Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2022

Every startup lucky enough to get some traction gets to the point where they decide to hire some “regular employees” for sales, marketing, and administrative tasks. Then they are surprised to see productivity and creativity take a big dip. Hire employees who have strong skills, with the motivation to learn new ones.

Startup 337

Startup Technical Review Employee Hiring 337

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done by full-time employees, in the office or at home. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects. Labor rates are lower in some countries, but culture and language match are the real keys to productivity.

Cost 346

Cost Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

Yet, as a business consultant, I often find minimal focus on improving employee engagement and assessing their customer-facing performance. 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.

Customer 369

Customer Technical Review Metrics Employee 369

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2022

Even after many years mentoring entrepreneurs and advising businesses, I continue to be surprised by the primary focus on products and processes, and the often incidental attention to hiring and nurturing the right people. It’s the same for customers and products, where analytics have long proven their value.

Analytics 303

Analytics Hiring Open Source Employee 303

Steve Blank

JULY 11, 2017

After the director left, I must have looked pretty surprised as the CFO explained, “We have tens of thousands of employees, and at the rate we’re growing it’s almost impossible to keep up with our space needs in the Bay Area. This founder’s reality distortion field attracted a large number of employees who shared his vision.

Part-Time VPE 329

Part-Time VPE Liquidity Event Stock Engineer 329

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

If the company has been around for more than a couple of years, and still has no product or revenue flow, there better be a good explanation. One more key employee or one more investor will probably not turn the situation around. Calculate employee stock option values and vesting times, as well as salary.

Technical Review 436

Technical Review Due Diligence Sweat Equity Burn Rate 436

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. Make employee management a proactive process.

Technical Review 306

Technical Review Metrics Social Media Channel 306

TechEmpower

MARCH 4, 2024

It plays a crucial role in product development too, where generative AI speeds up design processes, streamlines testing, and tailors user experiences effectively. This technological integration into software engineering not only enhances the productivity of development teams but also ensures that IT infrastructures are robust and reliable.

Generative AI 295

Generative AI CTO Hire Fractional CTO Software Review 295

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. He had a track record of taking small teams and growing them into successful product lines.

Technical Cofounder 368

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 368

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Ensure that you investigate the designers' past work, samples of their work product, and their process. Quality of Work: The end product should not only look good but function as expected. While the appearance matters, remember you are hiring the development firm primarily for its development skills, not its graphic design skills.

Software Developers 295

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 295

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 11, 2019

These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. Hire and train your own managers for internal and external work projects. Labor rates are lower in some countries, but culture and language match are the real keys to productivity.

Entrepreneur 303

Entrepreneur Philippines Bandwidth Cofounder 303

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2021

The CEO must focus on key management team hires and assume a few mistakes which need to get fixed. A great hire can make a company, but a single bad one can break it. Remember that leadership is both upward, as well as downward to direct reports and employees. Most founders are product guys. Provide effective leadership.

Exit Strategy 407

Exit Strategy Leadership Founder Networking 407

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 23, 2022

New entrepreneurs tend to focus only on getting the product right, and assume that the right culture and ethics will come later simply by hiring good people. Hire only ethical people, so further time on business ethics is not needed. This is usually an excuse for not developing ethical policies and practices. Marty Zwilling.

Software Review 291

Software Review Offshore Entrepreneur Leadership 291

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 15, 2021

However, you can learn some tips for hiring the best salesforce consultant for your business in this article. Here are six effective hiring tips for a salesforce consultant you should know. While skilled internal employees can manage the salesforce program, there is none more equipped for the job than a certified salesforce consultant.

Hiring 166

Hiring Software Review Technical Review Software 166

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2021

Look for real problems to solve, like losing weight, staying healthy, or gaps in a popular product line. Today it more often means a “trusted friend” who seems real, visible, and doesn’t “push” products. Hiring virtual assistants for each specific project can be a lot more efficient and cheaper than hiring and managing employees.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Software Review Internet Revenue 312

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

An alternate outcome that I also unfortunately observe in some cases are companies who had extreme early success with an initial product adoption but failed in key areas that limited the growth and therefore the ultimate financial outcomes. How profitable is my product or service? As an early-stage VC I love this phase.

Operations 286

Operations New York City Technical Review Startup 286

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

One of the most stressful and unanticipated challenges that comes with starting a new business is hiring and managing employees. While this approach appears to cost more on the surface, it often actually costs you less, when you consider the hidden costs of rework, poor customer satisfaction, employee management, and training required.

Technical Review 308

Technical Review Due Diligence Startup Employee 308

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

If you’re an early employee at a startup, one day you will wake up to find that what you worked on 24/7 for the last year is no longer the most important thing – you’re no longer the most important employee, and process, meetings, paperwork and managers and bosses have shown up. The company was going to hire a VP of Marketing.

