Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

I’m a very big proponent of the “lean startup movement&# as espoused by Steve Blank & Eric Ries. In the initial phases of any new market you’re developing a product (hopefully with a minimal set of features), getting feedback from customers, refining your product based on user feedback and then re-launching your product.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

InfoChachkie

MAY 16, 2011

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. Fallacy: AdVentures tend to evolve once you begin speaking with pesky customers and demanding partners. “Learn from the mistakes of others.

Startup 242

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Sales 242

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 28, 2011

I was once asked on Quora what my idea startup team would be. I never invest in: - business people who outsource tech dev to 3rd parties (“to speed up time to market”)” If you like that feel free to go vote it up on Quora - it fell back a bit in the rankings. My ideal team is simple: Assuming 6 people.

Startup 325

Startup Outsource Press Marketing 325

Berkonomics

JULY 10, 2014

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up premoney valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. Starting up Raising money' Email readers, continue here.]

Startup 179

Startup Outsource Development Outsource Venture Capital 179

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2020

Maybe we haven’t seen the results yet, but there are thousands of startup opportunities to offer new alternatives and services, to replace those destroyed by the crisis. Other countries can provide e-commerce with different business models, outsource manufacturing at low cost, and a huge market for new products.

Customer 167

Customer Custom Startup Outsource Development 167

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to become the next unicorn. Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea.

Startup 154

Startup Outsource Ideas Research 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 6, 2012

Customer service has always been reactionary, meaning someone to wake up and answer website email requests. That’s just not sufficient to hold today’s fickle, less loyal, and ready to jump customer. Here are seven rules derived from his insights to start your thinking: Customers expect a choice of channels.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Services Startup 97

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

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. When will key hires come on?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2019

Los Angeles-based eTailPet , a new startup which helps pet store owners create online e-commerce sites, has received a round of seed funding, the company said this week. The startup is led by Founder and CEO Bere Giannini. According to eTailPet, the funding will go to accelerate its business.

Seed Funding 222

Seed Funding Funding Template Southern California 222

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

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.

Startup 191

Startup Venture Capital Blogging CTO Hire 191

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. You may end up hiring these people eventually and you'll know more about them when you do. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO. Far from it. They need to conserve cash.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2021

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from deals where the entrepreneur insists on a start-up pre-money valuation that is so high, no angel could expect to make a return upon the investment, even with a reasonable sales price for the company down the road. The post Don’t get hung up on early stage valuation.

Outsource Development 156

Outsource Development Startup Outsource Venture Capital 156

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

So pervasive has this thinking become that on several occasions startup companies with profitable & fast growing services businesses have come to me wanting to show me the product businesses they created internally to see whether they would be financeable or whether they might be able to create “spin outs&# that could be financed.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

InfoChachkie

APRIL 20, 2015

This is the approach many startups take when they communicate their story to the market. Rather than directly explaining their value proposition with all the passion and heartfelt stridency that only an entrepreneur can deliver, they outsource this communication to a Public Relations (PR) firm. The company started ‘getting ink.’

Outsource Development 100

Outsource Development Outsource Allegis Startup 100

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

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. Rely On A Public Relations Agency.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2019

Less than a month after rebranding as Canoo , the startup electric vehicle company formerly known as Evelozcity is on the hunt for $200 million in new capital. Canoo plans to use blockchain technology to secure its subscription services and ensure an asset light approach to development by outsourcing its manufacturing in the U.S.

Outsource Development 191

Outsource Development Startup Outsource San Diego 191

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. Almost anyone can start a company today on a shoestring budget, following these cost-cutting recommendations: Establish a solid legal structure for your business.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media Outsource Development 162

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

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 ?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer. Decreasing Your Customer Acquisition Costs. This is equivalent to being handed a free customer for every ten customers you acquire.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 25, 2014

The days are gone when a techie or a genius could build things in his garage and customers would find and buy the product, based purely on the “wow factor” of the technology. Thus customers and partners rely more and more on personal engagement with people. People buy from people, and in a startup, you are the brand.

