Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

I suggest you use social media, blogging, crowdfunding, or documented research to quantify a real demand from people who can afford it, and don’t have a better alternative already out there. In my experience, the key steps I look for always include the following: Testing the idea against customers who have money to spend.

Intellectual Property 235

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Harvest Technical Review 235

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Use social media for more visibility. It’s time to adopt your customer’s favorite mode of communication, whether that be texting, phone calls, or social media, and not limit your responses to office hours. Simply defining yourself as a marketing specialist, designer, or project leader minimizes the stigma of the consultant role.

Silicon Valley 140

Silicon Valley Social Media Software Review Leadership 140

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

In fact, for startups, it usually makes sense to announce your solution on social media and blogs even before you have built the first one. Partners and distribution channels will take you seriously. In many business arenas, brand-name partners and distribution are a prerequisite to scaling the business.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Startup Stealth Agile 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

On the Internet, I am wary of one more search engine provider, clones of existing social-media sites, and yet another new dating site. Huge investments are also required to ramp up manufacturing, build a distribution network, and provide the support infrastructure. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

New York City 202

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 202

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

It’s easy to get so pre-occupied with handling the business rollout that you forget to maintain and increase your social media interactions, search engine optimization efforts, and highlighting positive customer reviews on your website. Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Real growth always requires real marketing.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Don’t skip the market research, input from influencers, analysis of competitors, and the simple act of really listening to potential customers via social media, before quantifying your opportunity. No matter how passionate you are about your solution, it doesn’t mean that if you build it, they will come. Start selling it before you build it.

Business Model 273

Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2016

Include mobile-app support and new social-media channels. Use social media and personal discussions to isolate their interests and needs. It may be small feature extensions, packaging and distribution that can make your solutions attractive and more competitive for new market segments. Word-of-mouth is an inadequate strategy.

Customer 120

Customer Marketing Social Media Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2016

This means regular updates are required to your business plan, marketing message, social media, and website content. Businesses often settle on one social media or distribution channel based on initial testing, and never look back. Static content quickly becomes dead content. Start slow, build momentum, and keep accelerating.

Social Media 120

Social Media Technical Review Metrics Channel 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2022

This is a software distribution and pricing model in which new applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over a network, rather than requiring customer hardware. Social Media. Every entrepreneur needs to leverage social media for better marketing, requirements, and customer service.

Technology 334

Technology Social Media Cloud Retention 334

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2022

Here is an outline of some key force multipliers that I have seen used effectively in the ongoing battle for business survival and success: Establish a presence on multiple social media channels. Amazingly, I still find that many small businesses still don’t use any social media, much less appear on a range of platforms.

Marketing 299

Marketing Social Media Merger Acquisition 299

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 30, 2023

And we all know Facebook didn’t invent social media. Certainly I’m not recommending just one more Facebook, with a couple of features from Twitter, since social media has an unlimited potential for innovation. Innovations are often as simple as better delivery, more customization, or better distribution. Martin Zwilling

Social Media 230

Social Media Business Model Equity Distribution 230

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2015

That might start with the CEO giving the investor pitch to the whole organization, and distributing the current business plan document to everyone. Make sure everyone accurately posts their role with your startup on social media profiles, resumes, and references. Make sure all business processes are documented and integrated.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Term Sheet 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2013

Distribute an Executive Summary and Recommendations report, as well as transcripts of your interviews, to all the key players in your company. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. Debate and adjust your offering to better match what customers want.

Revenue 263

Revenue Startup Technical Review Business Model 263

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2017

Distribute an Executive Summary and Recommendations report, as well as transcripts of your interviews, to all the key players in your company. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. Debate and adjust your offering to better match what customers want.

Small Business 147

Small Business Revenue Technical Review Business Model 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2020

And we all know Facebook didn’t invent social media. Certainly I’m not recommending just one more Facebook, with a couple of features from Twitter, since social media has an unlimited potential for innovation. Innovations are often as simple as better delivery, more customization, or better distribution. Martin Zwilling.

Startup 393

Startup Social Media Business Model Equity 393

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

On the Internet, I am wary of one more search engine provider, clones of existing social-media sites, and yet another new dating site. Huge investments are also required to ramp up manufacturing, build a distribution network, and provide the support infrastructure. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

New York City 254

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 254

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2015

It’s time to adopt your customer’s favorite mode of communication, whether that be texting, phone calls or social media, and not limit responses to office hours. If the startup team is distributed around the world, your challenge is to meet their process requirements, rather than expect them to meet yours.

Startup 120

Startup Software Review Social Media Curation 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2020

If your kids can use computers by age six, every entrepreneur ought to be able to stay current with the latest social media marketing and e-commerce technologies. Although technology is getting more pervasive in business, it’s not rocket science. For non-core technical strength, look for outside partners.

