Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

Use this approach before you have a real valuation, a real product, or any real customers. Related sources include local business development agencies. A related company may see the value of your product as complementary to theirs, and be willing to advance funding, which can be repaid when you develop your revenue stream.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Gust

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

In today’s world of distributed data, global reach, and powerful incursion technologies, how do I protect my data and my customers’ data? Customers are bombarded from all angles today for information to improve their user experience, yet they need to protect highly personal things. User privacy. Return on investment. Integration.

Technology 162

Technology Agile Architecture Distribution 162

Gust

AUGUST 7, 2023

From your vantage point as the company’s leader—and perhaps its only employee—you can readily track the arrival and departure of customers, the growth or decline of revenues, and changes in profitability as costs rise or fall. It is important to develop a well-thought-out set of metrics, or measurement tools, and apply them consistently.

Analytics 91

Analytics Metrics Revenue Employee 91

Gust

DECEMBER 6, 2011

An experienced software engineer, for example, can develop a new mobile app with his or her own resources and market the product on the web with very little capital. There are several important sources of capital for entrepreneurs starting their businesses, depending on the stage of development of the company. ANNUAL US $$$.

Angel Investor 179

Angel Investor Venture Capital Valuation Software Engineering 179

Gust

JULY 15, 2012

Potential to meet new partners, customers, and friends. To bring real money and credibility to your company, and help you avoid costly mistakes in development and strategy, a first-class Advisory Board is a small investment. Sharing of their experience with next generation of entrepreneurs. Increase in prestige or broadening of resume.

Advisory Board 178

Advisory Board Technical Review Startup Software Review 178

Gust

FEBRUARY 22, 2014

When people would ask a similar question back then about the difficulty of software development, my usual response was “anyone can write a TAP program over a weekend that will work with 80% of the paging systems in the world…but getting it to work on the other 20% will take you a year.” despite having lots of competitors.

Belarus 107

Belarus Kazakhstan Portugal Accredited Investor 107

Gust

JANUARY 4, 2012

What is the risk-benefit calculus for developing and protecting proprietary technologies vs. buying or licensing them (“ build vs. buy ”)? For this reason, among others, tech startups are well served by engaging a good IP lawyer early in the game to help develop overall strategy and call the plays rather than just execute them.

Intellectual Property 143

Intellectual Property IP Startup United States 143

Gust

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Social media is about maintaining a dynamic conversation between you and your customers. To avoid these mistakes and create compelling and relevant content, you need to focus your startup on the following initiatives: • Develop a social media plan that targets audience and your business objectives.

Social Media 125

Social Media Media Startup Curation 125

Gust

AUGUST 22, 2012

Or something. ”Yes, but… ” Those who have spent much time in the developing world are likely accustomed to dealing with this sort of frustration on a daily basis. The risk-reward tradeoff in finance should hold true in developing and unstable regions as well.

Technical Review 172

Technical Review Egypt Morocco Russia 172

Gust

NOVEMBER 8, 2012

growth to other developed countries, “It isn’t difficult to be the least dirty shirt in the hamper these days.” As The Economist put it, comparing U.S. Granted most startups will never become another Apple or Google. Healthcare Reform. Yes, really.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley San Francisco Intellectual Property Accredited Investor 187

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Like the problem solver I had been trained as in my software development days, I parsed his issue. Second best are letters from future customers promising future business. .

Startup 180

Startup Forecast Angel Investor Software 180

Gust

JUNE 23, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs spend big money on development, only to find out that the solution isn’t quite right. Feedback from your blog will tell you quickly whether anyone agrees with your assessment, and whether you have a customer base waiting. Cultivate early customers. Find potential partners.

Startup 174

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 174

Gust

AUGUST 9, 2014

To this date, no company has been able to take control of the internet as a whole because no company has been able to develop a customer base that is loyal enough to pursue the majority of their internet needs through one company. These companies do not have a loyal customer base, leaving an opportunity for our company.

Startup 131

Startup Database Open Source Equity 131

Gust

AUGUST 24, 2014

Obviously, it must be grounded by the characteristics of the market and customers you choose to serve, the pricing model of existing competitors, and a strategy you believe is consistent with your future products and direction. It’s great for customers, but not for startups, unless you have deep pockets. Freemium model. Value model.

Revenue 184

Revenue Startup Retention Internet 184

Gust

JUNE 22, 2014

Too many entrepreneurs spend big money on development, only to find out that the solution isn’t quite right. Feedback from your blog will tell you quickly whether anyone agrees with your assessment, and whether you have a customer base waiting. Cultivate early customers. Find potential partners.

Startup 125

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 125

Gust

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

They envision a stable environment after that point, and may have convinced themselves that they will be safer and happier with a livable income, maintaining a loyal but flat customer base. Once they see you have developed credible traction, they can grab your space with less cost (meaning lower price) than you had to put into developing it.

Startup 156

Startup IP Employee Technology 156

Gust

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

In my experience, those same qualities also apply to for-profit boards: Wealth , as in investors who can write checks and help with fundraising in future rounds; Work , as in directors with specific skills who can be helpful in recruiting, business development, customer introductions, exit analyses, etc; and finally, Wisdom , in the form of smart, (..)

Developer 125

Developer Customer 125

Gust

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Too many entrepreneurs develop a new product without regard for market demand , then build an entire strategy based on creating a need, rather than acting on an existing market need. Here are a few thoughts on a process that will keep you on the right track: Get real customer input first. These don’t get funded.

Technology 167

Technology Angel Investor Early Stage Viral 167

Gust

AUGUST 30, 2012

Team, Business Model, Traction, Customer Acquisition, Scalability, Defensibiity, Capital Efficiency, Churn, Time to Breakeven, Exit Strategy. Size, Growth, Concentration, Geography, Demographics, Competition, Channels, Regulatory Environment, Technological Developments, Adjacent Markets, Characteristics of the Deal.

