PJM Consulting

The Future of Software Product Management: Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape

Phil Morettini — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 21:22:24 +0000

As we all know, software product management is a multidimensional discipline that requires a deep understanding of technology, market dynamics, user needs, and business strategy. It involves defining the vision, gathering requirements, and the roadmap for a software product. Then overseeing the developers, and ensuring successful launch and adoption. But as the technology landscape evolves […]

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Phil Morettini Interviewed in StrtupBoost Publication

Phil Morettini — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 23:43:21 +0000

Phil Morettini, President of PJM Consulting was recently interviewed by StrtupBoost, a startup-focused organization with a variety of services including fundraising, tech company pitch events, and digital marketing. The StrtupBoost community numbers in excess of 30,000 members. The interview with Mr. Morettini appears on the organization’s Medium Publication, also titled “StrtupBoost”. The interview covers Mr. […]

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Too Little Revenue? Before Firing Sales Reps, Look At Your Value Chain

Phil Morettini — Wed, 25 May 2022 23:09:40 +0000

So what is the one thing that I most commonly hear when having an initial discussion with prospective software CEO clients? It is something like: “We have no sales”, “Our sales are below expectations”, “We aren’t meeting our Series A revenue milestones”, etc. You get the picture. The lifeblood of ANY company is sales. There […]

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The Importance of Focus, Bootstrapping & Other Software Startup Necessities

Phil Morettini — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 00:10:54 +0000

I was talking to a first-time software entrepreneur recently, as I often do. As I was trying to give him some useful counsel, it struck me how I tended to give certain pieces of advice over and over during these types of discussions. So I thought I’d try to summarize some of these nuggets that […]

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Enterprise Tech Sales: Top Down Selling vs. Bottom Up Marketing

Phil Morettini — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 03:37:51 +0000

Selling strategy is an under-appreciated aspect of a technology company’s overall business model strategy. Far too often I find the decision on how to approach sales being made haphazardly, or in many cases, not intentionally at all! A company will often just start hiring sales reps and turning them loose, with little upfront consideration on […]

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How To Calculate Software Or SaaS Target Market Size

Phil Morettini — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 03:21:41 +0000

Estimating the size of a market segment is one of the fundamental activities of software company strategic planning and product marketing. Depending upon the company stage, this task can fall to a company founder in a startup, a product manager in a slightly more mature company, or a strategic planner in a large software company. […]

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7 Key Steps To Maximize Your SaaS Startup Valuation

Phil Morettini — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 17:51:06 +0000

Fundraising discussions with potential investors can be some of the most difficult conversations that a tech startup founder can have. Often the most difficult aspect of that discussion is when it becomes time to calculate startup valuation. Unfortunately, there is no definitive template or well-defined methodology that works in “most” circumstances. Valuing a startup, and […]

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Technology Fundraising: Traditional VC Funding Vs. Equity Crowdfunding

Phil Morettini — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:30:34 +0000

VC funding is the old standard, well known way of capitalizing a tech business. While it is still appropriate for a small number of mobile software, SaaS and hardware companies, it’s not always understood that startups need to fit REALLY well with the VC model for a successful funding event. More on that later. The […]

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How To Overcome Objections On The Road To Exceptional Content Marketing Strategy

Phil Morettini — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 17:14:22 +0000

Content marketing isn’t a new concept anymore; most of my readers will have at least a basic understanding of the concept. In fact, I consider it to be very much a mainstream marketing technique at this point. But a good number of senior executives and startup entrepreneurs still view it as ” too expensive”; at […]

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Technology Branding: What’s Really Important To Your Tech Company?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 03:57:37 +0000

Branding is a favorite topic among many corporate executives and entrepreneurs, including those leading tech companies. Many companies spend an inordinate amount of time on technology branding; others, not so much. I find that there is a wide variance in how seriously it’s taken by the management teams of software and hardware companies. This is […]

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What Makes The Difference Between Tech Startup Success And Failure?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:07:13 +0000

Back in the day there really wasn’t anything called a “startup”. New companies were just all called “small businesses”. That ended with the tech startup success of the Microsofts and Googles of the world, who rapidly created large, successful companies not all that long after they were started. These days we romanticize the startup and […]

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Digital Transformation – is it Important in Tech Marketing?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 22:10:15 +0000

The term digital transformation is one that is thrown around a lot these days. It’s become a catch-all phrase that a lot of companies adapt and utilize in their marketing messages; many call it hype. As a result, I think that it’s usefulness has been somewhat diluted as the terminology becomes ever less well defined. […]

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The Ideal Age for a Tech Startup Founder is?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 23:10:25 +0000

I’ve run across many articles discussing this question over the years. Some of them are software or tech startup specific, while others take on the topic of founding any kind of startup company generally. I think it’s an interesting topic, one that I’ve thought about a lot as I’ve been a startup guy in one […]

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Guest Post: Business owners, is your bookkeeping costing more than you know?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:45:15 +0000

This month we have a special treat. It’s a guest article written by a colleague of mine, James Wheeler. James is fractional CFO serving a variety of businesses, including software and other technology companies. I have worked with James personally and recommend him highly for his expertise in corporate financial matters. Find out more on […]

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The Importance of Product Positioning Strategy for Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 19:34:42 +0000

Product Positioning strategy is a topic which often is given short-shrift, especially early on in the life of a hardware or software company. But it’s not an issue that is peculiar to tech startups. I’ve run into positioning issues in technology businesses of all sizes, stages and categories, regardless of whether they are mobile software, […]

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Is There a Long-term Trend Away from Major US Tech Hubs Toward Distributed Teams & Remote Work?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 23:49:12 +0000

This is a pretty hot topic as we sit here in such uncertain times. Economic downturns and other societal difficulties have often been the catalysts for major structural changes, both in business best practices and society at large. So are we really going to see widespread fleeing of companies and tech employees away from the […]

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Is it Crazy to Launch a Startup Software Company During a Pandemic?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 17 May 2020 23:49:39 +0000

How good or bad will our economy be going forward? No one knows for sure, of course. But as I write this article US unemployment is approaching numbers not seen since the great depression, and the world economy as a whole isn’t much better off. Yet the US stock market (with the benefit of massive […]

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9 Common Marketing Mistakes Made By Software Companies

Phil Morettini — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 23:55:44 +0000

Marketing is viewed as a core activity for the great majority of the SaaS, cloud and mobile software companies. The rest give marketing activities short shrift at their own peril. But even among those that take it seriously, views on what strategy and tactics constitute “good marketing” varies. Often more importantly, how well a company […]

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Social Media Management Software Selection Tips

Phil Morettini — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:35:30 +0000

As most tech business folks know, social media marketing long ago became mainstream. If you’re not doing it in some form or fashion today, you’re not missing a differentiation opportunity. You’re ceding valuable opportunities to your competition, because they’re almost certainly engaged in social media marketing. So the question isn’t WHETHER to engage in social […]

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4 Common Types of Legal Issues Facing Software and Hardware Tech Startups

Phil Morettini — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:17:55 +0000

In most startups the founders are excited by a novel technology. Or maybe a new marketing approach or distribution strategy. Rarely is a group of founders enthused to be thinking about potential legal issues for startups that might trip them up. Unless there’s a lawyer among the founders, of course:-) But for almost every tech […]

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Are Angel Investors Right for your Hardware or Software Business?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 22:12:47 +0000

As I’ve written before, obtaining VC funding is the holy grail among many early stage tech company founders. But with rare exceptions, a startup company needs to hit some milestones, demonstrating proof of concept, product/market fit and usually significant revenue traction before VCs will seriously consider an investment. In addition, for many companies VC funding […]

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8 Important Website Design Best Practices for Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 17:56:18 +0000

You’ve thrown up a website for your business. Maybe it’s new, maybe it’s been up for a while. Maybe you built your website enthusiastically, or maybe it was a chore. Even if you didn’t want to, you pretty much had to do it, because in business today if you don’t have one you stick out […]

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Managing Your Tech Company Out of the Startup Phase

Phil Morettini — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 16:54:26 +0000

Your company is still young, but things are changing. The business just doesn’t “feel” like it used to, probably in a number of different ways. The change has been good! You’ve been growing, but still, some of the things happening can become unsettling. You know that as a CEO – or other C-Level manager – […]

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Phil Morettini interviewed on Local SEO Today Podcast

Phil Morettini — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 22:59:53 +0000

PJM Consulting President Phil Morettini was recently interviewed by John Vuong on the Local SEO Today Podcast. The podcast is aimed at providing small and early stage businesses with advice and guidance to grow and prosper. You can listen to the entire podcast using the link below: Phil Morettini Interview on Local SEO Today Podcast

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The Importance of Social Proof Examples in Tech Sales & Marketing

Phil Morettini — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 16:26:21 +0000

Marketing and selling any kind of product is hard; anyone that thinks otherwise almost certainly hasn’t ever tried to sell or market anything. To a certain extent, selling is selling. There are some common threads that are important no matter what you’re selling: listening more than talking, focus on solving the prospect’s problems rather than […]

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Assembling the Best Tech Company Team

Phil Morettini — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 23:18:55 +0000

This is a topic that should be of interest to everyone involved in the development of a mobile software, SaaS or hardware tech company. Seems obvious that you want and need the best tech company team possible, to beat what is often very intense competition in most tech market segments. In an ideal world, you’d […]

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Key Software Company Business Functions to Regularly Audit

Phil Morettini — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:25:39 +0000

Every CEO and business owner understands the importance of Financial Auditing and Controls. Not only is it mandated for many businesses from a legal perspective, but it’s a very important business function to keep an eye on in order to uncover and root out fraud, waste and financial abuse. But many businesses can benefit by […]

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The Series A Funding Squeeze

Phil Morettini — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:17:30 +0000

More and more startups are getting seed funding these days and have for a number of years. That’s a good thing. Below we’ll discuss some of the reasons for this phenomenon. But at least partially as a result of this good fortune for software, SaaS and other startups, a second phenomenon has occurred along with […]

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Key Components of Successful Customer Loyalty Programs

Phil Morettini — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 23:14:46 +0000

While the majority of our clients have B2B oriented businesses, quite a few are engaged in B2C markets as well. In many B2C markets the topic of how to sustain engagement with customers long term, thus creating “loyalty”, is essential. This is especially true with the effect that the Internet has on the ability of […]

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Transforming Your Technology Company Culture Through Happy Employees

Phil Morettini — Wed, 15 May 2019 00:21:22 +0000

I’ve written about corporate culture a number of times in previous articles. While not as well-covered as the “harder” sciences of business management, it is still a topic of great interest to many tech businesses. In this article I’ll discuss 5 categories to consider if you have an interest in improving employee relationships, leading to […]

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When Does a Software Industry Roll Up Make Sense?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 21:21:11 +0000

