InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Reasonable people will attempt to make the best of the status quo – unreasonable entrepreneurs with the proper dose of Confidence, Courage and Conviction will shape the status quo to facilitate your adVenture’s ultimate success. As made clear in Optimistically Pessimistic , most entrepreneurs’ experiences are not linear.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Paramount Startup Organization 252

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 22, 2016

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. He started by stating, “We track customer success.” In other words, are we measure whether or not we are truly making our customers more successful.”.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Cornerstone OnDemand Metrics 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

This sometimes frustrates entrepreneurs who just want to “get back to running the business.&# But if you understand it you’ll see that it is perfectly rational and it should also influence how you form relationships with investors. For this reason I tell entrepreneurs the following: Meet your potential investors early.

Invest 411

Invest Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 411

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

As a long-time business executive and adviser to entrepreneurs, I see a definitive shift away from customer trust in traditional business messages, and the executives who deliver them. I believe that the sooner every entrepreneur and brand builder adapts to this emerging trend, the sooner they will find success.

Customer 173

Customer Custom Social Media Technical Review 173

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. Image: Wikipedia.

Entrepreneur 210

Entrepreneur Commerce Sites Social Network 210

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2021

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. The key is to make decisions from data and feedback, once your business has real customers and real products.

Entrepreneur 169

Entrepreneur Startup Coach Mentor 169

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2021

In my role as mentor to business professionals, I often get the question about your potential of going out on your own as an entrepreneur, versus your current role of working for a boss at an established company. Most importantly, you have to deal with customers, and understand their wants and needs. There are no startup expert roles.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Ideas Social Media 158

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Yet every business and every entrepreneur I know struggles with this challenge, focused on hiring the right people and implementing the right process. I was happy to see my own view reinforced in the classic book, “ Innovation Thinking Methods for the Modern Entrepreneur ,” by long-time entrepreneur and innovation expert Osama A.

Entrepreneur 158

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Design 158

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2021

The best part of being an entrepreneur is having the independence to make your own decisions, the flexibility for a better work/life balance, and personal satisfaction from driving change. The road to business success is filled with challenges and frustrations that most aspiring entrepreneurs never even imagined. It’s very frustrating.

Entrepreneur 174

Entrepreneur Search Engine Optimization Satisfaction Social Media 174

InfoChachkie

JULY 18, 2011

Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and Marcia Brown’s Stone Soup , the seemingly innocuous board game Monopoly has played a pivotal role in the edification of several generations of entrepreneurs. You must focus on constantly delivering value to your customers and ensure that you are paid for the value you deliver. Monopoly is no different.

Entrepreneur 216

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Paramount 216

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. It never happened in any time frame I can remember, and it definitely won’t happen today. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2021

An entrepreneur lifestyle that continues to gain in popularity these days is being a “social entrepreneur.” Whether the objective is to generate profits or social capital, the common element for all entrepreneurs is the recognition that there is a problem which needs solving, or there is an opportunity to improve the status quo.

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Entrepreneur Funding Invest Activity 138

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

By definition?—?I’m And there is so much money around being thrown at so many entrepreneurs that many firms don’t even care about board seats, governance rights or heaven forbid doing work with the company because that would eat into the VCs time needed to chase 5 more deals. Are we in a bubble?”

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The most important way to sell a product for an early-stage business (or frankly any stage) is to have strong referenceable customers. How do you get referenceable customers? Your project is forked without a rollout organization, communications, measurement, integration and without turning sales into referenceable customers.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2020

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I find that I often have to remind them that the world of customers has changed since they started their last business. Pushing yourself on customers by touting features and price doesn’t work anymore. Use analytics to see why customers are buying, as well as what.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Social Media Startup 133

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 So, definition: when I talk about a business plan I’m not talking about a 40-page Word document outlining your market approach. It should talk about how many customers you think you will acquire and how much you’ll charge for your product.

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Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek? Yet I’m still often approached by aspiring entrepreneurs who have neither.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 4, 2014

If you could share one startup lesson with a young entrepreneur, what would it be? So I ask prospective new entrepreneurs, ''What is it specifically that you can bring to the industry?'' How has this reality impacted your customer acquisition strategies? Kutay graciously shared his multi-decade entrepreneurial journey with me.

Entrepreneur 187

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Advertising 187

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

That view from me isn’t surprising since on the topic of Nature vs. Nurture in entrepreneurs I’ve clearly come down on the side of nature more than nurture (again, that doesn’t mean nurture has NO influence, just less than nature). They work through ROI calculations with customers. Almost by definition.

