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I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart. But I do have more insight into understanding your startup team. Often I’m asked by startup CEO’s about how to best build an engineering team.
One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. A solution I often recommend, as least in early growth, is the use of outsourcing for critical tasks. Direct customer-facing non-technical roles should be the last ones outsourced. with experience.
We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Let’s cut costs by outsourcing all from this point forward.” Be flexible.
In December 2007, I described how I commonly take on an Acting CTO Role in a Start-up. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right? Probably not.
If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Factor in all the cost elements.
Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. Startup Grind was a truly awesome conference and Derek the consumate host. .” Who else does Clayton pray for? Stay Out of Jail.
Startups succeed most often when the founding partners know how to build and run a business, rather than how to build and run technology. A great technical LinkedIn profile is a good start, but not enough to assure success in your environment. A business startup is not an academic environment, or a big company research organization.
As an entrepreneur and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million. Public relations at a startup is a sales process. “Learn from the mistakes of others. 3) Attempt To License An Idea. 7) Hire A Consultant.
We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Let’s cut costs by outsourcing all from this point forward.” Be flexible.
I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. In the late 90′s I saw a dangerous trend creeping into the startup world, which was that companies were suddenly raising huge amounts of money too early in their existence. This post originally appeared on TechCrunch.
August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. He blogs to 10,000 web entrepreneurs at Software by Rob and co-hosts the podcast Startups for the Rest of Us. equity debate.
I received a great question via LinkedIn: I'm the founding engineer and working hard to launch my startup. What can I do to best equip myself to step up when the need to officially fill this role arises? I've previously addressed the role of a CTO in early-stages in my post Startup CTO or Developer. How can we address this risk?
We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Let’s cut costs by outsourcing all from this point forward.” Be flexible.
Los Angeles-based Jukin Media (www.jukinmedia.com) thinks it has figured that out, and instead of trying to create viral videos, has been buying up the rights to those videos--before they really go viral--to create not just a one-hit, viral video wonder, but a sustainable business. What is Jukin Media? Can you talk about those businesses?
Fallacy: Startup ventures tend to evolve, especially after you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. In order to reasonably assess the size of your addressable market, you must perform a bottoms-up analysis which is based on a number of elemental assumptions. Public relations at a startup is a sales process.
We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Let’s cut costs by outsourcing all from this point forward.” Be flexible.
In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.
Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. Provide a simple yet complete description of your product or service and its competitive marketplace. A winning product or service.
We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure. Let’s cut costs by outsourcing all from this point forward.” Be flexible.
The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Start with a service you know and love. You have no shelf life, so you can’t make money while you sleep.
I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?
In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success. Once you have a proven business model, you need to scale the business up quickly to stay ahead of competitors. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. If you want to be feared.
In 2012, total entrepreneurial activity in the United States hit its highest level since their survey started in 1999, according to Babson College. The opportunity for change is huge, with everyone taking a new look at the world after the recession, but the competition is also huge, since the cost of entry is at an all-time low.
The passion has to be in the business context – meaning results oriented, customer oriented, and sensitive to competition. Look impartially from all angles and do the follow-up on all relevant previous roles. Look at the big picture first of development, finance, and marketing/sales. Feels a real passion and love for their role.
There is no substitute for diving into the key details of a new startup. Others hire consultants, or outsource much of the real work. These executives won’t survive long in a startup environment. Team members and customers expect startup founders to be innovative. Strategy and the resultant plan must match up seamlessly.
In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.
If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Factor in all the cost elements.
Serial entrepreneur, venture investor and startup accelerator pioneer Brad Feld has notoriously mocked traditional marketing throughout his career. For a long time, I had a line which was, ‘Whenever I hear the word marketing, it makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth.’”. This article originally appeared on Forbes HERE.
As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Preparation and management of funding.
Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. Re-live that moment of inspiration that resulted in an innovative design and implementation for your product, and is now providing you with a sustainable competitive advantage. One approach, which is even more work, is to keep tasks in-house rather than outsourcing.
My friends who “grew up” with lifetime careers in General Motors, Exxon Mobil, or even IBM, are now often too embarrassed to even mention it. Competitive advantages are rapidly vaporizing on these. Outsourcing and manufacturing “offshore” have become the norm. On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.
I’m sure you can think of better examples, but here are some comments that we have all heard from people who are trying to avoid accountability before the fact, who are setting themselves up for failure: “I’d love to start a new company, but nobody will invest in me.” Exceeding customer expectations is my competitive advantage.” “I
If you have a software development background like mine, I’m sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Factor in all the cost elements.
In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.
If you have a software development background like mine, Im sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Factor in all the cost elements.
My friends who “grew up” with lifetime careers in General Motors, Exxon Mobil, or even IBM, are now often too embarrassed to even mention it. Competitive advantages are rapidly vaporizing on these. Outsourcing and manufacturing “offshore” have become the norm. On the other hand, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.
Start with great credentials, and focus on the culture fit. Sometimes brain teasers are a good start. Outsource your technical requirements. In general, unless you are a quick learner, these alternatives don’t solve your long-term challenge of managing and keeping up with a high-technology business.
Strategic partnerships in this context can take the form of joint ventures, intellectual property licensing, outsourcing agreements, or even cooperative research. Always start with a formal proposal, limited in scope to a specific common objective or technology, for a limited amount of time, bounded by a two-way non-disclosure statement.
As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. This is the first business process that every startup needs, that I wouldn’t expect to find for a hobby. Managing to specific goals, priorities, and a plan. Preparation and management of funding.
Watch that patent provide a real barrier to competitive entry. Re-live that moment of inspiration that resulted in an innovative design and implementation for your product, and is now providing you with a sustainable competitive advantage. One approach, which is even more work, is to keep tasks in-house rather than outsourcing.
Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Product development process.
In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. The sales professional. The financial suit.
In this context, it’s time for every business, not only startups, to take a fresh look at the basics of business success. Once you have a proven business model, you need to scale the business up quickly to stay ahead of competitors. Every startup needs a sustainable competitive advantage. If you want to be feared.
Most new business owners I know feel the challenges of not enough time, money, and resources, and see these as problems rather than a competitive advantage. Many are quick to call this innovation, but I believe it is often just the resourcefulness of a highly motivated owner and team, who never give up in the face of a survival challenge.
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