4 Finding your Niche

The Limits of “I Will Know It When I See It”

1 Idea Stage, 4 Finding your Niche, Rules of Thumb, skmurphy / By /

Both engineering and entrepreneurship alternate exploration and verification cycles to develop a solution that satisfies a customer’s need. Both of these rely on the scientific method of “observation, hypothesis formation, prediction, and experimentation” to develop and validate testable theories, engineering solutions, and profitable products. Both require that a new configuration or an opportunity be recognized […]

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Conserving Trust in a Downturn

3 Early Customer Stage, 4 Finding your Niche, skmurphy / By /

A lot of is written these days about how to conserve cash in a downturn. In particular the need to cut expenses by cutting headcount and unnecessary fill-in-the-blank spending. But conserving trust is equally important. If you have been bootstrapping and only increasing expenses in response to revenue (versus in anticipation of revenue) then your

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How To Measure Your Lead Generation Effectiveness

4 Finding your Niche, 5 Scaling Up Stage, Consulting Business, skmurphy / By /

Many start-up founders believe that the sales process should be this straightforward: Get the phone to ring (or e-mail inbox or skype or web contact form) Tell your prospect about your offering Take the order Alas it is normally not this simple, especially if you are selling to businesses. We do encounter some startups that

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Getting Your Startup Through the Downturn is a Marathon Not a Sprint

4 Finding your Niche, skmurphy / By /

The third form of happiness, which is meaning, is again knowing what your highest strengths are and deploying those in the service of something you believe is larger than you are. There’s no shortcut to that. That’s what life is about. Martin Seligman interview in Edge “Eudaemonia, The Good Life“ Here are three activities to

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Non-Customers Are Where Important Changes Often Start

4 Finding your Niche, EDA, skmurphy / By /

There is a risk of complacency for start-ups (and even larger firms) who have achieved a level of security in their first niche. Markets change, consumer needs change, and you need to continue to explore opportunities to sell your offering to new customers–non-customers–even though it’s a much harder sales process than a renewal, upgrade, or

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Herb Reiter Interview on Fostering Static Timing Analysis Adoption

4 Finding your Niche, 5 Scaling Up Stage, Customer Development, skmurphy / By /

I have followed Herb Reiter‘s consulting career over the last five years or so:  there aren’t very many business development consultants who work with EDA firms, fewer who have the mix of semiconductor and design background that Herb accumulated on the way to honing his business development expertise. He is personable, methodical, and always interested

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Networking and Referrals

4 Finding your Niche, 5 Scaling Up Stage, Lead Generation, Sales / By /

This is a guest post on networking and referrals by Steve Moore of SPMSolutions. Networking and Referrals Networking and referrals continue to be the primary marketing strategy for many community-based small businesses (especially those with limited budgets). In contrast, many technology-oriented small businesses rely more upon on-line forums, social networking sites, user groups, etc. to

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