In the software business, probably the second most popular topic (after VC funding) is mergers and acquisitions, or M&A. That’s likely because they both have to do with MONEY and folks tend to light up when dollar signs are involved. There are many types of tech M&A transactions, and specifically software and SaaS M&A transactions. […]

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Are You Cut Out to Be a Tech Entrepreneur?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 23:09:23 +0000

Entrepreneurship comes close to the standing of a revered religion in the US and many parts of the world. In the software and hardware tech industries, starting up a new business is so common it’s really part of the fabric of the business. So many out there dream of starting a company and becoming a […]

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Formulating an Effective SEO and Content Strategy for Startups

Phil Morettini — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 01:36:41 +0000

Marketing is hard. Marketing is harder still for an early stage software, SaaS or hardware company. You are at a severe disadvantage in many respects vs. your larger, more established competitors: including brand, money, personnel resources and much more. One thing that can even the playing field is your expertise and knowledge, when coupled with […]

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Venture Capital for Software Companies: Does It Fit Your Startup?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:32:24 +0000

Getting funded by a Venture Capital firm is one of the most discussed topics for startup CEOs in SaaS, mobile software and hardware companies. Venture Capital for software companies is the “Holy Grail” of the early stage set. To many, it implicitly means to people that you’ve “got something”. It’s considered an endorsement of future […]

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8 Obvious (and Not So Obvious) Keys to Tech Startup Success

Phil Morettini — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 16:35:28 +0000

A lot of tech startup success advice tends to be recycled over and over. I do find that much, but not all, of that conventional wisdom tends to ring true in a high percentage of circumstances. But I also think that it’s important to be open to strategies and tactics that go against the grain […]

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12 Common Hiring Mistakes in Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 01:41:11 +0000

Hiring well is one of the most difficult – and in my opinion critical – tasks for any tech CEO and his management team, especially in the early days. There are a lot of different approaches and opinions the optimal hiring process. There are a lot of software companies out there these days promising to […]

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Great Leaders, Followers and the Importance of Team Players in Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 23:24:47 +0000

The personalities of tech company organizations is considered by many to be a “soft” management topic, resulting in it often not being given the attention it deserves. Traditional management education focuses on the numbers, not interpersonal relationships. But great leaders and an overall positive corporate culture is VERY IMPORTANT to long term corporate success. And […]

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PJM Consulting CEO Phil Morettini quoted in “The Information” article on Facebook

Phil Morettini — Fri, 07 Sep 2018 21:38:08 +0000

Phil Morettini, PJM Consulting CEO was recently quoted in an article discussing the difficult challenges that Facebook has faced recently. The article appeared in the prominent tech industry publication “The Information“. The article covered in depth the recent Facebook challenges, along with a discussion around recent management departures. You can read the entire article here: […]

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7 Reasons that VC Said No to your Startup

Phil Morettini — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 22:05:47 +0000

Raising money is the “Holy Grail” early milestone for a great many entrepreneurs leading software and hardware companies. Even though I’ve been in that position and have done it myself, I’ve always found this phenomenon a bit curious. There is a romantic element to the successful raising of funds – someone loves me (my company)! […]

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KPI Metrics for Software and Hardware Technology Company Success

Phil Morettini — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:11:41 +0000

There is a range of operating styles among entrepreneurs in hardware and software companies. Some CEOs are “quants”; very numbers oriented. Others, especially in the early days, base most of their strategic decisions on experience, feel and “gut”. I believe that there is room for both of these approaches in strategy development; especially in the […]

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Planning your SaaS MVP

Phil Morettini — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 21:31:14 +0000

Planning a new product using the concept of an MVP – an acronym for “Minimum Viable Product” has become very hot in the technology world in recent years. Of course, this is really just modern terminology for an age old marketing concept. But a software or SaaS MVP is still an important concept and very […]

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The End of a Tech Startup Journey: 6 Signs a Company is Failing

Phil Morettini — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 21:53:24 +0000

No entrepreneur goes into their software or hardware technology startup with the idea that it will fail. But sadly, more often than not it will. I’ve written repeatedly about the key qualities and activities required for startup company success. Before you read on, remember that NOT giving up easily is VERY high on the list! […]

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Handling the Emotions of the Startup Journey

Phil Morettini — Fri, 11 May 2018 22:13:51 +0000

You’ve had a great idea for a new product or service and have decided to act upon it by forming a new startup company. You’ve enlisted a couple of co-founders with complementary skills, gotten some seed capital and built a prototype or MVP. How exhilarating! Also physically exhausting, emotionally draining and potentially straining on the […]

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Can You Do an Internal Startup Within a Large Corporation?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 02:32:26 +0000

This is an interesting question. For the purposes of this article, we will define an internal startup as a new business unit which doesn’t fit neatly within the confines of larger, mature company’s existing business activities. The general answer seems like it should be “yes”! But in practice, there are many unique “gotchas” which can […]

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Tech Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Phil Morettini — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 00:59:00 +0000

When you’re starting a hardware, semiconductor, mobile software or SaaS company there is more often than not a need to create some very early traction. There are a few startups that are able to get strong external funding from a standing start, notably successful entrepreneurs on the second or third startup, companies with a strong […]

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Do You Have The Startup Support System To Go The Distance?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 01:13:33 +0000

Sometimes what seems like the smallest of things can actually be the most important. I find this particularly true in a tech startup environment, where the margin of error for success is very thin almost by definition. When starting up a software or hardware company the focus is rightly on critical topics like product strategic […]

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Does Blockchain Fit in Your Technology Stack?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 01:03:16 +0000

Bitcoin and by corollary it’s key underlying technology – Blockchain – have been all over the news this year. Not just the financial news or the business news, but pretty much every media outlet of any kind has rarely gone more than a few days without some type of BitCoin or Blockchain coverage. And why […]

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The Tech Startup Company: Filling in the Gaps

Phil Morettini — Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:51:14 +0000

There are a lot of ways to look at the journey of starting and growing a tech startup company to maturity. One way to look at it is like solving a puzzle. A big, scary, complex puzzle with thousands of shapes, colors and pieces. Every tech startup, from the most royal, well-funded ones to the […]

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Building a SaaS Company on a Budget by Outsourcing

Phil Morettini — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 00:14:45 +0000

SaaS companies are started in many different ways. Some have a big idea, go get Angel or VC funding and start hiring executives and employees in droves. Others grow out of an existing business such as a software services company or a VAR. But what about the guy or gal that has an idea on […]

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Securing the First 100 Customers for Your SaaS Startup

Phil Morettini — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 02:26:28 +0000

You’re a SaaS startup CEO, or maybe a VP-Marketing or VP-Sales. Or you hold some other appropriate early stage, senior executive title – no matter. The company has come up with an interesting idea and built a prototype. You’ve raised a seed round, flew headlong into development and now at long last have a product […]

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B2C Strategies to Enhance Growth of B2B Software Companies

Phil Morettini — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 23:33:38 +0000

Traditionally the difference between B2C and B2B SaaS and mobile software businesses have been pretty stark. The B2C business has been characterized by low price points, a focus on ease-of-use, low cost and marketing-oriented customer acquisition models. Meanwhile, the typical B2B software business focused on higher price points, rich feature sets (often at the cost […]

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7 Key Questions that Often Become Recurring Nightmares for Founders of Tech Startups

Phil Morettini — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 22:47:35 +0000

So what keeps you up at night? If you’re a tech startup CEO or founder, the list of possibilities is very, very long. I like to say that the act of starting a software or hardware company is barely a rational act. The deck is stacked against tech startups and the odds of success are […]

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Tech Startup Social Media Strategy and Tactics

Phil Morettini — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:16:52 +0000

Everyone knows that social media marketing is a CRITICAL promotion tactic these days. But what a huge corporation does on a social media platform to promote it’s brand is usually dramatically different from a hardware, SaaS or software startup. Mostly this has to due with the vast difference in monetary and personnel resources of Giant […]

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6 Egregious Habits of IT Company CEOs

Phil Morettini — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 23:54:44 +0000

When I got my first job in the IT industry at HP way back when, the enlightened management style that I encountered was a revelation. I had worked early in my career at large, “old-school” industrial companies where “top down”, authoritarian management approaches (and other practices much worse) were still the norm. The management style […]

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The Importance of Content Marketing for Tech Startups

Phil Morettini — Tue, 09 May 2017 00:23:38 +0000

Content Marketing is very much a mainstream marketing activity these days, in nearly all segments of the marketplace. It’s particularly important of tech savvy buyers looking for education in a particular product category. It’s rise in importance corresponds with the general degradation of outbound marketing response rates, along with Internet-driven prospect preferences toward more control […]

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SaaS Startup: 5 Key Bootstrapping vs. Fundraising Considerations

Phil Morettini — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 01:54:34 +0000

One of the very first critical decisions for a SaaS startup is deciding whether to seeking outside funding from Angels or VCs – or fund initially through a bootstrap approach. There are many factors that should be considered in this decision, some of which are the specifics of the market you are entering, your own […]

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B2B Social Selling and Marketing Strategy

Phil Morettini — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:36:00 +0000

As we sit here in 2017, sales and marketing is still the same – and totally different. In my long career that actual fundamentals of sales and marketing haven’t changed a bit (contrary to the belief of some). However, the platforms, technologies and tactical methods have changed and will continue to change dramatically. This is […]

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6 Common Areas Where a Tech Company Startup Budget is Wasted

Phil Morettini — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 15:54:55 +0000

One of the most important skills that an early stage technology management team really needs to have is the ability to objectively manage the startup budget. This is a very difficult task as senior managers are dealing with so many unknowns it is often hard to know where to spend – and where not to. […]

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5 Sales Tactics A Tech Sales Force Should Never Use

Phil Morettini — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 22:37:34 +0000

Hiring sales people always feels like a pretty straightforward exercise. And really, the job itself seems pretty straightforward as well. But don’t confuse straightforward with easy. It’s not – and if bad practices creep into the sales reps bag it becomes even harder. It never ceases to amaze me the bad practices utilized by many […]

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Lead Nurturing Programs for Tech Businesses

Phil Morettini — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 01:35:15 +0000

So you’ve put up a website, sent out a few press releases, done some social media marketing, maybe some PPC, SEO, etc. If your software or hardware company is more mature, you’ve done a LOT of all of these and probably a lot more in the way demand generation. Now that you’ve generated all of […]

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Pricing Fences, Promotions & 8 Deadly Sins of Customer Care

Phil Morettini — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 20:51:29 +0000

I recently got of the phone with AT&T “customer care”. It was an unusually frustrating experience, even by the standard of dealing with a multi-billion dollar corporation which has roots as a regulated utility. I had been transferred among 6 different departments over the period of a couple of days. As I write this, I’ve […]

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Transparency vs. Protecting Tech IP

Phil Morettini — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 23:00:44 +0000

