Occam's Razor

JULY 5, 2021

Attribution is simply the science (sometimes, wrongly, art) of distributing credit for Conversions. The customer might have seen, or been forced to see :), other ads preceeding that last touch-point which happened to be Bing in our example. If you are a genius, you can use custom attribution modeling. Chalk and cheese.

Analytics 148

Analytics Marketing Channel Software Review 148

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

If you are looking to expand your leadership team or board , are looking for a part-time executive role or board role , or are an investor looking for fractional executives to join your portfolio companies , you should become part of the Bolster network right now. It’s tons of information, organized well, in tight, bite-sized chunks.

Fractional CTO 195

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 195

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 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

The Innovation Portfolio. Companies manage these three types of innovation with an innovation portfolio – they build innovation internally, they buy it or they partner with resources outside their company. A business model is all the parts of a strategy necessary to deliver a product to a customer and make money from it.

Acquisition 333

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 333

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

AI to build enterprise software – In the future, every enterprise could have their own custom ERP, CRM or HRIS that is continually updating itself as the company itself is changing. Bitcoin Allocation – Growing the role of bitcoin in investment portfolios. Verticalized Video Understanding – machine interpreted video.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Where Are the Customers? Product Development Diagram 1.

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Success depends on finding startups that have identified acute customer pains in large markets where conditions are ripe for a new entrant. as a distribution channel have vastly reduced the amount of capital a startup needs at the early stage when the risk is greatest. Part 3: Engineering a Regional Tech Cluster. ——-.

Early Stage 292

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 292

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 25, 2023

In addition to providing customer care and assistance, a virtual assistant may also develop web pages or compose blog entries, administer email newsletters, carry out sales and marketing chores, generate sales leads, and conduct a variety of other jobs. Thanks to Carter Seuthe, Credit Summit ! #4-

Software Review 119

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 119

BeyondVC

JANUARY 6, 2018

6 portfolio companies raised Series A financings including Manifold , Hypr , and 4 unannounced, 1 raised a Series B (unannounced), and Security Scorecard raised a $28mm Series C. This resulted in tons of collaboration with large enterprises ranging from product feedback to pilots and customer relationships.

Cloud 60

Cloud Cofounder Portfolio Advisory Board 60

BeyondVC

JANUARY 3, 2019

This year was a banner year as boldstart portfolio cos raised over $150mm of follow on capital from some of the top Series A and B investors (highlights below). Once again, we led each of these rounds at slide deck stage and helped land the first handful of customers to accelerate path to product market fit and their Series A rounds.

Stealth 79

Stealth Advisory Board Cloud Virginia 79

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 7, 2013

. “People and machines are producing valuable information that could enrich our lives in so many ways, from pinpoint accuracy in predicting severe weather to developing customized treatments for terminal diseases, says Boyd Davis, vice president and general manager of Intel ‘s Datacenter Software Division.

Distribution 154

Distribution Software Open Source Framework 154

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Competition matters when it comes to talent, customers, funders, partners, attention, and others.

IRR 206

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 206

View from Seed

APRIL 2, 2024

VC’s across the board have generally upped their game and are much more involved in the startup ecosystem and with their portfolios. Competitors learn and adapt, products improve, and customers are more satisfied. The underlying product is still a carbonated alcoholic beverage, but a fundamentally different product for customers.

Merger 345

Merger Non-Compete Early Stage Venture Capital 345

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Competition matters when it comes to talent, customers, funders, partners, attention, and others.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 14, 2010

They are tasked with “getting deals done&# so they race around talking to tons of potential partners inking anything from channel sale deals , product integration, international distribution agreements, co-marketing arrangements, M&A discussions, etc. You have a marketing department with three people. I love that saying.

Development Team Review 323

Development Team Review SEM Channel Social Media 323

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

dominated by a few very large incumbents who control much of the distribution or are you going into a market that is “fragmented” where nobody controls the industry. Smart investors think a lot about what we call “unit economics” or what is the economics of service one customers. Efficiency?

Startup 150

Startup Seed Money DC Software Review 150

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 23, 2017

An early example occurred in 2010 when UBS Analyst Neil Currie accessed satellite imagery to monitor activity in Walmart parking lots, running the data thru a mathematical regression to translate it into customer activity for better earnings forecasts. Morgan Stanley predicts that Robo Advisors will manage $6.5 Transaction Processing.

Technical Review 154

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Software Review IPO 154

Feld Thoughts

JUNE 9, 2021

If you are looking to expand your leadership team or board , are looking for a part-time executive role or board role , or are an investor looking for fractional executives to join your portfolio companies , you should become part of the Bolster network right now. It’s tons of information, organized well, in tight, bite-sized chunks.

Fractional CTO 70

Fractional CTO Cofounder Startup Lead Investor 70

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

A few weeks ago, we hosted a small dinner for a number of portfolio company founders, LP’s, and friends of the firm. This is the implied rate of return of a fund based on the value (mostly unrealized) of a portfolio. Competition matters when it comes to talent, customers, funders, partners, attention, and others.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Some examples include: Organize a local market research campaign (best for services that involve connecting businesses with customers). You could then distribute flyers asking potential customers to contact you about the service, and find out how many are interested. There are a few different ways to do this.

