Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

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. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 21, 2013

Creators of new products in environments of extreme uncertainty, startups face enormous risks. As a startup owner, what can you do to improve your chances? Through rapid experimentation, short product development cycles, and rigorous measurements of the right metrics, they can ascertain what customers really want.

Lean 193

Lean Technical Review North America Startup 193

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

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. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

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. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different.

Social Media 315

Social Media Media Startup Analytics 315

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

What metrics do we use to see if we learned enough in Customer Discovery ? I gave my boilerplate answer, “I’m a product guy and I tend to invest and look at deals that have measurable revenue metrics. However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web.

Customer Development 227

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 227

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product.

Algorithm 264

Algorithm Metrics Viral Venture Capital 264

Brandanew

MAY 29, 2015

Startups need PR, publicity and proof of visibility for investors and while you may have a PR agency, many struggle with producing enough or high quality content. How To Ensure Your Startup Team Is Growth Hacking Not Copying. Is Your Startup Marketing Team Copy-pasting Content? . Is Your Startup Amassing Fake Followers?

Curation 100

Curation Social Media Viral Startup 100

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

That last bit should sound familiar if you follow theories of Startup Laws & Metrics. Similarly, we hold up “viral growth” as the best sort of growth, because exponential curves overwhelm all others, thus once the mechanism is stable and the company gets large enough to be noticed, it’s neigh-impossible for competitors to catch up.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Viral Metrics Salary 120

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Your business has a high viral co-efficient (or perhaps even a network effect) that lets you amass users cheaply without worrying too much about the monetization per user or spending money on paid acquisition. As a VC, the biggest challenge in evaluating LTV models is that metrics can dramatically change at scale.

Churn Rate 168

Churn Rate Viral Acquisition Cofounder 168

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

The cost of entry has never been lower, with new tools to create your own website , and free social media to get your message out everywhere. Based on my own experience as a mentor and angel investor, I find that as many as ninety percent of startups fail in the first five years, despite their best efforts.

Intellectual Property 245

Intellectual Property Social Media Angel Investor Metrics 245

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

A post by Fred Wilson pointed me to Dave McClure's Startup Metrics presentation. This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. Define what you need from a metrics and reporting standpoint. In fact, this often becomes the mantra that we live by. Great stuff.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 225

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

It seems to me that there is abundant proof in the marketplace of the financial returns to both large and small businesses, the low cost of entry, and the ubiquity of social networks. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start.

Social Media 289

Social Media Small Business Media Technical Review 289

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2017

The cost of entry is at an all-time low, working from home through an Internet website seen globally, turning a hobby or an invention into an online business. Statistics show that the failure rate for new businesses within the first four years is fifty percent or greater, even with companies that have a large startup budget.

Cost 144

Cost Social Media Startup Viral 144

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

You can have all traction in the world—acquire, activate, and retain users, but until your startup earns money, you are doing charity work, not running a business. Even if you are just starting to consider building a SaaS startup , you’ve probably used products with either freemium pricing or a free trial. Choose wisely.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Startups need to survive and thrive on a shoestring budget, which is why it’s based on rapid experimentation. Neither would have achieved virality had customers not received something tangible for their efforts. How to create a growth hacking strategy using the pirate metrics model. Growth marketing was born out of necessity.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

ConversionXL

MARCH 6, 2019

They also come with higher costs and LinkedIn-specific platform limitations. That means that there’s plenty of business to be won—even if LinkedIn views come at a higher cost (more later). LinkedIn video ads: tech specs, targeting, metrics, and cost. LinkedIn video ad metrics. Stay on brand. Plan it out.

Video 129

Video B2B Technical Review Campaign 129

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Startup strategy is like Kung Fu. All startups are screwed up. HT Mike Maples Jr ) Corollary: A startup has to be so excellent at one or two key things, that they can screw up everything else up and not die. There isn’t one most important SaaS metric. There are many styles that work. I can only teach you my style.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2012

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different.

Social Media 238

Social Media Media Cost Startup 238

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2017

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different.

Social Media 166

Social Media Media Cost Analytics 166

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Designing startup metrics to drive successful behavior Great companies are almost always run by great management teams. Good metrics should also be actionable, and drive successful behavior. When we look to design metrics, we are looking to deepen our understanding of the machinery, and how it works.

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2007

As I look at more and more start-ups predicated on viral growth, and at the use of social marketing, its becoming simultaneously easier to understand some aspects of viral growth and still a gap in understanding whats going to be that "hook" that will grab people at the end of the day. Marketing, Startups and Networking in Los Angeles.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Should you be buying key words from search engines, building fabulous web content, blasting out e-mail campaigns, or putting all your efforts into viral videos or social media? In fact, the first challenge is to build a strategy, put together a budget, and define measurement metrics. Pick a theme and a team for each and get started.

Marketing 240

Marketing Viral Channel Metrics 240

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success. Startup Metrics. Here’s why. Managing the Business.

Balance Sheet 303

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 303

This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

That kind of story drives founders to take a “VC’s don’t know anything” approach to their business and trudge on despite legitimate criticisms of the business, often costing themselves tens of thousands of dollars or more of personal savings. is for those founders that are spending real money on their startups—theirs or someone else’s.

Startup 117

Startup Viral Venture Capital .Net 117

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

For this article, let’s consider just two metrics—an engagement metric—social shares and an SEO metric—keyword rank. Shares are often considered a ‘vanity metric’ in the sense they don’t always directly help a business generate more revenue. We care about bottom-lines, not vanity metrics. “Shares = meh. .”

SEO 163

SEO Metrics Social Media Audience 163

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2019

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different.

Social Media 199

Social Media Media Analytics Viral 199

Occam's Razor

APRIL 8, 2013

To win in business you need to follow this process: Metrics > Hypothesis > Experiment > Act. We are far too enamored with data collection and reporting the standard metrics we love because others love them because someone else said they were nice so many years ago. That metric is tied to a KPI.

Metrics 156

Metrics Analytics Lean Churn Rate 156

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 23, 2013

I know the argument: The pay-back period on sales, marketing, and up-start costs is long, but there’s a profitable result at the end of the tunnel. I wish the modern startup community would understand the mindset that gets a company to this point, and resist it. So these costs are amortized over the customers you do land.

Business Model 335

Business Model .Net Revenue IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2013

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. Return-On-Investment metrics are not new, but the tools are different. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 252

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Metrics 252

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2019

Viral videos, personal anecdotes, and informal surveys would likely be counterproductive. Use business metrics and tools to tune your efforts. Always gauge progress by business indicators, like customer acquisition cost and customer satisfaction. Social media is not all about being social, or treating everyone casually.

Social Media 247

Social Media Media Reputation Viral 247

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

Getting the first tracks of revenue is one of the toughest processes of building a startup. One of the most commons problems I see with startups that I’ve come across is the lack of a “growth team.”. This is when metrics come into play. Cost of Acquisition (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a user through a given channel.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

It was one of those brilliant startup brainstorms that comes to the team in a flash, with a giant thunderclap. We had endless arguments internally about what features it should include, how the avatars should look, and how much it should cost. Just load them all in and choose a low cost-per-click. We finally settled on a $1.99

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2013

It seems to me that there is abundant proof in the marketplace of the financial returns to both large and small businesses, the low cost of entry, and the ubiquity of social networks. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start.

Social Media 267

Social Media Media Social Network Viral 267