Entrepreneurial passion has to be based on a desire to create value, to be of service to a set of target customers. There may be many things you are interested in learning and room enough in your life for several hobbies, but pursuing a passion without regard to your ability to provide value in a […]
Entrepreneurial Passion: Good Servant, Poor Master Read More »
I took part in a great roundtable conversation at tonight’s PATCA meeting on “Low Cost Marketing and Advertising for Consultants” Here were a couple of suggestions that I made in response to situations or challenges that other consultants put on the table.
Tips for Low Cost Marketing of Your Services Read More »
David Morse left a detailed comment today on my Sep-26-2014 blog post “Lessons Learned Blogging 1400 Posts in 8 Years” that I thought I would promote to a guest post that offers some practical tips about how to add graphics and video to a blog. Here is his bio on B2BSalesVP: David Morse helps startup
David Morse: Tips To Add Graphics and Video To A Blog Read More »
Excerpts from Paul Grahams’ October 2014 essay “Before the Startup” with commentary interspersed. This essay is in some ways less self-confident than many of his earlier ones. He seems to recognize more explicitly the limits of his ability to offer advice that entrepreneurs in the Y Combinator portfolio–or entrepreneurs applying to Y Combinator–will actually follow.
Entrepreneurs Focus On Customers Not Startup Mechanics Read More »
You can follow @skmurphy to get these quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until they are collected in a blog post at the end of each month. Enter your E-mail address if you would like to have new blog posts sent to you.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–September 2014 Read More »
Mike Silverman passed away Sep-13-2014 after a 14 month battle with cancer. He was an entrepreneur with tremendous energy and integrity. I will miss him. He founded Ops A La Carte in 2002 and built it up to a training, testing, and consulting organization providing work for dozens of experienced reliability engineers.
Mike Silverman 1964-2014 Read More »
I am a big fan of Jill Konrath and her Selling to Big Companies book. She has good advice on closing the sale: it’s up tot the customer. If you are selling a product that requires consideration or a complex evaluation by one or more employees of your prospect’s organization the following advice is particularly
Closing the Sale: It’s Up To The Customer Read More »
This post is a retrospective look at my inaugural post in 2006 and lessons learned blogging 1400 posts over the 8 years since.
Lessons Learned Blogging: 1400 Posts in 8 years Read More »
Q: I am bootstrapping a e-commerce web startup and working a day job to fund my business until revenue takes off. I am getting ready to launch but am worried how I can provide phone support for customer service issues and to close sales. Any suggestions?
Providing Phone Support When Bootstrapping Read More »
Bill Meade (@BillMeade) is the Director of Data Science at Neal Analytics, a position he describes as, “Catalyst to a herd of genius cats, riding a machine learning cloud, into a business world about to discover analytical dreams can come true … easily. ” Bill has long experience with innovation, IP management, and customer development.
Bill Meade: Customer Development and Schmexperts Read More »
Q: I’m just about to get out of the building to validate hypotheses and start learning, but I have a problem with the business model canvas. I have been advised to develop detailed hypotheses before starting customer discovery. This is my startup and I have no idea how to fill in the business model canvas
Serious Problems With Business Model Canvas For Startups Read More »
In this guest blog, Javid Jamae advises that an MVP is finished only after you have found early adopters for your product.
An MVP is Finished Only After You Have Early Adopters Read More »
One of the hallmarks of the entrepreneurial journey is diving in over your head. At some point you have to commit fully to a new venture and at a later point you realize that, despite all of your careful preparation, you are testing the depth of water with both feet–or perhaps even head first. This
Diving In Over Your Head Read More »
I am rescuing a dialog on customer development and channel development I had with Ash Maurya from the comments to his “Lessons Learned in 2010” blog post. I am still at work on the “system of simultaneous equations” model and I think his new thinking on the “Customer Factory” is moving closer to iterating against
Customer Development and Channel Development Read More »
A minimum viable product (MVP) for business must inspire trust. If prospects understand your promise they don’t believe you, they won’t buy.
Q: Is It Waste To Build A B2B MVP That Inspires Trust? Read More »
Critical tasks in a startup include conversations with prospects and customers, planning, retrospectives, recruiting, and focused execution.
Q: What Are Critical Tasks In A Startup? Read More »
Cold calling, despite it’s popularity, is almost always the worst possible customer acquisition approach as a pure method. Find a way to warm up the call.
If “Cold Calling” is Your Answer Please Reconsider Read More »
Here are some suggestion guidelines that help set newcomers expectations for what constitute valuable content and comments in an online community.
Guidelines For An Online Community of Entrepreneurs Read More »
The practical and spiritual aspects of entrepreneurship as a calling are well documented in “The Call of the Entrepreneur.”
Entrepreneurship As A Calling Read More »
Q: What are logos good for? An image is processed by a different part of the brain than a word or phrase, making it both memorable and evocative in ways that are distinct from the name of your company. Having a logo for your company or product makes it more memorable and allows you to
Why You Need A Logo Read More »