Web 160

Web Silicon Valley Salary Demand 160

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

kaChing launched a virtual portfolio management game on Facebook in January 2008 and a similar version shortly thereafter on kaChing.com. Because kaChing prefers its portfolio managers to have a long track record, the marketplace launch (i.e., A portfolio manager’s entire track record & holdings had to be disclosed.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

For example, Coke added snack foods, which could be distributed through its existing distribution channels. Third, smart companies manage an innovation portfolio where they can pursue potential disruption in a variety of ways. Fourth and finally is disruptive innovation – this is the innovation we associate with startups.

Private Equity 329

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 329

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

The market for our product was global, and we had unique advantages in terms of our product and how we distributed it to customers. If the companies in their portfolio don’t have much in common with yours, it’s usually better to look elsewhere. Ultimately, these advantages helped us secure the funding we needed.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

To move innovation faster, we now have 21 st century tools — Business Model Canvas , Customer Development , Agile Engineering – all adding up to a Lean Startup. Here the company executes a known business model (known customers, product features, competitors, pricing, distribution channel, supply chain, etc.)

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 27, 2020

Rather than showing some flexibility, they are telling their customer (the tenant) who literally cannot use the physical space they are renting, “sorry – not my problem.” .” In a moment where landlords could generate enormous goodwill, especially with smaller companies, I believe they are doing the opposite.

Marketing 214

Marketing Portfolio Distribution Employee 214

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Matt Blumberg, who runs one of Fred’s portfolio companies, Return Path, follows up with an additional three : Don’t be a bottleneck (make sure you aren’t holding up people’s work). In your case this might simply be a VP of Sales or Customer Support for multiple locations. We faced it when we were small.

Ireland 319

Ireland Sales Bankruptcy Germany 319

David Teten

JULY 12, 2012

To begin with, the best PR you can build is through satisfied customers with high Net Promoter scores. E.g., See ffVC’s blog post about the JOBS act, which discusses portfolio company Indiegogo. Distribute press releases on free sites like: PRWeb.com , Free Press Release , and PRLog.com. Photo credit: Zitona.

Venture Capital 122

Venture Capital PR Technical Review Startup 122

View from Seed

JULY 19, 2019

And additionally, my partners and I use other, more differentiated, lenses like asking if a startup has an “ unfair distribution advantage.” JDCC stands for “Jaw-Dropping customer value through a Competition-Crushing business model.”. Asking “Is it JDCC?” Go (re)read that post.

Boston 150

Boston B2B Early Stage Portfolio 150

ReadWriteStart

JULY 18, 2011

Years later Clavier's name now comes up all the time when one of his portfolio companies finds success; his exits include Mint, Tapulous, and UserPlane, other investments include Mashery (a ReadWriteWeb sponsor), Rapleaf, Fitbit, bitly, GroupOn, Twitter and many more. How to Hack the Investment World. You can also follow Kedrosky on Twitter.

Investment Bankers 153

Investment Bankers Technical Review Cofounder Due Diligence 153

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. It’s marketing 101 for tech companies in terms of how you market to customers.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Version One Ventures

APRIL 20, 2021

Filebase is very much an API-as-a-marketplace – similar to our portfolio companies Shippo and Patch. Decentralized storage networks are among the most distributed and secure networks in the world, but they can also require custom development and complex integration. It’s not simple.

API 100

API Portfolio Distribution Networking 100

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

In this article, you’ll understand how to build a memorable brand that your customers want to buy from. Learn how to identify what your customers want from your brand, how to build momentum with content, and then explore some brands that excel at brand marketing. Why should customers choose to do business with you?

Marketing 109

Marketing Social Media Non-Compete Audience 109

Where to Play

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Yet, very soon he and his team discovered that their drone can perform many different jobs, for different types of customers. It begins with characterising your core technologies or unique abilities in their own right, to help you uncover different applications of these abilities, and different types of customers who may need them.

Agile 54

Agile Technical Review Sales Cycle Distribution 54

View from Seed

MAY 28, 2020

Advances in technology and changing consumer preferences have long been transforming the way food is created, distributed, and consumed. The food supply chain has been rattled with distribution shifting from restaurants to grocery and with food production bottlenecks resulting from fewer employees at work.

Memphis 257

Memphis Distribution Bankruptcy Operations 257

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Normal distributions do not exist; standard deviations are meaningless. As a result, any public market downturn will immediately impact unrealized returns of the fund they are managing due to the late and growth stage companies in their portfolio. Betting on the wrong horse. The winners will chart their own path.

Harvest 60

Harvest Vertical IPO Early Stage 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2015

So that we’re speaking the same language I would define “exclusive” as a period in which your company is prohibited from doing business with certain customers or business partners, which is why many incorrectly assume this is necessarily bad. Why Exclusivity Matters to Your Customers or Business Development Partners.

PR 150

PR Early Stage Software Naming 150

Version One Ventures

APRIL 4, 2020

This time of year, we normally provide a portfolio update that highlights the various product launches, accolades and funding announcements from the past quarter. All ordering and communication is done through boosterfuels.com/driveup , so customers never have to leave their vehicles. . This has been the longest quarter ever.

Dallas 130

Dallas Washington Portfolio Community 130