Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. The most common failures are solutions looking for a problem, lack of a defined market, or an inadequate revenue model. Target market. Target market.

Business Model 256

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2019

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. In fact, businesses need to adapt even more completely to the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers. The future of your business these days depends on it.

Customer 213

Customer Technical Review Social Media Social Network 213

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Every new business quickly realizes that revenue coming in every period on a committed basis is the Holy Grail to survival and growth. Based on traditional research, getting new customers is five to ten times harder than getting additional revenue from existing customers. Front-of-the-line model. Network model.

Business Model 294

Business Model Startup Cloud Curation 294

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2023

Solution and business model innovation require pushing the limits. Focus on the customer for repeated success. The basic premise is that if a startup expects paying customers to use its products or services, it should expect no less from its own team. A business model is not an after-thought.

Technical Review 229

Technical Review Due Diligence Business Model Demand 229

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2014

The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. Of course, one sale isn’t really enough, so you need to get the first customer to recommend you to a second, and make sure the rate of sales ramps up quickly enough to keep the business alive and growing.

Business Model 248

Business Model Sales Customer Distribution 248

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

Today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making a decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process.

Customer 340

Customer Sales Business Model Social Media 340

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

For success these days, the purpose better focus on people, and solve a real problem for customers. Building successful businesses still requires the ability to find and inspire the best people who “have what you haven't,” whether that be skills, knowledge, connections, or funding. Master-mind alliance. Imagination. Enthusiasm.

Technical Review 297

Technical Review Angel Investor Differentiation Business Model 297

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2023

People respond to positives, such as new growth, versus problems implying costs and loss of customers. Also, being transparent in business and open with communication breeds trust. In every business, trust is the foundation of great teamwork, especially in dealing with constraints and challenges.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Partner Matching Channel 277

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

So here are my own top recommendations on how to think about your business aspirations, and put innovation in perspective among all the other priorities you will need to achieve success and satisfaction with your role on the road ahead. We are looking for people who can lead a team and turn any idea into a business.

Artificial Inteligence 286

Artificial Inteligence Technology Leadership Business Model 286

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2022

As a startup advisor, I see too many entrepreneurs get distracted by technology or their favorite cause, and then wonder why they can’t find an investor, attract customers, or build a long-term business. Customers now put big value on experience, social impact, empowerment, and feedback.

Customer 258

Customer Advertising Cost Networking 258

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

Most business professionals I know have been conditioned to think of inflation as highly negative, driving up their costs, and reducing customer buying. I see it as an opportunity to find new ways to attract customers , make long-needed changes to improve productivity, and lower your own costs of doing business.

Technical Review 239

Technical Review Revenue Social Media Cost 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

For example, a while back a passionate entrepreneur approached me with an innovative solution for reducing world hunger, but hadn’t focused on the fact that hungry people often don’t have any money, and governments are not easy customers. Solutions and inventions alone do not make a business.

Technical Review 201

Technical Review Government Agile Differentiation 201

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2020

Solution and business model innovation require pushing the limits. Focus on the customer for repeated success. The basic premise is that if a startup expects paying customers to use its products or services, it should expect no less from its own team. A business model is not an after-thought.

Technical Review 324

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Business Model 324

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2013

Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. In fact, businesses need to adapt just as completely to the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business.

Customer 251

Customer Technical Review Startup Social Media 251

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2020

He lays out seven thinking strategies for both entrepreneurs and employees that will make them business winners: Focus on the customers at all times. Corporate thinkers often become preoccupied with doing their jobs and following rules, not pleasing customers. Think like your ideal customer seeking value.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Business Model Employee Sales 294

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

Having only a large capital base and distribution channels, with no innovation, is not a sustainable business model. Non-industrial large organizations cling to outdated business models. The new corporate model is a distributed entrepreneurial model. Competitive advantages are rapidly vaporizing on these.

Artificial Inteligence 315

Artificial Inteligence Offshore Merger Technical Review 315

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2022

Today more than ever, the evidence is clear that business people need to find and communicate a purpose that goes beyond making a profit, in order to ensure customer engagement, as well as your own, and drive results in the marketplace. As you grow, so will your team and customers.

Technical Review 357

Technical Review Green Social Media Lean 357

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Implement a modern real business model.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business. In other words, inventions are necessary but not sufficient to create real value for investors and customers. Here are some reality checks you should apply: It takes a business team to build a business.

Technical Review 391

Technical Review Intellectual Property Early Stage Global 391

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

The discipline of writing down your plan is the best way to make sure you understand how to transform your idea into a business, and how to communicate it. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Don’t get caught in the myth that you shouldn’t worry about monetization until after you have a large customer base.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. Kristin Zhivago, in her new book “ Roadmap to Revenue ,” makes the point that the selling system is broken, since sellers no longer sell the way customers are buying. The best way to do this is with real customer interviews.

Customer 242

Customer Technical Review Business Model Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Providing business leadership is a challenge under the best of circumstances, but it is especially difficult in times of market and customer crises. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic caught every company, large and small, off guard, and at least a third of small businesses did not survive. Make sure your team trusts you today.

Leadership 305

Leadership Business Model Customer Small Business 305

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

These can be as simple as how to handle customer over-payments, or more complex in how to handle the choices every employee may face between conflicting customer and company interests. Business ethics are best left to philosophers and academics. This is usually an excuse for not developing ethical policies and practices.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2023

No matter how well your business seems to have worked for you up to this point, you can be certain that it will need to be heavily transformed for tomorrow’s new world-wide economy and no industry sector boundaries. In my experience, there are still only a few people who like to read numbers and understand them, aside from data analysts.

Partner 350

Partner Operations Metrics Leadership 350

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

For success these days, the purpose better focus on people, and solve a real problem for customers. Building successful businesses still requires the ability to find and inspire the best people who “have what you haven't,” whether that be skills, knowledge, connections, or funding. Master-mind alliance. Imagination. Enthusiasm.

Technical Review 315

Technical Review Angel Investor Differentiation Business Model 315

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

I suggest looking for painful problems to solve, rather than “easier to use” or “nice to have” solutions, for customers with money. Customers line up to believe and buy from people who are viewed as leaders or experts relative to a specific solution. Collaborate with customers to tune your solution.

Merger 386

Merger Acquisition Software Review Social Media 386

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Think of Blockbuster and Toys ‘R’ Us , both of whom missed customer changes and the move to online. Create an overt strategy to react to emerging customer trends. Remember when you were a startup?

Customer 359

Customer Institutional Investors Channel Acquisition 359

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

The real milestone, proving the business model, is that first product sold for full price to a total stranger, leaving him happy. Of course, one sale isn’t really enough, so you need to get the first customer to recommend you to a second, and make sure rate of sales ramps up quickly enough to keep the business alive and growing.

Business Model 244

Business Model Sales Customer Distribution 244

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Investor due diligence on a startup is not a mysterious black art, but is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan.

Technical Review 345

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 345

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2013

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. So how do you go about proving the business model?

Business Model 235

Business Model Product Advisory Board Angel Investor 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Customer relationships.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors. A proven business model, ready to scale, is particularly attractive.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278