Version One Ventures

NOVEMBER 14, 2012

Yammer sreenshot “Going viral” is often the holy grail for Internet startups, who hope to quickly scale to hundreds of thousands of users (then hundreds of millions) with relatively low user acquisition costs. When you turn your attention to SaaS products that are narrow in industry and profession, it’s even harder.”

Viral 149

Viral Product Vertical Acquisition 149

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2014

If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The starting point of product IS marketing, which is what a lot of young entrepreneurs that never studied business don’t realize. But being best-in-class at online marketing is also a sine qua non to standout from your peer group.

SEM 379

SEM Viral Marketing Widget 379

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

× At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

If you don’t know, Ring offers home security products that started with a video doorbell, then video floodlights, outdoor stickup cams and now in-home security features that innovate in-home security alongside outside protection. We were CONVINCED Dropcam (then Nest) wouldn’t mobilize a competing product quickly if it did sell?

Security 247

Security Los Angeles Silicon Valley Video 247

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for a disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to InvoiceTracker. 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

VC Cafe

JUNE 30, 2022

Jonathan Lai, General Partner, A16Z Gaming fund. This is the intermediary layer where platforms, institutions and other networks will create the universe of products that make up the 3D worlds of the metaverse. billion crypto fund, went particularly viral as Marc struggled to articulate the use case for Web3. Chris Dixon.

Cloud 200

Cloud Venture Capital Cofounder Non-Compete 200

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified. We made changes and Greg was a gentleman throughout the process rather than berating us for our performance (it was our first partners’ meeting).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Too many competitors or a product with minimal differentiation makes a startup risky. Solution production and support.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Production.

Business Model 256

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 256

The Startup Magazine

JULY 20, 2021

With a viral approach to marketing and customer-friendly pricing, Hawkers today is sold primarily online and in 50 countries. He served as a director for BGB Energy and then worked for Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. Betancourt Lopez understood the value of viral marketing, especially for a key demographic — young people.

Viral 78

Viral Private Equity Venezuela Los Angeles 78

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Growth Hacking isn’t viral marketing (although viral marketing is part of it). Growth Hacking comes to solve a very common problem in consumer startups: getting to the first x thousand/million users quickly once the product has launched and the hype has passed.

API 167

API Viral Startup Retention 167

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228

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

AUGUST 12, 2022

In my role as a mentor to entrepreneurs and an angel investor, I find that too many are stuck in this myth that a good pitch, and good marketing content, should consist of more product features, and more hype on customer benefits. Just remember that business is about people, more than products and solutions.

Angel Investor 293

Angel Investor Viral Audience Social Media 293

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, which caused many businesses to close, a new raft of business workers and entrepreneurs are deciding to pursue their own dreams of being a new business owner, and controlling your own destiny. It’s much easier to pivot before full production and much money has been spent.

Intellectual Property 245

Intellectual Property Social Media Angel Investor Metrics 245

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

Mikita Mikado is a software engineer and entrepreneur from Belarus, now based in San Francisco. Simply put, the return on investment on your product or service is LTV minus CAC. For some businesses that makes sense; for example, most social gaming products have CAC 70 to 85 percent of their LTV. LTV ­ CAC = ROI. CAC is tricky.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” There are no guarantees in business, but it pays to learn from the experiences of entrepreneurs and business experts who have gone before you. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 120

Forecast Startup Stock Options Technical Review 120

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

INFOGRAPHIC] The Interconnected World of Tech Companies [INFOGRAPHIC] Apple Product Design: 35 Years of Consumer Electronics [INFOGRAPHIC] Happy 4th Anniversary, iPhone [INFOGRAPHIC] The History of Advertising on Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC] How Much Data Will Humans Create & Store This Year? Whom is he or she connected to?

