Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

YOU Selling – My wise old friend & mentor, Ameet Shah, once told me after a meeting we had with clients (when I worked at Accenture), “there are two ways to run a meeting: asking or telling. Let’s assume you run a Customer Support software company. But how to apply “listening&# in a sales meeting?

Sales 314

Sales Startup Venture Capital Customer 314

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Every new business I know dreams of building momentum in their business, where growth continues to increase, customers become your best advocates, and employee motivation is high. Unfortunately, with limited resources, this isn’t possible, and it frustrates customers and the team. Focus first on finding more of the right customers.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Technical Advisors Startup Mentor 160

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Mark Zuckerberg, while still in school, tested the viability of his “ FaceMash ” technology as a business by rolling it out to other students at Harvard as customers. He learned quickly that several pivots were required for business, legal, and customer acceptance reasons. Take advantage of free startup programs and mentors.

Entrepreneur 157

Entrepreneur Mentor Class Resource 157

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Examples 145

Examples Mentor Activity Product 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

For example, a couple of years ago, Starbucks' chief executive officer, Kevin R. I often think of the scope of this example in my role as mentor to a struggling entrepreneur who is quick to blame his problems on employee mistakes, or even changing customer expectations. Don’t wait for a crisis to test accountability.

Training 173

Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

community in many ways, including his weekly Internet TV program on entrepreneurism, and participation in several mentoring programs. . Are each set of goals consistent with the other’s including for example personal wealth, business success, and autonomy? Example: salary, equity, joint venture, etc… Can the business afford it?

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

Today more than ever, the evidence is clear that business people need to find and communicate a purpose that goes beyond making a profit, in order to ensure customer engagement, as well as your own, and drive results in the marketplace. As you grow, so will your team and customers. Driven to reduce personal hardship and suffering.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Coach Mentor Customer 143

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2012

Those mentors and others have given us really tangible advice. Mentors have told us -- here what your social coefficient looks like, how to make the sharing dynamic work for your business, and then they'll spend an hour or and hour and a half with us, and give us a little more specific information we can apply.

Startup 240

Startup Mentor Technical Review Santa Barbara 240

Tech.Co

JANUARY 10, 2018

“Focusing on emotion is key when communicating with female customers. Maxeme Tuchman, CEO and cofounder of Caribu.co , an app that allows you to video call and have story time with your children together from anywhere in the world, targeted her company’s efforts on gaining referrals from women customers.

Tips 70

Tips Custom Customer Dollar Shave Club 70

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

For example, Elon Musk says he seeks out innovations from his team by constantly asking them how they can make things better, how often they get out of internal meetings and into customer shops, and actively encouraging them to try new things. Spend more time mentoring and coaching your team.

Tips 159

Tips Satisfaction Coach Mentor 159

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

In my role as advisor and mentor to many new entrepreneurs, I often find myself suggesting that they think bigger. For example, I’m not sure the world needs one more social media niche site, or another dating site, or yet another flavored drink alternative. Communicate and market your solution to the max.

Startup 162

Startup Metrics Ideas Entrepreneur 162

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success. Test your innovation with at least a hundred customers.

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 4, 2020

It’s with profound sadness we mourn the loss of a true visionary, author, mentor, thought-leader, investor, and friend, Tony Hsieh. Under Hsieh’s leadership, Zappos revolutionized the apparel industry, and e-commerce in general, by being one of the first to prioritize customer satisfaction and service. By Frank Gruber and Jen Consalvo.

Commerce 197

Commerce Statistics Customer Custom 197

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2021

In these days of rapid change, the pandemic, and worldwide competition, you need to make sure your entire team is customer-focused, innovative, and always looking around the corner for the next big thing. Find folks who are customer-centric and sensitive to competition. Find people who enjoy being problem solvers.

Coach 174

Coach Activity Customer Custom 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

In my own experience as a startup advisor and mentor, I find that entrepreneurs who can’t attract and maintain a highly motivated team rarely even get off the ground. Thus if you want to change the world with your new business, you need to follow the example of startups like Zappos , which hires according to cultural fit first.

Product 129

Product Examples Mentor Activity 129

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

The TMP is an example of lean academia. However, just as Uber pushed its way into recalcitrant East Coast cities because of intense customer demand, the TMP marshaled a critical mass of the University''s resources due to tireless student activism and the resoundingly positive feedback (and donor dollars) from the parents of TMP graduates.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

For example, I often hear proposals for new online social media or collaboration platforms, maybe more specifically tuned to inventors or artists, or easier to use, and populated by experts, to compete against Slack or Facebook. Remember that your goal is to build a successful business, and customers are in control of making that happen.

Startup 134

Startup Artificial Inteligence Ideas Entrepreneur 134

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2020

The servant leader serves the people they lead through mentoring, direct assistance, listening, and acting on their employees input. Greenleaf says that Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and Jesus were good examples of servant leadership. If the answers surprise you, it may be time to find a leadership mentor. Marty Zwilling.

