Marketing – Some Basics on How and When
4 September, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
You have the idea – now should you wait until you have a product to begin marketing? Or should marketing start in the product development phase? I’ve been doing marketing for start-ups for years now and know from experience, even though Marketing should be done from the very beginning, it’s typically held off until the product is close to finished. Why do I think this is a mistake? Because without some market research and understanding quite often products are made that aren’t actually needed in the market or good products have features that most people won’t like. Or the price to manufacture is seriously above the original planned market price (I did mention research is needed). And, as Google Buzz showed – what engineers think is important isn’t necessarily what the market will enjoy. (Remember how they thought automatically following people that you correspond with via Gmail would be a good idea – people didn’t like it. I’m not saying engineers aren’t people – but most people aren’t engineers…) Google Wave would be another great example of what was expected to be a revolutionary product ended up fizzling out to a sad meh of a death.
Marketers (if they are good) should understand the voice of the customer and with that the needs and desires of the customer. Making a good that isn’t aimed at a customer is a waste of time. Products are meant to be sold, after all. And once that product is made – when is the right time to start the product launch? In reality – about 6 months before.
Yes, that’s right – at least 6 months before actual launch.
Why? Because launching a new product means buzz is needed – and unless you are Google, who can mention and launch a product in a day and every early adopter will be frothing at the mouth to get it (Hello Priority Gmail Inbox), then buzz takes time. If you’re a startup and don’t have the power of Google behind you, then you need to start your groundwork early. Who is your market? If you’re B2C (business to consumer) then you need to start targetting and building relationships with key influencers and bloggers in the arena you will launch. If you are a B2B (business to business) then the same relationships are required - but the aim is smaller, more focused. Either way your goal is to be mentioned with a positive tone in whatever publications your customer is interested in and by industry leaders that others listen to and respect. That can only happen by building up the relationship slowly, by giving a lot and by not asking for anything in return for a very long time.
When the time comes, you’re going to ask for one simple small thing: would you please try out my [product or service] for free? You aren’t going to ask them to talk about it. They’ll do that on their own if they like it. Which is exactly what you want – an honest opinion that people trust reported online.
The Launch – Some of the Basics
Every form of social media that you choose to engage in should be updated regularly. Blog posts should be at least once a week if not more – realistically it should be business week daily. Same with Facebook posts and Twitter. YouTube should be maintained. All pages should have backgrounds that are properly branded and a call to action should be optimized on all fronts.
Have your Facebook page ready to go and make sure it’s optimized (landing tab, videos if you have them, FAQs tab if needed etc…). The method on Facebook changes depending on what kind of product you have. For B2Bs the focus will generally be on engaging the customer and giving them information that they will find helpful in their day to day operations. The goal here is to build reciprocity. If it’s a B2C product then typically the goal is to build community – which means that an editorial calendar is a good idea. Things to keep in mind:
- Which posts are getting the most response – and then figure out why.
- Which posts aren’t getting a response at all – and then figure out why.
- Call to action (i.e. Like, Share & Comment) - only one to three (one is best) per posts. More makes people confused and they end up doing nothing.
Blog
The main purpose of a blog is to grow your email list. Even with all of the different forms of social media marketing out there today – nothing beats a great newsletter campaign to get people to do things. The blogs should give information that is important to your customer. Posts should end with a question to encourage commenting – unless the goal of the post is to get people to buy, and then the comments should be turned off and a call to action should be at the very bottom of the post (this should be done very very very sparingly).
The content has to be good and helpful or else people won’t sign up or read your blog.
My favorite way to engage. However, it takes time and effort. There are various ways companies use their twitter stream:
- Promote sales & new products (DellOutlet)
- Social customer relationshionship management (Ford Customer Service)
- Building community and relationships (Scott Monty for Ford)
YouTube
It’s the #2 search engine online and you’d be amazed at how companies are using YouTube to market themselves.
Conferences & Events
Nothing beats meeting face to face. Planning which industry events are essential for networking should be done ahead of time. Especially since most major conferences start selling booth space at least 8 months before the next conference begins. Find out from organizers who will be at the conference and set up meetings with potential clients about 1 to 2 months before the conference begins.