San Francisco 99

San Francisco New York City Social Media Entrepreneur 99

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

Perhaps the team is working on a product that really isnt that great or useful. Maybe they never thought about product-market fit. Lucky for you, time-strapped entrepreneur, weve gathered some tips from the pros to help you avoid some of the most common, game-ending mistakes committed by young startups. Forgoing Simplicity.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

Whether you are talking to peers, competitors or investors, you as an active entrepreneur will be judged on your familiarity with today’s startup and funding jargon. In that context, I offer you my latest collection of popular investor-to-entrepreneur terms and concepts. Frothy is good for entrepreneurs. Seed-round investment.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

mashable.com

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Many successful entrepreneurs learned how to run a business as they built one, and they had the educational benefit of being able to make mistakes and learn from them as they went along. These nine websites will help you track down the appropriate entrepreneurs. There’s no substitute for experience.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Social Network 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for that disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to Gallup. Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2020

Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 336

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 336

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

Bessemer Venture Partners Expands BVP VII Fund. 26 Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), the oldest venture capital practice in the United States, today announced the closing of a $350 million supplement to its current fund family, BVP VII, which closed in June 2007. 2009 Bessemer Venture Partners. Friday, February 27, 2009.

Software Review 48

Software Review Partner United States Venture Capital 48

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Based on my experience as a mentor and an entrepreneur, if you fail on your first startup, you are about average. Every young entrepreneur knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Of course, a real entrepreneur always takes a failure as a milestone on the road to success. How can you improve your odds?

Intellectual Property 274

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Viral Early Stage 274

Cracking the Code

MARCH 23, 2007

Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Geoffrey Arone , the founder of FLock, who is now an Entrepreneur-In-Residence in our Menlo Park office, mentioned this company to me and I thought it was worth writting a post about it. Philippe Botteri Accel Partners London, UK My Bio. Bessemer Venture Partners Expands BVP VII Fund.

Software Review 48

Software Review Viral Media Marketing 48

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 14, 2015

Being in love with your business, when you’re an entrepreneur, is even better. Although there are days when tossing in your hat seems like a viable option, remembering how much you love your “job” can quickly snap an entrepreneur out of that mentality. We asked some entrepreneurs what they loved about “being their own boss.”. #1

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur Fresno LLC Community 48

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

How much does it really take to build a product like Twitter or Instagram? With mobile development agencies and product incubators on the rise and more corporate “labs” spinning out each day, there’s no shortage of talent to help you build the next great Web or mobile app. Still, a product is nothing without scalability.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

But, as Sean Ellis notes, it isn’t about manipulating customers—it’s about helping them: “Sustainable growth is about understanding the value people get from your product and helping people realize this value. Growth hacking is about caring for and optimizing the user experience to build trust and keep customers using your product.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 29, 2017

I came up with my business name Aging Youthful when the network marketing company I am involved with came out with a product for youthful aging. My partner and I locked ourselves in a room for about 4 hours. I knew I wanted it to be a name that could be an umbrella brand for other baby products, so nothing too descriptive.

Naming 105

Naming Entrepreneur Social Media PR 105

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

But in business, you want a lot of partners. In the private equity universe, most Partners have primary training as deal-makers, not as managers. Small investment firms often have interns and entrepreneurs in residence passing through, each of which is a security risk. Most of us want one spouse and we’re done. 2) Market .

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2019

In my role as a mentor to entrepreneurs and an angel investor, I find that too many are stuck in this myth that a good pitch, and good marketing content, should consist of more product features, and more hype on customer benefits. Just remember that business is about people, more than products and solutions.

Angel Investor 255

Angel Investor Viral Audience Social Media 255

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 7, 2020

It’s a win-win situation because consumers get better products or services, the environment benefits from conservation initiatives, and companies enjoy a good public image. Is the product or service as excellent, as helpful, as tasty, as practical, and as beneficial as it had been advertised? Create Ethically Sourced Products. .

Social Media 214

Social Media Viral Green Advertising 214

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

A great product enables customers, developers, partners, and even competitors to exchange their unique currencies in combinations that lead to financial success for the company that organizes them. In a previous post , I covered the three main drivers of growth: Paid, Sticky, and Viral. And this is true outside of games.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” I gave my boilerplate answer, “I’m a product guy and I tend to invest and look at deals that have measurable revenue metrics. Bill and his partner Fred Wilson have invested in ~30 or so companies with 27 still active.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219