…until you’ve actually done it. If you’re running a startup, or thinking about it, or have an inclination that some day you want to, or you work at one, go read Paul Graham’s latest essay, What Startups Are Really Like. For me it reads like my “startup autobiography”. He’s publishing a list of “surprises” that […]
How To Write Great Surveys with Actionable Data Results
Writing a great survey isn’t easy. At first it might seem straightforward, but after banging out a few questions with your favorite survey tool (I use Wufoo most of the time), you start to see the complexity and intricacies involved. More and more startups are creating surveys as a means of collecting data from early […]
Raising Startup Capital is an Achievement, But Not the Most Important One
HubSpot recently raised $16M dollars in a new funding round. The total capital they’ve raised to date: $33M. That’s a huge amount of money. Dharmesh Shah, one of HubSpot’s founders isn’t in love with the idea of raising venture capital (but he did it, and explains why too.) He considers himself a bootstrapping guy. After […]
Lack of Market Focus Can Kill Your Startup
Too many startups lack market focus. They don’t really understand their target customer and what that customer wants. And that lack of focus kills startups. It’s easy to look at and define a big market as a single entity – a giant, amoeba-like blob where everything and everyone in it is basically the same. This […]
The Key to Startup Hiring: Build a Magnet
Hiring at startups is hard. Get a handful of startup people in a room and ask them about their biggest challenges and hiring is always at (or near) the top of the list. Typically startups don’t offer the same salaries and benefits found at larger companies. Some argue that the risk is higher (although I […]
The Inauthentic Potential of Personal Branding
I’m a fervent believer in the value of cultivating and promoting one’s personal brand. I’ve put a fair amount of thought and effort into my own personal brand and reaped considerable benefits. If you want to advance your career in some way (whether it’s move up the proverbial ladder, get a new job, break away […]
Product Managers in Startups: What’s their Role?
Product managers are the unsung heroes in startups. The Wikipedia definition of product management states: Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning or marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle. Product management (inbound focused) and product marketing (outbound focused) are different yet […]
How Social Media Improves Lead Conversion
A recent study by GroupM Search and comScore looked at the relationship between search marketing and social media. It’s an interesting read. The crux of the report is that people who are exposed to a brand via social media are more likely to search directly for that brand (or search terms that are lower level/closer […]
Get Obsessed with Viral Loops
I’m obsessed with viral loops. Andrew Chen writes a great post: 5 crucial stages in designing your viral loop. Go read it. Good viral loops won’t guarantee success, but they can make a huge difference in attracting prospects and converting them into customers. By virtue of the fact that viral loops spread your product / […]
Increase Lead Generation or Optimize Conversions?
Before you spend time & money increasing leads, you should look at improving and optimizing conversions. In order to optimize conversion you do need some number of leads, but the number doesn’t have to be huge. As soon as you start to see consistent metrics on conversion (and you need to make sure you define […]
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