Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 3, 2014

Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process and of sales people themselves. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual. I boil it down to this: sales people are sales people.

Sales 382

Sales Startup Technical Review Matching 382

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator Bootstrapping 261

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 16, 2022

There’s more to ecommerce customer acquisition than increasing checkout conversion rates. For long-term, sustainable success, you must attract the right customers. In this article, you’ll learn how to gauge the effectiveness of any customer acquisition strategy. What makes customer acquisition different from marketing?

Acquisition 129

Acquisition eCommerce Customer Churn Rate 129

Up and Running

OCTOBER 30, 2020

5 proven business tips for increasing eCommerce sales. All I asked — What is your best advice for online businesses to get sales? Once your business is up and running and as new customers buy your products, referrals will start rolling in organically. Strategies that we’ll cover in this very article. Let’s get started!

eCommerce 152

eCommerce Sales Software Review Canada 152

Duct Tape Marketing

MARCH 7, 2024

How to Achieve Remarkable Sales Results Every Time written by Tosin Jerugba read more at Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with John Jantsch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interviewed Ian Altman, renowned sales expert and author of “Same Side Selling.”

Sales 73

Sales Technical Review Campaign Technology 73

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

It’s that time of year when Startup CEOs are building their 2022 Revenue Plan. As someone who has built sales models- and has also been responsible for hitting them- here are some tips for incorporating your Sales team’s perspective into your 2022 Model. All of this is a part of the daily calculus of running a Sales Org.

Revenue 72

Revenue Retention Forecast Sales 72

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 29, 2018

Without enough capital, entrepreneurs don’t have the means to invest in the development and growth of their brand. Though you may not have much to work with now, if your startup is to succeed, you must work consistently at finding and executing plans to increase your revenue. Here are a couple of suggestions. Add Something New.

Revenue 100

Revenue Startup Audience Social Media 100

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Are there customers for what you are building? How many are there? Can it scale?”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

You can read various articles out there which will give you the cursory facts about Airbnb like their overall revenue or profitability or how their business has faired here in 2020 in the COVID environment. But ops & customer support is another 17-20% of revenue and arguably you couldn’t run the business if you took that away.

North America 401

North America IPO Prospectus Europe 401

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

I was in New York last week with my class at Columbia University and several events made me realize that the Customer Development model needs to better describe its fit with web-based businesses. In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers?

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

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 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

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

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Commit to a major customer. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

Often, despite your passion and expectation, customers don’t immediately see the value and need that you see, and you have no idea why the initiative is stuck , and what could be the real customer issue or fix. Customers won’t buy what they can’t find or don’t understand. Solution may require new category development time.

Product 354

Product Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Dividend 354

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Often the Boomer is more willing to work for equity, and easily convinced to step aside when revenues reach that next threshold. Manage customer service. On the other hand, there are some roles in a startup where Boomers are probably not the best candidates: Constantly-on-the-road sales territory management roles.

Advisory Board 368

Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor Cofounder 368

Steve Blank

AUGUST 23, 2010

At times I’ll do what I consider an extension of teaching; a two-day Customer Discovery/Validation intensive session with a large corporation serious about Customer Development at my ranch on the California Coast. It reminded me of the differences in Customer Discovery between a scalable startup and a big company.

Customer Development 235

Customer Development Developer Customer South America 235

ConversionXL

JULY 21, 2022

Optimize each channel, and you’ll win new customers, enjoy higher order rates , and retain customers. In this post, we’ll explore lessons from brands that use omnichannel marketing to deliver a seamless customer experience. Omnichannel aligns branding, messaging , and customer service across every channel.

Customer 118

Customer Marketing Channel Audience 118

The Startup Magazine

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

Airline customers look for the best deals while the company looks to reward its most loyal customers. What Airline Revenue Management Does. Airline revenue must be managed on a daily basis due to changes affected by demand, pricing, scheduling and aircraft maintenance. Airline Revenue Management Benefits.

Revenue 61

Revenue Management Software Review Technical Review 61

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 25, 2023

Growing Your Audience (And Your Revenue) With A Book written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Marketing Podcast with Matt Briel In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Matt Briel. So, so now you, by selling direct, they are a customer and you know absolutely who they are. Thanks, John.

Audience 88

Audience Revenue Distribution Differentiation 88

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 20, 2011

I recently helped a friend broker the sale of his small, bootstrapped company. This is a smart guy with experience and a logical approach to such things, but the way he was initially trying to value his company was not only wrong, but the wrong way to think about the entire sale. To stoke an existing sales channel.

Sales 260

Sales Channel Cofounder Valuation 260

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2019

I’m more convinced that technology merely enables disruption, and changing customer interests and needs really causes it. Other companies keep the focus on their customers, and seem to thrive on disruption, much less survive. They make it their top business priority to understand, anticipate, and gratify customers’ needs.

