Here is the problem with most of the startups: building products nobody actually want to use. Because nobody actually feels the particular pain you want to fix! Oh, did you actually want to fix a problem?
Or is it more likely that you see the $$$$ signs, the big market, etc., etc.?
Art Papas, CEO of Bullhorn, is talking on Mixergy about his first idea for the product and how it felt apart. He also talks about how he did stumbled upon the right process to approach the problem of "having an idea for product". This actually involves talking to the real people who have real problems in their businesses or their lives (if you are consumer orientated app).
So without further delay let's hear it!
P.S. As I said all credit to Andrew Warner from Mixergy for giving us these brilliant interviews!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Saturday, March 6, 2010
How A 16-Year-Old Built A $100 Million Net Worth In Under 10 Years – with Gurbaksh Chahal.
Called the G, because it is difficult to pronounce his name. This guy build his first company as a teenager and sold it for 40 million dollars before he was even 20 years old.
He then build his second company and within three years he sold it for 300 million dollars.
Now his on his third gig for who knows...
All the time he did it with down to earth common sense approach. High school drop out, with no formal education he is brilliant negotiator, deal maker. He is brilliant entrepreneur.
Listen to the interview done by Andrew Warner from Mixergy.
Business Tips via Mixergy, home of the ambitious upstart!
He then build his second company and within three years he sold it for 300 million dollars.
Now his on his third gig for who knows...
All the time he did it with down to earth common sense approach. High school drop out, with no formal education he is brilliant negotiator, deal maker. He is brilliant entrepreneur.
Listen to the interview done by Andrew Warner from Mixergy.
Business Tips via Mixergy, home of the ambitious upstart!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Xerox versus Apple and the implementation of the idea.
Here is the case of the Xerox Alto computer. The idea behind it was powerful and ... way ahead of it's time. It was a revolutionary device. Yet the guys from Xerox could not quiet execute it, they could not quiet sell it.
Then come along Steve Jobs. You probably heard the story where he visited Xerox and then implemented some of their best ideas into Macintosh. The Apple made its name in computer world and the Xerox ... just didn't.
Why was it so?
What happened to the powerful Xerox, what happened to the brilliant people at Xerox? Well they had their copy business. They just fooled around with computers,... I think.
Steve Jobs approach was entirely different! He asked the right question: how can I implement it into my own product? And so he did ...
This example just proves that small start ups can easily outsmart big established, corporate players. So my imitations to you is this: be the entrepreneur, take a good look around you. What kind of ideas could you implement today? What kind of opportunities are there that are simply wasted by these big elephants - corporations.
You can do better. You can do what Steve Jobs did!
Here is one of the latest Apple laptops.
Then come along Steve Jobs. You probably heard the story where he visited Xerox and then implemented some of their best ideas into Macintosh. The Apple made its name in computer world and the Xerox ... just didn't.
Why was it so?
What happened to the powerful Xerox, what happened to the brilliant people at Xerox? Well they had their copy business. They just fooled around with computers,... I think.
Steve Jobs approach was entirely different! He asked the right question: how can I implement it into my own product? And so he did ...
This example just proves that small start ups can easily outsmart big established, corporate players. So my imitations to you is this: be the entrepreneur, take a good look around you. What kind of ideas could you implement today? What kind of opportunities are there that are simply wasted by these big elephants - corporations.
You can do better. You can do what Steve Jobs did!
Here is one of the latest Apple laptops.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sales Tips for Small Business Startups.
by Lorna Donovan
You have a dream and you are transforming it into reality by starting a business. You have a great product or service and a small but mighty staff. You worked day, night, and weekends to get the business up and running. Now what? As a sales consultant and small business owner, I’m often asked to suggest what the small business startup should focus on most. My answer? Focus on becoming profitable as quickly as possible and sustaining that position, not to mention your sanity, through consistent business development practices. Here are three sales tips I wish I’d known years and years ago. Good luck and super selling!
Sales Tip #1: Nothing Is More Important Than Sales!
To highlight the importance of sales, let me provide two hypothetical examples:
A bright man with a history of business success takes everything he has learned and folds it into a self development program he believes is the breakthrough idea missing from the market. He writes and self publishes a book, creates a couple of audio products, and has a great training template. He creates a jazzy logo, puts together an impressive web site, and has a host of freebies to lure potential customers. He even hires a public relations firm. All told, he spends over $100,000, which is a sizable chunk of the savings he has amassed, thanks to his previous success working for a well known firm. He stays abreast of all the newest marketing ideas, but after four years and countless hours of work, his breakthrough idea has not become the blockbuster he had envisioned. Sound familiar?