Webinars
Want to let a lot of people worldwide know what your product or service does? Do a webinar (and then post a portion of it on your YouTube page).
Advertising & Sponsoring Events
If your potential customers are at an event then sponsoring is a great way to get mind share. If they aren’t at the event then it’s a big waste of money. Make sure you’re certain they are there before spending the cash.
Same goes with regular advertising.
There’s loads of other ways to engage your market (location based services like Foursquare, Google Places and Yelp for example). Having a strategy mapped out ahead of time with goals and timelines in place is the best way to get there. Do you think I’ve caught the main basics? What else would you add?
So You’ve Got a Great Idea – Creating a Proof of Concept
31 July, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
So you have an idea. A great idea. The kind of idea that could change the world. An idea so amazing that you’re afraid to tell anyone about it – even your mother. People have started looking at you strangely because you’ve become so paranoid that you’re afraid someone will read your mind and steal The Idea.
But will your idea work?
When you have an idea for a new product, you should be able to explain what it is, what need it will fulfill and how it will do so. It’s also important to be able to prove, at least hypothetically, that your solution is capable of everything you think it is before you or anyone else invests in the idea. In other words, you need a proof-of concept (PoC). A PoC is used to carefully examine the need for a proposed solution early in its development cycle, and to figure out exactly what solution is required and how it will play out in the real world. This solution can be anything from a new type of electrical circuit, to a new medication, to a piece of hardware or software.
By testing your idea in a PoC, you will be better able to determine how feasible the idea is, identify potential stumbling blocks, determine what features a given platform can or can’t provide and establish the scope and level of customization necessary to complete the project. If something either doesn’t work or is unfeasible, this is also a valid outcome – if you had skipped this step, you would have invested unnecessary resources in launching a product that doesn’t actually meet your needs. In other words “let’s not do it” is a valuable result, primarily because you’ll have invested a relatively small amount of time and money and saved yourself from an investment that would have been much more costly!
Moreover, when looking for outside investors for your company or project, a proof of concept is usually required to demonstrate that the proposal is fiscally sound. For example, a company interested in developing a new suite of software would look at market demand, feasibility of the project, projected cost, and other factors.
Your PoC should provide basic details regarding the need you are addressing. What type of individual, business or organization typically encounters this need? In what type of situation and at what point in the organization’s “life cycle”? Include a detailed description of the environment in which this need arises; for example, the PoC for a new software solution should include such details as the underlying hardware infrastructure and the operating system(s) in which this need is encountered.
You may also want to briefly touch upon any existing solutions that are currently available and explain why they are not viable or complete solutions to the described need, while providing evidence that your solution is a better one. Describe your proposed solution in detail, together with all its features and capabilities. To continue with the previous example, this means including mockups of the user interface (e.g., all possible menus, screens, tabs, graphs, etc) as well as a list of the available modules, functions, sub-functions and so forth. Where relevant, explain how things will look and feel for different possible user roles. If your solution will incorporate third party tools or technologies, which ones and why? How will these additions be integrated into your solution? What obstacles have you foreseen and how will you address them? In software especially, security is often a primary concern, as is compliance with any existing standards and regulations.
Be sure to address the financial and logistical aspects as well. How much is it costing the hypothetical customer to leave this need unresolved or to address it using other available solutions, and how much will it cost them to implement your solution? Explain the implementation process in detail: what is involved and how long it will take? Finally, describe how everything will play out in one or two test cases and check whether any adjustments need to be made.
It’s important to note that a PoC is not the same as a pilot project. A proof of concept is intended to prove any assumptions in a non-production environment with no end-user involved, while a pilot’s goal is to verify, on the production network with live data and real end-users, that the vision of the project is being addressed.
© Image courtesy of D’Arcy Norman
Lightweight concurrency in Python
27 July, 2010 · By shai · Read More · No Comments
Yesterday, in a meeting of PyWeb-IL, Uriel Katz presented different options of asynchronous networking (and general event handling) in Python. His favorite of the bunch was gevent, which is based on greenlet.
Greenlet is specifically interesting because it allows very lightweight “concurrency” — in the form of coroutines. This means that there’s no real concurrency, just “fake” concurrency (a function can let others run while it waits for something to happen), and the multitasking is cooperative. What you get for these limitations is very small consumption of system resources, compared with full-blown threads.
