Today's entrepreneur: Matt Malden

Meliza Solan Surdi · January 19, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/1609

No.1 mistake: Not validating a business model by getting customers to pay before a product is built

Vator's community is the home of entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams.

Our newly-designed profiles allow members to express themselves by sharing their interests, lessons learned, as well as bits and pieces of their roller-coaster journey.

These profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story.

So if you are an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, or even an aspiring entreprenener, we'd like to hear from you.

Today's entrepreneur is Matt Malden, founder and CEO of Yield Software.

I Am: A first-time entrepreneur

Name companies you've founded or co-founded:

Yield Software

Name startups you worked for:

Yield Software

If you are an entrepreneur, why?

I want to invent something cool.

List your favorite startups:

Google (back in the day), Facebook, Zuora

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Testing business models and product functionality is a continuous game of trial and error. Be ready for lots of bumps along the road to finding the right ingredients for success.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

Validating an idea and business model by getting charter customers to pay for the product before it is even built.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Its all about the minimum viable product
2. Hire the best people you can find and they almost always come through your network
3. The best product doesn't always win, but it sure helps

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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

Yield Software, Inc.

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on February 25, 2009

Yield Software's complete Yield Web Marketing Suite for Business and for Agencies includes a Paid Search Optimizer for management of PPC campaigns; Natural Search Optimizer for improved SEO and page rank; and Landing Page Optimizer, which includes a multivariate test engine to ensure landing pages are converting as well as possible. Our system enables businesses of all sizes and growing agencies to fully embrace the potential of search marketing across Google, Bing and Yahoo! All of which leads to increased traffic to websites at a lower overall cost, resulting in greater conversion rates and increasing revenues. Try a free 15-day trial or learn more at www.yieldsoftware.com.