The Customer Funded Business

Author : John Mullins
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2014-07-21
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781118878859

Get Book

The Customer-Funded Business by John Mullins Pdf

Who needs investors? More than two generations ago, the venture capital community – VCs, business angels, incubators and others – convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. They did so for good reasons: the sometimes astonishing returns they've delivered to their investors and the astonishingly large companies that their ecosystem has created. But the vast majority of fast-growing companies never take any venture capital. So where does the money come from to start and grow their companies? From a much more agreeable and hospitable source, their customers. That's exactly what Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic's Mel and Patricia Ziegler did to get their companies up and running and turn them into iconic brands. In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers: Matchmaker models (Airbnb) Pay-in-advance models (Threadless) Subscription models (TutorVista) Scarcity models (Vente Privee) Service-to-product models (GoViral) Through the captivating stories of these and other inspiring companies from around the world, Mullins brings to life the five models and identifies the questions that angel or other investors will – and should! – ask of entrepreneurs or corporate innovators seeking to apply them. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have actually put these models to use, Mullins goes on to address the key implementation issues that characterize each of the models: when to apply them, how best to apply them, and the pitfalls to watch out for. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur lacking the start-up capital you need, an early-stage entrepreneur trying to get your cash-starved venture into take-off mode, an intrapreneur seeking funding within an established company, or an angel investor or mentor who supports high-potential ventures, this book offers the most sure-footed path to starting, financing, or growing your venture. John Mullins is the author of The New Business Road Test and, with Randy Komisar, the widely acclaimed Getting to Plan B.

Author : John Mullins
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2014-07-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781118879139

Get Book

The Customer-Funded Business by John Mullins Pdf

Who needs investors? More than two generations ago, the venture capital community – VCs, business angels, incubators and others – convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. They did so for good reasons: the sometimes astonishing returns they've delivered to their investors and the astonishingly large companies that their ecosystem has created. But the vast majority of fast-growing companies never take any venture capital. So where does the money come from to start and grow their companies? From a much more agreeable and hospitable source, their customers. That's exactly what Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic's Mel and Patricia Ziegler did to get their companies up and running and turn them into iconic brands. In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers: Matchmaker models (Airbnb) Pay-in-advance models (Threadless) Subscription models (TutorVista) Scarcity models (Vente Privee) Service-to-product models (GoViral) Through the captivating stories of these and other inspiring companies from around the world, Mullins brings to life the five models and identifies the questions that angel or other investors will – and should! – ask of entrepreneurs or corporate innovators seeking to apply them. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have actually put these models to use, Mullins goes on to address the key implementation issues that characterize each of the models: when to apply them, how best to apply them, and the pitfalls to watch out for. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur lacking the start-up capital you need, an early-stage entrepreneur trying to get your cash-starved venture into take-off mode, an intrapreneur seeking funding within an established company, or an angel investor or mentor who supports high-potential ventures, this book offers the most sure-footed path to starting, financing, or growing your venture. John Mullins is the author of The New Business Road Test and, with Randy Komisar, the widely acclaimed Getting to Plan B.

Author : John Mullins,Randy Komisar
Publisher : Harvard Business Press
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2009-09-08
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781422152690

Get Book

Getting to Plan B by John Mullins,Randy Komisar Pdf

You have a new venture in mind. And you've crafted a business plan so detailed it's a work of art. Don't get too attached to it. As John Mullins and Randy Komisar explain in Getting to Plan B, new businesses are fraught with uncertainty. To succeed, you must change the plan in real time as the inevitable challenges arise. In fact, studies show that entrepreneurs who stick slavishly to their Plan A stand a greater chance of failing-and that many successful businesses barely resemble their founders' original idea. The authors provide a rigorous process for stress testing your Plan A and determining how to alter it so your business makes money, solves customers' needs, and endures. You'll discover strategies for: -Identifying the leap-of-faith assumptions hidden in your plan -Testing those assumptions and unearthing why the plan might not work -Reconfiguring the five components of your business model-revenue model, gross margin model, operating model, working capital model, and investment model-to create a sounder Plan B. Filled with success stories and cautionary tales, this book offers real cases illustrating the authors' unique process. Whether your idea is for a start-up or a new business unit within your organization, Getting to Plan B contains the road map you need to reach success.

Author : Tom Eisenmann
Publisher : Currency
Page : 370 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2021-03-30
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780593137024

Get Book

Why Startups Fail by Tom Eisenmann Pdf

If you want your startup to succeed, you need to understand why startups fail. “Whether you’re a first-time founder or looking to bring innovation into a corporate environment, Why Startups Fail is essential reading.”—Eric Ries, founder and CEO, LTSE, and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way Why do startups fail? That question caught Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann by surprise when he realized he couldn’t answer it. So he launched a multiyear research project to find out. In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his findings: six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures. • Bad Bedfellows. Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder’s talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly. • False Starts. In following the oft-cited advice to “fail fast” and to “launch before you’re ready,” founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions. • False Promises. Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand. • Speed Traps. Despite the pressure to “get big fast,” hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures. • Help Wanted. Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both. • Cascading Miracles. Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong. Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise—from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles—Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them. A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.

