Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

I break the answer to that question down into three engines: Viral - this is the business model identified in the presentation as "Get Users." Here, the key metrics are Acquisition and Referral, combined into the now-famous viral coefficient. If the coefficient is > 1.0 , you generally have a viral hit on your hands.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2013

Social media is here, and is the preferred mode of communication by a large segment of your customers, so make it a positive differentiator for your business. Before social networking, an unhappy customer might tell three people. If these three million see no timely response, your problem can go viral (like United Breaks Guitars ).

Social Media 249

Social Media Media Customer Viral 249

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Social media is here, and is the preferred mode of communication by a large segment of your customers, so make it a positive differentiator for your business. Before social networking, an unhappy customer might tell three people. If these three million see no timely response, your problem can go viral (like United Breaks Guitars ).

Social Media 228

Social Media Media Customer Viral 228

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

. × At Greylock , my partners and I are driven by one guiding mission: always help entrepreneurs. It doesn’t matter whether an entrepreneur is in our portfolio, whether we’re considering an investment, or whether we’re casually meeting for the first time. Entrepreneurs often ask me for help with their pitch decks.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Revenue Viral Networking 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 3, 2011

Every startup needs to understand that the customer paradigm has dramatically shifted over the past two years with pervasive social networks and smartphones. To compete, startups must find ways to provide customers an easier, faster, more pervasive connection to digital networks, via mobile as well as the Internet.

Customer 229

Customer Startup Networking Viral 229

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Entrepreneurs should learn to show the same loyalty to their team, to their investors, and to their customers. The first place to start when looking for that certain someone is within your own network. Every study shows that employees found through a direct networking connection are the most likely to succeed in a company.

Hiring 99

Hiring Employee Harvest Salary 99

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

I recently spoke at Caltech at the Caltech / MIT Enterprise Forum on “the future of social networking,&# the 30-minute video is here and the PowerPoint presentation is here on DocStoc ). What are the big trends that will drive the next phase of social networks? And so it goes with social networking. The Past (1985-2002).

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Internet Technical Review 318

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

They must realize that the breakneck pace of innovation in the industry makes it difficult to differentiate themselves from competitors. It seems clear that most entrepreneurs need help to navigate the ultra-dense tech industry PR environment. Overcoming that obstacle requires some industry-specific tactics and knowledge.

PR 107

PR Startup Social Media Silicon Valley 107

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 3, 2014

This is native advertising in real life, on a real website, acting as a key player in the race for the strongest, viral, engaging content. The company, known for viral social content, is predicted to bring in $100 million in revenue in 2014 from native advertising on 150 million unique visitors a month, according to a 2013 Forbes article.

Advertising 139

Advertising San Francisco New York Viral 139

www.virtuosimedia.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Here’s a typical situation that goes awry: An entrepreneur has an idea for something online and after talking to a few friends who like it, decides to try to turn the idea into a business. This article should also serve as a starting guide for programmers who are approached about becoming technical co-founders. Red Flags Galore.

Technical Cofounder 41

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review NDA 41

Hippoland

MARCH 19, 2017

One of the biggest components of this is differentiating your product / your company from others. Differentiation is very difficult — there are so many entrepreneurs who are doing something similar to you and also so many alternatives that achieve the same results as your product / solution. And, that’s ok.

Differentiation 48

Differentiation Lead Generation Algorithm Search 48

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

While much has been said ‘how to pitch a VC’ ($1B+ market, competition, differentiation…), I brought a new approach and focus on elements which are outside of the traditional Powerpoint slides. Entrepreneurs should apply a similar approach when pitching VCs. Advice in tow, I focused my keynote on “How to Best Pitch a SaaS Company.”

Europe 48

Europe France API Viral 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 27, 2009

What differentiates this model from "free serves paid" is that the free users dont need to consciously do anything special to be valuable. For network-effects businesses, like Skype , just being on the network is enough to create value. At a high level, anything that drives virality should be free. Bring your questions.

San Francisco 148

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 148

Mike Michalowicz

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The most common question entrepreneurs ask me, is “how can I improve my marketing with no or little money?’ It’s about building relationships and networking, not selling, although that does come as a result. Never Stop Growing Your Network. Expand your network of contacts and potential clients. Get Out of The Store.

