Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2011

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a couple of years ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Viral 225

Viral Marketing SEM Startup 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2010

Every time I see a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a couple of years ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Viral 141

Viral Cost Marketing SEM 141

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Here are their breakdowns of the costs and time investments to create 10 of the world’s hottest startups. This means — assuming you already have a laptop — the cost is almost nothing to build the next Twitter. Suddenly, those multi-million dollar financing rounds that startups raise don’t seem so outrageous! 1) Twitter.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ? Social Integration/Viral Outreach - are you integrating in some way with social networks? Any other kind of viral outreach?

Developer 396

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 396

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 28, 2020

Each offers a variety of cost options for your startup business. However, we will only be discussing the pros and cons of shared hosting, it is the cheapest option for new startup companies. It is the most cost-effective for startup companies; the general cost runs from $0.99 to around $6 per month.

Hosting 246

Hosting Cost Startup Web 246

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. SEO for Startups )? What are your key Startup Metrics ? Social Integration/Viral Outreach - are you integrating in some way with social networks? Any other kind of viral outreach?

Developer 384

Developer Founder Viral Oauth 384

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. business calculated risks entrepreneur smart risks startup'

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Select Startup CTO Speaking Topics Ten Lessons from Working on 30+ Startups Over the Past 15 Years Tony looks back over his experience working with startups and extracts elements that have led to success or failure.

Fractional CTO 175

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Social Network 175

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2020

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Technology and consumer feedback have indeed changed the landscape.

Lead Generation 365

Lead Generation Customer SEM Marketing 365

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. As an active angel investor and startup advisor, I’ve seen many of the same stumbling blocks repeated all too many times.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Forecast Angel Investor 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? If you buy that Amazon is a tech startup then essentially you’ve already answered the question. In short — how the hell did we raise $30 million?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Technology and consumer feedback have indeed changed the landscape.

Lead Generation 285

Lead Generation SEM Viral Marketing 285

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

A common pain of startups after an exhilarating first surge of early adopters is a long and frustrating plateau of slow growth, where it seems like nothing you do will get your business to profitability. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 2, 2016

There is no doubt about it, the appeal of startup culture is inarguable. But with rising cost of living, it’s not really the best place to start a brand-new business. These cities won’t cost you an arm and a leg, but you’ll find that there is still plenty of opportunities in their local software development industry.

America 100

America Miami Seattle Portland 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many shortcuts leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. Viral marketing costs real money, and your support staff and hosting systems cost even more.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 120

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 21, 2013

Creators of new products in environments of extreme uncertainty, startups face enormous risks. As a startup owner, what can you do to improve your chances? The Lean Startup’s core is represented by the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop. There are principally three engines of growth in any startup.

Lean 193

Lean Technical Review North America Startup 193

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2021

There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” Getting these users costs money. What’s more difficult than building one successful startup? Try building 50 successful startups.

Finder 361

Finder Startup Curation Seattle 361

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2021

I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Word of mouth advertising and viral marketing cost big bucks these days so budget for it. Yet many people seem to be stuck on one end or other of this equation – all perspiration with no dream, or all inspiration with no reality.

Sweat Equity 400

Sweat Equity Intellectual Property Startup Viral 400

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Misconception #2: Once Your Website Is Launched, It Will Instantly Go Viral. No matter how minimalist or visually appealing a website is, it will never go viral unless the owner takes the necessary steps to make it happen. Misconception #4: Your Site Shouldn’t Cost Much to Build. Site traffic takes time to build.

Web 72

Web Design Developer Software Review 72

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. While many tech startups do this intuitively (say, SnapChat thinking it would be much better if our photos out partying disappeared) it still happens. I was talking with a colleague once about how videos go viral. It’s worth a quick read.

SEM 379

SEM Viral Marketing Widget 379

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2022

As with many startup activities, you only have one chance for a great first impression. For some customers and many investors, a heavy focus on social networks and viral marketing may be a negative, rather than a positive. As with any resource or tool, you need to optimize your social media costs against a targeted return.

Social Media 315

Social Media Media Startup Analytics 315

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. You already know it from your personal lives.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

You can have all traction in the world—acquire, activate, and retain users, but until your startup earns money, you are doing charity work, not running a business. Even if you are just starting to consider building a SaaS startup , you’ve probably used products with either freemium pricing or a free trial. Choose wisely.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

This is Part 5 of the 5-part series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches. Ask a technical founder about his startup, and he'll proudly describe his stunning software — simple, compelling, useful, fun. We're putting a 'Retweet' button inside the product to encourage viral growth.". Infection built-in, not bolt-on.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Brandanew

MAY 29, 2015

Startups need PR, publicity and proof of visibility for investors and while you may have a PR agency, many struggle with producing enough or high quality content. How To Ensure Your Startup Team Is Growth Hacking Not Copying. Is Your Startup Marketing Team Copy-pasting Content? . Is Your Startup Amassing Fake Followers?

Curation 100

Curation Social Media Viral Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2017

The cost of entry is at an all-time low, working from home through an Internet website seen globally, turning a hobby or an invention into an online business. Statistics show that the failure rate for new businesses within the first four years is fifty percent or greater, even with companies that have a large startup budget.

Cost 144

Cost Social Media Startup Viral 144

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. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. Technology and consumer feedback have indeed changed the landscape.

Viral 120

Viral Lead Generation Customer SEM 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

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. Viral marketing. Viral marketing costs real money, but is often worth it. A blog is basically a journal (“web log”) that is published on the web. Streaming video.

Internet 239

Internet SEM Wiki Viral 239

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Your business has a high viral co-efficient (or perhaps even a network effect) that lets you amass users cheaply without worrying too much about the monetization per user or spending money on paid acquisition. High LTV can usually be found in transactional or subscription businesses. In addition, churn tends to rise as a company grows.

Churn Rate 168

Churn Rate Viral Acquisition Cofounder 168

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2020

Businesses and startups are looking for new ways to survive in this pandemic. The bigger the team, the greater the cost. Not only that, but they are also immensely cost-effective and timesaving when compared to real-life action shooting. They also have immense viral potential on social media. Companies are shut down.

Video 229

Video Advertising Technical Review Viral 229

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

You can’t succeed in business without an operational model that delivers value to customers at a reasonable price, with an underlying cost that allows you to make a profit. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Cost structure. Production.

Business Model 256

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 256

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161