Insights / Research Archives - Page 13 of 27

What Does a CEO Actually Do?

Friday, 19 January 2018 by Paul O'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

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

1 Comment

The Fore Steps to a Startup’s Addressable Market

Tuesday, 12 December 2017 by Paul O'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 Advertising, Insights / Research, Startups

9 Comments

Early Stage Startups: Sales vs. Marketing

Monday, 13 November 2017 by Paul O'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

How Content Creation Affects Your Funding

Monday, 16 January 2017 by Paul O'Brien

Content media site Medium announced just days ago that they are restructuring through layoffs and office closings as they “renew their focus.” Medium CEO, Ev Williams, noted that, “in building out this model, we realized we didn’t yet have the right solution to the big question of driving payment for quality content. We had started scaling up the teams to

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Published in Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Search, Social Media

4 Comments

Real Estate Tech is Texas

Thursday, 19 May 2016 by Paul O'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 Paul O'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 Industry, Insights / Research, Raising Capital, Texas Startups

17 Comments

Why Should Anyone Fund Your Startup?

Tuesday, 12 April 2016 by Paul O'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

12 Comments