Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key partners.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

The right channel for marketing and distribution is one of the basic “four Ps” of business (product, promotion, price and placement). Treat distribution partners as part of your team. For example, if a new partner wants to offer new terms or prices, disclose and negotiate with existing partners before it becomes a crisis.

Channel 120

Channel Distribution Partner Acquisition 120

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

Learning could be about product features, customer needs, the right pricing and distribution channel, etc.) These hypotheses span the gamut from who’s the customer(s), to what’s the value proposition (product/service features), pricing, distribution channel, and demand creation (customer acquisition, activation, retention, etc.).

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Where Airbnb recognized the value in another platform, Dropbox doubled down on the strength of its product as a distribution channel. Growth hacking in marketing incorporates the five stages of the customer lifecycle into the “ AARRR Framework ,” otherwise known as the “Pirate Metrics model.”. Acquisition. The result?

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key partners.

Intellectual Property 250

Intellectual Property Business Model Angel Investor Channel 250

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Definition : CAC is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. Benchmark: Serena Capital advises B2B SaaS startups to target a gross margin of 80% or higher to demonstrate the scalability and profitability of their business model.

B2B 97

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 97

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

They collected information that justified their assumptions about the problem, opportunity, market size, their solution and competitors and the their team, They rolled up a 5-year sales forecast with assumptions about their revenue model, pricing, sales, marketing, customer acquisition cost, etc. It was an exquisitely crafted plan.

Business Model 331

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 331

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 26, 2010

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business. Marty Zwilling.

Acquisition 214

Acquisition Merger Startup Bandwidth 214

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

The biggest mistake for most of these startups was not understanding that optimizing their business model for the 24 million people in the Australian market would not prepare them for the size and scale they needed to get to big. But other critical hypotheses such as activities, resources, partners, channels needed testing offshore.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Union Square Ventures The next morning I got to spend time with Brad Burnham , partner at Union Square Ventures talking about their investment strategy and insights about web-based businesses. Bill and his partner Fred Wilson have invested in ~30 or so companies with 27 still active. Eric and I will be working on others.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

With over a decade of experience in his toolkit, he specializes in helping clients build out cross-channel acquisition systems using a mix of owned, earned and paid tactics. 03:18] What are the main challenges for those attempting the fractional CMO model? [07:17] 07:17] What is you cross-channel acquisition strategy? [11:13]

Channel 63

Channel Acquisition Framework B2B 63

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Team – higher requirements for caliber of team members Product – focus on truly differentiated and not me-too Market – is it really big enough to provide investor returns** Traction – need more users, partners, patents, etc Timing – are you building for yesterday or 2 yrs from now? Business - how are you actually going to make money?

Business Model 150

Business Model SEM IP Syndicate 150

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2013

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business.

Merger 243

Merger Acquisition Startup Bandwidth 243

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) Tech acquisitions went crazy at the same time the IPO market did. The Rise of Mergers and Acquisitions -– March 2003 -2008 After the dot.com bubble collapsed, the IPO market (and most tech M&A deals) shutdown for technology companies. billion.)

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2012

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business.

Entrepreneur 249

Entrepreneur Merger Bandwidth Acquisition 249

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Maker announced it has raised $62 million this year, acquired an amazing off-YouTube distribution network and grown its business in monetary terms by almost 300% year-over-year off of an already large base. Developing O&O (owned & operated) businesses (outside of YouTube). ” YouTube takes 45%.

Networking 366

Networking Media Distribution Video 366

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

It seems that four different models of "discussion creation" have occurred: Organice Discussion - someone posts something interesting, lots of bloggers post on the topic, distributed discussion ensues. Open Source Business Models, speakers for Web 2.0 Attorney and Startup Business Advisor – Aaron Shec.

Technical Cofounder 150

Technical Cofounder Southern California Los Angeles CTO Hire 150

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came early. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business.

Startup 232

Startup Merger Bandwidth Acquisition 232

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success. Managing the Business. Here’s why.

Balance Sheet 304

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 304

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2015

Non-organic growth would include OEM relationships, finding strategic partners, “coopetition,” as well as acquisitions. Even mergers and acquisitions (M&A) came quickly. Teaming with another company, or buying another company, can add new geographical locations and new customer segments to the business.

Merger 120

Merger Acquisition Differentiation Channel 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2010

I taught the class this semester with Ann Miura-Ko a partner at Maples Investments. Our goal is to teach students the key concepts of the startup process and help them understand that a startup is a search for a profitable business model. And learn how to pivot their model as reality intrudes.). Teaching Goals.

