This is the place where we post things that won’t fit on Twitter.
-
Get the Strategic Alliance Partner to Come After You
May 19, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Gordon Daugherty, Capital Factory Director) The courtship almost always starts with the small company approaching the HQ of the big company they desire as a strategic partner. Usually, the big company is too distracted or the joint value from a partnership isn’t perceived as significant. If very lucky, a successful pitch is followed… read more
-
Our Message to President Obama
May 12, 2013 by Joshua BaerMr. President, Thank you for coming to visit us today. We are honored to have you here and to be able to share our story with you. My good friend Dr. Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, founder of 3Com, and now Professor of Innovation at the University of Texas, says we should “Celebrate our… read more
-
Getting to Closure with an Interested Investor
May 12, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Gordon Daugherty, Capital Factory Director) Some investors want to be the last one to commit and few want to be the first. It’s mostly a safety and survival technique. Think about it from their perspective. The first investors to write you a check run the risk that you only get half-way to your… read more
-
Vitamin or Aspirin – Which Are You Offering?
May 7, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Gordon Daugherty, Capital Factory Director) I don’t know who came up with this analogy but I’d love to thank him/her because it’s a perfect way to think about your offering and its value proposition. Is it a vitamin? In other words, does it create an opportunity for some improvement? Or is it an… read more
-
Reframing the Problems with “Freemium” by Charging the Marketing Department
May 5, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Jason Cohen, Capital Factory Director) Seems like every third startup nowadays is using the “Freemium” business model: The lowest service tier is free, and the business is designed to get those users hooked and then upgrade to a paid plan. It can work wonderfully of course, but usually it crushes and destroys companies,… read more
-
New Partners – Dan Graham and Rob Taylor
May 5, 2013 by Gordon DaughertyWelcome to Dan and Rob as our newest Capital Factory Partners. See Dan’s biography here: http://capitalfactory.com/mentor/dan-graham/ and Rob’s biography here: http://capitalfactory.com/mentor/rob-taylor/.
-
Finding a Co-Founder in Austin
April 27, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Joshua Baer, Capital Factory Managing Director) One of the most common requests from entrepreneurs that I meet is for help finding a co-founder. Sometimes they have an idea but know that they don’t have all of the skills needed to pull it over. Other times they know they want to be an entrepreneur… read more
-
5 Golden Rules for Setting Sales Compensation Plans
April 22, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Gordon Daugherty, Capital Factory Director) Sales professionals are a different breed, so you’ve got to understand how they think in order to best motivate them and keep them aligned with company strategy. And if you don’t do it correctly, don’t blame the sales rep for doing things that put the most money in… read more
-
Exclusivity – Run Away or Embrace?
April 14, 2013 by Gordon Daugherty(Contributed by Gordon Daugherty, Capital Factory Director) It finally happened. You’ve been trying to get the attention of a huge strategic alliance partner and finally they gave you a chance to explain the value you can bring them. Not only do they get it but after a couple of subsequent meetings they utter the “exclusivity”… read more
-
New Partner – Bernie Brenner
April 9, 2013 by Gordon DaughertyWelcome to Bernie as our newest Capital Factory Partner. See Bernie’s biography here: http://capitalfactory.com/mentor/bernie-brenner/