Early Stage, PR and Silicon Valley

10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2011

The following are some lessons I learned about early-stage startup marketing. Because market is such a broad topic, I’m restricting these lessons to PR marketing (as opposed SEO, SEM, product marketing, etc.). For early-stage consumer companies I would be careful not to market futures at all.

Early Stage

Early Stage Stealth Marketing Startup

How to Configure Your Startup Team

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. PM’s are underrated in Silicon Valley these days.

Cofounder

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley

If You Don’t Have a Discrete Hypothesis You Are Incapable of Failing

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. when is the right time to go big with PR? 11:00 Mark on over-hyping PR. ” This week was no exception. how do you handle internal company morale?

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Lean Social Media PR

How to Know When to Sell vs. When to Market to Customers

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 9, 2013

And I think of it as a failure of Silicon Valley startups (and occasionally SV VCs who lack an understanding of enterprise purchasing) to assume you don’t need a sales process and sales reps. PR – Some companies are excellent at PR and others don’t put much effort into it at all.

Customer

Customer PR Marketing Technical Review

Why The Haters are Wrong About Growth Hacking

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

” Sean is somebody widely respected in Silicon Valley (although he now lives in SoCal) for having helped many early-stage companies go through major growth periods by quantitatively testing features with audiences to help diagnose what led to growth. But I still believe Sean Ellis was right.

Technical Review

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel

How to Work with Lawyers at a Startup

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

They want to lock in future clients at an early stage. For a very small fee they can get your Delaware C corp registration, make sure that you have IP protection and ensure you didn’t make an early bumbling mistakes that you’ll pay for dearly in the next 7-10 years of hard work. Our lives are intertwined.

Southern California

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options

Twitter Link Roundup #180 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 24, 2013

What Nikola Tesla vs. VCs video says about the state of Silicon Valley | by Om Malik – [link]. Follow the money: AngelList has blown open early-stage investments | Wired UK – [link]. “Why Silicon Valley is not the second coming of the Gilded Age.” ” – [link].

Social Media

Social Media Small Business Design Media

How to Get Superior Returns in Venture Capital

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. The importance of reputation is why, for example, Andreessen Horowitz invested early and heavily in their own PR, adding PR guru Margit Wennmachers as a Partner. .

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation

How to Get Superior Returns in Venture Capital

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. The importance of reputation is why, for example, Andreessen Horowitz invested early and heavily in their own PR, adding PR guru Margit Wennmachers as a Partner. .

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation

What Boston’s Top Consumer Tech Leaders Think About Boston’s Consumer Tech Struggles [#BostonB2C Recap]

View from Seed

JULY 24, 2015

We have companies in Chicago, San Francisco (and elsewhere in Silicon Valley), Omaha, and New York. “As an early stage investor I focus on whether the founders can build something that delights 100s of millions of people” @bijan #BostonB2C — Andy Cook (@AndyGCook) July 21, 2015.

Boston

Boston Cofounder B2C PR

Twitter Link Roundup #237 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 3, 2014

10 Top Financial Tips for Early-Stage Startups | StartupCollective – crowdspring.co/1qWvaC4. Finding Alibaba: How Jerry Yang Made The Most Lucrative Bet In Silicon Valley History – crowdspring.co/1vw48WF. Before the Startup – crowdspring.co/1rGYDDQ. Want To Be A Great Leader? 1BAx5Tb. .

Social Media

Social Media Small Business Design Media

VC Evolution: Physician, Scale Thyself.

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

note: apologies in advance for the west coast bias; i’m in silicon valley). but the food was awesome, & the PR wasn’t bad either). These two divergent groups have optimized for very different market conditions and behaviors. and no, we didn’t. Rise of Y Combinator, 1st Branded Entrepreneur Guild.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 2

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Marketing may be physically “staging&# the booth, and may even it “man it,&# but don’t be confused, this is the VP of Sales party. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. While the industry average says only 20% of show leads are followed up, that only happens in other companies, not yours.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development

Australian Incubator StartMate Graduates Its First Class of Startups

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 24, 2011

The program culminates in a two-week trip to Silicon Valley, which the startups are now in the middle of. And like most incubators, StartMate culminates in a Demo Day, one in Sydney and one in Silicon Valley, where participants in the program get an opportunity to present in front of early stage investors.

Incubator

Incubator Silicon Valley San Francisco Australia

Twiistup 6 Highlights

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2009

We had an excellent opening panel on early-stage investing with Dave McClure (Founders Fund – NorCal), Brad Feld (Foundry Group, Boulder) and Andy Sack (Founders Co-Op, Seattle). The tone of the panel was set by David’s announcement that he was relocating to Silicon Valley (and dragging Geni & Yammer with him).

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Cofounder Hawaii Semantic

Silicon Valley Uber Alles? I think so… Some of their Secret Weapons.

