YoungUpstarts

MARCH 24, 2014

by Adam Root, founder and CTO of Hiplogiq. When deciding what the next step in your product or app development should be, ask yourself: Do your users really want more features, or are their requests signaling a deeper problem? Do you want the product, or does your target market want the product? Create ads.

Fractional CTO 228

Fractional CTO Product CTO Hire Merger 228

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 27, 2013

In this period (less than 2 years) he has brought on incredibly talented senior execs is sales, marketing, product management, client services, finance, vp engineering and more. It consists of a highly intelligent and opinionated founder – Nick Halstead. You may have an opinion on your market-entry strategy for Europe.

Advisory Board 365

Advisory Board CTO Hire Fractional CTO Los Angeles 365

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2013

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Effective marketing.

Entrepreneur 275

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 275

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Customer/Market Risk Versus Invention Risk One day I was having lunch with a VC sharing what I learned from my students. Steve,&# he said, “you’re missing the most interesting part of vertical markets. Markets with Customer/Market Risk are those where the unknown is whether customers will adopt the product.

Vertical 167

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 167

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 7, 2021

However, the shape of the curve—the length of the arc and the speed of the decline—is also determined by how you market that product at each stage of its life. In this article, we’ll look at the different stages of the product lifecycle through the lens of marketing. It also gives you a product to market.

Product 142

Product Marketing Software Review Social Media 142

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Startup 245

Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. IMO at least.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. And to today, when its major product is simply innovation. The second thing that’s changed is that we’re now Compressing the Product Development Cycle.

Restful 249

Restful Silicon Valley San Jose Puerto Rico 249

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 29, 2019

Bringing Marketing and Product Development Together written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Jill Soley. On this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I visit with author and product and marketing executive Jill Soley. Podcast Transcript.

Product Development 62

Product Development Developer Product Marketing 62

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. I challenge any startup to show me they have avoided all of these: One of the founders isn’t delivering. Besides, he is now more interested in designing the next product. But all too soon, reality sets in.

Software Developers 229

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2010

Serious investors expect founders to have their homework done before the first interaction – documented executive summary, business plan, and financial model. Product development. For a great idea person, the product details keep changing for the better, but nothing ever gets finished. Effective marketing.

Entrepreneur 237

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Retention 237

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

But for founders who do their homework, the cost of entry is lower and the opportunity is higher than ever. Excellent detailed resources are everywhere, including a classic book, “ The Startup Checklist ,” by serial entrepreneur and founder of the New York Angels, David S. Incorporating a business entity early through online services.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

In the last decade, SaaS (Software as a Service) has become a very popular model for new software product development. The largest cost component of establishing a SaaS company is product development costs. This includes the design, development, launch, and enhancement of the SaaS application. .

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Churn Rate 158

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

He told me that when the markets soured they were no longer hot. They realized that they were selling a bunch of cool products but none that had enough economic value. We couldn’t cut product development (we had 23 people!) The reality is that the market has changed and I need to change to the new realities.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Cofounder Sales 306

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

The Equity Kicker

AUGUST 20, 2014

I’m reproducing in full here because it’s a great explanation of our solo-founder hypothesis and how we work more generally. Are you a solo founder with an idea? Snaptrip started as an idea, an excel spreadsheet and a passionate founder called Matt. THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN FOUNDER AND TEAM. USER RESEARCH.

Cofounder 95

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Technical Review 95

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 9, 2010 Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# theory of management At any given time, something like four percent of the US population is engaged in some form of new-company-creation. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Management Founder Lean 161

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Marketing demand creation programs (Search Engine Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, Lead Generation, Trade Shows, etc.) are all expensive and potentially fatal distractions if done before you have found product/market fit and a repeatable sales model. The goal is to reach venture-scale (~10x return on investment.)

Lean 263

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 263

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

A founder asked me what makes a $2M round “pre-seed”? especially if the startup already has a product and revenue? Seed is about showing initial product market fit. Not only the bar for seed rounds has gotten higher (as less seed rounds get done) but also the founders prefer to build their company based on milestones.

Valuation 186

Valuation Software Review Generative AI Technical Review 186

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

In 2018, after two short years and $3 million raised in startup funds, recruitment AI company Ansaro shut down due to bad market fit. Muun found a market need but failed to compete with bigger names that provided customers with authoritative content and resources. Both companies suffered from a fatal lack of marketing.

