Steve Blank

OCTOBER 23, 2023

At a large company, sales usually means someone else has done the broad shaping for a potential customer. Customer Success roles : This is akin to handling a source. You make sure the customer is happy and keeps buying, preferably more. Security roles : Some ex-Agency people gravitate to roles in security.

Government 212

Government Advisory Board Salary Sales Cycle 212

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. In fact, people lower in the organization are often closer to the customer, and have more insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Stock Options 236

Stock Options Incubator Framework Stock 236

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. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

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. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

The Startup Magazine

MAY 19, 2020

It can offer portfolio management, goal planning, security features, education, and customer service all at low fees. The only downside to this kind of platform is the lack of personalized customer services as you mostly have to relate with your device. Engaging the Services of a Stockbroker.

Stock 90

Stock Securities and Exchange Commission United Kingdom Technical Review 90

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 10, 2022

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Stock Options 362

Stock Options Salary Leadership Stock 362

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 29, 2022

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side.

Cost 313

Cost Stock Options Cloud Differentiation 313

Women Entrepreneurs Can

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

To stay competitive, it’s important to invest in the latest technologies that can help streamline operations, reduce overhead costs, and improve customer service. Additionally, consider offering incentives such as bonuses or stock options to reward employee performance.

Artificial Inteligence 52

Artificial Inteligence Guerilla Technical Review Stock Options 52

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 19, 2017

Success in any business these days requires a constant flow of new and innovative solutions, to keep up with changes in the market, competition, and to attract new customers. In fact, people lower in the organization are often closer to the customer, and have more insight into what works and what doesn’t.

Stock Options 141

Stock Options Incubator Framework Stock 141

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2016

Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. Look for examples of similar companies and revenue multiples achieved from acquirers.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Burn Rate Technical Review Intellectual Property 120

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. Investors hate technology solutions looking for a problem, due to the high risk of no customers. Customers like leaders, not followers.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

Women Entrepreneurs Can

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Companies have the power to guide the actions of their clients and customers toward sustainable practices. Look into a printer’s various print methods, paper stock options, and energy usage. Doing so starts with conducting research and learning how to choose a printing company.

Green 52

Green Marketing Stock Options PPC 52

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

Forget to get around to setting up that Employee Stock Option Plan and want to be able to give the early guys their options at a low strike price? They usually ask for warrants (basically like a stock option) in exchange for taking a deferred fee. Shame about that pesky FAS 157 ruling. And Brad Feld.

Southern California 318

Southern California Silicon Valley IP Stock Options 318

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

Partly out of the fact that in 1 week I depart for England to speak at LeWeb, attend our DataSift board meeting and generally make myself available to the DataSift team to meet their customers, partners and employees. He sets goals for revenue diversification (can’t get all revenue from few customers or few partners).

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2015

Is there a real customer willing to give a testimonial? Don’t be sidetracked by potential customers in the middle of a free trial, or friends of the founder. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary. Look for examples of similar companies and revenue multiples achieved from acquirers.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

These include the ability to offer meaningful stock options to employees, the use of liquid shares to purchase other companies, and the credibility and public access to information you need to attract key customers and suppliers.

Merger 261

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 261

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. Very early, you need generalists who can cover multiple areas, but you can’t pay for experience. Later you need specialists and managers.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

People buy companies for 3 primary reasons: 1) they want the management team / talent 2) they want the technology or 3) they want the market traction (revenue, customer base, profits, etc). Mark Jeffrey - Q: “Is it more traditional to do your ESOP (employee stock option plan) before or after your angel or Series A funding?&#

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Term Sheet Valuation Stock Options 282

YoungUpstarts

MAY 7, 2017

I honestly think that somewhere along the way, as more people flocked to the West Coast for stock options, it slowly evolved into an ocean of business and tech executives, all with different motivations for working at fast-growing tech companies. Silicon Valley was where all the dreamers would go who were looking to change the world.

Silicon Valley 183

Silicon Valley Technical Review Product Canada 183

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

The proper ambition for a tech entrepreneur should be to join the ranks of the great tech companies, or, at least, to create a profitable, independent company beloved by employees, customers, and shareholders. ” These are common sentiments, but they’re the false wisdom of those who haven’t experienced the alternative.

Acquisition 120

Acquisition Technical Review Stock Options Employee 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2020

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. Your display of pride in the company and respect for the customer will translate directly into motivation.

