View from Seed

JUNE 13, 2019

Chewy cost of goods (COGS) includes both the underlying cost of the products sold but also some fulfillment related expenses like freight and packaging. There can be genuine philosophical or accounting differences in how different costs are allocated, but generally I strive to think about a true “fully loaded” contribution margin.

Leadership 214

Leadership .Net Revenue Aggregator 214

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2021

This dual-leadership approach would have avoided the frustration I felt in a startup a few years ago where beta customers loved our software solution as a free prototype, but we couldn’t sell one in the first few months for a price that seemed reasonable for all our work and innovation. These two jobs need to be done in parallel.

Technical Review 399

Technical Review Product Advisory Board Business Model 399

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Business agility is defined as the ability to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently. Every organization must constantly review its hiring practices, training, and leadership to make sure the focus is on people who are motivated, open-minded, and empowered. It all starts with agile leadership. The real problem is inflexible people.

Agile 379

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 379

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Abraham Gin, an entrepreneur, business coach, and CEO of Gin Consulting Group , which provides unique leadership development and training platforms. Abraham serves his clients with both forward-looking business growth strategy and digital marketing through leadership applications partners. What problems does it solve?

Leadership 167

Leadership Founder Technical Review Entrepreneur 167

YoungUpstarts

JULY 10, 2019

This state of affairs not only led me to found a company, Oh My Green, that’s exclusively focused on health and wellness in the workplace, but also to develop a new approach to leadership — one that inspires people to bring their best selves (instead of their most stressed selves) to work. billion, or $1,685 per employee, annually.

Leadership 203

Leadership Green Silicon Valley United States 203

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2023

The most valuable assets of a new startup are the people on the team, and the most challenging task of the entrepreneur and team leaders is to spend their leadership time and energy productively. Most new startup founders start out by assuming they need to spread their leadership efforts evenly across all team members. Rising stars.

Employee 267

Employee Leadership Cofounder Matching 267

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Could we produce this at cost? It turns out that while she had the right idea the materials needed some reworking to come in at the cost structure required to build a business at scale. But the most important character building itself was just seeing the talent of the people who were lining up to work with Meredith.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence CTO Hire 418

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 11, 2020

With the current low cost of entry, nimble competitors appear quickly and seize the high ground of your existing customers and potential. Ongoing market leadership requires continuous innovation. The initial larger cost in time and dollars is only the beginning. The first-to-market advantage doesn’t last long.

Startup 424

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 424

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Business agility is defined as the ability to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently. Every organization must constantly review its hiring practices, training, and leadership to make sure the focus is on people who are motivated, open-minded, and empowered. It all starts with agile leadership. The real problem is inflexible people.

Agile 315

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 315

Duct Tape Marketing

JANUARY 10, 2025

Solving the Marketing Leadership Gap for Small Business (Marketing Leadership as a Service) written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing Small business marketing can feel like an endless checklist: create content , run Google Ads, post on social media, and optimize for SEO. They fail because they lack marketing leadership.

Leadership 44

Leadership Small Business Marketing Social Media 44

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Trim your vision into a simple and focused quick solution that illustrates your potential, but doesn’t have to wait too long or cost too much to be appreciated. Peer relationships and good advisor relationships are key to any balanced leadership, especially for right-brained people. Show results with a minimal viable product (MVP).

Technical Review 332

Technical Review Metrics Leadership Technology 332

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

Define hard (data) and soft (anecdotal) metrics on the change, as well as on the quality of your leadership. Ask yourself, “If I were an investor, would I support this effort, given the costs and promised returns?” It takes a strong team and strong leadership to manage it. Make sure they match before you commit.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

Leadership Tip: Develop a hybrid talent strategy, one in which you leverage consultants from the gig economy as well as your own employees. Leadership Tip: Consider how your organization can create a hybrid plan that allows employees to continue working remotely a few days a week and one that allows some to work in the office.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2023

The cost of any new product these days must include education and rollout marketing, perhaps equal or greater than the development costs. To win in this environment, you may need to expand your leadership in industry conferences and community activities. Don’t forget to address the risks and cost of doing nothing.

Product 354

Product Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Dividend 354

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

MakeSpace (as he named it) would help you get your excess goods into low-cost warehouses. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer? and we were met with weak demand, slow growth and high costs.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2019

The challenge is to recognize and recruit that ideal partner match early with minimal cost and risk. Good partners are people who are confident in their own abilities, and willing and able to make decisions, take responsibility for their actions, and able to provide leadership, rather than require leadership.

Cofounder 221

Cofounder Software Review CTO Hire Founder 221

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Innovation driven by the next crisis is not leadership. This is a trap of the past to be avoided at all costs. They know they need to act proactively, but still are often blindsided by a new competitor coming out of the blue with a future they never imagined.

Framework 402

Framework Engineer Leadership Revenue 402

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2023

I like the specifics on how to do this in the classic book, “ The Agenda Mover: When Your Good Idea Is Not Enough ,” by leadership expert Samuel B. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group. Negotiate the time and resources to do a trial, and measure results. You don’t know the issues well enough.

Technical Cofounder 341

Technical Cofounder Founder Cofounder Mobile 341

TechEmpower

AUGUST 21, 2023

The explanation from software leadership is often unsatisfying or unclear. Getting Buy-in from Leadership Business leaders are often concerned about how their tech teams will react to an external technical review. Let’s assume that you’ve already expressed your frustrations with technical leadership.

