Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2020

Thus it is always a question of what you qualify for, and what you are willing to give up, to turn your dream idea into a viable business. Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit.

Equity 436

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 436

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Technical Review 399

Technical Review Product Advisory Board Business Model 399

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

To do a solid holiday season he will need to balance the inventory and marketing budgets, and getting stuck in a complex situation with inventory being stuffed in the retail channels with bad terms will be a kiss of death. I will connect the company to a few larger companies that may be good OEM channels for them. JCLABoutique.com.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

First is that there are, perhaps, a thousand people in the world of entrepreneurship who know what they are doing when it comes to dealing with issues like financing, positioning, market sizing, customer validation, customer acquisition and other seemingly obvious topics that all entrepreneurs need to deal with. Rangrut.com.

Silicon Valley 114

Silicon Valley Technical Review Startup Early Stage 114

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. They are gaining valuable customer data.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

Up and Running

MARCH 8, 2016

It will help you find customers, and craft the right marketing messages so that they choose you! So, you’re at a stage now where you know some important things: You’ve documented your key assumptions about your business. You’ve spoken to your customers. Getting funded and writing a business plan. Take out a loan.

SBA 60

SBA Technical Review Software Review Business Plan 60

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Thus it is always a question of what you qualify for, and what you are willing to give up, to turn your dream idea into a viable business. Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Equity Small Business Administration SBA 240

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

I asked her not to assume that investors will be investing in this business idea, at least not until she can acquire some level of validation, which means tens, if not hundreds of thousands of customers, and several partnerships with daily deal sites. Venture capitalists today don't exactly practice venture capital. Gnosis India.

Channel 115

Channel India Bootstrapping Silicon Valley 115

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 26, 2012

Even seed investors generally fund businesses that are already rolling. So, Eric will need to create a method with which to get to paying customers before any investor would invest. Also, selling to restaurants is expensive, as we have seen in the massive operational expenditure and lack of profitability in the Groupon model.

Jacksonville 114

Jacksonville Florida PPC Programming 114

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

Thus it is always a question of what you qualify for, and what you are willing to give up, to turn your dream idea into a viable business. Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: 10. Your business is yours alone.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Equity Small Business Administration 283

Up and Running

DECEMBER 23, 2019

One of the most important decisions a new business owner can make is how they’re going to finance their venture. . Bootstrapping, saving funds over years, borrowing from friends and family, taking out a bank loan and pitching investors are all viable options, but some will work better than others for your specific business. .

Finance 92

Finance Sweat Equity Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 92

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Raise more money than you need because your business model may change. The business model for residential solar panel company: contract with customer, local rebates, and tax benefits. Check out the twitter feed from the event.

CTO Hire 49

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 49

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Raise your first round of money, or bootstrap. There are two ways to start a tech business. You either do it on your own, taking all risks and responsibility yourself (“bootstrapping”), or you find investors that believe in your company. Your first salesperson who brings in your first customer is not likely to be your VP Sales.

Management 120

Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 18, 2016

Make no mistake, starting your own business is indeed gratifying that way, but not all startups are an escape from a regular job. The business model and investors play a critical role in shaping the independence and work-style of an entrepreneur. What Investors Mean For A Startup.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Bootstrapping Early Stage 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

In fact, it is your job to show how the technology will be embodied in a solution that satisfies a painful customer need, what channels will be used for sales and what business model maximizes return. Real customer revenue and thousands of new users represent traction and are the best indication of fundability.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Angel Investor Reputation 120

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Note to self, this event is not for alpha products with no customers. Raise more money than you need because your business model may change. The business model for residential solar panel company: contract with customer, local rebates, and tax benefits. Check out the twitter feed from the event.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Cofounder Fractional CTO San Francisco 40

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Thus it is always a question of what you qualify for, and what you are willing to give up, to turn your dream idea into a viable business. Here is my list of the ten most common sources of funding today, in reverse priority sequence, with some rules of thumb to channel your focus: Seek a bank loan or credit-card line-of-credit.

Equity 120

Equity Small Business Administration SBA Syndicate 120

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

It impacts the pace at which businesses grow and it remains interesting to see trends that will emerge from some of these technologies. A good example is the emergence of chatbots that help in the instant messaging of customers/clients. Social media channels are heavily pushing video content. Photo Credit: Tyler Garns.

