Your Questions Answered by Industry Experts

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Answers from Industry Experts

Business Strategy SaaS Channel Sales

I wanted to see if anyone could provide examples of SaaS offerings doing well in a distribution channel sales environment?

Karl Etzel answered: Take a look at Intermedia, from what I can tell they are a favorite of VARs and are also in the Ingram Micro cloud catalog (along w/ Box). Xero also has some level of reseller relationship with accountants but that is more than just a typical VAR or disti model, since the accountant remains deeply involved with the business client. One issue that VARs brought up in my discussions with them was branding - they really like to have their brand in front of the customer (this is one of Intermedia's selling points). Not sure if this would work for you or not. Happy to jump on a call to discuss more, I spent quite a lot of time looking into this at my last company as we launched a SaaS service.

2 answers • over 9 years

Business Strategy New Business Development Traffic Generation

Business Strategy Advice Needed - I want to sell crafts I make (mainly horseshoe art) online. What's the best way to go about this?

François Bertrand answered: Do a great video of yourself making art out of horseshoes. Make sure your sound is professional and tell us an engaging story. Cover your interview with lots of B-roll images of you doing your craft. Put extreme close-ups of your tools and materials while we hear you tell your story. Duration 3 to 5 minutes max. Create a unique brand or trade name and make sure you brand consistently each piece of art as well as your web site or blog, so you can become the Gutzon Borglum (he carved Mount Rushmore) of your trade. I wish you success and prosperity.

5 answers • over 9 years

Employee Relations

How should I handle a situation where an employee asked for a raise a couple months in advance of a scheduled raise?

Crystie Lim answered: Do you find your employee an efficient worker? Is he performing well in your business? What could be the lost in your business if he leaves? You mention that you are barely keeping up with the demands, so is it possible to hire more employees, if he leaves? These are some of the things you can think about to trigger your decision. It is important to keep the employee happy if they are giving you great performances, but it is also important to measure the benefits you can offer to the benefits of your business. I can understand your feelings when your employee address the early salary raise issue to you. If this employee is doing a great job, I believe you know that he deserves to get a raise, and it could also be a motivation for the other employees to work harder. On the other hand, if an employee is not performing efficiently, you should consider putting your focus on another that do. If you need more support regarding the issue, I will be happy to help you sort things out. Best of luck!

6 answers • over 9 years

Bookkeeping Tax Preparation

I am a small business owner. Is it okay if I have the same person who does my annual tax return also do my bookkeeping? Is this a good idea?

Chris McKee answered: If your concern is from an ethical standpoint or a concern over a segregation of duties, there is no problem at all having your tax person handling your bookkeeping. The bigger issue is something that few people understand about accountants. There are different specialties within accounting, and you should go to the right specialist for the right task. Tax accountants are experts in tax law, filling out tax returns and finding ways to minimize taxes. They must immerse themselves in the field to maintain their expertise. Financial accountants (which include bookkeeping) are experts in debits and credits and keeping all your transaction straight in your accounting software so that you can get good financials each month. Financial accountants have to immerse themselves in your day-to-day accounting so that they can keep it accurate and up to date. Full disclosure, this is the work that my firm specializes in, we don’t do any taxes. Because each type of accountant must immerse themselves in their individual fields of expertise, they don’t have the time to focus on the other expertise. Not that they are both not great accountants, they just have a different specialty. Here’s a good analogy. If you developed a heart condition, would you go see a neurologist? No, you’d go see a cardiologist. They are both outstanding physicians and know a lot about the human body, but the cardiologist spends all their time thinking about, studying, and treating heart conditions and is going to be the best equipped and most knowledgeable about treatments for your heart condition. The last point I’ll make is that tax work is very seasonal and requires incredible focus and incredibly long hours leading up to major tax deadlines. This is not only during the period from January to April 15th, but also leading up to major deadlines on August, September and October 15th. Companies I have worked with that used tax accountants in the past for their bookkeeping find during these periods their tax accountants are forced to put all other work besides taxes on hold until their tax work is complete. What often happens in these situations is that these company’s bookkeeping falls three or four months behind. This can be devastating for a small business that needs to know if they are making money or losing money on a very up to date basis. So my suggestion is to find yourself a good bookkeeper that can handle your books. Your tax person may even be able to suggest a good resource, and deep down may be glad to do so because her first love is taxes, not bookkeeping. My firm could likely handle the work as well. Hope my thoughts above are helpful and addressed your question, but feel free to reach out to me if you have any follow up questions.

7 answers • over 9 years

Valuation Exits Buyouts

How to value the exit price for a early stage startup? Multiple of current or forecasted revenues?

