Startup Advice Column – Ask Sean

Sean Murphy answers your questions about starting or running your high-tech startup.

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Startup Advice Column

For years, Sean has been advising startups about customer development, lean methods, starting and scaling business. Below is some of the most popular postings.

• Q: Cofounder Resigned and Surrendered his Equity
  An entrepreneur writes, “After four months my talented and hardworking… Read more: Q: Cofounder Resigned and Surrendered his Equity
• Q: How do I tell if I am scaling prematurely?
  It’s possible that you are scaling prematurely, but it’s become… Read more: Q: How do I tell if I am scaling prematurely?
• Q: I Am Afraid to Take a Vacation
  This is based on some emails and conversations with a… Read more: Q: I Am Afraid to Take a Vacation
• Q: How Can I Help My Father Grow His Business?
  Working with family can be challenging. A young man asks… Read more: Q: How Can I Help My Father Grow His Business?
• Q: I Cannot Get Prospects Interested in Conversations
  There are many reason it can be difficult to get… Read more: Q: I Cannot Get Prospects Interested in Conversations
• Q: Should I Leave Medical School For a Startup?
  SKMurphy startup advice column: a reader asks how to decide… Read more: Q: Should I Leave Medical School For a Startup?
• Q: Should I Pre-Sell My Product?
  Bootstrappers can be tempted to pre-sell their product, accepting payment… Read more: Q: Should I Pre-Sell My Product?
• Time to Market S01E11 – Mastering Product Demos
  Sean Murphy and Etienne Garbugli offer tips for entrepreneurs to… Read more: Time to Market S01E11 – Mastering Product Demos
• How Founders Should Should Manage Startup Runway
  Using 14 Ways B2B Entrepreneurs Can Extend Their Startup Runway… Read more: How Founders Should Should Manage Startup Runway
• What is Social Capital?
  In his book “Working Capital Vol 1: It Takes More… Read more: What is Social Capital?
• Q: Can you recommend an accountant for business taxes?
  Need an accountant for business taxes? Here are accountants recommended… Read more: Q: Can you recommend an accountant for business taxes?
• Q: How Does a First Time Founder Learn Sales?
  You learn sales by doing sales: as a founder you… Read more: Q: How Does a First Time Founder Learn Sales?
• Q: How Can I Manage the Stress of a Startup?
  Tips to cut the stress of a startup: plan for… Read more: Q: How Can I Manage the Stress of a Startup?
• Q: I need an attorney who works with startups who don’t have a ton of cash
  If you need an attorney because you want to initiate… Read more: Q: I need an attorney who works with startups who don’t have a ton of cash
• Q: What Makes a Product Attract Early Adopters?
  The following is an edited version of a recent online… Read more: Q: What Makes a Product Attract Early Adopters?
• Q: Free Advice and Doing Business With Friends
  Doing business with friends presents a number of challenges for… Read more: Q: Free Advice and Doing Business With Friends
• Q: Help! I Can Only Find Laggards in My Target Customer Segment
  Entrepreneurs are often quick to characterize prospects who don’t see… Read more: Q: Help! I Can Only Find Laggards in My Target Customer Segment
• Q: Kissing Frogs
  Finding the right customers is not just a matter of… Read more: Q: Kissing Frogs
• Q: How Do I Plan for Pivots or Even Shutting Down My Startup?
  It’s useful to explore several paths in parallel and have… Read more: Q: How Do I Plan for Pivots or Even Shutting Down My Startup?
• Q: We Have Grown From One Project To Many Projects, How To Manage?
  Three keys to making the transition from a one project… Read more: Q: We Have Grown From One Project To Many Projects, How To Manage?
• Q: Help I Feel Stuck in Low Gear
  It’s not uncommon for an entrepreneur to feel stuck in… Read more: Q: Help I Feel Stuck in Low Gear
• Q: How to Explore an MVP For Knowledge Worker Productivity
  Applications that improve knowledge worker productivity have to satisfy “prepared… Read more: Q: How to Explore an MVP For Knowledge Worker Productivity
