Notes from Momentum Growth Conference (1/...)

Notes from Momentum Growth Conference.

How I Got Mo' - Momentum Company of the Year
Ellen McGirt / Paul English (Co-Founder & CTO of KAYAK).

• Building a service around technology and most important - customer service.
• A team of 30 engineers and 9 Biz are supporting 20M transactions per month.
• Every inquiry is answered by a person.
• The development policy is that a developer can develop a new feature only when there are no open issues with the the current features/codes this developer is responsible for.
• Spending a lot of time on usability testing - as the technology is allowing to modify the experience very rapidly and cheaply.
  
• Facebook is a great social platform which brings a lot of value and power to small companies to start with.
• Ways to create customers momentum - Google ads, affiliate programs, word of mouth.

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Business Models That Drive Momentum
Find a high-paying job. Find a telephone listing (for free). Make a coffee table quality book yourself. The internet has enabled a number of niche businesses to flourish quickly. These momentum companies have found a need and are serving it well. What were their secrets of success and how do they plan to keep the momentum?

Blurb - Robin Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development
TheLadders.com - Robert Turtledove, CMO
Gaia Online - Craig Sherman, CEO
Jingle Networks - Lyn Chitow Oakes, SVP Marketing

• Great businesses are based on passion and on personal pain...
• Business models emerge from feedbacks and conversation with the user's community. The users will let you know what they need and for what they are willing to pay for it.
  
• When a business offers a great service and provide proofs, the users are willing to use and pay part of the service - marked as 'premium'.
• Raising capital has to based the market, real needs and expectations , shared by the founder and the investors.

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To be continued...


E.T.

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