Jim Hendrickson answered: "Based on the success we are able to achieve" suggests, to me, you are looking at a price that will be tagged to an earn out provision. In other words, the price of the deal will be contingent on you achieving specific revenue targets in the future. If I'm reading this wrong, please correct me because it's an important piece of information. Early stage startup typically suggests a focus on revenue growth with minimal focus on earnings. The most valuable acquisitions will be those that have growth in the top quartile of the industry along with an EBITDA that is also in the top quartile. Companies with these will have the highest multiples. Revenue multiples are also a function of the industry and the general character of the market. Currently, the IPO markets are doing pretty well and the overall M&A market appears to be pretty solid making multiples equally solid. In terms of industry, the media publishing industry has moderate to slow growth depending on the segment. I'm assuming there is a social or online component to your startup which would suggest that it would be part of the new growth side of the market. Generally speaking, market growth averages are at about 8% for larger companies suggesting that new entrants should be able to sustain low to mid double digit growth over a longer horizon. "Growth rates", i.e. percentages, can be meaningless for very small companies. For instance, a company that grows from $25,000 to $250,000 in a year has a massive growth rate..... but the value may be very low due to lack of track record and overall profitability. As such, it can be very hard to estimate multiples. That said, if I were putting forth a hypothetical, it would be something like the following: Assuming: The company has over $1M in revenue and is growing at an average of 12 - 15% per year. Assuming: The company is profitable, but barely, say something in the 10% EBITDA range. Assuming: The company is a service company with few assets but is not subject to significant brain drain (key people leaving would result in devaluing the company). If any of the above are wrong, it can change things significantly. Revenue multiples might be in the 0.7 - 1.15x revenue on forward looking and .9 - 1.25 on a trailing level. EBITDA Multiples could be in the 8 - 10 times on a forward looking and 10 - 12 times on a trailing level. Take it with a grain of salt because there are a lot of factors you don't mention and more information is important to make a meaningful diagnosis.

3 answers • over 9 years

Online Marketplace eCommerce

Where can I find a coach/consultant for the online digital marketplace?

Shaun Nestor answered: You're in the right place. Clarity is loaded with experts and consultants working in this space. Do you have specific questions? I have extensive experience in this field, as well, and would be happy to walk you through some of your questions. Just book a call and let me know when you have some time to talk. If we don't connect, good luck on your venture! I would be interested in hearing how it goes!

5 answers • over 9 years

Sales Marketing

I want to make 10 sales for a basement development company by the end of this summer. Does anybody have ideas on how to market this business?

Jason Kanigan answered: OK so you are selling for a contractor who renovates unfinished basements into completed rooms? What you need to do is encounter people who are just reaching the moment when they realize they want to turn that empty unfinished basement into real rooms they can use. Then you need to sort those into people who will do it themselves (not your market) and people who are happy to pay someone else to do it (there's your market). Your website alone is not going to do that. It's just sitting there. Since you didn't share the site, I can't tell you anything about how good it will be in achieving the #1 marketing objective it has. Your thinking now should be towards: Where do people who are looking for someone to finish their basement GO? What stores do they visit? What Google searches do they enter? What questions do they want answered right now? Has your marketing been designed to respond to these kinds of questions? Here are some actionable things you can do right now. Some take guts. But if you don't believe you can actually help people, you probably shouldn't be doing what you're trying to do. 1. Craigslist ads Easiest and also easiest for your competition to flag. Cheap to post. And people will be looking on CL for a contractor. 2. Walk up to people in building supply stores and ask them if they're your target audience. Yup, this is the one that takes guts. But if you're in the aisle where the drywall is, don't you think it's likely that someone wanting to finish their basement is going to come in there? Use a negative reversal to qualify: "I don't suppose you're finishing a basement, are you?" Then if they say, "No," it's not a big deal. "Didn't think so," and go back to waiting for the next person. Or have a quick conversation about their project. If they say yes, now you can tell them you work for a contracting firm and ask if they're OK with talking about their project for a minute. Now you can qualify further to find out if they are a Do-It-Yourselfer or open to someone else doing the job. Don't spend more than a couple hours at a time prospecting this way. This is the fastest way to find customers. 3. Newspaper ad Yes, people--particularly older people, who generally have more money than their younger counterparts--still look in the Classifieds or through ads in the paper. 4. Radio ad This option could be far cheaper than you think. Media prices in the town I'm in are rock bottom compared to what I expected (I'm a TV show producer here and when I learned what it cost to put a show on the air I was flabbergasted at how cheap it was). The key with radio is relentless repetition. You need to do some research and testing to find out where your target market's age range is and when they are listening. Then you can choose the best station that matches that demographic and run that spot over and over. Stay away from TV. It's too risky for you right now. 5. Look for lists of qualified prospects This is where you really start using your brain, which is frankly why most people never get this far. WHO is in a position to want your services right now? In my 10 seconds of considering the problem, my brain says: "People who just bought a home." Many people DO renovate right after purchasing, don't they. Homebuyer lists are not hard to get. And in fact, couldn't you partner up with realtors to recommend you and only you as a favorite contractor to their buyers...in return for a referral gift? THIS is where real power in the marketplace can begin. When you get the lead immediately, before anyone else has a chance, and are referred by someone the customer trusts. Feel free to book a call if you want to develop further marketing funnels and referral programs like this.

4 answers • over 9 years

Fundraising

To raise or not to raise?

