459 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

At an All Hands or weekly check-in, show two slides every week. One slide is about what’s good, one slide is about what’s bad. Build this into your process. Whatever the format, the goal is simply to ensure that the people building and selling your products understand what’s going on with the company. Overemphasizing the positive becomes problematic. Some companies are just drinking their own … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Dennis Crowley | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

David Lieb discusses the risk of cognitive overload. He defines the phenomenon, explains why it matters and shares how to test for it. To help his fellow product leads and teams suffering from it, he dispels four myths about cognitive overload — and how to keep it from holding back your products.

Content: Article | Author: David Lieb | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

Startups need a simple test that can bring a go-to-market strategy into focus — one that can help smartly deploy limited resources when a product is first launched and a company has one chance to make a strong, first impression. For these inflection points, startups need a compass, and in my decades of working with them, I think this framework points them in the right … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Mark Leslie, Matt Heiman | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Marketing / Sales

As a company gets bigger, it’s scary to watch how most fall into longer and longer iteration cycles. Someone needs to be paying attention to this. Like, literally collecting data on how long every release is taking. How long releases of similar features are taking over time. How many features are getting launched per sprint, per quarter, etc. You have to know how long it’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Alex Le | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Measurement

Building a better mousetrap isn’t enough to set you apart. In fact, incumbent competitors have a number of advantages that could kill your startup, including entrenched distribution channels and consumer familiarity. Start to dethrone incumbents by making users a little uncomfortable; to make “better” matter — and users care. In many ways, your quietest, most steadfast competitor is indifference. The bottom line is you have … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bret Taylor | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

All good advice tips people toward action, not options. You may think all you need is advice. Practice is what you need.

Content: Quotation | Author: Hiten Shah | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

A lot of people call me and ask how they should structure their product organizations. I always tell them to do it based on outcome. If you do it based on features, then you’re going to be perpetuating those features whether they’re useful or not.

Content: Quotation | Author: Jonathan Golden | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Amy Chang, who ran product for Google Analytics before founding data-driven networking startup Accompany in 2013, counts dozens of luminaries among her advisors — including best selling authors like Chip Heath and Nir Eyal. Fielding this type of expertise seems like a nearly impossible feat, but her only secret is this: She spent years figuring out how to methodically build her network — and is … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Amy Chang | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

The Review is now over two years old and home to dozens of stories that have resonated and made a difference. In 2015 alone, we added nearly 100 new articles, full of granular how-to’s for designers, product managers, marketers, recruiters, sales leaders, executives and many more. What follows is a list of the 30 most impactful, change-making pieces of advice drawn from everything we published … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Miscellaneous

The Review reflects on the extraordinary people they’ve interviewed and long-form articles they’ve published over the last year.

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Miscellaneous

When it comes to innovation, there’s only one right way to segment: by customers’ needs, what they value and their WTP [willingness to pay] for a product or service that delivers that value.

Content: Quotation | Author: Madhavan Ramanujam | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Marketing / Sales

The root of all innovation evil is the failure to put the customer’s willingness to pay [WTP] for a new product at the very core of product design. Most companies postpone pricing decisions until after the product is developed. They embark on a long, costly journey of hoping they’ll make money rather than knowing they will. You can ensure your product not only stays alive, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Madhavan Ramanujam | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Marketing / Sales, Pricing

Managers should equip their people to achieve clarity in their careers, says Candor, Inc. co-founder and COO and former military leader Russ Laraway. He believes that managers can grow and retain top talent by helping their employees articulate long-term vision for their careers. Drawing from his talk at First Round’s CEO Summit and additional conversations, Laraway lays out a step-by-step approach for creating meaningful dialogue … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Russ Laraway | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Management

If pricing is adjusted on a regular basis, it trains your customers to understand that the value is going to be changing as the product is improving. The worst thing you can do is add so much value over the course of three to five years — even 12 months — and then all of a sudden want a big bump from your customers who … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Patrick Campbell | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Pricing

Early on, many startups don’t want to show prices — and that’s okay. Most don’t really know what they should charge, so they prefer to get intel by asking inbound customers some pricing questions. However, when you reach a point where you want a touchless sale, then you need to show your pricing. If it’s not a clear number, such as in Wistia’s case, give … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Patrick Campbell | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Marketing / Sales, Pricing

Madhavan Ramanujam is to monetization strategy what Bob Marley is to reggae music. He’s managed over 125 projects for companies ranging from hot startups to the Fortune 500. Drawing from his talk at First Round’s CEO Summit, Madhavan Ramanujam explains why pricing is so paramount from the get-go and the four ways companies often trip up when trying to monetize. He also shares the three … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Madhavan Ramanujam | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Pricing

Most startups don’t spend nearly enough time recognizing people. Most people need to know their managers and org leaders see their hard work and value it. They’re hungry for this type of acknowledgment. When you tell a story about them, you kick their motivation into hyperdrive, and you make them a model for the rest of the team to follow their lead.

Content: Quotation | Author: Don Faul | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Storytelling

If you don’t have a past experience you can use to connect to your team’s current plight, get familiar with what’s happening for them now. Listen to their stories, so you can eventually tell one that will speak to people and make them feel seen.

Content: Quotation | Author: Don Faul | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Storytelling

I firmly believe that leaders at companies need to be in service to their people. They need to ensure they have everything they need to succeed. One of the most critical needs they have is a complete picture of why they should show up and pour their heart into their work every day. It’s not a nice to have, it’s a basic need.

Content: Quotation | Author: Don Faul | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior

… people attach emotion to individuals. They love rooting for people. They love experiencing the world through others’ eyes. The more you can tell stories about actual people that connect to the broader purpose, the more your audience will feel and not simply hear what you are trying to tell them.

Content: Quotation | Author: Don Faul | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior, Storytelling