www.instigatorblog.com

MARCH 2, 2010

Home About Contact My thoughts & lessons learned on startups, entrepreneurship, marketing and other stuff. The Importance of Advisory Boards for Startup CEOs Tweet When a startup receives financing it will need to setup a Board of Directors. The Board probably existed beforehand, but was made up only of the founders.

Advisory Board 40

Advisory Board Startup Cofounder Equity 40

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 7, 2023

How Employee Experience Shapes Brand Perception written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Tiffani Bova In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Tiffani Bova. 01:03): Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. Like this show?

Employee 73

Employee Technical Review Advisory Board Sales 73

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Only real results count.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

YoungUpstarts

JULY 5, 2011

He later worked for eight years at the European Union commission helping to develop the cultural industry in Africa (cultural products being the main exports – and revenue – for poor African countries). Peer-To-Peer Referral Network. The African Boy Who Could.

Togo 222

Togo Africa Advisory Board Campaign 222

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

After many years in business, working in large companies as well as startups, I’m no longer surprised at why mature and successful companies struggle with introducing innovative new ventures as the market and environment changes. Assemble an engaged new venture advisory board.

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Advisory Board Incubator Dilution Agile 359

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 25, 2017

But once they have some market acceptance, they face an even greater challenge. All product industries are different and meet the needs of differing markets. Endeavor Miami follows a rigorous selection process to identify the candidates with market potential. They must scale their businesses.

Miami 61

Miami Technical Review Software Review Artificial Inteligence 61

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Only real results count.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

Here are seven ways that advisors can immediately help your small business achieve the next level of success: Assist With Strategies & Connections to Have Record Revenue & Profit in 2016. Have a CMO Advisor Provide an Alternative Set of Ideas & Strategies for New Marketing Strategies.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Small Business Hiring 100

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

More and more startups are pursuing Revenue-Based VCs , but “RBI” doesn’t fit everyone. Flexible VC 101: Equity Meets Revenue Share. By tying payments to actual revenues, founders and investors remain aligned around the company’s real-time performance, good or bad. Flexible VC: Revenue -based. Of the Inc.

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Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Don’t expect them to believe your $100M revenue projection, if you are still waiting for the first revenue dollar. Build qualified advisory board. If you can convince a couple of domain experts, or a couple of experienced executives to join your board and be your advocate, that’s traction. Only real results count.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

David Teten

MAY 7, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. If the answer is yes to any of these, keep reading. Q: What have you built so far?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

David Teten

JULY 10, 2019

Briefly, we think there’s a substantial market for a business which helps enterprises to execute initiatives which require coordination across diverse stakeholders, e.g., make a large sale to a critical client, or lobby for a change in regulation. If the answer is yes to any of these, keep reading. Q: What have you built so far?

America 60

America Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence 60

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

We are purpose-built to not only invest pre-product but also to help accelerate your path to product-market fit with our decades of entrepreneurial and investing experience along with our active CXO advisory board. will be a great fit with the Salesforce marketing cloud. First check to seed?—?congrats

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Startups focus on speed since they are burning cash every day as they search for product/market fit. I had lunch last week with Tom, the CEO of a startup that was quickly becoming a large company – last year’s revenue was $40M, this year likely to be $80M maybe even $100 million in ad revenue. Is that feasible?

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Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” They’re putting money into web services/business – most without early revenue.

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Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 12, 2021

During the early days of my digital marketing business, my mentor offered counsel and functioned as my sounding board. For instance, when I was starting my business, I wasn’t well-informed about the prevailing market atmosphere and the nature of the product I wanted to launch. 1- Offers counsel. Photo Credit: Allan Borch.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Technical Review Advisory Board Leadership 125

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 22, 2012

And in an increasingly social and networked world — not to mention an economy where every dollar of revenue is critical — this type of third party validation is more important than ever. These may include references, referrals, testimonials, serving on advisory boards, and participating in your customer communities, he explains.

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Programming Customer Social Media Advisory Board 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

Fight the urge do more things, to attract more customers in a broader market. In reality, too many choices actually dilutes customer interest in your existing market, and makes your job of production, marketing, and support much more complex. The company has since gone public, and is still a market leader.

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Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

ConversionXL

AUGUST 11, 2021

All companies that This Week in Startups’ audience of entrepreneurs, company founders, and marketers would be interested in. A well-thought-out strategy lays the foundations for your sponsorship efforts in the same way a marketing strategy guides your marketing campaigns. Market identification.

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Audience Social Media Email Ruby 139

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

So Leon and I have met numerous times, about marketing strategy and the music one is that developed after Chicago became a customer. So that was sort of the direction that we thought about going in and it’s just hard to figure out the marketing strategy around that. Hamid: It’s kind of interesting. Dan: Exactly. Dan: Great.