Jim Hendrickson answered: It's a shame you don't feel the fire in the belly for what you're doing but that happens. Any Angel or small VC is going to want your absolute commitment to stay with the company. They RELY on your fire in the belly to make the company happen. So, there's a real potential conflict there. Unless you're "In it to win it", I'd avoid an outside investor. That said, would it be possible to find a potential partner that could "buy in" to the company and ultimately take the helm? Even adding a minority partner that does have that fire and then finding an investor would be a better alternative than you have today. There are ways to structure an agreement with a new partner that would allow you to get paid over time based on the company's success and with an investor (although there's virtually no investor that will want you to use the funds to pay yourself immediately).

5 answers • over 9 years

Private Equity Budgeting Marketing Strategy

Need an expert advice on budgeting for a startup and equity allocation in the startup.

Trishul Patel answered: 1. Before you dive into building out marketplace software you might find it easier to quickly test your MVP using a SaaS product like https://near-me.com/. I am NOT affiliated with them. But in a previous startup explored the marketplace concept. Spend 12K for a year on a SaaS product then spending so much more doing it from the ground up. If you gain momentum then start to build out your own platform. 2. Technical Co-founder is the person who will help bring your idea to life so enough skin in the game to keep them motivated and keep him/her hungry. 3. Remember 100% of 0 is 0. So if the CTO wants 20%-25%. Does it really matter at this point? No it doesn't. 4. Make sure you understand how to tackle the marketplace problem of the chicken and egg. You have supply on one side and demand on the other. What comes first? You should think through that as well.

5 answers • over 9 years

Mastermind Groups Joint Ventures Meetup

What is the best way to start to monetize a mastermind meetup group?

Jayson Gaignard answered: This is my wheelhouse but unfortunately I am heads down putting the final touches on my MastermindTalks event. If this hasn't been answered in the next 2 or 3 weeks, I will come back in to reply... Good luck!

7 answers • over 9 years

SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B MVP Product Development

How do you build a MVP for an innovative tech b2b product? We would need good amount of funding to build a decent MVP and show businesses.

Shaun Nestor answered: The idea of an MVP is 'minimum, viable' ... If you feel you need a "good amount" of funding, I would challenge if you are minimum enough. Obviously, without knowing the details of your product, your ideal customer, or what need you will solve, it is hard to help expose what is necessary in an MVP and what is a Phase II or Phase III feature. I am happy to help you work through this, or answer specific questions, to get you rolling. Just book a call with some times that will work for you. Regardless, I would love to know more about it and how it goes after launch. To your success, -Shaun

5 answers • over 9 years

Crowdfunding Angel Investor Raising Venture Capital

Can a new startup raise its first 50K financing round via crowdfunding platform w/o a VC backing? What are the best deal incentives for the investor?

Shaun Nestor answered: You are asking one question and inferring another. Do you want to know if it is possible to raise that amount on a crowdsourced site or are you asking for the best crowdsourcing site for your fundraising? In short, yes. It is entirely possible to raise that level of funding without a VC and on crowdsourced platforms. You obviously need to know the differences between "general public" crowdsourced audiences and professional VCs; they are looking for different returns. The casual crowdfunder is generally looking for something tangible (that is why sites like Kickstarter work so well) as well as a financial incentive. VCs are looking for a return on their investment. The casual crowdfunder is more likely to be sold on the idea of getting in on the ground floor and being part of something bigger than their usual life. If you can clearly identify what problem your product is solving, and who will benefit, you can build your incentives around complementary frustrations and painpoints. If your product is an accounting application for small business, for example, find partner services that also help small businesses. If you have other questions, or I wasn't specific enough in some areas, please book a call with a couple of times that work for you and we can dig deeper. To your succes, -Shaun

3 answers • over 9 years

Public Speaking

What's the best way to improve the sound of my voice?

Jason Kanigan answered: Talk more. Game walkthrough comedian Markiplier had his voice deepen considerably over the past couple years. https://www.youtube.com/user/markiplierGAME Don't concern yourself with his CONTENT; find a video from 2 or 3 years ago of his and listen to his VOICE...then listen to a recent video to hear just how much it has changed. You obviously don't have two years. But merely by talking consistently will exercise your vocal cords and result in a deepened, stronger voice. A vocal coach is a paid option. Youtube searching for "how to improve my voice" came up with a bunch of video results.

8 answers • over 9 years

Social Media Marketing Lean startup Performance Metrics

Pivot or Persevere?

Milan Steskal answered: That's a great question and there is a lot of startups asking it. Including me. I've been asked it a few times as well. I tried to tell the people what to do at first, but soon realized that they are the ones who know their product and industry better than anyone else, so I could only ask the right question to help them decide. So here you go. 1. Have you got any plan that you can compare those metrics to, to understand whether the growth is faster or slower than you planned? 2. If you preserve, have you prepared some tests that help you validate your assumptions? For example, we wanted to give it a last try so we launched a PPC campaign. That helped us speed up the decision, because more clicks on our website helped us see the trend. (also, don't forget to set some expectations first) 3. Have you validated your pivot options before you really do the pivot? You can do the validation through customer interviews or landing page, pretty quickly. I think that you need to answer those questions first before going into more detail. Do a few build-measure-learn loops and you will get much more insights to help you decide whether to pivot or to preserve. This is one of the most difficult decisions that you are going through. Fingers crossed.

