Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

In an over-funding environment companies are encouraged to eschew revenues in a land grab to acquire eyeballs, clicks, page views or whatever other vanity metrics give VCs the false comfort that they’re sitting on a gold mine. The opportunity to transact at the point of purchase increases the sheer number of revenue opportunities.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Dell announced years ago that it had earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, and other businesses report daily on increases in web traffic up to 800%. Social media demands two-way communication, rather than outbound only. Read everything you can about viral marketing. Start social networking with peers.

Social Media 289

Social Media Small Business Media Technical Review 289

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Campaign 167

Campaign Cost Viral Marketing 167

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 6, 2012

To help foster this innovation, many colleges and universities have opened business incubators, helping students and others in their community to help make their innovative dreams a reality. Offering a “holistic entrepreneurship program,” this residential community has entrepreneurship at every step of the college experience.

Incubator 202

Incubator New York City Boston Intellectual Property 202

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Founded in November 2007 in New York City by Alexis Maybank and Kevin Ryan (co-founder of DoubleClick); CEO is Susan Lyne (ex-CEO Marta Stewart Living Omnimedia) Revenue estimates: $50mm in 2008; $170mm in 2009 (versus budget of $150mm); $450mm forecasted for 2010. Note that these are “gross” revenue numbers. Total raised: $29.5mm.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndicate 240

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

” Sean later went on to found the community GrowthHackers.com amongst other businesses. We spend a lot of time trying to get people focused on building products that have viral components and why that has to be measured and constantly tested. Why do I Like the term Growth Hacking?

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

Perhaps the most powerful content creation of all, which is growing in popularity is coding, catapulting companies like Lovable which hit $17M in annualised recurring revenue in February 2025, up from $7M at the end of 2024. These costs represent an ongoing tax on revenue, requiring careful consideration in business model design.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

A critical component to building a successful business is being able to capture ongoing revenue from consumers who feel they are getting incredible value and continue to feel good about paying. Having recurring revenue allows you to keep the original purchase price down, which in turn increases sales. it was a personal mission.

Security 247

Security Los Angeles Silicon Valley Video 247

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

And passionate players are often the backbone of game communities – especially online. We cultivated a passionate community that nurtured a skilled set of developers. In a previous post , I covered the three main drivers of growth: Paid, Sticky, and Viral. Let’s look at a viral growth company, like Facebook.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

View from Seed

AUGUST 30, 2016

Next, look at the average revenue per user numbers (courtesy of Piktochart ) are listed below, and while this information is from 2015, it’s interesting to note the trends (Instagram projected to rise to $9 by 2020 according to Forbes ). In addition, look at Facebook’s revenue per user growth globally over the past few quarters.

Social Media 185

Social Media B2B North America Media 185

The Next Web

DECEMBER 12, 2013

“How do we design and build a world-class mobile experience that not only satisfies the needs of our users, but fuels growth and inspires more people to join the Airbnb global community? Myth #2: You can bolt on community, once the commerce engine is going. It all starts with culture. “By

Mobile 136

Mobile Silicon Valley Viral Technical Review 136

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

we had no revenue. As a result, we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. We are the leader in the professional domain with viral growth. Instead, our strategy was to steer immediately into the revenue question because that was the top concern of investors in 2004.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

The Proof Is In The Revenue. While engagement points can translate into leads and money saved, it's up to social media strategists to connect the dots and make the case that their efforts generate revenue efficiently. After all, virality often tends to be based on ideas that are new to the public. Hiring The Right Candidate.

Social Media 134

Social Media Media Programming Viral 134

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

5 great viral marketing campaigns (and what small businesses can learn from them!) - crowdSPRING Blog , September 13, 2010 At crowdSPRING we talk a great deal about how we can leverage our limited marketing resources to drive traffic and revenues and build strong community. Except they won’t be called Product Managers.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

There is an old saying in the startup investor community, “Smart investors invest in the team, not the idea.” Similarly, mentioning viral marketing without specifics won’t assure fundability. Even social entrepreneurs need milestones, quantifiable results, and revenue to sustain their value. Focus on customer needs.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Get Your Business Generating Revenue Quickly - [link]. Get Your Business Generating Revenue Quickly - [link]. The formula for going viral (or Twitter failure) - [link]. “Community creative – how we contribute&# - [link]. 5 Trends that Will Shape Small Business in 2011 - [link]. I hope you enjoy these links!

Social Media 87

Social Media Las Vegas Small Business Design 87

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Other people were in the online community called “ The Well &# (founded in 1985). We were looking for what I call the “6 C’s of Social Networking&# – Communications, connectedness, common experiences, content, commerce & cool experiences (fun!). And so it goes with social networking. And then came AOL.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Internet Technical Review 318

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 14, 2010

12 Creative Design Ideas That Went Viral (And The Lessons You Can Learn) – [link]. Internet Advertising Hits New Revenue Record – [link]. 12 Creative Design Ideas That Went Viral (And The Lessons You Can Learn) – [link]. Social media critics keep getting it wrong – [link]. I hope you enjoy these links!

Social Media 90

Social Media Small Business Design Media 90

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Investors and founders alike have been obsessed about “growth at all costs,” just as a virus colony grows without care to its effect on its host cells or whether the colony’s growth ends up destroying the host body completely, taking the colony down with it in a viral version of Lord of the Flies. This is growth driven by values.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Viral Metrics Salary 120

View from Seed

MARCH 22, 2016

Even if you’re in the pre-revenue, pre-seed or seed stage, there are still ways to get on a reporter’s radar. Even if your own company isn’t newsworthy, you are on the ground in the startup community, and that is valuable. This one is tricker in the pre-revenue stage. If you don’t want to irritate a reporter, do not….