Scalable Startup

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

[contact-form] Can any other region “catch up” to Silicon Valley, or be the next Silicon Valley? These towns are setting their expectations way too high while the real Silicon Valley giggles at the sight. Silicon – Uh, yeah, that word? It’s what started all this.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley San Francisco Angel Investor Hawaii

The Curse of Over-Capitalization

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. This is because excessive capital becomes toxic for an early stage company. I’ve written before about how Capital Efficiency doesn’t exist and is an oxymoron.

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage

Twitter Link Roundup #144 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Practical Advice for Raising Early Stage Venture Capital – [link]. Ecosystem 101: The Six Necessary Categories To Build The Next Silicon Valley – [link]. The Dangerous Seduction of the Lifetime Value (LTV) Formula – [link]. 8 Elements That Make A Great SaaS Website – [link].

Social Media

Social Media Small Business Design Media

Beware The Consultant

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

For instance, if a consultant proposes to help you with public relations, pay them a commission equivalent to the greater of a flat fee per story placed or a percentage of revenue generated from the PR coverage. Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc. Consultant.

Equity

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review

The Curse of Over-Capitalization

K9 Ventures

JUNE 12, 2012

Some days in Silicon Valley it feels like there are more investors than there are entrepreneurs. This is because excessive capital becomes toxic for an early stage company. I’ve written before about how Capital Efficiency doesn’t exist and is an oxymoron.

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Founder Seed Stage

The Leading Cause of Startup Death – Part 1: The Product.

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. Marketing starts to build a sales demo, writes sales materials (presentations, data sheets), and hires a PR agency. In this stage, or by alpha test, the company traditionally hires a VP of Sales who begins to assemble a sales force. Order Here.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development

A Few Key People Really Can Make a Huge Difference

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. Chris Devore & Andy Sack have created Founder’s Coop with the goal of funding, incubating & launching more early-stage ventures in Seattle. Not to mention every major agency, many PR firms, etc. People do want to help.

Seattle

Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 1 « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

MAY 21, 2009

The Message Sitting around a conference room table brainstorming messages that might resonate with customers, or worse having a PR agency doing that for you, is a firing offense in a small company. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. You should be brainstorming messages with current and potential customers.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development

How to Develop Your Fund Raising Strategy

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

And trust me, if you’re early stage you DO want to meet Bryce. He’s awesome for early-stage entrepreneurs. Meet early. Conventional wisdom says that you can only build big businesses in Silicon Valley so as a VC you need to be there. So make sure you have a solid PR strategy.

Developer

Developer Silicon Valley PR Las Vegas

Tiered Valuation Caps

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

Convertible notes/SAFEs are usually executed around times of maximal uncertainty for a company; the very early stages. The PR story behind that trend — the way it gets sold — is that it’s about saving companies money. They have their downsides, which are discussed in some of the above links.

Valuation

Valuation Dilution Silicon Valley Seed Stage

Elephants Can Dance – Reinventing HP « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

However, the CEO as the “Rock Star&# always reminded me of why I fired any PR agency that was getting more press than the company it represented. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. KC Reply steveblank , on June 24, 2009 at 1:20 pm Said: Ken, HP was a pretty complex story. carry on reading.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile

Rocket Science 4: The Press is Our Best Product

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. Our “Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” story played great in Silicon Valley, they ate it up in Hollywood, and the business press tripped over themselves to talk to us. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Order Here.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Product RSS California

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. In 1M/1M, I teach the EJ Methodology which is based on my Entrepreneur Journeys research, and emphasize bootstrapping, idea validation, and crisp positioning as some of the core principles of building strong fundamentals in early stage ventures.

Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley

Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2018

If you’re in the early stages of fleshing out your business idea, don’t worry too much about detailed market research. Or, make sure that you get the kind of funding that’s needed for large marketing and PR campaigns. Reducing risk is your goal in the early stages of starting a business. Your ideal customer.

Lean

Lean Forecast Software Review Business Plan

Lessons Learned: Don't launch

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. If you are having trouble raising money, sometimes a little PR can help.

San Francisco

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage

Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you?

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

In a startup, these channels of communication are critical to understand for advertising, launch and PR purposes. This is important, especially if you are a very early stage company. In particular, Ive focused on the two channels of communication that were most commonly suggested in the first survey: conferences and books.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

Rocket Science 5: Who Needs Domain Experts

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

Only in Silicon Valley could we have got funded with this idea, and not surprisingly, it was our technology that had the VC’s confused. Rocket Science was just another one of those companies (with better PR). Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Make sure they are. Order Here. Now In Print!

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego

California Startup Gold – bring it here to scale it

Scalable Startup

JULY 19, 2011

Most of my 25 year career has been in California; about half of those in Silicon Valley. In every case these other places aspire to be a self sustaining baby Silicon Valley of their own – Silicon Alley, Silicon Prairie, Silicon Coast. Great PR and finance firms, but not many startups.