Intellectual Property 257

Intellectual Property Business Model Customer Development Distribution 257

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 14, 2019

Today, retail is dominated by international giants with powerful supply chains and increasingly digitized distribution systems. They know everything about their customer (thanks, big data) and have the ability to customize every part of the business for efficiency. . It simply would not work on a global scale.

Global 189

Global Vertical Agile Engineer 189

ConversionXL

MARCH 19, 2020

The best drivers apply the brakes just ahead of the curve (they take out excess costs), turn hard toward the apex of the curve (identify the short list of projects that will form the next business model), and accelerate hard out of the curve (spend and hire before markets have rebounded). Progressive. Image source ). are moot.”.

Marketing 121

Marketing Campaign Non-Compete Lean 121

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

And when we do make bets, they’re small bets on incremental products or acquisitions that simply add to the bottom line.”. I suggested the best place to start the conversation is with the 21 st century definition of a startup: A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

So what’s wrong the product development model? The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.)

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

Fairchild Semiconductor became the progenitor of a flood of Silicon Valley chip companies and at the same time the adoption of the limited partnership as the model for Venture Firms gave VC’s their own profitable business model. But these VC’s aren’t Lean because they fund startups with web-based distribution models.

Lean 263

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 263

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.” Today the capstone class is most often experiential, team-based, hands on, focused around the search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Distribution channels, brand loyalty, etc.

Incubator 332

Incubator Lean Programming Government 332

The Next Web

OCTOBER 2, 2013

Distribution and cashflow pose challenges in China. That’s why the free business model is so popular in China. Furthermore, the steady cashflow in the Western market also comes about because of one key factor: the distribution model. The majority of users are relatively lower-end with lower educational background.

China 122

China Developer Intellectual Property Mobile 122

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 11, 2013

Across our portfolio and in my own entrepreneurial experience, I have seen three main sales models work successfully in scaling B2B sales: 1) Enterprise; 2) Telephone; and 3) Developer-driven. The typical quota for a sales rep varies by type of business model (SaaS vs. perpetual), product gross margin (e.g.,

Sales 50

Sales Technical Review Software Review B2B 50

www.inc.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

But with the help of Grahams company, which specializes in creating tech systems for start-ups, Jumpstart grew to more than $50 million in revenue--enough to make it an attractive acquisition for media conglomerate Hachette Filipacchi. Graham is careful about whom he chooses to partner with. FROM OUR PARTNERS. ); ); ); ADVERTISEMENT.

Arizona 40

Arizona Equity Iowa Venture Capital 40

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2019

Well Health Technologies, for instance, was able to continue expanding through a scalable acquisition model. Attracting investors in the early stages helps bring in new partners that are committed to your business. Ask for what you need in order to prove that your business model works. Do not be greedy.

Canada 78

Canada Early Stage Valuation Finance 78

Hearpreneur

MARCH 8, 2019

I saw an opportunity to disrupt and exponentially improve the established banking business model based on branch-based customer acquisition, which was both inefficient and costly. How did you come up with your business name? Where do you see your business in the next 3-5 years?

Artificial Inteligence 68

Artificial Inteligence Bankruptcy Mobile Cofounder 68

View from Seed

JANUARY 24, 2018

For this reason, we’ve partnered with Guild members who have experience across different kinds of customers, business models, and distribution channels. This is an initiative that we will continue to refine in the coming years, but we are so excited to be partnering with these Guild members going forward.

Operations 177

Operations Cofounder Technical Review Angel Investor 177

www.paulgraham.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

August 2010 Two years ago I wrote about what I called " a huge, unexploitedopportunity in startup funding :" the growing disconnect betweenVCs, whose current business model requires them to invest largeamounts, and a large class of startups that need less than theyused to. Get funded by Y Combinator. The stickingpoint is board seats.

Startup 93

Startup Valuation Non-Compete Deal Flow 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

Of course, you can find these elements embodied in many of the business plan templates and tools out there, such as the Business Model Canvas. Free” is not an exciting business model for investor interest. Highlight the strengths of the entire team and partners. Patents are a good place for you to start.

Intellectual Property 332

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Channel 332

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Defining the problem you’re trying to solve is an important part of your business plan because it’s the first place where you’ll demonstrate that idea is viable—that you can actually make money with your business model and idea. Share of the Market (SOM) : Your SOM is who you will reach in your first few years of business.

Business Plan 63

Business Plan Curation Balance Sheet Intellectual Property 63