ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 2, 2023

I’ll start by taking you to the world of Startup X, a passionate team of entrepreneurs who believed they had the next big thing in the world of software as a service (SaaS). They poured their hearts and souls into creating an innovative product fueled by the desire to make a difference in the lives of their target audience.

Design 105

Design Product Churn Rate Architecture 105

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Having a set of metrics that you watch & that you feel are the key drivers of your success helps keep clarity. And the more public you can make your goals for these key metrics the better.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Unlocking the Power of Data: Transforming Metrics into Actionable Insights written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with John Janstch In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast , I interviewed Peter Caputa, CEO of Databox, an innovative player in the realm of marketing analytics.

Metrics 75

Metrics Analytics Forecast Software Review 75

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

As a frequent advisor to new entrepreneurs and startups, I often hear your frustration with being treated differently from other startups by investors, on expectations for valuation , traction, and market size. For many years, startups featuring all-electric vehicles fell into this stage of the business lifecycle.

Artificial Inteligence 436

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Valuation Startup 436

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2021

Many startups fail before reaching that magic “cash-flow positive” position they have been striving for, despite seemingly reasonable financial projections. Many startups see initial revenue from customers, and love the fast growth, but fail to anticipate the cost of early vendor payments, monthly overhead costs, and later taxes.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Finance Startup Salary 379

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Operating productivity.

Metrics 252

Metrics Technical Review Retention Acquisition 252

View from Seed

MARCH 29, 2016

Ask a founder of a growing startup what they need most, and you’ll often get an answer along the lines of, “We need great people, and we need them fast.”. But even well-prepared startups that have laid out strategies for scaling can find themselves scrambling in the face of a fast-growing customer base.

Metrics 120

Metrics Founder CTO Hire Technical Review 120

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? What happened? There was no money train.

Valuation 466

Valuation San Francisco Ratchet Liquidation Preference 466

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2023

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea.

Partner 206

Partner Cofounder Startup Bandwidth 206

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

I see entrepreneurs every day who are trying to change the world with a new idea, and startups that are trying to survive their hyper-growth phase by changing processes to meet demand. Here are ten of the key questions that apply equally well to the world of startups and entrepreneurs, as they do to large organizations.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

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. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 10, 2023

SDR Strategy & Model Checklist In the intricate world of sales development, finding the balance between art and science is crucial for a startup's success. Instead, identifying a narrow target market and focusing efforts there is key, especially for startups with limited resources.

Early Stage 78

Early Stage Sales Developer Development Team Review 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 31, 2023

While his insights have come from large organizations, I give many of the same recommendations to every startup: Channel engagement performance. Selecting the right sales channels is one of the first strategic decisions that every startup faces. Understanding culture is paramount, but measuring results is even better. Marty Zwilling

Demand 256

Demand Metrics NPV Net Present Value 256

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Who would not want to join the unicorns (recent startups with a current valuation of over $1 billion)? Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 11, 2022

Why Call Tracking Metrics Matter To Your Marketing Efforts written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. John Jantsch (00:00): This episode of the duct tape marketing podcast is brought to you by the female startup club, hosted by Doone Roison, and brought to you by the HubSpot podcast network. This is John Jantsch.

Metrics 85

Metrics Marketing Software Review Cofounder 85

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

From start to finish, a company must be able to provide high-quality products and/or services for their customers or clients. Remaining efficient, however, requires that business owners continually dissect each department or task and research effective ways to increase productivity. Marketing is an ongoing task for startups.

Product 147

Product Social Media Software Review Software 147

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2019

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? Raising capital isn’t the be-all and end-all of startup success.

Las Vegas 243

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 243

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2017

Not so long ago, every business assumed that the keys to success were the highest quality product, the best value for the buck, and the best customer service. Exploit your product and service differences. You must be able to highlight these differences between your products and services, and those of your competitors.

Customer 213

Customer Product Technical Review Marketing 213

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

For early-stage startups, the goodwill component can easily exceed the size of all the financial elements together, or can just as easily mark a company with good financials as not investable. For startups, the entrepreneur and founder is almost always the face of the company. Performance accountability processes.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2023

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. They do the most to de-risk the early stages of a startup. Reducing Startup Risk.

Technical Cofounder 353

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 353

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

The Equity Kicker

JUNE 20, 2014

That’s true, but in the startup industry we have to do it every day. A lot of traditional metrics of business don’t account for the changed metabolism and velocity of business due to presence of the network and, more lately, the concept of anywhere computing. Startup general interest' Both as investors and entrepreneurs.

Valuation 123

Valuation Metrics Software Review Technical Review 123

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 13, 2019

In the interests of helping you work smarter and last longer, I would like to offer my top ten list of key resource drains to avoid in early businesses and startups, based on my years of advising entrepreneurs and my own business experience: Expanding your product line too quickly for scaling. Use multiple small orders at first.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

View from Seed

MARCH 19, 2015

If you’re in the tech startup industry today, you get the sense that every one of your peers wants to take on the entire world. ” Startups launched around seemingly mundane, insular problems glow about their abilities to change the world. Founders laud their own “end-to-end” thinking.

Product 120

Product Technical Review Marketing Lean 120

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

Even in this age of globalization and virtualization, the geographic area where you choose to live and work can still make or break your startup business. Of course, there are always exceptions, but how much added risk do you need for your startup? Raising capital isn’t the be-all and end-all of startup success.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

Steve Blank

MARCH 15, 2017

I was having a second coffee with an ex student, now the head of a marketing inside a rapidly growing startup. But he was getting uneasy that as his headcount was growing the productivity of his marketing department seemed to be rapidly declining. Titles in a startup are not the same as what your job is. All good news.

Startup 316

Startup PR Public Relations Channel 316

The Startup Magazine

MAY 4, 2022

Startup companies are under a lot of pressure to succeed. They not only have to create a new product or service that is innovative and appealing to customers, but they also have to do it quickly and efficiently. Digital transformation is a novel concept that makes startup business owners think twice about their company’s future.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Startup Agile Technology 124

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 8, 2024

Factors to Consider Before Taking on Debt The debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) is a financial metric lenders use to assess a business’s ability to cover its debt obligations. Investing in technology can help businesses streamline operations, improve productivity, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Finance 124

Finance Technical Review Metrics .Net 124

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 20, 2020

Increase Productivity. Payroll software can increase productivity by tracking the exit and entry time of workers. This means it can be easy to measure employees’ productivity based on the number of completed projects. This way, you may engage such employees to improve their performance levels to meet your productivity goals.

Software 219

Software Management Salary Startup 219

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 23, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Why vanity metrics are dangerous In a previous post, I defined two kinds of metrics: vanity metrics and actionable metrics. In this post, Id like to talk about the perils of vanity metrics. My personal favorite vanity metrics is "hits."

Metrics 167

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

Young entrepreneurs and startups, in particular, often remain naively unfocused, despite their passion, of what it takes to provide the high-quality service expected. Then make sure that everyone on the team does the same, and are motivated to improve the match with your startup. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Technical Review 249

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 249

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

For example, I commonly see metrics to keep track of revenue per employee, overtime, and absenteeism, but I don’t often see measures of overall customer satisfaction with individual employees. Incentives should be a combination of metrics and recognition to highlight results. Incent and reward employees who delight customers.

Customer 369

Customer Technical Review Metrics Employee 369

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Technical Review Leadership Metrics 284

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. Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Use metrics to measure results of marketing initiatives. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283