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Cofounder Technical Review Chicago Technical Cofounder 199

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2017

Projected enrollment growth and market demand can also be tricky to estimate. Write about the market and how you’re fulfilling demand. Do a focused market analysis. Next up is a market analysis. How big is your target market? Who is your target market ? What’s your curriculum based on?

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Business Plan SBA Software Review Advisory Board 93

The Startup Magazine

MAY 28, 2019

Hospitality a difficult market. However, hospitality proved to be a difficult market for tech start-ups with some giants already on the market or numerous apps shutting down every year, including some spectacular failures in the recent years. Embargo has just started generating revenues from two streams. Lorcan London.

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Advisory Board Angel Investor Startup Cofounder 91

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 7, 2017

A good idea, from a business perspective, is one that solves an important problem for a set of customers in a big enough and rapidly growing market, with enough value in the solution that you can continue to grow your company over time. If there is no market or customer need, then there is no value proposition or viable business model.

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Advisory Board Revenue Vertical Business Model 138

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

I’ve written on the expert network industry a fair amount in the past: see How to Earn More Consulting Revenue from Expert Networks and How Executives Can Work with Private Equity and Venture Capital Portfolio Companies. We launched GLG Share because we knew this same network would be valuable to help startups scale their businesses.

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New York Technical Review Networking Advisory Board 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2017

Very few people are experts in all facets of a new business, including finance, sales, marketing, and operations. The accountant may accurately record every transaction, but only you can make the strategic tradeoffs on marketing costs versus customer revenue, product quality versus support, and so forth.

Cost 180

Cost Advisory Board Entrepreneur Angel Investor 180

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Industry & market sizing. Start with the evolution of the overall industry, market segmentation, market dynamics, and customer landscape. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth.

Business Plan 283

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 283

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2016

In my role as an advisory board member for several startups, I’m always excited to see that initial surge of revenue from a great rollout campaign. An initial revenue surge, or a major cash advance from investors often leads to a mentality of building a large customer base at any cost.

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Advisory Board Startup Revenue Finance 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2013

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part.

Business Model 235

Business Model Product Advisory Board Angel Investor 235

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 11, 2022

Referral Programs: A Guide for Small Business written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. By ignoring customer referrals or not incorporating customer referral program ideas into your marketing strategy, you're missing out on a valuable source of revenue. Referrals are invaluable to any business.

Programming 84

Programming Small Business Advisory Board B2B 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2016

These need to go beyond the traditional revenue, cost, and volume metrics which may not yet have data, and can mislead you about real customer acceptance. Build an inside advisory board of influencers and experts. Early examples would include website traffic, positive reactions from potential customers, and blogger support.

Metrics 143

Metrics Advisory Board Startup Lean 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2012

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part.

Business Model 248

Business Model Advisory Board Entrepreneur Angel Investor 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

Clearly define the customer, channel, and revenue model associated with this solution. Industry & market sizing. Start with the evolution of the overall industry, market segmentation, market dynamics, and customer landscape. In this section, you need to be passionate about revenue, profit, and volume growth.

Business Plan 290

Business Plan Sweat Equity Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 290

OnlyOnce

JULY 9, 2013

The book has been described by a few CEOs who read it and commented early for me along the lines of “The Lean Startup movement is great, but this book starts where most of those books end and takes you through the ‘so you have a product that works in-market – now what?’ What About Sales & Marketing?, questions”.

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Startup Advisory Board Elevator Pitch Forecast 95

Growthink Blog

OCTOBER 22, 2012

That Often It is Better to Receive than to Give : While advisory board members, unlike a formal board, do not have liability nor fiduciary responsibility, their time and energy requirements to participate are significant. The “ which ” questions are in many ways the harder ones that an advisory board dynamic can help address.

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Advisory Board Management Revenue Operations 91

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

Investors are looking for a concise description of your product or service without technical jargon or fuzzy marketing terms with value quantified in customer terms. How big and growing is the total market and your target segment? They like billion-dollar markets with double-digit growth rates.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2011

Many entrepreneurs work hard on the proof of concept (technical), but skip any proof of the business model (revenue flow). In other words, once they are convinced that the product works, they assume their price, sales channel, and marketing will bring in the customers. These days, the technical side may be the easy part.

Business Model 234

Business Model Advisory Board Startup Angel Investor 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2016

These could include customer penetration, revenue growth, budget guidelines, and industry visibility. It’s time for the executive team and advisory board to commit the necessary funds and people resources to complete the plan. Clearly define and issue the challenge. A dream is not enough.

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Intellectual Property Advisory Board Metrics Leadership 120