The issue of proprietary tech IP and whether to hold it tight at all times isn’t a common strategic topic that I’ve run across often in the high tech world. It does get discussed on a piecemeal basis, as the need to disclose something sensitive to a customer or partner pops up. In general, I’ve […]

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Hiring to your Tech Company Culture

Phil Morettini — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 21:49:53 +0000

I’ve always believed that the care and maintenance of a tech company culture is one of the most important factors confronting executive management in a growing tech company. I’ve both written about and produced a video on this topic in the past. If you buy into the premise that your corporate culture is important, your […]

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Business Diversification vs. Focus in Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 22:35:35 +0000

In my experience, the biggest factors which drives a company toward either a relentless focus on their core business or a penchant for adding new businesses is the background, personal experiences and attitudes of the CEO or founders. It really depends upon what these folks are used to and comfortable with. A CEO who came […]

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Software Product/Market Fit

Phil Morettini — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 00:06:15 +0000

Finding the right Product/Market fit is maybe the most important differentiator between success and failure of a new software company or product. Yet even though this software product/market fit should be obvious, it is often glossed over in the excitement of a new enterprise. Why is this? In some cases, people don’t really want to […]

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The Remote Office in Tech Sales & Marketing

Phil Morettini — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 22:42:38 +0000

The discussion on whether you need a remote office or offices in software and hardware companies is one which has diverse opinions. While it may seem like a simple topic on the surface, the decision to spend precious resources on additional physical locations is actually quite complex. Where your opinion falls on this topic depends […]

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Tech Company Employee Stock Options

Phil Morettini — Tue, 10 May 2016 22:29:39 +0000

One mildly controversial topic in our industry is whether to provide employee stock options broadly within a tech company. Mind you, this isn’t very controversial in VC-funded companies. The only discussion in that environment is how much and to who – not whether or not. But VC-backed companies represent only a tiny fraction of the […]

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Tech Company Leadership, Followers & Managing Up

Phil Morettini — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 23:46:20 +0000

A lot of people think the secret to good tech company leadership is being smart and decisive. Or maybe they believe the most important aspect is being able to inspire the troops, or provide the proper resources for the company to be successful. All of that is important, of course. But I think that there […]

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Extending ROI With Spin Off Technology Products

Phil Morettini — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 16:10:39 +0000

Many software and hardware businesses, particularly smaller ones, are religiously focused on a specific vertical market and don’t think to spin off technology for other purposes. As well they should; focus is one of the most important attributes that can bring a business from startup to a strong growing business. This is often one of […]

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The Shelf Life of the Tech Company CMO

Phil Morettini — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:33:38 +0000

This is a topic that probably isn’t debated all that much. Except for among software and hardware company CMOs & VPs of Marketing! But I think it’s an important management topic nonetheless. How long – and more importantly, how effective- the top marketing executive of your company is will tell a lot about the overall […]

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VERY Early Stage Tech Sales & Marketing

Phil Morettini — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 22:36:32 +0000

There is a lot of different stuff written about sales and marketing, and even more specifically, tech sales & marketing. Much of it is very good. Some is awful. What I think is an under-covered and under-appreciated aspect of sales and marketing activities is the earliest stages of a technology company’s existence. In fact, these […]

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Navigating IoT Technology Market Opportunities

Phil Morettini — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 21:26:15 +0000

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) as a market is at once both a simple and complex concept. In some respects this market has been around for a long time. But like many hyped market trends it has been renamed as time went on, with IoT being the most recent moniker and the one that has stuck. I […]

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Building an Effective Tech Company Management Team

Phil Morettini — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:54:46 +0000

The process for successfully following this article’s headline may seem pretty obvious: hire great people! At a very simplistic level, of course, that is the answer. But as you look closer at this important activity, the situation appears complex and nuanced. First, there is a limited number of “great people. And every software or hardware […]

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How Much Product Marketing Does a Tech Company Need?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 17:24:54 +0000

This seems like an odd question to those in the software and hardware technology business. Those who actually value product marketing! I happen to fit into that category myself, of course. If you’re of this viewpoint, it’s tempting to answer this question with the obvious “as much as possible”! But in some cases, that’s not […]

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Technology Monetization Strategies, Loss Leaders and the Network Effect

Phil Morettini — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 00:06:15 +0000

Often, software, hardware, and Internet entrepreneurs pursue passion projects or come across one of those “great ideas”. Those ideas that are depicted in cartoons with a light bulb turning on above someone’s head. Passion and great ideas are important components of a great new product and company. But unfortunately, the list of key ingredients to […]

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6 Biggest Obstacles That Startup Software Management Teams Must Overcome

Phil Morettini — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 21:33:58 +0000

You’ve found a hole in a software market segment. Perhaps it arose from a personal need that you couldn’t find a product to fulfill, or you worked in a VAR or consulting company and realized that customers were repeatedly asking for the same custom solution. So you created a standard software product or SaaS application, […]

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You Should Scale Your Tech Company Sales Force When…..

Phil Morettini — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 00:35:05 +0000

Many tech executives would complete the sentence in the title above with something like “when you ship your first product”. Or “when you start your company”. Or “as soon as possible”. All have a similar meaning. Every tech company needs sales revenue and would like as large a hardware or software sales force as possible […]

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7 Biggest Issues Faced by Management Teams in Mature Software Companies

Phil Morettini — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 21:53:38 +0000

So your software management team has broken through that difficult startup phase, and the company has become profitable. Maybe have reached a dominant share of your market segment. Times are good, and that usually lasts for a while. You’ve become what’s known as a mid-sized or even a large software company. Throughout this article, we’ll […]

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Has Interim Management & Virtual Employment Reached Critical Mass?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 21:51:59 +0000

Are we heading towards what some have termed the “1099 economy”? For those of you outside of the US, 1099 refers to the tax form which defines money earned as coming from “contract work” rather than as a permanent employee of a company. I’ve heard that the era of the contract/temp/interim/consultant worker has arrived many […]

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Balancing Strategy and Execution in Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Sat, 09 May 2015 15:21:45 +0000

Most of us have heard some variation of the old axiom, “Don’t worry about strategy, it’s all in the execution.” Strategy vs execution is an ancient argument. I often say that I prefer an average strategy and great execution, rather than the opposite. However, the reality is that in most cases, a tech business’s success […]

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You Should Hire Your First Product Manager When……

Phil Morettini — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 14:37:26 +0000

In a technology startup company, many functions are deemed “critical”. Unless the company is heavily funded, probably by institutional capital, even some of the most critical functions are often not individually staffed in the beginning. Much of the time, a founder or early employee splits time between several functions, doing the best he or she […]

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Platforms, Applications and the Software Market Lifecycle

Phil Morettini — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 16:51:39 +0000

a In the early days of a software market segment, people building new software applications often try to be all things to all people. The idea of a “software platform” is usually not a consideration. The segment is typically growing fast, and the idea is to meet as many market needs as possible. But as […]

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Corporate Constraints in Tech Product Strategy Development

Phil Morettini — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 13:18:35 +0000

It’s obviously important to have as good a product strategy as possible in any company, but especially in the dynamic, fast-moving markets that software and hardware companies often compete in. Corporate strategy development is critical for tech product companies. But I also subscribe to the old notion that it’s better to have an average strategy […]

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The Tech Industry Balancing Act: Innovation vs. Process

Phil Morettini — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 15:51:21 +0000

The question of how to balance innovation and process is an age-old management argument in companies of many types, but is especially critical in software and hardware companies. Which is more effective: a “loose” work culture that allows experimentation and “constructive failure”, thereby fostering innovation. Or a more tightly-controlled environment that puts a premium on […]

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What the Heck is Customer Development?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 22:10:28 +0000

The term “customer development” has been floating around for a number of years now, although it seems to have gotten more play in the last couple. Regardless, it’s one of the most common buzzwords added to the technology business vernacular in recent times. I lump it in the buzzword box with “agile”, “lean-(anything)”, “growth hacking”, […]

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Is Microsoft Mobile Office Going Freemium a Good Move?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:06:44 +0000

As many of you know, Microsoft recently announced that the mobile (phone & tablet) versions of the Office Suite will now be free. Microsoft previously had free mobile versions for some of the mobile platforms, but they were severely limited in functionality. There will now be free versions available on all key platforms–alleged with good […]

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Should Big Company Executives Jump To Startups?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 15:04:01 +0000

Maybe? But not if they are truly “big company” executives in their basic makeup. Of course, if you’ve spent your career to date strictly in large companies, it may be hard to determine what your true nature is. At your core, do you have a big company mentality or a startup mentality? That is really […]

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Finding the Right Market Niche

Phil Morettini — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 16:42:28 +0000

Every company would like to market its products in the largest possible market niche. So point your products at the largest possible market they can address and charge forward, right? Wrong. For nearly every company, some markets are “too large”. How can that be? Isn’t the larger the market, the better? In a word: “No”. […]

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Accessing Remote Software Markets

Phil Morettini — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 18:12:13 +0000

More often than not, software companies start off selling and marketing in their home market. This isn’t always the case, but it is true in the vast majority of cases. This occurs when a home market focus is intended to build an initial reference customer list of 10-20 customers, or lasts until the company establishes […]

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Strategies for a Technology Market Upturn

Phil Morettini — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 22:05:03 +0000

We’ve been plodding along economically for quite a while now. This middling US and Worldwide economy has really frozen a lot of normal business activity. Senior managements at software and hardware companies generally view minimal risk for a significant downturn at this point, but also have long been waiting for clear signs of a robust […]

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When Should a Founder Step Away as CEO?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 15:52:29 +0000

In every successful entrepreneur’s professional life, there comes a time to pack it in and head for the exits. Deciding when it’s time to make the founder CEO transition is the really tricky part. And when to do so can vary widely depending upon the circumstances. Several common scenarios set the stage for this transition. […]

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Software Go-To-Market Strategy and Tactics

Phil Morettini — Fri, 02 May 2014 17:08:24 +0000

It’s challenging to generalize the optimal approach to Go-to-Market for a software product. Like most things in technology marketing, it is highly dependent on the specific situation. Are we talking about a startup or a billion-dollar software company? SaaS, Open Source, or a mobile app? A breakthrough application or a follow-on to an existing product? […]

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Lead Generation and Qualification

Phil Morettini — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 14:45:16 +0000

Every company that needs customers also needs a successful lead generation and qualification program. I work with software and hardware companies, but this is a universal truth for all customer-oriented companies. However, people’s approaches to it can vary widely, depending on their circumstances. Most of all, based on their own background and comfort level. […]

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The Return of Customer Service?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:21:49 +0000

Bad Customer Service is one of my hot buttons and what I feel is an undervalued area for many consumer and B2B tech company CEOs. As a result, it’s not considered a “core” area of the business and receives far too little attention from senior management. I’ve said in the past that not only is […]

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SaaS Development Gone Wild

Phil Morettini — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:37:54 +0000

