The Startup Chat With Steli And Hiten

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about Social Proof. They share the top tips for using social proof to benefit your business and explain the importance of why to use it. They share a case study to show you the mistakes that can be made and the steps to take to correct them. If you have ever purchased a product because you read a positive review or brought a service because you heard that it is one of the best. Then you have been influenced by social proof. People hate to make mistakes, the hassle of buying the wrong thing or being stuck with poor service, drives people to look for guidance before they make their buying decisions. Social proof can offer huge growth for your business, as it serves to use the need for people to align their actions with the actions of people who have already succeeded. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn to boost your marketing effectiveness with social proof. Steli and Hiten look at how social proof can increase your conversions

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the pros and cons of feature creep and why too much of a good thing can be bad. They investigate why feature creep happens, what to do when you realize it is happening and how to avoid it happening in the future. Feature creep can be a major risk for your startup and can lead to increased complexity, effort, budget and time input. Feature creep, feature fatigue and featuritis, all describe what happens when adding excessive features to your product or service. Adding extra features can positively or negatively impact your startup. The key is to find the right balance and ensure that you are serving your customer in the best way possible, without getting in the way of key functionality. Feature creep if left uncontrolled has the power to overwhelm your startup and place you in hot water. This can happen especially when adding extra features just to try and improve sales, which may result in a bloated mix of features. Why utilize 10 features whe

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about sales and email automation. They lay out why sales automation could be a useful tool in your business and they give you some key tips for how to create great emails which get the outcome that you are looking for. Steli and Hiten also share their candid list of what not to do when creating your new email sequences. Sales automation emails are aimed at supporting the sales team and sales process. But how can you be sure that the emails in your automation sequences, are geared towards the result that you are looking for? One of the most important points of email automation is ensuring that the copy within your emails is compelling enough to elicit a positive response. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when creating your sales automation email sequences. But there are a few success tips that we can all follow to have more success with our automated email sequences. Tune into this week’s episode, of The Startup Chat to learn about the step by step ac

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about Product-Market Fit. They guide you on the path to identifying if your product is well placed to succeed in its target market and how to define what it means for you and your business.   Perfect Product-Market Fit is the dream of every startup, imagine your product flying off the shelves and into the arms of a crowd of satisfied customers. To define and achieve  Product-Market Fit you have to have a deep understanding of your audience. Integrating the compelling value triggers to solve a key pain point for your target market. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn how to develop your own perfect  Product-Market Fit for your startup and how to do it the right way so that your customers cannot get enough of your products. Steli and Hiten also share their top tips to getting you started on the path to successful product placement. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:12 Product-Market Fit defined. 01:34 How can you achieve Product-Mark

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about the importance of testimonials. They break down the kind of testimonials that start ups must have and they explain how to get them to present your best face to a new audience. Testimonials are important and powerful tools to build credibility. We rely on testimonials everyday, from friends who recommend the best place to get a good meal, or the best book to finish that project. We even read testimonials from strangers which helps us to navigate our buying decisions online and offline. Testimonials are useful to us because they help us to lower the risk of investing our time and money, in an incorrect decision. Testimonials are very important for startups, as when they are done correctly, they communicate powerfully the voices of satisfied clients to the masses. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about the powerful tools to building trust with customer testimonials, increasing web conversions and lowering the risk to ent

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about user testing. They lay out the steps for how to do user testing for your product, your startup and your market.   The purpose of user testing is to collect data to show ease of use, user satisfaction and highlight any issues on your interface. With the results of these tests you can optimize your interface to  deliver an exceptional experience to your audience. It is difficult to predict the success of your designs if you don't test them. If your product can help people achieve their goals easily then you will find yourself on the road to success. They will interact with it and share it with others. Testing is not just an important step in the creation process, it is an imperative one. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about user testing and why it is a required step in your creation process. They also share how to get started with user testing and offer you support to get you started. As well as Steli and Hiten’s gold

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to use video to market your company and acquire customers. They break down how to do it, to get the best results and share examples and success stories to help you decide if this could add to the success of your startup. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd these days, but when using video marketing as a tool, a startup can not only stand out from the crowd, but also compete with much larger organisations. Video is an important medium to use despite the size of your business. A key tool in the progression towards increased visibility and reach. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn how to incorporate video marketing into your overall marketing strategy. As well as Steli and Hiten’s top tips for getting started, optimising your results and examples of how you can overcome some of the challenges that might present themselves as you get started. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:44 Introduction to Video Marketing. 01:31 The p

