Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2013

The other day I was at a Mercedes dealership. Unfortunately my wife was hit head on in December by a woman who lost control of her car. It was time to get a new car and my wife’s requirements were: The safest thing on the road. As many air bags as possible. I researched the pricing of the car at TrueCar – not because we’re an investor – but because it gives you complete price transparency over what other people in your area paid for a car.

Software Review 398

Software Review Technical Review China Mexico 398

TechEmpower

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

We build web and mobile applications, and we've been doing so for a little over fifteen years. To our delight, technology has evolved and improved in many ways over that time. Technology evolution can be cyclical, with some branches looping back to the past with surprising vigor and without much self-awareness. Platforms eschew threading and then re-invent threading anew.

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Guinea Application Development Ruby Web Development 200

Mike Michalowicz

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The most common question entrepreneurs ask me, is “how can I improve my marketing with no or little money?’ That’s literally the million-dollar question! So I sat down and hammered out my 50 best ideas. Skim them or read them in detail, but whatever you do make sure you go through the list. Just one of these ideas may trigger a marketing opportunity that you never considered before.

Small Business 167

Small Business Marketing PR Social Media 167

Lightspeed Venture Partners

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Almost a year ago, my partner Barry Eggers and I met with Craig Elliott and Scott Hankins to talk about their vision for a new company, Pertino. Over a coffee in a small office in Cupertino (yes, their name is related to their founding hometown), we talked about how it was the right time to build a new networking company due to the confluence of three major trends: cloud, software defined networking (SDN), and the consumerization of IT.

Networking 146

Networking Technical Review Cloud Software Review 146

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

Startup

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

2012 has proved to be a great year for developers – at least as far as financial compensation goes. The continuing tech boom has resulted in strong competition for top engineering talent, resulting in a subsequent upward surge in salary scales as well. But how much has it grown? Despite a year-on-year fall of 3.6-percent in the final quarter of 2012, overall average annual salaries has increased 3.7-percent year-on-year to US$118,900, according to an infographic from Silicon Valley technic

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Silicon Valley Salary Engineer Java 154

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

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!

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Social Media Small Business Design Media 107

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

This is a guest post by Chris Hexton from Vero. Have you ever thought about how your customers actually read your emails? As in, how they approach them… mentally? How important is the subject line? Do headings in emails matter? Which links are customers most likely to click? Are links in body content distracting? Are images important? By considering questions like these and really investigating how customers actually read emails we naturally put ourselves in a better place to write emails that c

Email 114

Email Customer HTML Campaign 114

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

Keen to change the world? Want to transform your “caterpillars” into “butterflies”? Well, former Apple chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki’s “ Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions ” may show you a trick or two. Authored by the bestselling author of “ The Art of the Start “, ” Enchantment ” is a multi-layered book.

Technical Review 145

Technical Review Japan Employee Management 145

www.netmagazine.com

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

A Future Site â?¼. Register. Login. Search: Print subscribers can now download.net's March issue (238)! Discover all of our 2012 in review articles! We reveal the top 50 books for web designers and developers. Check out our shop for subscription offers, buy single issues and more! Have you broken our 10 New Year's resolutions for designers yet?

Mobile 68

Mobile Web Software Review South Africa 68

Spencer Fry

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

I started learning to program in earnest at the beginning of February 2012. Since then, I've compiled the programming resources that got me to where I am today. Various books, screencasts, online documents, and forums have helped me along the way. I've listed them in the order in which I read them over the course of my development. I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Programming 75

Programming Ruby HTML Web Development 75

deal architect

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

This continues a series of columns from practitioners I respect. The category "Real Deal" describes them well. The software industry is relatively young and there are few John Deeres which have revised its logo every few decades. So when I.

Software 377

Software 377

Jeff Hilimire

FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Jason Calacanis just doesn’t get it, and I’m afraid his opinion is unfortunately not just his own but rather that of most successful white people (not just limited to those in the technology sector). All due respect to those of you that do get it, but my guess is if you look around at your other successful white friends, they’d likely share Jason’s feelings.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Technical Review United States Restful 69

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is from Josh Pigford – Enjoy! While the end result of a survey might make the conclusions look cut and dry, there are many ways that data can be manipulated or misrepresented to change the truth. However, the sloppiest (and probably most common) method of fumbling the truth is when data is simply misunderstood.