Python supports a form of coroutines out-of-the box, through generators, but they are not composable like greenlets (using a generator from a generator is cumbersome). Python also has a version that has lightweight threads with (optional) preemptive multitasking, called Stackless, but that involves patching the core interpreter. Greenlet, which is just a C extension for the normal interpreter, is an interesting middle ground between these two.
Cloud news
20 July, 2010 · By shai · Read More · No Comments
In the last couple of days, I came across two interesting announcements related to cloud computing:
- PiCloud is now offering its service to the public. It’s a cloud platform with a simple Python API (via the python-announce mailing list)
- RackSpace, the well-known hosting provider, is now offering the software that runs its own cloud under a very liberal free-software license (via Whatsup)
Thought you might find this interesting.
How to Develop a Winning Executive Summary
27 June, 2010 · By Ronit Goldstand · Read More · No Comments
As the old adage states, two heads are better than one! In today’s highly competitive global environment, entrepreneurs and small start-up companies are turning to joint ventures as a means to expand their power and scope and compete with the ‘big guys’.
For example, by landing a joint venture partnership, a small company with limited staff and resources can gain new capacity and expertise, be it technical or managerial, without investing tremendous resources.
Persuading potential partners to do business with you: The Executive Summary
The first step in forming a strategic alliance with any potential business partner is to create a well-written proposal that begins with an executive summary. An appealing, professional executive summary dramatically increases your chances of grabbing the attention of a potential investor or business partner.
An executive summary is just what it sounds like; a document that summarizes your entire concept into key points, so that a potential investor or partner can easily understand what your product is all about, and why s/he should be interested in what you have to offer.
The executive summary should concisely address the following:
- A brief introduction, in which you include the background and history of your company, what your company does, and perhaps some basic information about your finances.
- The unique features of your product or service, what makes it better or different from anyone else’s and the benefits it can provide to your potential partner and customers
- Describe your target market, and discuss what your specific niche can provide for your company marketing strategy.
- If possible, include references and testimonials, so that your prospective partner can see first hand how others feel about your product or service.
- A persuasive statement as to why and how the business will succeed, discussing the business’s competitive advantage. It’s not enough to rely on being the first in a particular market as your sole competitive asset.
- Projected growth for the company and the market
- How much capital you need and how it will be used.
Tips on how forming an appealing Executive Summary
A good executive summary example summarizes your key points on the one hand, and appeals to your readers on the other. The following are some tips on how to do that:
- Keep your summary brief – ideally, two pages or less. Think of it as everything you’d say to a prospective investor in a five-minute interview.
- Avoid the use of hype. You need to be accurate, clear and compelling without trying to make your business or product more than it is, and promising anything that you can’t deliver.
- Use legible font (Verdana is pleasing on-screen; Times New Roman is easy on the eye on the printed page).
- Keep your headers brief (5-6 words), and write them in boldface, about one point size larger than your body text (body text should be 11 or 12 pt).
- Start with your most important information at the beginning. Put your best face forward in a way that will attract your prospective audience, like the headlines on the front page of a newspaper.
- Use an easy-to-read format, using simple sentences in short paragraphs that contain only relevant information. If your readers want more details, they’ll contact you.
- Reread it when you are done and ask yourself, is it clear and concise? Will it compel the reader to contact you to learn more about what you have to offer?
Finally, you will probably want to send your executive summary through an email, so don’t overlook the way in which you introduce yourself and your company. Make it personal, introduce yourself by first name, and add your website and a short description of the products or service that you are offering. Be concise, but charming and persuasive at the same time. If your introductory email falls short, the executive summary that you worked so carefully on may not even get read.
Getting Funding
27 May, 2010 · By Ronit Goldstand · Read More · No Comments
The old adage is true: you need to spend money in order to make money. So where do you look for the financing you need to turn your business plan into reality?
In a nutshell, you have two options: debt financing and equity financing. Debt financing (e.g., bank loans) enables you to retain full control of your business, but you must be prepared to assume all of the risk. Equity financing entails selling partial ownership of your company, while allowing you to share some of the risk with your investors. The correct approach depends on the type of business you are starting, your financial requirements, and your personal and business goals. Your business plan should already include this information, and can be instrumental both when deciding what type of funding is appropriate for your business, and later on when you’re ready to approach potential lenders or investors.
