Several years ago a client asked me to read a business plan he had written to raise the funds needed to take his invention to market. The plan described a kind of helper spring to improve the handling of heavily-loaded pick-up trucks. In the marketing section of the plan, he referred to the market opportunity as “within the nearly $100 billion auto […]
Chinese Math
Posted in Business Plan Tips, MarketingBy David Kaplan - March 29th, 2009 Comments Off on Chinese Math
At the peak of Silicon Valley ‘s bubble, back in January of 2000, Guy Kawasaki wrote an irreverent article for Forbes Magazine about the poor quality of business plans that inexperienced entrepreneurs were submitting to venture capitalists back in those days. The article notes a number of common mistakes, most articulated in Guy’s signature tongue-in-cheek style, but […]
Best Practice for Online Marketing
Posted in Entrepreneurship, MarketingBy David Kaplan - March 29th, 2009 Comments Off on Best Practice for Online Marketing
The fast-moving world of online marketing has taken giant strides with the advent of social networking. SEO and SEM are now the basics and MySpace, Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter are all the rage. As new tools come on line, I pay close attention to what Guy Kawasaki is saying and doing. He not only stays right on […]
The Business Plan as Marketing Vehicle
Posted in Business Plan Tips, MarketingBy David Kaplan - November 29th, 2008 Comments Off on The Business Plan as Marketing Vehicle
Winning requires the right vehicle. Plans that exaggerate markets overstate sales forecasts, over-hype the business idea or underestimate the competition will not cross the finish line. Investors expect an honest, evenhanded assessment of the opportunity and the risks. Hyperbole will not sell them on you or your business. In fact, it may turn them off entirely. […]