Software Review 63

Software Review Cofounder Matching Software 63

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

This is part of an ongoing startup advice series where I answer (anonymized!) questions from readers, like a written version of Smart Bear Live. To get your question answered , email me at asmartbear -at- shortmail -dot- com. Frustrated Engineer writes: I’ve been writing code for ten years, recently promoted to a position where I have to talk to our non-technical customers.

Software 294

Software Engineer Naming Customer 294

deal architect

FEBRUARY 9, 2013

Stupid question, right? From Apotheker to Autonomy,the p **g contest over Itanium and now the ill-advised shot about Dell – the wounds at HP appear self afflicted and never ending. But….talk to CIOs about their really unpopular vendors and about products.

Product 306

Product 306

TechEmpower

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

In the 1980s, high-tech companies stored information about their customers on their sophisticated and high-cost computer equipment. Back then such practices were exceptional except at relatively large companies. Thirty years later, it's so commonplace that there are numerous services to store customer data for you "in the cloud.". A layperson would be excused to think that in 2012, questions about how to store data on computers have been worked out.

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SQL Database API Analytics 227

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Do you think men make better entrepreneurs than women, and why? I did some research on this subject a while back, and I found some interesting perspectives. Everyone seems to agree that women think differently than men, and run their businesses differently, but there is a lot less agreement on which styles are better or worse. First of all, it is evident that there are far fewer women entrepreneurs today than men.

Startup 267

Startup Angel Investor Leadership Social Network 267

The Startup Toolkit

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

false As a cheatsheet, the “normal” equity structure is: Founder terms: 4 year vesting, 1 year cliff, for everyone, including you. Advisor terms ( 0.5–2.0% ) : 4 year vesting, optional cliff, full acceleration on exit. Getting equity structures right. When it comes to equity terms, there are only 3 things to understand: vesting, cliffs, and acceleration.

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Vesting Equity Cofounder Technical Review 56

deal architect

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

I am a big fan of Clayton Christensen’s “Innovator’s Dilemma”. and his other writings. My blogs and books similarly celebrate disruptors and innovators. But, “Dilemma” first came out in 1997, and I think we need to acknowledge how companies which.

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Seeing Both Sides

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

Living the startup life is a hard roller coaster. One day you think you're on the verge of building a billion-dollar company, the next you wake up in a cold sweat, paranoid that you are about to run out of cash and have to shut the whole thing down. There a lot of good books on how to develop a customer value proposition , rigorously test it and raise money.

Startup 54

Startup Portfolio Internet Community 54

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Successful entrepreneurs are usually hard-driving, and highly focused on some specific goals, like being the dominant player in a given domain, or the low-priced provider of their product. Yet other entrepreneurs will talk for hours about all their ideas, and how they intend to change the world, but I don’t hear any specific goals or milestones. Many people are very hesitant to set specific goals, due to lack of self-confidence or whatever.

Business Plan 259

Business Plan Entrepreneur Developer Product 259

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The founder of of international sandwich chain SUBWAY® , Fred DeLuca, started his business with a US$1,000 loan when he was just 17. That was in 1965. Today SUBWAY® is the largest restaurant chain in the world with over 38,000 stores in more than 100 countries. DeLuca has proved that one can start a successful business when young without the need for massive amounts of capital… and you can too.

Global 246

Global New York City Campaign United States 246

deal architect

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

As Nasscom kicks off its flagship Leadership Forum event in Mumbai and seeing the vendors and analysts presenting, I am reminded of a meeting with a group of outsourcing execs last year. I asked them who they thought was their.

Leadership 220

Leadership Offshore Cloud 220

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

VCs like to give out homework. They won’t call it that, though. But rather they use words like “diligence” and “information requests.” Just like in school, the homework can actually be productive, as in this case it can lead to a new customer or advisor. But just like bad teachers did in grade school, VCs sometimes assign completely useless busywork.

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Affiliate Partner Entrepreneur Customer 236

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Entrepreneurs are a notoriously stubborn (some say confident) group of people, so I see many of them making the same mistakes that predecessors have made. Thus I’m convinced that it’s useful for all of you to step back from time to time, and listen to some sage advice from people who have been there and enjoyed success. Recently, as I was perusing a book by Robert Jordan, titled “ How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights ” I saw some wisdom and inspiration that made sense.

