Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

I’m sure you have all noticed how today’s customers have changed the way they shop, but I still find, as an advisor and consultant, that many of you aren’t sure how to deal with the new mode, or are still waiting for things to get back to the old normal. Convenience is in the eye of the customer, not your company.

Demand 315

Demand Customer Dividend Curation 315

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 8, 2015

Whatever the size of your business and whatever your industry, making it possible for your customers and marketing prospects to interact with you easily from their mobile devices is going to pay dividends. The Difference Between Apps and Mobile Friendly Sites. The Benefits of Apps.

Developer 100

Developer Customer Mobile Dividend 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

A design mindset is not product-focused - it’s solution focused and action oriented towards creating better customer experiences and value. By understanding experiences, you will better understand the needs of people around you, including your customers and partners. Focus on creating a benefit for the customer.

Leadership 242

Leadership Design Dividend Framework 242

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Anything in this "200k club" is sure to keep overhead at a bare minimum, leaving maximum headroom for your custom application logic. upgrades have paid huge dividends with Netty now breaking 200,000 pipelined plaintext responses per second on a humble m1.large Round 7 was missing some of the Go frameworks due to configuration problems.

Framework 534

Framework PHP EC2 Dividend 534

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2014

Manage customer service. They probably have arbitrated differences many times before in their lives, and know how important it is to remain calm and soft-spoken in the face of emotional customers and processes that are not working. All the learning from parenting pays big dividends here. Marketing and sales to Gen-Y customers.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Dividend Angel Investor 266

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

Often these projects took 12–18 months so by the time companies shipped product they often found out that the product didn’t meet customer needs. Yes, there is some overhead in the increased communications, seeking opinions and asking for favors but in the long-run I believe it pays huge dividends in keeping your board aligned and supportive.

Management 234

Management Startup Dividend Early Stage 234

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 2, 2021

The variety ranges from customer service chatbots to tasks automating your work or detecting fraud for the company. So if there is one technology consistent in meeting the dividend demands, it is artificial intelligence. AI is giving the world of finance and banking an efficient way of meeting the needs of their clients and customers.

Artificial Inteligence 104

Artificial Inteligence Finance Technical Review Algorithm 104

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 11, 2017

Whether you’re a startup looking at taking those first steps into the business world or an established company wanting to expand your customer base, marketing your business is an important step in getting your brand in front of the right people. Get social with customers and clients. Then we come to good old-fashioned networking.

Database 164

Database Software Review Dividend Social Media 164

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

All Earnest investments are made using the Shared Earnings Agreement (SEAL) – a custom salary/profit share structure, aligned with how most bootstrapped founders are compensated. Our founders can run their companies profitably and pull out dividends, they can raise additional rounds, or they can decide to exit.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2017

A design mindset is not product-focused - it’s solution focused and action oriented towards creating better customer experiences and value. By understanding experiences, you will better understand the needs of people around you, including your customers and partners. Focus on creating a benefit for the customer.

Design 157

Design Dividend Leadership Framework 157

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

impactful work (we point to specific features that are being used by 100s of customers) and 3. Tools such as LinkedIn are obviously useful, but it can also pay dividends to use your network to find potential hires. As an example, the reasons we provide to prospective engineers are 1. cutting edge technology (WebRTC), 2. Be Specific.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

From his own successes and failures in this domain, he explains how the rules and customer expectations have changed in today’s world, and he offers some practical guidance on how to survive in this new world. Flexible business models, including value-based pricing, bundling, and custom proposals are the places to begin.

Differentiation 141

Differentiation SBA Social Media Dividend 141

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 21, 2019

Through his work at FutureCast, Fromm studies consumer trends and consults with major brands on how to best reach their customers. While it’s paid dividends for some major brands, like Glossier and Bombas socks, it’s been hard for others to make it work. Is there a process to finding your business’s purpose?

Dividend 71

Dividend Technical Review Business Model Small Business 71

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 1, 2017

Ask your current customers for “introductions,” not “referrals.”. Create an upsell strategy for current customers. Your customers are already spending money with you, so now we just need to increase the amount. One strategy is to set up mid-year assessments with your customers to evaluate what they might need.

Revenue 127

Revenue San Diego Technical Review Dividend 127

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Before product-market fit… just care about speed of iteration according to your customer feedback. Put your users first: pretend that your customers have a seat at the table when you design your product roadmap. Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Need for Speed, indeed.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

Your website is what meets the customers’ eye first when they come looking for you. If the investment is what’s causing you to back out, remember, this is an investment that will pay dividends far into the future. However, for a website that really works for your business, you need much more than this. Track and Measure Your Success.

Dividend 113

Dividend Early Stage Social Media Hosting 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Due Diligence 271

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Preferred Stock 271

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Even if you are no longer a student, or not enrolled now, it can pay big dividends to get to know people there and explore the possibilities, including the following: Potential to get technical work done as a class project. For example, I live in Arizona, home of Arizona State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Arizona 276

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Entrepreneur 276

Up and Running

MARCH 28, 2017

Before you start your business, it’s essential that you make sure that customers are interested in buying your product. In this article, I’ll show you how you can make sure your customers are interested in your product before you spend any time building your business. Needless to say, we struggled to get customers.