Product 322

Product Stock Options Salary Leadership 322

Up and Running

DECEMBER 16, 2021

If two businesses are in the same industry, it is not necessary that you can compare them with each other as there can be differences in the business practices, customer base, cost structures, etc. Many other factors affect the valuation of a business. For many business owners, getting a formal valuation is worth the investment.

Valuation 86

Valuation .Net Metrics Balance Sheet 86

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The new era of highly connected and interactive technology is changing not only how business employees interact with customers, but also how they interact with each other, and with their company. I am happy to see reports that young companies are leading the way in these trends, on both the customer and the employee side.

Stock Options 319

Stock Options Cloud Differentiation Social Media 319

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

Congratulations, welcome to Customer Discovery. Treat potential acquirers like a customer segment. Again, this is basic Customer Discovery. As a founder there’s plenty on your plate – finding product/market fit, shipping product, getting customers… liquidity is not your top of the list. How will you figure this out?

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Founders stock and stock options are worth nothing for the first few years. By following the crowdfunding campaigns of others, you can learn much about what types of ideas and solutions are attractive to customers, and also understand some new ways to raise money in todays competitive world.

Silicon Valley 315

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Stock Options Flash 315

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. Do 20% of the customers make 80% of the revenue or do the top 3 customers represent 80% of the revenue. Two-f **g-billion! What a disaster!

Stock Options 227

Stock Options Startup Dilution Venture Capital 227

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2009

We hadn’t even thought about having a customer support line or who would staff it. Our customers were generally happy but they were pushing us hard for promised features. We kept reading about their customer wins, their product releases and their biz dev deals. Let your compass be based on your customers.

PR 331

PR Software Review Ireland Germany 331

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2019

These include the ability to offer meaningful stock options to employees, the use of liquid shares to purchase other companies, and the credibility and public access to information you need to attract key customers and suppliers.

Merger 303

Merger OTC IPO Due Diligence 303

The Next Web

MARCH 11, 2014

For the past year, they invested in the team and technology to prioritize speed of iteration with disregard to traditional methods of customer development and company building. Furthermore, a paying customer is an even better indicator that they truly care. They didn’t create a landing page to see if people would enter their email.

Silicon Valley 151

Silicon Valley Cofounder Stock Options Mobile 151

Transformify

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

Jana handles everything from strategic business formation to employee matters, stock options, partnership agreements, partner disputes, confidentiality agreements, buyouts, global trademark registration, commercial leases and all stages of startup funding, and corporate restructuring. Is it easier or harder to manage remote teams?

Intellectual Property 83

Intellectual Property Employee Software Review New York City 83

Transformify

DECEMBER 6, 2021

It has configurable rules, local customization, policies, and even track absence and productivity trends within the company. Speaking of payment options, the customers of Transformify can choose from a variety of payment methods including SEPA, SWIFT, local bank transfers, Payoneer e-wallet and cards, Revolut and 20+ cryptocurrencies.

Software Review 52

Software Review Software Employee Management 52

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. He’d wasted a year of his life and had a pile of stock options that weren’t very interesting. You could just outspend.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Up and Running

JANUARY 4, 2017

Attracting the right customers. When you are just starting out, ask your target customers for their opinions. On the other hand, if your customers tell you that they want a specific service or product that you don’t offer, pay attention to their suggestions and consider the feasibility of their ideas. Online invoicing.

Small Business 122

Small Business Social Media Stock Options Employee 122

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

million at the end of last year, we’re laser-focused on fast growth without sacrificing customer experience. Don’t be afraid to pivot The collapse of SVB spurred us to do a deep evaluation of how we’re generating revenue and value for customers. That includes us. As an early-stage company that just closed our seed round at $8.1

Early Stage 118

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 118

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 26, 2020

The early days of a business’ journey require the founders to pour their energy into focusing on getting their product or service perfected and out to customers in the marketplace. Data security and compromised data storage have been hot topics in the business world and amount concerned customers.

Intellectual Property 154

Intellectual Property Startup SEC Stock Options 154

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2019

Offer low cash early, with bonuses or stock options for milestones, to people in your personal network. You can’t have it all, just like your startup can’t be all things to all customers. Very early, you need generalists who can cover multiple areas, but you can’t pay for experience. Later you need specialists and managers.

Hockey Stick 243

Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event Startup 243

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2021

The great managerial guru, Peter Drucker, liked to say that the purpose of a business is to keep and create a customer. You have to have a clear and powerful value proposition in order to attract and keep customers and your startup business structure needs to reflect that. Growth without profits destroys shareholder value.

Limited Liability Company 165

Limited Liability Company Silicon Valley Business Model Stock Options 165