Technology tends to speed up everything. Mostly this is good…but sometimes not so much. Smartphones, for example are one of the greatest thing invented, providing consumers with tremendous added convenience, productivity and mobility as well as greatly increased our ability to multitask. But there are often unintended consequences that come with otherwise fantastic technological advances. […]

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The Family Run Tech Business

Phil Morettini — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 14:55:06 +0000

If you live in the world of venture-funded companies, you may not have seen many software or hardware businesses that fit the traditional definition of a “Family Business.” But the vast majority of tech companies out there aren’t funded by institutional capital. Most are started the good old-fashioned way: self-funded, with an idea and just […]

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Shadow IT in the Enterprise

Phil Morettini — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 00:07:37 +0000

If you’ve ever worked in a large corporation or been in the enterprise software or hardware business for any length of time, you’re familiar with the frustrations expressed by AND about the IT department. The IT department is typically the scorn of many folks who rely on them for the systems and support which allow […]

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Key Qualities of a Successful Software Startup CEO

Phil Morettini — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:42:01 +0000

Many articles have been written on what makes a good CEO. It’s important to note that what it takes to be a good Fortune 500 CEO differs from what it takes to succeed as a hardware or software startup CEO. In this article, I’m going to focus on the latter. Many common traits are important […]

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Market Research for Software Products

Phil Morettini — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 17:30:31 +0000

Software product market research is one of the most important activities in any software business. Whether you have a clean-sheet startup company or a multi-billion-dollar industry giant, this is crucial. It matters not whether you produce on-premise products, SaaS, Open Source, mobile software, etc. Building products that meet marketplace needs and that the target audience […]

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Webinar Marketing for Software Companies

Phil Morettini — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:33:06 +0000

Software companies have various promotional opportunities available to fill the sales pipeline and move prospects through it. The particular techniques used and their priority depend upon many factors, including, but not limited to, market segment, product complexity, price points, and length of the sales cycle. One of my favorite techniques for companies with more complex […]

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The Microsoft Reorg – Good or Bad Idea?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 22:36:38 +0000

By now most of you have at least heard that Microsoft has announced a long rumored major reorganization of the company. It was announced in a company-wide email from CEO Steve Ballmer. Let me say first of all that I think Mr. Ballmer takes an inordinate amount of grief. I also think that he has […]

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The Tech Company Equivalent of the Canary in the Mineshaft

Phil Morettini — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:55:54 +0000

For those puzzled by the title above, long ago, canaries were used in the mining industry as leading indicators of a looming catastrophe underground. When the canary was overcome by/died from dangerous levels of gas in the mine, things were about to get very bad. And it was time to get out. So what’s the comparable […]

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How Important Is Ease-Of-Use In The Software Business?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:19:58 +0000

In short–it’s CRITICAL. To some, this statement might appear to be a big “DUH, of course it’s important”. This seems obvious to anyone with software industry experience. In practice, excellent software usability is quite difficult to achieve. It doesn’t matter if you’re in B2B or B2C–building a traditionally licensed product, SaaS, mobile, or Open Source. […]

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Pros and Cons of the Freemium Software Business Model

Phil Morettini — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:45:32 +0000

One of the trends in the software business over the last decade or so has been the use of the “Freemium” business model. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Freemium software business model is characterized by an entry-level version of your software that is free to users forever. This business model has been used […]

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What Does It Take to Build a Great Software Company?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:02:05 +0000

A successful software company can come in many different sizes and shapes: SaaS or cloud-based, mobile, open-sourced, consumer, SMB, and Enterprise, etc. Even many successful “hardware” companies could be seen as software companies, as they are often driven primarily by novel software or firmware under the hood. With the diversity of form factors, it’s tough […]

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BYOD, Enterprise Mobile ISVs and Cross-Platform Support

Phil Morettini — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 23:04:23 +0000

One of the hottest trends in the technology industry these days is the phenomenon know as “Bring your own Device” or BYOD. For IT departments, this is the latest control-related nightmare they loath so much. The original technological shift from Mainframes to Minis and PCs was probably the start of many control-related sleep disturbances and […]

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Software Product Marketing: Horizontal vs. Vertical

Phil Morettini — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 15:55:07 +0000

Here’s an important discussion for most software companies in the software product planning stage and the downstream active software product marketing phase. In what manner will the product be marketed? The decisions to be made in these phases are separate but closely related. Discussions on this topic need to happen! Regardless of whether you are […]

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Software Company Diversification

Phil Morettini — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:02:01 +0000

Software company management teams must make many difficult strategic decisions. One is finding the delicate balance between “focusing on the core business” and “not putting all of your eggs in one basket.”How much software company diversification is desirable? The answer certainly depends on the details. One obvious way of differentiating how much diversification is appropriate […]

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5 Factors to Evaluate Whether You Have a Winning Corporate Culture – Video

Phil Morettini — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:50:58 +0000

A company culture can be an big strategic advantage if it’s perceived as highly positive – or a big disadvantage if it’s not. Building a positive corporate culture is an often discussed topic, to which there is no real “right” answer. Defining a culture is a squishy, inexact science, but that shouldn’t deter you from […]

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Is a Strong Rolodex Important in Technology Businesses?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:13:57 +0000

I always get this comment: “We’re looking for a VP-Sales/VP-Business Development/Sales Manager/Sales Rep with a strong Rolodex in the (pick your market segment) market”. I’m using “Rolodex” as a generic term for “contacts” since the advent of CRM software. But how important is a strong Rolodex really in the IT business? In my opinion, it’s […]

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A Software Startup Video Case Study

Phil Morettini — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:37:35 +0000

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Does Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Still Work?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:55:09 +0000

Modern pay-per-click, or PPC advertising was pioneered in 1998 by Overture. Yahoo later bought this PPC pioneer. It hit its stride in 2000 when Google introduced the AdWords platform. I’ve managed PPC campaigns on platforms such as Google Ads for myself and my clients since 2003. So, while I haven’t been involved since the beginning, […]

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Selling and Marketing Software Through the VAR Channel: Morettini on Management Video Series

Phil Morettini — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:46:25 +0000

Follow Phil Morettini and Morettini on Management via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS, or the PJM Consulting Quarterly Newsletter. Contact Phil directly at info@pjmconsult.com If you liked this post please share it with you colleagues using the “share” buttons below:

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Musings on Software Market Segmentation and TV Morning Shows

Phil Morettini — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 14:21:37 +0000

Bear with me on this one, as the title may leave you feeling a bit confused. But trust me, I will show you the connection! I like to check out one of the morning TV shows on one of the major US-based networks for a few minutes, as I’m eating my breakfast cereal. There are […]

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Separating Technology Wheat from the Chaff

Phil Morettini — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 15:44:20 +0000

New ideas, technologies, and products come down the pike rapidly in software and hardware businesses. Many fail immediately and some muddle along before finally fizzling out. Some meet with modest success. Only a very select few turn into long-run, big-time hits. How can you tell which products will become hits out of a sea of […]

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Has the Virtual Tech Company Arrived Yet?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:55:17 +0000

Suppose you go back to predictions made over the past 25 years. If those predictions were believed, we should all be independent contractors, heavily utilizing technology to work full-time from home. Many would work in temporary teams, within a virtual tech company or companies worldwide. Has it happened yet? More than one definition for the […]

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Is Your Tech Business Marketing or Sales Driven?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:55:15 +0000

Software and hardware businesses are often segmented by the vertical or horizontal market they’re targeting, their technology platform, small vs. large companies, and so on. However, one of the more important ways to segment tech businesses isn’t often discussed. That is by tech business marketing and sales. Is the company sales-driven or marketing-driven in its […]

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Does Interim Management Ever Make Sense for Tech Companies?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:32:24 +0000

Is there ever a time when hiring an outside senior executive for a short-term assignment in a software or hardware company is the right thing to do? If you’re based in the US, the most typical response from tech company boards and senior leadership to using Interim Management seems to be NO. Obviously, there are […]

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Are There Any Software Segments The Cloud Won’t Swallow?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:13:28 +0000

It’s become pretty clear in the last couple of years that we are heading irrevocably toward a cloud-dominated future in the software business. The evidence is irrefutable. To attempt to get a traditionally licensed PC or enterprise software business funded by an institutional investor would be a suicide mission these days. Whether it’s SaaS, PaaS, […]

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Optimal Levels of Formal Process in High Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:16:28 +0000

The level of formal process in an organization is a pretty esoteric topic. I haven’t seen it discussed very often, or in very much depth. Yet I believe it is critically important to any CEO looking to grow a company, particularly a software or hardware technology-based company. I believe it is so important that how […]

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Starting Software Product Businesses Within Service Companies

Phil Morettini — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:44:00 +0000

My consulting practice mainly focuses on commercial software product businesses, whether traditionally licensed, mobile, open source or SaaS. Or some combination of all of these. Many software product businesses are originally organized with that specific purpose in mind. But a remarkable number of others started from within another business. Let’s take a look at software […]

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Creating a Distribution Channel Where One Doesn’t Exist

Phil Morettini — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:15:59 +0000

One of the least well-understood activities in growing a hardware or software business is the building of distribution channels. This looks very easy to the uninitiated. But in reality, it’s extremely difficult. Many subtleties are far from obvious and some aspects that are necessary for success are downright counter-intuitive. Building a distribution channel strategy for […]

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Does Your Company Have a Winning Corporate Culture?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:38:21 +0000

I was re-reading Bill and Dave (subtitled: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company) a while back, by Michael Malone. He’s a great writer, and it’s still an important legacy business story about corporate culture; I heartily recommend it. Being an ex-HPer, I had tremendous respect, bordering on reverence for the “HP Way”. […]

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The New Corporation and Chronic Unemployment

Phil Morettini — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:47:50 +0000

This article is written primarily for my US readers, although anyone participating in the US marketplace may also have an interest. As I write this article we just had a good economic report. US unemployment dropped from 7.3% to 7.0% Yet the unemployment rate has now been stuck stubbornly at 7% or above for a […]

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What’s Up With HP?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:24:06 +0000

As regular readers will know, I am a Hewlett Packard alumnus and a longtime admirer of the company. I worked at HP in the eighties, and with hindsight it was one of the finest periods of my career. It was a GREAT place to work, as documented by books and case studies written about the […]

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Strategic Implications of the Google-Motorola Mobility Deal

Phil Morettini — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:01:26 +0000

The big question is why is Google doing this? Media reports and analysis of the potential deal has been all over the map. Much speculation has centered on the real value being in the large Motorola patent portfolio, to help defend Android against lawsuits. There has been other commentary which points to the possibility of […]

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Social Media Marketing for B2B Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:17:47 +0000

By now, every company has grasped the importance of having a social media presence on the web. However, in discussions with potential clients and others, I am amazed at how many folks still have done little in social media marketing. Most have at least dipped their toe in the water, but their activity level fits […]

