Gust

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

For most new high-tech products, the first customers are always “early adopters.” The conventional wisdom is that early adopters are the ideal target for new products, to get business rolling. The term “early adopters” relates to the people who are eager to try almost any new technology products, and originates from Everett M.

Marketing 178

Marketing Engineer Technology Product 178

Gust

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

For example, the site Noodle.org is a vertical search engine for the education industry. A horizontal marke t is one in which all of your customers use your product to do the same thing, regardless of what industry they are in. Illustration from [link] mahugh/… *original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *.

Vertical 136

Vertical Marketing Engineer Search 136

Gust

OCTOBER 7, 2012

I believe stealth makes sense for large companies who can be sued for “pre-announcing” a new product to stall the market or kill a competitor. It also makes legal sense to never disclose the details of your patent application, before the product is ready to ship. Deliver minimum product and iterate.

Stealth 131

Stealth Entrepreneur Incubator Engineer 131

Gust

AUGUST 27, 2014

These are typically Internet-enabled, or consumer products, or medical devices. To find one or more local angel groups near you, use the industry’s official investment group search engine at [link] stors. Some are wide open, investing in everything from real estate to films.

Angel Investor 133

Angel Investor Accredited Investor Angel Groups Syndicate 133

Gust

MARCH 9, 2014

It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. When questioned, founders usually mention word-of-mouth, viral marketing, and a top quality product. Use social media and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to start.

Marketing 146

Marketing SEM Viral Social Media 146

Gust

JUNE 23, 2014

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. There’s also the opportunity to do some consulting with interested customers to provide needed revenue while the product is still under development. Build your brand and get leads today.

Startup 174

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 174

Gust

JULY 29, 2012

There you can sell your products and services 24 hours per day, seven days a week, on a global basis. Another example is the Amazon.com model, where they order your product for direct shipment, only after they get your payment. Make money whether you are working or sleeping. E-commerce on the Internet is a good example of this.

Bandwidth 155

Bandwidth Bootstrapping Equity Startup 155

Gust

JUNE 22, 2014

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. There’s also the opportunity to do some consulting with interested customers to provide needed revenue while the product is still under development. Build your brand and get leads today.

Startup 125

Startup Cofounder Social Media SEO 125

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM), like cohort analysis , yourself. Sales and marketing costs.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Gust

AUGUST 29, 2012

It’s a story that makes product-market fit come alive. For online marketing, as a common example, you should be able to talk realistically about your search engine budget, pay-per-click budget, social media experts on staff or available as contractors and budgeted into the plan, targets for page views, unique visitors, and conversions.

Marketing 119

Marketing Social Media Sales Cycle Angel Investor 119

Gust

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

Often I find that experienced investors flip to the management page of a business plan, even before they read the product description. The most common solution is that you “bootstrap” your business, or fund it yourself, at least to the point that your “traction” is evident (you have a product, you have customers, you have revenue).

Startup 147

Startup Bootstrapping Social Network Internet 147

Gust

JUNE 24, 2012

Tweak your product or service offerings. Use social media, search engine optimization, blogging, and mobile media. Go online and read everything you can about the group you want to target. Attend events, meetings, and gatherings of your potential customer observe and talk to attendees. Don’t forget to ask them what they want and need.

Marketing 136

Marketing Database Social Media Media 136

Gust

NOVEMBER 18, 2012

Once you have a potential investor excited about your team, your product, and your company, the investor will inevitably ask “What is your company’s valuation?” Back in the “heyday of the dot.com startups,” it was not uncommon to see a valuation incremented by $1M or every paid full-time professional programmer, engineer, or designer.

Valuation 187

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation NPV Intellectual Property 187

Gust

NOVEMBER 25, 2012

The vision part is fine, but successful entrepreneurs have found that the extreme uncertainty of a new product or service usually requires many course corrections, or “pivots” to find a successful formula. In this case, what previously was considered a single feature in a product becomes the whole product. Platform pivot.

Silicon Valley 187

Silicon Valley Architecture Startup Channel 187

Gust

JULY 27, 2014

Search engines. You can find web sites like the Comprehensive List of Search Engines , which is nothing but a list of 250+ available search engines. Combining the features of several successful products will not assure success (“something for everyone”). The second biggest reason is lack of focus.

Entrepreneur 182

Entrepreneur Aggregator Engineer Social Network 182

Gust

SEPTEMBER 21, 2014

Often I find that experienced investors scan ahead to the management page of a business plan, even before they read the product description. Not so much that it slows you down, but enough so that you smoothly run and grow the engine. Every investor is looking for the “dream team” of executives to put money on.

NDA 147

NDA CPA SEC Startup 147

Gust

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Coding, design, production, sales, finance, operations, marketing, and the like are all execution skills, and without great execution, success will be very hard to come by. Engineer Irwin Cantor (the coder)? And that it is the critical piece that ultimately (if things work out) gets the big bucks. Architect Der Scutt (the IA)?

Coder 147

Coder Web Startup Salary 147