Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2017

Customer service has traditionally been a support function to respond to customer initiated requests, meaning someone waits for the phone to ring or for a website support request form. The old days of routing a customer to a single phone queue for any request will quickly kill any brand loyalty or advocate referral.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Services Technical Review 95

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

I recently got an email from a friend who had been approached by a well known VC. He sent me an email asking whether the approach was real and whether he should take it seriously. Here is the email he received (reprinted without names with his permission). Why do VCs send generic outbound emails like this?

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 28, 2010

That’s the classic definition of Grin Fucking. And having frameworks is a useful way to standardize your customer studies so that highly intelligent, inexperienced young people can crank out PowerPoint slides with such authority and beautiful consistency. I get emails like the one above all the time. The title IS the post.

Startup 378

Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

By definition, you read blogs. If you care about accessing customers, reaching an audience, communicating your vision, influencing people in your industry, marketing your services or just plain engaging in a dialog with others in your industry a blog is a great way to achieve this. Who are your customers, partners or suppliers?

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

“The only success criteria of my startup career is whether GrubMarket can eventually make $100 billion of annual sales,” he said to me over both email and in a phone conversation. “We had to limit our daily delivery volume in some regions, and put new customers on waiting lists.”

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

That is the definition of Disruptive Technology. You can ask them to come and watch your videos at your owned & operated websites (O&O) where you can make higher margins as well as ask directly for more meaningful customer information such as Facebook connections, Twitter oAuths, email addresses and the like.

Company 339

Company Companies Technical Review Content 339

socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2012

We definitely do post proof-of-concept, and would prefer post-revenue companies. We don't need for you to be breakeven company, but a business with paying customers is great validation in itself. I think the right team and network are very important, as is traction, validated by customers. Experience is a big thing for you?

Funding 253

Funding Startup Invest Commerce 253

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I got an email recently from my friend & fellow VC, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners in Boston. Her post is short & well written so definitely worth a read if you’re a startup person and want to hear some sensible views on sales. And that leads me to today’s post. In Summary.

Startup 319

Startup Sales Course Competition 319

Berkonomics

APRIL 21, 2022

Owned media comes from the databases you own, such as your company’s web site, email newsletters, profiles in social media, or apps you have created requiring registration or download. Expand your definition of advertising to include four, not just two methods of finding your potential customers.

Advertising 156

Advertising Media Social Media Newsletter 156

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. NDAs or Other Protection So you decide you want to be able to share with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. Definitely read the whole thing. " Ummm.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Berkonomics

MAY 2, 2013

The definition of a bottleneck in your business is one that constricts the flow of work from one area to another in the flow of product or service through your organization. Email readers, continue here.] A bottleneck in your organization’s flow of product or service can happen, shift, or disappear quickly.

Organization 222

Organization Demand Satisfaction Training 222

Berkonomics

MARCH 21, 2013

As Jack explained it, the call was not for his children to lead in the traditional sense, but to enable others to grow and prosper – the definition of true servant leadership. Email readers, continue here.] Think of what internalizing that and making it true would do in this business world.

Email 153

Email Customer Custom Develop 153

socalTECH

JULY 10, 2020

Carlsbad, California-based satellite Internet provider Viasat says it has removed the speed limits on its Ka-band in-flight Internet for its business aviation customers. The company said it has lifted those speed restrictions, due to growing demand for applications including video-conferencing and high-definition video streaming.

Entertainment 113

Entertainment Demand Email Content 113

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

A startup leader's primary responsibility is to maximize the return to its stakeholders, which include the company's global and local neighbors, employees, suppliers, customers and investors. A month from now it is unlikely that a supportive customer will drive across town to demonstrate their solidarity with the company.

Entrepreneur 203

Entrepreneur Email Sales RSS 203

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

Talking about how to inspire moms to get their children engaged with iPads and physical activity sets customized for their kids and based in part on their digital lives. Soleil returns emails at 1.30am. In the most perfect sense of the definition. Soleil on the other side getting out sticker packages. Showing me designs.

Startup 398

Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Berkonomics

AUGUST 23, 2012

By definition, your core is your intellectual property foundation, the thing that makes your business most valuable to customers, investors and perhaps someday to potential buyers. Email readers, continue here.] Sometimes we protect our core with effective branding and marketing. There is much to reinforce in such behavior.

Patents 159

Patents Training Advertising Resource 159

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

Beyond that, I want lots of conversations with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. Definitely take a look at he suggests you balance the choices. NDAs or Other Protection So you decide you want to be able to share with experts, users, customers, VCs, partners, etc. Definitely read the whole thing. " Ummm.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

However Gmail is only private email conversations. We have about 8500 customers there, but only a small percentage have built great communities that took off, and the rest floundered. That's why we built FanMix, to solve our own problem, and help our SocialEngine customers to promote their own sites.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2021

That means that people addicted to text messages, twitter, and email may be sending less than half the message, and receivers often misinterpret even that half. As well, email volume just continues to increase. Where body language is part of the message, it definitely is not. Palm-to-palm contact is important for sincerity.

