Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 22, 2012
With another list of the Top 10 Internet Scams and more identity theft , there seems to be a growing population out there worried about all the people intent on hurting them. Why is everyone so paranoid these days? My plea to entrepreneurs is to recognize these concerns as an opportunity, and go the extra mile to make people’s life better, rather than stoke the fires.
Gust
DECEMBER 27, 2012
1. Understand your business. It sounds obvious, but the majority of entrepreneurs who pitch me have obviously never thought through many of the major issues surrounding their companies. You should know EVERYTHING about your business, product, customers and competition. You should know every metric regarding customer acquisition, conversion and retention.
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YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 25, 2012
By John Curran, President and CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). When the Internet was first conceived as a better way for computers to communicate with one another, no one could predict the impact it would have on business communications. Today we depend on the Internet to reach customers, manage suppliers, and conduct our business in general.
Mike Michalowicz
DECEMBER 28, 2012
Business Tips For Women Business Leaders. The business environment has changed dramatically over the last 15 years. When I started my first company in 1996, it was still very much a guys only world. But the pendulum is shifting and I don’t see any signs of it stopping. In fact, for the rest of my lifetime I expect to see women becoming the leading force in business.
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 Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 23, 2012
Most of the entrepreneurs I know realize they have some bad habits, like maybe procrastination or not listening well, so they focus on dropping these. New studies indicate that a more productive approach would be adopting new good habits and behaviors that clearly move your business forward, like good time management and implementing customer recommendations.
The Next Web
DECEMBER 24, 2012
Like many top VC firms, Mangrove Capital has been increasing its focus on Berlin this past year. Last month, they put on a big party here in a venue consisting of old shipping containers – what could be more Berlin than that – as they continue their search for the next big thing. One of the biggest names behind Luxembourg-based Mangrove is Michael Jackson.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
siliconflorist.com
DECEMBER 22, 2012
Silicon Florist. Covering the blossoming startup industry in Portland, Oregon, and the Silicon Forest. Subscribe via RSS population: Blog. About. Ads. Archive. Contact. Jobs/Gigs. Search for: July 3rd, 2012. Mentoring the mentors: Advice and inspiration for startup mentors. by Rick Turoczy. 3 Comments. Last year around the time PIE was starting, David Cohen , cofounder of TechStars , shared the TechStars Mentor Manifesto.
Duct Tape Marketing
DECEMBER 27, 2012
Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is from DJ Waldow – Enjoy! You can have the best offer, the most compelling copy, sent from a trusted source, using a subject line that has been optimized for your audience … and yet, if you don’t have a list of email addresses to send to, none of it matters. Without a list of email addresses in your database, email marketing can be quite challenging.
deal architect
DECEMBER 23, 2012
I can somewhat understand citizens of Orlando getting upset about the optics of the City’s apparent no-bid award to Workday. But for competitive vendors to howl about it is, well, a bit hypocritical. Sole sourcing runs our industry: a) Most.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 23, 2012
by Aaron Tan. When Internet giant Google threatened to pull out of China in 2010, few were aware of the paradox that the Internet brings to China’s leaders beyond the political fodder. In “ How China’s Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China’s Past, Current and Future Leaders “, Robert Kuhn, an international investment banker who has advised the Chinese government for over two decades, notes that Chinese leaders recognize that free access to information is critical for t
99u.com
DECEMBER 22, 2012
99U. Its not about ideas. Its about making ideas happen. "Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration." - Thomas Edison. Founded in 2009, the 99U takes its name from Thomas Edisons famous. quote, "Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration." Through articles, tips, videos, and events, we share best practices that help creative professionals. transform their ideas from vision into reality.