6 answers • over 9 years

Mobile applications Mobile Marketing Online Advertising

What is the best business model for mobile application development startup?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: amazing question. Relevant to me right as I look for a developer myself. There are not a lot of people looking for app developers, so ads would have been the last thing I would have suggested. An easily scalable business model is to hire local sales contractors to find and funnel leads themselves in exchange of sales commission. They become 1099 and you only pay if they sale. You can create a site or squeeze page that reflects their local market but besides that your marketing costs will drop significantly while sales should increase that much more, as I often find their results directly proportional. Best of luck! Humberto Valle #UnthinkStrategy

4 answers • over 9 years

SaaS Sales Customer Acquisition Marketing Strategy

SaaS allows for live, secure contract negotiation with version control. What are the most attractive markets to target? What job titles specifically?

Shaun Nestor answered: Many of the target groups you listed have their own proprietary contract processes/apps in place. Low hanging fruit may be independent consultants, freelancers, and small business owners. They deal with contracts all the time. If you are going to continue targetting real estate, financial, and legal firms; take a few hours and interview those you have contact within those fields. I guarantee they have frustrations with their existing program and would give you an ear-full to position your product correctly. I'd love to help more, if you have another question, or want more specifics, feel free to book a call with some times you are available to connect. To your success, -Shaun

3 answers • over 9 years

Mechanical Product Design Product Design Customer Experience

Physical Product Design: is there guidance/books on how to focus on only the most essential features that deliver the most value? (80/20...)

Caneel Joyce answered: Great question! Here are the basics: The Lean Startup by Eric Reis http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898 Running Lean by Ash Maurya http://www.amazon.com/Running-Lean-Iterate-Works-Series/dp/1449305172/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=03VER05GWM6QV80D49ZH *excellent, concrete, super actionable The Startup Owner's Manual by Steve Blank http://www.amazon.com/The-Startup-Owners-Manual-Step-By-Step/dp/0984999302/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JNJVNK8B46D6M98W1A5 *the bible! Lean Customer Development by Cindy Alvarez http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Customer-Development-Building-Customers/dp/1449356354/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429290160&sr=1-1&keywords=customer+discovery+validation *focused on methods you'll need to use to validate feature and value prop ideas When in doubt, **stop debating**. You are not your customer. Get out of the building. Don't build unless you're testing what you build, and ready to throw away what you build when you get answers. Good luck! Books are helpful as background, but for specific advice on where you and your company specifically should invest time, set up a call with me. https://clarity.fm/caneel

3 answers • over 9 years

Funding Venture Funding Equity Funding

What are the best places in London to pitch to angel investors?

François Bertrand answered: There is no such thing as "a best place to pitch an angel". You fish bass where you find them...

2 answers • over 9 years

MVP Start-ups Customer Development

I have to contact my early adopters next week (around 7). I will be thinking about some questions this weekend. Do you have any advice? Any must?

Sarah Brody answered: It really depends on what your product is, but ultimately you want to learn about their experience using your product (what obstacles they've come up against, what features they use most/get the most value out of, things they don't understand, etc). You can also calculate an early NPS (net promoter score) by asking how likely they would be to recommend your product to a friend. (http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/know) It'll be tempting to focus in on the areas that are of greatest concern to you (and you can certainly bring those up) but try to stick to open-ended questions to learn the most from your interviews. ex: Instead of "Would you use a new feature that helps you do X?" ask "How do you imagine you'd use a new feature that helps you do X?" or "What new feature would you want us to add?"

3 answers • over 9 years

App Development Marketing Strategy Start Ups

I am the head of sales for a new start up "App". What is the best way to get the word out?

Paul Kemp answered: How about 'getting the word out' by talking about your startup and app on podcasts. You can start with my daily show called The App Guy Podcast. Subscribe On iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-app-guy/id771670010?mt=2 then contact me through my website http://TheAppGuy.co

4 answers • over 9 years

Marketplaces Online Marketplace

Should I pivot my business from an agency based model to a marketplace model ?

Trishul Patel answered: 1. Congrats on building a successful business. 2. It is important to look at your existing business and see what other services you can offer to the existing client base before you try to pivot the business. 3. What services do your customers use other firms for that you could bring in-house without increasing your overall expenses? 4. Examples: a. Translating the writing into other languages. b. SEO writing c. Developing Brand Voice / Brand Guidelines d. Ghostwriting 5. I would check out www.contently.com and some of their competitors who run successful marketplaces for writers and companies.

4 answers • over 9 years

Company Culture Culture Change

How do I improve an old and small tech company culture?

