Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

Every entrepreneur needs to know and communicate the total costs associated with their solution or product, including cost of goods sold, customer acquisition costs, capital costs, operational expenses, and partner costs. Investors will demand clear channel definitions. Key partners. No startup or entrepreneur is an island.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. In many cases business opportunities with competitors (coopetition) will open up a new marketing channel, and definitely give you the cost advantages of scale.

Acquisition 214

Acquisition Merger Startup Bandwidth 214

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

Expand into key new sales and delivery channels. Today the Internet is the best example of a new sales and delivery channel that has transformed many businesses, and killed others. When was the last time you tested on of these channels? Use outside investment and acquisition to expand your scope.

Customer 359

Customer Institutional Investors Channel Acquisition 359

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Working with the media is required, both social as well as the press, through public relations and internal channels. Utilize mergers and acquisitions to accelerate growth. As you might imagine, even with the proper planning, mergers and acquisitions are difficult to pull off.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 12, 2017

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 161

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 161

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2016

Initiate new strategic partnerships and investigate acquisitions versus in-house changes. Businesses often settle on one social media or distribution channel based on initial testing, and never look back. These days, new channels appear almost daily, and old ones lose their luster.

Social Media 120

Social Media Technical Review Metrics Channel 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 296

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 296

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2023

This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing. Re-live that moment of inspiration that resulted in an innovative design and implementation for your product, and is now providing you with a sustainable competitive advantage. Appreciate the media accolades and peer success feedback.

Sweat Equity 296

Sweat Equity Startup Salary Viral 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

The most common failures on the show, and in real life, are people who don’t know their margins, cost of customer acquisition, channels, or other key data. We have all seen the entrepreneur who believes that passion and emotion will overcome all investor objections and requests for answers.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Due Diligence Angel Investor Silicon Valley 279

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 286

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2020

This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing. Re-live that moment of inspiration that resulted in an innovative design and implementation for your product, and is now providing you with a sustainable competitive advantage. Appreciate the media accolades and peer success feedback.

Sweat Equity 435

Sweat Equity Salary Viral Leadership 435

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2022

Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Create an action plan with metrics.

Social Media 338

Social Media Framework Media Conversion Ratio 338

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

Similar companies, even though competitors, usually face economies of scale and overlapping distribution channels. Good strategic partnerships often lead to strategic investments, or great acquisition relationships. Capitalize on shared costs and common distribution. The auto industry learned this a long time ago.

Partner 434

Partner Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Non-Compete 434

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2022

Here is an outline of some key force multipliers that I have seen used effectively in the ongoing battle for business survival and success: Establish a presence on multiple social media channels. Amazingly, I still find that many small businesses still don’t use any social media, much less appear on a range of platforms.

Marketing 299

Marketing Social Media Merger Acquisition 299

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

Every entrepreneur needs to know and communicate the total costs associated with their solution or product, including cost of goods sold, customer acquisition costs, capital costs, operational expenses, and partner costs. Investors will demand clear channel definitions. Key partners. No startup or entrepreneur is an island.

Intellectual Property 250

Intellectual Property Business Model Angel Investor Channel 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

Sales and distribution channel activity will be analyzed, as well as cost of customer acquisition, to make an independent assessment of your financial projections. A smart investor will take an independent final reading in the market on barriers to entry, active competition, demographics, and price sensitivity.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Term Sheet 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Often enterprise customers, or even consumers, test a new channel by signing up for a few small transactions or trial products. Customer acquisition cost. If your average transaction size, number per customer, or margins have been turning up dramatically, it should mean you have gained real traction in the market.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2020

The most common failures on the show, and in real life, are people who don’t know their margins, cost of customer acquisition, channels, or other key data. We have all seen the entrepreneur who believes that passion and emotion will overcome all investor objections and requests for answers.

Due Diligence 317

Due Diligence Angel Investor Silicon Valley Green 317

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. In many cases business opportunities with competitors (coopetition) will open up a new marketing channel, and definitely give you the cost advantages of scale.