Part-Time VPE 334

Part-Time VPE Employee Cofounder Hiring 334

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Research has confirmed that culture is a primary driver for financial performance, customer experience, and team productivity. Investors want organizations that manage people talent and growth, through good hiring, performance feedback, development on the job, and building commitment. Focus on talent and people growth.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. As Venture Capital emerged as an industry in the mid 1970’s, investors in venture-funded startups began to give stock options to all their employees. Here’s why.

Stock Options 335

Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 335

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 12, 2020

While your branding, marketing campaigns, and product quality will be at the forefront of your mind, you must not overlook the importance of network and data security. Also, if your employees will use personal devices in the workplace, you must ensure they are using the latest security protections, such as: Biometric authentication.

Security 273

Security Software Review Technical Review Networking 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

Research has confirmed that culture is a primary driver for financial performance, customer experience, and team productivity. Investors want organizations that manage people talent and growth, through good hiring, performance feedback, development on the job, and building commitment. Focus on talent and people growth.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

The Startup Magazine

MAY 31, 2022

Any operation that involves an employee, like recruitment, payroll management, or even offboarding, can be included in these HR functions or duties. . Your human resource activities can be outsourced to: Independent HR consultants are professionals who can assist you with hiring, HR policies, and other decision-making.

United States 158

United States Salary UAE Hiring 158

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2021

Idea people must surround themselves with people who build momentum and get things done, including production, marketing, finance, and sales. Employees are engaged, committed, and accountable. Unfortunately for them, building a business is all about implementation.

Entrepreneur 341

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Partner Software Developers 341

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Unfortunately, even today, building a good product doesn’t guarantee you a business. Ramp-up facilities and utilities required.

Cost 264

Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 29, 2020

In the past, working remotely was considered “normal” for entrepreneurs or independent contractors in the gig economy only, but organizations wanted employees, and consultants, to be onsite and working in the office. Employees clearly want and enjoy the flexibility. Employees clearly want and enjoy the flexibility.

Technical Review 275

Technical Review Cofounder Leadership Employee 275

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

You have to start with hiring only people who are willing and able to make serious customer service happen. The process must be employee friendly, as well as customer friendly, and have feedback mechanisms to correct poor results. If service employees are not happy, the process isn’t working yet. Train and coach continuously.

Technical Review 385

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 385

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2020

Then when you have to hire people, you will pick the best. Work on habits that improve your productivity, and find better tools every day. Develop productive relationships with people around you. While highly productive relationships lead to success, dysfunctional relationships make you a poor employee and a bad boss.

Leadership 380

Leadership Demand Management Founder 380

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Overall, managing cash flow and burn rate is more critical to your business success than having the right idea and the right product.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Steve Blank

APRIL 1, 2020

Automated delivery services – the more people you can take out of the equation, the safer the product. Nothing is more important than assuring the company can continue to pay its employees. Award equity to employees equal to the value of their reduced salaries. Try to protect the most vulnerable employees.

South Korea 334

South Korea Salary Business Model China 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2022

By definition, most startups begin as a result of some innovation in product, process, or service. The problem is that innovations in most business areas are coming so fast these days that yours can be overrun while still being scaled up across geographies and other products. Product-line expansion. Geographic expansion.

Dilution 355

Dilution Startup Merger Flash 355

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 18, 2020

No matter how good the quality of your product is, it will be in vain if you offer poor customer experience. By offering great customer experience, you can demand a higher price for your products, which is what startups need to take their business to the next level. Make Use Of CRM And Other Tools. Understand Your Customers.

Customer 231

Customer Technical Review Software Review Startup 231

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 20, 2024

One increasingly popular strategy is to hire a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO). link] Now, according to Forbes , a startup has to spend around 15 to 50 percent of its budget on paying its employees. Early-stage startups often operate with tight budgets, making it impractical to hire a full-time CMO.

B2B 148

B2B Hiring Salary Early Stage 148

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Dip in Productivity. Mega brands like IBM and Google found that their productivity plummeted when they went all-remote. All of these businesses had to roll back their remote work policies and call employees back on-premises. While teams take time to get up to speed, productivity can take a beating.

Technical Review 200

Technical Review Startup Belgium Software Review 200

Steve Blank

MARCH 15, 2017

But he was getting uneasy that as his headcount was growing the productivity of his marketing department seemed to be rapidly declining. The other departments gave the same type of logistical answers; the product-marketing department, for example, said their job was to get the product specs from engineering and write data sheets.

Startup 329

Startup PR Public Relations Channel 329

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 31, 2020

Personal assistants are often hired to prepare decisions and information for managers and take care of miscellaneous tasks for busy executives and CEOs — who all earn higher incomes. Alternatively, individual VA contractors can be hired for a monthly salary, or workers for short gigs can be found via Fiverr or TaskRabbit.

Artificial Inteligence 214

Artificial Inteligence Mali Management Technical Review 214

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Deferred payments start with stretching the payables period but, more importantly, include giving employee equity in lieu of a higher salaries and negotiating vendor deferred payments out of future revenues. Overall, managing cash flow and burn rate is more critical to your business success than having the right idea and the right product.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258