Founder Vesting 144

Founder Vesting Option Pool Exit Strategy Vesting 144

Gust

DECEMBER 14, 2014

These authors argue effectively that the hard part of executing most strategies is changing human behavior – first the people on your team, then partners, vendors, and most importantly, customers. For example, more customer leads are predictive of more sales revenue later. Changing yourself is tough enough.

Entrepreneur 189

Entrepreneur Founder Revenue Startup 189

Gust

OCTOBER 6, 2011

I can’t count the times I heard people saying that “product development defines the product, and marketing gets the customers”. Second – timely, cost-effective customer acquisition is a matter of life-or-death to most startups. It is shocking to me how prevalent this POV is. Always in this sequence.

Acquisition 87

Acquisition Marketing CPA PPC 87

Gust

JUNE 24, 2012

As an entrepreneur, you should assume none of your customers is like you, yet I find that most entrepreneurs assume just the opposite. Customers don’t have your technical base, the passion, and interest in your solution. By habit, people market to customers like themselves, because they know what they like and need.

Marketing 136

Marketing Database Social Media Media 136

Gust

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Obviously we can find many critical success factors, like finding and retaining high-value customers, which apply to companies that are product centric or services centric. Customers don’t like people who don’t show their passion and love for the job. . Customers don’t like to see you learning on the job or outsourcing.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Venture Capital Partner Networking 143

Gust

NOVEMBER 11, 2012

My first thought is that if you are more annoyed than energized by expert advice, team suggestions, and customer input, then you should probably avoid this line of work. Actually, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s a good start. But it’s easier for me to look in from the outside than it is for you to look out.

Entrepreneur 189

Entrepreneur Restful Startup Business Plan 189

Gust

NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Think about how useful the name Tote.com would be for a shopping site developing a social-sharing universal shopping bag/cart. One reason is that because of rapidly changing nature of business, today’s competitive advantage can easily become tomorrow’s disadvantage…or at least irrelevancy. Pretty cool, huh?

Naming 138

Naming Differentiation Equity Developer 138

Gust

AUGUST 12, 2012

The product plan tells your developers what to build, and the marketing team what to market. Development and rollout. Because this document is “outward facing” the tone and level has to change to be understandable by customers and investors. There are always competitors, or alternative ways to get the job done.

Product 150

Product Business Plan Differentiation Business Model 150

Gust

OCTOBER 7, 2012

“No competitors” may mean no market (give up now), or customers are happy with alternatives (keep their car rather than ride the new fast train). Time is your biggest enemy, and customer feedback is your biggest ally. Customers are more forgiving of early visible changes in direction, and the cost is much lower for you.

Stealth 131

Stealth Entrepreneur Incubator Engineer 131

Gust

JULY 8, 2012

For angel investors, early-stage means there is a good business plan and maybe a prototype, but no customer revenue. For VCs, early-stage means customer revenue is less than $10M. Lean startups operate on minimal money, an open source environment, and assume multiple iterations, with customer feedback, to get it right.

Early Stage 177

Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 177

Gust

MAY 11, 2014

Typically they can be used to fund product development and commercialization that would otherwise require outside investors. You need to enhance your business plan and marketing with all the benefits to your customers of the multiple “stimulus” plans and tax breaks now being put together, especially related to alternative energy products.

Seed Money 164

Seed Money SBIR Dilution Government 164

Gust

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts. Of course, growth and development are really a continuum. Funding sources specialize in certain growth stages. Growth stage.

Venture Capital 171

Venture Capital Investment Bankers Angel Investor Initial Public Offering 171

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Early customers and contracts in progress add value. Every customer contract and relationship needs to be monetized, even ones still in negotiation. Assign probabilities to active customer sales efforts, just as sales managers do in quantifying a salesman’s forecast. NewCo doesn’t have any of these yet.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Now you can get a product built in China almost overnight with minimal up-front cost, with delayed payment based on first-customer order commitments. Wages and benefits.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Gust

JULY 3, 2012

When presented with a product or service in development, we often have to admit that there is no clear precedent and look for the best analogous situation to assess legal risk. Is Instapaper like collecting press clippings? (If ” To the entrepreneur building a startup, the last two points are the ones that really matter.

Intellectual Property 163

Intellectual Property Social Bookmarking IP Term Sheet 163

Gust

OCTOBER 24, 2011

The stakes are high – you are asking an investor for money, a customer for an order, or another executive for a partnership. Develop a friendly business writing voice. In the world of business, you only get one chance for a great first impression. Focus on what is, rather than what is not.

Audience 102

Audience Email Conversion Business Plan 102

Gust

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Sign up customers who are paying you money for a service you can’t 100% guarantee is going to be operational for the full period that they’re expecting. I didn’t want to disappoint my customers. People seldom understand that when enterprise customers choose your software it isn’t just a purchase order. And yet you have to.

Monaco 122

Monaco Cofounder Chicago Mexico 122

Gust

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Undisciplined change can sow chaos among your staff, and even worse, your customers. It instills confidence in your customers. Your customers should feel the same way. Nothing was more amazing than watching the press—and Apple customers– work themselves into a frenzy over what might be announced at the next MacWorld.

Product 70

Product PR Matching Engineer 70

Gust

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Such comparisons can only be made for companies at the same stage of development, in this case, for pre-revenue startup ventures. Looking at the strength of the competition in the market, the target is weaker (75% of norm) but early customer feedback on the product is excellent (Other = 100%). Is the product defined and developed?

Valuation 146

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Intellectual Property Technical Review 146