YoungUpstarts

MAY 3, 2017

From product development to market research, many startups are one-person operations in their early days. Even as their teams grow, entrepreneurs often feel that they must tend to every aspect of the business, including low-level tasks that distract from revenue-generating activity. Wearing Your Many Hats With Style.

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Management Arizona Software Review 113

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

To create this first year in business checklist, I turned to our in-house experts here at Palo Alto Software: Sabrina Parsons, CEO; Noah Parsons, COO; Josh Cochrane, Vice President of Product Development; and Josh Fegles, Academic and Government Channel Sales Director, and founder of gluten-free cookie company Jude’s Foods.

Forecast 60

Forecast Software Review Lean Finance 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

Product development. Now that you have a refined product idea and a team that can turn this idea into reality, the product development stage will start. Initial product development usually consists of prototyping and MVP. Prototyping usually means the initial working draft of the product idea.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

In many cases, your advisor will identify key employees and create a business plan to help you find a buyer and negotiate the best price possible. If all else fails, your advisor may be able to salvage the sale by reengaging other interested parties. Creating a business plan. Preparing for the sale.

Merger 133

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 133

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Exactly three months after its $48 Million funding announcement, Smooth-Stone today detailed its company momentum, including significant new executive hires, new office space and renaming the company. Bob Baughman, previously with Polycom and Marvell, as Vice President of Business Development and Sales.

Naming 59

Naming Hiring Technical Review Virginia 59

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Most entrepreneurs are mavericks, and their passion drove their new business. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 244

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 244

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

These founders specify, design, and build a fully featured product using classic product development methods without ever leaving their building. Traditionally, engineering, sales, and marketing have all focused on the immovable launch date. Writing a business plan that doesn’t allow for trial and error.

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Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Up and Running

APRIL 12, 2018

Your business also has fluctuating expenses. Things like product development, materials and packaging, performance-based bonuses, and more. Once you have an understanding and a thorough list of your expenses, put that aside and figure out the next steps for your business. Communication (telephone, internet).

Forecast 77

Forecast Early Stage Software Review Technical Review 77

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. In contrast, sales and marketing activities before first customer ship are adhoc, fuzzy, and don’t have measurable, concrete objectives. Freemium models have their own scorekeeping.)

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 228

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2018

Schramm, author of “ Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do “ If I asked you to describe the prototypical successful entrepreneur, you may share a story mythologized in our culture of a brilliant young man with an idea so good and so disruptive that he just can’t waste any time finishing college.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley Forecast Venture Capital Business Plan 157

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Most entrepreneurs are mavericks, and their passion drove their new business. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 141

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 141

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Notice that the traditional product introduction model leads to a product launch and the execution of a revenue plan. The revenue numbers and revenue model came from a startups original Business Plan. that make up a business model. The half-life of the first VP of sales of a startup is ~18 months.).

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Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 251

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Most entrepreneurs are mavericks, and their passion drove their new business. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 240

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 240

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Product development process. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. Manage human resources.

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Hiring is a chapter unto itself, but it deserves to lead off any discussion of context. Compensation decisions obviously affect hiring and retention. You can’t be too careful in determining comp packages for your new hires. Your original business plan will probably go out the window when you land your first customer.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 25, 2012

Hire With Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams by Lou Adler. Read through this great book to better understand why performance-based hiring could be the best choice for filling your business with great employees. A great product is meaningless if you can’t sell it. Marketing.

Merger 228

Merger Leadership Design Management 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Product development process. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. Manage human resources.

Institutional Investors 230

Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping Database 230

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Most entrepreneurs are mavericks, and their passion drove their new business. Growth is more than simply repackaging existing products, and adding bells and whistles or slick incentives. Hire more help than helpers.

Mezzanine 120

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 120

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Look, if you work in sales, wanna learn how to sell, and frankly who doesn't check out the sales podcast, where host Will Barron helps sales professionals learn how to find buyers and win big business ineffective and ethical ways. You know, could you look at my business plan? How do people find you?

San Francisco 95

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Product development process. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. Manage human resources.