Demand 60

Demand Customer Product Email 60

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

paying for travel data from ITA or others (customers acquisition spend is not included in COGS). liquidation preference, 6% accumulated dividend (1). liquidation preference, 6% accumulated dividend. liquidation preference, 6% accumulated dividend (1). liquidation preference, 6% accumulated dividend (1).

Pre-Money Valuation 113

Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Yet it would pay real dividends to know at the start what separates the “also-rans” from the winners. It still requires solution delivery, a team working together, and customers with money to spend. Make sure you are building what customers want, rather than what you can build. The founder sets the culture by words and actions.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Startup Dividend Cofounder 120

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2020

In a classic scene from the rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, guitarist Nigel Tufnel shows off his custom-built guitar amplifiers. The investment you make in these relationships upfront will pay dividends in the weeks, months and years ahead. Oh, how little I knew. The disruptions were just warming up.

Leadership 147

Leadership Software Review Dividend Employee 147

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2022

Most customers today won’t pay you five times the cost of alternatives, just because yours is “green.” That’s a win-win business for the customer and the entrepreneur. Sustainability and social responsibility alone don’t make a viable business. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

Green 275

Green Dividend Angel Investor Global 275

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

A broken process or a subtle quality issue can generate a flood of customer satisfaction problems, cost overruns, and loss of market share. Without this mindset, and the determination to make a decision, nothing happens, and customers find alternatives. Build motivation through rewards and incentives.

Dividend 382

Dividend Metrics Cost Internet 382

YoungUpstarts

MAY 17, 2018

The profit collected from the efficient working of the organization is distributed among the members in the form of the dividends. They provide better customer service as they remain open for 24/5. The market condition is certain and it’s next to impossible to make accurate prediction of the upcoming future.

Software Review 124

Software Review Technical Review Dividend Demand 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2022

Just because you dream it and build it, doesn’t mean they will come – that encompasses not only customers, but also investors, partners, team members, and even your own family. A debt repaid before it is asked for reaps a huge dividend in trust. They won’t come if they don’t trust you. Formalize business promise keeping.

Leadership 290

Leadership Dividend Metrics Entrepreneur 290

ConversionXL

JULY 16, 2021

This will help you gauge who your audience is and how to speak to them at every customer touchpoint. The point isn’t to complicate your content creation—it’s to ensure your messaging is aligned with the customer journey every step of the way. Instead, pinpoint your unique customer base and speak directly to them.

Audience 127

Audience Framework Differentiation Software Review 127

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Funding is depleted before customer sales ramp up. One of the pitfalls of optimism is the expectation for early customer growth, and understating the real costs of design, development, and inventory. Don’t underestimate your own value as customers arrive, establishing a line of credit, and borrowing against inventory.

Entrepreneur 328

Entrepreneur Startup Dividend Flash 328

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

In addition, creating a business requires leading and interacting with other people, including partners, investors, and customers. At least the first time around, it pays big dividends for an idea person to find a partner with the business skills you haven’t tested yet. You must also learn from your customers.

Elevator Pitch 315

Elevator Pitch Cofounder Dividend Leadership 315

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Is it an evolution or a revolution for your business and customers? Our customers were growing and hiring quickly, and as a result our business was growing fast. That third one generally means “Selling” though that can take various forms, such as exiting via IPO, paying themselves a dividend, etc.

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Equity DC Leveraged Buyout 78

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Getting investors to trust you with their money is always a challenge, and it’s even more difficult in the early stages, where you don’t have a significant revenue stream, a few customers, or maybe even a product yet. Here is my list of red flags that cause many investors to look elsewhere: No well-defined need or viable customer set.

Due Diligence 308

Due Diligence Intellectual Property Preferred Stock Seed Stage 308

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

Even if you are no longer a student, or not enrolled now, it can pay big dividends to get to know people there and explore the possibilities, including the following: Potential to get technical work done as a class project. For example, I live in Arizona, home of Arizona State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Arizona 310

Arizona Intellectual Property Accredited Investor Dividend 310

Up and Running

JUNE 12, 2019

Then there’s live chat, which is gaining in popularity for companies looking to outfit their websites with real-time, 24/7 customer support. Adopting a holistic digital marketing approach pays obvious dividends to a company’s bottom line. Custom websites. Hiring the right team for digital marketing.

Marketing 109

Marketing Social Media SEO Entrepreneur 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Whether you are looking for partners, investors, or future customers, you need to show a level of professionalism and leadership very early that will draw people to your idea. It can pay big dividends as this stage to get help from an experienced business advisor. Two-minute video highlighting you and your idea.

Dividend 315

Dividend Angel Investor Partner Video 315

NZ Entrepreneur

OCTOBER 30, 2019

The knowledge you collect from speaking candidly to your customers or clients can be invaluable too. If you have a customer database, consider implementing a quarterly or biannual survey to collect anecdotal feedback. For your customers, the beauty in dealing with a small business can often be that personal touch.

New Zealand 40

New Zealand Software Review Dividend Analytics 40

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 11, 2021

With their affordability, you can invest in several and gain more return by earning customer trust before a sale occurs. They’ve built more trust with their followers, so customers might be more willing and trusting when they check out your website after the micro-influencer recommends you. Thanks to Ben Reynolds, Sure Dividend ! #3-

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media Bootstrapping 126

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Visionary CEOs are product and business model centric and extremely customer focused. They deeply understand products, and they have their own coherent and consistent vision of where the industry/business models and customers are today, and where they need to take the company. This may work in stable markets and technologies.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120