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Health of the Tech Economy

Phil Morettini — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:24:51 +0000

I was reading an article recently about how the number of new tech startups in my local San Diego area has doubled, to 70 new companies, compared to the same quarter last year. More than half of those startups were in software, computer hardware or communications. The article included a number of other criteria useful […]

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Will Smartphones Replace PCs?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 22:44:21 +0000

Smartphones are taking over the world–the tech world, at least. The computing buzz these days is decidedly mobile. The question is “where does it end”? Do Smartphones continue their growth until they are the dominant or sole computing platform, or does this trend stop somewhere short of that? Let’s look as some of the factors […]

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Is Outbound Marketing Dead?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:05:39 +0000

There has been a slow but inescapable trend in marketing for years or even decades. During this time there has been a shift from “outbound marketing” towards “inbound marketing”. I use inbound marketing as a proxy for other terms as well such as “content marketing”, “permission marketing”, “new marketing” “modern marketing” and a few other […]

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The Rise and Fall of Novell

Phil Morettini — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Once again one of the great brand names of High Tech has been prominently in the news, this one for it’s demise as a standalone company. This time it’s Novell, Inc. Attachmate announced that it had closed its purchase of Novell, which becomes a brand of Attachmate. The price was $2.2B–not chicken feed, but much […]

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Should Your Sales Reps Cold Call?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:53:14 +0000

In this article, we’ll look at arguments on both sides of this issue. I’ll recommend when — and how much — cold-calling makes sense. We’ll look at it from the perspective of a software or hardware tech company. But the discussion applies to any sales situation, not just tech. This is an age-old question in […]

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International Expansion: Should a Tech Company Partner or Invest?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:03:44 +0000

This is an age-old question facing software and hardware companies. In this article, we’ll examine the pros and cons of each common choice for your international expansion, including the specific conditions that should drive your decision process. These two basic options confront a tech company considering a foray outside of their home market: Set up […]

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Is SEO a Legitimate Marketing Technique?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:07:27 +0000

I have definite ideas on this question. But what got my attention recently was a reference to SEO in a prime time television show (one of the legal dramas) on one of the major US networks. It went something like this: Lawyer: “What are you concerned about?” Client: “I’m concerned that the jury will have […]

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Wireless Communications and the End of Landlines

Phil Morettini — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:02:41 +0000

Hi, my name is Phil, and I am still a landline user. There, I’ve said it. I feel like I’ve admitted a dirty little secret–maybe I should even enter a 12 step program of some sort. After all, I’m a long time, devoted tech guy and lover of gadgets of all kinds. I was a […]

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Choosing an Advisory Board for your Tech Company

Phil Morettini — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:11:01 +0000

Advisory Boards have become a chic addition to software and hardware companies over the last decade or so. According to the Industry Association Advisory Board Centre’s 2021 annual report, there has been a 52% increase globally in organizations utilizing advisory boards as part of their governance structure since 2019. It’s a trend. Let’s assume an […]

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Should Microsoft Break Up?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:40:38 +0000

Once again there have been discussions in the press about breaking up Microsoft. Years ago it was the government pressing the issue because of Microsoft’s perceived monopolistic hold on a number of software markets. Now it’s being driven by shareholders, unhappy with the stock’s unimpressive performance over the last decade. MS management is not fond […]

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How Soon Should Your Software or Hardware Company Go International?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:08:30 +0000

This is a question that frankly doesn’t come up often enough at early-stage tech companies. There is usually an assumption that you first conquer your home market. Then sometimes WAY, WAY down the road when you are already flush and successful, it will be time for international market entry. US-based tech companies are most guilty […]

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Why is Intel Buying McAfee?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:29:54 +0000

Intel’s $7.68B announced acquisition of McAfee raised more that a few eyebrows, both in the marketplace and on Wall Street. Does it make sense? It’s hard to say at this point. So much depends upon execution, as well as potential synergies seen by Intel’s management which may not be obvious to outsiders. The price is […]

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Starting a Software Company in a Difficult Fundraising Environment

Phil Morettini — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:22:15 +0000

Some would say that it’s never an easy time to raise funds for a startup software company. In general, I’d agree. Except for a few brief moments, such as the pre-Internet Bubble in the late 90’s where money was being thrown around like air, fundraising is HARD. There are a few lucky folks that don’t […]

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Selling SaaS through the VAR Channel

Phil Morettini — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:25:08 +0000

The move toward Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been the strongest trend in the software business in recent memory. It changed the software business model in several fundamental ways. For this article, I will assume the reader has a basic understanding of the SaaS business model. I’m also assuming a basic understanding of what a Value Added […]

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Growing from a Startup to a Mid-Market Software or Hardware Company

Phil Morettini — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:22:52 +0000

Every stage of a company’s growth holds unique challenges. In my opinion, the startup phase until about $2M in revenue for a software company is the hardest. The “hardest” analogy for hardware companies would be around startup to $10M. That’s because hardware company revenue is usually higher at the same “stage”. But growing a business […]

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Is HP acquiring Palm a good idea?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:28:45 +0000

To answer the question posed in the title, it definitely is if you’re Palm! A long time player and sometime innovator in the mobile device marketplace, Palm was rapidly losing steam, market share and relevancy in the hyper-competitive Smartphone market. The company had staked its future on its new WebOS software platform and the recently […]

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Is Google Actually Good or Evil?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:34:16 +0000

I know this has been a topic that’s been discussed at length by many other folks. But a recent personal experience caused me to explore it further. I recently transitioned my Blog from Google’s Blogger platform to WordPress. Like most software transitions, it was a bit of work, and somewhat painful. Thankfully being from the […]

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What is the Best Place to Locate a Tech Company?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:28:21 +0000

There are many great places in the world where software and technology companies thrive. Outside the US, India has a rich history and deep resources in software development. Brazil, China and Eastern Europe have emerged as low cost development centers. All of these areas are better know for outsourced software development services, however, and are […]

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Promoting Software and Hardware Products through the VAR Channel

Phil Morettini — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:19:27 +0000

Except for a few software and hardware vendors who sell super-expensive products to the largest enterprises, a large percentage of B2B tech companies use the Value Added Reseller (VAR) channel. Not all heavily but to one extent or another. So how do you best go about doing this successfully? Do you simply create a great […]

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A Case Study in Bad Customer Service

Phil Morettini — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:05:00 +0000

In my opinion, the quality of a company’s customer service is BY FAR the most important ingredient of the numerous factors that go into a company’s brand reputation. Unfortunately too many companies, even those of the large, successful variety, just don’t get it. I wrote previously about The End of Customer Service. It doesn’t appear […]

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Is The Tech Recovery Upon Us?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Let’s face it, things still aren’t great economically: unemployment is over 10% nationally in the US, credit is tight for small businesses as well as reduced access to investment capital, and consumer’s moods, while improving are still not positive. However, while I don’t want to overstate the case, but I do believe we are on […]

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VARs vs. Retail Distribution in Technology Markets

Phil Morettini — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:19:00 +0000

There is always a lot of talk in the software and hardware industries about distribution through the “Channel”. Generically, that means selling through some type of a third-party reseller company, rather than selling directly to the end customer. But in reality, the “Channel” includes many disparate types of third-party resellers. Today we’ll look at when […]

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Will SaaS Lead to the Death of Software Product Management?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:57:00 +0000

There is a lot of talk in the software business these days about changing business models, particularly the trend toward SaaS (Software as a Service). Will SaaS business models completely dominate the software business? Many consultants, pundits and other industry figures are proclaiming that SaaS will very soon take over the world; saying if you’re […]

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Startup Mistakes by Software and Hardware Tech Companies

Phil Morettini — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Starting a company, any kind of company is the hardest thing to do in business. Sez me. It’s also one of the most rewarding and fun, if you’re built for the startup experience–though not everyone is. Technology startups have their own unique challenges. There are many different ways to drive off the road, some of […]

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Compensating the High Tech Sales Force

Phil Morettini — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:46:00 +0000

A sometimes controversial topic within software and hardware companies is how to best compensate the tech sales force. How much is required? How much is too much? What’s the best mix of salary and incentive comp? If you’ve read anything I’ve written before, you’ll find my next comment very familiar: It all depends on your […]

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All atwitter About Twitter Marketing

Phil Morettini — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:42:00 +0000

There’s been a lot said and written about the newest Social Media craze, Twitter. Particularly in the popular press, there’s also been a lot of misinformation. Sometimes the only way to get the real story is to try it yourself. I thought I’d give it a shot, and throw in my two cents on what […]

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Business Intelligence Software 101

Phil Morettini — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:18:00 +0000

This month we have a guest Blogger: The Actuate Corporation Team. Acutuate is an Open Source Business Intelligence Software vendor. Hope you enjoy their post-Phil Morettini Thanks to the global recession, companies worldwide are looking for ways to streamline their organizations and cut costs. Increasingly, they’re turning to business intelligence software to help find solutions. […]

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Will Microsoft’s BING Finally Bring Success in the Search Engine Market?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Microsoft’s new search service is called BING, and takes a contrarian approach to the simple Google Interface. The BING interface is kind of a cross between Google and the Yahoo Directory, with a bit of Expedia, MapQuest, Shopping.com, UTube and Flicker thrown in for good measure. Never accuse Microsoft of being modest in their ambitions–this […]

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The Cloud Computing and SaaS Trend

Phil Morettini — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Cloud computing and the related SaaS, PaaS and IaaS have entered the mainstream of the software business. In my consulting practice I am very involved in software startup activity, and most new software companies that I see today is being built on cloud-based business model. The cloud is all the rage–so much so that it […]

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Oracle is buying Sun?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Breaking News…. Oracle buys Sun!? What’s wrong with this picture? What’s surprising is that a very large software company is buying a very large hardware company. You often see a hardware company buying a software company, but I can’t really think of a deal that’s gone the other way around. Certainly not at this level. […]

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White Papers in the High Tech and Software Marketing Mix

Phil Morettini — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:44:00 +0000

There are many marketing methods in Software and IT marketing that can be appropriate in some–but not all situations. I’d put White Papers in that category. The term “white paper” is a broadly used term, and can mean different things to different people. There are non-technical and technical white papers. I define a white paper […]

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The Future of Venture Capital Funding in High Tech

Phil Morettini — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Like almost every aspect of the economy, venture capital financing of High Tech Hardware and Software startups was down during the Covid pandemic. A reduction in VC funding continues today. There was pressure on most segments of the economy, and the worldwide financial system was no exception. The preferred exit strategy for Venture Capitalists, the […]

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Inside Sales versus Outside Sales in Software and Hardware Companies

Phil Morettini — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:06:00 +0000

There are many ways to deliver your software or hardware products to the market. For example, one and two-step distribution through third-party channels. Or, direct marketing/sales over the Internet, OEM relationships, and even retail for B2C and SMB tech products. There are many variations of these, as well as many other methods. One classic method […]

