jnesheim's Profile

STARTUP STALLED BUT GETS $41 MILLION: Learn from Foursquare's situation

When a startup becomes the news of the day in the popular press, you know something that stands out is going on. It it good news or bad news for the CEO? SITUATION "Can Foursquare Check-In to Adulthood?" "Foursquare Gets... Continue reading

Posted Apr 18, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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DISECTION OF A NOT-SO SECRET START-UP: Stanford success or folly?

Stealth start-up Clinkle got good press recently. The reporter focused on the unusually deep Stanford roots of the new enterprise. While that is interesting, I found a lot more. In this blog, I have focused on what can be useful... Continue reading

Posted Apr 9, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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HOW DO START-UPS MEASURE A MARKET THAT DOES NOT YET EXIST? Tips that work for serial entreprneurs

"How do I measure the size of the market my start-up will be competing in? I received that question yesterday from a first-timer. It's an important question. Here are responsive tips from serial entrepreneurs (who do it with little effort).... Continue reading

Posted Apr 2, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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DISECTION OF A SUCCESSFUL START-UP: A 17 year old’s adventure from idea to success.

Headline: WSJ LINK “At 17, App Builder Rockets To Riches From Yahoo Deal” Nick D’Aloisio sold Yahoo his technology and company Summly for “undisclosed millions” as reported by the Wall Street Journal on March 25, 2013. Some say $30 million.... Continue reading

Posted Mar 27, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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MODEL N GOES IPO: A tribute to a founder's determination

My congratulations to Model N's co-founder, Zack Rinat, and all its employees and investors. On March 20, 2013, the start-up went IPO successfully. In itself, an IPO event for a new enterprise is worth noting, but to me, this one... Continue reading

Posted Mar 21, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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MOVING FROM INITIAL THOUGHTS TO A GREAT START-UP IDEA: The process and some tips

"How do you move from your initial idea to something that is worth doing?" "What should I do with my first idea to craft it into a killer app business plan?" Those are important and typical questions that confront the... Continue reading

Posted Mar 13, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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WHAT IS IN A GREAT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR A START-UP? Tips and tricks from serial entrepreneurs

"Why do venture investors want an Executive Summary?" "What should I do to write a super Exec Summary that attracts great employees?" Those are two important questions from start-up founders that deserve good answers. Let's start with the first: Why... Continue reading

Posted Mar 5, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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ELEVATOR PITCHES FOR START-UPS: What makes one effective?

"You have 30 seconds to tell me about your start-up idea." That's your challenge when you unexpectedly meet the venture investor (or talented potential employee). In very few words you must deliver something so compelling that when you are finished,... Continue reading

Posted Feb 19, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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IS YOUR START-UP FOCUSED TO WIN? Quick test shows where to improve.

"How do I know my start-up idea is focused enough?" Great question, needs an answer, right now. Here are tips from serial entrepreneurs I respect: Long, multi-word name for company or product/service. This is an immediate sign of lack of... Continue reading

Posted Feb 18, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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FOCUS, SIMPLIFY YOUR START-UP IDEA FOR MORE POWER: One sentence per topic does the trick

How do you focus, narrow, and simplify your start-up idea (so it excites a lot of people)? In my prior blog I discussed what to do when your initial idea for a new enterprise is not exciting many people: the... Continue reading

Posted Feb 6, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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WHAT IF YOUR GREAT START-UP IDEA IS DISAPPOINTING TO TOO MANY PEOPLE? Focus it, narrow it, simplify it.

What should an entrepreneur do when he has fallen in love with his start-up idea but comments from friends and others are not complimentary? When I receive a document written by an enthusiastic entrepreneur, often first-timers, I examine each with... Continue reading

Posted Jan 30, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (14) Marketing research is subversive

Management follows research. Marketing follows intuition. Would you use a search site called Google, or would you prefer to use a search site with the Microsoft name? Before the launch of Google, there would have been no question which site... Continue reading

Posted Jan 21, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (13) Mulitple brands win (but it's tricky to do)

Management prefers a single brand. Marketing prefers multiple brands. Start-ups begin with a wonderful singular focus: launch one product, make it famous, brand it, make it the gorilla of a new market category. What comes next? To grow, more products... Continue reading

Posted Jan 15, 2013 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (12) Visual hammers win minds

Mangement deals in verbal abstractions. Marketing deals in verbal hammers. Right-brained marketing people know they need to use the narrowest possible term to describe a brand or category so they can develop an effective visual hammer. They know the spoken... Continue reading

Posted Dec 25, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (11) Owning a word is winning, owning all the rest is losing.

Management would like to own everything. Marketing would like to own a word. “What is a Sony?” I have no idea. I know what it used to be. Today the name has lost meaning. “What is Apple?” I know immediately.... Continue reading

Posted Dec 17, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (10) End Targets Win = Center of market loses, either end is where the winners are

Management targets the center of the market. Marketing targets one of the ends. Where is the "sweet spot" for a startup? What portion of the market is best to aim at? Most responses are "Aim for where the most customers... Continue reading

Posted Dec 6, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (9) Takeoffs are real, "big-bang" sales are fantasy

Management expects a "big-bang" launch. Marketing expects a slow takeoff. How fast should the sales grow in the first five years of the life of a startup? That's a challenging question for any startup. It is more complex to respond... Continue reading

Posted Nov 26, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (8) "First-mover" dies - "First-minder" wins

Management strives to be the "first-mover." Marketing strives to be the "first-minder." "In marketing circles, the first brand that gets into the end users' minds is almost always the winner. Gatorade in sports drinks. Red Bull in energy-drinks. Activia in... Continue reading

Posted Nov 20, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (7) Startups win by contracting the brand -- not by expanding it (and thus killing it)

Management tries to expand the brand. Marketing tries to contract the brand. ================================= Your first product has to stand for something important to the end user. That is how its name gets branded. Red Bull is branded as the energy-drink.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 16, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (6) Startups win with a narrow line -- not with a full line.

Company management favors favors a full line. Startup marketing favors a narrow line. There is where too many founders of new enteprises make a move that proves fatal. They choose to widen the product offering rather than focus it narrowly.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 13, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (5) Startups win by being different -- not by being better

Management wants better products. Marketing wants different products. Build better products more efficiently and at lower cost = management = left-brained. Build products that are different in the mind of the consumer = marketing = right-brained. Amazon didn't become the... Continue reading

Posted Nov 8, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (4) Startups win by owning the category

To build a great brand like Facebook is the dream of entrepreneurs. The stuff of legends, dreams, visions. Yet building a great brand is not what wins the giant startup race. Instead, it is owing the new category that produces... Continue reading

Posted Oct 30, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (3) Startups concentrate on the brand but management concentrates on the product.

"We build great products!" is what I hear every startup leader tell me. From Apple to Z Corp everyone is doing it. Why? To build a great company, of course. That's the response from management. Yet the great marketing minds... Continue reading

Posted Oct 23, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (2) Marketing has become separated from management

"Marketing is too complicated to be left to management people who have little experience in marketing and who don't understand its principles." wrote Al Ries. Rated by Advertising Age as one of the Top Ten living legends of marketing, Ries's... Continue reading

Posted Oct 15, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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STARTUP MARKETING: (1) Divided Brains = Why startup boards of directors are in conflict so often

I'm often asked why there is so much conflict in the meetings of boards of directors of startups. Watching board meetings erupt over the past decades has led me to a primary cause for most of the troubles at the... Continue reading

Posted Oct 9, 2012 at Nesheim Online

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