A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Consider the consequences of these monthly pricing possibilities: $0/mo means your goal is to maximize growth (trust and usage) instead of revenue. Your product is designed with natural tripwires to trigger other pricing ( Freemium model ), or not (business model left as an exercise to your future self).

Bootstrapping 294

Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

The company already has paying customers and a validated business model. Outsourcing is spreading at a frantic pace today with a global footprint and players like oDesk and eLance have made it very easy for companies to connect with outsourcing vendors. You can read more about Freshdesk on the 1M/1M Incubation Radar today.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

First up was Brad Barrett presenting GrillGrate , a grill accessory with which Brad has built a year-to-date revenue of $400,000. With enterprise customers, this would result in tremendous exit barriers, making sales cycles long and involved, which a small startup will find hard to withstand. GrillGrate. PowerStores.in.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

A big downside of the high-touch sales model is that the CAC is out of control, and the sales cycles are extremely long. As you can see in the graph below, high-touch sales is a leading indicator of CAC. A high-touch sales process can balloon customer acquisition costs. Perfect for hyper-niche solutions.

Marketing 289

Marketing Sales Cycle Acquisition Sales 289

ReadWriteStart

MAY 4, 2011

Manoj is experiencing a long sales cycle of close to 12 months, but he has already created a sustainable company that has revenues and profits. He is exploring outside financing, but my concern is that unless the growth rate accelerates, this particular business may not fit the venture model.

India 116

India Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Massachusetts 116

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Be prepared to cross the desert - SaaS requires R&D and sales expense up front for a multi-year stream of revenue, so it demands enough investment capital to fund 4+ years of runway. Farming is also often overlooked, but can help grow customer accounts and revenues from 30% upwards (if successful). Great list!

Software Review 48

Software Review North America Europe Metrics 48