Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2021

In reality, too many choices actually dilutes customer interest in your existing market, and makes your job of production, marketing, and support much more complex. New entrepreneurs, especially technical ones, are excited by early adopters, and tend to focus on their feedback, which will always suggest more product features and options.

Technical Review 400

Technical Review Technical Cofounder Advisory Board Cofounder 400

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2021

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. Incentives should be a combination of metrics and recognition to highlight results. Incent and reward employees who delight customers.

Customer 369

Customer Technical Review Metrics Employee 369

TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

At TechEmpower, we frequently talk to startup founders, CEOs, product leaders, and other innovators about their next big tech initiative. Background Questions Let’s start with some background questions about the business and product. What are your key Startup Metrics ? What problem is your product trying to solve?

Developer 520

Developer Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 520

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

For example, early adopters may be easily sold, but new technology product success really hinges on adoption by certain demographics, perhaps more influenced by celebrities or mommy bloggers. The last thing you need in a startup is a false start, where you can’t deliver on a product change deadline, or a new marketing channel.

Metrics 387

Metrics Technical Review Leadership Framework 387

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

If they were a commercial company, they figured out product/market fit; or if a government organization, it focused on solution/mission fit. HR processes, legal processes, financial processes, acquisition and contracting processes, security processes, product development and management processes, and types of organizational forms etc.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

Steve Blank

JUNE 20, 2022

Anthony had long come to the same conclusion I had, that highly visible corporate incubators do a good job of shaping culture and getting great press, but most often their biggest products were demos that never get deployed to the field. Had a continuous customer discovery to create products that customers need and want.

CTO 368

CTO Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Incubator 368

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

In other parts of the world, innovators often need to develop both the ultimate product or service, as well as the enabling infrastructure that underpins it. With a singular focus on building unicorns, very rapid growth has been a key metric. Build for sustainability and resilience, as well as growth.

Global 345

Global Silicon Valley Marketing Indonesia 345

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 21, 2025

Additionally, constructive and future-oriented feedback motivates employees to synchronize their objectives with the organization’s vision, helping to create a workforce that is not only satisfied but also highly productive and aligned with company objectives.

Software Review 110

Software Review Technical Review Employee Agile 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2021

As a simple example, the Wal-Mart website now shows shoppers more products that they may like, based on previous purchases. Simple metrics and your personal knowledge of the industry can’t keep up with all the relevant competitive forces. You need to be part of a larger ecosystem.

Software Review 355

Software Review Algorithm Global IPO 355

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2020

In other parts of the world, innovators often need to develop both the ultimate product or service, as well as the enabling infrastructure that underpins it. With a singular focus on building unicorns, very rapid growth has been a key metric. Build for sustainability and resilience, as well as growth.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Indonesia Venture Capital Global 312

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

Building a minimum viable product, with customer validation. Minimum viable products (MVPs) are recommended for validating the market, with iterative enhancement to quickly meet market feedback. Building your public image and presence should start even before product development, through your website, logo, and blogging.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

Many investors and big companies are putting money into this space or adding it their product line today. In the last couple of years, Nest's smart thermostat has put IoT in the “real” category and Amazon's Echo product accelerated the industry forward toward AI as able to deliver real value to consumers.

Artificial Inteligence 436

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Valuation Startup 436

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I recommend a trial run with an experiment or MVP (minimum viable product), at full price and cost, before the big bang launch, risking your investment money and a major time commitment. The focus of key leaders has to change from driving innovative initiatives to replicating repeatable processes and tuning the overall product cycle.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Merger Software Review Acquisition 329

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2021

Most of the entrepreneurs I meet as an investor and advisor have no shortage of right-brain thinking, showing vision and creativity, but often don’t realize that their potential is being limited by a balancing focus on results, metrics, and customer specifics. Show results with a minimal viable product (MVP).

Technical Review 332

Technical Review Metrics Leadership Technology 332

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

In his classic book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Technical Review 323

Technical Review Due Diligence Valuation Leadership 323

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Even a great initial product, with no follow-on, won’t keep you ahead of competitors very long. A smarter risk is to build a plan, with associated greater resources, that will put you in position to expand your product line and keep one step ahead of competitors.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. In this case, the primary cash outflow would be for product development and operating expenses, with potentially enough runway to build the initial product, get a patent, attract some early adopters, and build the initial revenue stream.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2020

In his classic book, “ The Leadership Capital Index ,” Dave Ulrich, a best-selling author, business consultant, and business school professor, provides some real insights and metrics on what makes up the elements of goodwill in the minds of top valuation experts. I have paraphrased his key points here as follows: Leader personal impact.

