YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2012

I previously touched upon the Passion/Product Fit of an aspiring entrepreneur. Once the answer is found, the entrepreneur needs to do serious research on the market he/she will be addressing. This is by no means easy. Product/Market Fit. People say the important part of a Startup is its Team. To me, the Market is the most important followed closely by the Team who can execute, navigate and conquer that market.

Singapore 178

Singapore Technical Cofounder Product Marketing 178

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2012

Starting up is easy; starting up a company with the most viable blueprint for success, however, is not so. And while many companies start with a great idea and loads of confidence, a startup company requires a solid business model and a proper plan in place in the earliest stages of its development for the best chance for success. Although countless books have been written on how entrepreneurs can put together successful startup companies, corporate attorney, entrepreneur, executive coach and wr

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Later Stage Incubator Business Model 174

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 12, 2012

By Ron Kaufman, author of “ Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet ”. You step off the plane, weary from a long flight. As you walk through the terminal, you can’t believe your eyes. The airport is immaculate with walkways as wide as roadways and not a speck of litter anywhere. As you move deeper into the terminal, you see a butterfly garden, an outdoor swimming pool, playground equipment, a four-story slide, napping rooms, spa tre

Singapore 170

Singapore Architecture Metrics Hiring 170

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 3, 2012

Debunking conventional wisdom that human beings are rational and logical beings, “ Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions ” by behavioural economist Dan Ariely provides an entertaining and enlightening read in the market-tested tradition of authors like Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Freakonomics series) , Malcolm Gladwell , and Ori and Ron Brafman (Sway).

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Salary Government Demand 164

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 14, 2012

The first day of ad:tech Singapore 2012 gave digital marketers and industry observers a glimpse of the continued growth of the role of technology and digital media in marketing and advertising in the Asia Pacific. The second day, however, seemed to hover over one particular aspect of that digital future – mobile. For sure, mobile adoption is growing by leaps and bounds – be it mobile commerce or mobile advertising (Yahoo!

Singapore 145

Singapore Mobile Asia Indonesia 145

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 26, 2012

Anyone who has ever tried to lead people will tell you leadership is more like art than science. And as with art, perfecting the craft of leadership requires studying under a master. Of course, an aspiring leader must have a foundation of communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, but owning the tools and knowing how to use them to maximum effect are two different things.

Leadership 263

Leadership Aggregator Naming Social Media 263

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 25, 2012

Steve Jobs, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of a little company called Apple Inc., who passed away from cancer in October 2011, was a jerk. But really, who among us isn’t at least occasionally unreasonable, petty, and petulant for a few minutes out of every workday? What’s more interesting is what Jobs learned over time as a result of the trauma some say he brought upon himself.

China 250

China Cofounder Audience Reputation 250

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 14, 2012

Do you grudgingly roll out of bed each morning, downing cup after cup of coffee in an attempt to work up the motivation to head to work? While this might be the reality for many out there, it certainly doesn’t have to be, nor should it be. There are a variety of reasons why you might not be thrilled to go to work in the morning and most of them are pretty obvious, from a bad boss to grating coworkers to feeling like you’re at a dead end.

Matching 242

Matching Employee Restful Demand 242

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 6, 2012

Some of us may think that the city we live in is incredibly boring with very few things to do – many of my own compatriots in Singapore feel this way – but the truth to it is that there are a lot of activities available around us we may enjoy participating in that we’re simply not aware of. And that’s where many social discovery apps come in, trying to help us find interesting things to do.

Mobile 237

Mobile Baltimore Singapore Social Network 237

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2012

The difference between success and failure for a business is almost always down to making the right decisions. A wrong choice during the critical growth phase can doom any startup; the right decision, however, propels the fledgling business onto the path of potential success. In the book “ Hits & Misses: New York Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Strategies ” by award-winning journalist, columnist and essay writer Tina Traster , such decision-making by some entrepreneurs are put under t

New York 231

New York Entrepreneur Audio Matching 231

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 6, 2012

Don’t we all go “aawwww…” at the pictures of all those cute and cuddly pets our friends put up on their Facebook walls? Don’t you go gaga over Boo , the world’s cutest dog, whose Facebook page has over 4 million friends? OK, maybe not all of us. For those who’d rather not have pictures of animals flooding our timelines, here’s a tip: introduce pet-owning friends to Aiiooo ( www.aiiooo.com ), a fully-fledged social network for pets.

Social Network 230

Social Network Networking Singapore Advertising 230

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2012

by Vickie Milazzo, author of “ Wicked Success Is Inside Every Woman “ The slowly recovering economy has taken a toll on all Americans. But for many recent college graduates, it has made that first step into the “real” world a real doozy. In fact, the Associated Press’s analysis of recent government data shows that 53 percent of recent college grads (those under 25) are either jobless or underemployed.

