The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

This suggests the firm should have a list of paying customers, consistent sales cycles, a clear value proposition, and a developing revenue pipeline in the ideal situation. During the pre-seed fundraising stage, investors need a viable business plan to base their investments on.

Seed Stage 148

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 148

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. The problem was had the wrong business model at the time. Our revenue model was wrong. The existence of a problem doesn’t mean there’s a solution to that problem. Wanting to create impact is great.

Cofounder 147

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 147

View from Seed

MARCH 3, 2015

It’s so important to line up the type of marketer and leadership that fits the business model, the product, or even the founder’s philosophy or early attempts at marketing. EM: My rule of thumb is to look at the length of the sales cycle. Some startups have really long sales cycles.

Marketing 120

Marketing Sales Cycle Startup CTO Hire 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 17, 2020

But next the question is, ‘What happens to my business?”. The questions every startup or small business CEO needs to ask now are: What’s my Burn Rate and Runway? What does your new business model look like? What does my business model look like now? Is this a three-month, one-year or a three-year problem?

Burn Rate 436

Burn Rate Startup Valuation Sales Cycle 436

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

But to do it, you need to actually have a sustainable business model. Starting a business is too risky. The problem was had the wrong business model at the time. Our revenue model was wrong. The existence of a problem doesn’t mean there’s a solution to that problem. Wanting to create impact is great.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 120

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

There are other factors involved in making your decision, such as: The complexity of the buying cycle. Account-based sales cycles are more complex than a sales cycle targeting one person. The sales cycle will be longer than that of a small business owner deciding for themselves.

Lead Generation 94

Lead Generation Marketing Sales Cycle Campaign 94

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 7, 2005

The highest friction sale is spending lots of money on marketing and trade shows and having a large, direct sales force of expensive reps pounding the pavement for months trying to close a large deal with an enterprise customer. It means more qualified leads and a shorter sales cycle.

Sales 78

Sales Java Open Source Software Review 78

ConversionXL

APRIL 7, 2021

Sorry, but ABM is not B2B, nor is it right for all markets, business models, or companies (just like every company should not be running freemium aka PLG for acquisition.) Is ABM right for your business? Consider the complex sales infrastructure, long sales cycle, marketing teams to help move to generate interest.

IP 98

IP Marketing Technical Review Software Review 98

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

This message appeals to customers who value a comfortable shave without leaning solely on the subscription business model. If we were to create a USP from this conversation alone, a better USP might be “Razors that don’t tug or tear, delivered to you every month.”. Convenience is table stakes in the DTC landscape.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 13, 2010

So the departments either didn’t have the capacity to pay or it would be an endless sales-cycle, where we would spend lots of time on the sales, but it still wouldn’t close. In my mind, there are two main facets to Revenue Development: a) Business model iteration, and, b) Pricing iteration.

Revenue 72

Revenue Developer Java Customer Development 72

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 7, 2005

The highest friction sale is spending lots of money on marketing and trade shows and having a large, direct sales force of expensive reps pounding the pavement for months trying to close a large deal with an enterprise customer. It means more qualified leads and a shorter sales cycle.

Sales 60

Sales Java Open Source Software Review 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# Of course this is not at all true of many profitable small businesses, but they are not what I mean by startups.) Then we could focus on standardizing a product that could have an automated sales cycle online.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

You can check out part one of this series here: Part 1: Which Is The Best Business Model For Your Startup – B2B Or B2C? B2B” – means that you are selling a product or service to other businesses. This week I will explain further how a B2B product-based or service-based company can impact on the first-time entrepreneur.

B2B 110

B2B Business Model B2C Agile 110

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

This shift in focus results in more efficient use of your marketing budget, shorter sales cycles, and a better customer experience. How you approach it will depend on your business model and ideal accounts and how (or if) you plan to expand campaigns. That’s the power of marketing to a chosen few rather than everyone.

Customer 98

Customer Marketing Channel Acquisition 98

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 18, 2024

So the thing is, those frameworks, it helps you organize a working and functional business model, but it's not a business model and it's not a profit model, and it's not your pricing model, and it's not the structure for what agreements you create with your team, with your clients.

Framework 90

Framework Sales Cycle Sales Hiring 90

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

Here’s a short summary of the discussion: Guy, you launched Snyk in 2015, and a large part of your success was driven by your freemium model. With COVID, we’re getting into a world with tighter budgets and likely longer sales cycles. Providing free tools allows you to provide value and strike up a conversation.

Early Stage 62

Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

We are going to leave out companies selling into municipalities or educational institutions due to long sales cycles that are very complex, hard to manage and even harder to profit from. What Is “B2C&# ?

B2C 103

B2C B2B Business Model Sales Cycle 103

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Whenever there’s a complete disruption of the business model, it means that the underlying rules for that vertical have dramatically changed. Just adding a website to now offer books for sale will not suddenly make an offline bookstore a serious competitor to Amazon.

Sales Cycle 122

Sales Cycle Business Model Aggregator Vertical 122

The Startup Magazine

JULY 28, 2024

This rational buying process can lead to more predictable sales cycles and less whimsical decision-making from your clientele. It’s business, not personal, and that’s rather refreshing! Beyond One-Night Brand Stands B2B relationships are the rom-com of the business world: built on commitment and developed over time.

