Amazon’s S3 and AWS platforms, and similar on demand storage and computing services, are becoming increasing popular as core infrastructure for software startups. There is a tendency, because the costs are well defined, to base your price on adding a margin to these services. There are three problems with that.
Tangible Costs, Time, and Pricing to Value Read More »
Why We Like Trade Shows If your prospects are accustomed to attending industry trade shows and conferences it’s normally worth exhibiting. Trade shows are one of the few venues where you can sell directly and explicitly and it’s accepted by prospects. If they walk up to your trade show booth they expect a sales pitch.
Why We Like Trade Shows Read More »
From Hillel Cooperman‘s “Bootstrapped vs. VC Funded–Who is Likely to Make the Most Money?” I bet that founders of bootstraps end up earning more money over the long haul out of their businesses than founders of venture-backed firms. The rare IPO may spike the numbers in the other direction, but I’d love to see the
It’s Not Bootstrapped vs. VC Read More »
Silicon Valley is a nicely furnished room in a house that’s burning down, the state of California. From Joseph Vranich‘s blog “CA Business Departures Increasing–Now 5x 2009” June 20, 2011. From Jan. 1 of this year through this morning, June 16, we have had 129 disinvestment events occur, an average of 5.4 per week. For
A Nicely Furnished Room In A House That’s Burning Down Read More »
I have condensed this from a recent series of conversation with bootstrapping entrepreneur. I thought it captured many of the key questions that you need to be consider once you are “open for business.” Bootstrapping Entrepreneur: I am just getting started on a new project. I have several advisors and one has suggested that I
When Do I Need a Model? I am Bootstrapping Read More »
People ask me where to get started. Lately I have been telling them: start where you are and sell what you have. Meet people, help them connect, and explore possibilities. Knit your network now before you need it.
Start Where You Are Read More »
Here are a couple of rules of thumb you may find helpful in thinking about price, value, and your prospect’s perception of risk.
Price, Value, and Your Prospect’s Perception of Risk Read More »
Tom Van Vleck has a great collection of software engineering stories on his site. One particularly good article is “Three Questions For Each Bug That You Find” which offers the following key observation: The key idea behind these questions is that every bug is a symptom of an underlying process. You have to treat the
Tom Van Vleck’s “3 Questions” Complement Root Cause Analysis Read More »
From time to time I run into a business card that makes me think. Here’s one that I will model as I update my own cards. Also check out some cool business cards from last year. Back:
Time To Update Your Business Card Read More »
I have been thinking about different kinds of teams and team work. For example a choir has sheet music (“Let Men Their Songs Employ”) that predefines the content and timing of each person’s contribution. In a different way the script for a play outlines the content and sequence of each actor’s part.
Let Men Their Songs Employ Read More »
Here is another excerpt from my September interview with Gabriel Weinberg. This one focuses on why payment and testimonials are so important to differentiate users from actual customers.
If Money Doesn’t Change Hands, You Can’t Call a User a Customer Read More »
Most of our clients offer complex software products, frequently in combination with some amount of consulting services. Their sales are not the results of credit card transactions but a complex orchestrated sales process. Frequently their prospects need to see a custom demonstration or a benchmark that relies on their own data, not just the standard
Keeping the Ball Rolling With Prospects Read More »
My bias is to “narrowcast” in the beginning. Choose websites, forums, newsgroups that are tightly focused on your target market. You attract less competition, your message cost is normally cheaper per prospect, and you often learn faster by taking part in the conversations in a focused community. It’s not so much about being stealthy as
Narrowcast Early Product Announcements Read More »
“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.” Wilson Mizner One of the more challenging aspects of entrepreneurship for engineers is the need to be able to engage in “small talk” and casual conversation with strangers. I have three suggestions that go to state of mind more than
Three Tips for Small Talk and Casual Conversation Read More »
What follows is a chat transcript from an hour long conversation I had with a entrepreneur recently. I have cleaned up all of our typos and removed or modified some identifying information. The basic business was for a website to arrange services for travelers. I wanted the entrepreneur to move beyond his passion for the
Build On Your Passion With A Basic Model And Numbers Read More »
Every bootstrapper has a limited budget for attorney’s fees. Attorneys can help you foresee problems and craft contract language, which looks remarkably similar to English but is in fact code that is executed by the legal system. Use them to protect valuable assets–intellectual property, source code, revenue streams–not create them. A small digression If you
The Limits of Legal Self-Help Read More »
I mentioned in “3 Equations 3 Unknowns: Customers, Features, and Message” that we spend a lot of time on the early customer stage. It requires very different sales style than you’ll see later on. It’s a conversational sales style. It’s much more about understanding the problem. You’re trying to solve three equations, three unknowns: Are
3 Equations & 3 Unkowns: Target Customer is Key Initial Value Read More »
Here are four movies that I watch when I need to refill my gumption or recover my sisu: The Verdict, Apollo 13, The Dish, and The World’s Fastest Indian.
Four Movies To Renew Your Gumption Read More »
I was recently interviewed by Floyd Tucker of DreamSimplicity Marketplace and the interview can be seen below and on DreamSimplicity.com. We talk about how even though each startup team is unique, they have a common set of milestones they have to achieve to move from idea to revenue. We also chat briefly about the Bootstrapper
DreamSimplicity Interviews Sean Murphy Read More »
In the course of my networking I meet a lot of people and get a lot of business cards – every once in a while I will get a card that really stands out. Here are three cards that lead to deeper discussion about their company and products. Not only is this business card unique,
Cool Business Cards Read More »
