Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

How do we differentiate between B2B start-ups that sell to many vs. sell to a few? 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. Sell to few”: Traditional enterprise sales.

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 15, 2022

I think B2B companies in particular have probably been slower to come to this idea. B2B companies I think are probably the greatest untapped opportunity right now. And I think it's coming around, I think the problem that B2B is gonna have is actually executing it. Whereas b2c, I mean m and MS has had a, has a community, right?

Community 82

Community Framework Advisory Board Viral 82

ConversionXL

APRIL 4, 2017

When Does Paid Acquisition Work for SaaS Startups? Virality and Referral. Virality is the key lever of many of the most famous growth examples: Dropbox, Uber, Facebook, Hotmail. If, for every customer you acquire, you can acquire 1-10 more with viral loops , you can spend a lot more on acquiring that first customer, right?

Channel 118

Channel Marketing Viral SEO 118

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Duct Tape Marketing

MARCH 17, 2023

How To Scale Your B2B Marketing Strategy written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Louis Gudema In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Louis Gudema. Louis is a fractional CMO for B2B companies, and mentors startups at MIT. And I, that's really my expertise.

B2B 82

B2B Marketing B2C ChatGPT 82

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JANUARY 10, 2011

Let’s make this concrete with a brand-new, modern startup. Pet owners who like the cards will look on the back to see how to order some of their own, and suddenly you have a viral marketing campaign that cost you lots of initial legwork calling vets but not a lot of money. Working the pain in B2B. Launching Doggie Cards.

Software Review 232

Software Review Technical Review .Net Design 232

View from Seed

AUGUST 30, 2016

For those of us that have been working in the startup and technology space for at least the past 10 years, these addresses mean two things. Despite that data, we don’t compete in one of the largest opportunities (in terms of sheer number of people using the product) that the startup and technology world has to offer. 1 Hacker Way.

Social Media 185

Social Media B2B North America Media 185

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 18, 2012

In today’s web landscape, word of mouth drives adoption and can lead to “winner takes all” (or almost all) in both B2C and B2B markets. 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 13, 2019

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media should be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 199

Social Media Media Analytics Viral 199

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Should you be buying key words from search engines, building fabulous web content, blasting out e-mail campaigns, or putting all your efforts into viral videos or social media? For young consumers today, it may be Instagram or Snapchat, while B2B offerings should take a hard look at LinkedIn and other business forums.

Marketing 240

Marketing Viral Channel Metrics 240

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2012

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media should be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 238

Social Media Media Cost Startup 238

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

For B2B environments, consider who makes the buy decisions. Viral videos, personal anecdotes, and informal surveys would likely be counterproductive. Snapchat is almost exclusively a young person’s hangout, but you will likely find consumers of all ages on Facebook and Twitter. Approach influencers and key stakeholders appropriately.

Social Media 247

Social Media Media Reputation Viral 247

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2017

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media may be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 147

Social Media Media B2B Analytics 147

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2017

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media should be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 166

Social Media Media Cost Analytics 166

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media should be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 252

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 252

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

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

From there, I became the first non-founder employee at an e-commerce startup called BITSource, which was the first electronic software distributor delivering electronic volume software licenses to corporations. It was also beneficial because I got some good experience with both B2B and B2C business models. What are you working on now?

Management 150

Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 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. Why do people think growth hacking in marketing is controversial? Growth marketing was born out of necessity.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

However, depending on the product you’re offering, the freemium model can work well for business-to-business (B2B) companies, and especially well for B2VSB (business-to-very-small-business) companies. The post 6 Ways To Make Freemium Work For B2B Products appeared first on ReadWrite. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

B2B 60

B2B Product Small Business Administration SBA 60

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” What’s more difficult than building one successful startup? Try building 50 successful startups. entrepreneur funding hperlocal startup'

Finder 210

Finder Curation Seattle Community 210

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. 2) B2B startups have high margins. Many serial entrepreneurs tend to gravitate towards building B2B startups. don’t think about at all.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. 2) B2B startups have high margins. Many serial entrepreneurs tend to gravitate towards building B2B startups. don’t think about at all.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Rob Go

JANUARY 12, 2015

Prices in the startup world are relatively high. Traction for Consumer, Team for B2B. A more sophisticated answer to this question is that broadly speaking, you want to pay up for traction over team in consumer, and overpay for team with less traction in B2B. As an early stage investor, should you pay up for team or traction?

