Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 17, 2013

It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. This combination will almost certainly get your plan tossed by potential investors, who understand all too well the need and cost for marketing in today’s environment.

Marketing 265

Marketing Viral SEM Startup 265

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2014

It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. This combination will almost certainly get your plan tossed by potential investors, who understand all too well the need and cost for marketing in today’s environment.

Marketing 257

Marketing SEM Viral Social Media 257

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

In that context, I offer you my list of ten top startup failure causes, seen over and over again: No written plan. Don’t believe the old urban legend that a business plan isn’t worth the effort. The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business.

Intellectual Property 251

Intellectual Property Startup Viral Early Stage 251

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2017

Viral marketing and word-of-mouth are not enough these days to make your product and brand visible in the relentless onslaught of new promotional media out there today. Yet in the business plans I see, the marketing content and budget are smaller than ever. There’s no business without show business. Want control?

Marketing 120

Marketing Viral Demand Channel 120

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

As I ask questions to understand the thinking, what usually comes out is something vague along the lines of web marketing, and/or viral growth with no numbers attached. A quick look around all the B2C startups shows that, although viral growth is often hoped for, in reality it is extremely rare.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

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

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Many entrepreneurship courses focus on teaching students “how to write a business plan.” If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I believe that: 1) a product is just a part of a startup, but understanding customers, channel, pricing, etc. This class is not about how to write a business plan.

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

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

OCTOBER 1, 2012

In that context, I offer you my list of ten top startup failure causes, seen over and over again: No written plan. Don’t believe the old urban legend that a business plan isn’t worth the effort. The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business.

Intellectual Property 274

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Viral Early Stage 274

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2014

These days, even viral marketing requires real money, for events and promotions. A valid milestone might be closing a specific big-name customer or channel, such as Walmart, or it might mean getting your first 100,000 social-media followers, by a given target date. Make sure allocation amounts are reasonable.

Elevator Pitch 285

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 285

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2018

These days, even viral marketing requires real money, for events and promotions. A valid milestone might be closing a specific big-name customer or channel, such as Walmart, or it might mean getting your first 100,000 social-media followers, by a given target date. Make sure allocation amounts are reasonable.

Elevator Pitch 139

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 139

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

MAY 14, 2012

Word-of-mouth and viral marketing are popular terms these days, but are rarely adequate to initiate a new business. Be specific on sales channels and marketing initiatives. Revenue model. A viable and investable business model is one of the first things you need to highlight in your business plan.

Business Model 242

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 242

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2010

It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. This combination will almost certainly get your plan tossed by potential investors, who understand all too well the need and cost for marketing in today’s environment.

Marketing 235

Marketing SEM Startup Viral 235

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2011

Word-of-mouth and viral marketing are popular terms these days, but are rarely adequate to initiate a new business. Be specific on sales channels and marketing initiatives. Revenue model. A viable and investable business model is one of the first things you need to highlight in your business plan.

Business Model 246

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 246

Gust

MARCH 9, 2014

It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. This combination will almost certainly get your plan tossed by potential investors, who understand all too well the need and cost for marketing in today’s environment.

Marketing 146

Marketing SEM Viral Social Media 146

Gust

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

In that context, I offer you my list of ten top startup failure causes, seen over and over again: No written plan. Don’t believe the old urban legend that a business plan isn’t worth the effort. The discipline of writing down a plan is the best way to make sure you actually understand how to transform your idea into a business.

Intellectual Property 183

Intellectual Property Startup Viral Early Stage 183

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. Outline your sales and marketing strategy (direct marketing, sales channel, viral marketing, and lead generation).

Elevator Pitch 226

Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation Metrics 226

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2016

These days, even viral marketing requires real money, for events and promotions. A valid milestone might be closing a specific big-name customer or channel, such as Walmart, or it might mean getting your first 100,000 social-media followers, by a given target date. Make sure allocation amounts are reasonable.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 120

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

In the Udemy course, Alistair and Ben expand these basics into a description of how to create empathy, stickiness, virality, revenue, and scale. LSC: What''s an example of one metric, other than revenue, that you might look at for a non-tech product? It''s a good measurement because it captures both satisfaction and virality.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 5, 2010

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 is the easy part.

Business Model 120

Business Model Advisory Board Angel Investor Channel 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. Outline your sales and marketing strategy (direct marketing, sales channel, viral marketing, and lead generation).

Elevator Pitch 138

Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation Business Plan 138

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

We’re at 70 people, and we’ll do $40 million in revenue this year and should get to cash flow breakeven this quarter. ” You’ll realize you’re ready to exit the Search step when you have customer validation: You’ve found a sales channel that matches how the customer wants to buy and the costs of using that channel are understood.

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

The Founder’s gut wrongly tells them their business plan has been validated because they received an investment. You’re tinkering with your marketing and sales channels. What sources of traffic are converting, and which channels are profitable, which aren’t? How it applies to your marketing channels.

Metrics 136

Metrics Cofounder Cram Down Liquidity Event 136

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent. Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. How to Write a Traditional Business Plan.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Thus, business ecology is concerned with both ecosystem design and finding a driver of growth for that ecosystem. In a previous post , I covered the three main drivers of growth: Paid, Sticky, and Viral. Let’s look at a viral growth company, like Facebook. They’re off to cross the chasm. As soon as possible!&#

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

A tool like Quuu identifies relevant, shareable content to keep your social media channels active. . Lean Case provides standard business models & metrics, so you can apply a standard approach to business planning, modeling, and profitability tracking. See their blog post on multiples.).

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 1, 2019

Obviously, there are a lot of people out there that would love to have this success in the revenue that’s come with that success directly related to podcasting that you have, but I talk a lot of small business owners and actually tell them that one of the little talked about things that podcasting can bring you is access.

Portland 58

Portland Audio Technical Review Video 58

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

He goes on to add, “Having revenue is even better, though not applicable to every startup … Passion, skill, vision and maturity really matter.&# If you’re lucky enough to score a meeting with Gordon, make the most of it — and don’t forget to talk revenue potential. Just don’t call Feld on the phone.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80