Valuation 311

Valuation Technical Review Due Diligence Leadership 311

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

Plan to deliver a family of products, rather than a one-trick pony. Even a great initial product, with no follow-on, won’t keep you ahead of competitors very long. A smarter risk is to build a plan, with associated greater resources, that will put you in position to expand your product line and keep one step ahead of competitors.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2021

A required metric is average days to payment compared to expectations. It’s fair to use your vision, creativity, and innovation to change the world with new and better products and services. Considering the job done once a client has been invoiced. A startup must ensure that the payments are collected per agreed terms.

Technical Review 379

Technical Review Finance Startup Salary 379

TechEmpower

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

This isn’t just our opinion - our startup metrics prove it! Product descriptions and listings require tedious editing to make them engaging - especially after the fortieth one. Are you a founder or CEO or head of product? Go through your product right now and look for empty text boxes.

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Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Houston America 297

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2021

It must be understandable, written down, and verifiable, with regular measurements and metrics to make it real, benchmarked against the competition. It’s a core process that must be up and effective when you deliver your first product or service. Make your service deliver process “happy.”

Technical Review 385

Technical Review Salary Metrics Matching 385

VC Cafe

MARCH 31, 2025

Also, try using your competitors’ products. Launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) quickly: Aim to get something into users’ hands within two months, regardless of the initial state. Avoid excessive iteration before launching, as getting user feedback is crucial.

Cofounder 88

Cofounder Silicon Valley Technical Review PR 88

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

With business teams now getting back together in the workplace after primarily working remotely during the pandemic , it’s an ideal time to implement change and make sure your team is feeling a renewed sense of satisfaction, high engagement, and maximum productivity. Develop metrics to monitor work intensity.

Metrics 270

Metrics Conversion Global Product 270

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

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2023

For example, only a few people today still think of Amazon as an online provider of books and related goods, now that they have exploded their business world-wide into every product arena, added web services (AWS), television and film production (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), a bricks-and-mortar grocery chain (Whole Foods), and more.

Partner 350

Partner Operations Metrics Leadership 350

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2022

But it is an important metric for firms in pursuit of explosive growth. Tech companies see engineers move frequently, integrate their products tightly, and often find themselves acquiring or merging with counterparts. Raising capital isn’t the be-all and end-all of startup success. Personal relationships do count.

Las Vegas 309

Las Vegas Silicon Valley Arizona Montana 309

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. In this case, the primary cash outflow would be for product development and operating expenses, with potentially enough runway to build the initial product, get a patent, attract some early adopters, and build the initial revenue stream.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

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

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

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 7, 2024

Running an ecommerce business requires efficient order fulfillment processes to get products to customers quickly and cost-effectively. Use snug-fitting boxes, mailers, and envelopes that closely match the size of products. Avoid using overly large boxes that raise charges. Tweak processes to run more efficiently.

eCommerce 167

eCommerce Software Review Metrics Analytics 167

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 3, 2020

So, for example, your website might contain a lot of fairly similar content, such as multiple product pages in a very similar category or several blog posts which discuss the industry or sector within which you operate. A good site structure will help you to deal with the natural changes that will occur on your website.

Architecture 251

Architecture SEO Web Development Engineer 251

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

By being proactive, and empowering and rewarding your frontline employees for improving processes, you will enhance your business productivity and growth in both the short term as well as the long term. Don’t wait for a short-term crisis, or a long-term one, to force process improvements. Build and model a high-performance culture.

Technical Review 312

Technical Review Due Diligence Merger Social Media 312

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

As an investor in startups, I most often see entrepreneurs who are technologists, or at least have a real passion for a specific product. They rarely highlight their marketing and relationship skills , even though, in my experience, these are more often the key to success in business than product skills.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Technical Review Leadership Metrics 284

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 25, 2020

Email marketing is all about informing, influencing, and gaining the loyalty of a contact base that’s interested in your product or services. One doesn’t have to necessarily dive into extremely advanced data but sometimes the display and functionality of the available data are more important than the complexity of the metrics.

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Email Sales Marketing Campaign 232