Software By Rob

JANUARY 25, 2012

Indeed, I did buy my latest startup, but the deal was done from a spare bedroom of my suburban home in Fresno, California for less than most people pay for a new car. This acquisition is a long story, but if you have a few minutes let me tell you the best parts. My Background. Aaaah yes…the search.

Acquisition 63

Acquisition Software Review Fresno Algorithm 63

SoCal CTO

JUNE 15, 2011

Instead, I want to look at how they've integrated themselves with Facebook and particularly how they engage users to help viral spread. Later in this post, I'll talk about some of the downside of how they've made this viral. I'll explore a few of the social interactions that help with viral growth. Too Much Social Interaction?

Viral 331

Viral Startup Networking Social Network 331

SoCal CTO

JUNE 15, 2011

Instead, I want to look at how they've integrated themselves with Facebook and particularly how they engage users to help viral spread. Later in this post, I'll talk about some of the downside of how they've made this viral. I'll explore a few of the social interactions that help with viral growth. Too Much Social Interaction?

Viral 323

Viral Startup Networking Social Network 323

ConversionXL

APRIL 4, 2017

Paid Acquisition. You’re undoubtedly familiar with paid acquisition, as it’s the digital equivalent of traditional advertising. Here are some resources to learn more about paid acquisition: Customer Acquisition Master Course (includes SEO). When Does Paid Acquisition Work for SaaS Startups?

Channel 118

Channel Marketing Viral SEO 118

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

This is Part 5 of the 5-part series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches. Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. We're putting a 'Retweet' button inside the product to encourage viral growth.". Infection built-in, not bolt-on.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 25, 2015

Startups in a world of massive markets can be confusing. Or app companies that went viral due to spammy friend requests to download in an app store only to have a community backlash and subsequent crash. Startup Lessons' Success for many is ephemeral. ” If you didn’t read it I recommend it.

Product 150

Product B2B Warrant Technical Review 150

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Startups need to survive and thrive on a shoestring budget, which is why it’s based on rapid experimentation. Neither would have achieved virality had customers not received something tangible for their efforts. Acquisition. Why do people think growth hacking in marketing is controversial? Image source. Activation.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Startups that succeed with this approach tend to have founders with deep connections in the industry they serve, and often previously worked for one of the large incumbents in the market. These acts can often be start of a viral growth curve in the enterprise.

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2023

Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings, rather than fighting for another investment infusion. Startup productivity is embodied in key ratios, including low cost of customer acquisition, high retention, and high revenue per employee.

Valuation 235

Valuation Revenue Viral Retention 235

Version One Ventures

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Yammer sreenshot “Going viral” is often the holy grail for Internet startups, who hope to quickly scale to hundreds of thousands of users (then hundreds of millions) with relatively low user acquisition costs. When you turn your attention to SaaS products that are narrow in industry and profession, it’s even harder.”

Viral 149

Viral Product Vertical Acquisition 149

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings, rather than fighting for another investment infusion. Startup productivity is embodied in key ratios, including low cost of customer acquisition, high retention, and high revenue per employee.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

There is an old saying in the startup investor community, “Smart investors invest in the team, not the idea.” Beyond basic business and technical credentials, here are some of the key startup team attributes that every investor is looking for: Team shows an appreciation and plan for marketing.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Agile VC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

GrabCAD today announced their acquisition by Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS). He was wrapping up GrabCAD’s participation in the Seedcamp accelerator program, and the Seedcamp startups were in the US to visit potential advisors and investors in Boston, New York, and SF. I first met Hardi at the beginning of 2011 here in Cambridge.

Boston 154

Boston Acquisition Estonia Viral 154

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. Enjoy that first video interview at an industry conference, or the newspaper story which enhances your startup visibility and credibility. Appreciate the media accolades and peer success feedback.

Sweat Equity 435

Sweat Equity Salary Viral Leadership 435

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Master of 500 Hats: Startup Metrics for Pirates (SeedCamp 2008, London) This presentation should be required reading for anyone creating a startup with an online service component. I break the answer to that question down into three engines: Viral - this is the business model identified in the presentation as "Get Users."

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." I would guess that this represents less than 5% of startups. A startup does require MVP but it is much more than just MVP.

Algorithm 264

Algorithm Metrics Viral Venture Capital 264

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. I realized the Customer Development model needs to be clearer in what exactly a startup is supposed to do, regardless of the business model. But it also requires you to ask a few questions about your startup before you use it.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Sunday, February 25, 2007 Challenge of Predicting Winners I just read a bit on the payout to YouTube from the Google Acquisition ( Internet News , CNN ). Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

People said this about Ring (which went from startup to selling to Amazon > $1 billion in around 5 years), Facebook, YouTube, Airbnb, Uber, Twitter, Instagram and many other great behemoths of the technology industry. There is nothing viral! Ah, but Bird doesn’t have network effects! Anybody can launch a scooter service!

