Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 22, 2012
Intros.They’re the lifeblood of networking – the currency of mavens. They are your route to angel money. Your entrée to sales meetings. We couldn’t live without them. But when misused, overused or abused they can diminish your personal brand, consume your valuable time and waste that of the relationships you value the most. I would like to make the case for being judicious with your introductions.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 18, 2012
I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. The reality is that angel investors are humans, and personal traits often make or break the relationship, even before the investment is considered. On the top line, angel investors look to invest in entrepreneurs that have an almost unwavering passion and sense of urgency.
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YoungUpstarts
MARCH 19, 2012
By Joe Thomas, founder and owner of Left Brain Digital. There’s a lot riding on a website that’s working for a business. It has to convey brand and professionalism, communicate the right message and engage visitors. Every detail plays a role, from the logo to the text to the design and functionality. One of my recent clients, Marsha Friedman of EMSI Public Relations , understood that so well, she put off developing a badly needed new website for five years.
Startup Lessons Learned
MARCH 19, 2012
I had an incredible couple of days at SXSW. The Lean Startup track was successful beyond my wildest imaginations (we'll have video up soon ). My personal highlight was watching newly-appointed United States CTO Todd Park receive a standing ovation from a crowd that is decidedly skeptical about government. What inspired the crowd that day was not just his personal charisma or what he said, but rather, what he had done.
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
crowdSPRING Blog
MARCH 23, 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!
ConversionXL
MARCH 19, 2012
If you want to get people to buy your stuff, you need to understand how people make purchasing decisions. Product quality and seller reputation matter , goes without saying. What about when the product matches the customer’s needs and wants, and they trust the seller? What are the things that influence purchasing decisions once those fundamentals are in place?
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
This is going to be BIG.
MARCH 21, 2012
The other day I want to go see Jiro Dreams of Sushi --a documentary about an 86 year old sushi chef working out of a 10 seat restaurant in a Ginza subway station. Oh, did I mention that the restaurant is rated 3 stars by the Michelin folks? This guy is like a throwback to another era. He doesn't feel as if he's gotten to the pinnacle of his craft yet.
crowdSPRING Blog
MARCH 18, 2012
I am a crank. There, I said it. Around the cS offices, I have a reputation as a curmudgeon and grouch. I have never been slow to voice an opinion, file a complaint, or take a company to task for everything from a unreliable product to poor customer service. This post is intended as the first in a series of “free advice” columns for producers of software and other services on how they can improve their products, marketing, messaging, branding, strategy, tactics… I could go on an
Duct Tape Marketing
MARCH 19, 2012
5 Ways for Small Business to Jump on the Big Data Train This content from: Duct Tape Marketing. The idea of something that’s being called “ Big Data ” has definitely reached the trend tipping point. Tech firms like are all about it. PR firms are forming teams to promote it and consulting firms have their business technology teams all over it. So, what is it and what does it mean for small business. tsuda via Flickr CC The “what is it” part is pretty easy to explain in textbook terms,
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 17, 2012
I’ve started a series on negotiations in startups. In it I list some books and also link to some of my previous posts. It’s the first functional series I’ve done since sales & marketing. The very first time I ever negotiated a term sheet (and then legal docs for closing the round) I found the experience very frustrating. I was desperate to get my funding finalized to derisk my business as well as to get capital in the bank to meet our growing cash needs.
Genuine VC
MARCH 20, 2012
It always feels anachronistic these days to exchange business cards when you usually have someone’s contact information anyway in an electronic format before (via email introduction) or just after (via LinkedIn connection) you meet. Many people, though, take the opportunity with a physical card to make an impression with a unique spin on their card (size, vertical orientation, etc.).
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 22, 2012
You hear a lot of talk these days about the importance of customer satisfaction, but customer loyalty is the real win. A satisfied customer is necessary, but not sufficient, to be a loyal customer who will come back repeatedly, refer their friends and family to you, and be faithful even when your price is not the lowest. Herein lies an opportunity for startups to beat the big guys.
Duct Tape Marketing
MARCH 18, 2012
Persol is Stuff that Works This content from: Duct Tape Marketing. This is a new Sunday series that I’m calling Stuff that Works. Each Sunday I’ll pick an item that is for me a foundation element in my line up of stuff that matters or as legendary Texas singer songwriter Guy Clark put it – “The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.”. Steve McQueen's blue tinted lens Persols in Thomas Crown Affair.
deal architect
MARCH 20, 2012
They come in bunches – or LTL as logistics folks call less than a full truck load. This morning I had breakfast with Chris Jones, EVP of Marketing and Services at Descartes and he regaled me with tales of supply.
Genuine VC
MARCH 20, 2012
It always feels anachronistic these days to exchange business cards when you usually have someone’s contact information anyway in an electronic format before (via email introduction) or just after (via LinkedIn connection) you meet. Many people, though, take the opportunity with a physical card to make an impression with a unique spin on their card (size, vertical orientation, etc.).
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 20, 2012
I’m often approached by people who claim to have invented the next big thing, and ask me how much it’s worth, or complain that they can’t find an investor who will fund it. The honest answer is that ideas and new technologies are worth nothing, outside the context of a specific entrepreneur and a specific business plan that meets a market need for a fair price.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
MARCH 20, 2012
Erica Douglass bootstrapped her company and sold it for a million dollars while her friends were switching majors for the third time or dicking around at some entry-level job. She’s successful by any measure. But it just a few short months of super-charging our marketing efforts at WP Engine for her to start turning herself inside out about her lack of “success,” and by implication, lack of ability and self-worth: WP Engine is killing it right now.
deal architect
MARCH 21, 2012
In his annual letter to shareholders in 2009, GE CEO Jeff Immelt wrote: “ I believe that a popular, thirty - year notion that the U.S. can evolve from being a technology and manufacturing leader to a service leader is.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 18, 2012
Pinterest is taking the social media world by storm, and it isn’t just popular with individual users. Businesses, nonprofits, and even libraries are sharing ideas and information through the site as well, connecting with people from around the country and around the globe. Whether you’re a librarian, student , teacher, or just an avowed bibliophile, Pinterest offers another great way to keep up with creative and cutting-edge ways libraries are engaging with their communities.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 21, 2012
I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. These days, I seem to often hear from entrepreneurs who are struggling to find a mentor, or complaining about their lack of effectiveness. Like any other relationship, it takes work on both sides to make mentoring work.