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about start up to start up business sales and explore how to market to startups. They also discuss the viability of if it can be a long term and sustainable strategy. A startup is a fast paced business that develops its business model around innovative services or products. They are modern, public, online and often uniquely approachable. This low resistance and interactive approach makes the startup to startup sales strategy one that can be challenging but also very beneficial. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about the good and the bad of startup to startup sales. Steli and Hiten’s share their top tips for how to get started and identify new opportunities with startups, for your business. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:34 Startup to startup evolution. 01:03 The common step in the startup sales strategy. 02:48 Using funding to fund other startups. 03:26 Key factors to account for. 05:46 The startup to startup sales trend. 06:3

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to hire interns and the things to consider before you do. They share their advice on the mindset involved in working with interns and how to hire the right people so that they benefit your startup. An internship is a professional development training opportunity, where interns gain experience and exposure to their chosen industry. Because interns tend not to have industry experience, you can offer them a placement within your company for an extremely inexpensive cost. But interns are not just low cost help, your internship should provide structured training and development with defined goals and measurable outcomes. This should be a mutually beneficial agreement for employers, and interns. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about the benefits of internships for the intern and the employer. As well as hearing about Steli and Hiten’s personal experiences where they talk about the benefits and pitfalls of working with

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about casually starting businesses and riding the wave of circumstance, when you are not emotionally invested in the idea. They highlight the difference, between having fun and enjoying your startup. Defining that a successful startup is focused on sustainability, focus and hard work. Running a startup is not easy, and a successful startup cannot be quickly achieved. So when investing your time into a new idea, you should be passionate about it and willing to commit to it fully. With full awareness of all of the effort, highs, lows and challenges that running a business brings. The difference between investing your time wisely and successfully running a startup often is about managing your startup psychology, from the beginning. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat, to look at how to avoid falling into the trap of starting something that is fun but doesn’t have your full commitment. As well as Steli and Hiten’s top tips for running a su

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to switch your customer base.They highlight how to identify the right product for the right customer, and what to do if the customer you planned to target didn’t work out for our business. Customers are the heart of any business, but not all customers are created equal. Because your customer base has such a huge impact on your business growth. It is important to ensure that they are of high quality, and that by providing them with the perfect solution to their problem. That they in turn help you to achieve the goals that you have for your business. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn what you can do if you have built your product, but find that the customer that you planned to market to are not responding to your solution. Steli and Hiten, also talk about the gift of flexibility, being open minded and honest with yourself about how things are going. They show how knowing that it isn’t working is a big step towards tu

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about product expansion for your business.They highlight the next steps to product development and how to expand or diversify. They also review other businesses and the effects that product expansion decisions have made to their business. Product expansion strategies, can create new opportunities, which can help to build up your business brand image, increase sales and grow your business. Being clear about your product strategy, can help your business to understand if you should diversify or modify your product range. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to understand how to structure product expansion within your company. Steli and Hiten, consider 2 main factors, the product and the market, while looking at the decisions that sit behind different product strategies. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:32 Questions around the idea of expansion. 01:03 Different strategies around product expansion. 02:23 Reasons behind product expansion. 02:48 Ca

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to run a side business and side hustle. They highlight how to get started and give you some ideas on how to find a skill or hobby, that you can leverage to get started. A side hustle is not about giving up your day job, it is about making a use of your time and skills and putting them to work to achieve some extra income. If you have dreams of becoming an entrepreneur but are worried about the risks of starting from scratch. With a side hustle you don't have to risk it all, It is a great way to create new career opportunities. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to look at how to plan your side hustle and incorporate it into your schedule. Steli and Hiten, give you some hot and fast tips on the reality of running a side hustle and they tell you what it takes to succeed.   Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:48 How much time do you need to start. 01:14 Make a commitment to your plan. 02:12 Learning to prioritize. 03:23 Example of wha

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about Product Prioritization. They highlight how to prioritize what is important for your business and how to get the team on board, working towards the important objectives. Product prioritization is an important metric in the success of your company. You must know what is important for your customer and how your product will deliver that to them. An important part of this, is ensuring the team are engaged in solving the problems and achieving the goals of the company, which allows the product to be optimized effectively. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to learn about product development and product prioritization. Hiten, shares his expertise on some fatal mistakes of product development and how to fix those problems. Steli and Hiten also discuss how to empower your team to get involved in all parts of the business. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:01 Product development questions. 02:20 The number one challenge in product development.