Duct Tape Marketing
DECEMBER 28, 2012
Some of my favorite tools and services have gone through some pretty big changes recently – enough so that felt it warranted a post just to point the changes out. The first three, Gmail , Evernote and TweetDeck , are tools I use every day to run my business. The last two, Yelp and Foursquare , are familiar rating and location tools that have morphed a bit to go after the lucrative local search market and deserve a good hard look from local small businesses. 1) User interface changes for Gm
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 26, 2012
This July I thought I had set the record for tenacity in my age group. Go ahead and take a moment to read the post , it’s short. I reminded my Startup Owners Manual co-author Bob Dorf this is how entrepreneurs played the game, blah, blah, blah. As usual Bob did one better. Here’s a guest post on what happened to him in the Ukraine. —– Usually when you teach entrepreneurship, one of the key things you teach is tenacity , a vital characteristic of great entrepreneurs.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 26, 2012
Successful entrepreneurs, like Tony Hsieh of Zappos and Casey Sheahan of Patagonia , have long since realized that influence is no longer something that you do to someone to get what you want, but requires listening and relationship building to do what they want, with a win-win outcome. We now live in a world where even subtle persuasion efforts are suspect.
deal architect
DECEMBER 27, 2012
I sent Gary Kelly and Herb Kelleher of Southwest the letter below on December 9. Within a week, I started getting calls from their reps. I finally caught up with Tim last week and notes from those conversation are in.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 26, 2012
by Lyndsey Freeman. If you’re starting a new business, do not take one more sip of coffee, one more step and spend one penny before you write your business plan. Here are 7 things you need to include: 1. Executive Summary. The executive summary is the first and most important part of your business plan. If the project is not clear or compelling enough in this section, often your investors won’t waste their time reading the rest, so you’ve got to get this part right.
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 25, 2012
There has been a cliche going around the last decade or so that goes “hope is not a strategy.” It inspired a book titled Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale and is repeated often by VCs in boardrooms when they are confronted with companies that are flailing, especially when trying to reach their revenue goals. I’ve been guilty of saying it a few times although it always left a funny taste in my mouth and I didn’t know why until this morning when
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 24, 2012
Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. But many entrepreneurs don’t realize that Angels are also extremely discerning in the projects that they will invest in, rejecting approximately 97% of the proposals submitted to them, according to the California Investment Network. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable propo
deal architect
DECEMBER 26, 2012
My friend Michael Krigsman has been running a series on "Industry Influencers". Personally, I cringe when I hear the term – I know it sounds ungrateful since many include me in the lists of influencers they compile. Trust me, I.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 27, 2012
?. By Andrew Collins, Founder & CEO of Mailman Group?. Winning IS everything. That’s right. I’m not going to butter it up for you and say ‘having a go’ is enough, as that’s one of the biggest ‘cop outs’ anyone can accept. Winning is everything and it should be treated as such. It’s not just why you are getting into doing what you are doing but it should embody you as an entrepreneur.??
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 28, 2012
tl;dr: F**k, I don’t know. I’m not in the prediction business. But plan for it. And behave accordingly. A lot of people have been talking about how 2013 will be harder for startups and fast growing companies. Tiresome things like the endless discussion about the Series A crunch, more conservative behavior from VCs due to the performance of Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga in the public market, and overall concerns about the economy dominate.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 27, 2012
By definition, most entrepreneurs are thought leaders. They have the ability to recognize a market need, the skills to design and implement a solution, and the drive to start a business from that solution. It all comes from within themselves. A business leader does the same thing and more through the people around them. Most entrepreneurs are not both.
deal architect
DECEMBER 27, 2012
This time of the year brings even more memories of the UK. I met Margaret during a posting in London in 1989. We go back often and Margaret took Tommy to the London Olympics and to Cambridge and Oxford this.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 27, 2012
The Ideas Inc. Business Challenge , the annual business plan and startup competition that’s organized by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) , is back – and it’s bigger and better. The startup accelerator program, hosted by NTU’s Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre , is again inviting submissions from aspiring startup founders who are looking to test and validate their business ideas.