Evan Volgas answered: I'm going to answer this from the perspective of an engineer who has worked in similar environments and who has had leadership changes that went well, as well as ones that didn't Basically you're describing an environment in which people aren't doing as much as they are capable of, they were working in a hostile environment in which threats were common, and there's a sort of lack of accountability + poor communication / collaboration. Okay first thing, I wouldn't recommend using analytics to hold people accountable. Not yet anyway. It's a carrot and a stick problem and bringing out the stick first... you're likely to add demoralized staff to the list of problems you're trying to solve. What if instead you talked to everyone and explained your vision for the company and then followed up with each employee over the next week or two. Figure out what their vision for their own career is and what they want the next year to look like, the the next three, the next five. If you can align your employee's goals and ambitions to your own, I think you'll have a lot more luck getting people to solve the disfunction that they can. And they'll be a lot more understanding when you start taking measures to hold people accountable. Again, just my perspective as an engineer. I would bet you that the people you are working with are aware of the same problems as you. And they would probably agree with you that people need to be held accountable. But you need to be careful about how you do that. Accountability right now probably will look like more micromanagement and intimidation. Paint a picture for where you want to go and commit to helping your people reach where they want to go... well, then accountability isn't such a bitter pill and it will likely be seen as necessary, not more of the same toxic leadership that wrecked the culture last time.

5 answers • over 9 years

Legal Advice Legal Services Legal

If a US-based individual has worked for a Canadian co as a "partner" for years (but never signed an agreement), who retains rights for work completed?

François Bertrand answered: Before litigating on one another, why don't you instruct your respective legal counsel not to sue, but rather to MEDIATE and come up with a FAIR solution for both parties based on: hard dollars invested, sweat equity and ideas. And before you even spend your after-tax dollars as an entrepreneur to do that, ask yourself: how much money did this business generate so far? If the answer is 0$ you may want to reconsider implicating your lawyers. Maybe you are chasing a FBI (false beautiful idea), but nonetheless you may think you have invested so much time, effort, money and emotions in the project so you don't want to let go. That's ok, but pick a fight that has a REAL prize to win, not some maybe-vague-possible revenue stream, otherwise the only winners will be your lawyers....Litigation: you know when it starts, but never when it will end...

2 answers • over 9 years

Growth Hacking Referrals Social Media Marketing

How can I create non-forced (natural) engagement from my customers / fans to share and refer to other friends?

Trinadh Kotturu answered: I know this is a tricky problem to solve on optimizing costs and trying to get customers refer your service. Referral schemes work perfectly where incremental costs of adding additional service is marginal, like the case of DropBox. When the incremental costs are a significant portion and adding additional service is going to impact your CapEx, you need to identify the portions of the service which can be given away with less cost. So in this example, how about a free last-mile delivery for the next shipment for every friend who refereed your service to their friends? This won't hurt your bottom line a lot but brings up the top line. Another way is leveraging the social angle associated. When someone is shipping a good internationally, the next thing he want to do is tell people about their sharing. Can you actually integrate social channels to your service, so that they can share it with world easily.

5 answers • over 9 years

Start-ups Strategic Planning

How do you handle "stealth mode"?

Deep Singh answered: Thanks for your question. If things go well the boss will find out anyway, so you may as well assume you will do well and have a conversation with him now. Now we don't know enough about your idea to really advise well enough, but in general I'd try and position it as a 'weekend hobby', and as something he/she shouldn't be worried about. Also, I really wouldn't worry about the boss doing what you do just because they can. I'm guessing anyone connected with you on social media or networking events could do so too. People are way too busy with their own stuff to allocate enough time and resources to do what you do, nor are they as advanced in the business as you have been, given you've spent valuable time gaining key insights that they couldn't never gain from hacking a version of your business. Hope this helps. Good luck!

4 answers • over 9 years

CDN Software Development

Which one CDN do you have set up, and was it easy to do? Suggestions?

Tony Lester answered: I use CloudFlare... It works great and it is free. Really no reason to even look around.

4 answers • over 9 years

Funding Start-ups Investors

I have recently created a profile in AngelList https://angel.co/datacusp ? I have few questions relating to this from experts.

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: This is a very complex question. I have personally gone through funding, I've used angellist and other platforms for this purpose. The reason for needing funds is not a concern for you at this time. Your concern is approach. Focus on that. Check out my blog Http://Unthinkeverything.blogspot.com I have some books listed there that I recommend, I particularly did benefit a lot from the Presentations one that is there on the right in my blog. Your goal is to craft an image that engages with a certain type of Persona, similar to what you should do when crafting a marketing strategy to sell your product. Then make that pitch, angel profile, landing page, pitch deck... All speak to that persona only. All you have to do is convince one person, but if you trysts focus on pleasing everyone you'll end up with nobody. That's often true because investors go for the people running the business not the MVP or idea alone. Even a great idea if not presented correctly will lose opportunity. To give you more detailed insight and guidance give me a call. This is not easy but it is a lot of fun!

3 answers • over 9 years

Operations Office Administration

Recommendations on a NYC based mailbox service that accepts, scans, forwards internationally etc?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: Please post a specific question.

1 answer • over 9 years

Entrepreneurship Ideas

I've got so many ideas that are exciting, but I can't find the focus to pursue only one! Should I just pursue 2 or 3 simultaneously? If not, why?

