So your company has just launched a new cloud service offering. Congratulations! All of that hard work to design, develop and launch your cloud solution into the marketplace is finally beginning to pay off. Or is it? How is customer acquisition going? Are you bringing new customers on board without the use of personal networking or leveraging friends and family? Or are you still cherry-picking new deals?

What's the hardest part of launching a cloud services startup? Developing new technology is challenging, but it's a process you can control. Securing investment capital takes hard work and perseverance, but there are plenty of investors ready to fund a promising business. Without a doubt, the hardest part of building and scaling a technology startup is customer acquisition. It's also the most critical success factor your new business will face during its first few years of growth. For a good read on this subject check out this recent article in Forbes authored by one of their contributing entrepreneurs.