• Q: Google Thinks Our Name Is a Typo and Suggests a Competitor
  When someone on your team says, “Google Thinks Our Name… Read more: Q: Google Thinks Our Name Is a Typo and Suggests a Competitor
• Q: Is a Focus on Inefficiencies a Good Way to Find an Underserved Market?
  A focus on inefficiencies is a good method to find… Read more: Q: Is a Focus on Inefficiencies a Good Way to Find an Underserved Market?
• Q: Should I Be an Entrepreneur?
  How do you answer someone who asks “Should I be… Read more: Q: Should I Be an Entrepreneur?
• Q: How Do I Make Sure I Understand The Customer’s Problem and Present a Vision of a Solution?
  Customer development–discovery driven sales–requires that you first understand the customer’s… Read more: Q: How Do I Make Sure I Understand The Customer’s Problem and Present a Vision of a Solution?
• Q: Forming a Scientific Advisory Board
  Q: I am in the process of forming a scientific… Read more: Q: Forming a Scientific Advisory Board
• Q: Best Practices For Finding Early Adopters
  There are a lot of misconceptions about finding early adopters… Read more: Q: Best Practices For Finding Early Adopters
• Q: When to Incorporate and Options for IP protection
  Some quick answers to common questions about intellectual property (IP),… Read more: Q: When to Incorporate and Options for IP protection
• Q: Helping Customers On Hold
  It’s important to understand who your customer is and what… Read more: Q: Helping Customers On Hold
• Q: What Lessons Should I Draw From A Painful Cofounder Experience?
  A painful cofounder experience is unfortunately more common than a… Read more: Q: What Lessons Should I Draw From A Painful Cofounder Experience?
• Q: Making Effective Use Of Your Advisory Board
  To make effective use of your advisory board you have… Read more: Q: Making Effective Use Of Your Advisory Board
• Q: A Google Search Finds Dozens of Competitors, What Now?
  A common mistake technical entrepreneurs can make is to focus… Read more: Q: A Google Search Finds Dozens of Competitors, What Now?
• Q: How Can I Maximize ROI and Minimize Risk?
  You can only capture a share of the value that… Read more: Q: How Can I Maximize ROI and Minimize Risk?
• Q: How Do We Get A Business Prospect To Talk To Us?
  Each interaction with a  business prospect or a customer has… Read more: Q: How Do We Get A Business Prospect To Talk To Us?
• Q: How To Critique a Competitor?
  A recent question from an office hours session on how… Read more: Q: How To Critique a Competitor?
• Q: How Can I Calculate The Exit Value Of My Idea?
  It’s masturbation to calculate the exit value of idea that has… Read more: Q: How Can I Calculate The Exit Value Of My Idea?
• Q: Can I Be My First Customer?
  It’s OK to solve your own problem first, to be… Read more: Q: Can I Be My First Customer?
• Q: Should I Tap My 401K To Bootstrap?
  Q: Should I tap my 401K to bootstrap my startup? A:… Read more: Q: Should I Tap My 401K To Bootstrap?
• Q: How To Evaluate Acquiring a Small Software Firm
  We recently helped a client frame the exploration of an… Read more: Q: How To Evaluate Acquiring a Small Software Firm
• Q: How To Find Help Selling Professional Services
  Q: My software consultancy has reached the point of needing… Read more: Q: How To Find Help Selling Professional Services
• Q: Is Veterinary Marketing A Viable Approach To Market Exploration?
  Entrepreneurs who limit themselves to what they could learn if… Read more: Q: Is Veterinary Marketing A Viable Approach To Market Exploration?
• Q: How Do I Interest People In My Product?
  Q: We have a product for bloggers but I am… Read more: Q: How Do I Interest People In My Product?
• Crafting a Value Proposition
  Q: I struggle with the value proposition for our product.… Read more: Crafting a Value Proposition
• Q: Is It Waste To Build A B2B MVP That Inspires Trust?
  A minimum viable product (MVP) for business must inspire trust.… Read more: Q: Is It Waste To Build A B2B MVP That Inspires Trust?
• Q: What Are Critical Tasks In A Startup?
  Critical tasks in a startup include conversations with prospects and… Read more: Q: What Are Critical Tasks In A Startup?
• Q: How Do I Calculate Business Model Parameters For A Novel Product?
  While truly new markets have no history, their business model… Read more: Q: How Do I Calculate Business Model Parameters For A Novel Product?
• Q: Side Payment Requested In Negotiation
  It’s best to act as if everything that you do… Read more: Q: Side Payment Requested In Negotiation
• Q: How to Apply Lean Innovation Methods To Regulated Industries?
  Q: My research focused on the assessment of atherosclerosis in… Read more: Q: How to Apply Lean Innovation Methods To Regulated Industries?
• Q: Is the Prisoners Dilemma A Good Model for Doing Business?
  The prisoners dilemma thought experiment that posits a single isolated… Read more: Q: Is the Prisoners Dilemma A Good Model for Doing Business?
• Q: We Already Have a Prototype, Can We Still Do Customer Development?
  Product-market fit is not a ratchet: competitive response, new entrants,… Read more: Q: We Already Have a Prototype, Can We Still Do Customer Development?
• Q: Pricing Professional Services
  Q: I am starting a service business that will help… Read more: Q: Pricing Professional Services
• Q: How To Speed Up Early Trials, Adoption, and Sales
  Early trials allow you to tune your message, adjust your… Read more: Q: How To Speed Up Early Trials, Adoption, and Sales
• Q: How Much Effort Should I Invest in Automated Testing For An MVP?
  Q: I have worked on large enterprise software systems but… Read more: Q: How Much Effort Should I Invest in Automated Testing For An MVP?
• Q: How Much Attention Should I Pay To Potential Competition?
  Instead of looking left and right for potential competition, I… Read more: Q: How Much Attention Should I Pay To Potential Competition?
• Q: Can We Launch First and Ask Customer Discovery Questions Later?
  Don’t do a big launch before you have completed customer… Read more: Q: Can We Launch First and Ask Customer Discovery Questions Later?
• Q: Should I Persevere With My Product Or Get A Job?
  One question entrepreneurs ask themselves is whether to persevere or… Read more: Q: Should I Persevere With My Product Or Get A Job?
• Q: Resources For A Lean Approach to Sales, In Particular New Product Introduction
  Q: We have started selling and are looking for resources… Read more: Q: Resources For A Lean Approach to Sales, In Particular New Product Introduction
• Q: How To Pull The Trigger On A Pricing Model
  It can be difficult to put a price on a… Read more: Q: How To Pull The Trigger On A Pricing Model
• Q: Customer Exit Interview Questions
  Q: Customer Exit Interview Questions Q: We have a SaaS… Read more: Q: Customer Exit Interview Questions
• Q: How To Estimate Prospect Counts and Market Sizes
  Here are some back of the envelope models to estimate… Read more: Q: How To Estimate Prospect Counts and Market Sizes
• Q: How Do You Iterate An MVP So That It’s “Good Enough For Government Work”
  Iterating An MVP Until It’s Good Enough For Government Work… Read more: Q: How Do You Iterate An MVP So That It’s “Good Enough For Government Work”
• Set Your PowerPoints on Stun
  The best product demo is a conversation driven by mutual… Read more: Set Your PowerPoints on Stun
• Mission Often Matters More Than Monetization In An Early Market
  Q: I am a newly minted entrepreneur who has been… Read more: Mission Often Matters More Than Monetization In An Early Market
• Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup?
  Entrepreneurship gets a lot of hype but it’s not for… Read more: Q: Should I Get A Normal Job Or Work At A Startup?
• Q: Can a Custom Solution Be The Basis For A Product?
  Q: I was contracted to develop a custom software application that… Read more: Q: Can a Custom Solution Be The Basis For A Product?
• Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time?
  Building the “wrong product” is not a waste of time… Read more: Q: Is Building The Wrong Product A Waste Of Time?

See what startup founders say about Sean Murphy.

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