Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

For a business, you must define the absolute minimum features you need to satisfy the customer problem, and test it in the market. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Get a real customer and real revenue.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2013

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. A business model that works.

Sweat Equity 251

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 251

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Tell a real customer story. When possible, open your pitch by telling a real customer story that addresses the problem your product or service solves in the marketplace. Instead, use real names and real customer challenges. Outline your business model. Customers pay by the hour or by the day. Serves U.S.,

Sweat Equity 122

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Elevator Pitch Forecast 122

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2012

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. A business model that works.

Sweat Equity 256

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Viral 256

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 2, 2016

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Startup Viral 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Just because your technology is exciting and potentially disruptive doesn’t mean you are ready to build a business. Investors want to hear about customers with money who have a painful problem that you can solve now. How does your business model make money? Quantify founder investments, both cash and sweat-equity.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Austin Startup

JANUARY 30, 2020

We made it from nothing, built it up with sweat equity, do everything in our means to make this thing grow, and wait to see what happens. Learned that on-boarding people onto an app for a service they already use is WAY harder than it seems, and there’s a real risk of losing customers if done incorrectly.

Sweat Equity 63

Sweat Equity B2B B2C Business Model 63

Up and Running

JUNE 23, 2015

The business model is innovative and unique, and the business itself serves as a fantastic “how to” example for entrepreneurs looking to start a social, mission-driven business. “It took an enormous investment of sweat equity on both our parts,” Allyson admits. Always be learning.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Sweat Equity Social Media Business Model 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2015

That’s why all those so-called million dollar ideas I hear about as an investor don’t get me excited, and entrepreneurs find that working twenty hours a day often generates nothing more than sweat, instead of the desired sweat equity. Here are five key ones to celebrate: Enjoy the feedback from every satisfied customer.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Salary Viral Leadership 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Those at the other extreme don’t look up from the grindstone long enough to notice whether all their work is producing sweat equity or just sweat. Starting a business may be fun, but it’s not easy. Truly satisfied customers are a joy to every business person. A business model that works.

Sweat Equity 222

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Viral Salary 222

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. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Up and Running

JANUARY 24, 2014

Tell a real customer story. When possible, open your pitch by telling a real customer story that addresses the problem your product or service solves in the marketplace. Instead, use real names and real customer challenges. Outline your business model. Customers pay by the hour or by the day.

Sweat Equity 138

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Forecast Business Model 138

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. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

Sweat Equity. “I I only had a handful of money in my bank to start my business with, which was just enough to get a cheap virtual server and my domain name. Stick to what you know, reinvest the profits into growing the business, and train people on your methodology.” – Nick Chasinov , Teknicks.

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

Gust

AUGUST 5, 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. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 182

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 182

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2010

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. Explain the business model.

Business Plan 186

Business Plan Exit Strategy Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 186

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

An entrepreneur starts a company in classic " bootstrap " fashion - with a combination of sweat equity and their own financial resources. The angel then introduces the entrepreneur to his or her wealthy friends and business connections who, based on the good reputation of the referring angel, also invest.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

grasshopperherder.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Piercing the Corporate Veil – Sweat Equity Consulting. But much like becoming a co-founder, getting paid sweat equity is essentially becoming an investor in the company. If you did, why would you be consulting for sweat equity instead of investing as a VC or for yourself? GrasshopperHerder.com.

Sweat Equity 41

Sweat Equity Equity Cofounder Non-Compete 41

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

There is an inherent conflict in a consultant’s business model and the needs of a startup. Tracking such revenue can be a challenge but is possible to approximate the revenue impact of PR activities via the use of unique URLs, customer surveys, etc. Yet, it does nothing to help you execute your business model.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

grasshopperherder.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2011

Q: “What will be your best channel for customer acquisition?&# If I can steal your idea by just hearing it, there is no defensible business model there. How many customers have you spoken to? If you’re waiting for a marketing guy to talk to customers, you’ll never understand the target market.

Cofounder 47

Cofounder NDA Founder Sweat Equity 47

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

The negativity either impacted investment funding (venture capital fell off a cliff in 2009) or the customers they were targeted as was the case for Untitled Partners who were building a platform for fractional art ownership. I don’t know about you, but my favorite part about startups is talking about new products and new business ideas.

Cofounder 89

Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 89

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? It’s only human for the entrepreneur to want to retain as much equity as possible and for the investor to want to minimize risk.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Valuation Sweat Equity Common Stock 60

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Don’t exacerbate the issue by needing to figure out how to deal with a large equity deadweight on your hands (investors won’t like that the #2 stakeholder is absent, even estranged, from your company). So, the best way of dealing with this issue is to take a long, long vesting period for all major sweat equity founders.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

Small Business Force

OCTOBER 14, 2016

You have to articulate the problem you’re solving or the unmet need you’re addressing for what customer set, right up front. Then, you need to describe what your business model is, i.e., why, how and how much that customer set will pay you to solve the identified problem or the unmet need.

Sweat Equity 20

Sweat Equity Private Equity Valuation Equity 20

sivers.org

JUNE 25, 2010

Also important: Only go for providers who have great reviews from many past customers. The programmer will probably not understand your business model, and therefore cant help you point out anything that doesnt make sense in the requirements. Or if prototype is good enough to sell, sell it to customers. Insightful.

CTO Hire 84

CTO Hire Hiring Software Review Technical Review 84