Dave Rogenmoser answered: If this is your first venture, I would definitely say just pick 1. Getting even one idea off the ground will take everything you have! IF you can pull of one first, you will be able to do more down the road for sure. In the last 45 day, I've gone from $0-$12k revenue (most of it recurring monthly) offering digital marketing consulting. It took me a few months of crazy focus on getting traction, but now that I've starting bringing in revenue, I can think a bit more about if there are some other things I'd like to weave in. Get after it, my friend! Shoot me a message if you need some help.

11 answers • over 9 years

Sales Direct Sales

Does it pay to hire people to get appointments for you? I have a B2B SAAS software for enterprise applications.

Bob Hatcher answered: It's really simple arithmetic. If you pay your sellers to close deals and they make, say $200k, why would you want them to spend time doing what you can hire someone for $60k to do? I've used the outside "appointment setter" companies. They usually charge roughly $700 per appointment. So, do the arithmetic again. If you close one in, say four, then add $2800 into your cost of sales and see if it makes sense.

3 answers • over 9 years

Start-ups MVP

I developed a MVP and we launched 5 months ago. Only 4 usd/day in adwords Should I keep trying or close it and try another idea? (see details)

Tamer Maher answered: Ad words is not marketing. It is just the beginning.. Web marketing includes SEO, SMM, ads, facebook marketing, twitter marketing, youtube, limkedin..etc. besides, it is more important to get engaged to people. Interaction in blogs, forums , discussions.. You may also think of having sales people to work with you, do some tele marketing, have promotion codes.. Depending in your target market, you may need to have printed ads on magazines, flyers, newspapers..etc or even radio or tv ads... You need to know where your customers and go to them.. Either online or offline.. Besides, you need to work on branding and also on showing how differentiated you are from the comparatives. Or if no comparatives, then show you have a solution that doesnlt exist. The 200 leads you reached, you need to talk to them and have their feedback.. Give them trials ..etc. Most people think they will make a million $ sales after making the MVP which doesnt happen. The effort you need to do on marketing and sales is even more than what you did till you reached your MVP. For a 10$ thing, you need at least to reach 20000 leads , before thinking of takin anything down. Coz till now, you dodnt reach your customers. It is time to start :) I'll be there to help... Good Luck!!!!

3 answers • over 9 years

Press Releases Marketing Strategy Growth Hacking

How do I get my website noticed through press releases?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: Why are you adamant about press releases? They are by far the worst conversion rates {unless you're a household name like the post or fool} for businesses. For our evens we do sometimes send out PRs but locally only and to those writers we know. Which is key. Also making it easy for them to pick up. {copy and paste for them} For growth hacking leverage cohort analysis, Twitter and Facebook. Create a meetup. Offer affiliates... Press releases are slow moving marketing steps that take away control from your business and gives it to an editor. Never lose control of your marketing. Humberto Valle Unthink Strategy

6 answers • over 9 years

Corporate Law Intellectual Property

If I created a product and business, and then worked for a new employer and we talk about and demo my invention, is it now my employer's IP?

Madhu Singh, Attorney, MBA answered: Several follow up questions: 1. Do you have any sort of employment agreement now? 2. Did you disclose early on that you were working on this side project? 3. What state are you in? 4. Have you taken steps to protect the proprietary info to date--such as using an NDA? 5. Does anyone else within the company know about this recipe? 6. Is the former employer in the industry to any extent? From your description it sounds like a maybe. The goal here would be to separate the proprietary details and show that this did not fall within the realm of your employment. I don't think that your employer has enough of a leg to stand on here so even going to court would not be a sure thing for him. However there are some preventive steps you can take now based on answers to the questions above. Let me know if you would like to chat more, Thanks, Madhu

2 answers • over 9 years

Mobile Apps Mobile Marketing User Engagement

Why mobile users prohibit apps sending push-messages?

Laura Rubinstein answered: You may think many users automatically prohibit the sending of push notifications and that may be the case for those who feel push notifications are intrusive and annoying. That being said, research actually indicates that app retention and engagement are up In fact, 68% of users opt-in to push notifications according to Responsys' research (http://www.responsys.com/blogs/nsm/mobile-marketing/push-notifications-marketers-new-power-tool/ ). Furthermore, research shows that engagement is up because of push notifications (http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1010950). . That's why marketers are focusing in on push notification strategies according to Localytics research http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Proof-App-Push-Notifications-Actually-Matter/1011149. So if you know of an app getting poor engagement over time, the question really should be "Why is our app not engaging and what would engage users?" Also, "Is it obvious what benefit someone gets by opting into the push notifications?"

4 answers • over 9 years

Social Media Strategy Social Media Marketing Strategy Social Media

I've been asked to manage the social media presence of a non-profit that educates people who want to be entrepreneurs. What can I do to get results?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: This is loaded question. Give anyone of us here with that expertise a call to help you out better and in more depth. Humberto Valle Unthink Strategy

8 answers • over 9 years

International Law Online business Tax Law

Where should my online business be registered?

Christian Saraïlis answered: Thanks for your question, it is very interesting and a question our client often have. I am an international business lawyer and often have to deal with this kind of situation. To answer your question briefly, in general principles, your business is resident where is located your head office (which is in most case dictated by your governing law). To answer your question fully, I think it would be helpful to know exactly why you need to establish "where is your business" since the interpretation principles may vary depending of the reason i.e. tax, corporate, contract, etc.

