Product Positioning strategy is a topic which often is given short-shrift, especially early on in the life of a hardware or software company. But it’s not an issue that is peculiar to tech startups. I’ve run into positioning issues in technology businesses of all sizes, stages and categories, regardless of whether they are mobile software, […]
Are Angel Investors Right for your Hardware or Software Business?
As I’ve written before, obtaining VC funding is the holy grail among many early stage tech company founders. But with rare exceptions, a startup company needs to hit some milestones, demonstrating proof of concept, product/market fit and usually significant revenue traction before VCs will seriously consider an investment. In addition, for many companies VC funding […]
12 Common Hiring Mistakes in Tech Companies
Hiring well is one of the most difficult – and in my opinion critical – tasks for any tech CEO and his management team, especially in the early days. There are a lot of different approaches and opinions the optimal hiring process. There are a lot of software companies out there these days promising to […]
KPI Metrics for Software and Hardware Technology Company Success
There is a range of operating styles among entrepreneurs in hardware and software companies. Some CEOs are “quants”; very numbers oriented. Others, especially in the early days, base most of their strategic decisions on experience, feel and “gut”. I believe that there is room for both of these approaches in strategy development; especially in the […]
Tech Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
When you’re starting a hardware, semiconductor, mobile software or SaaS company there is more often than not a need to create some very early traction. There are a few startups that are able to get strong external funding from a standing start, notably successful entrepreneurs on the second or third startup, companies with a strong […]