Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 9, 2012

What are the value propositions, benefits and the messaging (bait), the pricing structure and channels (tackle), and length of sales cycle (how likely a fish will snap your line)? Or will you need to staff and finance a whaling ship to be out at sea for months at a time to catch two or three whales (enterprise sales model)?

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur Lean Southern California San Diego 167

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2011

It helps with sales cycles because customers know that they can switch away if they so choose. There’s a big business in Finance working with Excel, but that’s an outlier. Lesson: You dn’t want your customers to feel locked into using your software. They want to ensure they can easily migrate to a new system.

Software Review 285

Software Review Software St. Louis API 285

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

I will work with him on his inventory financing strategy. With enterprise customers, this would result in tremendous exit barriers, making sales cycles long and involved, which a small startup will find hard to withstand. JCLABoutique.com. Jeanne's positioning needs a lot of work.

India 114

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 114

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 11, 2023

The following is a condensed explanation of seed funding: Seed money is a form of early-stage financing that new businesses receive from investors in exchange for a share of ownership in the company. The term “seed financing” refers to the stage of funding that comes from first equity. What exactly is the seed funding?

Seed Stage 148

Seed Stage Technical Review Early Stage Due Diligence 148

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification. We were charging a really high up-front annual fee to these providers and the end result of that was a pretty long sales cycle. Our revenue model was wrong.

Cofounder 147

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 147

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification. We were charging a really high up-front annual fee to these providers and the end result of that was a pretty long sales cycle. Our revenue model was wrong.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 120

Up and Running

JUNE 27, 2018

Base every hiring decision on the value—dollars and cents—that your new hire will add, and don’t do it until your finances can support it. . Is it increasing sales by 20 percent per quarter? Strategies for various stages in the sales cycle. The good news here is, you don’t necessarily have to hire in-house marketers.

Marketing 109

Marketing Social Media Campaign Sales Cycle 109

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

Get instrument rated, and trust the 6Cs of Cloud Finance (more.) Study the Sales Learning Curve and Only Invest behind Success (more.) In regards to calculatimg the "Magic Number" - should the amount included as sales and marketing costs match the length of the sales cycle? Yahoo Finance.

Software Review 48

Software Review Cloud Technical Review Sales Cycle 48

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 23, 2022

Marketing should collaborate as a business function with sales, finance and ops, but you shouldn’t replace any of their tasks as a manager. It has high close rates and shorter sales cycles, and some of the usual metrics are lagging indicators (demos attended, proposals sent, and average deal size). Gaetano DiNardi.

B2B 94

B2B Marketing Curation PPC 94

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

but few step back and really examine the underlying assumptions of startup finance. Then we could focus on standardizing a product that could have an automated sales cycle online. This is possibly the most insightful startup article Ive read in a while. People talk about funding funding funding, bootstrapping, etc.,

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 12, 2014

Get your finances in order. Large companies have very long sales cycles. Ask your largest clients to be references; ideally, ensure theyre willing to do this up front. Have your current books ready, as well as two- to five-year projections. Be persistent.

Merger 265

Merger Cofounder Startup Sales Cycle 265

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 9, 2009

However, if the SaaS & Cloud computing industry is doing relatively well in this downturn, the recession has severely impacted the sales&marketing productivity of these companies, with longer sales cycle, smaller deal size and limited upsells opportunity. Yahoo Finance. Justin Label. Jeremy Levine. Sarah Tavel.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Cloud Europe 48

ConversionXL

JULY 8, 2020

Nick Supapol from SearchEnginePeople recommends using a time lag report to match the membership duration to your sales cycle (e.g., Finance, health care, agriculture. Membership duration: Type in how many days you’re willing to wait before you give up on people who didn’t convert. Microsoft Ads: Exclusive features and benefits.

PPC 100

PPC Matching Software Review Campaign 100

Software By Rob

OCTOBER 14, 2010

at 1:20 pm Some evidence supporting your example: [link] (How Mint.com Beat Wesabe from Mint’s perspective) &# We spent a ton of time holding online chats, went to events (like twiistup la, finnovate) and connected with the entire personal finance community. . #7 DH on 10.14.10 Think about this. at 1:32 pm Really good points.

Software Review 77

Software Review Marketing Technical Review Software 77

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Free CRM – This is a Web-based customer relationship management software that allows for sales force automation. Track leads and manage your sales pipeline. salesboom – This is a CRM and back office solution that’s user friendly and provides seamless integration.

Software Review 78

Software Review Social Media Social Network Software 78

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 28, 2021

The creators are suddenly in need of tools that were previously mainly available to companies at the enterprise level: Manage payroll Hold virtual events Edit and create quality content Advertise Sell Customer success Loans/ insurance/ Financing needs.

B2B 167

B2B Sales Cycle Software Mobile 167

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Our Deadly Strategic Mistakes: -tried to build a sales effort too early, with too weak of a product after initial financing. - waited too long to address the “nice to have” problem. went after enterprise sales model with a non-recurring, small price. emphasis mine). 6 Comments. April Dunford. Sep 06, 2013 @ 12:24:13.

Customer Development 60

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 11, 2019

No doubt you’re thinking about myriad administrative and organizational needs relating to accounting and finance, staffing, your product and service roadmap for the year and more. The sales-cycle will no longer be filled with fragmented or piecemeal information conducted offline on notepads and whiteboards.

Artificial Inteligence 127

Artificial Inteligence Sales Cycle Colorado Retention 127

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Accounts Receivable Factoring is a prime example of such a service, as it provides access not only to alternative financing, but also to ancillary services like billing and collection, and expertise such as international networks and internal customer credit ratings. Does your business use SAM principles?

