photo credit: woodleywonderworks
So you create a Facebook Fan Page and have 200,000 fans in two weeks. How do you get the benefit out of this? Well this is a 100 percent opportunity to become an ‘entrepreneur’ (in good faith).
The dilemma is – can a famous Facebook page become a real startup?
We have two kinds of people here;
1.Intentional – who form a Facebook page or open an account with Twitter before launching a website (bona fide startup.
2.Unintentional – who form a Facebook page, get massive number of fans and then decide to launch a website with the same idea
In both cases, the biggest question is whether the popularity of a Facebook Page can be easily harnessed to build a standalone website. The obvious advantage is that Facebook has a huge number of users who are very active (Trust me – Facebook is extremely engaging). If a user becomes a fan of your page, then updates you post on your page will automatically show up in the user’s profile. Building an audience through Facebook is comparatively easier.
Now the problem is that users might be reluctant to visit your website when they can get all updates from Facebook (user friction)
It will be a long way before a Facebook page can turn in to a sustainable and profitable business.
Econsultancy explains the topic elaborately in this post by citing an example of Secret London
As a standalone website, Secret London will have to convince its users to visit and use yet another website. That means far more
PS: My friend launched a Facebook Fan Page yesterday and has above 300 fans already – she is already thinking on the same line
photo credit: wili_hybrid
Crowd Funding can be described as a trend that aggregates small amounts of money from many people for a certain cause which can range from helping a charity to funding a clothing design. The networking and pooling for funding is usually done through the internet.
Companies have been tapping funds for customer service and product design for quite some time now but tapping the crowd for funds is a bit trickier. However, there is great potential for startup financing through crowdfunding.
An entrepreneur who wants to use crowd funding makes use of online communities to solicit pledges of small amounts of money from individuals (typically not professional financiers).
The biggest problem with crowd funding is that if a small contribution obtained via crowd sourcing is actually an ‘equity investment’ (or even a loan) then crowd funding companies may soon run faulty of security laws. For example: If you raise money from over a certain number of people, you are subject to a full-fledged list of security laws. (Rules vary according to country). Also crowd funding scams can be huge but where money is involved, scammers will come automatically.
So is crowd funding a Web 2.0 twist or the future of online fundraising?
I believe that crowd funding is here to stay and has enormous potential. It is still in its initial phase but it’s going to get better.
On this note I remember an online platform for crowd funding for web and mobile startups was launched recently - GrowVc
For more information we suggest you read this post and an article in businessweek
photo credit: thms.nl
The best way for a person to remember something is to have a ‘visual aid’. I believe most of us are visual learners. I would definitely remember a face but not a name.
How can businesses use this concept to market their products/services in the online world?
Through Video Marketing – quality video content which is correctly tagged, distributed at the right places online and shared via social networking sites has tremendous power to reach wide audiences globally. Complex ideas, thoughts and emotions can be communicated easily through viral videos. Two distinct advantages from a marketing point of view are; visual aid advantage which engages more users and the power of a video to engage in search engines. So videos don’t only influence customer buying decisions but also boost your visibility on search engines.
The phenomenal rise of “how to” concept has given video marketing an extra push. People who want information actively search for this type of content. People who have the information and who want to share it for free can form a video and distribute it online.
There are various online video sharing platforms with YouTube undoubtedly being the most popular one. YouTube is the third most-visited site on the internet which receives over 70 million unique visitors a month (and the number keeps rising). And it also appears in Google search results – what else does an online marketing strategy want?
Other sites such as Vimeo, Justin.TV, Blip.tv, Photobucket.com, Viddler.com & Ecorp.tv are also good for distributing and sharing videos.
The whole idea of making a video and distributing it online can be quite intimidating but an advice here is - just do it. Video marketing can be very effective and it will definitely be the new marketing for 2010 with many companies adopting it already.
A video marketing strategy can be ideal for your startup as well – it’s cheap, helps in search engine rankings and has a viral tendency if correctly made and distributed.
For more information regarding this we suggest you visit StartupNation Blog
It’s my opinion that not having a video presence in 2-5 years will be like not having a web site in 2010!
photo credit: Aidan Jones
Incubators (or business incubators) are programs aimed to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurial companies by providing them with an array of business resources and services. Incubators may vary in the style in which they deliver these services, in the type of clients they serve or the organizational structure they have.