Customer 99

Customer Custom Startup Content 99

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

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. The customer experience is more than the service.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to scale. Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea. But what does that really mean?

Tips 111

Tips Startup Outsource Ideas 111

socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2014

So, how do you help ease enterprise customers into the cloud--or at least, help them use cloud technology to help them with their business goals? We caught up with founder and CEO Grant Kirkwood --a serial entrepreneur and veteran of providing infrastructure to the enterprise markets--on the vision behind the company.

Cloud Computing 217

Cloud Computing Outsource Development Outsource Startup 217

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2021

In my experience as a business advisor and occasional investor, many of you won’t make it that far, succumbing to the high costs of getting those first customers, funding an initial inventory, and building an operational support process. Assess your resource potential before you start. Start networking for funding before the crisis.

Startup 161

Startup Resource Customer Custom 161

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

What is it about the content delivery network market which has enabled Santa Monica-based EdgeCast to go from startup to over $100M in revenues in only a few, short years? We caught up with James Segil , the firm's President, to hear the story behind that big growth at the company. Instead, they outsource to an expert like Edegcast.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2021

A common challenge faced by every entrepreneur is that they don’t have the bandwidth, interest or skills to do everything that is required to build their startup. Of course, they can outsource part of the work or hire employees, but that approach means more time and money to manage the work, which they don’t have.

Startup 126

Startup High Tech Entrepreneur Writing 126

socalTECH

APRIL 4, 2019

Los Angeles-based eTailPet , a new startup which helps pet store owners create online e-commerce sites, has received a round of seed funding, the company said this week. The startup is led by Founder and CEO Bere Giannini. Size of the funding was not announced. The funding was led by Moonshots Capital. READ MORE>>.

Seed Funding 154

Seed Funding Funding Template Southern California 154

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2021

Everyone knows that startups are risky, but they also expect that the job will be exciting and potentially very lucrative (think early employees at Facebook and Google). The truly indispensable person in a startup is a problem solver, because every startup has plenty of problems. You can’t outsource that one.

Startup 125

Startup Journal Outsource Tips 125

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 19, 2011

They outsource the critical negotiations and “trust their advisors to handle the details.&# And a key point is that when it comes down to “negotiations&# you need to turn up your personal heat and dial back the middle man. Let me start with an example. You can’t outsource this to a recruiter.

Venture Capital 319

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Outsource 319

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2022

If one of your core values is exceeding your customer expectations for quality and service, and your potential partner ascribes to the low cost, high profit mantra, a successful partnership is highly unlikely over the long-term. Look impartially from all angles and do the follow-up on all relevant previous roles.

Software Review 154

Software Review CTO Hire Outsource Development Startup 154

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2018

As part of the lead in to the conference, and as a part of our sponsor relationship with the conference, we're running a series of interviews with speakers from the conference about their experience in the area of recurring revenues, customer service, and similar topics. We respond very quickly to all of our customers. Kevin Anderson.

Customer 113

Customer Custom Services Conference 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010

These kind of companies were seldom startups. I’ve spoken to many of these “outbound dialers&# and in almost all cases they said it was “a necessary evil&# to get into the trade rather than a “worthwhile experience&# in which they learned a great deal about entrepreneurship, startups or any given industry.

Venture Capital 294

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Email Equity 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2023

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to become the next unicorn. Investors don’t invest in services startups. Here are some pragmatic tips on how to make your startup more scalable and investable: If you need investors, start with a scalable idea.

Tips 135

Tips Invest Startup Outsource 135

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2014

We provide a turnkey, back end, managed service offering for brands and retailers on an outsourced basis. We do everything from picking, packing, and shipping to customer service, fulfillment, and providing the technology that powers the e-commerce site, online marketing, creative design, and digital imaging and photography.

Commerce 203

Commerce Venture Capital Internet Brands Startup 203

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2013

Customer service has always been reactionary, meaning someone has to wake up and answer website email requests. That’s just not savvy enough to hold today’s fickle, less loyal, and ready to jump customer. This exemplary customer service is just savvy marketing. Respect your customer’s view of usability.

Customer 89

Customer Custom Services High Tech 89

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

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?

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235