Harvest 226

Harvest Social Media Networking Developer 226

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 8, 2012

So you’re looking to gain some practical industry experience during term break or to find out if the industry you’re eying is really worth joining. An internship may be what you need. Employers are definitely keen to have you and internships are proven to have a better chance of landing you a full-time job offer, as long as you meet what they want in interns.

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YoungUpstarts

JUNE 19, 2012

Crowd funding is an increasingly popular way for aspiring entrepreneurs to raise funds for kick-starting their business ideas. Crowd funding – also known as crowd financing or hyper funding – allows people to network and pool together money and resources to invest and support in projects or initiatives started by others. Such “investors” can have an option to either own a small portion of the company, or purchase future products and services at a discounted price.

Michigan 217

Michigan Finance Portfolio Demand 217

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2012

by Teddy Reynolds. It is common wisdom that few small businesses survive past the first two years, and fewer still make it past the five year mark. The common wisdom does tend to exaggerate the actual rate of failure, which was quantified by the Small Business Administration as a 30 percent failure in two years and just under 50 percent failure rate after five years.

Small Business 210

Small Business Small Business Administration Warrant Washington 210

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2012

Multitasking may sound like it’s efficient and productive and all, but trying to do many things at the same time may not be all that hyped up to be. For one, multi-tasking can lead to some serious long-term consequences. For example, did you know that *gasp* excessive use of the Internet – especially when you jump from one task to another – can lead to atrophy of brain matter?

Internet 206

Internet Product 206

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 14, 2012

My wife works in Human Resources and she constantly complains of having to go through stacks of ugly resumes. Of course, she isn’t referring to the profile photos that sometimes accompanies those curriculum vitaes but how badly put together some of those resumes can be. Well, here’s a web application that may help some of those people - Resumonk ( www.resumonk.com ) is a simple and easy-to-use online resume builder that puts together a professional-looking resume in a matter of minu

Widget 206

Widget Web Search Programming 206

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 21, 2012

Unlike in previous years, consumer-type devices at CommunicAsia 2012 were somewhat of a rarity. Despite having grown in size – organizers claim that it’s bigger by 3-percent over last year – much of the show floor were mainly taken up by infrastructure vendors peddling large satellite dishes, optical fiber cables, signal boosters and other enterprise-type solutions of no interest to the common man.

Mobile 203

Mobile Singapore Japan China 203

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 27, 2012

Most entrepreneurs truly love what they’re doing, according to the most recent 2012 Small Business Report by Wave Accounting. The report , which surveyed 250,000 micro and SMB customers to shed light on their perspectives on the current state and future of business in North America, found that 86-percent of small business owners agree they love what they do for a living, and 56-percent declared they’d never work for someone else again.

North America 199

North America Entrepreneur Government America 199

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 1, 2012

by Billy Moller. When it comes to work and money, there are two prevailing schools of thought: either you find a job that will pay the wage you need for the lifestyle you want, or you live a lifestyle that can be supported by the kind of job you love to do. In an ideal world, everyone would make lots of money doing rewarding, fun jobs, but this rarely happens right away.

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Salary Finance Programming Sales 198

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2012

You might be the most diligent and hardest working person in the office, but if your co-workers don’t know you or don’t really like you, then you’re going to have problems down the road. One tactless comment or annoying habit can ruin your work relationships and lessen your chances of moving up in a company. Even if you’re already a kind, respectful co-worker, there’s always room to grow and improve.

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Salary Conversion 197

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 28, 2012

Business is not for the overly cautious or the faint of heart. If you’re going to run a business or invest in a company, you have to be willing to take risks, big and small. Sometimes these risks become regrets, but sometimes they turn out to be the best decision you’ve ever made. Here are eight risky business investments that paid off big. 1. Target.

Bankruptcy 195

Bankruptcy Texas Naming Venture Capital 195

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2012

While hard work isn’t a guarantee of a successful business or a million dollar paycheck, it certainly doesn’t hurt, and there are plenty of real-life examples of that. Many top executives didn’t start off in high-paying, respected positions with an MBA in hand — far from it, in fact. These enterprising minds worked their way up to the top, quite commonly beginning their careers working in mailrooms or in positions at the very bottom of the corporate ladder.

Cofounder 194

Cofounder United States Naming Leadership 194

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2012

Earlier we featured Markerly , an online highlighting tool that lets us select and socially bookmarking a particular chunk of text , and immediately sharing it across your social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Here’s a similar productivity tool you may find useful: Click.to ( www.clicktoapp.com ) by Karlsruhe, Germany-based Axonic Informationssysteme GmbH is a free desktop tool for Windows and Mac OS X that allows you to shorten click paths.

Internet 185

Internet Social Bookmarking Germany Social Media 185

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 28, 2012

Even as EURO 2012 reaches fever pitch, “traditional” terrestrial and pay TV broadcasters should be worried – according to the latest analytics from Experian ‘s online competitive intelligence tool Experian® Hitwise® , soccer fanatics in Singapore are increasingly turning to peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming sites for their live soccer fixes.