The second start-up is a modest venture begun by a working mother. Her product, forged from the complexities of her everyday life, is a product aimed at making life simpler for working mothers like her, a tool to make traveling with small children easier. She has only $1000 to invest, but she also has a great deal of commitment. With her product and child in tow, she travels far and wide, demonstrating her product and getting orders. She gradually builds a word-of-mouth business. For months, she puts all of her income back into her business. She spends nothing on office space, has no fancy giveaways, and has only a modest web site she created herself. She spends her time selling and selling, learning and improving her sales technique as she does. Four years later, she has a multi-million dollar company, a growing workforce, and her product in countries on 4 continents.
What is the difference between these two businesses? It is Sales Tip #1: Nothing is more important than sales. You may have a great idea and a great product, but if your attention is not on getting it out the door, you won’t have the success for which you dream.
Business plans, product revisions, and customer-service programs are all important, but for a new business, nothing is more important than sales.
It may be the single most common mistake in starting a new business: spending precious capital on secondary considerations. What is secondary? My list would include real estate, office equipment, stationery, business cards, employees, software, and sometimes even the product itself.
What is primary? The first and most important consideration of any new business is the fundamental selling proposition. Can you really sell your product or service the way you want at the price you want? What’s your answer?
Sales Tip #2: Plan Your Next Half-Year!
Gearing up for the rest of the selling year just might be your top priority right now.But getting focused on what is really important in developing your plan may be tricky. Writing goals, making activity plans, and keeping score is a start; but figuring out your personal motivators or ‘what keeps your head in the game’ is vital.
Consider these sales self-care questions as you plan the next six months.
In the first half of the year, did I care more for my clients than for myself? Was I too unselfish in setting my priorities? Did I over-commit to others?
If you answered “yes” to all three self-check questions, you may want to revisit your selling purpose.While there is nothing wrong with taking care of others, including your prospects and clients, you may want to consider self-preservation by way of caring for them, rather than taking care of them. Care taking others can be to the detriment of your personal motivation.The first business person you need to care for is you!
If you fail to focus foremost on your own goals, you may be prone to taking on someone else’s goals instead, which can build resentment.You may find yourself avoiding people or defending yourself against their daily bombardment of phone calls and emails.You may become cynical and burned-out.Of course, there is a problem with this. If you are in avoidance mode, you are also keeping at bay the nurturing business relationships, people and activities you need.
Take time to focus on your personal motivators and work on your plan in meaningful and fulfilling ways, so you don’t miss out on sales!You will create a selling community, and a business climate ripe in your own nourishment is bound for growth. Care for yourself—first—and set your next half-year plan in motion.
Sales Tip #3: Develop a Sales Support System!
Waking up or becoming conscious is something we often associate with personal development and not with growing a business.But becoming a sales-savvy business owner is more about consciously aligning yourself with what you want than almost any profession I can think of.It is the one career path that both presents formidable personal challenges while, at the same time, immediately rewarding your individual performance. It is a daily balancing act!So how do you keep from becoming out of balance, that is, being disconnected and losing your focus or hiding your power and settling for less?
A fundamental way to self improvement is connecting, on a regular basis, with someone you trust to talk about both of your selling lives.That’s right, just talk it out!Creating a support system or “sales community” is a big part of the professional equation. For some, it is the missing link in their business development plans.
In today’s marketplace, the answers lay not so much in self help as community help. Similar to keeping a weekly journal, a support group allows you to frequently revisit your specific goals. You can reflect on both your group’s selling activities and your own achievements.This discipline creates a tighter bond between your overarching intentions and your actions, too. Coincidentally, working with others also helps you develop a stronger relationship with yourself.
In small business, we need to shift away from a survival mentality – in which we perceive our peers as our competitors – and instead instill the roots of abundance. The best person to help you develop inner awareness, overcome your weaknesses, and exploit your strengths may be working right beside you!Have you reached out to any colleagues recently? If not, why not?
With these three sales tips, your small business startup has a better chance of surviving and thriving long beyond the startup phase . . . and you have a chance to thrive and enjoy the process along the way.
Lorna Donovan is President of Boulder based Leader Trends, Inc., specializing in business development and reinforcement sales training. She can be reached by telephone at 720-406-8289.
