This evening I attended “Are You a Chef or Are You a Grocer?” an SVPMA event featuring Rich Mironov. It was an excellent presentation on SaaS (Software as a Service) business models. Mironov outlined four components as key to a successful SaaS offering: Build a multi-tenant infrastructure Manage for slower incremental sales Commit to continuous marketing Get […]
Rich Mironov: Service-Model Thinking for Product-Model Folks Read More »
I had promised to check out and report back on “Questions That Sell: The Powerful Process For Discovering What Your Customers Really Want” by Paul Cherry, which was recommended by Jennifer Vessels at Next Step’s workshop “How to Sell the Real Value of Your Solution” on Thursday, November 7, 2006. This is a good book,
Questions That Sell By Paul Cherry Read More »
What follows are some quick thoughts on how to apply insights from the “Agile Manifesto” to software startups. I borrow some suggestions from Martin Fowler as well.
Applying the “Agile Manifesto” to Software Startups Read More »
Rich Mironov profiles Replicate Technology (a current client) in Service Revenue and Upsell Marketing” and mischaracterizes–in our opinion–their strategy as upselling or upsell marketing.
SaaS Requires Excellent Support Not Upselling to Proliferate Read More »
Are you showing the last thing first when you give a software demo? Put the key benefit or bottom line up front.
Software Demo: Are You Showing The Last Thing First? Read More »
Tonight I attended the SDForum Startup SIG, featuring Mark Lazar. Mark is a highly experienced chief executive with a proven record in successfully growing and managing companies in the software and telecommunication industries. Mark is usually attracted to opportunities where a company needs help in accelerating growth or turn around. Mark holds both a BA
SDForum Startup SIG: Interim CEO’s featuring Mark Lazar Read More »
Recap from a CINA panel on blogging Mar-15-2007 where I participated as a panelist. I cited Regis Mckenna’s “Real Time” and “The Cluetrain Manifesto.”
CINA Blog Panel Wrap Up Read More »
A recap of a 2007 CINA Panel on Blog: What It Can Do For You. Panel was Sean Murphy, Zoli Erdos, and Henry Lu.
CINA Panel on Blog: What It Can Do For You Read More »
Large firm IT departments are “gatekeepers”. Their job is to keep the enterprise network computing infrastructure safe and operational. New software from a new vendor is almost always viewed as a threat. Most of the time, they will say NO to any new software. Most of the time our clients have to sell around them. Here’s five
Selling Around IT in Larger Firms Read More »
Product roadmaps are entirely driven by solving problems for your customers. Start by asking your customer, “how can we help you?”
Building A Great Product Roadmap: Eric Walczykowski, Deloitte Ventures Read More »
Francis Adanza shares his perspective on companies presenting at the March 6 2007 Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup.
March Silicon Valley NewTech Meetup Read More »
This morning I attended the SDForum Quarterly Venture Breakfast with PWC’s Seed Investment Report given by Steve Bengston from Emerging Company Services (ECS) group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. In the United States, last year the reported amount of VC investments totaled to $25.5B. Of the 25.5B, 1.2B was invested at the seed stage across 311 companies. Moderator
SDForum Quarterly Venture Breakfast with PWC’s: Seed Investments Read More »
Startup Epicenter Offers Intensive Workshops and a Festival in March of 2007 with a line-up of VCs and experienced entrepreneurs as speakers.
Startup Epicenter Offers Intensive Workshops, Challenge & Festival Read More »
Getting early customer feedback is critical to fine tuning your product so that you can scale up. The temptation is to use a on-line survey tool to save your time, but I think for your early customers a questionnaire may only give you the answers that you are looking for, not the information that you need.
Getting Early Feedback Read More »
We leveraged the Google Search Co-op starting in 2006 but Google has renamed that Programmable Search and blocked our original use case.
Building Communities using Search Co-op Read More »
Commentary on Julian Fellowes answers to 3 interview questions about the need to get started, persist, and accept the logical consequences of your choices.
Julian Fellowes on Persistence, Getting Started, and Logical Consequences Read More »
Tonight I attended a KIN / KASE Event: “VC Investment in Asia and What It Means to Korea.” The guest speakers were Han Kim, Partner at Altos Ventures and Tae Hea Nahm, Partner at Storm Ventures. VC Investment in Asia and What It Means to Korea I have heard many VC’s speak on how they
VC Investment in Asia and What It Means to Korea Read More »
Key takeaways from a talk by Barry Klawans, CTO of JasperSoft on comparing benefits and drawbacks of Software as a Service (SaaS) and Open Source.
2 Disruptive Trends: Open Source & SaaS Read More »
Clark Dong gave an interesting demonstration of a new action item tracking tool for startups called TaskPick at last night’s SDForum Startup SIG. He came on after my show and tell on how and why we use Central Desktop in our practice. He was articulate and energetic and I was very impressed with his approach. His message below is
Clark Dong: Software Startups Don’t Need VC’s To Start Read More »
Don’t forget the dream to change the world that got you started: your passion is an important element of craftsmanship and a commitment to excellence. What’s Your Passion? Recently, I chatted with a well-established consultant–she’s been working for more than a decade. She was having trouble developing a short elevator pitch to describe what she
What’s Your Passion? Read More »
