Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Many of the businesses and entrepreneurs I know still don’t realize that they need to use and understand the Internet, even if their interest is not e-commerce. If you have heard the lingo, but most of these are not in your startup business plan, you are already in jeopardy as an entrepreneur: Blogging. Search engine marketing (SEM).

Internet 239

Internet SEM Wiki Viral 239

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 31, 2011

I was totally product focused for the last year and now it’s live, so I need to start thinking about finding some customers. ” So instead finding out who and where those potential customers are , which is hard, he just made a product, which is easy (for him). So I think the ideal customer is: SaaS, ISV, Web Products.

Customer 279

Customer Software Review SEM Technical Review 279

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

In essence Muhammad thinks the “growth hacking” is a charlatan term for online marketing that consists of a bunch of everyday tasks that all online businesses should be doing: SEO, SEM, Content Marketing, Social Media, Referral Marketing, etc. “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Three to six months after first customer ship, if Sales starts missing its numbers, the board gets concerned.

Customer Development 224

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 224

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

And I had been telling my partners for a couple of years that I thought Ethan was one of the more talented entrepreneurs I had come across in San Francisco. We generally have a policy to only fund entrepreneurs once the first version of a product has shipped or it near to shipping. We like to be able to see the concept.

Southern California 359

Southern California San Francisco CTO Hire SEM 359

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 18, 2020

If Gen X entrepreneurs are making tremendous efforts to climb up the corporate ladder, Gen Z entrepreneurs are doing pretty good, earning a living in innovative ways. They have a strong ability to market themselves, which allows these young entrepreneurs to get more clients and grow their business. Email marketing.

Entrepreneur 286

Entrepreneur Marketing Social Media SEM 286

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

To be a great entrepreneur you really do need talent. Scooter went the extra mile, didn’t take no for an answer and even fronted all of Justin’s costs to get him to come to Atlanta. You should start by getting out and talking directly with customers as Bieber did. Think of Scooter as Justin’s angel investor.

Entrepreneur 398

Entrepreneur Atlanta Audience SEM 398

Hearpreneur

MAY 31, 2020

Here’s how entrepreneurs and business owners leverage networking in their businesses. #1- There is no better endorsement than a current happy customer. Networking can be one of the most cost-effective ways to gain visibility and establish your brand. Of course, they’re various other ways you can benefit from networking.

Networking 139

Networking Entrepreneur Social Media Channel 139

Hearpreneur

JUNE 12, 2020

We asked entrepreneurs and business owners their inspirational leaders and here’s what they had to say; #1- Martin Luther King Jr. Thanks to Richa Pathak, SEM Updates – The next-gen digital marketing ! #5- Just within the last month, Morrow had a medical crisis that almost cost him his life. Photo Credit: Blake Taylor.

Jordan 120

Jordan Entrepreneur United States Technical Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. SEO / SEM are promotional techniques for marketing through the Google distribution channel, which have yielded huge benefits to many companies – Yelp being a prime example.

SEM 379

SEM Viral Marketing Widget 379

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

4 times / 100 means if a customer uses your app frequently (say 10-20 times / day) then they are crashing nearly every day. Customer Acquisition. At the highest level you’ll obviously want to track how many customers your adding every month (and for some businesses that have hit scale this is measured on a daily basis).

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Women Entrepreneurs Can

APRIL 8, 2020

Additionally, the situation encourages you to make the most of online resources but also to establish cost-effective business processes and structure. The typical costs of a business include real estate, team recruitment, and HR management. However, you can’t safely share your home address with your customers.

SEM 52

SEM Social Media Search Audience 52

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. So if you go after a niche market then you need to raise small amounts of money, keep your costs exceedingly low, and get to cashflow positive as quickly as is possible.

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 7, 2008 Customer Development Engineering Yesterday, I had the opportunity to guest lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at the Berkeley-Columbia executive MBA program. Ive attempted to embed the relevant slides below.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He was a life-long entrepreneur and the first business he created out of college (actually, he founded it while he was at Caltech) was a company that manufactured high quality audio speakers. He took out an ad in the Yellow Pages (it was the early 80′s, pre Internet), which cost him $1,000 / month for a half-page ad.

Product 350

Product Tuvalu Dilution Incubator 350

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2016

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. For new product startups, search engine marketing (SEM) is still one of the most cost-effective and scalable lead-generation approaches. Social-media advertising. Display advertising.

Viral 120

Viral Lead Generation Customer SEM 120

Austin Startup

MARCH 26, 2019

25 questions that DTC entrepreneurs should ask themselves before scaling customer acquisition So you run a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand. You just spent a few thousand dollars on advertising and your paid customer acquisition cost (CAC) numbers tested well relative to your best guess for customer lifetime value (LTV).