Author : BusinessNews Publishing,
Publisher : Must Read Summaries
Page : 30 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-07-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9782511036082

Get Book

Summary: The Customer-Funded Business by BusinessNews Publishing, Pdf

The must-read summary of John Mullins' book: "The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash". This complete summary of the ideas from John Mullins' book "The Customer-Funded Business” tells you to forget about the complicated methods of securing start-up funding. According to Mullins, the best way of getting the funding is from your future customers. If you can find enough customers who will pay for the solution that you’re offering to their problem, this is the perfect way of starting a customer-funded business. There are five different customer-funded business models: 1. Matchmaker 2. Pay-in-advance 3. Subscription 4. Security/Flash sales 5. Service-to-product This summary will take you through all five of these different business models, giving you all the information you need to decide which approach will work best for you. Added-value of this summary: • Save time • Stop applying for start-up funding and get the money from your future customers • Find out which customer-funded business model is right for your business To learn more, read “The Customer-Funded Business” and find out how you can secure start-up funding from your customers!

Author : Rob Fitzpatrick
Publisher : Robfitz Ltd
Page : 130 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2013-10-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781492180746

Get Book

The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick Pdf

The Mom Test is a quick, practical guide that will save you time, money, and heartbreak. They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little . As a matter of fact, it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth. It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right . Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup. We all know we're supposed to do it, but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right. This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better.

Author : Steven D. Strauss
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2011-06-28
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780470928110

Get Book

Get Your Business Funded by Steven D. Strauss Pdf

Explore the many options available to get the money you need for your business Whether your business is a new start-up, an established company attempting to grow, or somewhere in between, Get Your Business Funded gives you the full range of options for raising capital in today's challenging economy. Covering everything from bank loans to angel investors to equity financing to more unorthodox methods, this complete guide uses clear, easy-to-understand language to explain each approach. Divided into two sections: "Sources and Funding" and "What You Need to Know" Explains such unorthodox financing sources as peer-to-peer lending, online grants, business plan competitions, and the "friends and family plan" Reveals untapped funding streams available through the government Follows on the success of the author's previous work The Small Business Bible Pick up this reader-friendly guide and discover the many ways you can Get Your Business Funded right now.

Author : Noam Wasserman
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 490 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2013-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691158303

Get Book

The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman Pdf

The Founder's Dilemmas examines how early decisions by entrepreneurs can make or break a startup and its team. Drawing on a decade of research, including quantitative data on almost ten thousand founders as well as inside stories of founders like Evan Williams of Twitter and Tim Westergren of Pandora, Noam Wasserman reveals the common pitfalls founders face and how to avoid them.

Author : The Staff of Entrepreneur Media
Publisher : Entrepreneur Press
Page : 563 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2015-01-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781613083000

Get Book

Start Your Own Business, Sixth Edition by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media Pdf

Tapping into more than 33 years of small business expertise, the staff at Entrepreneur Media takes today’s entrepreneurs beyond opening their doors and through the first three years of ownership. This revised edition features amended chapters on choosing a business, adding partners, getting funded, and managing the business structure and employees, and also includes help understanding the latest tax and healthcare reform information and legalities.

Author : Carl J. Schramm
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018-01-16
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781476794365

Get Book

Burn the Business Plan by Carl J. Schramm Pdf

Business startup advice from the former president of the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation and cofounder of Global Entrepreneurship Week and StartUp America, this “thoughtful study of ‘how businesses really start, grow, and prosper’...dispels quite a few business myths along the way” (Publishers Weekly). Carl Schramm, the man described by The Economist as “The Evangelist of Entrepreneurship,” has written a myth-busting guide packed with tools and techniques to help you get your big idea off the ground. Schramm believes that entrepreneurship has been misrepresented by the media, business books, university programs, and MBA courses. For example, despite the emphasis on the business plan in most business schools, some of the most successful companies in history—Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and hundreds of others—achieved success before they ever had a business plan. Burn the Business Plan punctures the myth of the cool, tech-savvy twenty-something entrepreneur with nothing to lose and venture capital to burn. In fact most people who start businesses are juggling careers and mortgages just like you. The average entrepreneur is actually thirty-nine years old, and the success rate of entrepreneurs over forty is five times higher than that of those under age thirty. Entrepreneurs who come out of the corporate world often have discovered a need for a product or service and have valuable contacts to help them get started. Filled with stories of successful entrepreneurs who drew on real-life experience rather than academic coursework, Burn the Business Plan is the guide to starting and running a business that will actually work for the rest of us.

