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1 Million Cups Tomorrow at the Des Moines Science Center

UPDATE: Due to the impending storm, tomorrow’s 1 Million Cups Des Moines event has been cancelled.

1 Million Cups Des Moines is a weekly showcase of entrepreneurs and their burgeoning projects. The event is free, as is the coffee. 1 Million Cups events are held most Wednesday mornings at 8a.m. at the Science Center of Iowa, which also graciously provides free parking in the Science Center Parking Ramp during the event (be sure to grab a ticket from Emily on your way into the Science Center). Networking starts at 8a.m., with the presentation usually starting between 8:30a.m. and 9a.m.

If this is your first 1 Million Cups, and you are new to the startup scene, here are some oft-used acronyms and their meanings to help your first 1 Million Cups experience be a little more understandable:

CRM (Customer-Relationship Management) – This is a system for using customer data, received through various channels, to optimize a company’s interactions with past, present, and future customers. Depending on the companies CRM goals, the company can use the system to retain current customers, obtain new customers, increase overall sales, etc.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – This is a list of factors that a company has chosen to assess the success of a company or a particular initiative undertaken by the company. KPIs can be quantitative, such as objective sales figures, or qualitative, such as subjective customer opinions about a particular product. Some examples of KPIs include profit, customer acquisition costs, employee satisfaction, etc.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product) – This is an early-stage version of the company’s good or service, having the minimum number of features necessary to address the needs of early adopters and to obtain feedback for future iterations of the good or service.

SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) – This number is a subset of TAM (see below), representing the annual sales revenue or unit sales you could theoretically obtain with your good or service. For instance, if you were selling bubble gum, TAM would be the total candy market, and SAM would be that subset of the candy market that you are targeting and that would buy bubble gum.

SOM (Serviceable obtainable market) – This number is a subset of SAM (see above), representing the annual sales revenue or unit sales you can realistically obtain with your good or service.

TAM (Total Addressable Market) – This number is the annual sales revenue or unit sales, representing the entire potential worldwide market for your good or service. Any sales to anyone who could buy your good or service, across all industries, locations, and sales structures, is included in this number.

If you plan on attending 1 Million Cups Des Moines this week, be sure to find me and say “Hi” while you are there.

Brett Trout

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Posted in Des Moines, Events, StartUp.