Technical Review 49

Technical Review Software Review China Acquisition 49

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. For new product startups, search engine marketing (SEM) is still one of the most cost-effective and scalable lead-generation approaches. Social-media advertising. Display advertising.

Lead Generation 248

Lead Generation SEM Social Media Startup 248

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 17, 2018

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. For new product startups, search engine marketing (SEM) is still one of the most cost-effective and scalable lead-generation approaches. Social-media advertising. Display advertising.

Lead Generation 137

Lead Generation SEM Viral Social Media 137

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Thats the conclusion Ive come to after watching tons of online products fail for a complete lack of customers. Our goal is to find out whether customers are interested in your product by offering to give (or even sell) it to them, and then failing to deliver on that promise. Just load them all in and choose a low cost-per-click.

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2014

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. Viral marketing costs real money these days, which usually means adding at least an extra zero to budget estimates. Do something unique to get customer attention.

Marketing 257

Marketing SEM Viral Social Media 257

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2010

Probably every one of you who has a business and a website have been approached through email or personal contact, and asked to spend money on Search Engine Marketing (SEM). SEM is sometimes called “buying your way into search results.” Cost per click (CPC). Cost per action (CPA). Popular keywords have higher costs.

Search 225

Search Engineer SEM Widget 225

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

So far, I have found "lean startup" works better with the entrepreneurs Ive talked to than "agile startup" or even "extreme startup.") See Customer Development Engineering for my first stab at articulating the theory involved) Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration, as exemplified by the Customer Development process.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2015

Social media is so pervasive in today’s world that every entrepreneur believes instinctively that they know how to use it for their startup. Social media is now one of the key marketing tools, but not the only one, so the challenge is to manage the resource tradeoffs effectively by constantly assessing payback versus cost.

Social Media 120

Social Media Media SEM Startup 120

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

The chicken-egg issue of getting customers to your platform while you don’t have any money to spare is a puzzle that many companies are unable to figure out at all. Then, in 2015, this is who we added to the team: Jan-15: Head of Customer Success (growth team). 1x hacker in charge of product/development.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 24, 2018

Ahrefs is one of the best Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) and Search Engine Marketing ( SEM ) tools available for anyone who prefers to make data-based decisions in their marketing strategies. Cost: Pricing ranges from $99/month up to $999/month for Ahrefs’ “agency” package. Cost: Free for the tool but ads are paid.

Social Media 51

Social Media Marketing Analytics Audience 51

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 24, 2018

Ahrefs is one of the best Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) and Search Engine Marketing ( SEM ) tools available for anyone who prefers to make data-based decisions in their marketing strategies. Cost: Pricing ranges from $99/month up to $999/month for Ahrefs’ “agency” package. Cost: Free for the tool but ads are paid.

Social Media 48

Social Media Marketing Analytics Audience 48

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

They are accustomed to more frictionless buying, easier payments, smarter recommendation engines, sharper display (product images, 3D, HD), short fulfillment time, and excellent customer service. Correctly weighing opportunity costs, or staying focused, allows for broader innovation and potential for new models.

eCommerce 94

eCommerce Open Source SEM Technical Review 94

Gust

MARCH 9, 2014

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. Viral marketing costs real money these days, which usually means adding at least an extra zero to budget estimates. Do something unique to get customer attention.

Marketing 146

Marketing SEM Viral Social Media 146

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2010

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. Viral marketing costs real money these days, which usually means adding at least an extra zero to budget estimates. Do something unique to get customer attention.

Marketing 235

Marketing SEM Startup Viral 235

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

We wanted an agile approach that would allow us to build our software architecture as we needed it, without downtime, but also without large amounts of up-front cost. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Ha.

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Agile Lean 94

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 12, 2007

Getting the most of your online marketing: the In & Out of SEM/SEO. As I already mentioned, the cost of playing at Vegas is much higher. You have your room fee, your plane ticket, the cost of eating out while there, etc. McKinsey highlight #1: the art of cost cutting or. Favorite VC and Entrepreneur blogs.

Software Review 48

Software Review SEM Marketing Las Vegas 48

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 28, 2009

Customers dont care if you have good metrics, only if you have a good product. Ive told the story of how this desperation turned us on to Google AdWords in SEM on five dollars a day. We used those five dollars to buy 100 clicks, every single day, in the hopes that some of those people would become paying customers.

San Francisco 98

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 98

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

When Ive asked mentors of mine who have worked in big companies about the role of the CTO, they usually talk about the importance of being the external face of the companys technology platform; an evangelist to developers, customers, and employees. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168