Author : John Mullins
Publisher : Pearson UK
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2017-12-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781292208411

Get Book

The New Business Road Test by John Mullins Pdf

ROAD TEST YOUR IDEA BEFORE YOU LAUNCH YOUR LEAN START-UP Thinking about starting a new business? Stop! Is there a genuine market for your idea? Do you really want to compete in that industry? Are you the right person to pursue it? No matter how talented you are or how much capital you have, if you’re pursuing a fundamentally flawed opportunity then you’re heading for failure. So before you launch your lean start-up, take your idea for a test drive and make sure it has a fighting chance of working. Now in its 4th Edition, The New Business Road Test is the essential handbook for anyone wanting to launch a start-up. The new and fully updated case studies – Ella's Kitchen, Whole Foods, eBay and more – and ‘seven domains’ framework will help you avoid impending disaster and enhance your chances of achieving your entrepreneurial dreams. This book will help you answer the live-or-die questions: Are the market and industry attractive? Does the opportunity offer both customer benefits as well as competitive and economic sustainability? Can you deliver the results you seek? The full text downloaded to your computer With eBooks you can: search for key concepts, words and phrases make highlights and notes as you study share your notes with friends eBooks are downloaded to your computer and accessible either offline through the Bookshelf (available as a free download), available online and also via the iPad and Android apps. Upon purchase, you'll gain instant access to this eBook. Time limit The eBooks products do not have an expiry date. You will continue to access your digital ebook products whilst you have your Bookshelf installed.

Author : Phillip Ryan
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 82 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2012-07-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781448867950

Get Book

How Venture Capital Works by Phillip Ryan Pdf

Explanations to the inner workings of one of the least understood, but arguably most important, areas of business finance is offered to readers in this engaging volume: venture capital. Venture capitalists provide necessary investment to seed (or startup) companies, but the startup is only the beginning, there is much more to be explored. These savvy investors help guide young entrepreneurs, who likely have little experience, to turn their businesses into the Googles, Facebooks, and Groupons of the world. This book explains the often-complex methods venture capitalists use to value companies and to get the most return on their investments, or ROI. This book is a must-have for any reader interested in the business world.

Author : Adam J. Bock
Publisher : Pearson UK
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2018-01-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781292135717

Get Book

The Business Model Book by Adam J. Bock Pdf

Author : Bob Pearson
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2011-02-08
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781118023037

Get Book

Pre-Commerce by Bob Pearson Pdf

Ideas for leaders to engage directly with customers to shape their brand and marketplace success Since its debut E-commerce has been centered on the transaction, which represents less than one percent of the time we spend online. Now, we are entering the era of Pre-Commerce where customers make their own decision to buy or support a brand before the transaction. Pre-Commerce explains how the exploding use of social media channels has fundamentally changed the way customers go about making their purchasing decisions, how they educate themselves and why they choose to support certain brands above others. It shows what executives must do to re-create the way their companies interact with and learn from their customers, employees and competitors. It includes exclusive interviews and anecdotes Pearson has conducted or experienced with numerous influential C-suite executives during his time as leader of Dell’s global social media team and as a consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, worldwide. Offers a step-by-step process for leaders to apply this knowledge to begin transforming their companies, right now Begins with a foreword from Mark Addicks, Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills Over 25 Fortune 500 executives interviewed, including special side-bar interviews with Michael Dell and Marc Benioff Explores the concept of "Pre-commerce"--the customer's decision making happens well before a transaction takes place and continues after the transaction, representing 99% of time spent online, often outside a company’s reach today Shows how to build internal employee networks and how to take your first and most important steps to integrate social media throughout your company. Pearson reveals that the best ideas are often free and the technology needed is rarely a cost-issue. Instead, it's a matter of the top executive deciding to adopt a new way of engaging directly with its customers.

Author : Hermann Simon
Publisher : Springer
Page : 221 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2015-10-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9783319204000

Get Book

Confessions of the Pricing Man by Hermann Simon Pdf

The world’s foremost expert on pricing strategy shows how this mysterious process works and how to maximize value through pricing to company and customer. In all walks of life, we constantly make decisions about whether something is worth our money or our time, or try to convince others to part with their money or their time. Price is the place where value and money meet. From the global release of the latest electronic gadget to the bewildering gyrations of oil futures to markdowns at the bargain store, price is the most powerful and pervasive economic force in our day-to-day lives and one of the least understood. The recipe for successful pricing often sounds like an exotic cocktail, with equal parts psychology, economics, strategy, tools and incentives stirred up together, usually with just enough math to sour the taste. That leads managers to water down the drink with hunches and rules of thumb, or leave out the parts with which they don’t feel comfortable. While this makes for a sweeter drink, it often lacks the punch to have an impact on the customer or on the business. It doesn’t have to be that way, though, as Hermann Simon illustrates through dozens of stories collected over four decades in the trenches and behind the scenes. A world-renowned speaker on pricing and a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 executives, Simon’s lifelong journey has taken him from rural farmers’ markets, to a distinguished academic career, to a long second career as an entrepreneur and management consultant to companies large and small throughout the world. Along the way, he has learned from Nobel Prize winners and leading management gurus, and helped countless managers and executives use pricing as a way to create new markets, grow their businesses and gain a sustained competitive advantage. He also learned some tough personal lessons about value, how people perceive it, and how people profit from it. In this engaging and practical narrative, Simon leaves nothing out of the pricing cocktail, but still makes it go down smoothly and leaves you wanting to learn more and do more—as a consumer or as a business person. You will never look at pricing the same way again.