Gust
DECEMBER 24, 2012
Image via Facebook. New product startups rightfully begin with a heads-down focus on creating the ultimate product – whether it’s a new technology, a new look and ease of use, or a new low-cost delivery approach. Most then add customer service at the rollout, but very few really understand what it means to be truly customer centric, and even fewer really achieve it.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 25, 2012
It’s been a challenging business year, but I hope you are all taking some time off this long holiday weekend, to celebrate with the family. Even those of you who are not Christian and see Christmas as just another day should still enjoy the holiday spirit, take a break from work, and enjoy your loved ones. Yet there will be some entrepreneurs can’t seem to make the decision to take a break.
deal architect
DECEMBER 26, 2012
On the innovation blog The technology skills shortfall Earth as art Eco-warriors Santa’s sleigh Simulate controllers at London airports For your car’s midlife crisis Megapixel surveillance Energy efficiency apps marketplace.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 26, 2012
by Xenia von Wedel, VP at SocialRadius. In case you are thinking about New Year’s resolutions, here some new tech solutions for SMBs that would definitely help to make 2013 more efficient, time saving and altogether less stressful. 1. Voxeet. My personal top favorite No 1 is Voxeet , because I spend way too many hours on terrible conference calls, where I don’t even understand half of what the others say and it really aggravates me: After online phone services with peer-to-peer architecture like
Life Beyond Code
DECEMBER 28, 2012
Happy New Year. 2013 is days away. Here is a 17-point program to make it your best year. 1. Get paid to move the needle: Quit thinking that you need to get paid for the hours you put into anything. If you get paid to move the needle, it will turn out to be a no-brainer value exchange. 2. Up your caring quotient: Instead of trying to reduce the cost of the sale, increase your level of caring.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 28, 2012
Most startups dream of attracting a celebrity endorsement, and assume that it will take their startup to the stars. There have been some “famous” successes in this regard, such as Charlie Sheen using Twitter last year to promote Internships.com, as well as some failures, including Airtime , launched early this year as a star studded affair, without the star studded success.
deal architect
DECEMBER 23, 2012
on the innovation blog In politics, the era of Big Data has arrived Carbon Nanotube Yarn MindMeld me maybe? Santa’s Warehouse An event-ful year Wireless charging comes to Madison Square Garden The song of the Alien Birds The Hurricane Simulator.
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 26, 2012
This is a tough time of year for a lot of people. I used to be one of them. And I’ve gotten over it, and myself, which I attribute 100% to Amy helping me figure it out and not being willing to put up with my nonsense. But it’s a useful reminder for those who think it’s awesome for everyone. While the Christmas and New Year’s holidays can be a restful, restorative, wonderful family time, it can be excruciating for those who are depressed.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
DECEMBER 23, 2012
Lots of coverage about Facebook Poke, which many have pointed out is a feature for feature clone of Snapchat. Some have pointed out that Poke was written in 12 days as evidence of the lightweight nature of Snapchat, and others have noted that Poke was at the top of the app charts within 24 hours as evidence of Snapchat’s peril. It’s not surprising that Poke got so much lift since it was promoted by the Facebook app, which has tremendous daily active usage.
Mike Michalowicz
DECEMBER 24, 2012
Money Does Not Motivate Employees. I can’t think of anything I love more than being acknowledged, unless it’s rewarded at the same time I’m being acknowledged. Employees are the same way. They love to be rewarded. Heck, we all do! It makes us feel good for putting our hearts and souls into a task, even if it is our job. But, believe it or not, money probably isn’t the best way to reward employees.
VC Cafe
DECEMBER 23, 2012
There are however, many clever ways to acquire users in the early stages, when your startup has no brand recognition. In the post, "Introduction to Growth Hacking for startups" we went through the. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]].
The Next Web
DECEMBER 23, 2012
When we think of social media and business, the first few things to come to mind are Facebook and Twitter. Yet, there is one mobile app that tends to get overlooked by businesses: Foursquare. True, it doesn’t have the same numbers that the likes of Facebook and Twitter can boast, but what it does have is a dedicated audience which has made over three billion check-ins.
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