Merger 243

Merger Acquisition Startup Bandwidth 243

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2019

Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Create an action plan with metrics.

Social Media 240

Social Media Campaign Media Conversion Ratio 240

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. In many cases business opportunities with competitors (coopetition) will open up a new marketing channel, and definitely give you the cost advantages of scale.

Entrepreneur 249

Entrepreneur Merger Bandwidth Acquisition 249

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

Every entrepreneur needs to know and communicate the total costs associated with their solution or product, including cost of goods sold, customer acquisition costs, capital costs, operational expenses, and partner costs. Investors will demand clear channel definitions. Key partners. No startup or entrepreneur is an island.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. In many cases business opportunities with competitors (coopetition) will open up a new marketing channel, and definitely give you the cost advantages of scale.

Startup 232

Startup Merger Bandwidth Acquisition 232

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2015

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. In many cases business opportunities with competitors (coopetition) will open up a new marketing channel, and definitely give you the cost advantages of scale.

Merger 120

Merger Acquisition Differentiation Channel 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2017

Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Create an action plan with metrics.

Social Media 157

Social Media Media Conversion Ratio Lead Generation 157

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2013

Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Create an action plan with metrics.

Social Media 256

Social Media Media Product Conversion Ratio 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

Most of their new claims to innovation are acquired through mergers and acquisitions from the entrepreneurial pipeline. Having only a large capital base and distribution channels, with no innovation, is not a sustainable business model. Existing technologies have been “commoditized” globally.

Artificial Inteligence 315

Artificial Inteligence Offshore Merger Technical Review 315

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2014

Similar companies, even though competitors, usually face economies of scale and overlapping distribution channels. Good strategic partnerships often lead to strategic investments, or great acquisition relationships. Capitalize on shared costs and common distribution. The auto industry learned this a long time ago.

Non-disclosure Agreement 257

Non-disclosure Agreement Intellectual Property Startup Non-Compete 257

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Based on your market size and penetration expectations, size how many units you will sell, at what price, in every channel. If you want to be assessed as a “premium” acquisition candidate down the road, an aggressive but reasonable target might be doubling revenue each year. Project unit-volume and price levels.

Burn Rate 144

Burn Rate Forecast Angel Investor Revenue 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2016

Use experiments to test every element of your business model – cost, price, marketing, sales channel, customer acquisition cost, lead conversion rate, and lifetime value. In addition, advisors of this caliber will accelerate growth by experience and connections. Validate every key element of your business model.

Metrics 143

Metrics Advisory Board Startup Lean 143

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Often enterprise customers, or even consumers, test a new channel by signing up for a few small transactions or trial products. Customer acquisition cost. If your average transaction size, number per customer, or margins have been turning up dramatically, it should mean you have gained real traction in the market.

Hockey Stick 266

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 266

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2016

The most common failures on the show, and in real life, are people who don’t know their margins, cost of customer acquisition, channels, or other key data. We have all seen the entrepreneur who believes that passion and emotion will overcome all investor objections and requests for answers.

Founder 120

Founder Due Diligence Angel Investor Silicon Valley 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2012

Good action plans include a listening plan, channel plan, SEO plan, and a content creation plan, with activities and metrics. This can be customer acquisition cost, revenue growth, profit, or whatever other parameters are key to your success. You spend the months influencing the influencers. Create an action plan with metrics.

Social Media 229

Social Media Media Conversion Ratio Lead Generation 229

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2012

In addition, every business has operating costs, like customer acquisition, fulfillment, inventory, and customer service. In addition, you must reserve consistent names in key online channels like Twitter, Facebook, and others. But the low cost also means that your competition will also be there in force. Content is king of the road.

Internet 241

Internet Social Bookmarking Social Media Startup 241

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2016

This may also be the moment when you get your first big acquisition offer, rather than a clone appearing. Re-live that moment of inspiration that resulted in an innovative design and implementation for your product, and is now providing you with a sustainable competitive advantage. Appreciate the media accolades and peer success feedback.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Startup Viral 120