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Effective Management During an Economic Crisis

Phil Morettini — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:56:00 +0000

This month we’re doing something a bit different–we have a guest post from Holly McCarthy. Please be aware that Ms. McCarthy is not affiliated with PJM Consulting, and the views expressed in this post are her own. In the current economic climate, there is much that can still be done to turn business around. Certainly, […]

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What Happens to Apple after Steve Jobs?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:28:00 +0000

I’ve written several times on Steve Jobs and Apple, one of the most fascinating companies and executives that we’ve seen in the history of high technology. I don’t mean to make this a morbid article; the current (and now long-running) speculation on Steve Job’s health has been well-documented. I hope that Mr. Jobs is fine, […]

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Integrating Sales & Marketing at Software and Hardware Companies

Phil Morettini — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:36:00 +0000

In some, but not all, tech companies the Sales and Marketing functions are managed separately. They are separate, but closely related functions that some people without a strong background in either function tend to confuse. Normally, a VP or Director is heading up the Marketing department, and another VP or Director leading the Sales staff. […]

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Structuring a High Tech Sales Force

Phil Morettini — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:23:00 +0000

There are many ways to organize a sales force for a software or hardware company. In my opinion, there is no one “right” way. There is only the BEST way for the unique circumstances of your current company. Like most aspects of developing a technology-based company, there are guidelines. But, there is no exact road […]

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Google Chrome–a Strategic Platform or just another Browser?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Google’s new Chrome Browser came out a few weeks ago to quite a bit of attention. It’s big news 1) because it’s from Google and 2) it brings back memories of the “browser wars”, and seems like it could potentially signal the next big battleground in the intense rivalry between Google and Microsoft. I’ve downloaded […]

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Structuring Channel Discounts for Software and Technology Companies

Phil Morettini — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Selling through sales and distribution channels of various types is very important to many software and hardware companies. Yet channel programs, specifically channel discount structures, are often thrown together quickly and haphazardly. Usually without looking at any real hard data. Let’s examine some of the key items that are advisable to consider when structuring a […]

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Competing with Entrenched Software & Hardware Industry Giants

Phil Morettini — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:52:00 +0000

Competing with Tech industry giants can be HARD. This of course happens constantly in the software and hardware business. It’s all part of the cycle of innovation and hardware and software competition that makes our business so dynamic. One of the more high-profile competitions that is happening now is in the Artificial Intelligence market. Many […]

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Integrating the Marketing and Engineering Functions at Technology Companies

Phil Morettini — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:04:00 +0000

In most tech companies, Product Marketing and Product Development/Software Development/Engineering are managed separately. There is usually one VP over the Product Development function and another VP over the overall marketing function. This usually (but not always) includes both current product management/marketing and future product planning. This is certainly an appropriate way to organize a software […]

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Trade Shows for Software & Technology Firms – Do They Still Make Sense?

Phil Morettini — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Let’s talk about what for a lot of folks is a marketing method from a bygone era. I’m referring to the Trade Show, or Trade Fair as they’re called in most places outside of the US. At one point long ago, Trade Shows were a staple in almost every tech company’s marketing budget. Shows like […]

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The End of Customer Service

Phil Morettini — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:04:00 +0000

No one answers the telephone anymore. What does this signal about the importance of customer service? At least, technology companies in the US surely don’t answer the phone. Not many, anyway. With big companies, you are either presented with an endless phone tree–“press 1 for a company directory”–or that “favorite” communications technology. Yes, the cheerful […]

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Retail Distribution of Software Products

Phil Morettini — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:44:00 +0000

Selling software at retail at one point in time was the “Holy Grail” for consumer, home office and small office software suppliers. That’s where the volume was. Everything that a company did starting up was intended to build enough volume to get into a distributor, so they could then pursue shelf space at the major […]

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High Tech Market Research for New Products

Phil Morettini — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:09:00 +0000

One of the biggest problems in high-tech businesses is that a “technology-focused” approach often tends to dominate strategic decisions. This is especially true among startups. This shouldn’t be a surprise, of course. Many founders of software and hardware companies tend to come from engineering, programming, or other technical backgrounds. This enables a corporate strength in […]

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Which Online Advertising Platforms Should You Include in Your Marketing Mix?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:50:00 +0000

I often write about online marketing, as many of my regular readers know. A frequent topic of mine is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, also known as Cost-Per-Click (CPC). Occasionally, people will refer to this marketing vehicle as Search Engine Advertising. What you’re hearing this called more and more is “Google Adwords”. HAS GOOGLE ADWORDS “BECOME” ONLINE […]

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Strategies for a Technology Market Slowdown

Phil Morettini — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:56:00 +0000

Is the world economy slowing down? And are we entering a tech industry downturn? Recently, technology stocks (along with the stock market in general) have dropped. Inflation has proven sticky, interest rates are higher than they’ve been in years, and political gridlock continues to be the order of the day. Is the economy headed for […]

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Negotiating and Working with Large Technology OEM Partners

Phil Morettini — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:05:00 +0000

The Holy Grail for many software and hardware companies, especially the early stage type, is the big deal. Everyone is looking for a big deal. Especially for startups, the deal that will fund the company’s early activities, provides market credibility and momentum in the marketplace. Of course, if all goes well there can be nothing […]

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Channel Pricing Strategy for Software and Hardware Products

Phil Morettini — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:28:00 +0000

Pricing software products and SaaS offerings is always a difficult exercise. With high product development costs, but very low costs of goods sold, there are many different pricing strategies that people have followed successfully (and not so successfully!) over time. Somewhat surprisingly, pricing hardware products is a bit simpler. A hardware business is much more […]

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Forecasting New Technology Products

Phil Morettini — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:12:00 +0000

Forecasting is a thankless job. It’s a lot like being a referee or umpire in your favorite sport; the only time a sports game official is noticed is when they do something wrong! Similarly, a forecaster’s primary aim is to stay out of the internal company “news”. Unfortunately, sales forecasting methods for new tech products […]

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More SEO Tools

Phil Morettini — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:56:00 +0000

From time to time, I let you know about some of the more useful (out of the abundant crop available on the Internet!) online tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that I have come across. So here’s the latest batch of valuable, and free, widgets that I’ve found: The first is a site that checks […]

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System Integration vs. Product Development

Phil Morettini — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:03:00 +0000

At one point in my consulting practice, I was engaged in assignments with two new client companies. Both of them had businesses selling to large, blue-chip customers. Customers of the size are used to “having it their way”. For these companies to get deals with customers of this stature they often feel the need to […]

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The Future of Wireless Communications

Phil Morettini — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:25:00 +0000

Land Lines are going away, right? Everyone says so. We hire young women, generally in their twenties, to help take care of my son. I can’t remember the last time one of their phones had an Area Code associated with the place they are currently living. That’s because they don’t use landlines–many people in their […]

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Steve Jobs, the iPhone and Apple Strategy – have we seen this story before?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:55:00 +0000

Apple computer and its red-hot iPhone have dominated the business news recently. By all accounts, with good reason. I haven’t had the opportunity to play around with an iPhone yet, but the early reviews have been very positive. Initial interest demand has been high, especially given the usual amount of mystery and intrigue woven by […]

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The Haphazard Development of People in Early Stage High Tech Organizations

Phil Morettini — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:36:00 +0000

Many entrepreneurs start out giving little thought to how they will grow their embryonic software or hardware business in the long run. They are totally focused on designing and releasing the first product or making that first sale. This focus is usually a very positive thing in a new company. Grandiose plans of startups have […]

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Business Models in the SMB Market

Phil Morettini — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 14:45:00 +0000

The SMB market is often a popular topic for hardware and software companies. Of course, first and foremost everyone wants to sell to the Enterprise market. But as a result, competition is fierce and standards are very high for these select large companies. If you get to the Enterprise market early with an innovation that […]

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Is It Time to Sell Your Hardware or Software Company?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:13:00 +0000

Cashing out! This is the point that most, if not all, technology entrepreneurs aspire to reach. They dream of their exit strategy: selling their company and laying on a beach somewhere. A colorful drink with the requisite tiny umbrella cooling in their hand. There are a few of you out there that have NO exit […]

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Organizational Structures in Software & IT Companies

Phil Morettini — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:09:00 +0000

So you’ve put together a hardware or software startup company. Chances are you didn’t give a lot of thought to the next step should be in your IT or software company organizational structure development. You just wanted to bring in some revenue and find a way to keep the doors open. Or, maybe you gave […]

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Strategic Acquisitions for Software and Technology Companies

Phil Morettini — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:12:00 +0000

Acquiring new products or whole companies is a popular activity for many growth and market-share-oriented companies. Financial or strategic acquisitions – are they good ideas? As I say probably all too often–it depends. I get involved in company or product acquisitions frequently in my consulting practice. I have also led and integrated acquisitions myself from […]

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The Mechanics of Email Marketing

Phil Morettini — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:49:00 +0000

There are many different possibilities for software and hardware companies when it comes to formulating a marketing mix. I’ve written previously about some of my favorites. One method that can be a big winner–if done well–can also be a big loser if done poorly. I’m referring to email marketing. If you want to be successful […]

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Open Source Software Business Models

Phil Morettini — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:50:00 +0000

Open Source has been making a big impact in the software business for quite some time. Many would say, using the example of Linux and Android that Open Source has left Microsoft and the rest of the traditional software giants in the dust. SaaS has become the software business model of choice of the last […]

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Selling Through OEMs

Phil Morettini — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:36:00 +0000

I’ve previously discussed selling through VARs as a distribution channel strongly favored (maybe a bit too much!) by many early-stage technology and software companies. In this article, I will look at another “holy grail” channel that is often misunderstood and misused: The Hardware & Software OEM Channel. This channel can pay big dividends. But more […]

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Pay Per Click (PPC) Online Advertising

Phil Morettini — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 14:26:00 +0000

It’s known by several names: PPC or Pay Per Click advertising, CPC or Cost Per Click advertising, or sometimes by the best known PPC advertising engine, Google Adwords. Pay Per Click advertising is no longer new; as a result, much of the “easy” money has already been made. But I’m struck by how many companies […]

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Dell Computer

Phil Morettini — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:59:00 +0000

Dell has been in the news recently, and like many big companies that have had a glitch in their performance, not in a good way. Slowing revenue growth, accounting scandals and customer service issues–you’ve heard it all before. By the way, where was the seminar that all big company managements attended, encouraging them to cut […]

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Through Online Bookmarking

Phil Morettini — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:50:00 +0000

I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about Search Engine Optimization in the past. The reason is that in the new century, this is as fundamental to marketing success as print advertising in the last fifty years, and maybe billboard advertising in the fifty years previous to the last fifty. The details and tactics […]

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Marketing and Selling Technology Products through the Value-Added Reseller (VAR) Channel

Phil Morettini — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 16:05:00 +0000

Selling through multiple channels is one of my preferred strategies in technology marketing. Done correctly, it allows a company to fully exploit its expensive, hard-earned intellectual property to the maximum extent. One of the most popular channels (and one of my favorites) used to sell B2B software and hardware is the Value-added Reseller or VAR […]

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Publishing White Papers on the Web

Phil Morettini — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:52:00 +0000

Let’s talk about another great way of promoting your High Tech product or business on the Internet. One of the best ways to bring QUALIFIED prospects to your site is by publishing whitepapers. In a previous column, I wrote about WhitePaperSource.com. This is still a great place to start if you are thinking about writing […]

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Windows Vista – What will it mean for Microsoft?

