Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2019

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Technical Review 255

Technical Review Dilution Early Stage Product Development 255

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2017

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Customer 191

Customer Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 191

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially. Ask every employee to focus on sales. Openly reward employees who make the extra effort, champion cost-cutting issues, and enhance the sales process. Increase the pipeline and the conversion rate.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. More customers are lost to apathy after the sale than poor service or quality. A numbing 68% of all business lost in America is lost due to lack of follow-up after the sale.

Entrepreneur 275

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 275

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Founder 250

Founder Startup Software Developers Software Development 250

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

In addition to fresh products, you need people smarter than you for real help, with the right combination of skills, experience, and passion to foster and manage new growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Marketing Technical Review Dilution 252

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Software Developers 229

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

Switch your focus from product development to sales. Explosive growth to an enterprise normally requires a scalable sales model, a well-documented process with incentives, training, and metrics for tracking and management. Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Merger 379

Merger Due Diligence SEC IPO 379

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 10, 2012

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Startup 254

Startup Technical Review Dilution Early Stage 254

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Startup 245

Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory. For example, a software development startup raising $250,000 from angel investors better be able to operate on $25,000 per month. Social media is not rocket science.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable.

Advisory Board 240

Advisory Board Forecast Early Stage Product Development 240

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. More customers are lost to apathy after the sale than poor service or quality. A numbing 68% of all business lost in America is lost due to lack of follow-up after the sale.

Entrepreneur 237

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 237

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Marketing 238

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 238

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially. Ask every employee to focus on sales. Openly reward employees who make the extra effort, champion cost-cutting issues, and enhance the sales process. Increase the pipeline and the conversion rate.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable.

Advisory Board 232

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 232

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2010

Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development. Focus is required to resist adding a few more neat features, made possible by the new technology, which in fact make the product more complex to use, impossible to test, and very expensive in time and cost.

Startup 227

Startup Technical Review Dilution Early Stage 227

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

In addition to fresh products, you need people smarter than you for real help, with the right combination of skills, experience, and passion to foster and manage new growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Mezzanine 244

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 244

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Yager asserts that being able to speak in public is one of the five key business skills that can make or break your company, whether you are a new startup or an entrepreneur who's been around for many years.

Marketing 283

Marketing Early Stage Lead Generation Hosting 283

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2010

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%. Sales aren’t meeting projections. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Software Developers 122

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Design 122

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2020

Initially, you may be able to do everything in your startup, including product development, marketing, and shipping orders. As you move from development to rollout, a team effort is required, including marketing, sales, funding, and customers. Look for tools to automate and simplify strategy execution.

Advisory Board 308

Advisory Board Agile Social Media Metrics 308

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2010

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable.

Advisory Board 125

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 125

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

In addition to fresh products, you need people smarter than you for real help, with the right combination of skills, experience, and passion to foster and manage new growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Mezzanine 141

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 141

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

In addition to fresh products, you need people smarter than you for real help, with the right combination of skills, experience, and passion to foster and manage new growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Mezzanine 240

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2019

The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Yager asserts that being able to speak in public is one of the five key business skills that can make or break your company, whether you are a new startup or an entrepreneur who's been around for many years.

Early Stage 218

Early Stage Lead Generation Hosting Entrepreneur 218

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2012

New product development process. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Make sure all team members have some connection with the product – has either used it, or sold it, or assembled it. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales.

Intellectual Property 247

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2016

Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially. Ask every employee to focus on sales. Openly reward employees who make the extra effort, champion cost-cutting issues, and enhance the sales process. Increase the pipeline and the conversion rate.

Social Media 120

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2017

The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Yager asserts that being able to speak in public is one of the five key business skills that can make or break your company, whether you are a new startup or an entrepreneur who's been around for many years.

Early Stage 242

Early Stage Lead Generation Hosting Entrepreneur 242

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

In addition to fresh products, you need people smarter than you for real help, with the right combination of skills, experience, and passion to foster and manage new growth. Switch your attention from product development to sales. Separate marketing from sales for further leverage.

Mezzanine 120

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2011

New product development process. From time to time, include customers and sales members in ideation sessions. Make sure all team members have some connection with the product – has either used it, or sold it, or assembled it. Once a new product is launched, a key metric is the ratio of new product sales to overall sales.

Intellectual Property 234

Intellectual Property IP Valuation .Net 234

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Product development process. If you are contracting or outsourcing, this is even more important.

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Yager asserts that being able to speak in public is one of the five key business skills that can make or break your company, whether you are a new startup or an entrepreneur who's been around for many years.

Entrepreneur 315

Entrepreneur Early Stage Lead Generation Media 315