marketing Archives - Page 5 of 14

Might it be Said that the Purpose of an Entrepreneur is to Create Problems?

Tuesday, 18 September 2018 by Paul O'Brien

The Problem Solution Statement; a core tenet of Lean Startup and Customer Development. A phrase that conveys to founders and investors alike that the purpose of a startup is to solve a problem; an idea that leads many to believe that a pitch should lay out how the problem is being solved. With most new

Published in Startups

6 Comments

How a Struggling Startup turns into a Successful Business

Tuesday, 04 September 2018 by Paul O'Brien

You’re here meaning you’re in the great majority of founders who struggle. According to my last “study” *ahem* of the startup economy, that’s roughly 100% of us. Imagine that. Yep, we all struggle. It might be said that the very definition of being an entrepreneur is epitomized in the one who struggles. It’s our job

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Published in Startups, Insights / Research

7 Comments

Your Startup, a CMO, and that Elusive Question of Equity

Tuesday, 28 August 2018 by Paul O'Brien

First let’s establish as fact, a couple of assumptions. This is a key role in your organization, at a distinct stage in a specific type of new company; and as a team member so critical, we need to be on the same page as to our context in working through this question. Early stage =

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

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How, not just Why, Startups Fail

Friday, 06 April 2018 by Paul O'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

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Published in Featured, Insights / Research, Startups

93 Comments

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

entrepreneurship marketing sales

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

4 Comments

STAHP! Before you SEO, Read This!

Tuesday, 11 July 2017 by Paul O'Brien

I’m tired. I’m SO tired. Damn if I didn’t have this implication in my name people might stop saying I do SEO. Someone can’t do SEO for you. I don’t do SEO. I know a lot about how search engines work, I’ve been involved in a few search startups, and I’ve helped more companies than I

marketing Search search engine optimization seo

Published in Search

4 Comments