Non-Compete 435

Non-Compete Cofounder Social Media Partner 435

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

Don’t skip the market research, input from influencers, analysis of competitors, and the simple act of really listening to potential customers via social media, before quantifying your opportunity. No matter how passionate you are about your solution, it doesn’t mean that if you build it, they will come. Start selling it before you build it.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

Formalizing change involves distributing authority to make important decisions to the team members most able to add direct customer value. The antidote is to establish ongoing processes for staying connected with the market, like social media, customer visits, and focus groups. Formalize change through structure and rewards.

Social Media 317

Social Media Lean Distribution Business Model 317

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

In this age of instant communication through the Internet and social media, people remember personal images more than a product or service name. To accelerate revenue and profit growth, you need innovative marketing strategies that go well beyond conventional advertising and distribution.

Marketing 333

Marketing Revenue Matching Viral 333

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2012

Distribute an Executive Summary and Recommendations report, as well as transcripts of your interviews, to all the key players in your company. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. Debate and adjust your offering to better match what customers want.

Technical Review 234

Technical Review Business Model Revenue Social Media 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

Too many startups simply follow the standard distribution channels, use standard pricing, and count on their one extra feature to give them the market. Instead, you need to undertake an aggressive campaign in the new media, with creative selling messages and promotions. To get competitive leadership, you can’t be an industry follower.

Advisory Board 240

Advisory Board Forecast Early Stage Product Development 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2020

But customers today are fickle, instantly aware of every new alternative, due to the Internet and social media, and not afraid to change. Be responsive on social media, as well as every physical interaction, so that every customer feels a special sensitivity and connection. Appeal to all your customer senses all of the time.

Honduras 340

Honduras Nepal Social Media Employee 340

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

It’s easy to get so pre-occupied with handling the business rollout that you forget to maintain and increase your social media interactions, search engine optimization efforts, and highlighting positive customer reviews on your website. Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Real growth always requires real marketing.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2022

I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. You suddenly need to enhance your in-house social media efforts with a public relations firm. I’m not talking here about a small pivot.

Hockey Stick 265

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2011

Distribute an Executive Summary and Recommendations report, as well as transcripts of your interviews, to all the key players in your company. She recommends phone interviews by you, by appointment, with structured questions, and you document results. Debate and adjust your offering to better match what customers want.

Customer 242

Customer Technical Review Business Model Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

On the Internet, I am wary of one more search engine provider, clones of existing social-media sites, and yet another new dating site. Huge investments are also required to ramp up manufacturing, build a distribution network, and provide the support infrastructure. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2021

If you haven’t changed for several years the way you do common processes, like customer satisfaction surveys, lead generation, and marketing, it’s time to look at the new remote apps and social media platforms for more effective and relevant alternatives. Repurpose product and services for emergent needs.

Agile 321

Agile Differentiation Lead Generation Social Media 321

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 5, 2021

We see evidence in the news every day of these irresistible forces of change, like the pervasive global penetration of the Internet, the impact of terrorist activities even to peaceful countries, the power of social media in building business relationships, and the depletion and pollution of natural resources.

Marketing 339

Marketing Startup Global Viral 339

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

Too many startups simply follow the standard distribution channels, use standard pricing, and count on their one extra feature to give them the market. Instead, you need to undertake an aggressive campaign in the new media, with creative selling messages and promotions. To get competitive leadership, you can’t be an industry follower.

Advisory Board 232

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 232

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

You need to work through a team of underwriters, who administer the public issuance and distribution of securities from a corporation. At any rate, it seems only appropriate that social media sites, which have dominated the Internet over the past few years, will likely lead startups back into the IPO game.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

Today every small business can look big, via a modern website, visibility on social media, and taking an active role in popular causes. The shift is being caused by a combination of technology, social media, and the way people now absorb information, particularly the younger generations.

Artificial Inteligence 258

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Social Media China 258

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. You suddenly need to enhance your in-house social media efforts with a public relations firm. I’m not talking here about a small pivot.

Hockey Stick 307

Hockey Stick Guerilla Acquisition Revenue 307

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

This is a software distribution and pricing model in which new applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over a network, rather than requiring customer hardware. Social Media. Every entrepreneur needs to leverage social media for better marketing, requirements, and customer service.

Technology 216

Technology Social Media Cloud Retention 216

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2022

Having only a large capital base and distribution channels, with no innovation, is not a sustainable business model. The new corporate model is a distributed entrepreneurial model. Scaling is done first by customer alliances through social media, and later by distributed joint ventures and coopetition.

Artificial Inteligence 315

Artificial Inteligence Offshore Merger Technical Review 315

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

Formalizing change involves distributing authority to make important decisions to the team members most able to add direct customer value. The antidote is to establish ongoing processes for staying connected with the market, like social media, customer visits, and focus groups. Formalize change through structure and rewards.

Social Media 213

Social Media Lean Distribution Business Model 213