Artificial Inteligence 109

Artificial Inteligence Technology Entrepreneur Cloud 109

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

If you don’t value your product neither will your customers. Freemium was a going out of business strategy. And no amount of business success is enough if you don’t have time with your family. Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show.

Cofounder 145

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 145

Steve Blank

JULY 19, 2016

Jim lectures at University of California Santa Barbara and elsewhere on the process of discovering successful business models. Again, remember, everyone was losing their job, no one was willing to invest and so we had to bootstrap Prezi in the beginning. But believing it all will put you out of business. .

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Sweden 120

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

She has a separate team, with its own culture and office, and a mandate straight from top management to innovate without regard to the company’s historic products, channels, or supply chain. That’s because the model is based on assumptions about customers that are totally unproven. So far, so good. If it costs $0.10

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

To avoid these extremes, there are several questions which we use at Subbly whenever someone is either considering a subscription business model or just getting started. Is there an issue/pain point your business will be solving? The essence of a subscription business model lies in its: Simplicity. Convenience.

Curation 68

Curation Business Model SEO Social Media 68

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 8, 2019

What makes me really proud though is we’ve been 100% bootstrapped for our 3.5 The key ingredient was learning to say no to all the opportunities that did not fit that model in order to create space for businesses that I could bring on and help succeed. Thanks to Joe Sinkwitz, Intellifluence ! #3- 3- Publishing a book.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

If you don’t value your product neither will your customers. Freemium was a going out of business strategy. And no amount of business success is enough if you don’t have time with your family. Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 120

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 11, 2017

In fact, I found that if they didn’t like something about our business model, they usually didn’t say anything. I’ve noticed that women, myself included, will often say something like, “I believe we’re going to expand our channel and grow 25 percent next year.”. Get your product to market, and get some customer traction.

Cofounder 100

Cofounder B2B Early Stage Venture Capital 100

Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2016

The latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere shared what they learned from having their ideas rejected and how those lessons propelled their businesses forward. The radio show airs on SiriusXM Channel 111 (weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). Here’s how they knew their idea could be a business. ” . …

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur North America Cofounder Silicon Valley 120

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. SOCO Games. Brainscape.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Very simply, your cost to acquire a customer needs to be lower than the value of that customer (lifetime value). Forget about traction and hockey stick growth.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Very simply, your cost to acquire a customer needs to be lower than the value of that customer (lifetime value). Forget about traction and hockey stick growth.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Babbling VC

APRIL 3, 2011

Here's the next question/request which came up in regards to blog topics: From a purely selfish standpoint, I'd like to hear about your views on bootstrapping vs. VC. I know it goes against your business model :-) but it must tickle you that to some, the sign of success is funding and not a successful business.

Venture Capital 81

Venture Capital Bootstrapping Global Valuation 81

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

Welcome back to Smart Bear Live … the show were Jason speaks with entrepreneurs looking to improve their businesses. Listen to this episode if you want to hear about a founder who has a product and users and paying customers … and is trying to figure out how to take his company to the next level and grow faster.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 5, 2018

In my experience with technical entrepreneurs, they work hard on creating an innovative and elegant solution, and assume that customers will flock to them (“if we build it, they will come”). The founder had simply not done the work to validate a price and the perfect customer segment. Finalize your channel and marketing strategy.

Product 137

Product Advisory Board Business Model Cofounder 137

The Next Web

DECEMBER 30, 2012

How to Build a Startup (EP245) by Steve Blank: You’ll learn the key steps of the Customer Development process. How to identify and engage the first customers for your product, and how to gather, evaluate and use their feedback to make your product, marketing and business model far stronger. Codecademy.

Artificial Inteligence 156

Artificial Inteligence Founder Private Equity Ruby 156

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

I’m also going to walk you through developing your marketing plan because I see too many people, they focus on their logo, they focus on their location, they focus on their invitation to their grand opening event and if their life depended on it could not tell you who their niche target customer is. What do I mean by that?

Social Media 60

Social Media Small Business Software Review Technical Review 60

Tim Keane

APRIL 24, 2006

As an example, we had an advanced manufacturing business that achieved excellent early results. However, the distribution channel we had planned to use lacked the sophistication ultimately required by the product design, and the manufacturers adoption cycle was insufficient. Bootstrapping. If it does not work, get out.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Venture Capital 60