Email Address: lorna@leadertrends.com
Web Site: http://www.leadertrends.com
Reprinted from “The FORUM Newsletter,” a publication of Renaissance Executive Forums, Inc. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated copyright is held by the author. Please contact the author directly for permission to reprint or republish this article.
You have a dream and you are transforming it into reality by starting a business. You have a great product or service and a small but mighty staff. You worked day, night, and weekends to get the business up and running. Now what? As a sales consultant and small business owner, I’m often asked to suggest what the small business startup should focus on most. My answer? Focus on becoming profitable as quickly as possible and sustaining that position, not to mention your sanity, through consistent business development practices. Here are three sales tips I wish I’d known years and years ago. Good luck and super selling!
Sales Tip #1: Nothing Is More Important Than Sales!
To highlight the importance of sales, let me provide two hypothetical examples:
A bright man with a history of business success takes everything he has learned and folds it into a self development program he believes is the breakthrough idea missing from the market. He writes and self publishes a book, creates a couple of audio products, and has a great training template. He creates a jazzy logo, puts together an impressive web site, and has a host of freebies to lure potential customers. He even hires a public relations firm. All told, he spends over $100,000, which is a sizable chunk of the savings he has amassed, thanks to his previous success working for a well known firm. He stays abreast of all the newest marketing ideas, but after four years and countless hours of work, his breakthrough idea has not become the blockbuster he had envisioned. Sound familiar?
The second start-up is a modest venture begun by a working mother. Her product, forged from the complexities of her everyday life, is a product aimed at making life simpler for working mothers like her, a tool to make traveling with small children easier. She has only $1000 to invest, but she also has a great deal of commitment. With her product and child in tow, she travels far and wide, demonstrating her product and getting orders. She gradually builds a word-of-mouth business. For months, she puts all of her income back into her business. She spends nothing on office space, has no fancy giveaways, and has only a modest web site she created herself. She spends her time selling and selling, learning and improving her sales technique as she does. Four years later, she has a multi-million dollar company, a growing workforce, and her product in countries on 4 continents.
What is the difference between these two businesses? It is Sales Tip #1: Nothing is more important than sales. You may have a great idea and a great product, but if your attention is not on getting it out the door, you won’t have the success for which you dream.
Business plans, product revisions, and customer-service programs are all important, but for a new business, nothing is more important than sales.
It may be the single most common mistake in starting a new business: spending precious capital on secondary considerations. What is secondary? My list would include real estate, office equipment, stationery, business cards, employees, software, and sometimes even the product itself.
What is primary? The first and most important consideration of any new business is the fundamental selling proposition. Can you really sell your product or service the way you want at the price you want? What’s your answer?
Sales Tip #2: Plan Your Next Half-Year!
Gearing up for the rest of the selling year just might be your top priority right now.But getting focused on what is really important in developing your plan may be tricky. Writing goals, making activity plans, and keeping score is a start; but figuring out your personal motivators or ‘what keeps your head in the game’ is vital.
Consider these sales self-care questions as you plan the next six months.
In the first half of the year, did I care more for my clients than for myself? Was I too unselfish in setting my priorities? Did I over-commit to others?
If you answered “yes” to all three self-check questions, you may want to revisit your selling purpose.While there is nothing wrong with taking care of others, including your prospects and clients, you may want to consider self-preservation by way of caring for them, rather than taking care of them. Care taking others can be to the detriment of your personal motivation.The first business person you need to care for is you!
If you fail to focus foremost on your own goals, you may be prone to taking on someone else’s goals instead, which can build resentment.You may find yourself avoiding people or defending yourself against their daily bombardment of phone calls and emails.You may become cynical and burned-out.Of course, there is a problem with this. If you are in avoidance mode, you are also keeping at bay the nurturing business relationships, people and activities you need.
Take time to focus on your personal motivators and work on your plan in meaningful and fulfilling ways, so you don’t miss out on sales!You will create a selling community, and a business climate ripe in your own nourishment is bound for growth. Care for yourself—first—and set your next half-year plan in motion.
Sales Tip #3: Develop a Sales Support System!
Waking up or becoming conscious is something we often associate with personal development and not with growing a business.But becoming a sales-savvy business owner is more about consciously aligning yourself with what you want than almost any profession I can think of.It is the one career path that both presents formidable personal challenges while, at the same time, immediately rewarding your individual performance. It is a daily balancing act!So how do you keep from becoming out of balance, that is, being disconnected and losing your focus or hiding your power and settling for less?
