In my experience, the biggest factors which drives a company toward either a relentless focus on their core business or a penchant for adding new businesses is the background, personal experiences and attitudes of the CEO or founders. It really depends upon what these folks are used to and comfortable with. A CEO who came […]
What the Heck is Customer Development?
The term “customer development” has been floating around for a number of years now, although it seems to have gotten more play in the last couple. Regardless, it’s one of the most common buzzwords added to the technology business vernacular in recent times. I lump it in the buzzword box with “agile”, “lean-(anything)”, “growth hacking”, […]
Accessing Remote Software Markets
More often than not software companies start off selling and marketing in their home market. This isn’t always the case, but it is true in the vast majority of cases. Whether this home market focus is intended just to build an initial reference customer list of 10-20 customers, or lasts until the company build a […]
Is a Strong Rolodex Important in Technology Businesses?
I get this comment all the time: “We’re looking for a VP-Sales/VP-Business Development/Sales Manager/Sales Rep with a strong Rolodex in the (pick your market segment) market”. Obviously I’m using “Rolodex” as a generic term in these days of CRM software. But how important is a strong Rolodex in the IT business, really? In my opinion, […]
Separating Technology Wheat from the Chaff
In software and hardware businesses new ideas, technologies and products come down the pike at a rapid-fire pace. Many fail immediately and some muddle along before finally fizzling out. Some meet with modest success. Only a very select few turn into long run, big time hits. How can you tell which products will become hits […]
