SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. This post looks at the implementation details of HTML 5 video.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

This isn’t just about having a eureka moment; it’s about understanding the problem you’re solving and why it matters to your potential customers. Then, consider how you’ll reach your customers and what kind of relationship you want to build with them.

Intellectual Property 131

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Act big, behave small. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 240

Bootstrapping Merger Salary .Net 240

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 13, 2014

All of the above costs can be completely avoided or drastically minimized by a bit of creative bootstrapping with minimal investment to launch courtesy of the world wide web. GoDaddy also provides business email, as well as yearly web hosting. GoDaddy also provides business email, as well as yearly web hosting.

eCommerce 229

eCommerce Bootstrapping Social Media Hosting 229

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 23, 2023

He is the co-founder of Boast.ai, where he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company. Duct Tape Transcript Email Download New Tab John Jantsch (00:00): Hey, this is John, and before we get started, I have a gift for you for being such an amazing listener. Then another time was when we were bootstrapping both.

Community 53

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 53

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

Bootstrapping 101. I moderated a panel discussion last night on one of my favorite topics, bootstrapping, as part of our Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship Eminent Speaker Series at San Jose State. They have a standard presentation on bootstrapping, which they present around the country. Email This BlogThis!

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 7, 2015

Bootstrap + Mailchimp, both free). Ask them if they would like to be notified when you launch and if the answer is positive, put them on their emails on the list. Cold Emails. Cold emails work. Many mobile entrepreneurs got their first customers through direct emailing. Landing Page + AdWords Campaign.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Cofounder Application Development India 100

Austin Startup

APRIL 16, 2019

Whether you are bootstrapping or not, resourcefulness is as the heart of building a successful company. And that’s why one article on free tools for bootstrapping wasn’t enough?—?I’m Free Plan This gives you pretty much full functionality outside of pro support, customization of design elements and analytics. Ok, your turn?—?what

Bootstrapping 66

Bootstrapping Analytics Aggregator Email 66

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. They are gaining valuable customer data.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. What is bootstrapping? So, what does it mean to bootstrap a company? Bootstrapping involves launching a business on a low budget. Why bootstrap? Either way, bootstrapping is a viable model.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Bootstrapping your startup and finding low-cost CRM, marketing, design and everything else solutions isn’t easy, and can be downright overwhelming. Reset is bootstrapped currently, which not only means a lot of fun conversations about Accounting best practices but also finding ways to leverage the most bang for our buck at every turn.

Bootstrapping 58

Bootstrapping Cofounder Startup Email 58

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 16, 2009 Combining agile development with customer development Today I read an excellent blog post that I just had to share. The breakthrough idea of agile is that software should be built iteratively, with the pieces that customers value most created first. Enter Jims post.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

"We're going to use an affiliate program so our customers sell it for us.". We'll have an email address so people can communicate with us without picking up the phone.". some would be ready to become paying customers. Let's come up with more ways to reach customers that isn't the same as everyone else.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2020

Too many of you business owners think success only means being the next Amazon, or you stress yourself out trying to be everything to every customer. Keep the initial scope within bootstrapping limits. Be creative in negotiating work agreements with vendors and even initial customers. It’s good communication and good business.

Intellectual Property 313

Intellectual Property Small Business Administration Bootstrapping Differentiation 313

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

Many of the factors are not obvious and include building mystery to drive margin, why boring B2B companies often win but are challenging in other ways, how bootstrapping wins, integrating metrics from the start and many other similar lessons. What is our lifetime customer value and how can we drive that up?

Fractional CTO 175

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Social Network 175

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 25, 2023

In addition to providing customer care and assistance, a virtual assistant may also develop web pages or compose blog entries, administer email newsletters, carry out sales and marketing chores, generate sales leads, and conduct a variety of other jobs. Thanks to Carter Seuthe, Credit Summit ! #4-

Software Review 118

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 118

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Typically, people who are going to watch these videos are already customers or at the very bottom of the funnel. It’s a great way to bring value to your customers, but you’re missing out on the leverage that YouTube provides. We’re a bootstrapped company that started with more time than money. This part is the hardest.

Channel 129

Channel Metrics Algorithm Video 129

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

To determine whether freemium is right for you, do the simple math: Figure out how many paying customers you need to run the company. If you charge every user $50 and spend $10K to pay the business bills, you need at least 200 customers to break even. In our example, it’s 20K non-paying customers. Duolingo lingot store.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

Austin Startup

AUGUST 3, 2017

I talk to at least a dozen new entrepreneurs each week and probably review two dozen email pitches. If you contact me cold then we’re probably going to exchange a few emails before I invite you to meet in person (however, it’s worth noting that I still do take a lot of meetings this way). Do I like you and want to spend time with you?

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Startup Texas Email 69

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

Cold email and referrals have often been quite effective. Customer interviews allow you to uncover: Why they decided to do business with you; Why they love working with you; What other challenges they have in their business; Where they go for new information. Cash flow is a matter of life or death when bootstrapped and pre-funding.