Incubators are especially dedicated to growth and development of start up companies. Research and Technology parks on the other hand support large scale projects that support everything from corporate, government or university labs to very small companies.
A successful incubator I would like to mention here is Y incubator launched by Paul Graham in 2005. It has funded over 60 startups and still continues to inspire many others. The model followed by Y incubator has been imitated widely through out the world and hence there are many incubators around the world offering good services and seed funding to startups.
If you’re a startup founder looking for seed funding, here are a few incubators suggested by ReadWriteWeb: Y Combinator, TechStars, SeedCamp, Summer@Highland, Launch Box, Bootup Labs etc. For more details on this please visit
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/guide_to_seed_fund_incubators.php
While Graham may not like it, there are a large number of start up incubators following the model he created with Y Combinator and handing out microinvestments in web startups in return for a small stake.
photo credit: jmmcdgll
Forming a sales proposal is one of the most complicated tasks for startups. While they’re extremely important to a business, they’re not really the easiest thing to form and manage. An interesting service (startup) is launching today – Proposable, which aims at simplifying the process of making proposals (with some nice new web features)
Proposable is a web- based application that allows you to create and deliver sales proposals. It has a number of templates and tools that offer high customization and standardization. The most interesting part of the app is the analytics features such as instant notification when your proposal is being viewed, for how long viewers spend time on the proposal and what they’re exactly looking for.
Another fascinating feature is that updates can be made and viewed in realtime. Recipients can add comments and get feedback via SMS or email. All of this online – another brilliant cloud computing based web app for startups.
Talking about the cost, the most impressive feature is that it offers a 30 day free trial (of any package) .If you wish to continue using it you have 3 packages to choose from and all are quite reasonable.
This web app will save time, effort and is good value for money - recommended for startups. For further details we suggest you read this post in TechCrunch
photo credit: Torley
Sooner or later, any business or startup needs to refine/reshape its client base for one of the following reasons:
• To part with low-profit customers – proactive
• To part with customers whose demands don’t fit the company policies and damage profitability and morale – reactive
In some scenarios parting becomes necessary and the difficult part is that it requires a lot of effort and finesse. Here are a few tips on how to manage it:
Identify the ‘vital’ customers - Follow the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule). In business, 20 percent of the customers account for 80 percent of the sales, while another 20 percent account for 80 percent problems. Identify the profitable 20 percent for your business. For every minute you put on solving a problem of the costly ones, spend four minutes taking care of the profitable ones.
Get Proactive - Define the customers that cause your startup time and profitability. Solution is to keep them satisfied and less costly is by revising cost and services.
Get Reactive (if you need to) - If you think a customer is causing serious damage to your startup and the costs exceed profitability, then it is time to part ways. Tip here listen carefully, don’t get defensive and try reaching on an agreement (If possible)
As a startup, you should try and identify both kind of customers and try your best to keep them satisfied. If for some reason (genuine ones) a customer is causing more damage than benefit, it is definitely time to part ways.
For more information on this we suggest you visit:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/sales/customerservice/article204926.html
Follow up. It's important to keep in touch to see that the referral worked out. Your aim here is twofold: to help the customer and to avoid any sense of abandonment that could lead to negative reviews of your business.
photo credit: lumaxart
Venture Hacks recently launched a new project aiming to bring startups and angel investors closer.
Venture hacks launched AngelList which is a basic directory of around 80 established angel investors including their contact info and key information like what they’re looking for in a startup etc. The members of AngelList will receive weekly updates from Startuplist (the second project launched by Venture Hacks).
StartupList will be a great boon for all startups looking for angel investors. So if you’re a startup looking for early investment and you have no idea how to get to potential investors then this project is definitely for you. To get on the list you need to apply here.
Venture Hacks will send weekly emails featuring three startup pitches to some of Silicon Valley’s most respected angel investors.
Kudos to Venture Hacks. Great effort and all the best
photo credit: liewcf
The post is a gist of the speech by Jay Jamison discussed in his blog leaving the flock
At an early stage all startups are usually advised to focus on building a great product/service and getting an audience. And then revenue will flow automatically. How right is this concept? Is it advisable not to think about the revenue too early in the life of a startup?