The first place to look when starting a business is your own bank account. This is the fastest way to get started and allows for maximum flexibility, but it can be risky. While many successful entrepreneurs have been able to get their business up and running with little or no external funding (also known as “bootstrapping”), another option is to use your own funds as an interim solution to get your company operating and well-positioned to seek funding from outside investors at a later time.
Credit cards can be a great resource for immediate short-term capital when you are funding your own business. The low introductory rates on some cards make them an attractive short-term option (in the US – Israel is another story). Managed well, they’re extremely effective; managed poorly, however, they’re extremely expensive.
For long-term debt financing, loans are usually better than credit. However, it can be difficult for a new company to obtain a loan without backing (e.g., assets or third-party guarantors). If you are unable to secure a commercial bank loan, consider approaching commercial finance companies or private lenders. Private lenders typically specialize in an industry and may be willing to take on more risk if they see that your business has potential. Friends and family may also be willing to help fund your business, either as a loan or an investment (e.g., by buying shares). Beware the temptation to accept informal arrangements or zero interest terms, though, as this can cause problems down the road, whether or not your business succeeds.
Some businesses may qualify for a grant or government support (e.g., a subsidized or zero-interest loan). These support schemes may also provide expert advice or subsidized consultancy. Keep in mind, however, that grants often apply to a specific project rather than general business costs. Moreover, the application procedure is lengthy and complex, and there is typically strong competition, meaning you may spend a lot of time on an application which is not successful.
Incubator
One way to jump-start your business with minimal funds is to lease major assets such as equipment, office space and even support staff. If this sounds like a viable option, and if you would appreciate having an experienced team of professionals help form your company, consider launching at an incubator. Incubators are essentially ready-to-go space and support infrastructure for startup companies. Incubators generate most of their revenue from client rents and fees, and may also offer investment capital for entrepreneurs, allowing them to share in the upside should the company be successful. Different incubators will become more or less involved in the running of your company and offer varying degrees of business advice and legal assistance.
Crowd Funding
Crowd funding, contests, and group financing represent a fairly new trend in financing. Social media, online communities and micropayment technology make it relatively simple to engage and secure funds from a group of interested supporters at minimal cost. Customers invest as little as $1 in a product and help promote the product on the Web. These customers/investors receive a cut of the profits in proportion to their investment. Bear in mind, however, that soliciting investments from the general public is often illegal, unless the opportunity has been filed with the appropriate securities regulatory authority (e.g., the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S or the Financial Services Authority in the U.K).
Angel Investor
If your business has a high potential for growth, you may be able to attract the attentions of “business angel”. Angels are generally not looking to run the firm; they want you to do it and they can offer support in return for a minority stake. Most business angels will expect to exit your company in 2-3 years with a substantial return on their investment (e.g., once you are bought or go public). Angel investors can be just as important for their skills, experience and contacts as money, so do your research before choosing. It’s also a good idea to enlist a savvy financial adviser to structure the deal.
Joint Venture
Platonix does joint ventures – which are similar to angel and VC investments in that we typically work with companies in the seed stage (like angel investors), and in that our deals are fundamentally equity financing. A big difference, however, is that we do not invest cash, but rather provide technology work (R&D) for equity. Our incentives are aligned with the companies we invest in as our success comes from your success – but the risk is diluted among the many companies in our portfolio.
Venture Capital
Venture capitalists (VCs) present another option for new businesses with rapid growth potential. Like business angels, VCs will usually bring their managerial and technical expertise as well as capital to their investments. However, VCs generally demand higher shares in your business, and may require you to make significant changes in your company’s management structure. When pitching to a VC, your executive team should be able to demonstrate that you can operate successfully on a technical and financial level, meaning you probably won’t be able to attract VC funding within the first few months of starting your business. Moreover, it can take several months to complete negotiations, so make sure you have sufficient funds to carry you safely through this stage. Contacting prospective investors through a respected referral such as an attorney, consultant or business broker will usually establish a higher standard of quality and accelerate a response. These individuals are also invaluable when you’re ready to negotiate a deal.
