107 episodes

Who is it For? Founders of CPG start-ups. What is It? Zero B.S. perspective on running your start-up well, understanding the biases of industry stakeholders and getting the industry to work for you, not the other way around. When? Every month. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com If you want to take my founder's Quiz to see if you are ready for exponential growth, please visit : www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/founder_resources and sign up for my e-mail list to download it. Transcripts and an entire episode library are on my podcast site. https://www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/podcast

Startup Confidential Dr. James F. Richardson

    • Business
    • 4.9 • 65 Ratings

Who is it For? Founders of CPG start-ups. What is It? Zero B.S. perspective on running your start-up well, understanding the biases of industry stakeholders and getting the industry to work for you, not the other way around. When? Every month. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com If you want to take my founder's Quiz to see if you are ready for exponential growth, please visit : www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/founder_resources and sign up for my e-mail list to download it. Transcripts and an entire episode library are on my podcast site. https://www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com/podcast

    Episode 107 - Is The Bad Funding Environment Necessarily a Bad Thing?

    Episode 107 - Is The Bad Funding Environment Necessarily a Bad Thing?

    Lots of well-run, patient brands need an angel infusion right now. But the absence of VC right now is still a blessing. Instead, founders will need to network for angel cash, be much more focused and disciplined and yes fewer people will get to play. Fewer, better businesses actually improve the whole ecosystem in my opinion. In this episode, I lay out how I came to this conclusion recently.


    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 7 min
    Episode 106 - Behavior-Based Brand Building

    Episode 106 - Behavior-Based Brand Building

    Unfortunately, the folks who talk loudest about brand-building are either a) branding agencies, b) venture capitalists or c) overly enthusiastic founders. Curb your enthusiasm. You can design a brand identity, a symbolic system. But, ‘brand’ is an outcome. It is an outcome based on influencing real human behavior, entering social networks with memorable consumer experiences, potent symbolism, and grassroots ‘influence,’ not social media puffery. Learn the rules of behavior-based brand-building or get ready to struggle unnecessarily on your journey up the Skate Ramp.
    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 9 min
    Episode 105 - Advertising ROAS and Repeat Purchase

    Episode 105 - Advertising ROAS and Repeat Purchase

    In the world of consumer brands, it’s common for investors to look down on paid advertising. Why? Because they often don’t see the same kind of trial surge that a temporary price reduction or change in attribute-outcome signaling can deliver. So, they generally see no real return on the expense. However, ROAS has to be calculated on the basis of a longer-term view of how repeat purchasers contribute to the brand.
    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 12 min
    Episode 104 - Only Networking Beyond Your Peers Accrues Business Advantage

    Episode 104 - Only Networking Beyond Your Peers Accrues Business Advantage

    It’s critical NOT to remain with a bubble of startup founders in the early Phases. If you do, you will not access the greater wisdom you need. In this episode, I explain the social science behind this networking advice. You don’t need to have lunch with Mark Cuban or Daniel Lubtezky to succeed. 
    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 7 min
    Episode 103 - Top Myths About Pivoting a Consumer Brand

    Episode 103 - Top Myths About Pivoting a Consumer Brand

    In this episode, I address some of the key myths about pivoting that I have heard. Most correspond to excess risk aversion for an ideal founder. You took the risk to start this business. Let’s not let risk in the back door and prevent you from pivoting to a better path to scale. In many cases, you do not need to see a sales decline at all. 
    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 12 min
    Episode 102 - Why Startups Fail – w/ Tom Eisenmann Part 2

    Episode 102 - Why Startups Fail – w/ Tom Eisenmann Part 2

    99% of business media stories on startups are essentially PR for the startup itself. This makes these stories a one-sided source of information on what it’s like to operate and grow a startup. While there are more and more discussions of mistakes, basically no one at Inc or Entrepreneur or anywhere else really will ever greenlight a debate on this or that failed startup unless, like Theranos, it ended in some massive ethical scandal. Failure is depressing, they say. Not me.

    I’m honored to bring you a past podcast, the second part in a two-part interview with Professor Tom Eisenmann of the Harvard Business School (HBS). He and I chat about themes from his new book Why Startups Fail and how these patterns play out in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG). In the second part of our interview, we discuss more advanced themes in failure:  the Speed Trap, Help Wanted, and the challenges of staffing up quickly
    Since joining the HBS faculty in 1997, Tom has led The Entrepreneurial Manager, an introductory course taught to all first-year MBAs, and launched fourteen electives on all aspects of entrepreneurship, including one on startup failure. Eisenmann has authored more than one hundred HBS case studies, and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes.


    Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com
    Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

    • 18 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
65 Ratings

65 Ratings

kjb0514 ,

Insightful and engaging!

James and his knowledgeable guests talk all things business, but it’s so much more than that! You’ll get tons of actionable advice and tangible tips, but you’ll also get heaps of inspiration from truly engaging individuals that have been where you are and want to see you succeed. Thanks so much for putting out such a spectacular show, James - keep up the great work!

ninja steth jelly 7655 ,

Very insightful

James provides insightful guidance to those who are working hard to atart and scale their businesses

Tracy-R ,

Spot on

Cuts to the chase - realistic, concise, fun.

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