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 7, 2012

If your small business or startup sends email newsletters or other email marketing campaigns, what is the best time of day to send those emails? Small Business Marketing: Best Times And Days To Send Email For Opens And Click-Throughs – [link]. Seth’s Blog: The cycle of customers who care - [link].

Social Media 104

Social Media Small Business Design Media 104

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

But, what constitutes success for the parties involved – investors, entrepreneurs, employees, and customers – can vary dramatically. Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow? Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow?   If the answer is relatively soon, then bootstrapping is a very serious consideration. 

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2013

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Act big, behave small. Do it yourself.

Equity 241

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Merger 241

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

Having turned down all overtures for investment, Zoho continues merrily on in its bootstrapping path. Parallel6 is already clocking over $1 million in revenue and is looking to enhance its customer acquisition and also raise some financing. If you have additional questions, please email me, and I would be very happy to respond.

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 10, 2020

You may have an intuitive website with flawless navigation but if the checkout process isn’t appealing to prospective customers, you’ll leave a lot of money on the table. At the minimum, get rid of unnecessary fields and steps along the checkout process that could get the customer changing their mind. Leverage Email Marketing.

eCommerce 147

eCommerce SMS Email Video 147

YoungUpstarts

MAY 29, 2017

by Rhonda Adams, president and founder of PlanningShop and author of “ Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies “ Small business owners never seem to have enough hours in the day to complete all the tasks on our to-do lists — developing new products, searching for new customers, training employees, closing the sale.

Bootstrapping 140

Bootstrapping Syndicate Syndication Small Business 140

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2018

Much of the writing on startups focuses on two elements: finding product-market fit scaling the company once #1 is accomplished For product-market fit, we have a lot of source material to work with from the last decade: Steve Blank’s leadership on Customer Development , and Eric Ries’ on the Lean Startup ?—?along Stanford’s CS183c?—?Blitzscaling

Warrant 48

Warrant Bootstrapping Framework Hiring 48

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

We create the best experience for creating personalized books, cards and calendars then our customers pay us for these products. We continually improve these experiences to build more value for our customers. In other words, advertisers pay to present special offers to our customers. – Ben Rubenstein , Yodle.

Business Model 133

Business Model Technical Review Advertising B2C 133

Haystack

JUNE 5, 2018

Not yet profitable but invaluable to developers worldwide, the decade-old company bootstrapped, differentiated from formidable competitors GitLab and Atlassian’s BitBucket, weathered leadership upheavals, and eventually ingested lots of venture capital which helped them weather the challenges they faced.

Acquisition 71

Acquisition Azure Open Source Seattle 71

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 17, 2013

Assemble an email blast. Conduct customer interviews. Here’s a look at what a founder should be able to do: Development. Write Code. Build a server. Design a splash page. Develop and track a funnel. Make decisions off cohort tracking. Become a Google analytics expert. Write a blog post. Deliver a keynote. Build Links.

Advisory Board 279

Advisory Board Balance Sheet Term Sheet Entrepreneur 279

SoCal CTO

APRIL 8, 2010

Death By Competitive Analysis - Steve Blank , March 1, 2010 Trading emails with a startup CEO building an iPhone app, I asked him why potential customers would buy his product. There are MANY of them. You might be surprised why this is the case. In response he sent me a competitive analysis.

Software Review 150

Software Review Startup PR Exit Strategy 150

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

As you’ve bootstrapped your business, you’ve had to synthesize a lot of new information, and you’ve had to frequently learn by doing. It should also have a trouble-free way for customers to read and write testimonials or reviews about the service or product you provide. In fact, it’s a huge advantage. Set up an online storefront….

Marketing 145

Marketing Social Media Reputation Small Business 145

Tim Keane

JUNE 19, 2012

.  For instance, I've recently written "Bill, I'd like you to consider talking to Ned at Newco who has an intriguing start up that's made some traction in the party planning/social media space as evidenced by some good stats on customer sign-up and early salres results. Signup for email updates. Enter your Email.

Milwaukee 79

Milwaukee Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 79

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

How do we know how much the customer will buy and how long it will take?  How big is the customer problem being solved? How do we know how much the customer will buy and how long it will take?  How big is the customer problem being solved? Signup for email updates. Enter your Email. April 2013.

Technical Cofounder 68

Technical Cofounder Wisconsin Cofounder IP 68

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Here’s an email I got last week: Hello Jason, I am a big fan of your advice and wanted to see if you could offer any advice for marketing my start-up XYZ. I was totally product focused for the last year and now it’s live, so I need to start thinking about finding some customers. Any advice will help.

Customer 279

Customer Software Review SEM Technical Review 279

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds. Friends, family and fools: [Email readers, continue here…] This term, although pejorative, describes the typical mix of early investors in a small, young growing business.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Subscribe by email. For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Second best are letters from future customers promising future business. . Get Gust by Email. Invested Interests. June 17th, 2012.

Startup 180

Startup Forecast Angel Investor Software 180