B2B 158

B2B B2C Green Business Model 158

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Understand The Sales Cycle. Depending on what type of products or services your company offers, you may see a lot of repeat customers, customers who are growing with your products, or customers who primarily deal in single sales. Add Some Nuance.

Customer 152

Customer Sales Cycle Business Model Sales 152

A Crowded Space

AUGUST 27, 2014

There is a new trend emerging which combines two of the most beloved business models in tech. . SaaS (software as a service) models are very well understood and straightforward. Marketplaces are also very common business models. Sales cycle decreases . Sales conversion increases.

Sales Cycle 110

Sales Cycle Software .Net Business Model 110

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

This can be helpful for businesses that have long sales cycles, ones that are in unpopular market segments, or are located in geographies without ample downstream series A capital. I’d make a list of your most important priorities and risks for the business in the next 12 months and shape your syndicate around those skills.

Syndication 202

Syndication Syndicate Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 12, 2017

Let’s talk first about an angel round to individual investors, all of whom may be duly accredited but many of whom may have no background that enables them to understand fully your idea and your business model. A price of $2 per share means nothing in itself.

Term Sheet 48

Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Merger 48

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Slow sales cycles. Business Insider wrote about our investment in the company yesterday. You can sit in a pitch meeting with an investor demoing your product, and hypothesize as to whether or not there will be a market or even a business model for something, or you can role reverse and "Show them the money".

Sales Cycle 126

Sales Cycle Government Revenue Sales 126

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

When a customer is willing to share their business model, their pain points, and their needs with you, they are demonstrating trust that you will be able to help them ease their pain and reach their desired outcomes. Note: screen shots of configured demos form valuable insights to share with the CS team.

Sales 113

Sales Customer Sales Cycle Vertical 113

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 16, 2012

It's really questionable whether this constant capturing, slicing and sharing of my life has any viable business model whatsoever. The sites that have figured out business models are the ones that built in commercial presences from the beginning, or made the sites more optimal for commercial usage.

Cap Table 100

Cap Table Sales Cycle Venture Capital Curation 100

ReadWriteStart

MAY 4, 2011

Manoj is experiencing a long sales cycle of close to 12 months, but he has already created a sustainable company that has revenues and profits. He is exploring outside financing, but my concern is that unless the growth rate accelerates, this particular business may not fit the venture model.

India 116

India Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Massachusetts 116

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

A big downside of the high-touch sales model is that the CAC is out of control, and the sales cycles are extremely long. As you can see in the graph below, high-touch sales is a leading indicator of CAC. A high-touch sales process can balloon customer acquisition costs. Perfect for hyper-niche solutions.

Marketing 289

Marketing Sales Cycle Acquisition Sales 289

VC Cafe

JUNE 7, 2010

The partnerships enabled reach to over 100 million mobile users, but the local advertisers were not technology-inclined which made sales cycles longer and more complicated. The right partner from the advertising industry in Asia, should be able to extract more value. It is always a bit sad to report of a startup closing.

Media 95

Media Malaysia Thailand Asia 95

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

SolidWorks 2: The best VAR management program in the world? VC Venture capital Viral growth Plugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes Copyright © David Skok 2009, 2010.

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

The Next Web

MAY 12, 2013

Sales cycles were long and unpredictable. “You don’t need an MBA to realize that this sort of business model wasn’t going to work” “Nothing ever filtered down properly to the operational employees. You don’t need an MBA to realize that this sort of business model wasn’t going to work.”.

Israel 126

Israel Database United States Cloud 126

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 4, 2004

Adam Bosworth has an interesting post on the evolution of software and why software delivered as a service will be the business model of the future. From an evolutionary perspective, the ASP business model is quite interesting to examine. For the vendor, it makes it: 1.

Software 78

Software Bandwidth Sales Cycle Business Model 78

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

Benchmark: Serena Capital advises B2B SaaS startups to target a gross margin of 80% or higher to demonstrate the scalability and profitability of their business model. I also recommend checking out my post on conversion, retention and churn benchmarks for various business models (B2C subscription, marketplaces, etc).

B2B 97

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 97

NZ Entrepreneur

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Some common drivers of sales underperformance include product-market fit challenges, slow/low sales channels, and poor execution. To identify sensitivities here, you need to comprehensively challenge your assumptions about demand, sales cycles, etc. What if the number of sales is much less than expected?

Startup 94

Startup Sales Cycle Down Round Revenue 94

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 16, 2012

Before you launch a business or product test your assumptions – test your packaging, pricing, bundling, message, products, services, branding, revenue streams and business model with some segment of your market and pay attention. Then and only then, will you build a business that cannot fail. Test and evolve.

Sales Cycle 78

Sales Cycle Sales Customer Business Model 78

BeyondVC

NOVEMBER 4, 2004

Adam Bosworth has an interesting post on the evolution of software and why software delivered as a service will be the business model of the future. From an evolutionary perspective, the ASP business model is quite interesting to examine. For the vendor, it makes it: 1. the economics speak for themselves.

Software 60

Software Bandwidth Sales Cycle Business Model 60

BeyondVC

AUGUST 26, 2008

The highest friction sale is spending lots of money on marketing and trade shows and having a large, direct sales force of expensive reps pounding the pavement for months trying to close a large deal with an enterprise customer. Follow that with a 3 month implementation process to get the customer happy.

Cost 78

Cost Sales Sales Cycle Demand 78