Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 8, 2010

Very few of them are started, in my experience, by sales people and very few early stage companies really understand sales. a) they don’t tend to make great heads of sales departments and b) they aren’t the people you want early in your company. Here’s mine: Let me start with a few biases. More on that later.

Early Stage 350

Early Stage Startup Sales Campaign 350

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

I propose here a framework for prioritizing your platform buildout. For example, I suggest it doesn’t make a lot of sense to hire a full-time team member who’s an SEO consultant. You might hire a really amazing designer, and perhaps even charge companies for their service for cost recovery purposes. Is the service scaleable?

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Up and Running

APRIL 12, 2021

OKRs and KPIs are common frameworks to set goals. Managers should also over-communicate, particularly with new hires. Create employee performance management processes early on. For early-stage companies, hiring the right people and then managing them can be difficult.

Employee 139

Employee Management Salary Retention 139

Hunter Walker

JANUARY 3, 2021

Underpinning it all are OKRs — Objectives and Key Results — the framework by which individuals, teams and the entire company is managed. They’re hiring lots of folks across engineering, product, design, marketing, sales and such! This includes not just observability and explainability but fairness.

Early Stage 145

Early Stage Management Startup Portfolio 145

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Use personal credit cards for business.

Early Stage 307

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 307

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

I’ve been having discussions with several people recently about the role of the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in very early stage companies. However, I’ve now begun questioning how and what an early-stage / startup CTO should be. That’s why Roger Smith puts the focus of the CTO on programming for the earliest stage.

CTO 225

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 225

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Use personal credit cards for business.

Early Stage 317

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 317

David Teten

MARCH 28, 2012

This study is effectively a sequel to the study David Teten led with Chris Farmer of General Catalyst on best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new deals , published in Journal of Private Equity , Harvard Business Review , Institutional Investor , etc.

Portfolio 144

Portfolio Private Equity Venture Capital Early Stage 144

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

This 4-part story, however, explores the Austin ecosystem based on the 4Cs framework —  culture , capital , customers , and competencies. It follows up on my posts discussing why early stage startups should — or should not — move to Silicon Valley. Should Early Stage Startups Move to Austin because of Competencies?

Early Stage 48

Early Stage Austin Silicon Valley Intellectual Property 48

JANUARY 9, 2014

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” Simon Sinek If your customers believe in your mission, then they’ll warm to you and listen to what you offer and how. He points out that most buying decisions are based on emotion, rather than logic. This is where the Golden Circle comes in.

Early Stage 102

Early Stage Startup Cofounder Design 102

www.drowningamerican.com

JUNE 22, 2012

Next → How to Hire for Sweat Equity…. Here is the original post: Early Stage Web Application Start-Up Seeking Developer/Designer. Advocate for the appropriate use of SAAS, design patterns, frameworks, SOA, ORM, and MVC. Drowning American. Musings on Life and the American Dream. Skip to primary content.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Hiring Technical Review 40

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

In most cases, the two most important things to prove early on are 1) that the founders can attract A+ talent and 2) that there are signals of market demand for their product. I have a related framework that company milestones fall into two buckets. Things that are hard but inevitable and things that are hard and uncertain.

Seed Stage 180

Seed Stage Bootstrapping Demand Early Stage 180

View from Seed

JULY 21, 2022

Beyond offering disruptive and fair pricing, we’re becoming the go-to, trusted one-stop shop to discover and hire the talent clients always wanted, but didn’t know how to find and didn’t think they could afford. RH: What’s your favorite thing about being an early-stage founder? And your least?

Early Stage 156

Early Stage San Francisco Michigan Portfolio 156

David Teten

JULY 25, 2017

the “TOPSCAN” framework from my research study on value creation by VCs ): T eam-Building – We aggregate openings across our portfolio on our jobs page. We have insight on the competencies of our companies’ personnel, and who is hiring or shrinking. with the announcement of a funding round, new senior hires, etc.

Portfolio 60

Portfolio Technical Review Private Equity Database 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

In venture capital in particular, early-stage companies are often operating in frontier industries, where the rules are unpredictable and conventional analytic frameworks may be misleading. The Pocket Negotiator is very early-stage attempt to aid in the negotiating process itself. . are using AngelMob.co

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. On Launching and Finding Early Traction. Do you find yourself hiring operators or PMs with that background?

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

Many startup CEOs hire COOs or launch companies with a co-founder carrying the title. When should founders hire one? For most of my career, I’ve served startups and early-stage companies as an operating executive or advisor. More importantly, A-players attract and hire other A-players. Based on what criteria?

Hiring 336

Hiring Cofounder Startup Technical Cofounder 336

techcrunch.com

JUNE 22, 2012

It’s an age-old scenario: You’re building a company, you have a product idea, and you’ve got the framework laid out in your head, but you want some expert advice and guidance on how to take the next steps. You can reach him at rip[at]techcrunch[dot]com → Learn More.

Equity 94

Equity San Francisco Startup Silicon Valley 94

This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 13, 2010

These folks are often “TBD hires” at an early stage, so not many VCs really know how to evaluate team talent if they haven’t run a company before—and that’s a critical skill as an entrepreneur. Successful people don’t really question or analyze success too much.

