Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2022

The challenge for each of you is to get it handled quickly and effectively, without losing the trust of constituents , as well as customers. Primarily for these reasons, I always recommend that new entrepreneurs and startups assemble a qualified Advisory Board or Board of Directors early in their lifecycle.

Leadership 345

Leadership Advisory Board Developer Silicon Valley 345

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Board Effect

MARCH 28, 2024

Custom workflows allow the board management software to become a project-management tool, with built-in approvals, notifications and reminders and easy linking to relevant resources. For example, foundations, event committees, medical executive committees, quality teams, advisory boards and leadership teams, to name but a few.

Software Review 52

Software Review Software Management West Virginia 52

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

I was in New York last week with my class at Columbia University and several events made me realize that the Customer Development model needs to better describe its fit with web-based businesses. In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers?

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 15, 2022

[17:21] When you talk about gatherings sometimes people just jump to big trade shows or events – but bringing your customers together for lunch could be a really simple way to gather, right? [20:02] And then one we like to call the sounding board, which is the small five to seven people. Same with events.

Community 82

Community Framework Advisory Board Viral 82

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 31, 2017

People who look for someone or some external event to blame for every setback are not likely to be resilient. I always recommend that a startup founder enlist an advisory board of three to five members, and I find that people who resist this help are not very resilient. Embrace the need to constantly innovate and change.

Advisory Board 120

Advisory Board Social Media Cofounder Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

As an entrepreneur, joining organizations or networking groups can allow you to connect with like-minded people who can provide you with information and support, and refer customers to you. As a member, you can attend a wide range of events and tap into the collective wisdom of the group's many experts.

Community 88

Community Architecture Entrepreneur Networking 88

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Brian Zuercher is the CEO and co-founder of Seen , a marketing software platform that is helping marketers tell the story of their brand and build relationships with their customers through consumer generated photos and videos. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Columbus 245

Columbus Entrepreneur Ohio Cofounder 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Every investor expects to see some traction, both before and after a funding event. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

Regardless of whether you’re seeking sponsorship for a product, event, book, or podcast, the overarching aim of attracting corporate sponsors remains the same: you need sponsors that engage your audience. Or you might create an event or course related to your product that sponsors can attach their names to. Asset valuation.

Audience 139

Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 14, 2008 How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people Frequency is more important than talking to the "right" customers, especially early on. Youll know when the person youre talking to is not a potential customer - they just wont understand what youre saying.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Brian Zuercher is the CEO and co-founder of Seen , a marketing software platform that is helping marketers tell the story of their brand and build relationships with their customers through consumer generated photos and videos. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Columbus 120

Columbus Entrepreneur Ohio Cofounder 120

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

When you get started (and you will! ), you will spend most of your time dealing with crises that never end and setting up meetings with current and future investors, customers, suppliers, and distributors. No, I'm not telling you to go to all of those events for networking. Valeant is a good example. Thanks to Kenny Kline, BarBend !

Entrepreneur 89

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Green Networking 89

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

The Lean Startup is a practical approach for creating and managing a new breed of company that excels in low-cost experimentation, rapid iteration, and true customer insight. If youre interested in being part of my "customer advisory board" for this presentation, please get in touch. I am extending it to all start-ups.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Web Advisory Board 68

BeyondVC

JANUARY 6, 2018

We built out our CXO advisory board and further cemented our Fortune 500 relationships to help our portfolio cos scale from “founder-market” fit to product market fit in an accelerated timeframe ( meet our advisors ). The talent base is improving, the customers are here, and the west coast VCs are paying attention.

Cloud 60

Cloud Cofounder Portfolio Advisory Board 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

So Leon and I have met numerous times, about marketing strategy and the music one is that developed after Chicago became a customer. He’s a conduit to it and first of all he’s a perfect customer for this. Gelie: And four times a year we do these big networking events where we get about 1,500 to 2,000 people attending.

Cofounder 199

Cofounder Technical Review Chicago Technical Cofounder 199

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 11, 2022

Running a business is hard But with a good referral program it doesn't have to be As a small business owner you are probably thinking about helping your current customer or trying to figure out how to increase sales. As a business owner myself, I know you just want your customers to be happy with their purchases.

Programming 87

Programming Small Business Advisory Board B2B 87

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2009

Each has its own iterative process: customer development and agile development respectively. Some startups avoid getting customer feedback for precisely this reason: they are afraid that if early reactions are negative, theyll be "forced" to abandon their vision. One such practice is to pivot from one vision to the next.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 167

andrewchenblog.com

MARCH 10, 2010

Check out my list of featured essays Talk to your target customer in 4 easy steps View Comments Answer this question honestly… When’s the last time you spoke to your target customer? It’s a good idea to balance out the data aspects, particularly if you are not your target customer. @AndrewChen New here?

