Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 17, 2012
I’m not much of a television person, but my family loves one of the popular “reality” shows, called “ So You Think You Can Dance ,” so I’m sort of forced to watch it every week on Fox. Over time, I’ve concluded that even startup entrepreneurs can learn a few things from this one. Of course, you must ignore the pomp and circumstance of the TV staging.
The Next Web
OCTOBER 14, 2012
If you are a freelancer, at some point you have been told to get a contract together for your clients. I bet those advisors weren’t as helpful when it came to what you should put in your contract, though! While it is easy to say “get a contract,” it isn’t as easy to say what should go in it. I have recently been asked by four separate friends of mine who are either thinking about freelancing or are already freelancing about what clauses I have in my contract and which one
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ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 16, 2012
Geoloqi was a smart little startup from Portland, Ore., that made software for telling a smartphone where in the world it is. All kinds of investors wanted a piece of the action, but Geoloqi said no, no, no. Its founders wanted to find a fit , not an “exit,” a place where they could keep building the apps and maps thy love. Now they have. Geoloqi has been acquired by Esri.
Version One Ventures
OCTOBER 18, 2012
“Traction is the new IP ” sums up perfectly how the technology space has evolved over the past decade due to the nature of the web. Barriers to entry are no longer created by patents or by tech differentiation alone, but by superior traction in the marketplace. In today’s web landscape, word of mouth drives adoption and can lead to “winner takes all” (or almost all) in both B2C and B2B markets.
Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic
Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in
YoungUpstarts
OCTOBER 18, 2012
From its first animated feature Toy Story to Finding Nemo , Up , and Cars , Pixar Animation Studios is probably the world’s leading producer of animated features. Renowned for producing cartoon movies that stir the imagination and touch the heart, Pixar’s ability to allow “artists and geeks” to flourish makes it one of the world’s most innovative organizations.
The Next Web
OCTOBER 17, 2012
Color Labs, the photo-and-video-sharing social network that received much criticism over its pre-launch $41 million funding round, is about to be acquired by Apple. We’ve heard through trusted sources that the startup was nabbed for a price that is in the ‘high double digits’, as in millions, and that the deal is ‘done’, though papers have yet to be signed.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 18, 2012
Imagine this: A startup with a vibrant and successful founder arrives with the vague notion of a good idea. Venture capitalists, knowing the success of this founder, throw a bunch of money at him and his team, even without a tangible product behind it. The startup eventually releases a product that few understand or find useful. The company, reeling from bad publicity, take months to re-imagine its product before releasing a new version that is also uninspired and unloved.
crowdSPRING Blog
OCTOBER 19, 2012
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
Occam's Razor
OCTOBER 15, 2012
As my focus has evolved to getting companies to imagine and execute incredible digital marketing initiatives, I've discovered that my passion for the medium, my experience in creating innovative solutions, and — yes — my charm are sometimes insufficient to convince some CxOs to take their digital marketing opportunities seriously. Rather I've had to fall back on my trusty steed: data. :).
Growthink Blog
OCTOBER 16, 2012
Every business has a break-even point, which represents the minimum amount of cash to bring into the business on a given month in order to at least be able to cover your cash expenses for the month, or larger profit goals. The reason the media call the Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday is that many businesses do not reach their break-even point for the whole year until that day, due to the tremendous volume of sales.
ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 16, 2012
Geoloqi was a smart little startup from Portland, Ore., that made software for telling a smartphone where in the world it is. All kinds of investors wanted a piece of the action, but Geoloqi said no, no, no. Its founders wanted to find a fit , not an “exit,” a place where they could keep building the apps and maps they love. Now they have. Geoloqi has been acquired by Esri.
The Next Web
OCTOBER 16, 2012
It’s inevitable that entrepreneurs run into problems every once in a while as they pursue their dreams. Often, they might be wondering where they can turn for help and advice on what to do. Serial entrepreneur and investor, Dan Martell, has set out to create that solution for troubled founders. It’s called Clarity and connects you with an experienced advisor so you can ask all the questions you want to help you get on your way.
