Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize.

Marketing 379

Marketing Startup SEM SEO 379

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

When you’re with them lower the bar by telling them, “we haven’t shipped product yet, we have lots of decisions still to make, but we’d like to show you our prototype&# or obviously if you’re more advanced show what you have and what your roadmap looks like. Hopefully by then you’ve made good progress.

Invest 411

Invest Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 411

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 1, 2014

Today’s $24 billion storage market in the US has these same key disadvantages and that was the genesis of Sam Rosen’s initial idea for MakeSpace , which I initially funded 15 months ago. ” This laughable customer experience is practically parodied in real life by the popular reality TV show, “ Storage Wars.”

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire Startup 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Leading edge technology software and manufacturing require constant course corrections and iterative restarts. Internal services, like marketing and accounting, are more manageable and have less customer visibility. But customers are not looking yet another homogeneous product or service, so be careful. Marty Zwilling.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

I was talking with an early-stage founder who has a product vision and wants to get it built. He is not a technical person, but is somewhat web savvy. He wanted to get input from me on what he's doing, and he wants to begin to ask developers what it would take to build his product. Go find a new technical resource.

Develop 354

Develop Development Technical Review CTO Coach 354

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2011

The part of the movement that resonates the most with me (in my words) is that entrepreneurs should keep their capital expenditures really low while they’re experimenting with their product and determining whether there is a large market for what they do. Nascent startup markets are like fine wine, they take time to develop.

Development Team Review 374

Development Team Review Technical Review Startup Resource 374

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2013

We will have to build (or buy) technology in this area.” The thing is … what I see many sales execs do is burn up countless hours on mid-level campaigns that get torpedoed when the go up the organization due to lack of budget, a desire to own that core IP or other more pressing organization priorities.

Sales 375

Sales Technical Review Organization Case Study 375

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Who are the top tech companies to work for in Los Angeles? positions on its site, ranging from software, sales, marketing, to finance. NastyGal -- which was just about unheard of a year ago -- has rocketed to a over $100M business, driven by women's clothing, shoes, and other products. The firm, based in Pasadena, has dozens of.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

They will often run all of the daily reports into them covering off for finance, sales, marketing, biz dev & HR. Many times they also pick up product and tech, too. Often times you find the CEO who really just likes to do product or tech. If you run product then it’s easy – VP Product.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for due diligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground.

Technical Review 151

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 151

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “ Growth Hacking is Bull ” written by Muhammad Saleem. I actually really enjoyed many of the points Muhammad made about marketing in general and I found myself nodding through the entirety of the article except for it’s core premise.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives. uBeam’s tech does work and I have safely seen it demo’d in the real life many times. Working on it. And being ambitious.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

You need to first create a compelling product. Compelling in the sense that you solve a real problem a target group of potential customers has with a product that is significantly better than the alternatives on that market. You need product / market fit. Product / market fit is everything.

Startup 401

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 401

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

controlling your psychology ) you no doubt have heard me say that raising capital is a sales & marketing process. Building models to evaluate the deal and/or reviewing customer files, company financials, business plans, etc. Find productive reasons why your sponsoring partner or associate can introduce you to other partners.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

This was certainly the case when I invested in a small YouTube video production company called Maker Studios that recently sold to Disney for just shy of $1 billion. They point out perceived market risks, they might question the management team’s experience, they might worry about regulatory risk or incumbent competitive powers.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

InfoChachkie

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Whenever a VC assesses a potential investment opportunity, they attempt to match the entrepreneur(s), their solution, and intended markets with a pattern they have previously encountered. It represents a deal in which the management team has deep domain expertise and the venture’s value proposition has been market validated.

Technical Review 244

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital RSS 244

Berkonomics

JANUARY 16, 2014

All parties need to perform due diligence to ensure that the assumptions are correct, that neither partner has financial issues which could affect the partnership, and that the opposite partner has the skills to contribute to the partnership. Access to new markets. Addition of new services or product lines.