2 answers • over 9 years

Legal Advice Consumer Products Product Management

Has anyone purchased a UPC code for a physical consumer product?

Bill DAlessandro answered: I've used Nationwidebarcode.com to buy over 100 UPCs and have never had a problem at Amazon or any of our 100+ SMB retailers.

3 answers • over 9 years

Growth Hacking Online Advertising Marketing Strategy

What paid advertising, email marketing, growth strategy, SEO, PR, etc. methods had the most impact on increasing your website customer base?

Nicholas Scalice answered: I hate to be "that guy," but I'm gonna say, "it depends." What I mean by this is it is highly subjective to the market you are in and the target you're going after. However, with that being said, let me share a few of my favorite growth-hacky-type ideas that you might want to consider using to grow your customer base: #1 - Produce a TON of content. Make it valuable, and don't cut corners. Then, promote it to your existing tribes. If you don't already have a tribe, see the bullet #2. #2 - Build a tribe. Get started at a place like triberr.com where you can connect your social profiles and your blog and share with likeminded folks. It takes time to get going, but you'll thank me for it later. #3 - Test every aspect of your landing pages. Use something like Unbounce (my favorite) to strip down every element of your pages and split test constantly. Get used to the fact that your landing pages are NEVER complete. They can always be improved. #4 - Build an email list from your blog traffic by using "content upgrades" or "lead magnets." Search Google for the specifics, but basically, you create free content that is related to each post on your blog that the reader can download in return for subscribing to your newsletter. It works like a charm! Let me know if you want me to go into further detail on any of this stuff.

6 answers • over 9 years

Startups Business Networking

What are good ways to meet startups after they have received their Series A or B funding?

Trishul Patel answered: 1. I would attend Demo days for startups and plant seeds there. Attending meetups can be very helpful as well. 2. Subscribe to Crunchbase. When you see certain companies have raised certain about of money reach out to them. You can go cold or through an introduction. I am a firm believer in doing whatever it takes. If you don't have an intro then go cold. If you don't try you will never know.

3 answers • over 9 years

Facebook Marketing Facebook Advertising Social Media Marketing

How do I find viral images that you can "boost" on Facebook that meet the 20% text rule?

Ali Mirza answered: Yes FB is very strict about 20% test rule on the images. I typically do this.. 1 - Find an awesome image form free website (here are some) http://www.gratisography.com/ www.unsplash.com 2 - Add text or puzzle I want on this image 3 - Check the 20% rule using FB grid tool https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay?_rdr 4 - Promote on FB hope this helps :)

4 answers • over 9 years

Start-ups Lean Startups Growth Hacking

I have created an app for a target market, but it looks like they don't need it. Other markets might do. Is it time to move on?

Dave Guilford answered: It's hard to give a really cut and dried answer without knowing all the details, but here are some tips based on my experience: First the bad news: from the way your question is worded, it sounds like you built the app without validating first. What I mean by that is that you didn't go out to the musician market BEFORE you built it to make sure they would buy it. And the only way to be absolutely sure that they would buy it (someone telling you, "Yeah, I'd totally buy that." doesn't count) is to pre-sell the app for real actual money. The key is to do this market validation before building anything. Now for the good news: even though your target market isn't showing much interest, it sounds like others are, so here's what you do: make a list of the folks who are interested and the industries they're from. Now research those industries and find the particular pain point that your app solves for. THIS is how you market the app. It probably means getting in touch with some of the people who have shown interest and asking them questions along the lines of, "What's the worst part about..." or "What do you hate most about..." and then listen to what they tell you. Tailor your solution to solve these pain points and you'll be surprised how receptive the market is. The critical takeaway here is validation. When it comes to app development, there really is no substitute for market validation. A good place to start (if you haven't already done so) is with a Business Model Canvas (https://strategyzer.com/canvas). It'll really crystallize your thinking and give you a specific direction. As for whether you should pivot to a new target industry, I can't think of a reason why not, especially if your app provides a unique solution for a different industry. I'm happy to walk you through the validation process and/or the Business Model Canvas over the phone if you like. Hope this helps.

3 answers • over 9 years

Strategic Consulting Attention To Detail Online Help

What tools and resources would you recommend for those who have ADHD, who have decided to start a business?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: You know I have never come across such tools. I did get a chance to work with an entrepreneur who has ADHD, I served as his business adviser. Our setup was that he did not spend time on things unless we talked about it first and I held him to super tight schedules. It workout great! His tool sales business is doing fantastic here in Glendale,AZ. On another note, I think every entrepreneur suffers from this but we call it drowning in opportunity! Lol. Best of luck in all that you do! Humberto Valle Unthink Strategy

3 answers • over 9 years

bootstrapping Funding Sales & Biz Dev

Looking to start a tour business with my personal van. Do I need a business license before or tax ID before I do my first driving job?

