This blog post does not advocate free products/services.  Chris Anderson sockpuppetry may be found elsewhere. This blog post does not trash the freemium model, either.   Instead, it looks at business realities – cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, growth and scalabaility – advocating a large strategic toolbox and a careful selection, informed by hard [...]

Problem: Alternative Energy spinout seeks growth financing in tough times. Diversified business can fall back on professional services, but would rather invest in technology development. Solution: Position startup for gap-financing programs; recast company story to highlight leadership/incumbency; develop executive summary and financial materials for due diligence. Technologies used: Coaching, marketing consult, financial analysis Work  done [...]

Problem: Even with its recent expansion, the University of Michigan Museum of Art suffered from Too much art, Not enough gallery space. Solution: Open-storage galleries housing waaay too much art, accessed by a virtual docent kiosk based on iPod’s “coverflow” metaphor. Technologies: AJAX, jQuery, PHP, SQL Server Work done on this project: Software architecture and [...]

Problem: New Startup professional services consulting firm needs go-to-market consultation on branding and messaging, sales pipeline, and collateral. Solution: Coach the coach, engineer the engineer, market the marketer, sell the seller. Technologies: Drupal, Flash. Work done on this project: Coaching, brand research and design, messaging platform consult and refinement, market strategy and program development, initial [...]

Problem: Medical device e-commerce site requires rescue and retread. Solution: Move site from a stick-built mess on a proprietary platform to a templated site that the client can maintain.  Consult on payment gateways and traffic management. Technologies used: Coaching, e-commerce consult, SilverStripe CMS Work  done on this project: Design, development, templating, hosting.

Blair Singer introduces neophytes to his SalesDogs cult with a combination of jacked-up motivational speaking and a simplified deconstruction of business challenges.His approach to sales training applies beyond sales: it’s a crash course in entrepreneurial stamina: the relentless tenacity and fatigue-proof high of setting and achieving goals, large and small, near and far.In this video, [...]

Problem: Virtual economic development projects are hard to track.  Resources are hard to marshal.  Too few economic developers have too many startups to manage. Opportunities are missed, and clients go under-served. Solution: Establish an online virtual business incubator portal, linking stakeholders, service providers and clients.  Track progress through stagegates to leverage coaching resources. Recruit and [...]

Problem: Only security geeks understand the need for wireless security. Everybody else (read: the vast majority of customers) doesn’t get it. It’s hard to sell something when consumers don’t know they need it. Solution: Interactive Flash animation and voiceover makes it easy. Technologies: QuickTime, Flash, Javascript. Work done on this project: Designed and developed the [...]

Problem: HKOMedia asks its clients to rethink their marketing stance – to think outside the “agency” box. They challenge their accounts to tell their story in a compelling, visual way. This raises expectations that HKOMedia will do so, too – and their website is the single most important piece of collateral to start that conversation.

Problem: Everyone agrees that a business incubator is an economic development asset – until it comes time to pay for it. Solution: An incubator grows businesses, but at its heart, an incubator is a business. So create a business plan! Research entrepreneurial requirements, study other incubators and how they serve their constituencies, build a sustainable [...]