Technical Review 204

Technical Review Startup Examples Metrics 204

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

So when they spoke about character development, repeatable gaming experiences, bringing games to multiple platforms (in the industry we call this “ Transmedia “) and physical products my ears naturally perked up. Tech Market Analysis Upfront Ventures' We met in August (so much for VCs taking the Summer off!)

Funding 373

Funding Technical Review Startup Screening 373

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

For instance, in a crowded market, a highly differentiated one-liner might make the difference between a startup generating meaningful investor discussions and languishing in obscurity. Google x Facebook x Amazon) + (Universal Reviews). The post The Perfect Pithy And Productive Investor Pitch appeared first on John Greathouse.'

Product 208

Product Yammer Technical Review Google 208

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

I pointed out that the storage market in the US alone is ~$30 billion / year and there is no dominant provider — the largest player has < 10% market share. So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Funding Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Eventually you need a VP of Product to handle your product roadmap, a CTO for engineering leadership and VPs of sales, marketing & biz dev. The “span of control” for a growing tech startup is probably 6-9 people. You help them prioritize their objectives and review the results. You set direction.

Entrepreneur 385

Entrepreneur CTO Hire Startup Sales 385

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

This is the mysterious and dreaded due diligence process, which can kill the whole deal. Some entrepreneurs do very little to prepare for due diligence, assuming all the talking has already been done, and the business plan and results to-date tell the right story. My best advice is to stick to the middle ground.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Invest 118

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. That is the definition of Disruptive Technology.

Company 339

Company Companies Technical Review Content 339

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened? People were building.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2012

The New York Times recently ran an article titled, “ Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind.” Tech Companies most certainly do take calls. Tech Companies & Calls: I once read a quote on Twitter that said, If you use a tech service for free then product is you. As I said, YOU are the product.

Mobile 311

Mobile Technical Review Google Screening 311

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 12, 2011

Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. He’s thoughtful about markets, investors, products and is always very well reasoned in his arguments.

Technical Review 281

Technical Review Venture Capital Startup Artificial Inteligence 281

TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

More people are focused on the beginning of the product lifecycle; very few are focused at the end.”. The end of the product lifecycle is where Murthy and Kaplan feel Ghost has “an enormous opportunity to help people be more efficient in that process,” Murthy added. Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory.

Product 191

Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

There are obvious reasons the industry has had less-than-desirable returns, including: massive over-funding of the sector, huge increases in inexperienced venture capitalists that took a decade to peter out, and the massive correction in the value of the public stock markets that closed many exit opportunities for half a decade.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Product 159

Product Technical Review Pricing Software Review 159

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. As I like to say, “If you’re really on to an enormous idea then other people in the market are going to spot that and want to compete with you. Is it one product line or multiple? ” The Details.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

InfoChachkie

JULY 7, 2016

The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. You’re the first one I’ve met who didn’t want to see our product.” I then explain that I evaluate the veracity of a product by seeking guidance from current, past and prospective users, rather than relying on a product demonstration. Don’t Demo Me Bro.

Venture Capital 176

Venture Capital Product Software Review Technical Review 176

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

While I have some sympathy with not investing too heavily in sales people until the product has properly been tested and commercialized in the enterprise environment, in the end it’s a fact that it takes sales people to move product through large organizations. We only want software revenue.” Let me explain why: 1.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Companies like DogVacay solve a real need in the market. They can read reviews, see pictures and even talk to the family before confirming. I then clicked on reviews, looked at pictures and read the owners descriptions of what they were looking for. I told her the story of Aaron, the company, the reviews, etc.

Venture Capital 344

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review San Diego 344

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. This is probably because many founders are product or technology people. So I hope these posts will be useful to all and not just those who need road warriors. I only found out through customer meetings.

Sales 346

Sales Startup Technical Review Custom 346

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California. Want to be an entrepreneur? Techpreneurs.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258