Feld Thoughts
MARCH 23, 2012
I’ve described this magic approach to staying connected with family when you are far away three times in the past few days. The first time was to a set of entrepreneurs in TechStars New York who were from Vancouver and have spouses and significant others back home. The second time was to an entrepreneur at the NewMe Accelerator who has a spouse and kids in Atlanta.
deal architect
MARCH 19, 2012
Looking for a quick way to access an article cited in my book, I opened the Kindle app on my laptop and was going to click on the URL. Instead I got the message below. Yes, I have loaned my.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 19, 2012
(Photo source: Corbis Images; royalty free, creative image). Young workers are known for their energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn, but many times their lack of experience and professionalism comes back to bite them when they want a raise, promotion, or just to be taken seriously. If you’re a young worker and you want to stand out from the other baby-faced rookies in the office, check out these eight etiquette tips: Save social networking for home.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 23, 2012
Where did this pervasive sense of entitlement in our business culture come from? I’ve written about this before, but I was surprised again recently at a conference for startups when a couple of entrepreneurs started berating investors for their low rate of funding for early-stage startups. It sounded to investors like me that they expected a funding entitlement for their startup idea.
Feld Thoughts
MARCH 19, 2012
Last week at our Yesware board meeting, we talked about the idea of “the monastic startup.” This was a phrase that Matthew Bellows, Yesware’s CEO, came up with, and it characterizes the culture they are creating at Yesware. It embodies two concepts: The monastic startup is a place where engineers do the best work of their lives. This place involves work with long stretches of uninterrupted time.
deal architect
MARCH 22, 2012
Some of my blog readers get irritated that I cite from my books for months. Honestly, it is my way to share on my blogs months of research that go into the book. I negotiated with my publisher to excerpt.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 18, 2012
While some lucky college students find work right away, for most others, the idea of hitting the job market after graduation is a little intimidating if not downright scary. With competition tough and opportunities limited, finding a job can be difficult. Yet, students and recent grads shouldn’t lose hope: finding a great job is possible even in this market, especially when you get a little help from those who know what it takes to get hired.
Up and Running
MARCH 22, 2012
It’s no secret that small businesses can have a hard time getting financing. So before you approach lenders, make sure you ask yourself: how can I maximize my chances of getting credit approval? Here are five simple things you can do to up the odds of getting your funding approved. Demonstrate that your business generates steady cash flow. Cash is still king and is also a key predictor of a business’ health and prospects for the future.
Rembrandt Communications
MARCH 21, 2012
If you are actively involved in your social media activities as I mentioned in previous posts, then you may have trouble coming up with new and exciting tweets to share with your customers on a daily basis. However, there is a simple fix for this. Remember, social media is about being social and interaction. When [.].
deal architect
MARCH 18, 2012
The businessman in me completely understood salesforce’s decision to cancel its planned Mission Bay campus. The teenager in me was disappointed. I love visiting picturesque campuses. I suspect I will be visiting my son’s New College campus on gorgeous Sarasota.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 19, 2012
According to Paypal , by 2015 Singapore’s e-commerce market is expected to hit US$4.4 billion in size. However, only 15-percent of local small to medium enterprises have a website with full e-commerce functionality. The founders of local startup company PayWhere believes there’s an opportunity in this gap, and that’s why they’re introducing TackThis.
Agile VC
MARCH 18, 2012
How to Evaluate Firms for a Seed VC. How To Think About The Future. Home. About Me. AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Why Twitter is A Media Company. March 18, 2012. CEO Dick Costolo famously said that Twitter is not a media company about six weeks ago at the AllThingsD conference. To be fair, Costolo said that Twitter isn’t a media company but is “in the media business” To some that may be a distinction without a difference.
Feld Thoughts
MARCH 17, 2012
My dad is one of my best friends. His birthday is on Saint Patrick’s Day and it has been a bright green celebration for as long as I can remember. He turned 74 today and we had dinner tonight at Oak at Fourteenth with Amy , my mom Cecelia , my sister-in-law Laura , my brother Daniel , and their daughter Sabrina. We had a wonderful evening and it reminded me once again of the importance and delight of family.
deal architect
MARCH 19, 2012
This continues a series of columns from practitioners I respect. The category "Real Deal" describes them well. This time it is Thomas K. Ryan, a high impact manager and consultant in the fields of logistics, supply chain, and the solutions.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 22, 2012
by Jessica Sanders, Chonies. With social media on the rise, and a new technology becoming available every day, your company is required to conform. Mobile commerce is the newest addition to the small business family, and worth considering. 46-percent of the adult US population has a smart phone, that’s a large chunk of your consumers that are spending hours with their face in a phone screen looking to shop.
Life Beyond Code
MARCH 21, 2012
There is a good chance that you don’t have a mentor right now and are not even considering entering into such a relationship in the near future. Yet athletes have mentors, actors have mentors and business leaders have mentors. Why not technology professionals? Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider engaging a mentor: 1. The structure provides automatic accountability.
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