on CNN and then open up a tab in your browser, talk about it on Facebook, or even walk into the dealership, we're able to quantify, very specifically, what combination of what kinds of media drove that sale and how that activity interacted with each other.

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2009

We also allow the users to have a custom URL, for example, resumebucket.com/joshstomel. For example, they spend a lot of time reading resumes, and want to have the latest updated version, and candidates often don't have them with them. Is this at all competitive with LinkedIn? So this fixes a lot of problems.

Startup 140

Startup Yahoo Sites Oversee.net 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2021

Good examples of startup focus before success include Google with their search engine, Facebook with friends networking, and Apple with personal computers. Well-articulated goals and metrics. Maintain an intimate knowledge of the competition. Every advisor and investor will tell you to keep your focus or spotlight.

Startup 154

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Metrics 154

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. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Startup 106

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2013

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. Create an action plan with metrics. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 102

Social Media Media Product Metrics 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2012

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Startup 100

Startup Competition Netflix Ideas 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

For example, many investors I know tell me they look for business plans that allocate the largest portion of a requested investment to marketing, but most often see the top “ use of funds ” to be further product or service development. The smart ones were already working on new features, and able to counter competition quickly.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

See the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos for an example of product snags leading to a disaster. Your customers and competition make unexpected moves. Examples abound of startups who had to pivot for success, including Twitter moving from podcasts to social commentating, and Yelp moving from email to online.

Startup 131

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Custom 131

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. Create an action plan with metrics. See some recent examples in the The 10 Best Social Media Campaigns of 2018.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Marketing Metrics 96

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

A winning linked focus example is to choose a higher purpose common to all cultures, such as protecting the environment, or helping the underprivileged. At every Ritz-Carlton , for example, employees are authorized to spend up to $2,000 per guest to solve any guest issue and make the stay positively memorable.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2013

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. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

eBook 95

eBook Metrics Startup Examples 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2013

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Product 92

Product Competition Netflix Ideas 92

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

In the case of MakeSpace we had huge initial successes in New York City as Rahul led the scaling of our drivers, our trucks and our warehouses and we figured out the right price points to beat the local competition. An example of the systems companies build are pricing & revenue management tools to best help to optimize yield.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2011

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Startup 92

Startup Competition Netflix Ideas 92

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2012

They randomly churn for hours a day on a couple of their favorite social media platforms, with little though given to goals, objectives, or metrics; and ultimately give up and fall back to traditional marketing approaches. Create an action plan with metrics. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 91

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 91

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. Another example is seeing substitute versions of a product, like eBooks, for a low price displacing hardcover books.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur eBook Metrics Examples 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time. In today’s competitive world, with its accelerating rate of change, no competitive advantage lasts long. The only sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. Creativity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Maximize diversity.

Companies 90

Companies Company Competition Netflix 90

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

For example, even though Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook as an innovative product, most experts believe it was successful due to his relationship with Peter Thiel and other top VCs that he convinced to invest early. Using metrics to measure results and commitments. Marketing your personal brand and your vision.

Startup 113

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 113

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Current examples include Conscious Capitalism® , popularized by John Mackey, The B Team , founded by Sir Richard Branson, the 1% for the Planet organization, and the Benefit Corporation (B Corp) now available in 35 States.

Startup 110

Startup Entrepreneur Capital Examples 110

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

So how do you use financial projections as valuation metrics when you know the odds of those being accurate predictors of the future are so very unreliable? For example, $500,000 maximum value to each element yields either a maximum pre-money enterprise valuation of $$2 million or $2.5

Startup 120

Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2014

How does any entrepreneur define the right balance, and then measure their performance against real metrics? Current examples include the Conscious Capitalism® movement led by John Mackey, The B Team , led by Sir Richard Branson, the 1% for the Planet organization, and the Benefit Corporation (B Corp) now available in 20 States.

Startup 104

Startup Entrepreneur Examples Satisfaction 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2023

For example, consider Whole Foods , whose focus on healthy foods and a sustainable environment is legendary, even though their prices are often a bit higher. Highlight the competitive edge you bring to the market. Put operational systems and metrics in place early. Align your mission with a higher purpose in the economy.

Marketing 116

Marketing Resource Training Startup 116

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2022

For example, I’m an introverted product guy who doesn’t care so much about building the personnel relationships needed to keep a motivated team. A strong vision and deep insight may get your business off the ground, but long-term success requires constant data analysis, metrics, and attention to your customer feedback.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133