Marketing 110

Marketing Product Audience Equity 110

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

This preference isn’t necessarily due to market size, but rather the structure of the market: are there only a few dozen customers that might buy your product or are there thousands, or even tens of thousands of potential customers? How do we differentiate between B2B start-ups that sell to many vs. sell to a few?

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 30, 2010

A virtual assistant (VA) is a remote worker hired to complete tasks you should not be doing as the founder of a startup. If you monetize it at $50/hour and you can pay a VA $6/hour to handle administrative tasks, this frees up time for you to create real value in your business by developing new features or expanding marketing efforts.

Software Review 284

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hosting 284

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2018

If there is no competition, there is likely not a market. Every potentially successful product has competition, or an alternative, or customers with no interest in change. Plan to and assemble the right team, including co-founders. Building and running a business is not a solo operation.

Angel Investor 249

Angel Investor Cofounder Finance Operations 249

ConversionXL

MARCH 28, 2019

A new product launch is never easy, even if you’re a well-known marketer or entrepreneur. Product Hunt, if used properly, can be an effective way to launch a new product in a crowded market. What is Product Hunt and who should use it? Some aspect of your product is free. It will show up first.

Campaign 127

Campaign Product Technical Review Social Media 127

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.). (BTW,

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Private Equity 120

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

by Felix Winstone, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Talkative. As a startup co-founder with a growing team, here are the recruiting tips I’ve learnt over the last couple of years. Robert Metcalfe, co-founder and CEO of 3Com, says you need to think about it as “recruiting, not hiring”. Hiring = Sales. Be Specific.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

ConversionXL

DECEMBER 3, 2018

The “classic” idea of content marketing—cranking out SEO-focused articles, ranking for hundreds of keywords, generating visitors, leads, and paying customers—doesn’t work in all industries. New, when products are so cutting-edge that few people know they exist, let alone that they should search for them.

B2B 133

B2B Marketing SEO Search 133

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. A recent survey by CBINSIGHTS came up with 20: No Market Need – 42% of those surveyed. Poor Product – 17%. Poor Marketing – 14%. Product Mis-Timed – 13%. Ran out of Cash – 29%.

Startup 133

Startup Product Development Revenue Distribution 133

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2010

Dave’s a great guy with a good sense of humor and a broad knowledge of the market, which is why I was excited that he could be on the show. It is a platform to help brands building viral marketing campaigns. They focus on trying to drive engagbranded social media marketing campaigns (e.g. Enter ShoeDazzle.

Venture Capital 270

Venture Capital Cofounder Spain San Diego 270

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 21, 2013

Enter “ The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses “, a New York Times bestseller by founder of IMVU (creator of 3D avatars) Eric Ries. This reduces guesswork, time, money and effort. Key ideas from the book include the following: 1.

Lean 193

Lean Technical Review North America Startup 193

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 10, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! The Perils of Founder Fighting – crowdspring.co/1qnNtlJ. The surprising secret of happier, more productive organizations: conflict – crowdspring.co/1qscUpx.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Silicon Valley 97

View from Seed

JULY 5, 2022

Founder: Connor Cash. Rachel Hodes (RH): What problem exists in the market that your business is trying to solve? Get to know the founder. I’m Connor Cash, the founder of Caesar and I grew up outside of Boston but currently live in DC! RH: What’s your favorite thing about being an early-stage founder?

DC 156

DC Software Review Government Boston 156

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Two conditions that do matter to your startup’s out-year viability are the cost and length of its product development cycle. Startup founders counting the days until break-even or actively seeking outside capital must focus on streamlining their development cycles. Full treatment of product components and functions.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. Their product definition fluctuates wildly – one month, it’s a dessert topping, the next it’s a floor wax. In fact, this company hasn’t shipped any new products in months.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

by Nick Candito, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Progressly. Time and time again, there’s one critical component that hampers productivity and efficiency: We are wired to work within the confines of organizational silos. Contact centers are closely tied with marketing, sales, shipping and even product development.

Cofounder 174

Cofounder Technical Review Operations Employee 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

Thus, localization is not only desirable, but essential to gain and keep market share in specific countries. In my experience, there are many considerations which are critical to the productivity and success of this effort. In addition this person should report, dotted line, to product development or engineering.

Software 200

Software Distribution Europe Database 200

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

by Lu Zhang, founder and managing partner of Fusion Fund. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140