Phil Morettini — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:35:00 +0000

As everyone who hasn’t been secluded in a cave for the past couple of weeks knows by now, Microsoft recently announced release of its new Windows Vista operating system to its large business clients. I’m sure that the timing of this announcement has been well thought out-and who am I to question it, really? But […]

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Google Sitemap Creator

Phil Morettini — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:53:00 +0000

There are a great many different avenues to creating a website optimized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We’ve covered many aspects of this very important marketing activity in several past columns. Let’s talk about one more today, creating a sitemap for your site. Many websites have historically had a page containing an index, or map, […]

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Should you Copy-Protect your Software Products?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:12:00 +0000

How’s this for an age-old discussion? This topic was very hot back in the 80s and 90s when I was first getting started in the software business. It was a topic that was hotly contested for quite a while, and then largely went away (at least as a topic of discussion!) for quite a while. […]

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Link Building for Free

Phil Morettini — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:08:00 +0000

As most everyone who isn’t a newbie to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knows, building links is one of the most important activities to excel at, if you want to eventually rank high on the Search Engine results pages. But how do you accomplish this? When you are first getting started, it seems to be a […]

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Will Web 2.0 Lead to a New Bubble?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:29:00 +0000

So there’s a new “next big thing” happening in the high tech world–that’s feels very, very familiar. In fact, it seems a lot like “déjà vu all over again”, to quote one of my all time favorite philosophers–Yogi Berra. I’m talking about the Web 2.0 phenomenon. The question I present is–what’s the difference between Web […]

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Online Marketing Widgets

Phil Morettini — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:35:00 +0000

In this article I thought that I’d provide an update to my online marketer’s bag of additional free tools that I’ve run across on the Web–and which I found useful: Domain Age Checker -The age of your websites domain is factored into the rankings of some search engines. If you are thinking about buying an […]

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Expense Controls for Early Stage Software and Tech Companies–Can You Overdo It?

Phil Morettini — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:57:00 +0000

I’m sure you’ve seen it too many times before. The free-spending startup software or hardware company burns through its funds like a cocaine addict on vacation in Columbia. It’s ultimately a sad tale, with great potential often wasted, many jobs lost and multiple lives hurt. But it is hard to feel sorry for the management […]

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Overture and its Bid Tool

Phil Morettini — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:33:00 +0000

I wanted to tell you quickly about another very useful tool for Search Engine Marketing. It’s the Overture Bid Tool, which you can access from several different places. I’ve linked a site above that is accessible to anyone; if you are currently doing business with Overture, you can of course access it from within the […]

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Behavioral Marketing – What’s all the Fuss About?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 18:31:00 +0000

There’s a “new” form of online marketing that’s all the rage, and is getting a lot of press these days. Different people call it different things, including “Behavioral Targeting”, but for the purposes of this discussion we’ll call it “Behavioral Marketing”. The most interesting thing about this technique is that it real isn’t new at […]

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Maintaining and Editing your High Tech Blog

Phil Morettini — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:11:00 +0000

Blogs have become important marketing tools for many companies these days. Of course, being in the forefront of technology means that software and tech companies are early adopters of business Blogs. Whether it’s for marketing purposes as an online newsletter, to obtain feedback from the customer base, to have dialogue with potential clients, or to […]

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High Tech Article Marketing on the Internet

Phil Morettini — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:45:00 +0000

Many companies these days have focused their marketing efforts online, for pretty obvious reasons. The Internet has a dominant role in most markets from a marketing perspective. It is now the main source of information in most industries. In many, it has also become the actual center of revenue, via e-commerce activities on company websites […]

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Gates and Microsoft

Phil Morettini — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:12:00 +0000

One of the big news items in the last couple of weeks was Bill Gates announcing that he was leaving Microsoft. It wasn’t really an earth shattering announcement; he is intending to transition out of a direct operational role with the company over a two year period, and will remain Chairman of the Board after […]

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Is Advertising the Future of Software Revenue?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:01:00 +0000

There is a strong movement toward Internet-based software applications. Of this, there is little doubt. I have written on the SaaS trend in the past, and believe it is real. But sometimes market trends such as the move toward SaaS are overstated, both in terms of the speed of change, and also how much change […]

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Free Conference Calls

Phil Morettini — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:49:00 +0000

Let’s talk once again about some great free sites, which help you run your business like a Fortune 500 company–on the thin budget of a startup. Web 2.0 has risen to bring back a multitude of “free” web-based services, which were common before the “original” advertising-supported web companies nearly went extinct after the dot.com bubble […]

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Keyword Discovery Site

Phil Morettini — Fri, 26 May 2006 16:44:00 +0000

I’ve run across yet another great free resource for marketing on the web. This site is focused on Search Engine Marketing (SEM). It’s specifically targeted at finding niche keywords to use in the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website, as well as keywords to use in your CPC advertising campaigns. What’s unique about this […]

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A Special Appeal

Phil Morettini — Sat, 13 May 2006 09:27:00 +0000

To all the loyal readers of the Morettini on Management: I rarely diverge from High Tech Management topics in this Blog. The following note is about a very important cause to me, and to society at large. I am participating in the upcoming San Diego Walk for Autism fundraiser, a charity event near to my […]

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Software and Hardware Customer Service

Phil Morettini — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:49:00 +0000

An underrated competency in software and hardware companies–which should be considered MUCH more important– is the customer service function. I suppose that’s only natural; tech companies are very focused on gaining strategic advantage via technological advances and product differentiation. Once the product is in good shape, companies tend to shift their primary focus from product […]

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Flattening of the Growth Curve

Phil Morettini — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 20:14:00 +0000

In every company’s history, there comes a time (or two or three or four times!) when your momentum slows and the sales curve begins to flatten. A period of flat or declining tech company growth can be one of the most trying and frustrating times for software and hardware company managers. No, I don’t believe […]

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Online Journal for Internet Marketing Program Testing

Phil Morettini — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 15:06:00 +0000

It’s time to fill you in on another great Internet Marketing Resource that I have encountered. This one is called Marketing Experiments. MarketingExperiments.Com is a member of the MEC Labs Group and a division of Digital Trust Inc. MEC is an online laboratory with a simple (but not easy) five-word mission statement: To discover what […]

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Spider Simulator

Phil Morettini — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 15:26:00 +0000

Here’s a neat tool that I ran across which can be used as “quickie” evaluator of the “searchability” of pages on your website. It works by mimicking the search engine spiders that are constantly out on the Web, evaluating and indexing Web pages for inclusion in search results. The tool is provided by Summit Media […]

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Tech Industry Strategic Advantage

Phil Morettini — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 16:28:00 +0000

How does a company compete in the long run? I’m not talking about the day-to-day stuff. What sets your company apart? What gives it a place in your software or hardware market segment that allows it to survive and hopefully, thrive? There are a lot of different terms used to describe the ability to compete. […]

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SEO From an IT Company CEO Perspective

Phil Morettini — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:10:00 +0000

Digital Marketing has been the mainstream marketing method for a long time now. But Digital or Internet Marketing means different things to different people. Social media marketing, banner advertising, pay-per-click ads, email newsletters, direct email marketing, affiliate marketing, electronic press releases, etc., all fit in the digital marketing bucket. Any and all of these may […]

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Promoting your content through RSS feeds

Phil Morettini — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:04:00 +0000

To many of you, this article will be preaching to the choir. In fact, quite a few people already read these articles via an RSS feed in a newsreader, browser, or on their Google, Yahoo or MSN personalized homepage. If you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe to my articles simply by clicking on […]

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Hiring and Retaining High Tech Employees

Phil Morettini — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 16:25:00 +0000

Among the many interesting things to examine in the management of software and hardware businesses, one of the most fascinating is the differing cultures that are created within these tech companies. Much of a company’s culture flows from the attitudes of the founders of the company. But even a bigger factor in a company’s culture […]

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Contrasting Software & Hardware Businesses

Phil Morettini — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 17:21:00 +0000

As regular readers are aware, much of my consulting practice centers on working with software-based companies such as SaaS and infrastructure software. But I have substantial hardware market experience as well, so I also work with hardware companies. A debate around hardware vs software business models is something that you don’t often see a lot. […]

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Automated Information Tracking on the Internet

Phil Morettini — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 13:22:00 +0000

I wanted to make you aware of another cool Web-based, free resource that I’ve become aware of and have started using. It’s called PubSub, and it allows your eyes and ears to be extended greatly on the Internet. The service works somewhat like a search engine, except a “future” or “forward-looking” one. PubSub is a […]

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Outsourcing Software Development Offshore

Phil Morettini — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 16:31:00 +0000

This has become a very hot topic in the last decade. I’m referring to the practice of companies in the US, and other developed countries, outsourcing software development projects to companies in lower cost, developing countries. This is a strategy that has “taken off” and has become mainstream in the software industry. Much has been […]

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Technology Sales & Marketing-Is a direct or indirect approach best?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:56:00 +0000

A question that often arises with early-stage software and hardware companies is “How should we sell our product? Should our technology sales approach be to sell directly, or should we sell through distributors, dealers/retailers, or OEM partners?” Best Technology Sales Method: It depends The answer, like most topics discussed in this forum, is rarely as […]

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Search Marketing Blog

Phil Morettini — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 18:42:00 +0000

I’ve come across another great Blog recently that you should know about. It’s called the “Biznology Blog”, and it is written by Mike Moran, a noted authority on search engine marketing. Mike has a book out that you can purchase called Search Engine Marketing, Inc. I haven’t read it but the reviews are pretty good. […]

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High Tech Product Promotion

Phil Morettini — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:19:00 +0000

In this forum, I’ve discussed many topics related to software and hardware companies over the last several years. One of my favorite topics is tech product promotion methods or the marketing mix. I work with a lot of early-stage software and hardware companies that are at the point where gaining (or regaining) market traction is […]

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Email Deliverability

Phil Morettini — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:42:00 +0000

I want to discuss a topic that is important to nearly every company today. If you use the Internet at all for communications, SPAM is a topic that affects you—from one end or the other. As an email recipient, SPAM can greatly reduce your productivity, if you don’t have an effective SPAM filter or service. […]

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Favoritism in the High Tech Workplace