Entrepreneur 254

Entrepreneur Jordan Green Hiring 254

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

ProfessorVC celebrated his 50th birthday this past week in his hometown of Washington, DC, with visits to the Capitol Hill and the White House to meet with legislators and White House officials on immigration reform. It was a very timely visit and hopefully our group along with many others descending on Capitol Hill over the coming weeks will help spur action.

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Silicon Valley SBA San Jose DC 43

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

by David Bakke. If you don’t think that saving money is important when you launch a small business, just take a look at the statistics: More than 30% of small businesses fail within the first two years, and insufficient funds is one of the top reasons why. Fortunately, there are ways to save on startup costs when launching your venture, and it’s in your best interests to investigate them.

Small Business 205

Small Business Atlanta Social Media Finance 205

deal architect

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

On the New Florence blog The Future of Higher Education The WEF 2013 Technology Pioneers My Micro NY Space Scavenger Hunt Shiver me timbers A scanner for the TSA to consider?

Technology 170

Technology 170

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2013

One of the keys to maximizing the productivity of your team, as well as yourself, is motivation. It has been estimated that the average team member at any given time works at less than 50% of his capacity. Thus mastering the art of employee motivation could double your chances of success over the average competitor. While there are many books written on this subject, most entrepreneurs I know simply assume that their own vision, motivation, and drive will be adopted and maintained by partners an

Entrepreneur 247

Entrepreneur Salary Employee Startup 247

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

Following is a guest post from Chris Moody. Chris is president and COO of Gnip , one of the silent killers in our portfolio. Once the main stream tech press starts noticing Gnip, they will be blown away at how big they got in such a short period of time by just executing. Chris is a huge part of this – he joined Gnip when they were 10 people and has been instrumental in working with Jud Valeski, Gnip’s founder and CEO, to build a mind blowing team, business, and market leadership pos

Portfolio 195

Portfolio Leadership Founder Operations 195

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

By Trevor Blake, author of “ Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life “ As human beings, we are bound to make mistakes. They are embarrassing, to say the least, and your first instinct, especially within leader positions, might be to cover your tracks. One of the clear signs of emotional maturity however is the ability to admit to a mistake and take responsibility.

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LLC Small Business Developer Founder 195

Gust

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

Image via Stock.xcng. For most new high-tech products, the first customers are always “early adopters.” The conventional wisdom is that early adopters are the ideal target for new products, to get business rolling. I see two pitfalls with any concerted focus on early adopters; first, the size of this group may not be as large as you think, and secondly, their feedback may lead you directly away from your real target market of mainstream customers.

Marketing 178

Marketing Engineer Technology Product 178

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 10, 2013

Almost every startup is a virtual team these days, since most don’t start out with dedicated office space, and some or all members of the team work part-time or out of their own home. It’s a small world, so these team members may not even be in the same town, or the same country. Outsourcing is just another extension of the virtual team concept to people you don’t even know.

Startup 247

Startup Global Technology Founder 247

Feld Thoughts

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

I bought a house in Kansas City on Monday. It’s next door to the Homes for Hackers and KC Startup Village. It will have Google Fiber in it. I hope it becomes an integral part of the nation’s first Google Fiberhood. I’m not going to be living in it. Instead, I’m going to let entrepreneurs live / work in it. Rent free. As part of helping create the Kansas City startup community.

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Kansas City Kansas Iowa Community 194

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

By Alexa Garthwaite, Business Development Manager at Executive Offices. Not too long ago fancy clipart and animated text was enough to make your presentation stand out. Nowadays using default Microsoft presentation tools and art often ends with a presentation looking cheap and uninspiring. Here are a number of tools that offer alternative ways to create and share stunning presentations: 1.

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XML HTML Video Audio 187

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

I did a presentation this week at Coloft that looked at how Non-Technical Founders can go about getting their MVP built. It had a passionate group of 50 people attending. I promised to do this post as a follow-up to the session to provide additional links and information. It should also give a sense of what I covered to people who were not there. Here is the outline of the talk and some links from prior posts that talk to the issues that I discussed in the talk.

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Technical Cofounder Technical Review CTO Hire Fractional CTO 338