Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

I'm in Dublin this week and was at the Halo Business Angel Network meeting on Monday evening. All of us like leaders of ventures who:  Have a passion for the customer, and a deep understanding of the customer's business.  business model to reduce hypotheses to facts. April 2013.

Ireland 60

Ireland Wisconsin Angel Groups Bootstrapping 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 11, 2013

.  Sales goals have to involve first hand knowledge of the possible (how often people will buy, how much, what the demand is, why, etc.)  coupled with an ongoing creativity about solving customer problems to win the order. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. Google Ads.

Wisconsin 89

Wisconsin Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 89

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 8, 2012

.  The company prepared, as I recall, several million labels for their big customer (really their only customer) a major retailer based in the midwest.   What RTMS missed was that instead of the boolean logic selecting the top 2MM customers , it had selected a random 2MM customers.

Wisconsin 68

Wisconsin Entrepreneur Illinois Startup 68

Tim Keane

MAY 27, 2010

.   We had a customer and a value proposition.   We were fortunate enough to have customers like Boston Store, Carson’s, Penney’s, Sears, GNC – and they loved our exceptional customer service and ability to deliver a better value to their customers – and more sales and customer satisfaction to them.

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Startup America Employee 60

Tim Keane

JUNE 21, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan. First develop a business model. " "What are your assumptions about how long it will take to get customers?" " "Where do you expect to find these customers?" Sales to segment A will be $500 per customer.

Forecast 68

Forecast Business Plan Sales Wisconsin 68

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 4, 2010

If your business sells to a quantifiable and identifiable group of business customers who are in the tens of thousands, or less, there's really no reason not to individually identify every one of them and track all of your contacts with them.  Any former customers from other places now working there?

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Marketing Angel Investor Startup 60

Tim Keane

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

(OVP Venture Partners) My own take on this is that a business plan with a bottom up forecast demonstrates an understanding of the potential market that investors love.  It welcomes feedback from potential customers and experts, reduces the cost and risk of the startup and can potentially drive success quickly.    Why?) 

Marketing 116

Marketing Wisconsin Startup Angel Investor 116

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009

 They take risks, create opportunities, satisfy customers - the list goes on.  They take risks, create opportunities, satisfy customers - the list goes on. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. " Entrepreneurs represent the best of America. Resources for startups.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 60

Tim Keane

MARCH 24, 2008

You (the entrepreneur and founder of this "company") hire a call center to take calls from customers who want an inexpensive medical diagnosis. Of course, in the interest of being a low cost provider, your call center is staffed by folks with a good customer service orientation, but no medical training. Ridiculous?

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 60

Tim Keane

JUNE 8, 2009

  In my case, in the first company, it was early customer selling that provided the startup cash.  These companies find capital primarily by finding customers and understanding trade-offs.    They get a purchase order, open for business, begin working on projects to generate cash, or in a thousand other ways.  

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Bootstrapping Angel Investor Startup 60

Tim Keane

JULY 20, 2007

Is Business Model Analysis Important To You? I was in Italy a couple of weeks ago at the request of the US State Department to discuss angel investing with IBAN, the Italian Business Angels Network. The most important person in the business is the customer. » July 20, 2007. Thoughts for New Angels.

Italy 60

Italy Angel Investor Wisconsin Harvest 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2012

.  That is, when we think a company primarily has "execution risk," do we mean that they're facing scientific and technical hurdles to achieve results, or do we mean that they are facing the risk of selling to their market, or of delivering a product to customers who've bought? Resources for startups. Google Ads.

Technology 74

Technology Marketing Intellectual Property Montana 74

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

3]   However, if they are built bottom up, they demonstrate and make explicit a range of business model assumptions the entrepreneur is using to think about his business and its revenue model. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. Resources for startups.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 3, 2007

« Is Business Model Analysis Important To You? It means that the entrepreneur hasnt done the hard work of figuring out a business model at a detailed level, nor allocated the total investment required to achieve their goals. The faster you can see repeatability from customers on the scale you estimated, the better.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Marketing Business Model IP 60

Tim Keane

JULY 16, 2008

Use your business model to build an early warning system. A business model reveals how the business plans to make money. It incorporates all of the assumptions you are making about your business. If the business model is proven and the input of cash at this level will create real growth, fine.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Startup Angel Investor Business Model 60

Tim Keane

JANUARY 14, 2009

" In some ways this is analogous to bootstrapping, where the first principle really is "go ask the potential customer if they like what you want to do."  " In some ways this is analogous to bootstrapping, where the first principle really is "go ask the potential customer if they like what you want to do." 