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Technical Review Los Angeles 256

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

The father of “Growth Hacking” appears to be Sean Ellis who wrote this widely read post, “ Find a Growth Hacker for your Startup. For starters it brings a mindset to startups that not all of them have innately. If your startup isn’t committed to growth hacking you’ll never find extra-ordinary growth.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Startup strategy is like Kung Fu. All startups are screwed up. HT Mike Maples Jr ) Corollary: A startup has to be so excellent at one or two key things, that they can screw up everything else up and not die. Fermi estimation is a good way to figure out whether a startup or product could even theoretically be viable.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

startups want to launch their products without at least trying to language-market fit. Brendan Sterne , who unearthed the above articles on Amazon’s process, notes that Amazon differs from the model advocated in Lean Startup, which “aims to put a concrete prototype in front of consumers to validate the product.”. It’s not efficient.”.

Product 110

Product Campaign Acquisition Social Media 110

Gust

OCTOBER 6, 2011

In my conversations with people in the startup world – from angel investors through entrepreneurs and employees with vast startup experience – I often hear about their perceptions of the marketing role as being pretty limited to acquisition. First – startups are often strained for resources and people have to divide and conquer.

Acquisition 87

Acquisition Marketing CPA PPC 87

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success. Startup Metrics. Here’s why. Managing the Business.

Balance Sheet 298

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 298

The Next Web

DECEMBER 12, 2013

It’s important to constantly question traditional assumptions whenever new platforms arise, as it’s these disruptions which incumbents often fail to adopt, leaving room for innovative startups to spring ahead in new land-grab opportunities. So many commerce startups get it wrong – focusing on customers before community.”.

Mobile 136

Mobile Silicon Valley Viral Technical Review 136

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

This is part 1 of a 2-part series on domain names and startups; part 2 will be “ Build Your Startup on a Vacant Domain Name ”. A startup called Corpora made headlines for all the wrong reasons after tech bloggers ran an image search to find the company logo. credit: Wikipedia)). Facebook paid $8.5

Naming 114

Naming Semantic Venture Capital Startup 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2016

Every startup dreams of achieving that milestone, when they can focus more on scaling the business and enjoying their earnings, rather than fighting for another investment infusion. Startup productivity is embodied in key ratios, including low cost of customer acquisition, high retention, and high revenue per employee.

Revenue 145

Revenue Valuation Startup Viral 145

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

A post by Fred Wilson pointed me to Dave McClure's Startup Metrics presentation. This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. Startup Metrics for Pirates (SeedCamp, Sept 2009) View more documents from Dave McClure. We need to make sure we have these numbers. Great stuff.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 225

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Three of those have since been acquired and patents did not play a significant role in the acquisition process. If traction is the new IP, the question still remains if your startup should file a patent if you see an opportunity. Most startups have either been acquired by then or are in the deadpool.

IP 163

IP Technical Review B2C Social Network 163

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. Enjoy that first video interview at an industry conference, or the newspaper story which enhances your startup visibility and credibility. Appreciate the media accolades and peer success feedback.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Startup Viral 120

Early Growth Financial Services

AUGUST 27, 2013

We asked successful founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council to name some unusual—or at least lesser-known—customer acquisition strategies they’ve used recently to strong results. Try these ideas from the Young Entrepreneur Council. Here are some of their best answers. –Sunil Rajaraman, Scripted.com 2.

Acquisition 48

Acquisition Customer Viral Startup 48

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Over breakfast he got me up to date on his life since school (two non-CEO roles in startups,) but he wanted to talk about his third startup – the one he and two co-founders had started. In this first step, the goal of a startup is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Most startups die here.

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Top-line metrics are indicators of success, not the one bar to clear to raise funding for your startup. The main B2C benchmarks have to do with traction: growth in user acquisition, user retention/churn, monetisation, as well as the effectiveness of consumer marketing + virality. Benchmarks for deep tech startups.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Viral videos, personal anecdotes, and informal surveys would likely be counterproductive. Always gauge progress by business indicators, like customer acquisition cost and customer satisfaction. Social media is not all about being social, or treating everyone casually. Integrate social media into your overall marketing strategy.

Social Media 247

Social Media Media Reputation Viral 247

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Salesforce.com is a startup with 76,000 subscribers (over 2.1M I also joke with Reid Hoffman that this was back in the days before he was “Reid” Reid’s an incredible entrepreneur, startup investor, and human being. How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. May 26, 2011.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

The Equity Kicker

JULY 9, 2014

He lists the four (paid, viral, SEO, sales – for B2B) and then ‘other’ in which he says: There’s the odd partnership, like Yahoo/Google, that can help make or break a startup – but these are rare and situational. Startup general interest Uncategorized' But sometimes it happens!

Viral 122

Viral B2B Early Stage SEO 122

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

Getting the first tracks of revenue is one of the toughest processes of building a startup. One of the most commons problems I see with startups that I’ve come across is the lack of a “growth team.”. Your customer acquisition cost and lifetime value are the two magical numbers you need to calculate for each one of your campaigns.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60