Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I recommend a trial run with an experiment or MVP (minimum viable product), at full price and cost, before the big bang launch, risking your investment money and a major time commitment. It’s an amazing ride, and there is no satisfaction like creating something out of nothing.

Technical Review 131

Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Decide early where and when money will come from, set some milestones and metrics, and work to a plan, or be caught short. Everyone must be part of the sales process.

Startup 107

Startup Sales Customer Custom 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Know your customers intimately. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Competition 99

Competition Services Startup Training 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Smart entrepreneurs have metrics for assessing their progress against milestones and regularly communicate new insights to the team. Don’t wait for your worst case scenario where no customers show up, and expect that slashing the price will solve the problem. Update your plan at least once a month.

Startup 105

Startup Entrepreneur Marketing Satisfaction 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2013

Train them fully, give them authority, make them accountable, and tie their pay to customer satisfaction. It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. Know your customers intimately. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Customer 92

Customer Custom Startup Services 92

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2015

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Outsource Development 99

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Of course, nothing is totally free, and I have heard the horror stories of relatively small companies finding thirty or more employees spending most of their time scanning and using social media for promotions, or engaging high-priced consultants who never seem to be able to show any real return for all of their efforts.

Social Media 99

Social Media Media Tool Startup 99

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

Semick: We’re a very metrics driven company, and we have been from the beginning. Metrics related to customer acquisition, lifetime value and churn. We’re transparent with our employees about these metrics and where the company stands with monthly marketing and sales goals. We spent a lot of time showing them rough prototypes.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

You need metrics to show dominant penetration of the relevant customer demographic, added value over existing media, and real customer testimonials of value. Cultures and values are different, pricing norms are unique, and customer needs have to be validated in each location. Local businesses expect proof of value, not promises.

Advertising 63

Advertising Content Social Media Satisfaction 63

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

What neither group seems to fully comprehend is that retail needs to fundamentally change to succeed, far beyond the addition of an online component, to meet the experience expectations of today’s generation, an oversupplied global marketplace, and technology for instant pricing and distribution. Look outside for benchmarks.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Technical Review Summary 52

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2016

Entrepreneurs need to document a process of responding to a market need, sizing opportunity, assigning a specific business model, and planning for marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. For progress and success assessment, each of these needs some metrics defined, a training plan, and responsibility assignments within your team.

Ideas 62

Ideas Outsource Development Startup Competition 62

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 16, 2017

Many business executives and entrepreneurs I know are convinced that business success is all about having the right solution for the right price. Takers can never get satisfaction, and they antagonize those around them. Some things need to be done whether we like them or not; for example, daily cash-flow analysis and business metrics.

Software Review 57

Software Review Technical Review Startup Press 57

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Incorporate AI-powered data and metrics systems. Their pricing algorithm crawls the Web daily, and adjusts prices to always match the lowest price found anywhere, offline or online. Your future satisfaction and success likely depends on your answer. They help hiring managers raise the bar for every interview.

Marketing 123

Marketing Technical Review Customer Custom 123

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

Quantify your results in terms of cost per transaction, higher customer satisfaction, lower prices, and profit per employee, rather than number of transactions or hours worked. Help your owner get beyond the misleading metrics of employee overtime and salary increases. Recommend ways to improve team engagement and culture.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75