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage San Francisco Startup CTO Hire 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2016

Premium ventures need real traction, such as 100 million users, 10 million in revenue, or brand recognition around the world. If you don’t yet have a hundred investors knocking on your door, it’s time to put more focus on viral marketing, closing customers, and exponential growth. Active interest by a multitude of investors.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Valuation Merger Exit Strategy 120

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 28, 2022

I intend to release one study every three months, which I'll send to journalists in the hopes of generating viral attention on social media. I believe that if I can have one piece of content go viral every three months, not only will I be able to develop more links but also raise my brand's recognition. Making a proud community.

Social Media 127

Social Media Entrepreneur Retention Finance 127

Agile VC

MAY 26, 2011

LinkedIn’s product had only been live for a couple months, we only had tens of thousands of registered users, and wouldn’t start generating revenue for more than a year after this point. We’re a how-to site and community for small business on marketing. . link] leehower. It was a pretty good valuation for the time.

Term Sheet 178

Term Sheet Silicon Valley Technical Review Social Network 178

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

Two of the teams focused on the two main sources of revenue, one team on inbound leads, and the last team on site conversion rates. We were optimizing revenue from these campaigns by testing different versions. Suddenly, our revenue from these campaigns dropped by 50%. Growth teams have limited revenue potential.

Conversion 133

Conversion Technical Review Channel Engineer 133

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2021

There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” These hyperlocal sites don’t have to compete with global sites, and always have unique content, community advertising, and local issues.

Finder 361

Finder Startup Curation Seattle 361

mashable.com

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Anyone in the community can edit posts and frequent users are allowed to vote irrelevant questions off the site. The site is run by Mercy Corps , which intends to help “small businesses grow faster, generate more revenue, and employ more people.&# More than 1,000 matches have been made to date. STOKED!!!! What will you find here?

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Social Media Technical Review Social Network 94

Occam's Razor

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

So, lots of content combined with an engaged audience (contributing and participating in consumption), driving great branding and real world revenue. Some have experimented with virality ( Pepsi Test Drive or Dove Beauty , etc.), Tap into YouTube Community / Media Platform. When I have a choice, I now buy Prudential.

Analytics 151

Analytics Marketing Audience Channel 151

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

Between January 2015 and January 2016, we grew our platform Slidebean from $1K to $20K in monthly recurring revenue. Getting the first tracks of revenue is one of the toughest processes of building a startup. Jun-15: Community Manager (growth team). 1x hacker in charge of product/development. Aug-15: Head of Sales (growth team).

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

AUGUST 5, 2011

Finding advertisers and maximizing revenue can become hard work at times. MyBlogGuest.com : Community Of Guest Bloggers What? As a content owner/website publisher, you want your content to be monetized – duh. TextLinkAds is a marketplace where advertisers look for publishers that are related to their products/services.

Web 89

Web HTML Software Review SQL 89

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Neither would have achieved virality had customers not received something tangible for their efforts. Once you’ve established your ideal customer, you can better focus your growth hacker marketing efforts to improve revenue and ROI. This helped grow revenue by 637%. ConvertKit’s early success came from cold emailing.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 25, 2023

The expansion of e-commerce should also bring about seeing returns as a strategic lever, similar to how companies used faster delivery to drive customer experience and revenue. Don’t forget to join our #IamCEO Community. The current returns process has too many touchpoints where shrinkage can happen. Tell us in the comments below.

eCommerce 143

eCommerce Omaha Entrepreneur SEO 143

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

If you’re working with an open source project, for example, it’s important that you have a definitive business model to drive revenue — though not at the cost of alienating your community of core contributors. They may also contribute code to the community that comprises the backbone of their technology.

France 77

France Marketing Social Media Startup 77

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 23, 2011

Rustin Banks is today the CEO of BlogFrog , a web-based platform that turns blogs into interest-based communities. Banks was an old hand at online communities, after all – at age 12, he’d host computer Bulletin Board Systems right out of his parent’s closet. Facilitating Blog Interaction.

Community 162

Community United States Colorado Social Media 162

www.clickz.com

JANUARY 7, 2013

Social Media Community Management Social Commerce Social Integration Social Media Smarts. To get your 2013 marketing plans on track to increase revenues, here are seven social media tactics based on solid research that you need now. Show your emotional side to increase virality. Community Management. Community Management.

Social Media 86

Social Media Media B2C New York 86

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 23, 2013

Marketo filed for IPO with impressive 80% year-over-year growth in 2012, with almost $60m in revenue. of revenue, force-feeding sales pipelines with an unprofitable product. I wish the modern startup community would understand the mindset that gets a company to this point, and resist it. of revenue, $0.30 But: $1.5R

Business Model 335

Business Model .Net Revenue IPO 335

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Whereas a blog post needs just a computer to type, a video requires an understanding of lighting, audio, storytelling, editing, and community building. If you’re creating videos only for your own content, then it might make sense to host it on Vimeo and drive people to a landing page (or product pages), and not try to build a community.

Channel 129

Channel Metrics Algorithm Video 129

thebarefootvc

DECEMBER 16, 2011

Women Rising: Microfinance institutions have known for years that women have higher repayment rates than men and that women are more likely to invest the borrowed capital back into their families and local communities. The viral nature of social media no doubt aided this growth, as did improvements in the online shopping experience.

Technical Review 110

Technical Review India Mobile Hockey Stick 110