Phil Morettini — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:16:00 +0000

I’m going to address a topic that isn’t often discussed formally by top management within a business, certainly not out in the open: favoritism in the workplace. It’s a major topic in HR circles, I’m sure. It’s also a major topic in hushed tones around the virtual water cooler (in these hybrid work times) and […]

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Google PageRank Calculator Tool

Phil Morettini — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:18:00 +0000

Hi everyone, Here’s another neat little tool on the Web that I’ve been putting to good use. It’s called ThinkBling, and it’s a Google PageRank calculator. For those of you who are unfamiliar, a webpage’s Google PageRank provides a rough estimate of its “desirability” to the Google Search engine. Basically, the higher the PageRank that […]

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The Internet Marketing Start Page

Phil Morettini — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 17:11:00 +0000

It’s time to clue you all in about another nice resource I’ve run across on the Web. This site is called the Internet Marketing Start Page. It’s a great place to start your day, if you’re a professional Marketer, Entrepreneur, or otherwise just want to keep up with the latest tools and trends in marketing […]

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Publicize your News for Free

Phil Morettini — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 18:05:00 +0000

I wanted to let you know about another great online resource I’ve been using for a few years. It’s call PRWEB, www.prweb.com PRWEB is a “free” Internet-based, press release Newswire. I have found it to be a great service. Previously I used PR Newswire and BusinessWire. They are excellent services, and not tremendously expensive. But […]

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Free Web Analytics

Phil Morettini — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:08:00 +0000

For those of you involved in Internet Marketing, you know that you just can’t get enough data. Most of you, I’m sure, are already using a web analytics package today. Certainly anyone with an ecommerce site is a very heavy user of web analytics data. There are many popular commercial packages out there, including websidestory, […]

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Should You License Your Technology?

Phil Morettini — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:18:00 +0000

When should you license your technology to other companies? This can be a complicated question since one of my core beliefs is “no one sells your product as well as you do.” So technology licensing is no simple topic. Depending upon your personal tendencies, there may be a bias toward holding everything you develop close […]

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Web Site on White Papers

Phil Morettini — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 15:47:00 +0000

I wanted to give you a heads up on another great site I ran across a couple of months ago. It’s whitepapersource.com White papers are one of those marketing ideas that have become quite popular in recent years, but if you’ve never created and used one, it can be a little intimidating to get started. […]

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Shooting Stars or Industry Stalwarts—What Makes a Great High Tech Company?

Phil Morettini — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:35:00 +0000

You’ve seen them many times. The software company starts off like a bullet, racing at the high-tech company equivalent of 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. These companies often come out of nowhere and are an immediate factor in their market. There are many examples, in nearly every major market segment. The original browser company, […]

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High Tech Product Planning

Phil Morettini — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:13:00 +0000

There are many ways to skin a cat, so the old saying goes (a terrible expression that it is!). Product planning of software and hardware tech products seems to fit in the same category. There are some models that you tend to see over and over again. And there are a lot of different ways […]

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Free Search Engine Optimization tools

Phil Morettini — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:09:00 +0000

As I run across tools and websites that I find particularly useful for software and high tech companies, I like to pass them along. One set of tools that I use quite frequently are the free search engine marketing tools by marketleap: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/default.htm There are three great tools available on this site. 1) A link […]

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CRM Blog

Phil Morettini — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:59:00 +0000

For you marketers and CEOs out there, I wanted to share a great resource to educate and keep you up to speed about this important topic. Jim Berkowitz is a long-time CRM expert, and his CRM Mastery E-Journal is just packed with information on the topic. This blog does a great job of tracking industry […]

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High Tech PR

Phil Morettini — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 10:15:00 +0000

Among potential marketing mix ingredients of a software or hardware company, Tech PR, or Press Relations is high on my list. There’s a good reason for this. Often it is the most cost-effective tactic for lead generation, can build the company image, and help close more sales. Maybe best of all, it’s possible to do […]

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Direct Email–Good or Evil?

Phil Morettini — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 21:22:00 +0000

One of the most misunderstood tools in the Marketer’s Bag of Tricks is direct email. There’s good reason for it, of course. Everyone hates SPAM! I expect that even the most evil, notorious spammers of the world have SPAM filters on their personal email accounts. The end result of this universal distaste of SPAM is […]

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Software Product Development—the Unsolved Mystery of High Tech

Phil Morettini — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 22:35:00 +0000

One of the most puzzling things in high technology, especially for executives on the business side of things, is the software development process. It’s the high tech equivalent to the “Black Hole” phenomenon made famous in Astronomy. Endless resources can be poured into a software development project, yet there never seems to be an end […]

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VC Blog

Phil Morettini — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 20:41:00 +0000

For those of you in early stage companies looking for funding, I wanted to let you know about an excellent site I have run across. It’s Allen Morgan’s Blog (http://allensblog.typepad.com/allens_blog/). Allen is a venture capitalist with Mayfield, one of the premier VC firms in Silicon Valley. I don’t know him personally, but his Blog is […]

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Channel Conflict

Phil Morettini — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:00:00 +0000

In my consulting practice I do a lot of work with software and hardware companies in area of channel development. One of the hardest things to manage while growing a channel business is the inevitable conflict between all the players throughout your various distribution methods, including your direct sales force. Of course, my colleagues in […]

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Tech-river.com

Phil Morettini — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:44:00 +0000

I wanted to let everyone know about a great resource: www.tech-river.com The folks at Tech River provide a number of important services aimed high tech startups, including copywriting and PR. But best of all, it’s great “portal” site for early stage companies, with an enormous number of useful, free articles and links to other relevant […]

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Layoffs and Bureaucracy

Phil Morettini — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 13:03:00 +0000

I’ve been reading the stories on the major layoff at HP this last week, and it really struck a nerve. HP announced this week that they are going to reduce their workforce by 14,500 people over the next 18 months. It was no big shock, since HP has been paring down their employment levels, and […]

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Partnering

Phil Morettini — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 16:09:00 +0000

Strategic partnering, also known as forming strategic alliances, is one of the key elements that make up the business development function in technology companies. I believe that strategic alliances and partnerships are underutilized in many ways. Conceived and executed properly, alliances can greatly extend the partner companies’ reach in the marketplace. VARIOUS AND SUNDRY […]

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Strategic Fundraising Decisions

Phil Morettini — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 16:53:00 +0000

Almost every company goes through it, except for the fortunate few. Some people have gone through it multiple times. While never easy, raising money for a second or third company (assuming success the first time!) is a picnic, compared to the first time. Let’s look at what I refer to as strategic fundraising: The questions […]

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Technology Acceleration

Phil Morettini — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:39:00 +0000

Technology is a GOOD THING. Well, most of the time it is. I’m sure you’ve seen articles bemoaning the NEGATIVE role that technology advancement has played in our lives. I have recently joined the ranks of those doing the bemoaning. Gadgets are Great Don’t get me wrong—I’m a tech guy through and through. I’ve chosen […]

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US Government Sales & Marketing

Phil Morettini — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 14:12:00 +0000

What’s the difference between US Government sales versus selling to the Commercial market? It’s like night and day. Sales and Marketing to the government truly are the flip side of those functions in commercial activities. You really can’t believe how different government and commercial markets are, until you’ve actually come from one side–and tried to […]

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Do High Tech Acquisitions Make Sense?

Phil Morettini — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 18:34:00 +0000

I was reading a while back about one of the many proposed tech acquisitions happening at any given time, a merger between two well known technology companies. Two very major technology companies, one making a comeback from bankruptcy and the other mired in a long slump, with several years of negative predictions about their business […]

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BIG S, little m

Phil Morettini — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 18:35:00 +0000

Don’t worry; this isn’t going to be an article about Sado-Masochism! Well, come to think of it, that term may apply to what some founders and senior managers in software and hardware tech companies are doing to themselves and their companies. What I’m referring to is the VP who gets hired to manage both the […]

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Engineers Hiring Sales Reps

Phil Morettini — Thu, 26 May 2005 18:20:00 +0000

The hiring of salespeople is often one of the most frustrating aspects of staffing a software or hardware company. In fact, it’s often viewed as a… Necessary Evil Particularly in the startup phase of a software or hardware company, the CEO and many of the senior management has often come from a technical (or at […]

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The High Tech House

Phil Morettini — Thu, 19 May 2005 16:49:00 +0000

So, looking around for a really big opportunity that isn’t yet being served? Look no further than the High Tech house. Yes, I know, all the big computer and consumer electronics companies are investing billions in the market for pumping entertainment content via fat pipes into and throughout the home. And no doubt, this is […]

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Software as a Service

Phil Morettini — Thu, 12 May 2005 15:49:00 +0000

How should Software be delivered to users? Via traditional licenses? As “free” services supported by advertising? Or using a rental model referred to under several different labels such as Hosted, ASP, On Demand or SaaS. This has been very much in debate over the last few years. Back in the dot-com boom, the selling of […]

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Pricing High Tech Products

Phil Morettini — Tue, 03 May 2005 15:15:00 +0000

Pricing is always an interesting topic, but even more so in the Hardware and Software worlds. In the consumer products business, if there is a package of frozen peas from Green Giant priced at $3.99, you’re not likely to see someone else offering the same-size package of peas at $19.99. But it’s different for SaaS […]

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High Tech Management & Leadership

Phil Morettini — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:28:00 +0000

What makes a great manager or leader in a High Tech company? Is it great technical knowledge or skill? Or is it the ability to be endlessly affable and convince people to do what you want, by the strength of likeability and personal relationships? Maybe getting people to perform by fear or grudging respect that […]

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Structuring High Tech Product Management

Phil Morettini — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 15:47:00 +0000

Tech Product Management–what does this term mean in the typical software or hardware company? What is the function, and where does it belong? I have a broad view on this as I’ve held permanent positions in quite a number of high-tech concerns, as well as worked in this area with a great many software and […]

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International Distribution of Software Products

Phil Morettini — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:50:00 +0000

Have you ever heard (or thought) the following? “We’re an early-stage software company. We’ll attack our home market first, then consider selling software internationally later.” Wrong answer! (In a lot of cases, anyway). I have worked with a lot of SaaS, infrastructure, and mobile software companies in my career and I hear something similar to […]

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Apple Computer

Phil Morettini — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 16:07:00 +0000

Apple Computer–one of my favorite topics in Corporate & Marketing Strategy. This is a company that apparently is even more hardy than felines–they seem to have already used up more than 9 lives. Apple has so many boom-bust cycles, and has been given up for dead multiple times. Today they are again on top of […]

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My First Post!

Phil Morettini — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:32:00 +0000

Hi, I’m Phil Morettini. I am a Management Consultant to the High Tech industry, and I am starting this blog to offer my commentary on current events relevant to Management and Marketing in the High Tech biz. I plan on posting often, and would welcome your comments. Let me know what is on your mind, […]

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