Brazil 109

Brazil Sales Cycle Sales Revenue 109

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 1, 2011

I then discussed some of the lessons of the Freshdesk financing. Such long sales cycle businesses find it very difficult to sustain and survive the pre-revenue period. Freshdesk aims to do the same in Social CRM and already has paying customers. See: 1M/1M Incubation Radar: Freshdesk ]. Loyaltepays.com.

Partner 113

Partner Tennessee Nashville India 113

Rembrandt Communications

JULY 15, 2019

Instead of just sending out a last-minute press release, more time gives your PR team the opportunity to plan coordinated campaigns that cover the product introduction all the way through the year-end sales cycle and beyond. Plus, they can be more creative when they have long periods to think and develop unique, promotional ideas.

Product 100

Product PR B2B Public Relations 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

Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 10, 2008

In my case (LucidEra -- a SaaS analytics provider focusing on sales, marketing, and financial analytics), weve found that success requires not only building some best practices for analytics into our solution, but also coming up with a repeatable and scalable way to show the customer how to use the analytics and how to interpret the results.

Software Review 48

Software Review North America Europe Metrics 48

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 8, 2016

Do you have the finances to hire a salesperson? Now you know why you should have your sales process figured out first! Next, plan to have at least three months salary plus the length of your typical sales cycle in reserve prior to making that hire. You don’t want to be paying someone while you figure it out!

Hiring 100

Hiring Salary Sales Cycle Sales 100

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Combining the bottom up, user-driven model with forward thinking IT execs has resulted in shortened enterprise sales cycles across our portfolio and some phenomenal reference customers. and we expect this trend to continue.

Stealth 78

Stealth Canada Azure Architecture 78

VC Cafe

JUNE 6, 2024

Burn Rate Definition: Burn rate is the rate at which a startup is spending its capital to finance operations before generating positive cash flow. 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.

B2B 97

B2B Burn Rate Generative AI Retention 97

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 13, 2014

Talk finances and keep the end goal focused on them being happier and in a better place with your product in sight. With an education in finance and an extensive freelancing background, she’s had the privilege of developing solutions that work for small businesses. Referral Marketing Sales Small Business Marketing Jordyn Rickard'

Sales 77

Sales Sales Cycle Small Business Advertising 77

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Cynthia Mignogna Finance Principal, OpenView Venture Partners www.openviewpartners.com blog comments powered by Disqus « SolidWorks: The best VAR management program in the world? SolidWorks 2: The best VAR management program in the world? Great stuff!

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Sellers get a lower cost of sale/shorter sales cycle and better revenue visibility. But the enterprise software bootstrapping past was based on upfront license fees where the customer took the financing risk. SaaS transfers risk from the buyer to the seller. In the end, SaaS benefits both buyers and sellers.

Software 127

Software Startup Architecture Bootstrapping 127

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 29, 2016

4 of our portfolio companies raised Series B financings with close to $70mm raised and an average financing size greater than $17mm?—?announced Combining the bottom up, user-driven model with forward thinking IT execs has resulted in shortened enterprise sales cycles across our portfolio and some phenomenal reference customers.

Stealth 60

Stealth Canada Azure Architecture 60

Lightspeed Venture Partners

APRIL 13, 2015

Traditionally, selling to governments has been associated with long sales cycles and conservative buyers. Am increasingly coming across early stage startups seeing great traction selling to states and municipalities, in some cases while deploying an inside sales model, which would have been unthinkable even 3-4 years ago.

Sales Cycle 60

Sales Cycle Government Demand Distribution 60

Up and Running

DECEMBER 21, 2016

A company with its cash tied up in accounts receivable and inventory (a low ratio of cash-assets) might not have enough cash to keep the lights on, much less to ramp up production if sales accelerate. Cary Collins, director of the Global Entrepreneurship Program and associate professor of finance at Bryant University.

Metrics 60

Metrics .Net Cash Position Finance 60

Altgate

AUGUST 16, 2010

-King&# Approach to Term Sheet Negotiations → Why Don’t Universities Teach Sales? Why, in business alone, you can get a masters or PhD in marketing (sales’ evil cousin), finance, human resources and entrepreneurship (which isn’t even a business function, but rather a business practice).

Sales 49

Sales Term Sheet Michigan Sales Cycle 49

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had planned a balance of large companies and SMB/divisional sales but have changed my thinking. Reasons: cost of sales executives, long sales cycles, deep functional requirements. But not one VC thought I should go after big, enterprise clients. I look forward to the next phase of our business.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

ConversionXL

DECEMBER 9, 2013

On the other hand, if you sold something like gifts for geeks, the sales cycle would be shorter, and the bulk of your emotion and “personality” could be communicated visually through bold images and nifty font choices. Emotional Design Influences Sales. Overall, the campaign would involve a lot of text.

Sales 126

Sales B2B Campaign Video 126

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 5, 2016

One for marketing, sales, finance, and customer satisfaction. Typical sales dashboard metrics include: Leads. Sales cycle. Finance – Your finance dashboard is where you keep track of the money elements of the business. Typical finance dashboard elements include: Revenue. New customers.

Analytics 28

Analytics Metrics Sales Cycle Finance 28

ConversionXL

APRIL 12, 2017

Bill Leake: Optimizing for the “Considered Purchase”: What Changes if You’re B2B or Expensive / Long Sales Cycle B2C? Longer decision cycle. It needs to get approved by HR, finance, marketing, etc. Marketing/Sales optimization funnel. Image Credit. Who is the B2B buyer? No single decision maker.

San Antonio 86

San Antonio Metrics B2B Analytics 86