Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

It’s building a product that is substantially differentiated, and, as Bill Gross, one of the most prolific tech entrepreneurs of our era says, “ It needs to be 10x better than the competition ” (because if you shoot for that then in competitive markets you might achieve 3x.

SEM 379

SEM Viral Marketing Widget 379

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

In the end I know the only true differentiator in venture capital is the company you keep. I have often said that “a few key people make all the difference in any company — no matter how big or small” and that is my core principle as a VC. I can try to be as smart as possible on market trends, industry dynamics and so forth.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Fractional CTO Cofounder Early Stage 150

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

You need a set of innate skills that differentiate you from the thousands of others who set out on your similar journey. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. It’s even a direct quote in my Twitter bio. Of course passion isn’t enough.

Video 373

Video Valuation Differentiation Distribution 373

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

new features need to go into the sale people’s slides so that they know the latest and greatest about how to differentiate from the competition. . - new features need to be rolled into PR strategies and competitor analyses. - Many startups have never faced these challenges because they haven’t hit scale.

Fractional CTO 400

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 400

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

If you plan to charge more than them I need to know how your product will differentiate to command a premium. Better that you find that out before showing off your wares at the next trendy conference only to smoke your friends & families’ money. What about your competition – how much do they charge? Going to charge less?

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

He sets goals for MRR (monthly recurring revenue) to differentiate from one-time revenue, license revenue, services revenue and other. He sets clear goals for what he wants to achieve. He doesn’t just set revenue goals but he sets “quality of revenue” goals.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

There are many companies with phenomenal IP that is truly differentiated but where the original executive team squandered their opportunity due to inability to sell, market or service customers. We looked at the IP and realized it was highly differentiated / hard to replicate. There is often money to be made in being contrarian.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Liquidation Preference Silicon Valley IP 150

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 5, 2010

Still, I think that to succeed they really need to focus on vertical niches where they can differentiate and have more focus on content quality and user acquisition. They have come a long way since then. Their product direction and demo increased 10x.

San Francisco 254

San Francisco Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review 254

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

” The pioneering fund of funds realize that their source of differentiation is much more about the latter than the former. The challenge is that if you don’t get into the first 1-2 funds you don’t get in at all because they, too, become “over subscribed.”

Technical Review 398

Technical Review Venture Capital Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 398

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

which features do you believe your customers care about and where you’re try to differentiate? On the horizontal rows you will plot a set of features or key attributes of how you define your competitive differentiation. Why not take this opportunity to differentiate yourself in the VC presentation?

Hockey Stick 313

Hockey Stick Differentiation AJAX Vertical 313

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Smart is simply not a differentiator. It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). In fact, book smart can be a negative.

Portfolio 364

Portfolio Chicago Sales Incubator 364

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

They still hit all of the highlights of the sales methodology (getting a champion, understanding the pain, mapping your solution, proving the ROI, finding out the competitors and differentiating and getting every department to “yes&# ) but they can’t follow the exact same process every time. They’re unmanageable.

Early Stage 350

Early Stage Startup Sales Campaign 350

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

and a differentiated feel in terms of fabric, design, sustainability, etc. Curation There are really multiple forms of “curation” that I think can build sustainable differentiation in products vs. the retailer that is selling them. but what if you need to do product discovery? Not so much.

Curation 296

Curation Los Angeles Differentiation Channel 296

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I think that mindset is useful to remind entrepreneurs that it is a shared journey and capital (whether active or passive) is a part of your success and your ability to access it when you need to and for the amounts you need is a very critical differentiator between successful companies and unsuccessful one.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

Try to think about how leveraging the web will do the following: Create a differentiated product versus your mobile-only competitors. But once you’ve launched your iOS product and finished your Android roll out, you need to do a strong push on an integrated web product before you double down on your next generation of iOS features.

Mobile 334

Mobile Web Software Review San Francisco 334

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

I guess if you’re in high-volume, low-differentiation mode perhaps this is efficient for you. Inbound is seldom differentiated dealflow. I believe in paying a fair price but if “highest price” is the key differentiator there are two key problems. Don’t even get me started on Demo Days. Pay attention.

Cofounder 374

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Early Stage 374

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2011

I talked to one company who had build really differentiated IP and had great customer traction. Don’t just mentally write off their features or marketing as “dumb” – ask internally what you could learn from it.

Startup 313

Startup Guerilla Silicon Valley Portfolio 313

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Marketing Differentiation – Salesforce.com is one of the most effective marketing organizations in the world because Marc Benioff is a genius at marketing. It emphasizes both cloud computing and salesforce.com’s differentiation – they’re not “software.&#. When Enemies are Good. Them vs. Us.

Merger 320

Merger Differentiation AJAX Cloud 320

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

If you spent the 3 years perfecting some hugely differentiated technology IP that may also be different. ” Harsh, but reality. If you had huge customer growth but just didn’t focus on revenue that’s a different story.