Startup 255

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 255

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2013

Incorporate your startup after the business plan, but before you spend a dollar on product development. In addition, corporations have quarterly filing requirements, and even monthly ones, if you collect sales taxes and hire employees. Upgrade your business entity as required. But don’t be misled.

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LLC Nevada Delaware Limited Liability Company 234

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 30, 2010

While it has been time-consuming, the market research, retailer meetings and focus groups with consumers has driven us to iterate in this way and we believe we have a much more realistic, and great business proposition in front of us. While we have plenty of materials to show you (including business plan, financials, design mockups, etc.)

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital Later Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Product development process. Measure yourself against a researched plan, or your “out of cash” brick wall will be looming before you know it. Manage human resources.

Startup 239

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 239

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Most likely, your business plan is loaded with opinions and guesses, sprinkled with a dash of vision and hope. Customer development is a parallel process to product development, which means that you dont have to give up on your dream. Focus is on the business fundamentals that you need to get right.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Steve Blank

JANUARY 10, 2011

The VP of an operating division had run into trouble in product development; the product was late and getting later. The revenue plan had the new product baked into the numbers and it was clear that this division General Manager was going to crater his forecast (happens all the time, nothing new here.)

Forecast 268

Forecast Agile Revenue Founder 268

Business Plan Blog

DECEMBER 10, 2013

Below are the milestones that you will need to achieve in order to attract seed investment from Angels: Business Plan. A major piece of the business plan will be your capitalization strategy demonstrating the milestone timeline discussed above as well as the effects of accomplished milestones on the company’s future valuation.

Angel Investor 55

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Seed Capital Advisory Board 55

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Business Plan. You may have gotten through your FFF round without a business plan, but in order to attract seed investors you will need a comprehensive plan complete with extensive market research and a detailed financial model. A fair amount of your FFF funding will likely go towards product development.

Intellectual Property 55

Intellectual Property Advisory Board Startup Seed Capital 55

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Businesses that clearly define their short-term and long-term goals tend to achieve their goals faster and more efficiently than those without any plan. During 2017, my major focus was to increase my amount of outbound sales efforts. 10- Redefining the space of business plan consultancy. Photo Credit: Jaimyn Chang.

Forecast 60

Forecast Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur SEO 60

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 5, 2014

How many of us have found ourselves needing to do a little bit of finance, customer service, marketing or product development at any given point? Yet many small businesses owners try to take on too much themselves beyond the early stages of the business–sometimes more than they can chew.

Small Business 75

Small Business Early Stage Hiring Stock 75

Up and Running

JANUARY 3, 2019

Here’s the simple truth of business: Without customers to buy your products, you’re not going to make any money. Many businesses develop personas to help them make the right choices as they start, grow, and advertise their business. In this article, I’ll cover: What a persona is and how a business can use one.

Software Review 130

Software Review Product Development Portland Software 130

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

One recipe for failure (business failure and capital raising failure) is building a lopsided team weighted to one function of the business. Don’t hire people with skills and qualifications similar to yours. Hire based on functionality and avoid having too many C’s. Hire a diversified base of sales reps.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Growthink Blog

AUGUST 31, 2016

Here are four critical business domains - financing, sales, organization design and goal setting where the high-flyers get it right: Financing. Speed of product development, of brand-building, of customer acquisition, of team-building and talent aggregation. For as long as they are in business. on an ongoing basis.

SCRUM 48

SCRUM Finance Aggregator Acquisition 48

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

The key contributors to an out-of-control burn rate is 1) hiring a sales force too early, 2) turning on the demand creation activities too early, 3) developing something other than the minimum feature set for first customer ship. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

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Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2016

The company’s sales manager shared some remarkable research that showed that while the “conventional wisdom” was that the company’s market space was in free fall and under severe “legacy” pressure, in actual reality the market was experiencing solid, and in some areas, unprecedented growth.

Conversion 48

Conversion Los Angeles Europe Acquisition 48

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Up and Running

JULY 24, 2015

Business planning. To start your business, you’ll need a sound business plan. But here at Bplans, we make an effort to provide entrepreneurs with the resources they need to start and run successful businesses. Product development. They can help with development and licensing, too.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Small Business Administration SBA Pennsylvania 60