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There are some smart if not somewhat cerebral bloggers I read who say that you shouldn’t take any startup advice at all because it’s too generalized to be useful to your situation. By having the measurement of some known points you can better navigate to unknown points through inference. For example: 1.
Collins draws a critical distinction that transforms how we approach work: Tasks are things you do; responsibilities are outcomes you own. I had been treating financial oversight as just another item on my to-do list rather than a core responsibility that required systems, attention, and skill development.
Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. ” Put simply, if you care about building a successful tech community outside Silicon Valley youshould read this book.
He approached me recently with an idea for cross interviewing each other and I thought it was a good way to have my writing be a little more collaborative with my audience. So, if you want to read what I wanted to know about Hunter, you can check it my interview of him here, on his blog. Am I wrong to have that?
Why do some embedded analytics projects succeed while others fail? Brought to you by Logi Analytics. We surveyed 500+ application teams embedding analytics to find out which analytics features actually move the needle. Read the 6th annual State of Embedded Analytics Report to discover new best practices.
I recently wrote about the 12 tips to building successful startup communities. At this time I can tell you that the Brits definitely didn’t have a culture of failure. At this time I can tell you that the Brits definitely didn’t have a culture of failure. I remember this lesson well.
Youshould read it. In his post he asserts, “You get the VCs you deserve” and the corollary “You get the performance out of your board that you deserve.” Spend timebuilding investor relationship long before you raise money. . Rob Bailey is the CEO of DataSift.
But as leaders, we often find it remarkably difficult to recognize when correction is needed, especially when we’re busy, successful, or have a long track record. But as leaders, we often find it remarkably difficult to recognize when correction is needed, especially when we’re busy, successful, or have a long track record.
“We want low-touch or zero-touch businesses” was the mantra. It’s the second belief system that is even more engrained and even more wrong. Many young startups are being advised not to have a professional services business and in my opinion this is a big mistake. Let me explain why: 1.
Just by embedding analytics, application owners can charge 24% more for their product. How much value could you add? Brought to you by Logi Analytics. This framework explains how application enhancements can extend your product offerings.
I recommend you read Fred Wilson’s recent blog post about the need for a well articulated business strategy before pushing a particular business model. He then brought her to board meetings so nobody could accuse him of not having a business model. My take on his argument is this: 1.
In my last post I pointed out that many of the media commentators who have criticized the YouTube video network companies as not having strong businesses were mistaken. margin range to more sustainable 50-60% margin businesses. margin range to more sustainable 50-60% margin businesses. Time independent.
I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. I’ve outlined some of the changes in the following posts: 1. Changes in the Software World & in Venture Capital.
By now many of you know the Harlem Shake but what you may not appreciate is the broader trend behind the video and it has mirrored my general views on how TV will work in the future. It means the “ torso TV ” consumption patterns will be more important than the head or the long tail for the next era of media companies.
Think your customers will pay more for data visualizations in your application? Brought to you by Logi Analytics. Five years ago they may have. But today, dashboards and visualizations have become table stakes. Discover which features will differentiate your application and maximize the ROI of your embedded analytics.
The story on Uber has been written about ad nauseam, which is why I’ve been reluctant to weigh in. This post is nothing than a bystanders attempt to put this situation in perspective. This post is nothing than a bystanders attempt to put this situation in perspective. Is Uber too aggressive at business practices?
If you track the venture capital industry it would be hard to miss the conversation going on this week over AngelList “Syndicates.” So there you have it. I have a slightly different take on why I find it valuable. Many of the good and great of our industry are talking about AngelList. Must be doing something right!
So that we’re speaking the same language I would define “exclusive” as a period in which your company is prohibited from doing business with certain customers or business partners, which is why many incorrectly assume this is necessarily bad. THAT is the power of exclusivity.
Try to imagine if you *didn’t* already know Amazon and the company walking into VC meetings telling people they were going to disrupt the selling of all goods starting with books but then extending into electronics, apparel, toys and so forth. It is a household name. ” Let’s start with some basics.
You can watch the video above for a very brief overview of why we rebranded and where we see our place in the VC ecosystem along with what has changed in our industry. The link for the video is here and if you want a short firsthand view on our changes it’s a great resource. Naturally they asked, “why?”
Yesterday I wrote a post about “ growth hacking ” and why I thought it was wrong that people were hating on the term unnecessarily. If you’re a technology startup you need to excel at product, of course. The start of marketing is figuring out a market need and a way to solve that need better than anybody else.
