The Angel VC

DECEMBER 1, 2014

This is part two of my post about the early days at Zendesk. The first part is here. Small, fragmented and no potential for differentiation As mentioned in the first part of this post, the seed round was only $500,000 and it was clear that we’d need much more money soon. That’s why Mikkel and I started to work on a pitch deck and a financial plan almost immediately after the closing of the seed round and started to pitch to VCs shortly thereafter.

Investment 149

Investment Business Model Software Marketing 149

Tom Tunguz

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

What are the pains and aspirations of your customer? Does your product truly solve your customers problems? And fulfill its promise of doing something in a better way? Most startups wrestle with these questions at their outset, when they are in the customer discovery and customer validation phases of the lean startup cycle. But all startups should reevaluate these questions periodically.

Startup 153

Startup Business Model Product Marketing Communication 153

CloseSaaS

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Pioneers Festival is one of the most exciting and fun events on entrepreneurship and innovation in Europe, and it was great to speak there again the second year in a row.

Entrepreneurship 52

Entrepreneurship Startup Sales Innovation 52

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 1, 2014

I’ve been reading a book called Legacy Of Ashes, which is an exhaustive history of the CIA since its founding more than 50 years ago through to 2007. Reading spy stories is always enthralling, but surprisingly, the book is a fascinating case study in management. The major theme of the book is the value of intellectual honesty, a principle which was often forgotten according to the research compiled by the author.

Management 113

Management Data 113

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Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 4, 2014

When will the tech bull market end? It’s a question that I’m asked with some frequency. There are three fundamental reasons for the bull market. First, technology is changing nearly every part of the economy. Consequently, there are many huge opportunities for entrepreneurs to seize. Our internal analysis shows that only 2% of IT budgets are spent on cloud today.

Marketing 100

Marketing Finance Startup Pricing 100

CloseSaaS

DECEMBER 3, 2014

Your current customers are the best prospects for future sales. Yet, very few startups act that way.

Startup 52

Startup Sales 52