Ron Bronson answered: Applying for a Tax ID (EIN) is pretty simple and can be done online during the week by visiting: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online Doing so will enable you not to have to use your social security number when you have situations that ask specifically for a business ID, like doing business with other parties or for billing certain entities. The bigger issues are what kind of "tour" business are you talking about? Not knowing what state you're in, there might be local or state laws regarding the kind of business you're looking to perform that you'll want to be aware of. I read this as "tour" for musicians, but if you're talking about taking people on tours around a certain area, there will be a variety of liabilities that you'll want to ensure you're protected from in the event something happens. Hope this helps get you started.

2 answers • over 9 years

bootstrapping Philanthropy Marketing Strategy

Creating a free website for a homeless person and giving him a QR code. Giving digital download as perk for donation. What would move you to donate?

Joseph Peterson answered: Fun perks? Hell no! Most people don't give because there's no assurance that money will be used properly. It may simply be feeding a habit or going down a bottomless pit. If a homeless person were raising money not for himself directly but for a reputable charity, then that might motivate contributions. So if the QR code led to a local charity website – one that gives him a place to stay, rehab resources (if needed), counseling, job placement, etc., then someone like me would be much more likely to give. Where I'm located at the moment, 2 or 3 homeless people per day approach me asking for money. Without assurance that the money would be used to help that person, I don't give. If he held out a QR code that took me to the local charity that's helping him out, that would be entirely different. He'd become a nonprofit fundraiser rather than a beggar. And that's a crucial difference – not only for getting results (i.e. money) but also for his self-respect. Holding out an empty hand = begging. Holding out a QR code as a fundraiser = employment.

4 answers • over 9 years

Start-ups SaaS Business Plan Evaluation

How can I determine whether a specific SaaS product idea is a worthwhile pursuit?

Sushant Bharti answered: You answered the question yourself. Preexistence of similar product is an indication of the demand. Given that your product have some additional feature, you should try to leverage the same and gain first mover advantage. Once you hit the tarmac you'll see other ideas evolving within yourself to maintain that advantage. Secondly, there's nothing called good or bad idea. What fails an idea is absence of optimum planning and poor execution. Make sure you plan your road ahead into small achievable milestones. Hope above should be of some help!!

3 answers • over 9 years

Statistical Modeling Online Marketplace Automotive

Can you build a used car valuation product from Autotrader (or any other online classifieds) data?

Joseph Peterson answered: Hmm .. Interesting that you say your sector isn't being addressed. Wonder why ... But if so, then that's an opportunity. I've spent the past 4 years specializing in probably THE hardest market for making accurate appraisals: the domain name industry. For me as an engineer, that has meant crunching numbers. So I'm intimately familiar with the issues involved in making inferences about value from partial list-price and sale-price data. In fact, I spend much of each day compiling raw data and building database-driven tools to organize and analyze it. So I don't know the auto industry at all, but I know a thing or 2 about figuring out the value of assets in obscure areas. Certainly a model can be constructed for extrapolating value from list prices. It only remains to be determined how wide the margin of error would be and what kind of latent bias might exist. If you'd like my help, just ask.

2 answers • over 9 years

Recruiting

What is the best way to find a CTO for my start up?

Karl Etzel answered: I'd take a look at the large, established companies in the technology space in which you want to operate. Somewhere at one of those companies is an astute, experienced person who might be ready to get out of the big company environment if you come along with the right idea. E.g. Cisco if you are doing networking, Salesforce if you are doing marketing automation, Intuit if you are doing financial apps. The trick is finding one who not only has the technical expertise and wants to get out, but is well suited financially and psychologically for a startup. I learned the hard way that co-founders who are not in the same boat financially can make for an unhappy parting.

5 answers • over 9 years

Contract Negotiation Strategic Planning Joint Ventures

How do I work around the fact that big companies, that want my service, have policies not do business with small companies like mine?

François Bertrand answered: Your business model seems to be a SAAS model (software as a service). The best way to make them forget about your company size is to provide them with a working free trial offer of your software and to get them to input as much of their own data into it so they will think twice before switching to another provider. I wish you success and prosperity. François B.

4 answers • over 9 years

Ecommerce Strategy eCommerce Mobile applications

I was once told that the best way to differentiate yourself in the world of mobile ecommerce P2P apps is strong marketing. Would you agree with that?

Humberto Valle Texas Real Estate Investor, Wholesaler, & Airbnb Superhost answered: If you assume all other things are equal, why market? Traditional marketing is becoming more and more ineffective. "Strong marketing" is growth hacking. No question about it. So if what you heard referred to growth hacking, yes I agree. If they meant - spend more in exposure and cross your fingers your copy / content was catchy enough they download and use... Then I wouldn't agree. Humberto Valle Hack Marketer, Curious Learner, Entrepreneur. Unthink

3 answers • over 9 years

Early-stage Startups MVP Lean startup

Once an MVP is on, how long does it take to be sure my start up is successful and go to the next stage? Which number do I need to know it was success?

Ibrahim Faza answered: It depends on what are you testing by launching MVP. MVP is use to run an experiment to test (validate / invalidate) business assumptions (Customer, problem, solution , channel ... assumptions). If your are interested, I can share some material about MVP and validating business assumptions

5 answers • over 9 years