Venture Capital 116

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Early Stage Framework 116

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2018

As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in the classic book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Use personal credit cards for business.

Early Stage 158

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 158

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2014

As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in a new book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Neither of these approaches bodes well for success.

Entrepreneur 265

Entrepreneur Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue 265

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 14, 2011

a group of entrepreneurs from TiE Chennai gathered at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Research Park campus, and we spent the next four hours discussing strategy and tactics of early-stage entrepreneurship. At 11 a.m.,

India 126

India Technical Review Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 126

View from Seed

APRIL 8, 2020

He helps early-stage startups with sales, marketing, and general “go to market” topics. After talking to your champion, you should have a good understanding of the decision-making framework they’re working with. Another thing you should slow down with is hiring. Understand Your Customer and Their Timelines.

B2B 156

B2B Angel Investor Vertical Early Stage 156

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

The question is further complicated when the new hire is getting a salary. Here’s a simple framework for how to come up with those numbers. Now consider this scenario: That same new hire quit her old job but demands the same $10,000/mo from you. Financially, these two scenarios are identical, therefore P must equal Q.

Equity 276

Equity Salary Hiring Institutional Investors 276

Up and Running

AUGUST 17, 2015

Whether you plan to hire an accountant or depend on QuickBooks, there are some basic principles around understanding your working capital, cost of goods sold (COGS), gross margins, and so on, that are critical to all types of businesses. Accounting: There is no substitute for learning the fundamentals of accounting.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Cofounder Angel Investor eCommerce 60

Eric Friedman

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Through the initial program and the mentoring I have done since, I have learned a lot about working with early stage teams, certainly what it takes to be a reliable mentor during and after the program, and more about what teams need. I have certainly learned I do not have all the answers, but now I am not afraid to let founders know.

Elevator Pitch 60

Elevator Pitch Early Stage New York Framework 60

David Teten

AUGUST 1, 2019

So I recommend use the framework of an investor: Venture capital investing checklist. Joining An Early Stage Startup? How to assign stock options in early-stage startups. Your future employer might want to read: Is Hiring an Outsider the Right Choice in the First Place? Due Diligence as an Investor.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Equity Due Diligence Portfolio 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

So I recommend use the framework of an investor: Venture capital investing checklist. Joining An Early Stage Startup? How to assign stock options in early-stage startups. Lastly, your future employer might want to read: Is Hiring an Outsider the Right Choice in the First Place? Due Diligence as an Investor.

Due Diligence 60

Due Diligence Stock Options Covenant Private Equity 60

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 28, 2023

Gain valuable insights into the Miles framework, a strategic approach to identifying and leveraging your strengths. Through the Miles framework, they guide listeners to identify and leverage their unique strengths, turning constraints into creative opportunities. It's about the early stages of a startup to John (07:39): Workshop.

Framework 70

Framework Cofounder Early Stage IPO 70

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2015

As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Even though everyone has an opinion on good early stage practices, I was impressed with the actionable blueprint in a recent book by Scott Duffy, “ Launch! Neither of these approaches bodes well for success.

Early Stage 120

Early Stage Startup Bootstrapping Revenue 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 1, 2018

Though most founders would agree culture is important in an organization’s success, it often takes a back seat to product development and generating a profit in the early stages of an organization’s life. The founder and first hires have overcome obstacles and understand the behaviors that prove to lead to success.

Cofounder 113

Cofounder Hiring Leadership Employee 113

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? For more on how this plays into the process of scaling up, see the Customer Creation stage of the customer development model.)

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Hire a virtual assistant to find your targets’ emails and other information. Day 1: Post hiring ad for lead generation VA. Even if you’re at a very early stage, if you’re reading this, it’s safe to say that research tasks are below your pay grade, and conducting them will leave you time for little else. Click rates.

Curation 44

Curation Lead Generation Technical Review Email 44

Eric Friedman

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Values are an important part of hiring and team building, but hard to justify the time to create them. This is a framework I have used with early stage teams to come up with values with the entire team. It works well for <10 person companies and takes around 1.5 With that lets dive in. Exercise : .

Framework 68

Framework Hiring Early Stage Cofounder 68

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 23, 2021

If they’re the kind of infinite learner who uses their past experiences to make their decision-making better, they have a huge advantage when it comes to everything from hiring to strategy to sales, making them an even better bet the second time around. Those experiences led me to refine my decision-making framework.

Venture Capital 46

Venture Capital Metrics Investment Bankers Framework 46

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2016

They constantly evaluate their systems, frameworks, and processes to determine whether they’re operating in the most effective manner for where they are now. The number of daily cases we had quickly rose from 10 to 100 to 1,000, and our lone customer service representative insisted that we hire another person to help out.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Stealth San Francisco Cofounder 100

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The presentation was on outsourcing generally, not just software engineering and the audience was very early stage companies (some yet to be founded). We tried to provide a framework for startups to think about what activities should be outsourced and why. In the early days it’s more book keeping than accounting.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65