Small Business 167

Small Business Marketing PR Social Media 167

Austin Startup

APRIL 26, 2020

And if you are an entrepreneur in search of a business idea, search for businesses that are in huge markets that are dependent on bad profits. This is one of my favorite business books of all time and perhaps the single most important book for entrepreneurs to read. They didn’t listen to the power of word of mouth.

Technical Review 62

Technical Review Campaign Video Naming 62

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

How to differentiate yourself in a crowded market (and when perhaps you shouldn’t try). Do you feel like the more users you have it helps accelerate, is there some kind of, maybe not necessarily viral, but that people just tell their friends at all. How to move from a free to a paid product without losing all your users.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Reid Hoffman

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Part of the reason I encourage entrepreneurs to discuss their ideas with as many smart people as possible is because sometimes that clarity of thought can come from an entirely different field or industry. That’s why one of the factors that separates successful from unsuccessful entrepreneurs is their pivot “tool chest.”

Startup 36

Startup Silicon Valley Business Model Mobile 36

The Next Web

AUGUST 21, 2013

All consumer application creators need to focus on three core challenges: A differentiated product experience. Building a differentiated product experience. the network connection type and abstractions like patterns of physical movement. Attracting and growing a user base. Keeping the user base engaged.

Mobile 137

Mobile Design Differentiation Startup 137

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

He wanted to be an entrepreneur. When I was an entrepreneur I had a term sheet with True Ventures (my second company) and thought highly of them. I said as much in my post about The Future of Social Networking. might have been a lot less differentiated. might have been a lot less differentiated. I still do.

Term Sheet 303

Term Sheet Mobile Cofounder Early Stage 303

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

It has been awesome, flattering, and humbling to see that post went viral and has been seen by so many thousands of people — mainly aspiring entrepreneurs — and has been translated into many languages. Before there was Fab there was fabulis, a social network meets places guide targeted to the gay community.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 3, 2016

I bet you never thought peaches could go viral. The local business used Facebook ads to help their small, pop-up peach stand go viral, experiencing a 2.3x For example: This ad set will be named ” Local Females 18-64″ so I can quickly differentiate it from the other ad sets I create within this campaign.

Campaign 100

Campaign Advertising Viral Georgia 100

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 24, 2020

Hannu is one of those entrepreneurs who has put everything on hold to try to make a difference in a worldwide pandemic and we're grateful to him for that. But certainly I've been finding more and more that being an entrepreneur and being a writer are two sides of the same coin. How do we differentiate self from non-self?

Founder 60

Founder Technical Review Leadership Software Review 60

Cracking the Code

JANUARY 10, 2007

The connectivity is both wireless (Cingular EDGE network) and wifi. Well, iTV is the biggest commercial television network in the UK and "eyeTV" is also an application from Elgato (it is a TV/DVR product for Mac) - so the name was already crowded. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Favorite VC and Entrepreneur blogs.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Video Europe 48

Duct Tape Marketing

MARCH 8, 2018

Now they’re all there already, so you’ve got to do something that differentiates yourself from the crowd for it to actually work. Like, “I want them to join our audience so we can have communication,” or, “I want them to follow me on some network” or, “I want them to purchase something,” right?

North Dakota 54

North Dakota Email Campaign Video 54

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2011

Twitter’s significance stems from the fact that it is a real time, open, asymmetric, social, viral referral network that is often location aware and provides both explicit and implicit interests and preferences. This turns out to be one of the real differentiators for Twitter. Twitter is inherently viral.

Viral 307

Viral Las Vegas Tunisia Syndicate 307

Cracking the Code

APRIL 13, 2007

To differentiate their service offering and maximize the value captured, Saas vendors package their services by segment with different price point. Popular Media: the key to viral marketing. Favorite VC and Entrepreneur blogs. Feedburner Network. Paperblog network. Software 2.0: ► 03/25 - 04/01. (1).

Software Review 48

Software Review Internet Software Technical Review 48

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

Lucky for you, time-strapped entrepreneur, weve gathered some tips from the pros to help you avoid some of the most common, game-ending mistakes committed by young startups. How many entrepreneurs opening words are about how stealth their project is, followed by a 10-page NDA to hear word one? As an entrepreneur, theres a lot going on.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111