It is extremely important to focus on your idea and building something people want, but at the same time thinking about the revenue model (at least a bit) at an early stage is recommended as well. Don’t divert your attention from the main goal since a great product is the lifeline of a startup. But it is also advisable to at least have a revenue model which you can always change it later on. Don’t rush into monetizing though, monetize when it makes sense.
A startup can have various kinds of business models, the popular ones being;
Figure it Out Later/ Ads (Google, Twitter)
Market Maker (Paypal, Ebay)
Freemium or Subscription (Animoto, Salesforce.com)
Virtual Goods (Facebook applications)
Price Per Use or Copy (MS Office)
Another important suggestion for startups is – know your industry model inside out. It is very important to analyze the industry. Ask tons of questions and connect with customers and market. Build a belief that your revenue model will work in the industry model.
I’ll talk about my thoughts on types of revenue models, a sort of revenue model 101. Nothing too revolutionary here, but hopefully a useful primer if you’ve not thought through a business model before
photo credit: Marco Bellucci
There are a few ‘best’ questions related to startups which pop up in our mind now and then. Questions such as - when is the best time to startup? Which sector is the best to startup in? Which is best - funding through revenues or investors? In this post we attempt to answer these questions precisely. The post is inspired by a very good article I came across recently.
The Best Time
Anytime is a good time to startup with a slight tilt towards starting up during a recession. And why is that? That is because if you survive turbulent times then you definitely learn how to manage a business given any other time or scenario. The tough times teach you. On the contrary if your startup has flourished because of the boom period then it will be difficult for you to sustain in times of drought.
What do GE, Disney, HP and Microsoft all have in common? They were all startups that took off the ground during steep declines in the U.S economy.
The Best Sector
If we take a close look at all companies today, we will find out most of the companies started as outliers (extreme deviation from what their original idea was) , and then with time grew in mass and had a bunch of companies following them to form a so called ‘best sector’. Was there an aircraft manufacturing sector before a Boeing? Not really. So the tip here is not to worry about the sector, just do your business where you have a sustainable competitive advantage in what you’re offering.
Investors
Always keep in mind that investors have different motivations from entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur, you want to build a company over a long term and as an investor, you want to exit with a good value over the next 7 years (entrepreneurial investors are really rare to find).
Your first option should be getting your funding from customers (revenues i.e.) And if you need outside investors then keep in mind the time frame in which you have to generate real value and a ground-breaking idea that will get you an actual investment. And of course, shape your pitch according to different investors – be a good marketer.
photo credit: striatic
I will first start by explaining what a ‘Crocodile Salesman’ exactly means – a person who doesn’t listen, only talks (sells). Big mouth and no ears, they’re people who are always (mostly) talking. Perhaps they have the best product/service to offer, but only pitching without listening won’t do them any good.
Mark Suster explains the ‘Crocodile Salesman’ in three scenarios in his recent post. Here is a brief outline of what he had to say:
1. When You are Selling
As a startup entrepreneur ‘selling’ starts coming to you naturally. Entrepreneurs are so engrossed in promoting their product/service that listening to others becomes practically impossible. Startup founders are in sales mode from the launch day.
A humble advice to all startup entrepreneurs here is to ‘listen’ and understand. Everyone understands you have something great to offer, but blatantly pitching without listening can be very harmful. Recognize a problem and offer a solution, don’t keep offering solutions to problems you don’t even know about. Crocodile sales are seldom productive. They just make you sound desperate.
2. When Hiring Sales People
It’s the time when your startup decides to hire a sales person. Beware of the crocodile salesmen in such a scenario. How to identify them? A most common trait among these people is that they keep talking about themselves and their achievements for what may seem like ages. More than wanting to know about their role, they will be busy bragging about how good they are. The interview remains one sided – such people can’t encourage discussions. They may be really good but not apt for a sales position in a startup.
3. When Pitching a VC
Raising money for your startup is definitely selling your idea. But also make sure you research your idea, build rapport and credibility and understand what the VC has to say. Avoid being a crocodile salesman.
I know because many entrepreneurs I spend time with I can tell are in their own brains when we’re meeting rather than trying to understand what my position is.
