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Browse: Home / Start-up Advice

Start-up Advice

Scaling Sales: Arming & Aiming – Objection Handling

Scaling Sales: Arming & Aiming – Objection Handling

By Mark Suster on November 2, 2010

This is part of a series on sales & marketing.  The original post of this article on appeared on GigaOm in a more concise version here. I previously covered how early phase sales teams should be “evangelical” and consultative in nature.  As a tech startup grows it needs to develop more process & management if […]

Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Featured Posts | Tagged sales, Start-up Advice

Venture Capital Q&A Session

By Mark Suster on July 30, 2010

We received so much positive feedback from our This Week in Venture Capital show walking through valuation calculations & term sheets that we decided to do a Q&A show this week to address topics that entrepreneurs want to learn about.  We will continue to do more of this. Click above to watch the show, and […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice

Doing the Right Things is More Important than Doing Things Right

Doing the Right Things is More Important than Doing Things Right

By Mark Suster on July 15, 2010

Yesterday I wrote a post about top-down versus bottom-up thinking. There is a corollary to that advice, which is “doing the right things is more important than doing things right.”  Sounds simple but in practice I promise you most organization fall into the latter trap. Here’s how it goes: You have a business development group […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice | 1 Response

I Want My CIC!  - The Benefits for Startups to Be Co-Located

I Want My CIC! – The Benefits for Startups to Be Co-Located

By Mark Suster on July 12, 2010

[if you’re not old enough to get the reference between this image and the title you can click on the image for a prompter] This past December I spent a week in Boston to try to get to know some of the local VC’s and entrepreneurs a bit better.  One of the meetings I had […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice, Tech Market Analysis

The Power of “In Person” – Why Distributed Teams are Less Effective

The Power of “In Person” – Why Distributed Teams are Less Effective

By Mark Suster on July 6, 2010

In the era of Skype, web conferencing tools and collaboration software conventional wisdom says that distributed startup teams can be just as effective as those that are in person. Conventional wisdom is wrong.  Or more precisely the people espousing the benefits of distributed startups teams are often distributed and therefore self rationalizing it.  Been there. […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Entrepreneur Advice, Start-up Advice, Startup Advice | 3 Responses

People Management: Startup Teams Should Dip but not Skip

People Management: Startup Teams Should Dip but not Skip

By Mark Suster on July 1, 2010

We all like to think of startups as “non hierarchic” organizations and to some extent that should be true.  I’m not a big believer in too much hierarchy.  A good early-stage CEO needs to be accessible, to be accountable for producing results and should be establishing the cultural norms of the company through direct leadership […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Entrepreneur Advice, Start-up Advice, Startup Advice

Don’t Sweep Feedback Under the Rug

Don’t Sweep Feedback Under the Rug

By Mark Suster on June 23, 2010

There are two things that have really surprised me in my years in “management” 1. How few people give their employees real feedback on a regular and formal basis 2. How much employees crave this information, whether positive or negative So my message to you if you work in a position where you have people […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice

How Many Times Should You Tweet Your Blog Post?

How Many Times Should You Tweet Your Blog Post?

By Mark Suster on June 17, 2010

Last September I was on a panel with Guy Kawasaki talking about Twitter.  He said at the time that he Tweeted 4 times for every story that he wrote.  FOUR TIMES!  The exact same Tweet.  I couldn’t believe it.  His rationale was that he found that his audience was tuning into Twitter at several different […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Marketing Advice, sales, Start-up Advice | 16 Responses

Steven Blank Kills It at Greycroft CEO Summit

Steven Blank Kills It at Greycroft CEO Summit

By Mark Suster on June 9, 2010

I’m typing this from the lawn of Alan Patricof’s “Greycroft” home in East Hampton – my first time in the Hamptons.  Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA.  We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Entrepreneur Advice, Start-up Advice, Startup Advice

Asking Questions More Effectively

Asking Questions More Effectively

By Mark Suster on June 7, 2010

The ability to ask questions effectively is one of the most important skills in business as is the ability to actively listen.  Yet as important as these two skills are they really don’t seem to ever be taught in school.  I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Entrepreneur Advice, Start-up Advice, Startup Advice

This Week in VC with Farb Nivi, Founder of Grockit

This Week in VC with Farb Nivi, Founder of Grockit

By Mark Suster on June 4, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on.  We had Farb Nivi, who is the founder & CEO of Grockit, a website that enables online group learning.  It’s always such a pleasure for me to spend […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice

An Investors View on Twitter’s Announcements – I’m not Abandoning the Ecosystem

An Investors View on Twitter’s Announcements – I’m not Abandoning the Ecosystem

By Mark Suster on May 27, 2010

I have read much commentary on my Twitter stream (ironically) and in the press about how investors are going to abandon investments in the Twitter ecosystem because they seem to appear hostile to ecosystem partners.  Let me be the first to say that I don’t agree with this notion. Let me explain. 1. Regarding protecting […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged adly, ads, ecosystem, investments, Start-up Advice, twitter, twitter ads, vc funding

Startups and VCs Should Avoid “Pier” Funding

Startups and VCs Should Avoid “Pier” Funding

By Mark Suster on May 25, 2010

Often when startups who have raised venture capital need another round of financing they will turn to their existing investors to give them money before raising from outsiders.  This happens when the company has been making steady progress but hasn’t built enough “proof” to raise its next round of financing from external investors. The traditional […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Entrepreneur Advice, Raising Venture Capital, Start-up Advice, Startup Advice

This Week in VC with Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners

This Week in VC with Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners

By Mark Suster on May 20, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle, partner at Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles.  It’s always fun debating companies with Dana because she’s always so knowledgeable on deals – particularly those in the digital media, ad-tech and eCommerce spaces. You can watch the video […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice, This Week in Venture Capital

Learn to Say “NO” to Meetings

Learn to Say “NO” to Meetings

By Mark Suster on May 19, 2010

As a startup entrepreneur you’ll have many demands for your time.  Especially if you start to have a degree of success or build a high public profile.  Everyone will want you to speak at conferences.  Service providers will want to get to know you.  Potential employees want to “get together.”  VC’s will want to learn […]

Posted in Entrepreneurship | Tagged Start-up Advice

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