B2B 28

B2B Early Stage Distribution Software Review 28

This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 23, 2012

I have one failed attempt at a startup under my belt as a founder and I don't have any particularly usable skills that anyone would pay for like selling, designing, building, etc. Conferences, startup blogs, meetups--they're all filled with people telling you how to build your company. Most startups fail.

Startup 160

Startup Lean Venture Capital Mobile 160

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2015

Prices in the startup world are relatively high. Traction for Consumer, Team for B2B. A more sophisticated answer to this question is that, broadly speaking, you want to pay up for traction over team in consumer and overpay for team with less traction in B2B. It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage B2B Distribution Early Stage 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 23, 2013

I wish the modern startup community would understand the mindset that gets a company to this point, and resist it. Use viral growth to offset cancellations. Few B2B companies can truly claim “viral growth” characteristics. The mindset works like this: It costs a lot of money to land an enterprise customer.

Business Model 335

Business Model .Net Revenue IPO 335

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré , a B2B SaaS consultant, lamented that. startups want to launch their products without at least trying to language-market fit. Unless you have the most viral, sticky product ever,” Woodhead noted, “there’s a bit of ‘coming over the hill’ with analytics, and you hope for a soft landing.

Product 110

Product Campaign Acquisition Social Media 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2011

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. If your business is industrial B2B products, social media should be low on your list. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive.

Social Media 232

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Analytics 232

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 5, 2018

This is especially true for B2B companies, for which LinkedIn is a vital clearinghouse of information. You’ll never go viral if you stick to safe, hidebound content. The post 6 LinkedIn Marketing Mistakes You’re Probably Making Right Now appeared first on The Startup Magazine. Failing to Dress Up Your Company Profile.

Marketing 84

Marketing Social Media Metrics Viral 84

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

This includes thinking through what milestones the startups will need to hit to make them attractive for an A round and ensuring there is real plan with enough cash (typically 18 mos) and runway to get there. In industry terms, this means we looks for companies that have a high viral coefficient.

Seed Stage 110

Seed Stage Agile Viral API 110

ConversionXL

MARCH 28, 2014

Even though the video may contain some of these elements, an explainer video is NOT specifically: A Viral video. I’d also recommend you check out Startup-Videos.com if you want to find a specific style of startup video. A Tutorial. A Company Overview. Or A Product Demonstration. Why Should We Use An Explainer Video?

Video 122

Video Software Review Cofounder Metrics 122

Hippoland

OCTOBER 16, 2016

If your startup is in this category, you’ll need to craft a story around: Hypergrowth How this hyper growth is happening organically? Do you have virality built into the product? These are products that can and should generate revenue right out of the gates in both B2B and consumer ideas.

Startup 48

Startup Vertical Early Stage Bootstrapping 48

The Startup Toolkit

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vision for B2B, sales-driven technology. Vision for B2C, virality-driven community. On the other hand, maybe we can move somewhere less rainy than London… One of the first pieces of startup advice I ever got was to “Never take money from a virgin investor.” 40% dilution for full round (roughly $2mm pre-money).

Term Sheet 31

Term Sheet Dilution Participating Preferred B2C 31

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

Sales are the bloodstream for most businesses, and tech startups are no exception. However, figuring out the way your startup should make money could be challenging, especially for us left­-brained founders. However, figuring out the way your startup should make money could be challenging, especially for us left­-brained founders.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Duct Tape Marketing

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

So I've been bene type for about a year, and one of the reasons why I joined Typeform was, was that early on, a lot of times startups don't think about that until they Sure. And then they come check us out, and then like, Hey, so we have a pretty good viral product led growth experience as well for us internally. And the Met go, right?

Marketing 75

Marketing Differentiation B2C PR 75

ConversionXL

JANUARY 31, 2014

note: If you’re a startup, you’ll want to use customer development questions for your page to resonate with future traffic). Sidetrack: What Are The Elements of a Viral Pre-Launch Page? One great place to find great explainer video producers is Startup-Videos.com (just in case you were interested).

Analytics 134

Analytics Video Matching Conversion 134

Brandanew

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

You must have seen those viral “what happens next will blow your mind” links. Sensationalist headline news may work for entertainment seekers but they may not work the same way with a more corporate B2B audience. However, being clear does not mean giving away everything. Avoid cliches.

Viral 100

Viral B2B Audience Social Network 100