Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable. There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Marketing is done in fits and starts.

Advisory Board 240

Advisory Board Forecast Early Stage Product Development 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable. There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Marketing is done in fits and starts.

Advisory Board 232

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 232

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup. Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Many entrepreneurs forget that the growth phase may be your tightest squeeze on cash.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2015

Every entrepreneur I know has their favorite excuse for a previous failure – an investor backed out, the economy took a downturn, or a supplier delivered bad quality. In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 241

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. They tell you they’re going to ship product and they do. They hire key staff.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2010

The challenges stem from the simple fact that every entrepreneur is starting something new, where things are predictably unpredictable. There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Marketing is done in fits and starts.

Advisory Board 125

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 125

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

One is explaining the world as it used to work: the importance of gatekeepers, the scarcity implied by limited distribution, and the resulting quality bar that the industry is so proud of. Mostly it is the time and expense required to create the means of distribution for that industry. It’s just taking some longer than others.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

bizthoughts.mikelee.org

MARCH 8, 2012

If you’re a non-technical entrepreneur in Silicon Valley that’s out of college now, it can be tough to find a technical cofounder. Mint & finances #distribution #andalsoproduct # 19 hours ago @davemcclure Idea 3: Build brand buzz to epic proportions, aka a Purple Cow, ie. But it’s not hopeless. startupcto

Technical Cofounder 40

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 40

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2016

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup. Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Many entrepreneurs forget that the growth phase may be your tightest squeeze on cash.

Social Media 120

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 120

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

In a startup, both the problem and solution are unknown, and the key to success is building an integrated team that includes product development in the feedback loop with customers. 2008 09 06 Eric Ries Haas Columbia Customer Development Engineering View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 263

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

1x hacker in charge of product/development. 1x hipster working with both product and growth. Cost of Acquisition (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a user through a given channel. If the CAC is above the LTV, but not too much—there’s some potential in this channel. Apr-15: Head of Marketing (growth team).

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

For Neopets, its simply a side-effect of their game-like product design. Either way, you can use any marketing channel thats available to bring in new customers, including word of traditional advertising, SEO, SEM - wherever you can find prospects who are going to find your product addicting.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 17, 2010

As a Kellogg alum (worlds greatest marketing school, after all, uh huh) I would be remiss not to write occasionally about marketing in the context of our world: online entrepreneurs. This drives our own product development strategy, and we constantly ask for feedback and suggestions to help us understand how we can do better.

Marketing 84

Marketing Startup Small Business Viral 84

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

Products: You obviously can’t create value without a viable product (or service) to sell. This section of your Venture Value Scorecard should summarize the important advances you have made recently in research and product development. That way, you can go back and review the progress you’ve made. His website is [link].

Intellectual Property 223

Intellectual Property .Net Valuation Distribution 223

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. I have counseled innumerable entrepreneurs to change their focus to revenue, and many companies who refuse this advice get themselves into trouble by running out of iterations. And what of the product development team?

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

techcocktail.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

When we see entrepreneurs come up with great ideas (and we see many), we hope that they also remember that while an idea is key, it won’t go anywhere without the right team in place. As entrepreneurs we need to recognize the importance of having a solid support system. be the manager and product developer).

San Francisco 44

San Francisco Startup PHP San Diego 44

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, September 18, 2008 How to get distribution advantage on the iPhone I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of iPhone-related companies lately. There are other models, in other distribution channels. On Facebook, viral distribution has proved decisive. I havent found any yet.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Up and Running

MARCH 1, 2016

So, if I were going to invent something, I’d probably start by creating an affordable jeweler’s workbench, not least because I’d be able to test it, and because I already know all the distribution channels I’d need to hit in order to sell it. See Also: Market Research Resources for Entrepreneurs.

Non-disclosure Agreement 60

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Non-Compete Naming 60

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Execution by Vertical Market As the class progressed, students asked how the activities/functions of a startup; (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Development, etc.) How does product development differ in communications hardware versus enterprise software, etc. would look in each of the verticals.

Vertical 123

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 123

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Image via Flickr by Side Wages Some entrepreneurs forget that they need an innovative business model along with an innovative solution to have a successful startup. Every solution needs a business team first who knows how to market, distribute and support the product. Business work should start only after the product is done."

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Startup Angel Investor Social Media 120

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

And then I think in a lot of ways it’s become air for every sort of channel and element and, even as you suggest in your last book, a business model in itself. The difference in the two that you mentioned … I realize this is semantics at some level, but the two that you mentioned are channel based, right? Robert Rose: No.

Cost 37

Cost Marketing Audience Media 37

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

We decided to find out, and talked with around 130 founders, entrepreneurs, investors and analysts. The dominant channel by which we reach customers is the Internet, whether you''re a small local restaurant on Yelp or a global maker of tissue paper. Data-driven business is here today; it''s just not evenly distributed.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

Whether your new software is ‘in the cloud,’ an online download, or distributed on a CD through various direct and indirect distribution channels, the process of localization is still a time consuming, manually intensive, and expensive effort. Tags: entrepreneur startup software localization translation business.

Software 200

Software Distribution Europe Database 200

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, October 7, 2008 The App Store after the gold rush I wrote earlier about the issue of distribution advantage on the iPhone. The App Store is a channel for customer acquisition. On the web, we have many of these channels: SEM, SEO, world of mouth, PR and viral. So what can you do?

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

To give you a better idea of what entrepreneurs in this industry are thinking about during each phase of the startup process, I interviewed SaaS entrepreneurs from all over the world, including our own COO Noah Parsons. Noah has been a key figure in the making of LivePlan, our own SaaS product. One-Page Business Pitch Template.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that. How do we raise the big bucks?”

Lean 250

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 250

Small Business Force

MARCH 8, 2013

Same thing applies to entrepreneurs and the partnering relationships that they create to help leverage their resources, especially in the early going of their small business. Typically, for the small business, they look to partner with larger organizations with more resources, be that product, development/manufacturing or distribution.

Partner 37

Partner Small Business .Net Vertical 37

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

By definition, the capital investment needs to be relatively low such that the investors and the entrepreneurs all make a healthy return on investment. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year. Raymond is wondering why he cannot attract financing.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

Tim Keane

APRIL 24, 2006

« Questions for Entrepreneurs | Main. | The product development cycle was excellent. 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. Then, quickly validate the thesis.

Wisconsin 60

Wisconsin Angel Investor Bootstrapping Venture Capital 60

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

6 Growth Hack Techniques You Can Try Today by Entrepreneur. The key differentiator being the product-level focus vs. the channel-level focus of traditional marketing effort. And you need to understand the potential impact of product-economic fit so that you can be better prepared for it.”. Step 1: Product Development.

Retention 48

Retention Metrics Acquisition Conversion 48

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

In exchange, these VCs/companies get early looks at new deal flow and offer aspiring entrepreneurs feedback and advice on their business plan. For those of you who don’t know, business plan competitions are held by universities who get their students to enter and compete to see who has the best business idea.

Business Plan 143

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 143

adam.heroku.com

MAY 18, 2012

You have a single group chat channel and a single all@yourcompany.com mailing list. A full copy of the state of the entire company and your product is easily contained within everyone’s brain. Your single internal chat and email channels continue to work fine. There’s no real need to track any tasks or even bugs.

Developer 92

Developer Database Architecture API 92

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference. For example, my company decided early on to hire a UI designer, which has helped tremendously with our product development.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79