Customer 42

Customer Advisory Board RSS Software Review 42

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups, and has worked as a consultant to a number of startups, companies, and venture capital firms. November 25, 2009 9:54 AM Danny Wong said.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

The Startup Magazine

MAY 28, 2019

Embargo is a loyalty and rewards platform that connects users to hundreds of London’s bars, restaurants, cafes and events and lets them enjoy thousands of perks and rewards at their fingertips – just for being loyal. They connected what has been disconnected for years and improved the relationship between the industry and its customers.

Advisory Board 90

Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Cofounder 90

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2013

Even if your startup is a one-man show, you can find an intelligent outside mentor or advisory board member to bounce ideas off. Meet customers online. Use Twitter and Facebook to make connections with clients, customers, and peers online. Work to keep up on your own hobbies, and participate in community action events.

Advisory Board 241

Advisory Board Entrepreneur Leadership Lean 241

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 14, 2019

Make sure you build your business to meet the needs of a specific niche to avoid overspending and underwhelming all of your potential customers. That passion will come through in everything you do, and your customers will appreciate and embrace the authenticity of your brand. NOT SATISFIED WITH THE GROWTH OF YOUR BUSINESS?

Angel Investor 85

Angel Investor Small Business Business Plan Intellectual Property 85

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

GLG Share members also attend our private events that bring together founders at similar stages with industry experts who lend perspective, experience, and insights around specific challenges and opportunities founders face. In that way, we see the value from both sides. It’s an organic part of the system, and looks different in each case.

New York 114

New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2014

I’m talking about volunteering to be on industry panels for visibility, participating in startup weekends for education, and talking to groups of distributors or potential customers on technology trends. Your presence in a booth to meet customers and vendors, and availability as a sponsor, will often keep you a step ahead of your competitors.

Small Business 251

Small Business Advisory Board Silicon Valley Boston 251

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 23, 2019

We look at how much value a gram of quantum dots will bring to the customer, and how big is that addressable market opportunity. What have you learned from other pitch events and/or tech conference? We have co-founders of QDVision and Innovalight, both nanocrystal technology companies that were acquired on our advisory board.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Startup Harvest Advisory Board 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2012

Even if your startup is a one-man show, you can find an intelligent outside mentor or advisory board member to bounce ideas off. Meet customers online. Use Twitter and Facebook to make connections with clients, customers, and peers online. Work to keep up on your own hobbies, and participate in community action events.

Advisory Board 244

Advisory Board Leadership Lean Restful 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now. Investors are looking for a concise description of your product or service without technical jargon or fuzzy marketing terms with value quantified in customer terms. What is your specific solution and value proposition?

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

As I’ve helped entrepreneurs find their own product-market fit and connected them to potential clients, investors, and Advisory Board members, I’ve spent a lot of time telling them about the “cool kids”. This is validated by the fact that their peers have elected them to Boards and Committees. it isn’t easy.

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Solution and benefits. Focus is the keyword here.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Even if your startup is a one-man show, you can find an intelligent outside mentor or advisory board member to bounce ideas off. Meet customers online. Use Twitter and Facebook to make connections with clients, customers, and peers online. Work to keep up on your own hobbies, and participate in community action events.

Advisory Board 210

Advisory Board Leadership Early Stage Lean 210

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 5, 2009

It’s important to invest in good architecture so that your website will scale once customers arrive. If you make that investment, and then customers arrive, and the site stays up, most companies will reward the people who built the architecture and, thus, prevented the scaling problems. How upset will those customers be?

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Architecture Lean Continuous Deployment 133

Feld Thoughts

APRIL 19, 2012

We have a straightforward meeting – a dinner for our advisory board the night before, drinks after for all LPs, our advisory board meeting first thing in the morning, and then the full meeting until lunch time. Just having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore.

Advisory Board 133

Advisory Board Vertical New York Community 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Terms like “every customer needs this” and “next generation platform” are far too soft, and should be avoided. This is not the place for a detailed product specification, but an explanation of how and why it works, including a customer-centric quantification of the benefits. Solution and benefits. Focus is the keyword here.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

signup, upgrade, trial pricing Zuora – online subscription management FeeFighters – find the cheapest credit card processors HealPay – Collections made easy Customer Support Tender – support, knowledgebase tool for your site GetSatisfaction - conversations between companies / customers.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110