Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. Almost no financings, many VCs and tech startups cratered for the second time in less than a decade following the dot com bursting. Valuations were a measure of success.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. How do we need to structure the systems to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition? What are the biggest areas of technical risk? What technology research is required?

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In my experience, even in startups, longer-term strategy often gets pushed off the agenda due to current challenges. It’s your job as a leader to be the model high performer, quantify the team view with metrics, and expand awareness to the best outside competition and new tools. Connect operations today with long-term goals.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Resource 121

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Leaders have found that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success. Involve, empower, and inspire.

Startup 154

Startup Training Customer Custom 154

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

How do we need to structure the systems to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition? What are the biggest areas of technical risk? What technology research is required? What technologies will we use? What do we need to do to make sure we can survive technical due diligence by investors and partners?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

Competition is not always a bad thing, and the real purpose is often to make the world a better place. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. With a singular focus on building unicorns, very rapid growth has been a key metric.

Capital 138

Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Arizona or a similar location. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Technical Review 123

Technical Review Oracle Software Review Ideas 123

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2023

I see this happening in smaller ways often, where there is minimal focus on competition. Here are some key initiatives that I recommend to every business owner and leader to stave off new competitors before they seriously impact or cause a competitive crisis in your business: Continually compare yourself to known competitors.

Metrics 71

Metrics Training Netflix Resource 71

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

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Resource Metrics Customer 129

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Capitalism is fundamentally about timing, since market competition is about finding opportunities before others. Pro tip: take on the mantle of book editor for a major tech publication, and the publishers will mail you books for free. Mithril is struggling to compete against ferocious competition in the growth-stage equity market.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

The Dashboard offers a bird's-eye view of projects, letting you see key metrics such as due dates, assigned cards, and cards-per-list so bottlenecks can be prevented before they begin. The Calendar displays start dates, due dates, and advanced checklist items at-a-glance so you can see exactly what needs doing and when.

Software Review 138

Software Review Guide Technical Review Class 138

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

Competition is not always a bad thing, and the real purpose is often to make the world a better place. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. With a singular focus on building unicorns, very rapid growth has been a key metric.

Ideas 124

Ideas Venture Capital Software Review Technical Review 124

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Nearly every successful tech startup I’ve observed over the past 20 years has gone through a similar growth pattern: Innovate, systematize then scale operations. We have well financed competitors whom despite competing with we respect deeply and when you see your competition launching in many markets it’s tempting to follow suit.

Startup 286

Startup Technical Review Customer Custom 286

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

How Most Board Meeting Prep Works I’ve been sitting on tech boards for two decades so I have some experience with what goes wrong. Often board members themselves don’t do the work to say “what metrics would we like to see.” If you have some key metrics or financial figures that go with the pre-read even better.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Arizona or a similar location. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Startup 97

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

A classic article in the Harvard Business Review “ The Truth About Customer Experience ” defines it as your customer’s end-to-end journey with you, not just the key touchpoints or critical moments when customers interact with your organization. One metric now commonly used is called the Net Promoter® Score (NPS). Detractors.

Custom 85

Custom Customer Product Marketing 85

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

Highlight your competitive value, not your technology. This may sound obvious, but I still see too many companies with a strategy of highlighting technology improvements and features, rather than their value compared to competitors. Seek out and capitalize on emerging opportunities. Unleash the potential of your team and talent.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

But when you create a product for a large segment of users who previously couldn’t afford products due to price or complexity and if that product can work at “Internet scale” you have the chance to do something truly amazing. I have written this up before if you’re interested – I call it Deflationary Economics.

Startup 401

Startup Customer Custom Technical Review 401

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2018

As a long-time advisor to entrepreneurs and business owners, I rarely find someone who doesn’t proclaim that the business world is changing rapidly, with new technology, new customer expectations, and new cultures. It takes a well-rounded and motivated team to run a competitive business today. Once gone, customers won’t be back.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Customer Custom Startup 84

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Startup 115

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 115

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2014

I reviewed a deal for a friend of mine tonight. He wanted to know what I thought of his technology deal. Competition is fierce. He called me 15 months later excited to show me his metrics and wanted to talk about his A round. I outlined here my views on “ proprietary dealflow.” Fair enough. I’m no fool.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Email 333

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Leaders have found that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success. Involve, empower, and inspire.

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

Update your technology to reach new customer segments. Make sure you website is mobile-friendly, totally user-friendly, includes a blog and provides for customers review and feedback. It may be small feature extensions, packaging and distribution that can make your solutions attractive and more competitive for new market segments.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Marketing Social Media 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2019

Institute deep metrics measuring all aspects of the customer experience. Senior leaders need to be personally involved in defining the tests and reviewing results and implications. Amazon targets the new machine learning technology to leverage his focus on customers. Accept no excuses. Experiment, fail, rinse, and repeat.

Commerce 89

Commerce Artificial Inteligence Cloud Computing Platform 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2017

In today’s world, the market evolves even faster than the technology. Manage the business with metrics and goals. Business objectives need to be quantified and measured to assess progress and positioning against competition. Time is of the essence in everything you do. Working hard is necessary, but not sufficient for success.

Ideas 72

Ideas Startup Metrics Entrepreneur 72

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Phoenix or a similar location. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Startup 109

Startup Technical Review Oracle Software Review 109

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Startup 113

Startup Resource Metrics Entrepreneur 113

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Resource 64

Resource Metrics Entrepreneur Customer 64

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2016

According to many observers , we can thank or blame technology for these higher expectations, providing information at the speed of light, leading everyone to expect more. Some entrepreneurs are so focused on their technology, they assume their customers think the same way. Every job on your team drives your customer experience.

Customer 55

Customer Custom Startup Coach 55

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. Another firm we saw tried to raise $15 million at a $60 million pre-money with similar metrics.

Startup 336

Startup Pricing Technical Review Marketing 336

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. From this we have seen a commensurate boom in the number of startup companies. They compete on features, price and execution.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Sustainable competitive advantage. Yet, magic bullets are not sufficient to assure business success.

Pricing 100

Pricing Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup 100

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 22, 2016

Costs for advertising on Facebook are increasing, due to high demand, and their profits continue to soar. The way to get ahead of the competition is to look at what they’re doing right and do it better. How can your company best benefit from social networking ads in 2016? Top 3 Important Facebook Marketing Trends to Watch and Emulate.

Marketing 40

Marketing Social Media Social Network Technical Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

On the other hand, if you are into solar technologies, there is probably an advantage to being in Arizona or a similar location. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Sites 59

Sites Startup Technical Review Oracle 59

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2018

Often, beneficial changes will have a short-term cost to achieve market growth or competitive advantage. Contingency plans make sense in every case these days, since technology and market factors are moving fast. Define metrics to assess roll-out progress and value. Ask for analysis and feedback based on long-term impact.

Tips 51

Tips Metrics Sample Statistics 51