Digging through your IP closet for gold… In past years, several times a month I’d have lunch with one of my CEOs, and each time we’d find ourselves digging into the intellectual property developed by the company over the years, just to refresh ourselves about what the intended use was back then and whether new developments […]
Dave Berkus
Entrepreneurism is All About Personal Risk
Well, of course it is. So, let’s dig a bit deeper. Sometimes, you can reduce your personal risk by taking in other people’s money in various ways, perhaps starting with a consulting contract with a customer, purchasing a going business where profit or loss is known, or spinning off an existing revenue-generating portion of an […]
Can You Defend Your Plan & Not Be Defensive?
When meeting with investors or even your board, during the period devoted to feedback after your presentation, you will hear comments and recommendations that don’t resonate with you. Some will be from a misunderstanding of your explanation. Some listeners will challenge your assumptions. Some will seem to ask just plain show-off questions, in which the […]
Your “Drop Dead” Question For a Customer Survey
Here’s the question: Sean Ellis, the marketing guru behind DropBox and other successes, advises clients that “The most important question on a survey is, ‘How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?’” He goes on to quantify the response. If more than forty percent of the respondents say they would be “very […]
“LALA” – A short lesson in marketing
Focus upon you as marketing genius Let’s focus not upon the process of marketing and positioning, but on you. How should you become the best marketer you can be, even if you are a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned CEO? There’s an answer for that. The title of this insight helps us find a formula: LALA. […]
4 Ways to Create Marketing Excellence
First, let’s recall the four “P’s” of marketing Marketing is a science devised to help drive customers to your door. There are lots of ways to define how to market well, including the four P’s of marketing (1): product, price, promotion and place. This is considered to be the producer-oriented model. These are still the driving focus […]
Do You Really Want to be the First to Market?
My stories of missing the context of the times Over the years, as I managed my several computer companies as CEO or executive chairman, I made the decision to go to market with a brand-new product that had never before been exposed to my customer’s marketplace. In each case, after overwhelming publicity, certainly noticed by a […]
Could You Make 10% Net Income Every Month?
How planning is done today Most entrepreneurs and managers, when modeling their business operations using a spreadsheet, start with expected revenue by month. Then they calculate cost of sales, and then project their expenses, to find the bottom-line profit or loss each projected month. One way to think for tomorrow There is a rarely used twist […]
Please don’t overestimate your audience’s knowledge
Ask the important question first When making a presentation to a new audience, the smart thing to do, if there is an opportunity, is to ask your audience by show of hands, if they have some knowledge of your industry or space. And if you are making a one-to-one presentation, don’t start without a conversation about […]
Raising money? Find your champion.
Increasing your chances of success If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the […]