Customer 136

Customer Indiana Technical Review Revenue 136

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 17, 2010

After all: Tech support deals with insane customers. Tech support keeps angry customers at bay while having no power to effect change. If this is your attitude, your conception of tech support is completely backwards and you're missing out on important channels for marketing, product development, and sales. That's sales.

Technical Review 245

Technical Review Sales Turkey Software Review 245

ConversionXL

JULY 22, 2020

Sales and marketing misalignment reduces revenue, lowers the quality of customer service, and can even dampen company culture. According to The B2B Lead , sales reps spend about 50% of their time prospecting unproductive deals—while missing 80% of the most qualified leads. So how do you get aligned? Image source ).

Sales 90

Sales Cost Marketing Audience 90

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 29, 2023

In today’s competitive market, having access to accurate and relevant information about potential customers is crucial. Introduction: The Significance of Lead Identification Software In the ever-evolving digital landscape, businesses need to stay ahead by identifying and engaging potential customers effectively.

Lead Generation 112

Lead Generation Software Review Software Technical Review 112

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 13, 2019

by Suman Sarkar, author of “ Customer-Driven Disruption: Five Strategies to Stay Ahead of the Curve “ The rise of the smartphone, fast fashion, and ride-sharing. Disruption is, in fact, driven by changing customer needs – and that only those companies that truly understand their customers can succeed.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Technology Customer Qatar 145

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. We have a special program if you are pre-seed and need product development. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

The holidays are just around the corner and for many small or midsized businesses (SMBs) that means the potential for big sales. These numbers are astounding—and what would be even better is if you could turn Small Business Saturday traffic into consistent sales all year. by John Oechsle, President and CEO of Swiftpage. Not an island.

Small Business 113

Small Business Sales Colorado Technical Review 113

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

The massive shift in revenue models in recent years. Application developers once considered their products as licensed in what would closely be allied to a single sale. Can you convert your model without losing your customer base? Usually that amount exceeds 50% of total revenues and is often much more.

Revenue 62

Revenue Software Review Application Development Valuation 62

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

How can businesses and marketing teams reach customers in the age of COVID-19, respond to lightning-fast changes in the marketplace, and keep up with new consumer demands? Agile marketing takes its inspiration from Agile software development, which is how 90% of companies develop software today.

Agile 264

Agile Marketing Campaign Sales 264

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

They both have a history of focusing on the lifetime value of a customer rather than chasing short-term profits. If you want to be a leader in customer loyalty and grow your business for the long term, Customer Value Optimization is key. How does “Customer Value Optimization” change your approach?

Customer 132

Customer SMS Retention Acquisition 132

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 13, 2010

In fact, at the time (1996-1997) we offered both a downloadable product, that our customers could install on their own servers, and a “hosted-offering”, which came to be known as “On-Demand”, then the “ASP” (Application Service Provider) model, and today we call it “SaaS” (Software as a Service). We were desperate to get a marquee customer.

Revenue 72

Revenue Developer Java Customer Development 72

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2017

by Robbie Kellman Baxter, author of “ The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue “ In today’s competitive market, customer engagement (or lack thereof) could determine whether your company sinks or swims. Don’t confuse this with Customer Service.

Customer 171

Customer Retention Software Review Metrics 171

Up and Running

MAY 19, 2021

You don’t know your prospective clients and customers if you don’t understand the problems they’re experiencing. Once you understand that, you can dive into our suggestions for eight vital questions to ask your customers to dig deeper into their problems. Types of customer pain points. What is a business pain point?

Customer 108

Customer Sales Reputation Advertising 108

ConversionXL

JUNE 5, 2014

Has your company’s customer retention rate increased, decreased or remained status quo over the past five years? Have you outlined and initiated a formal customer retention strategy? In a study by Harvard Business School , it was found that increasing customer retention by even 5% can increase profits between 25-95%.

Retention 112

Retention Developer Customer Programming 112

ReadWriteStart

MAY 16, 2018

For sales processes, machine learning is a dream come true. Not all sales tools are created equal, though. The successful sales teams of the future will lean on these to win more deals: Personalized mobile apps. Node, an AI-powered discovery engine , is going all-in on sales enablement. Cloud solutions.

Sales 90

Sales Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review 90

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 27, 2022

By developing a mobile application , companies can reach a wide base of consumers, keep them updated on the latest news, and even encourage them to take desired actions. With that in mind, here are just some of the many reasons why mobile apps are important for your startup as well: 1. Engaging your customers.

Mobile 120

Mobile Startup Technical Review Audience 120