ConversionXL
OCTOBER 17, 2012
This is guest post by Chris Hexton from Vero. Every business sends emails, but not everyone does so successfully. Mastering some savvy automated campaigns is an easy way to permanently get ahead of your competition. These seven email remarketing tactics are based on proven campaigns that increase your conversions. By tracking what your customers do you can send them the right email at the right time.
OnlyOnce
OCTOBER 18, 2012
Book Short: the Garage Workbench of the Future. Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Wired Magazine’s Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail ( review , buy ) and Free ( review, buy ) is just as mind expanding as his prior two books were at the time they were published. I had the pleasure of talking with Chris for a few minutes after he finished his keynote address at DMA2012 in Las Vegas this week, and I was inspired to read the book, which I did on the flight home.
ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 18, 2012
Imagine this: A startup with a vibrant and successful founder arrives with the vague notion of a good idea. Venture capitalists, knowing the success of this founder, throw a bunch of money at him and his team, even without a tangible product behind it. The startup eventually releases a product that few understand or find useful. The company, reeling from bad publicity, take months to re-imagine its product before releasing a new version that is also uninspired and unloved.
Rob Go
OCTOBER 14, 2012
One of the earliest things we did at NextView when my partners and I started working together was go away as a team to the New Hampshire mountains. At the time, I think we didn’t even had a name for the fund. We talked about the tactics and strategy for our firm, but also about the ethos we hoped to create, and our motivations and goals for this part of our careers.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 17, 2012
I often get asked, “how do I get a meeting with a VC?” Here is my slightly tongue-in-cheek view. Filed under: Customer Development , Venture Capital.
deal architect
OCTOBER 17, 2012
Reading Dennis Howlett’s update on HANA, you get the sense it is the first time SAP has had rollout issues I can point to several more lethargic product rollouts in the last few years ECC 6.0 available since 2005 is.
ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 16, 2012
Geoloqi was a smart little startup from Portland, Ore., that made software for telling a smartphone where in the world it is. All kinds of investors wanted a piece of the action, but Geoloqi said no, no, no. Its founders wanted to find a fit , not an “exit,” a place where they could keep building the apps and maps they love. Now they have. Geoloqi has been acquired by Esri.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 16, 2012
When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” I find that the basics are actually the hardest to answer, just like your parents found out when they first tried to fill you in on the “facts of life” a long time ago.
YoungUpstarts
OCTOBER 19, 2012
by Michael Houlihan, coauthor of “ The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built a Bestseller “ You have a new start-up and you couldn’t be more excited. You know you’ve got a winning idea and you’re certain customers will love it. There’s just one problem, and it’s a doozie: lack of funding. Yes, even in the best of times it can be hard for cash-strapped entrepreneurs to pay for what they need.
deal architect
OCTOBER 19, 2012
I generally prefer industry events at hotels/resorts over those at convention centers. It means less wasted time on shuttle buses, and it usually means a somewhat manageable audience size. But it is also showing up in some hotel negatives I.
ReadWriteStart
OCTOBER 18, 2012
Imagine this: A startup with a vibrant and successful founder arrives with the vague notion of a good idea. Venture capitalists, knowing the success of this founder, throw a bunch of money at him and his team, even without a tangible product behind it. The startup eventually releases a product that few understand or find useful. The company, reeling from bad publicity, take months to re-imagine its product before releasing a new version that is also uninspired and unloved.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 13, 2012
New entrepreneurs who want to survive, and optimize the growth of their startups, need to think globally, and act locally, from day one. This approach, popularly known as “glocalization,” means you have to design and deliver global solutions that have total relevance to every local market in which you operate. Recognizing this is as much about culture as about language, ensures an understanding of regional motivators, cultural taboos and local customs – so that your solutions are ideally designe
YoungUpstarts
OCTOBER 16, 2012
Earlier this year, we witnessed the founders of cloud-based inventory and sales management SaaS (software-as-a-service) application TradeGecko pitch their product at JFDI-Innov8 2012 Bootcamp Demo Day. Last week, the startup finally announced its public beta launch. Targeted for small- to medium-sized enterprises, TradeGecko is designed to simplify the tasks of running a wholesale business and making it more social and engaging.
