Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

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 379

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 379

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

It’s always tempting to think that more product variations will satisfy more customers and lead to new sales. Yet I still see expense budgets based on traditional channels, with no strict metrics on cost of customer acquisition by channel, or lifetime customer value. Excessive support and return activities.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 21, 2019

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Employee 222

Employee Technical Review Hiring Lead Generation 222

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

For starters, here is my selection of some key metrics that every six-sigma joint like GE tracks without thinking, but that too many small businesses haven’t yet formalized: Sales revenue. Sales data needs to be correlated to advertising campaigns, price changes, seasonal forces, competitive actions, and other costs of sales.

Metrics 252

Metrics Technical Review Retention Acquisition 252

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Las Vegas 243

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 243

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Switch your focus from product development to sales. Explosive growth to an enterprise normally requires a scalable sales model, a well-documented process with incentives, training, and metrics for tracking and management. Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Ownership. Value creation. Idea management.

Intellectual Property 343

Intellectual Property Metrics .Net Social Network 343

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2017

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Employee 173

Employee Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Startup 262

Startup Technical Review Employee Hiring 262

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. Economies of scale also apply to marketing, distribution, and sales. Tags: entrepreneur startup merger acquisition business. New management skills.

Acquisition 214

Acquisition Merger Startup Bandwidth 214

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. At that time the original split makes all the difference. In the U.S.,

Stock 240

Stock .Net Vesting Founder Vesting 240

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2023

The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. The win-win startup acquisitions and successful transitions to public companies are led by the entrepreneur, rather than happen passively. Listen carefully and act accordingly.

Exit Strategy 248

Exit Strategy Valuation Acquisition Metrics 248

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive. Unfortunately, the mainstream customers who can really drive revenue care more about price.

Hockey Stick 265

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 8, 2022

What if your customer acquisition cost assumptions have to change? This can be projected top down from market share assumptions, or bottom up from actual costs and sales results. Each has a different set of variables for sales, revenue flow, marketing costs and personnel.

Conversion Ratio 368

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 368

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Employee 244

Employee Entrepreneur Technical Review Hiring 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2021

The best sale or acquisition is a gradual one, where the acquirer gets to know you through formal and informal relationships. The win-win startup acquisitions and successful transitions to public companies are led by the entrepreneur, rather than happen passively. Listen carefully and act accordingly.

Exit Strategy 434

Exit Strategy Valuation Acquisition Metrics 434

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. This were done in a complementary fashion to provide support and education, and not undermine sales.

Customer 359

Customer Institutional Investors Channel Acquisition 359

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

A reverse merger is the acquisition of an already public company (usually a dormant shell) to avoid the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and cost, to quickly get your startup on a public exchange for fund raising through visibility and selling stock. There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

Resist the channel sales pitch for exclusivity. Avoid direct sales forces and wholly owned channels initially. These expansions can be lucrative, but may require more complex strategic partner arrangements or even acquisitions. Do your homework on industry norms for your product, competitor placements, and margins achievable.

Channel 120

Channel Distribution Partner Acquisition 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2017

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley Las Vegas Arizona Montana 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2020

A technical champion may drive a specific innovation, but the business leader has to own the result, in order to drive an appropriate business model, customer acquisition, support, and a growth strategy. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Ownership. Value creation. Idea management.

Intellectual Property 360

Intellectual Property Social Network Metrics .Net 360

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2022

Popular revenue models today include recurring subscription charges, licensing, as well the traditional sale or lease model. Every team needs to understand how their activities relate to customer revenue. Key activities.

Business Model 334

Business Model Intellectual Property Angel Investor Channel 334

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus. If sales are the only way to get rewarded in your organization, then sales will take precedence over other activities.

Hiring 250

Hiring Entrepreneur Startup Technical Review 250

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2013

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Maxwell Wessel, in a recent article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Silicon Valley 256

Silicon Valley Las Vegas Phoenix Montana 256

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Investors expect to hear annual revenues, average margins, customer acquisition costs and sales pipelines. This should include financial, marketing, sales, and operations, all with a record of working together in setting milestones, managing results, and focusing on the market opportunity.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person. This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 365

Customer Social Media Acquisition Internet 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2021

Startup owners need to assume a three to five year wait for a liquidity event, such as acquisition or going public, before they can cash out. Make sure the government waits for a stock sale to collect taxes. At that time the original split makes all the difference. In the U.S.,

Vesting 298

Vesting Dilution Stock Founder Vesting 298

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

Thus even if unit sales keep increasing, revenues can lag due to the need for lower prices as the mainstream market takes over. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive. Unfortunately, the mainstream customers who can really drive revenue care more about price.

Hockey Stick 307

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 307

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

One or more of the following parameters are viewed by most investors as traction indicators, but good entrepreneurs are often creative and define their own to supplement these: Start with sales to-date for a priced offering. As an investor, I would like to see one month of sales, and see how that compares to your projections.

Hockey Stick 304

Hockey Stick Early Stage Metrics Acquisition 304

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

A reverse merger is the acquisition of an already public company (usually a dormant shell) to avoid the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and cost, to quickly get your startup on a public exchange for fund raising through visibility and selling stock. There just aren’t enough angel investors and VCs to go around.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2022

Any increase in brand recognition, as well as personal connections, is a multiplier to your existing marketing and sales efforts. Look for a merger or acquisition that will bring multiplier resources to your business, such as related successful products, a positive brand image, or a proven distribution network.

Marketing 299

Marketing Social Media Merger Acquisition 299

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO. You need to have quantifiable objectives, with measurements, to keep you on the path to success.

Exit Strategy 406

Exit Strategy Merger Angel Investor IPO 406

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2020

What if your customer acquisition cost assumptions have to change? This can be projected top down from market share assumptions, or bottom up from actual costs and sales results. Each has a different set of variables for sales, revenue flow, marketing costs and personnel.

Conversion Ratio 308

Conversion Ratio Startup Business Model eCommerce 308

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 16, 2015

billion dollar sale to Oracle from Bozeman, Montana. Wessel measures a 39% acquisition advantage to being in-state. Maxwell Wessel, in a classic article in the Harvard Business Review on this subject, points out the exception successes of Zappos in Las Vegas, Sendgrid’s massive growth in Colorado, and RightNow’s $1.5

Las Vegas 120

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Phoenix Montana 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Yahoo has been an example of a company which expanded in all directions through 53 acquisitions, to the point where most customers were confused, and it was overtaken by Google as your main search engine. Obsessive sales – must meet revenue goals. Make sure your vision is clear and communicated.

Dilution 334

Dilution Metrics Acquisition Revenue 334

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

JUNE 5, 2012

Up-sell related products after the initial sale. Also, this competitor will now be a better candidate for merger or acquisition (M&A), due to the existing relationship, when either of you is ready for that step. This is called up-selling, or cross-up-selling, and both parties share the profits.

Non-Compete 241

Non-Compete Merger Technical Review Software Review 241