There is no one-size-fits-all financing solution for starting a business, and different options may be appropriate at different stages. Take the time and get to know your options before you get started, then choose the ones that feel like the best fit for your company.
© Image courtesy of David Goehring
Open 2010 – Open Source Conference
18 May, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
Platonix is very excited to be giving two talks at Open Israel. We’ll be speaking about Django Web Development Platform and Business Models in the Open Source World, and we are proud to be sponsoring the conference as well. The OPEN 2010 is taking place on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at Cinema City, Glilot Junction, Ramat Hasharon, Israel.
Open source technologies are used in a wide array of IT in enterprises today, and these open source solutions are as capable as their proprietary counterparts to stand the toughest tests of their environment. The OPEN 2010 conference will focus on the open technologies that are already fully developed and suitable for adoption and offer a significant ROI benefit the organization.
Django is a popular platform for its stability and power. The Onion Tech team describes why they prefer Django here, “Cleaner. Much cleaner. Proper unit testing. Real reusable components across applications. An ORM rather than a just a series of functional query helpers. Tighter conventions… We can update then test a Django core change without worrying about having to take apart our applications, and if we do need to make a change, it’s easy to do because there’s less, much more readable code. Every member of the tech team can meaningfully contribute because there are fewer specialized or hacked together pieces. We can move more quickly on large changes because of all these reasons. And we’re more stable because of all the previously expressed points.”
For a piece of software to be called Open Source, it must (among other things) be freely redistributable. This seems like a severe restriction for anyone trying to make a living producing such software. And yet, a collection of companies, business units and individuals manage to generate fine revenues, and even exits, by writing source code that is released to the public. We will examine several such cases, from one-man projects and small start-ups to companies worth billions. We will explore the different business models which allow this apparent miracle to happen; peek into the economic support structures, which enable many of the great achievements of the Free and Open Source Software community.
How to Pitch Video + The Best 5 Articles Online for Advice
27 April, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
Being able to tell your business story is a critical need for a start up looking for seed, VC or JV investment.
David S. Rose on pitching to VCs
The above video gives a great 15 minute synapses of what you need to pitch an investor, but here are two more things to think about before you get there.
- Who are you pitching to? Research both the fund and the investors within so that you can be certain you are pitching to someone with an interest and expertise in the area of your startup.
- What is the style of the investor? It’s important to partner with an investor whose style fits you – is it a mentoring or hands off partner? Getting funding is more than just receiving funds – it’s about making certain you are working with the right company who will help you succeed.
Want more information? These 5 articles cover every base there is to consider:
Platonix Will Be Mentoring at Mini Seedcamp May 6th
23 April, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
On May 6th Yishai Beeri from Platonix Joint Ventures will be mentoring at Mini Seedcamp in Tel Aviv.
6th May Mini Seedcamp Tel Aviv
09:00 – 18:30
The main event: 20 local finalists get to connect and learn from prominent entrepreneurs, investors, developers and other web technology experts.
The day consists of 5 minute presentations by the teams; a panel discussions; and four 1:1 mentoring sessions. The format is designed to maximise interaction between the teams and mentors, and has proved popular with mentors at previous Seedcamps.
Wondering what the day is like? Ezra Butler wrote a very entertaining and accurate description of Mini Seedcamp here.
Start Smart – Start Big
8 April, 2010 · By Shira Abel · Read More · No Comments
Today we are hosting the Open Coffee Club in Herzelia at Sun Microsystems and would love to see you there.
The Open Coffee Club has gathered a team to make these meetups efficient and fruitful. Please bring business cards and a short statement of what do you want to get from this meeting.
Agenda
15:00 – 15:30 Gathering and networking
15:30 – 16:00 START SMART- START BIG – Dr. Tal Simchony an experienced TELECOM & BIOMED
entrepreneur, CEO at GI-View
16:00 – 16:15 Conversation (Q&A)
16:15 – 16:20 Platonix Joint Ventures – Yishai Beeri
16:20 – 16:30 Personal introduction
16:30 – 17:00 Networking
About Dr. Simchony:
Dr. Tal Simchony