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten define the difference between “must have” and “nice to have” products. They highlight why knowing the difference is important to your business and help you to understand how to redefine your product so it is likely to become a customers “must have”. No matter what stage of your product development, Idea development or research you are in. You must determine how your product will be accepted into the market. A simple question that is often overlooked is the question regarding whether your product is a “must have” or “nice to have” product. Is your product essential to potential customers or just one they’ll simply appreciate. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat, to understand how to identify the pain points that your product solves. This can be a powerful metric in framing your product, as a must have product. Steli and Hiten, also explain that you can not succeed for long in business, if you do not understand if people care about your prod

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about our inner energy and how we manage it. They highlight the importance of food in managing your energy levels and they look at other ways that your mental and physical energy, can be optimised to enable constant high energy throughout your day. The body, mind, spirit and emotions work together, and when they are all working optimally, you will experience high quality energy. However, if any of these are affected negatively, the whole system can be affected and you may notice your energy levels draining much faster throughout the course of your day. Making the right targeted changes to your lifestyle, can boost your energy over time and give you the ability to access a better quality of life and productivity. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to review which behaviors or habits have the capacity to drain your battery or boost your energy. Steli and Hiten, share their ideas, for how to review what you are fuelling your body with a

In today’s episode of The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how business equipment and tools can help or hinder your business. They define the difference between when a start-up needs to upgrade to new or more professional software or when what they are using is good enough. They also discuss the pitfalls that founders can avoid as they try to set up their business. A key success point, for all businesses, is to make sure that you have the right equipment. As your company grows, you will need to find solutions to support the running of your business, with a focus on maximum efficiency and success. So it is essential to make sure that you pick the right tools, but when the market is flooded with solutions how can you be sure that you have found the perfect equipment and tools to continue steady growth. Tune into this week’s episode of The Startup Chat to explore what role software and mindset play in the success of a Startup and why upgrading to the industry standard isn’t always going to aid in the com

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about how to develop free tools and use them to market your business. Marketing your business is essential but can be quite expensive. A great way to generate leads for your business is by developing a free tool that solves a problem for your prospects and leads them to want your main product. In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about how to do this strategically. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 - About today’s topic. 00:49 – How HubSpot started with a tool called grader.com. 01:22 – Steli talks about why his company hasn’t developed a free tool yet. 03:24 – How to choose the right app before investing in this strategy. 05:45 – Why the tool has to fit in the customer’s journey. 06:24 – Another way to choose the right tool to invest in. 07:06 – Hiten talks about a company that uses this strategy very well. 08:50 – How do turn free traffic into customers. 12:05 – Build the free tool first and then build the audience. 13:45 – The right amount of time to spend deve

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about discipline in startups. Running a startup literally means taking a journey into the unknown and founders need to be comfortable with taking on uncertainty and the multiple challenges that are sure to arise. One thing that can help you achieve your goals on this journey is discipline. In this episode, Steli and Hiten the importance of disciple in and why it’s important for founders to be disciplined if they are going to be successful and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:00 - About today’s topic. 00:33 – Steli talks about why he chose today’s topic. 02:57 – Hiten’s relationship with discipline. 05:39 – Steli points out his challenge with being disciplined. 08:46 – Steli talks about what discipline means to him today. 10:49 – The relationship between being disciplined and being emotional. 13:22 – Hiten discusses a quote from Mahatma Gandhi. 13:12 – Why being obsessed with people’s opinion is not a good thing. 17:44 – Steli gives some tips on how and whe

Today on The Startup Chat, Steli and Hiten talk about a very interesting topic, and that is “what people really think about you”. As human beings, it’s natural for us to be curious about other people’s opinion about us, and knowing this can be quite beneficial to us, especially in a working environment. One way you can find out this information is by actually asking for feedback from others. However, this can be very challenging for some of us. In this episode, Steli and Hiten talk about self-awareness and the importance of feedback and why it’s important to provide it and seek it and much more. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28  Steli talks about why he chose today’s topic. 04:37  Hiten shares an experience he had with a co-founder and his opinions on the subject. 07:07  Steli points out that people who tend to have strong personality tend to be the sweetest people. 08:46  Steli give an example of how our lives can be impacted by people’s opinions of us. 11:35  How to find a balance between caring and not carin