Startup 418

Startup Revenue Technical Review Flash 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

You have tons of differentiation. The NY Times puts Group Messaging companies on their list of companies crushed by Apple’s WWDC. But life doesn’t end. It’s a narrow product. Most app-to-app products are inter-operable, Apple isn’t. Life goes on.

Early Stage 380

Early Stage Stealth Marketing Startup 380

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

It is differentiated from the service of picking up passengers and transporting them in that drivers have to have more specialization in picking up packages and driving them to consumers. That’s where Deliv comes in. You may have some drivers with larger cars and stronger bodies who transport white goods or TVs for example.

B2B 331

B2B eCommerce B2C Differentiation 331

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 8, 2018

We do this not just because it’s the right thing to do but also we believe it will help drive large and differentiated returns. Upfront Ventures has a deep-seated commitment to equality in funding & building diverse teams across all ethnicities, nationalities and genders.

Term Sheet 284

Term Sheet Los Angeles Open Source Portfolio 284

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

People who are naturally talented still differentiate themselves by having put in the effort in the areas that are important for success. Your attributes (whether nature or nurture) are formed and hard to change. I mostly subscribe to the 10,000 hours argument that Malcolm Gladwell made in his book Outliers.

Silicon Valley 289

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur United States Leadership 289

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

Rules-Based System for Flighting Campaigns – Another area that we believe will be a big differentiator for Burstly is their rules-based system for flighting campaigns. Burstly is attempting to provide a better, more transparent way to promote your product.

Mobile 282

Mobile Management Southern California Application Development 282

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

And that’s what differentiates founders and early employees. So even after raising a $16 million A-round I still paid myself a paltry salary. In fact, my salary never caught up with my pre startup salary across 2 companies and 8 years. So I did, in fact, invest in myself. They choose a different path.

Founder 409

Founder Salary Startup Early Stage 409

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

Products as a key differentiator – Another important reason for having internal IP in your services business is as a key differentiator against other services businesses. In a down market IP can become a huge differentiator. He is the majority owner.

Silicon Valley 332

Silicon Valley IP Dividend Finance 332

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 20, 2015

Money when you find product / market fit is an extreme differentiator. I know in my bones that there is a magic moment where capital plays a hugely differentiating role. I’ve seen many a VC firm argue that “if we give them $10 million then they will massively pull away from competition and we crowd out the market.”

Churn Rate 150

Churn Rate Silicon Valley Brazil Valuation 150

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 13, 2010

The things that always differentiated Accenture? There seem to be a lot of market entrants in every category where it becomes hard to differentiate them all from each other. It’s why as an investor I look for talented teams with long-term vision, a unique point-of-view, differentiated IP and a desire to build something enduring.

Turkey 302

Turkey Differentiation IP Technical Review 302

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Differentiate. One great company, AppFolio , filmed all of this user interaction and made the DVD available to me. Granted, it was for an A round (not angel) but anyone could easily do that for angel rounds. Stand out from the crowd. Do more than you are asked to do. This is a much debated topic.

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Ireland Technical Review Valuation 291

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2014

In short – I am looking to find differentiation. I don’t care if others scratch their heads. I’m not afraid of failure. How can we back entrepreneurs and espouse willingness to fail if we ourselves aren’t? And that will never come by following the crowd. VC Industry'

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Syndicate Syndication Angel Investor 337

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

If you choose your name well and it represents what your customers value in you then it will be memorable, differentiated and meaningful. It’s something you must earn over time by living up to the name you define. We have a few portfolio companies going through brand changes.

Ireland 324

Ireland Jordan Portfolio Flash 324

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2015

I still believe in knowing how your product differentiates to things others in the market can buy in stead of your products. My guess is that over time you’ll have more in common (like working with big cos, working with regulators, dealing with inertia in the market) than you do have against that company. Don’t get me wrong.

Cofounder 150

Cofounder Venture Capital Differentiation Holding Company 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

But what was clear to me in backing Rebecca was that I was getting behind somebody who has unbridled ambition is mission-driven and has a differentiated plan for how to solve a problem that we all know exists but feels intractable. Truly, in many ways, my concern was the inverse of normal business pitches.

Early Stage 150

Early Stage Differentiation Design America 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

What should be in your deck?

IP 239

IP Differentiation Salary Sales 239

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

How differentiated is that? Why would I want to have a POV rather than talking about my cool new features? The major battle for press is a battle for “mindshare” and it’s exactly the reason I blog. I am a VC. I hand out money.

Campaign 389

Campaign Marketing Widget Analytics 389

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 31, 2012

I wrote about that here – regarding “evangelical sales” In your earliest stages the founders she do much of the selling precisely for the reasons Erin highlights: you need customer feedback to refine your product, your pricing and your differentiation versus the competition.

Startup 319

Startup Early Stage Sales Cofounder 319

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2010

By the time you launch your buzz word feature we’ll be on to the next fad and everybody will be offering your buzz product so it won’t be differentiated. I call this “the puck at your feet&# because it’s not where the industry is heading but rather where the industry is today.

Silicon Valley 296

Silicon Valley Warrant Flash Differentiation 296