Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2022

Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. There are other chasms out there just as deadly as the technology one, such as the ones below: Market requirements chasm. Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development.

Technical Review 375

Technical Review Startup Dilution Early Stage 375

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

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Effective marketing. Guerrilla marketing preaches the importance of prospect follow-up if you even hope to succeed in business. They expect prompt formal follow-up to questions.

Technical Review 333

Technical Review Startup Software Review Retention 333

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Intellectual Property 341

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 341

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 18, 2013

Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. There are other chasms out there just as deadly as the technology one, such as the ones below: Market requirements chasm. Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development.

Entrepreneur 252

Entrepreneur Marketing Technical Review Dilution 252

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

If you’re new to marketing and amid a startup, all of it can seem overwhelming. A lot of work goes into starting a business, developing and launching products, and running the day-to-day operations, so marketing often gets put on the back burner. Choose your Market Audience.

Developer 78

Developer Marketing Social Media Startup 78

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

In the last decade, SaaS (Software as a Service) has become a very popular model for new software product development. The largest cost component of establishing a SaaS company is product development costs. This includes the design, development, launch, and enhancement of the SaaS application. .

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Cloud 158

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. There are other chasms out there just as deadly as the technology one, such as the ones below: Market requirements chasm. Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development.

Marketing 238

Marketing Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 238

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, April 26, 2009 Product development leverage Leverage has once again become a dirty word in the world of finance, and rightly so. But I want to talk about a different kind of leverage, the kind that you can get in product development. Its a key lean startup concept.

Product Development 88

Product Development Developer San Francisco Product 88

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Many of you have read or at least know the primary thesis of “ Crossing the Chasm &# the seminal book on marketing your products to mainstream consumers by Geoffrey Moore. It influenced a generation of tech marketers. We all intuitively know this curve now but we don’t all market effectively to it.

Customer 294

Customer Marketing Technical Review Iowa 294

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. It is not a strong bargaining position for the CEO to ask for money to complete a product promised for completion with the previous round of funding.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 118

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2012

Consider for a moment the annoying, interruptive, often obnoxious nature of traditional marketing. A number of studies are showing that people no longer pay much attention to traditional marketing as they progress through the ‘buyer’s decision journey. Of course, not everyone in the marketing world clings to worn-out methods.

Marketing 234

Marketing Software Review Technical Review Social Network 234

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2019

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Exchanging your services for services is possible with legal counsel, accountants, engineers, and even sales people.

Finance 320

Finance Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 320

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Two conditions that do matter to your startup’s out-year viability are the cost and length of its product development cycle. Startup founders counting the days until break-even or actively seeking outside capital must focus on streamlining their development cycles. A minimum viable product is market-ready, not a prototype.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Great product exposure and a sales team dedicated to improving the lives of your customer base act as the face of your company. In order to truly find success this must be matched by a development team that consistently strives to deliver truly life-bettering products and services that customers keep coming back for.

Development Team Review 205

Development Team Review Security Advertising Technical Review 205

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2019

Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. There are other chasms out there just as deadly as the technology one, such as the ones below: Market requirements chasm. Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development.

Technical Review 255

Technical Review Dilution Early Stage Product Development 255

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

The Secret Sauce For Smarter Marketing Execution written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Clare Price. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interview Clare Price. Take The Marketing Assessment: Like this show? The answer: Smart execution.

Marketing 76

Marketing Differentiation Sacramento Small Business 76

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. Product Development Diagram 1.

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

As an investor, I sometimes see CEOs who negotiate to send their VP of Marketing to talk. The other four are: new product development, writing, time management, and sales/marketing. Many would argue that Steve Jobs impact at Apple came more from his public speaking ability than the other four skills put together.

Marketing 283

Marketing Early Stage Lead Generation Hosting 283

Small Business Force

AUGUST 27, 2017

In fact, three key elements have to be in sync for your sales to succeed – the right product, the right sales team, and the right sales process. "I They were selling a new product, in a relatively new space, with little training. Not even close. "I coached good; They played bad."

Sales 30

Sales Sales Cycle Product Technical Review 30

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 26, 2022

There are several elements that go into hardware product design that taps an unaddressed customer need, has the customer WOW factor, and succeeds long term in the market. Complicating the development of a useful product is the stringent safety and compliance approval testing that varies based on country and industry.

Design 133

Design Development Team Review Product Technical Review 133

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 30, 2019

New product development is an essential part of the entrepreneurial landscape. For companies of all sizes, from big corporations to small businesses, new product development is crucial. Without constant innovation, sales will be in danger of declining. Why would a company want to introduce a new product?

Product Development 113

Product Development Developer Product Demand 113

YoungUpstarts

JULY 2, 2020

Months into COVID-19’s impact upon much of the business landscape, marketing teams have been forced to change their approach to messaging their clients. Smart companies know that an empathetic approach is a much better marketing strategy. Don’t decrease your marketing budget. However, this is easier said than done.

Marketing 262

Marketing Metrics Channel Differentiation 262

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

It is necessary to cover the early stages of product development, thorough market research, and other processes during the initial step. pexels A war chest is virtually always a competitive edge in all aspects that count, including employing key staff, public relations, marketing, and sales.

Seed Stage 126

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 126

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 19, 2020

In addition to the complexities of business operations, companies face extreme competition in the market. There is excessive competition as there are lesser barriers to entry in the market. With appropriate data analytics, a business can predict and comprehend the market, competition, customer demands, etc.

Technical Review 153

Technical Review Forecast Analytics Social Media 153

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

Here’s how I learned why they were critical to successful customer development. I was an aggressive, young and a very tactical VP of marketing at Ardent , a supercomputer company – who really hadn’t a clue about the relationship between profound beliefs, customer discovery and strategy. I was a great marketer.

Business Model 305

Business Model Product Development Early Stage Customer Development 305

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Others do far too little, assuming the viral effect and word-of-mouth will soon kick in, and sales will suddenly grow exponentially. Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Real growth always requires real marketing. Ask every employee to focus on sales. Aggressively enter new markets and sales channels.

Startup 335

Startup Social Media Metrics Viral 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

This post describes how following the traditional product development can lead to a “startup death spiral.&# In the next posts that follow, I’ll describe how this model’s failures led to the Customer Development Model – offering a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities.

Customer Development 224

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 224

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

Hiring = Sales. A good recruitment process has many parallels with a sales funnel. As with sales, these core reasons need to be compelling to candidates, while being as unique to you (competitive differentiation) as possible. Market dynamics also play a role, with some types of candidates in shorter supply than others.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2017

Missions and products that are too broad confuse your team, your customers, and potential investors. There are other chasms out there just as deadly as the technology one, such as the ones below: Market requirements chasm. Product development chasm. Another common chasm is never-ending product development.

Customer 191

Customer Entrepreneur Technical Review Dilution 191

View from Seed

JULY 5, 2022

Rachel Hodes (RH): What problem exists in the market that your business is trying to solve? One hour I’m deep into product development, the next I’m thinking about our hiring needs and recruiting, to the next on a sales call. ” – Lee Hower. Get to know the business.

DC 156

DC Software Review Government Boston 156

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Without strong PMs you build crappy products that nobody needs or that real people can’t use. Final startup grind from msuster.

Cofounder 388

Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Of course, their answer is that the second intends to get to market faster, but every engine has limits regardless the fuel applied. Use social media for early marketing. Waiting until you have something to sell before bringing on a sales and operations staff. Getting a sales contract before manufacturing inventory.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248