Layoffs 164

Layoffs Email Tool Study 164

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Marketing is a science devised to help drive customers to your door. Then there’s the compass or cardinal definitions model for marketers : N=needs, W=wants, S=security, and E=education. Email readers, continue here…] D=Decrease costs. C=Customers, and more customers. C=Customers, and more customers.

Marketing 156

Marketing Demand Class Pricing 156

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2011

For this morning's interview, we spoke with Scot Richardson , CEO of Los Angeles-based LaughStub (www.laughstub.com), which develops software which helps comedy clubs and others manage ticket sales, online marketing, and customer relationship management. Scot Richardson: I'm definitely the business side of the co-founders.

Ticketmaster 140

Ticketmaster CTO Hire Tech Coast Angels Social Media 140

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2021

Another mistake many consultants make is to charge by the hour, and customers lose track and lose confidence as things change. Have "customers", not "clients." This is a minor semantic point, but an important one to the customer. All aspects of customer service apply. Charge by task or fixed-rate.

Startup 150

Startup Slides Email Customer 150

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 31, 2015

Owned media comes from the databases you own, such as your company’s web site, email. Expand your definition of advertising to include four, not just two methods of finding your potential customers. Happy New Year from Dave and BERKONOMICS.

Social Media 120

Social Media Newsletter Advertising Media 120

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This posting was inspired by an email from Rajat Suri who wrote me an email in response to Chris Dixon’s blog post (link below) from August, which recently re-ran on Business Insider and has generated much Twitter chatter. I think they definitely qualify as a VC and not a seed fund. I could definitely see that happening.

Seed Funding 283

Seed Funding Venture Capital Funding Software Review 283

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Who's the customer? You will get a response via email to schedule a time to talk. will definitely be handled. How Does it Work? You need to send us an overview of what you are doing. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? How does the product solve a pain?

CTO Hire 264

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 264

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2012

Neel Grover: Amazon is definitely the largest competition we have here. They can build a storefront, brand it so the customers know who they are, use tools to email our customers directly, without us getting involved. Neel Grover: We definitely have a fair amount of independence. There is more reporting, for sure.

Sites 210

Sites Commerce Pricing Product 210

Berkonomics

MARCH 26, 2020

The definition of a bottleneck in your business is one that constricts the flow of work from. Common to all bottlenecks are three factors: [Email readers, continue here…] . Of course, you could fit that definition. What is the bottleneck? one area to another in the flow of product or service through your organization.

Organization 156

Organization Demand Satisfaction Training 156

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Who's the customer? You will get a response via email to schedule a time to talk. will definitely be handled. How Does it Work? You need to send us an overview of what you are doing. This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? How does the product solve a pain?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

InfoChachkie

JUNE 2, 2014

The gowns are then dry cleaned and readied for the next customer, in the spirit of the emerging sharing economy in which goods are communally used multiple times. Quality is definitely key for us.". We keep our eye on a handful of metrics, but we’re focused on customer satisfaction.

Design 208

Design Customer Custom Satisfaction 208

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 25, 2012

If so, is it one critical customer or a trend? Is it time to focus more resources upon collections, credit research, or even time to “fire some customers” who continually break your rules or take up too much of your resources? Email readers, c ontinue here.] An alert does not have to be too detailed or too long.

News 166

News Statistics Resource Sales 166

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

So sticking to my definition of “attributes for success&# it had to be my Top 11 +1 rather than a Top 12. Assistly is a customer support product designed to meet the needs of the current era of multi-channel touch points (think Twitter, email, chat, forum in addition to phone calls). Made ME laugh, anyways.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Startup SaaS San Diego 267

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2021

This is the pain of the endless stream of email, phone calls, and daily crises which prevent any really important accomplishments, like closing customers. Start each day with the highest priority task you need done that day, and leave the emails and phone calls till the end of the day, if you have time. Marty Zwilling.

Product 153

Product Email Customer Custom 153

Berkonomics

MARCH 5, 2020

One way to mitigate this is by using early money to create a prototype, to perform market research, to complete the first generation of the product, or to deliver the service to a satisfied customer. Email readers, continue here…] A great idea often fails from the inexperience or inability of management to bring the idea to market.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Ideas Resource Patents 156

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Having paying “Customers” is what makes the cash register roar. An entrepreneur having low self worth is the number one deterrent for a potential customer not buying into what you are selling. Using your service or owning your product isn’t why a person buys, it’s the experience your customer will have. Second, how to get leads.

Customer 85

Customer Custom Marketing SEO 85

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

That, plus I love the space of high-customer-service, focused eCommerce for moms worried about what their kids eat & wear.&#. If I’m not mistaken, I may have been the first person to send out an angel “personal intro&# email on AngelList through their new platform when it launched or at least I was one of the first few.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. Everyone has their own definition of momentum (user numbers, revenue, channel partners, biz dev deals, whatever). And VC’s are tough customers. It’s a conversation that creeps up from time-to-time. They’ve “seen it all.&#.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2014

In order to drill down on how entrepreneurs can leverage social commerce sites without alienating their potential customers, I spoke with industry expert Albert Wilson, who heads up Affiliate and Marketplaces for Deckers Outdoor Corporation. John Greathouse : Albert, thanks for taking the time to chat.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210