I recently wrote a blog post in which I pointed out that many investors & advisors discourage enterprise startups from having a professional services (PS) business and I think this is a big mistake. PS capabilities are important for enterprise startups because they: ensure your projects are more successful & thus more referenceable.
” If you don’t read any more of the post, the summary lesson learned for entrepreneurs is this: Product-centric founders often over-intellectualize their communications and therefore fail to sell their concepts to the masses. This does not mean you shouldn’t solve big, complex problems or write complex code.
To grow faster businesses need resources in today’s financial period to fund growth that may not come for 6 months to a year. If you hire 6 sales reps in January at $120,000 / year salary then you’ve taken on an extra $60,000 per month in costs yet these sales people might not close new business for 4-6 months.
If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry.
This followed an investment late last year by Time Warner in the company in a round totaling $36 million , led by Rachel Lam , head of their investment group. So if Time Warner + Ynon Kreiz + 3 billion views / month isn’t legitimacy, I don’t know what is. They read less than 30 minutes. hours of TV / day.
If I could bottle this moment and spend all my time here I would be in heaven. But alas I must scale with businesses and make money. And so must you. I have written about the next phases many times. I can’t tell you how many people have thanked me for this advice and say their productivity increased exponentially.
Maker announced it has raised $62 million this year, acquired an amazing off-YouTube distribution network and grown its business in monetary terms by almost 300% year-over-year off of an already large base. So can you successfully build a YouTube network? I agree with YouTube (that they provide more (hosting, ad sales, etc.)
It’s that time of year where we think about new beginnings. And there’s none that makes me happier than to announce that Jordan Hudson has been promoted to a Principal at Upfront Ventures. Please help me congratulate him by Re/Tweeting this post (and following him if you don’t already). Deal screening.
More on that later. Just not the kind you would initially read about on TechCrunch. Here’s what I learned about Tracy: 1. She started her business from a personal need. Weddings are a bit like college degrees – they often set you back financially for many years after the event. That may soon change.
Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. We focused together on improving our sales methodology, our training and our comp plans through a larger than life ex country manager from PTC named Kai Krickel. His business was called TEDIC – The Excuse Department is Closed. Here are mine.
Any reader of this blog for a period of time will know that I’ve been long YouTube for years. Along with Greycroft, I was the first institutional investor in Maker Studios (sold to Disney for nearly $1 billion) and am still the largest investor in Mitu Network , the largest online video producer of Latino content.
Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.
Unless you''re a well funded, growth stage company that has lots of hands on deck--tons of instrumentation that easily dumps out pretty charts and metrics, or luxury emenities like, well, time, most entrepreneurs probably feel like they could be doing more productive things than telling their investors what they did last month.
A CEO should tell her staff everything! For starters let me use “CEO” as a proxy to include her “inner circle” which might mean co-founders or might just mean senior execs of the business. You took the risk to start your company. You quit your day job and look the leap off of the cliff.
Whenever I submit a term sheet, I always caveat it by saying the following: “This is the one time we’re completely misaligned. They may not trust that the direction that they’re giving the team doing the UX and the build comes from a place of expertise—and frankly, rightfully so. Founders seem to get that.
But this topic is always in the back of mind for VCs and other investors, so it’s important to formulate a plan around the topic, even if those exit strategies might change as you grow your startup. Investors are giving you capital to make 10x, 20x, or 100x their investment. To realize this, there must be an exit.
You may have read that Twitter has now made it harder for Meerkat to operate. If Twitter believes @periscopeco is a better product why not just try to win on that basis? And on reflection I have slightly more balanced views. So here is the conclusion I’ve come to: 1. That’s why I’m rooting for Meerkat.
Or you know the other one — the one where Snapchat lost $2 billion in just one quarter. It was a stock option incentive related “expense” but I bet you didn’t know that because in an era where we only read the headlines — they must be a train wreck losing billions. See appendix if you want to know more on this.)
Agonise over whether or not you need business partners. If you can afford it, don’t have business partners. The tenth entrepreneur without the headache is usually the one without a business partner. For me, not having a business partner is one less problem. It will never fail you. Listen to your gut.
Considering our revenue is SaaS revenue this achievement is even more remarkable. The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timedmore perfectly if we tried. Yesterday it was announced that Apple had acquired one of our competitors, Topsy, for morethan $200 million.
The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. You can short-hand this as “engagement.”
I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). BuildOnline (the company I founded) has just announcement plans to be more aggressive in growing in the US. I first met Ethan in 2005.
Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. It is an LA-based company that was recently acquired by Amazon, which you can read more about in this incredibly well-researched article.
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