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Startup Sales Framework Organization 350

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 8, 2012

Nearly every entrepreneur has heard the refrain, "Get back to me when you have some traction,” while seeking funding. Five broad sources of independent, third-party validation are: Customers, Partners, Distributors, Industry Experts and other Stakeholders. However, not all ventures are mature enough to generate paying customers.

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Venture Capital RSS Custom Customer 265

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2020

Although most people believe that being a successful entrepreneur is all about having the right idea, I’m convinced from my years of experience as a startup advisor and investor that’s it’s more about you as a person. So how do you develop that reputation such that everyone believes in you, and customers jump to try your solution first?

Entrepreneur 129

Entrepreneur Examples Blogging Custom 129

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

And so do entrepreneurs who are quick to pivot to new businesses or to sell in an acquihire. It’s been high tide since 2009 so an entire batch of entrepreneurs don’t know what low tide even looks like. It might be for technical reasons or it might be for customer adoption reasons. “What exits have you had?

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Even though I’m a big proponent of becoming an entrepreneur, it is definitely not for everyone. In my view, entrepreneur roles need to be planned carefully rather than made on the spur of the moment. Adopt the Silicon Valley entrepreneur family model. Test your entrepreneur instincts through crowdfunding.

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Sample Entrepreneur Ideas Startup 126

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2019

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, the most common question I get is, “I want to be an entrepreneur -- how do I start?” Many people with great ideas never make it as entrepreneurs, and true entrepreneurs can make a business out of anything. Few entrepreneurs can assimilate and hone a complete plan in their head.

Entrepreneur 135

Entrepreneur Mentor Ideas Writing 135

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2013

She was everything I was looking for in an entrepreneur to back. 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. In the most perfect sense of the definition. So, Mark, enough entrepreneur love.

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Startup Design Downey Activity 398

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2011

One of the most common questions that entrepreneurs who meet me for the first time like to ask is, “Do you miss being an entrepreneur? I thought I’d talk a bit about the differences I’ve experienced between being an entrepreneur & a VC – you know, from “both sides of the table.&#. On Being an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur 176

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 176

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2010

If you don’t already read Chris’s blog you should – it’s very well written, often takes a strong POV and speaks from an entrepreneur’s perspective but with a huge knowledge of the technology investors as well. I covered this a bit in my post about the market definition slide in fund raising. He is both.

Product 348

Product Startup Design Blogging 348

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

But in my experience as an entrepreneur and now spending my time amongst investors I can generalize that almost all VC investments in early stage technology & Internet investments come down to just four key factors. This post was prompted by an email exchange I had with a young entrepreneur. And VC’s are tough customers.

Startup 360

Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Founded four years ago by Matt Danna and Sean Stavropoulos, Boulevard was inspired by Stavropoulos’ inability to book a haircut and Danna’s hunch that the inability of salons and spas to cater to customers like the busy programmer could be indicative of a bigger problem.

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Software Beverly Hills Los Angeles Equity 323

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. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

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Startup Framework Slides Coach 378

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

I’m definitely a proponent of this latter approach. On the other hand, I just finished a classic book, “ The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job ,” by Patrick J. He makes some good points in the book for the overlapped entrepreneur approach that I espouse: One job is not enough these days.

Startup 128

Startup Entrepreneur Satisfaction News 128

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2015

In my years of working with entrepreneurs, I have heard many times the promise that their new idea will create the next Amazon or Apple, but I rarely hear the more important promise that the founder will practice all the good habits of winning entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. Seek first to understand, then be understood.

Entrepreneur 117

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Social Network 117

InfoChachkie

APRIL 16, 2012

Steve is also a Stanford Professor and noted marketing entrepreneur. The Lean Startup approach dictates that successful customer development is an iterative process. Eric (Ries) was a student in one of the very earliest customer development classes at Berkley. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for.

Startup 229

Startup Class Press Custom Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2015

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Funding and rollout stage.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Ideas Satisfaction Summary 109

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

In that same post Why you shouldn’t keep your startup idea secret where he argues to make things open, he defines only one group of people that you may want to avoid having a conversation with: The handful of people in the world who might copy your idea are entrepreneurs just starting up with a very similar idea. " What can I say.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Funding and rollout stage.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Satisfaction 108

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