Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

The cost of any new product these days must include education and rollout marketing, perhaps equal or greater than the development costs. New offerings which build your brand will increase acceptance and sales of all solutions, not just the new one. Solution may require new category development time.

Product 354

Product Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Dividend 354

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Technical Review 375

Technical Review Startup Dilution Early Stage 375

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Product development. More customers are lost to apathy after the sale than poor service or quality. A numbing 68% of all business lost in America is lost due to lack of follow-up after the sale. They expect prompt formal follow-up to questions. Too many entrepreneurs try to talk their way through all of these.

Technical Review 333

Technical Review Startup Software Review Retention 333

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2022

Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. Be passionate about what you do, but develop a really strong plan, and a strong plan B too. Instead of asking themselves “How and when will this generate sales?” They will call you back.

Marketing 353

Marketing Technical Review Social Media Technology 353

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 6, 2023

A hard look will be taken at the technology maturity, the current development progress, and customer satisfaction with early product shipments. Sales and distribution channel activity will be analyzed, as well as cost of customer acquisition, to make an independent assessment of your financial projections. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 296

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

Idea people must surround themselves with people who build momentum and get things done, including production, marketing, finance, and sales. Gates was a software developer genius, but Ballmer upheld the marketing and business side. Paul Allen was the idea visionary.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capitalists) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Intellectual Property 219

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 219

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

The sales professional. A sales fanatic on the founder team helps to contain that risk. The combination of technical insight, founder authority, and sales experience is a hard-to-beat advantage in a competitive market. These people also have the credibility to attract investors. The operations superstar.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

You alone will never find enough hours in a day to keep with all the challenges of sales, support, and scaling the business, in addition to developing and delivering your solution. Your leadership skills do not develop without effort.

Intellectual Property 432

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Technical Review Angel Investor 432

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2021

His focus is primarily on improving the results for traditional sales professionals, but I’m convinced that the same principles are equally critical for entrepreneurs selling their startup to investors, strategic partners, and customers.

Elevator Pitch 313

Elevator Pitch Technical Review Boston Sales 313

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2020

On the other hand, there are some roles in a startup where Boomers are probably not the best candidates: Constantly-on-the-road sales territory management roles. Software and hardware development architects and designers. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers. Labor-intensive roles, including warehousing and construction.

Advisory Board 312

Advisory Board Startup Dividend Angel Investor 312

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Minimize one-time sales in your business model. Develop a product line and add alternate channels. New channels, such as adding brick-and-mortar distributors to supplement your online sales, also can multiply your rate of growth. Your solution must have value for every customer.

Merger 386

Merger Acquisition Software Review Social Media 386

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

Customers today quickly get beyond these, and put a competitive priority on the experience of others, reflected in reviews and social media, and their own total experience with your sales process, delivery, returns, and support on their schedule. You need to be part of a larger ecosystem.

Software Review 355

Software Review Algorithm Global IPO 355

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich. I recommend a trial run with an experiment or MVP (minimum viable product), at full price and cost, before the big bang launch, risking your investment money and a major time commitment.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service. Every company and team develops a unique culture of work flexibility, personality, and communication that must be matched to every new hire, independent of job qualifications.

Cost 260

Cost Hiring Matching Internet 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 24, 2021

A hard look will be taken at the technology maturity, the current development progress, and customer satisfaction with early product shipments. Sales and distribution channel activity will be analyzed, as well as cost of customer acquisition, to make an independent assessment of your financial projections. Status of the solution.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Bankruptcy 379

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

This will cover the technology, the current state of development, and customer satisfaction. Sales and marketing strategy. That means questioning each of these key players, and calling references or prior associates. Validation of product. Is it something consumers need or simply want, does it work, and is it ready to ship?

Technical Review 380

Technical Review Due Diligence Term Sheet Angel Investor 380

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

The problem is that professional investors (Angels and Venture Capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The problem is that professional investors (Angels and Venture Capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than the more risky research and development efforts. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2019

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Marketing and sales chasm. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Lots of people still believe the major cost of a new product is development. Marketing costs can be a deep hole.

Technical Review 255

Technical Review Dilution Early Stage Product Development 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. This source is a major focus these days, due to government initiatives to incent research and development on alternative energy and other technologies.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2020

Hiring requirements must be anticipated and implemented with the same precision and tracking as manufacturing volumes, sales leads, and customer service. Every company and team develops a unique culture of work flexibility, personality, and communication that must be matched to every new hire, independent of job qualifications.

Hiring 339

Hiring Matching Cost Internet 339

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

It’s always tempting to think that more product variations will satisfy more customers and lead to new sales. Inadequate focus on hiring and people development. The problem is that more SKUs dramatically increases complexity and cost, when you can least afford it. Outsourcing is an expensive solution for poor planning.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2019

Craft a no-follow-up sales letter, after you have positioned yourself as the right expert, with powerful testimonials. Be passionate about what you do, but develop a really strong plan, and a strong plan B too. Instead of asking themselves “How and when will this generate sales?” They will call you back.

Marketing 244

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media 244

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2023

Business risks are not just development risks. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales. Based on ROI, incentives should be developed for all participants. Value creation.

Intellectual Property 343

Intellectual Property Metrics .Net Social Network 343

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage.

Founder 250

Founder Startup Software Developers Software Development 250

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

As an introvert myself, I remember worrying that I could never be comfortable giving a sales pitch, or networking to find clients. Develop and practice your business vision and story. In fact, all you need to do is follow the model of some famous self-proclaimed introverts , including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates.

Entrepreneur 261

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Incubator 261

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2017

Very few entrepreneurs have the range of skills and experience to be the solution creator as well as business creator, or operational as well as sales leader. If both of you are experts at software development, even though one loves design and the other loves coding, that still won’t get the marketing done.

Partner 140

Partner Software Review CTO Hire Cofounder 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

As a business advisor, when I bring this up, at best I will hear the defense that you are focused on the strategy of the moment, such as such as how to increase sales, or reach a new market. Strong leaders continually work on a strategy of hiring, developing, and retaining the best and the brightest.

Technical Review 218

Technical Review Revenue Analytics Metrics 218

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales). What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. See this anecdote by Steve Blank on how a hotshot sales executive can sink your startup.

CTO Hire 252

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2019

The assumption usually is that more money is needed for marketing, or another round of new development is needed on the product. The solution is to always be hiring and developing people, including diversity of thought, background, and operating style. Evidence of ineffective hiring and recruiting.

Leadership 217

Leadership Analytics Hiring Operations 217