Mentor 161

Mentor Organization Ideas Examples 161

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2022

Based on my own mentoring and investing experience, the best entrepreneurs are pragmatic problem solvers. For example, I remember a classic book by Penina Rybak, “ The NICE Reboot ,” that does a great job of outlining problem solving steps, honed from working with special needs youngsters.

Startup 135

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Technical Review 135

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

For the LA event, for example, they will not only have a selection of great LA VCs but also 10+ senior VC women from the SF Bay Area will be coming down for it. 8% of VC partnerships, for example). LA Female Office Hours. So why is this initiative so important for men, women and other gender identities?

Venture Capital 256

Venture Capital Examples Screening Help 256

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” For example, professional investors put great priority on your previous experience in building a business, and they expect to own a portion of the business equity and control for the funds they do provide.

Funding 174

Funding Startup Equity Examples 174

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

Searching LinkedIn, for example, is a must for contemporary entrepreneurs. Identify customer executives who need your solution. Identify customer executives who need your solution. Customers benefit from early solution access, priority input on requirements, and personalized customer service.

Funding 173

Funding Tips Startup Statistics 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. I found their five phases of the process to be compelling, based on my own years of experience mentoring startups: Nail the pain.

Technical Review 143

Technical Review Customer Custom Entrepreneur 143

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

And he has acted as a personal mentor for Justin ever since. You should start by getting out and talking directly with customers as Bieber did. Foursquare is a great example of this. Consider Usher a hard-working early-stage VC. Justin was going through the ride that Usher himself had been through when he was younger.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Blogging 398

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. Balance of passion with reality and customer feedback. Today, customer loyalty is based on the “ total customer experience ,” as opposed to price or service alone.

Mentor 133

Mentor Startup Customer Custom 133

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Every entrepreneur and every business I meet in my consulting and mentoring role has great intentions of bringing real innovation to the market, yet I find that most ideas are merely small extensions to existing solutions. Both fail to look first at what customers really need, and are willing to pay for.

Startup 146

Startup Mentor Entrepreneur Ideas 146

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Great marketing is required to generate revenue and grow every business, especially new businesses which have no brand recognition nor loyal customer base. Yet, as a business consultant, I still find many of you business leaders relying primarily on your technology, word-of-mouth , or location to attract necessary customers.

Marketing 133

Marketing Customer Custom Outsource Development 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2022

Yet I find, as a mentor and outside consultant, that many of you focus only on working conditions and compensation as the key factors determining team engagement , health, and productivity. by Donna Cutting, who is a globally-recognized guru on employee culture and optimizing customer service. Emotional stability. Environmental safety.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Mentor Social Media Custom 141

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

In my own business career, many years as a business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I have validated the following strategies to practice and guide you. A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share.

Satisfaction 152

Satisfaction Mentor Study Startup 152

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2021

As a mentor, my mission is to recommend actions that can strengthen your image with investors and peers, as well as help you get the startup job done. An example of a good balance is clearly Whole Foods , whose focus on healthy foods and a sustainable environment is legendary. Focus on customers and people over profits and ego.

Customer 157

Customer Custom Metrics Ideas 157

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Pretend to be a customer or client of the business you lead. People ignored see no leadership.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur Mentor Coach Customer 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

As an advisor to technical entrepreneurs, the most common mistake I see is the “If we build it, they will come” approach with no sales plan, under the assumption that the technology is so spectacular that customers will buy the product. Effective value propositions are quantified and personalized for each customer or target segment.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2020

In my experience as a business mentor, one of the biggest challenges I see is a failure to focus. Good examples of initial focus by an entrepreneur would include Jeff Bezos when he started Amazon as an online marketplace for books only, and Elon Musk starting PayPal as an online bank.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Startup Patents Resource 126

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

For example, all the restaurants I know were impacted by diners staying at home during the pandemic. Rather than get angry and upset, fall back to your initial process for evaluating markets, customer needs, and financial implications. Seek input from the team, as well as mentors.

Mentor 127

Mentor Satisfaction Custom Customer 127

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. For example, I often cite the case of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer , who grew Microsoft together. You must also learn from your customers.

Ideas 126

Ideas Writing Examples Outsource 126

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. Here’s just one example post featuring the wisdom I learned from Stuart about negotiations. Neither is very strategic nor in the best interest of either set of customers that VCs have (portfolio companies & LPs). Writing a book will be fun.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2020

As a mentor to startups, I see more startups that are really an individual professional, marketing themselves as a consultant or freelancer in this new gig economy. Here are some examples: Marketing Professional. I’m sure you can think of a dozen more examples today. We are becoming a society of entrepreneurs.

Startup 164

Startup Social Media Course Entrepreneur 164