Wed.Jan 21, 2015

article thumbnail

It’s About Women Running Startups

Steve Blank

'Just before the holidays I had coffee with Anne, an ex MBA student running a fairly large product group at a search engine company, now out trying to raise money for her own startup. She had an interesting insight: existing content/media companies were having the same problem as hardware companies that rarely made the leap to new platforms. And she had a model for a new media company for mobile and wearables.

article thumbnail

The Biggest Business Fails of 2014 and How to Avoid Them

Up and Running

'Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, image via winbeta.org. Every year, a few businesses make bad decisions or mistakes publicly. Sometimes they recover quickly and no one notices. Other times, the blunders are nothing short of newsworthy. We’ve gathered up some of the worst fails of 2014 and included some helpful tips on how to avoid them yourself. Walmart asks its employees to purchase their own uniforms.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Not Everyone Is “Killing” It: How & When to Admit It

Agile VC

'Note: This post also published at NextView’s blog for seed stage companies The View From Seed. The startup ecosystem is often full of hyperbole, which is perfectly understandable when you think about it. A population of founders, employees, investors, advisors, and others all aligned in trying to build large disruptive businesses is naturally prone to lofty, even over-the-top language.

Cofounder 219
article thumbnail

Digital Printing For Your Business

YoungUpstarts

'Despite its popularity, there are many individuals who still are not aware of the digital printing methods available and their advantages over other methods of printing. Those who are reliant on older printers really are missing out, as there are a wealth of benefits that can be taken advantage of by using digital printing. What is digital printing?

article thumbnail

Building Healthy Innovation Ecosystems for Your Projects

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

article thumbnail

Not Everyone Is “Killing” It: How & When to Admit It

Agile VC

Note: This post also published at NextView’s blog for seed stage companies The View From Seed. The startup ecosystem is often full of hyperbole, which is perfectly understandable when you think about it. A population of founders, employees, investors, advisors, and others all aligned in trying to build large disruptive businesses is naturally prone to lofty, even over-the-top language.

Cofounder 188
article thumbnail

Seed is the new Series A, but who’s supporting founders pre-launch?

The Equity Kicker

'Jason Calacanis just published a good post on the changing definitions of Seed, Series A, and Series B investment. I’m going to quote his definitions in full: 2004 definition. — Pre-funding: You talk about your idea & write a business plan. — Seed Round: You build a prototype of your product. — A Round: The funding necessary to launch your product. — B Round: The funding necessary to get product traction. — C Round: The funding necessary to scale your product. 2014 definition. — Pre-f

Founder 116

More Trending

article thumbnail

Is Your Blog Topic Profitable?

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

'I’ve received a number of emails from people who are interested in joining my January intake for Blog Mastermind 2.0, but are worried that their topic won’t make money. All the emails ask some kind of variation of this… Yaro, I’d like to take your course. Do you think my. The post Is Your Blog Topic Profitable? appeared first on Entrepreneurs-Journey.com.

Finder 81
article thumbnail

Conversion Optimization Essentials: now a book

ConversionXL

'Conversion optimization is a process, not tactics. Reading case studies, and blindly implementing that stuff is just stupid. If you’re serious about improving your skills as an optimizer, you need to start thinking in terms of processes. Ask yourself if you have a systematic way of optimizing websites? To address this issue, I created a mini-course back in October that I called Conversion October.

article thumbnail

SXSW Interactive 2015 to Feature More on Startups and a Robot Petting Zoo

SiliconHills

'By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News What startup launched at South by Southwest Interactive in 2009? One lucky woman attending the SXSW community meetup in San Antonio knew the answer: Uber, the ridesharing alternative to taxi cabs. That bit of trivia earned her a free badge to attend what has become the country’s […] The post SXSW Interactive 2015 to Feature More on Startups and a Robot Petting Zoo appeared first on SiliconHills.

article thumbnail

Fresh from the SPRING: Konstantin

crowdSPRING Blog

'When perusing our galleries here on crowdSPRING, we see some amazing work submitted in the projects. Today, we noticed this gem submitted in this logo project. Let us start the slow clap for Konstantin. Check out more great work on Konstantin ’s profile page. Nicely done, