by Head-Banana | May 22, 2018 | Founder Focus, Go-to-Market, Market Strategy, Startup Sales, Startups
The lure of distribution partners is a very costly, bright shiny object for a startup tech company. I see channels treated as a silver bullet sales option far too frequently and saddened that this advice often comes from mentors and investors who don’t understand the fundamentals of early-stage tech adoption. I’ve been preaching the demand-first then distribution approach for longer than I care to remember and this Andreessen Horowitz podcast on B2B2C nails it. Startup founders that think they can jump the queue and proceed directly to a partner sales model should rethink their go-to-market.
a16z Podcast: B2B2C
by Head-Banana | Dec 11, 2014 | Market Strategy, Startups, Tech Rant, Technology-based Economic Development
We started Tech Rant back in late ’07 as a supplement to the workshops hosted by TBTF’s Emerging Companies Academy 
program. These weekly coffee chats were structured as an informal support group for start-up founders and early stage tech companies. They were held every week for almost two years before moving to the IdeaField space, the first full-time coworking facility in the Tampa Bay region.
With the Hillsborough County Entrepreneur Collaborative Center (ECC) about to officially open this week in Ybor, it seemed like a good time to revisit the Tech Rant format to see if there was interest in restarting these startup brainstorming sessions.
Please let us know what times / days work best. As a test run, let’s shoot for a brown bag lunch format on Thursday Dec. 18th at 11:30 am.
As it was before, all topics are fair game. Stop in to discuss any challenge you may be facing in your start-up including:
• Idea validation
• Creating a product roadmap
• Finding co-founders (and do you need one)
• Creating / refining your business model & roadmap
• Market validation & product readiness
• Sales & distribution strategy
• Hiring contractors or full-time employees
• Applying for an incubator / accelerator program
• Raising outside funding (angel, venture, crowd, etc.)
• Partner development & agreements
• IP strategy & licensing
• Hiring service providers (attorneys, accountants, other)
Details:
Thursday Dec. 18th
11:30 – 1:00
Hillsborough County’s Entrepreneur Collaborative Center
2101 E. Palm Avenue (in Ybor City)
Parking lot north of Palm is free
RSVP on TechRant’s MeetUp page
If you have any other questions, feel free to ping me on MeetUp or on Twitter @StartupMonkey.
by Head-Banana | Nov 25, 2013 | #EDI2, Market Strategy, Startups, Tech Rant, Technology-based Economic Development
Commissioner @MarkSharpeFL hosted this week’s webcast on startups and technology-based economic development in the Tampa Bay area. The usual list of guests discussed what it takes to nurture and attract talent and what tech jobs are in demand. We also had a guest highlight some of the activities planned for the centennial celebration of the first commercial airline flight which originated in Tampa Bay in January of 1914.
The webcast crowd this week included:
@MarkSharpeFL – Commissioner & Chariman of the Hillsborough County Commission
@Fritz_HotSpaces – Fritz Eichelberger, Founder HotSpaces.net Executive Recruiting
@HillsboroughFL – Stephanie Cvetetic Mgr EDI2 Program – hillsboroughcounty.org/edi2
@Joy_Randels – CEO of NewMarketPartners & local startup ecosystem expert
@StartupMonkey – Product & strategy guru – economic development rabble-rouser
by Head-Banana | Oct 14, 2013 | #EDI2, Market Strategy, Startup Legal Issues, Startups, Tech Rant, Technology-based Economic Development
Derived from a much longer workshop on startup strategy and messaging, this compressed session dubbed “Stupid Shit Startups Say” always draws a fun crowd at BarCamp.
This year’s rant blended in a bit on the state of the tech ecosystem and how the regional economic development leadership in Tampa Bay is or isn’t coming around to the realities of our evolving market place. The Hillsborough County EDI2 program is a good example of how government can help without becoming too involved or too invasive in the ecosystem building process.
by Head-Banana | Jul 21, 2013 | Market Strategy, Startups, Tech Rant
Are you looking for a co-founder, a developer, a business partner or an investor? Are you submitting your company to one of the local or national start-up accelerator programs? Are you starting a new venture that will shake up the industry?
Are you ready to pitch the next BIG thing?
Probably not.
So much of what I hear in pitches from newly minted start-up founders focuses on what they think they need before they can start. Many of these must-haves are based more on what they want others to provide to them (funding, advisors, partners) rather than a good understanding of how they are going to validate a product and launch their company.
Based on the widely popular S4 (Stupid Shit that Start-ups Say) presentation I gave at last year’s BarCamp, I will be leading a workshop on Thursday July 25th hosted by the FirstWaVE Venture Center. In this session I will discuss how the best way to present your business model and focus your messaging is to anticipate the questions that will inevitably be asked after your pitch. In the very noisy world of new tech stuff, it has never been more important to know the answers to the mantra “Why This, Why You and Why Now?”
So forget the 30 page business plan or the guaranteed-to-work template that you found on the InterWeb, come join in a PowerPoint-free discussion on what not to say.
Details:
Thursday July 25th 5:30 – ?
First WaVE Venture Center
400 N. Ashley Drive (2nd floor)
I can’t believe that I am doing this for FREE, so Register here before I change my mind.
