Startup Advice Column Archives - Page 4 of 4

Q: Resources For A Lean Approach to Sales, In Particular New Product Introduction

3 Early Customer Stage, 4 Finding your Niche, Sales, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column, Workshop / By Sean Murphy / February 25, 2014

Q: We have started selling and are looking for resources for a lean approach to sales, in particular for new product introduction. Lean Approach To Sales at Lean Startup Conference 2012 Scott Sambucci and I presented a workshop at Lean Startup 2012 on “Engineering Your Sales Process.” The deck is posted at http://www.slideshare.net/SalesQualia/engineering-your-sales-process About 70% […]

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Q: How To Pull The Trigger On A Pricing Model

2 Open for Business Stage, Sales, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / January 24, 2014

It can be difficult to put a price on a new product service, much less to develop a pricing model you can use to offer pricing to many different prospects. Here are some tips.

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Q: Customer Exit Interview Questions

4 Finding your Niche, Rules of Thumb, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / October 4, 2013

Six basic customer exit interview questions to ask when a customer decides to stop using your product.

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Q: How To Estimate Prospect Counts and Market Size

1 Idea Stage, 2 Open for Business Stage, Funding, Rules of Thumb, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / October 3, 2013

Here are some back of the envelope models to estimate prospect counts and market size.

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Q: How Do You Iterate An MVP So That It’s “Good Enough For Government Work”

3 Early Customer Stage, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / August 24, 2013

Iterating an MVP until it’s good enough for government work only works if your customer is open to a co-development relationship.

Q: How Do You Iterate An MVP So That It’s “Good Enough For Government Work” Read More »

Set Your PowerPoints on Stun

Demos, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / August 1, 2013

The best product demo is a conversation driven by mutual curiosity. Don’t set your PowerPoints on stun. Your goal is to learn more about a prospect’s current situation and needs while they want to learn more about your product and services and how you can help them.

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Mission Often Matters More Than Monetization In An Early Market

Rules of Thumb, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / July 25, 2013

In the early market make it your mission to help your early customers. Providing value you can charge for will do more to gain traction than anything else.

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How To Thrive After An Acquisition

5 Scaling Up Stage, Founder Story, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / May 1, 2013

One common exit for a bootstrapping team is to sell their startup, here are some rules of thumb for how to thrive after an acquisition.

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Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup?

1 Idea Stage, 2 Open for Business Stage, 3 Early Customer Stage, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / September 28, 2012

Entrepreneurship gets a lot of hype but it’s not for everyone: here is a brief discussion of some of practical realities of what it’s like to work at a startup.

Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup? Read More »

Q: Can a Custom Solution Be The Basis For A Product?

3 Early Customer Stage, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / September 25, 2012

A custom solution that has been adopted by a paying customer can be the basis for a successful product. This is a common way to get started.

Q: Can a Custom Solution Be The Basis For A Product? Read More »

Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time?

1 Idea Stage, 2 Open for Business Stage, 4 Finding your Niche, Customer Development, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / July 1, 2012

Building the wrong product is not a waste of time you learn about the market and technical feasibility. Right and wrong are both gray, not black or white. Customer development and technical development typically require a sequence of prototypes that are “less wrong” over time under they become good enough.

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Customer Development Conversations With Busy Prospects

3 Early Customer Stage, Customer Development, skmurphy, Startup Advice Column / By Sean Murphy / October 15, 2011

Always assume you are targeting busy prospects for you customer development conversations.

Customer Development Conversations With Busy Prospects Read More »

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