Insights / Research Archives

How, not just Why, Startups Fail

Friday, 06 April 2018 by SEO'Brien

Article after article, study after study, offers Buzzfeed style insight to why startups fail. It’s such a popular and frequently recurring tweet that I’ve started chewing on WHY the question of why keeps coming up. As founders, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question and shouldn’t be seeking to know why but rather how (or, how

Published in Featured, Insights / Research, Startups

77 Comments

What Does a CEO Actually Do?

Friday, 19 January 2018 by SEO'Brien

Looking at it through the lens of a startup (small team), years ago I had a great discussion with a group of VCs that the ideal core leadership in a company is CEO, CMO, CTO (or, as appropriate to the type of business) Explaining further, we discussed first that the CMO’s job is to answer why, for whom, with

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

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The Fore Steps to a Startup’s Addressable Market

Tuesday, 12 December 2017 by SEO'Brien

Here’s the thing, I suck at golf and as an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, I can’t fathom making myself available for 5 hours to putt around a golf course. Yet, succeeding as a founder might be as commonplace as hitting a hole in one… very least, it’s fair to say you have to shoot par. Rest assured,

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Published in Analytics, Brand Marketing, Display Advertising, Insights / Research, Startups, Targeting

9 Comments

Early Stage Startups: Sales vs. Marketing

Monday, 13 November 2017 by SEO'Brien

It’s that this question of priorities exists that one can appreciate why so many startups fail. For decades, economists have noted that only two things create value in business: innovation and marketing. Everything else is a cost of doing business. Yet… we’re exploring here the notion that Sales is more important. You’ve been led to

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

4 Comments

Real Estate Tech is Texas

Thursday, 19 May 2016 by SEO'Brien

Everything is bigger in Texas, under the Lone Star. Real estate is as Texan as Oil & Gas, with even ranches here that are larger than some states. What recently struck me was the discovery that, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Association of Realtors, Texas Real Estate accounts for roughly 14%

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Local, Startups

13 Comments

Where are Austin’s Venture Capital Firms?

Tuesday, 03 May 2016 by SEO'Brien

Of late I’ve been exploring, discussing, and working with Austin’s venture capital economy. We’ll not belabor the ongoing discussions of the state of venture capital, lack of funding, future of financing, and otherwise here; rather, what struck me as potentially helpful is a mere layout of where venture capital is found. Certainly, before we can

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Published in Featured, Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

16 Comments

Why Should Anyone Fund Your Startup?

Tuesday, 12 April 2016 by SEO'Brien

Referred to by a couple local financing executives as “the best seminar they have been to here in Austin,” I recently had the honor of moderating a discussion of venture capital funding, thanks to the support and hard work of Texas State University’s SBDC and Frost Bank. Why so compelling? That’s precisely the question we

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

10 Comments