Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2021

Manage the conflicting demands of leadership. True leaders are expected to be optimistic, yet realistic; compassionate, yet demanding; create freedom with structure, and make unpopular calls, while keeping your ego in check.

Leadership 340

Leadership Framework Demand Employee 340

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2014

Demand for coaching, counseling, and discipline training is high. The best entrepreneurs understand their people and embrace constructive conflict for steering through the maze of innovation and change common to every startup. Toxic relationships are emotional, often personal, disagreements which are counter-productive.

Leadership 230

Leadership Demand Entrepreneur Due Diligence 230

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2020

While I recognize that there continues to be a shortage of venture capital for new entrepreneurs, compared to the demand, don’t succumb to the temptation to take funds from investors that you are not totally comfortable with.

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Offshore 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2021

In my view, the increasing consumer demand for personal marketing and personal assistants will soon overcome paranoia, and reasonable boundaries will emerge. I believe the current major drive to mobile devices and apps has slowed the progress toward this new semantic environment, but it’s coming.

Web 380

Web Search Semantic Software Review 380

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2022

If you are like most entrepreneurs I know, there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get all your own work done, as well as run the many one-hour meetings each team member seems to demand for decisions and mentoring.

Elevator Pitch 386

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Dividend Leadership 386

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Start by getting people comfortable with what they don’t know, showing them you are open to new ideas, and don’t demand perfection in all deliverables. You must give them a strong sense of self-efficacy by championing autonomy, encouraging them to think big, and coaching them on areas to improve. Show humility by being honest about mistakes.

Leadership 280

Leadership Agile Demand Search 280

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Leaders have found that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success. Companies with great service routinely spend 3% to 5% of salaries training team members – experienced as well as new. Service people need this as required team support. Involve, empower, and inspire.

Technical Review 249

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 249

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2018

Steve Jobs proved it with the iPhone, and Elon Musk can’t produce his electric cars fast enough to keep up with demand. However, such changes don’t yet happen automatically, so it still takes proactive strategies and key actions to create new demand where none exists. Use social media and the media to build demand for change.

Marketing 231

Marketing Demand Campaign Differentiation 231

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2023

The most productive people get things done by working in concert with others, not demanding actions and results, but by orchestrating win-win relationships. Effective relationships, inside your business and outside, are critical in every professional, management, and leadership role. Learn to deal effectively with people who disappoint you.

Management 291

Management Leadership Demand Founder 291

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2022

There seems to be an insatiable demand from consumers for a better shopping experience, meaning they will pay a premium to a company that can present them a better match in products to their interests, without jeopardizing their good name.

Technical Review 342

Technical Review Customer Social Network Software Review 342

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2020

Every entrepreneur knows that good demand generation marketing is the key to growth these days, but very few have the discipline or know-how to measure return in a world of a thousand tools and techniques. The fuel for any good demand generation program is relevant, buyer-centric content. Demand generation revenue performance.

NPV 436

NPV Net Present Value Conversion Ratio Marketing 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

Successful people are able to find enough personal time off to balance personal needs against the constant barrage of work demands. Maintain a work-life balance for health and rejuvenation. Constant attention to work devices, location, and travel is not humanly sustainable without loss of quality, satisfaction, and productivity.

Flash 303

Flash Technical Review Angel Investor Social Media 303

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2023

Every business owner and entrepreneur like you I work with wishes they could better predict product demand and sales, for managing inventory and long-term business planning. I was impressed with the analysis and recommendation offered in a recent book, “ Trust the Plan: Demand Management For Business Leaders, ” by Greg Spira.

Metrics 204

Metrics Demand Analytics Leadership 204

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.” In fact, NISI recommends starting with the minimum focused set of features and technology that will drive a customer purchase.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

With a stable base of subscribers, this can mean a continuing revenue stream from newsletters, support, or advice on demand. A great way to make more money more easily online is to replace one-time sales with automatically renewing subscriptions. Even with all this, don’t expect it to be easy.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Software Review Internet Revenue 312

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Again, you get what you demand and reward. There is new evidence that people want to understand the bigger picture, and business growth financial incentives will increase productivity, rather than lower it. Sales will be the organization’s sole focus.” Motivate for a spectrum of entrepreneurial behaviors, and you will see results.

Startup 337

Startup Technical Review Employee Hiring 337

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

Customers now expect services to be more technology-enabled, such as online banking, parcel tracking, transportation on demand, and smart home security. It is very important for service companies to use and market peak load pricing, seasonal, and customer scheduling without impacting relationships.

Technical Review 247

Technical Review Social Media Media Matching 247

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

You need the funding and support, but venture capitalists can be very demanding, and set high targets. The focus of key leaders has to change from driving innovative initiatives to replicating repeatable processes and tuning the overall product cycle. Mergers and acquisitions also require new skills. Needed help can be your biggest burden.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Many entrepreneurs fear giving away their very best insights, strategies, or tools via social media – it might diminish the demand and the profit. They will call you back. Don’t dumb it down for social media. Don’t put all your faith in passion.