deal architect
OCTOBER 13, 2012
My wife and I enjoyed The Bourne Legacy. In my case, it was after I saw it the second time. The first time I missed many of the nuances behind the spyware and pharmacology that define the movie (as I.
Gust
OCTOBER 14, 2012
Ryan Blair book image via Amazon. It’s a well-accepted axiom in the investor community that entrepreneurs learn more from their failures than their successes. Thus a well-explained startup failure often can actually improve your odds of funding in the next go-round. Yet, there is no doubt that the best strategy is to learn from someone else’s mistakes, so you can enjoy the millions that someone else lost in learning.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 19, 2012
I have met several young people in business recently who believe that they are natural born entrepreneurs, and actually seem to feel that traditional training and experience may be a detriment to their success in this new world. I concede that natural born components do exist, but more often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker , who said “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes.
YoungUpstarts
OCTOBER 18, 2012
by Wil Schroter, founder of Fundable.com. Project management sucks. Yet without it, we fall apart. Dealing with it has historically been an absolute nightmare for me, and my guess is it is for you too. Prior to launching our latest crowdfunding startup Fundable.com , we had launched 8 Web companies over the past two decades. This gave us tons of opportunities to test project management systems.
deal architect
OCTOBER 13, 2012
Friday morning, Workday executives opened the NYSE and their market valuation quickly rose to a staggering $ 8 billion. To me, it was a fitting cap to a fascinating month in enterprise technology punctuated by Dreamforce, Oracle OpenWorld and several.
Gust
OCTOBER 16, 2012
This summer I conducted our third annual survey of the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies recently funded by angel groups in North America. Access to our 2010 and 2011 surveys can be found at 2011 Valuation Survey of North American Angel Investor Groups. We received data from thirty groups of the fifty angel groups from whom we requested data.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 18, 2012
If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. Don't confuse your business plan with a doctoral thesis or the back of a napkin. Keep the wording and formatting straightforward, and keep the plan short. For minimum content, see my article “ These 10 Key Elements Make a Business Plan Fundable.
YoungUpstarts
OCTOBER 15, 2012
by Bill McBean, author of “ The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows that You Don’t “ Doomed from the start. If you’re an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur-hopeful, it’s probably difficult to keep those four words from causing you to second guess your every move as you plan and run your business. They become especially hard to ignore when you consider the fact that less than 30 percent of businesses last more than 10 years, and most failures happen w
deal architect
OCTOBER 16, 2012
I spent some time at ProcessWorld, Software AG’s annual event. I very much enjoyed TUCON, Tibco’s event, and I wanted to hear about AG’s own events processing, SOA, collaboration and other initiatives. The conference started off with a very promising.
Feld Thoughts
OCTOBER 19, 2012
On Sunday I’ll be running the Detroit Marathon with a bunch of friends including my partner Jason Mendelson who is running his first marathon. Becky Cooper, our CFO, and Jill Spruiell (Jason’s EA) are also running their first marathon, as is Andrew Tschesnok, the CEO of Organic Motion. As this is my second marathon in my Random Act of Kindness series, Amy and I are again raising $10,000 for someone on GiveForward.
Startup Professionals Musings
OCTOBER 14, 2012
In working with entrepreneurs and other business people over the years, I often hear stories of entrepreneurs who were so close to success, but somehow let it slip through their fingers. They could always give a rational excuse, like the market changed, but somehow it seemed that they were actually afraid of success, so they subtly undermined their own efforts.
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