DON’T START PRODUCT PRICING LOW
The saying goes – You can always lower your price – but it’s difficult to raise it. So start testing before you become fixated on a price. When you’re doing a startup it’s tempting to start your pricing low. In fact, many founders will become fixated on a price or a specific percentage of margin
Read MoreThe Mystery of Product Pricing
Dealing with startups and financial models is one of the areas of discussion that always comes up in product pricing. What’s generally astounding is the lack of thought or time that has gone into the process. I know, I know, you’re busy building a product and can’t be bothered by such triviality. But, when it’s
Read MoreWhy Convertible Equity?
Earlier today the Founder Institute’s new early-stage investing vehicle,Convertible Equity, was highlighted in the Wall Street Journal in an article byJessica Vascellaro entitled “New Tack in Early Stage Tech-Investing.” The piece illustrates the issues “haphazard approaches to seed investing in the past” (namely, Convertible Debt) have created, and how the Founder Institute’s “Convertible Equity” approach aims to mitigate those issues. According to
Read MoreOne-sentence Pitch to win $995 FI Course Fee (Seattle)
How does your pitch compare to: “I’ll genetically engineer miniature pot-bellied rhinos for pets and sell diamond-plate wainscoting on the side” Tell us how you’ll change the world, in one simple sentence @GeekWire. The deadline to have your pitch online is 9PM Pacific Saturday night. You’re limited to 30 words – but you’ll get some
Read MoreComparing Business models to Sales Models
For startups entrepreneurs, there’s is often a blending together of business models and sales models. Here’s a way to think about it, for both tech and non tech companies. Business Models Business models include the purpose, strategy, competitive advantage, ecosystem (Partner and Channel) and of course the product or services. Too often we take these
Read MoreEpic Fail in Fundraising – Financial Assumptions Part 2 – Overblown Growth
Benchmark data for financial models I wrote an earlier post of this topic here that covers common errors like starting at zero revenue and growing to a billion dollars in sales in year four or not knowing your key metrics for your business model. I wanted to add a part II to the post and provide
Read MoreWhat can you learn from Google’s 2011 Adwords Ranking? (Infographic)
Here’s the Top 10 categories of Google Ad Spend for 2011, including the top five advertisers per category. Of the $37.9B in revenue, 96% came from Advertising. Here are a couple of observations you might be able to apply to your startup:
Read MoreVisionary Entrepreneur, Really?
I’ve been invited to connect with a number of “Visionary Entrepreneurs” via LinkedIn recently. It’s a cool phrase – WOW – I mean who wouldn’t want to given to unpractical ideas or schemes. When I launched my first startup, I boldly told the team that we wanted to offer outrageous service! Not realizing that the definition
Read MoreThe Startup Ecosystem – Avoiding the Leeches!
When I started going to China for business I was amazed how many “helpful” people who I found at events with US Business people. They all knew people, in my industry and especially in the government. It was later that I discovered that those weren’t the real people you wanted to meet. But they were
Read MoreSeattle Founder Institute – Fall Semester & Event Schedule
The Fall Semester Applications are open for the Founder Institute Seattle. Apply Now! The new Semester will begin on October 2 – Tuesday nights. Early Admissions Deadline – Save $50 testing fee! September 2nd Final Admissions Deadline – September 23rd Midnight
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