Technical Review 260

Technical Review Development Team Review Software Review Architecture 260

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Many businesses might be tempted to make savings by trying to do everything themselves, but it really does pay to outsource certain functions like communications as this can be handled by experts more easily and cost-effectively than you think, leaving your staff free to focus on the things they are good at.

Customer 279

Customer Technical Review Social Media Leadership 279

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Entrepreneurs are driven to pursue their passions no matter the personal costs, societal pressure, family head-scratching or financial consequences. Leadership over backbenchers? I wish I had 20% of her confidence, focus and leadership skills at 25. They are driven more by the journey than they are about the destination.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review South Korea San Francisco Software Review 417

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Employees are still too often thought of as a commodity, to be acquired “just in time” for the lowest cost, and managed as a disposable asset. With the latest advances in software technology, it’s no longer cost-prohibitive for business entrepreneurs, who can’t yet afford a human resources department, to take advantage of analytics tools.

Analytics 303

Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

That often involves working long hours and keeping your costs lean. But there comes a time when bringing on executive leadership is the reasonable and right next step. Another benefit of filling executive leadership roles is that doing so will likely free up time you can spend on other things. What does the C-suite look like?

CTO Hire 163

CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Hiring 163

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

I like the specifics on how to do this in the classic book, “ The Agenda Mover: When Your Good Idea Is Not Enough ,” by leadership expert Samuel B. Bacharach, Cornell Professor and cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group. Negotiate the time and resources to do a trial, and measure results. You don’t know the issues well enough.

Technical Cofounder 315

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Mobile Differentiation 315

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2023

I believe it all starts with you as a leadership role model, and the mindset and expectations you broadcast to your team. People respond to positives, such as new growth, versus problems implying costs and loss of customers. I’m often asked for the secret to this attribute in developing a team culture.

Technical Review 277

Technical Review Partner Matching Channel 277

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 17, 2021

I recently found the classic sales training book “ Bootstrap Selling The Sandler Way ,” by Bill Morrison, who has 20 years in sales leadership roles, and I was amazed at how many of his sales lessons are great lessons for new entrepreneurs as well. Your price and their value are not the same thing.

Sales 348

Sales Startup Bootstrapping Technical Review 348

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

This dual-leadership approach would have avoided the frustration I felt in a startup a few years ago where beta customers loved our software solution as a free prototype, but we couldn’t sell one in the first few months for a price that seemed reasonable for all our work and innovation. These two jobs need to be done in parallel.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 4, 2023

I’m sure you feel this change, and if you are, or want to be, in a leadership role, you need to focus on how to be more human and lead humans. I have long been convinced that emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) in leadership wins over logical intelligence (IQ) every time. These cost very little and have large returns for all.

Leadership 279

Leadership Employee Community Cost 279

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

With the current low cost of entry, nimble competitors appear quickly and seize the high ground of your existing customers and potential. Ongoing market leadership requires continuous innovation. The initial larger cost in time and dollars is only the beginning. The first-to-market advantage doesn’t last long.

Startup 287

Startup Bandwidth Distribution Agile 287

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2021

Every one of you business owners I know has worked hard to build your brand, and recognizes the critical value of instant brand recognition and leadership. We all strive to reduce costs and improve efficiency, but the ultimate test is the potential to erode values, culture, and brand image.

Leadership 426

Leadership Management Brazil Differentiation 426

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 11, 2020

It’s not leadership. The military has three of the four pieces of the puzzle you need: strategy, access to technology, leadership. Leadership was not the problem. Strategy, technology, leadership – those were fine. Which of these actions would impose the greatest cost on China if implemented? It’s not technology.

Technical Review 369

Technical Review Taiwan Technology Design 369

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 31, 2020

In addition, not everyone has the privilege of having a real personal assistant due to high costs. There are countless VA services out there that offer outsourcing opportunities for almost any type of work and sometimes at a fraction of the cost of an employee. This is something that we will probably not see within the next 15 years.

Artificial Inteligence 214

Artificial Inteligence Mali Management Technical Review 214

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Employees are still too often thought of as a commodity, to be acquired “just in time” for the lowest cost, and managed as a disposable asset. With the latest advances in software technology, it’s no longer cost-prohibitive for business entrepreneurs, who can’t yet afford a human resources department, to take advantage of analytics tools.

Analytics 245

Analytics Metrics Employee Open Source 245

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 19, 2022

Highlight your personal leadership values and experience. People like to see examples of your work that they can relate to, with results, including costs and savings. It pays to invest more in building remote relationships with these site owners, or spending quality time with podcasters and popular blog influencers.

Technical Review 303

Technical Review Social Media Metrics Media 303

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Key Roles & Costs: CMO, Marketing Director, or VP of Marketing Monthly Cost : $15,363 - $29,732 Pros : You get a seasoned marketing expert who’s fully dedicated to your business. Cons : The cost is high, and for many small businesses, it’s just not practical. Cons : Costs add up quickly.

Small Business 79

Small Business Hiring Marketing Jordan 79

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2020

For example, Lyft and Uber were able to capitalize on the current ride-sharing trend worldwide by tracking statistics that indicated reduced interest in car ownership by millennials, lack of parking spaces, and auto ownership costs moving up rapidly. Focus on agility as the key skill your organization needs.

Agile 310

Agile Social Media Reputation Restful 310

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 20, 2024

A fractional CMO, on the other hand, provides access to high-level marketing expertise without the commitment and cost of a full-time executive. link] Cost-Effective Solution for High-Level Leadership Startups must be judicious with their spending, particularly in the early stages.

B2B 148

B2B Hiring Salary Early Stage 148