A fundamental way to self improvement is connecting, on a regular basis, with someone you trust to talk about both of your selling lives.That’s right, just talk it out!Creating a support system or “sales community” is a big part of the professional equation. For some, it is the missing link in their business development plans.
In today’s marketplace, the answers lay not so much in self help as community help. Similar to keeping a weekly journal, a support group allows you to frequently revisit your specific goals. You can reflect on both your group’s selling activities and your own achievements.This discipline creates a tighter bond between your overarching intentions and your actions, too. Coincidentally, working with others also helps you develop a stronger relationship with yourself.
In small business, we need to shift away from a survival mentality – in which we perceive our peers as our competitors – and instead instill the roots of abundance. The best person to help you develop inner awareness, overcome your weaknesses, and exploit your strengths may be working right beside you!Have you reached out to any colleagues recently? If not, why not?
With these three sales tips, your small business startup has a better chance of surviving and thriving long beyond the startup phase . . . and you have a chance to thrive and enjoy the process along the way.
Lorna Donovan is President of Boulder based Leader Trends, Inc., specializing in business development and reinforcement sales training. She can be reached by telephone at 720-406-8289.
Email Address: lorna@leadertrends.com
Web Site: http://www.leadertrends.com
Reprinted from “The FORUM Newsletter,” a publication of Renaissance Executive Forums, Inc. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated copyright is held by the author. Please contact the author directly for permission to reprint or republish this article.
Friday, October 2, 2009
It's opportunity time.
It's the best time to make a business, so they say. Not in the media however.
Aren't you sometimes overwhelmed with all the bad news, doom and gloom?
There is a way out.
Switch off the news channel.
And I don't mean, try to hide from reality.
I mean, face the reality. It is how it is, what will you do about that?
Main stream media spin the news.
You've got to look around and see what's going on in your life.
There are smart guys who actually are making it. It's difficult, but it's doable.
Many great fortunes were started in a recession time. Many more fortunes will be build in this recession.
Aren't you sometimes overwhelmed with all the bad news, doom and gloom?
There is a way out.
Switch off the news channel.
And I don't mean, try to hide from reality.
I mean, face the reality. It is how it is, what will you do about that?
Main stream media spin the news.
You've got to look around and see what's going on in your life.
There are smart guys who actually are making it. It's difficult, but it's doable.
Many great fortunes were started in a recession time. Many more fortunes will be build in this recession.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Mobile Content. Is it where the money will be made?
The new wave of entrepreneurs will make money doing things we do not yet know how to do.
The pace of progress is unbelievable. But it's happening.
Revolution in social media revolutionize the way we do things. Will it revolutionize the way we do business?
The old model of economy is dying.
Her is the chance to make it happen. The rules are changing.
The pace of progress is unbelievable. But it's happening.
Revolution in social media revolutionize the way we do things. Will it revolutionize the way we do business?
The old model of economy is dying.
Her is the chance to make it happen. The rules are changing.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Dad, payroll - how does it work?
"Dad, payroll - how does it work?"
I'm just reading the first chapter of Christine Comaford-Lynch's book "Rules for Renegades" the New York Times bestseller.
Now, you've got to have a guts! I mean, really you've got to have a guts to do it. And a speed is of the essence too.
In fact you've got to take action and you've got to take action fast. It does not matter that you don't have all the information. Or for that reason, it does not matter that you don't have information at all.
Christine Comaford volunteered to take on 300 contractors from Microsoft and run their payrolls through her company. But, she did not have the company yet. In fact, she didn't know much about payroll if anything at all. That's why she called her Dad :)
You've got to have guts to be entrepreneur. And you've got to trust your guts!
I'm just reading the first chapter of Christine Comaford-Lynch's book "Rules for Renegades" the New York Times bestseller.
Now, you've got to have a guts! I mean, really you've got to have a guts to do it. And a speed is of the essence too.
In fact you've got to take action and you've got to take action fast. It does not matter that you don't have all the information. Or for that reason, it does not matter that you don't have information at all.
Christine Comaford volunteered to take on 300 contractors from Microsoft and run their payrolls through her company. But, she did not have the company yet. In fact, she didn't know much about payroll if anything at all. That's why she called her Dad :)
You've got to have guts to be entrepreneur. And you've got to trust your guts!
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