California

California Southern California San Francisco Silicon Valley

Twitter Link Roundup #210 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Books that Shape Common Early Stage (Startup) Culture – crowdspring.co/1fLefAN. 5 reasons why battery innovation is hard for Silicon Valley – crowdspring.co/1fLbWNv. The mobile future of variable pricing | ThoughtGadgets by Ben Kunz – crowdspring.co/1epd89z. What’s up with the Series A?

Social Media

Social Media Small Business Design Media

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. In 1M/1M, I teach the EJ Methodology which is based on my Entrepreneur Journeys research, and emphasize bootstrapping, idea validation, and crisp positioning as some of the core principles of building strong fundamentals in early stage ventures.

Marketing

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. In 1M/1M, I teach the EJ Methodology which is based on my Entrepreneur Journeys research, and emphasize bootstrapping, idea validation, and crisp positioning as some of the core principles of building strong fundamentals in early stage ventures.

Marketing

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor

The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Software Company

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Eric Ries, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup, popularized this strategy for web applications. Konstantinos says, “As we were validating the value of our solution and recruiting early adopters, we started talking to a few VC firms. Do your own PR. The Definitive Guide to Building a Brand.

Software Review

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast

Why Launching a Startup Is More Expensive Than You Think

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

One of the things we hear a lot about in Silicon Valley is how cheap and easy it is to launch a startup these days. And no matter what the latest trends indicate, you will eventually have to spend money on PR and marketing. In fact, it’s barely even the beginning for most companies in their seed stage financings.

Startup

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network

Twitter Link Roundup #152 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

Lessons from a top Angel Investor: Fabrice Grinda talks about his 100 early-stage investments – [link]. There Are Plenty Of Failures In Silicon Valley, Thanks – [link]. Six best practice tips for email unsubscribe pages | Econsultancy – [link]. Does your startup require a miracle?

Social Media

Social Media Small Business Design Media

10 years of entrepreneurship

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

We were focused on revenue, but we didnt understand that revenue is not important for its own sake in an early stage company. And then, at my first Silicon Valley startup , I watched friends get laid off in successive waves as it started to fail. No business model, either. I think its wasteful.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

From Nothing To Something. How To Get There.

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. Especially if you aren’t from around Silicon Valley. even something like joining a climbing gym can work – in silicon valley, they’re full of techies!

Technical Review

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review

The Sharp End of the Stick « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

Every marketing communication hire couldn’t wait to produce the next great ad or PR program. In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Order Here.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California

ProfessorVC: Watch Out for the Red W(h)ine

Professor VC

OCTOBER 20, 2009

The last blogger in Silicon Valley. However, the individual above was adamant that we should have a PR campaign to let the entrepreneurial community know that we dont participate or support this practice. ProfessorVC. Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Watch Out for the Red W(h)ine.

Angel Investor

Angel Investor Due Diligence San Jose Silicon Valley

Think Your Start-up Is Venture Worthy? Think Again.

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Been there Done that This is very depressing for all future founders, or even currently early stage founders. I would assume most businesses are going to claim they should get VC funding in order to help their PR, even if no one at the company actually believes it. Pepperdine Business Press Room – Graziadio School PR [.]

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation

10 Marketing Lessons for Early-Stage Tech Startups

How to Configure Your Startup Team

Trending Sources

If You Don’t Have a Discrete Hypothesis You Are Incapable of Failing

How to Know When to Sell vs. When to Market to Customers

Why The Haters are Wrong About Growth Hacking

How to Work with Lawyers at a Startup

Twitter Link Roundup #180 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

How to Get Superior Returns in Venture Capital

How to Get Superior Returns in Venture Capital

What Boston’s Top Consumer Tech Leaders Think About Boston’s Consumer Tech Struggles [#BostonB2C Recap]

Twitter Link Roundup #237 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

VC Evolution: Physician, Scale Thyself.

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 2

Australian Incubator StartMate Graduates Its First Class of Startups

Twiistup 6 Highlights

Silicon Valley Uber Alles? I think so… Some of their Secret Weapons.

The Curse of Over-Capitalization

Twitter Link Roundup #144 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Beware The Consultant

The Curse of Over-Capitalization

The Leading Cause of Startup Death – Part 1: The Product.

A Few Key People Really Can Make a Huge Difference

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 1 « Steve Blank

How to Develop Your Fund Raising Strategy

Tiered Valuation Caps

Elephants Can Dance – Reinventing HP « Steve Blank

Rocket Science 4: The Press is Our Best Product

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster

Lessons Learned: Don't launch

Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you?

Rocket Science 5: Who Needs Domain Experts

California Startup Gold – bring it here to scale it

Twitter Link Roundup #210 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

Strategy Roundtable: Professional Investors Do Not Invest In $20 Million Markets

The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Software Company

Why Launching a Startup Is More Expensive Than You Think

Twitter Link Roundup #152 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

10 years of entrepreneurship

From Nothing To Something. How To Get There.

The Sharp End of the Stick « Steve Blank

ProfessorVC: Watch Out for the Red W(h)ine

Think Your Start-up Is Venture Worthy? Think Again.

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