Advisory Board 60

Advisory Board Wisconsin Bootstrapping Angel Investor 60

Tim Keane

APRIL 14, 2008

Can we quantify success in terms of calls, visits, customer sizes, and so forth? Can we produce a market map to track what our customers want, and from whom they are getting it? Can we quantify success in terms of calls, visits, customer sizes, and so forth? Resources for startups. Angel Capital Association website. Google Ads.

Ireland 60

Ireland Wisconsin Forecast Sales Cycle 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 11, 2006

  Telling a customer you are busy--when you aren't 2.    Telling a potential business partner you are close to signing with his competitor -- when you aren't 5.    Being busy and prioritizing work based on customer criteria -- and raising prices 2.  Google Ads.

Term Sheet 60

Term Sheet Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping 60

Tim Keane

MAY 2, 2006

The company cannot get the pulse of the market into the product cycle and make the rapid, instinctive changes and improvements that come from customer contact if the customer contact is relegated to a “function” on the team. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. Google Ads.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Early Stage 60

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

In a lot of startups (especially good ones) the founder/CEO/leader is a customer-oriented sales person. Because of the virtuous feedback loop right at the center of the company, innovations for customer benefit come more rapidly. Even with bumps along the way, the major customer facing components add up to more and more success.

Harvest 60

Harvest LBO Investment Bankers Wisconsin 60

Tim Keane

OCTOBER 30, 2007

In entrepreneurial businesses, especially new ventures, investors often focus on these broad, strategic themes. They would like businesses solving “big hairy problems” of real value to the customer. We used that information for a lot of our customers. We used that information for a lot of our customers.

Wisconsin 68

Wisconsin Architecture Startup IP 68

Tim Keane

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006

They understand their customers and the market the customers live in. They get the idea of value creation, of delivering more for the customer than they promise. Sometimes the leader caves in to the customer. This is easy to do when the customer is big and you are small and knows you are starting out.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Distribution 60

Tim Keane

MAY 9, 2006

The entrepreneur has the opportunity to master the intricacies of his business process; his customers minute but important expectations; venture financing; people management. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. The list goes on. The list goes on. Resources for startups.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Startup 60

Tim Keane

JUNE 22, 2006

For instance, if a business plan with a sound idea is interesting, it may be valued at or below $1MM. If, however, the basic business assumptions that would make the idea interesting are proven to be achievable, the value may well leap to $2MM. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model.

Valuation 60

Valuation Wisconsin Angel Investor Startup 60

Tim Keane

MAY 8, 2006

" Possible answers might be prototypes, market tests, potential customer testimonials, or some combination of these and other factors. " Possible answers might be prototypes, market tests, potential customer testimonials, or some combination of these and other factors. Resources for startups. Google Ads.

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor Wisconsin Bootstrapping Startup 60

Tim Keane

JUNE 13, 2006

Then, on the expense side, I’d like to begin to understand how the growth in the business will drive costs as complexity increases. Growth involves, in many businesses, more customer service, product development, support, marketing and so forth – in addition to more R&D. This takes a lot of risk out of the business process.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor 60

Tim Keane

MAY 18, 2006

« Anticipating The Customers Needs | Main. John Mullins: Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. John Mullins: The New Business Road Test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan (Financial Times Series). Startups and angels: Along the way to success.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 60

Tim Keane

APRIL 24, 2006

Create a culture in your company that is focused on the customer, rather than on the technology. A Business Needs Sustainable Intellectual Capital to sustain the business. Create a culture in your company that is focused on the customer, rather than on the technology. Technology doesn’t win; products win. Google Ads.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Venture Capital 60

Tim Keane

APRIL 12, 2006

Are you able to explain why your product is a compelling purchase for the customer, and how the customer will make buying decisions? What development stage is your primary business focus? Are you able to explain why your product is a compelling purchase for the customer, and how the customer will make buying decisions?

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Valuation Sweat Equity Common Stock 60