Marketing 353

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 353

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2021

People are more demanding and have more choices than ever before. It’s harder than it looks to exploit people’s propensity to share humorous, enjoyable or useful information - jokes, special offers, and games. Seed viral activity. This means spending more money on search marketing (SEM) to make it look like the buzz is working.

Viral 348

Viral Marketing SEM Campaign 348

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2021

Smart entrepreneurs in any given industry, like publishing, recognize the appearance of new technologies which threaten their survival, including digital publishing and print-on-demand. The best immerse themselves in these technologies, and invent new businesses, rather than fight in the old one to the death.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence Institutional Investors 417

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

The best entrepreneurs and business professionals always find time for strategic thinking and new ideas, no matter how many times they have to say “no” to immediate demands, or work extra hours. Managing time and priorities for maximum impact. They prioritize tasks, define milestones, and measure results versus activities completed.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Technical Review Leadership Metrics 284

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2020

This distrust for the scripted message has led to a new demand for unfiltered marketing, and the emergence of business credibility heroes, like Elon Musk, with his bold statements about space travel, and sometime villains, such as Mark Zuckerberg defending Facebook privacy practices. They want the raw data versus a polished message.

Customer 433

Customer B2C Technical Review Social Media 433

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

Leaders have found that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success. Companies with great service routinely spend 3% to 5% of salaries training team members – experienced as well as new. Service people need this as required team support. Involve, empower, and inspire.

Technical Review 385

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 385

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Even if a board member won’t work for equity, and demands a monthly stipend, the value of their contacts can easily make the difference between a successful rollout, versus an expensive pivot. Unless you have a co-founder or two with the business skills to complement your technical ones, you need a friendly Advisory Board.

Advisory Board 356

Advisory Board Bandwidth Cofounder Technical Review 356

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Investors typically demand preferred stock, to give themselves certain voting and liquidation privileges over later shareholders. For later investments, the price is equity, with a percentage of the owner stock to be assigned to the investor. Numbers in the 20 percent to 30 percent range are common. Type of stock assigned to the investor.

Term Sheet 120

Term Sheet Demand Preferred Stock Liquidation Preference 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

The most productive people get things done by working in concert with others, not demanding actions and results, but by orchestrating win-win relationships. Effective relationships, inside your business and outside, are critical in every professional, management, and leadership role. Learn to deal effectively with people who disappoint you.

Leadership 380

Leadership Demand Management Founder 380

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2022

Many of the business plans I see are built around a dream, with idealistic costs, margins, and customer demand. Successful businesses are built around solutions that work, have a market, and are scalable. Temper your passion with feedback on a minimum viable product before committing. Check your tolerance for risk, uncertainty, and change.

Founder 262

Founder Intellectual Property Social Media Business Plan 262

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2019

Jeff Bezos always instills a sense of urgency by demanding business plans from business leaders on how they would disrupt their own lines of business. Customer and competitive demands are rising across all sectors and experiences. Stay hungry even when you are successful. Do what Amazon is doing.

Artificial Inteligence 222

Artificial Inteligence Agile Technical Review Demand 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2013

Entrepreneurs often get the advice from their lawyers and friends to always get a Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA or CDA) signed before disclosing anything about their new venture. Most investors and startup advisors I know hate them, and refuse to sign them. Who is right? Let me try to put this question in perspective.

NDA 230

NDA Non-disclosure Agreement Demand Non-Compete 230

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Customers now expect services to be more technology-enabled, such as online banking, parcel tracking, transportation on demand, and smart home security. It is very important for service companies to use and market peak load pricing, seasonal, and customer scheduling without impacting relationships.

Technical Review 321

Technical Review Social Media Media Matching 321

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2022

Creativity and innovation are fragile business elements, and they can be easily starved, smothered, and trampled by the larger daily operational demands and old ways of doing things. It is better to put new products or services into a new or special department, sometimes known as an innovation incubator, to get the focus they require.

Stock Options 277

Stock Options Incubator Framework Stock 277

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2021

The author outlines eight necessary steps for every business and entrepreneur to capitalize on this movement to on-demand project teams, versus permanent hires. Build an on-demand team of strategic do-ers. The on-demand specialized talent pool already includes nearly 100 million people not interested in being full-time employees.

Demand 357

Demand Global Hiring Acquisition 357

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

I see entrepreneurs every day who are trying to change the world with a new idea, and startups that are trying to survive their hyper-growth phase by changing processes to meet demand.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2022

Be prepared to create and train a dedicated support group that can keep up with your now larger and growing install base of demanding customers. The support currently provided by product service can become inadequate to satisfy new customers, as your growth and image becomes better known.

Leadership 227

Leadership Entrepreneur Agile Demand 227

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Although the major crowd funding sites today, including Kickstarter and Indiegogo , don’t technically require a business plan, they do demand essentially the same information in a project format. You need money, and plan to do crowdfunding. Thus building a business plan ahead of time will improve your application and chances of success.

Business Plan 316

Business Plan Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence 316

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

Although his focus is naturally on bigger companies, I contend that his recommended strategies apply equally well to entrepreneurs and startups: Demand a mindset of deep thinking for the long term. Cote, former Chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Merger Social Media 312