Our checklist of red flags for co-founders. Evaluating these signs early on can help co-founders and teams address issues before they escalate and determine whether a partnership is viable in the long run.
Lead nurturing is a process by which leads are tracked and developed into sales-qualified leads. Meaning that they are ready to buy. What should it look like? Most of the time a nurture campaign takes the form of an enewsletters. They are practical and easy to do. There are many cost effective email programs. Mail …
We use a four phase project planning model we call 1-2-4-1 which allocates time to planning, prototyping key challenges, finishing the bulk of the work, and polishing.
I had earlier blogged about the Incomplete Manifesto for Growth: Eight For Entrepreneurs, this is a follow on post that selects eight more statements by Bruce Mau for your consideration.
An enterprise sale is a significant source of opportunity for startups, but it is a complex undertaking with many moving parts and many people involved. This article is the result of a collaboration with Brendan McAdams (@BrendanMcAdams), a sales and marketing professional focused on B2B clients in healthcare.
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Please copy and download the worksheets. Social Capital Worksheet Building a strong social network is critical to every new business. This is the set of business relationships that have been established with customers, partners, suppliers, and prospects. These business relationships enable access to domain experts, introductions to potential cofounders and early employees, and conversations with …
Business leaders today are faced with business challenges and a level of uncertainty that is unprecedented in recent memory. Established approaches and well-tried options no longer work, forcing us to make business decisions in uncertain times. This article collects some useful tips for making better business decisions that I have learned over the last 40 …
Austin Kleon has a short section, “Make Lists,” in his new book, “Keep Going.” He offers several suggestions for different types of lists; I have selected four to explore in some detail because I think they are most appropriate for entrepreneurs.
Take our self-assessment to verify that your team is working on the right risks. Identify the capabilities you need to develop next.
A summary of my personal experience and our firm’s perspective on what practical steps early stage startups should take for competitive intelligence.
Birds of a feather flock together: in addition to asking for referrals, entrepreneurs exploring a new market are well advised to ask early prospects what groups or communities they belong to. Here are some techniques we have found useful for getting oriented to a subculture or community of practice.
Is it prudence or procrastination? Some simple tests for determining whether you need to gather more information or act now based on what you already know.
In “Thinkertoys,” Michael Michalko (@MichaelMichalko) describes “The Phoenix Checklist” as a rich set of questions developed by the CIA designed to help agents look at a challenge from many different angles.
Entrepreneurs need to focus on innovation or the first reduction to practice of an idea in a culture because this is the critical precursor to customer value.
A reasoned rule approach is a good first step to managing decisions that fall into common patterns or cases. You identify six to eight variables that are distinct and obviously impact the outcome of the case and normalize them into standard scores that can then be added or averaged to create a summary score.
Brent Beshore recently shared an email he had sent to a college seniors that outlined five habits to cultivate for success. In a nutshell they are industry, humility, kindness, learning continually, and taking notes.
An infographic with some key questions to consider when developing a new product. Originally suggested in “Breakthrough Thinking From Inside the Box” by Coyne, Clifford, and Dye in HBR December 2007.
David Cain has many thoughtful and carefully observed posts on his blog “Raptitude: Getting Better at Being Human.” Here are excerpts from three posts that offer practical advice for entrepreneurs.