Singapore 183

Singapore Analytics Search Software 183

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2012

Elizabeth Edwards, author of “ Startup: The Complete Handbook for Launching a Company for Less ” ( our review of the book here ), recently presented a talk at TEDxXavierUniversity about startups and venture funding. Without going too much into details of the talk – you should really just watch the video for yourself – Edwards share on the following: 1.

California 179

California Video Venture Capital Startup 179

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 19, 2012

Creative minds everywhere have turned to the incredibly popular online marketplace, Etsy , to showcase their design knowledge and handmade crafting skills, as well as make some good money on the side. Those who enjoy creating handmade items or collecting vintage pieces can easily step into the Etsy scene and make a killing, but there is definitely a method to the Etsy madness.

Naming 178

Naming Social Media Sales Customer 178

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 13, 2012

Everybody loves a thumbs up – but brand marketers especially love those on their Facebook page updates denoting interest from, and engagement with, consumers. The question is: does such interaction have any significance on purchasing behavior? Will clicking on the Facebook Like button lead to consumers streaming down to the nearest store to buy a certain product?

Media 178

Media Internet Sales Marketing 178

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 24, 2012

Making it as a writer can be hard, no matter what kind of writer you aspire to be. That’s why it’s so important to reach out to other writers and people in the publishing industry to learn all you can, get support, and gain an understanding of how the business works. One of the best places to do that is on LinkedIn, and with the plethora of groups hosted by the site it’s easier than ever to build a seriously great network of those in the industry.

Networking 176

Networking Affiliate Hosting Global 176

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 13, 2012

The producers of business reality TV Angel’s Gate – which saw budding entrepreneurs pitch directly to angel investors on television – will be back for a second season. Digital media company and new business accelerator Interactive.SG today announced a call for submissions for more business ideas and concepts from around the world for a chance to pitch on the show.

Angel Investor 174

Angel Investor Valuation Audience Community 174

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 28, 2012

I remember when The Lord of the Rings trilogy first came out, viewers were totally in awe of the magnificent, soaring landscapes in the movies. We were more impressed to find out that some of the actual scenes in the film featuring those landscapes were actually shot on location in New Zealand. For some, that awe even translated into Tolkien tourism – where fans of the franchise traveled to sites of film- and book-related significance to relive a bit of that fictional universe.

New Zealand 168

New Zealand Community Mobile 168

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 12, 2012

Considering what we hear of online scams – the Nigerian scam or site hacking comes quickly to mind – one would think that most scam schemes originate from Africa or Russia (with China sneaking up from behind). But we’d be wrong – in 2010, in which perpetrations where the origins of the scams were known, over 65 percent of scams actually originate from the United States.

Internet 168

Internet Russia Africa United States 168

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 4, 2012

As the mobile revolution continues unabated, digital media company Yahoo! last week launched a new series of mobile advertising products in its Southeast Asian markets targeted at helping businesses reach their consumers via the device they’re almost always embracing. Southeast Asia has been seeing massive uptake and usage of mobile devices – Singapore alone is one of the most wired countries with a smartphone penetration of over 70% – it certainly makes sense for Yahoo!

Asia 168

Asia Mobile Video Singapore 168

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2012

Copy. Paste. Send. Copy. Paste. Send. Repeat ad naseum. Those of us who use social media often will find the above routine familiar. We find a quote or a jumble of text online that we’d love to share, but there’s no real way to share it (aside from sharing the entire URL) except through, yup, copying and pasting. But here’s (finally) a far more elegant solution – launched earlier this month, Markerly ( [link] ) is a online highlighting tool that let us select and socially

Social Bookmarking 164

Social Bookmarking Social Media Social Network Media 164

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 13, 2012

Heads up to all developers intending to work on the BlackBerry® 10 – the BlackBerry Jam World Tour is coming to Asia Pacific this July. The World Tour begins 2 July, 2012 and will cover six cities in the region – Bangalore, Delhi, Beijing, Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney. You’ll have the opportunity to explore the capabilities of BlackBerry® 10 and be among the first to develop on the new platform.

Asia 164

Asia Singapore Developer Community 164

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 7, 2012

by Mohan Nair, author of “ Strategic Business Transformation: The 7 Deadly Sins to Overcome “ It’s been a grueling five years. On the global stage we’ve seen bailouts, rampant unemployment, sluggish consumer confidence, declining home values, and rising prices. For those still lucky enough to be employed, all this doom and gloom has manifested as insecurity, fear, stress, and overwork.

Leadership 162

Leadership Singapore Global Business Model 162

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 15, 2012

By Ron Kaufman, author of “ Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet ”. You start your morning running late and sprint into your local coffee shop for your morning cup of joe. As you breathlessly place your order, you notice the barista doesn’t smile at you. She utters a flat, “Here you go” as she hands you the steaming cup — Why didn’t she put the cardboard sleeve around it?

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Customer Singapore United States Naming 160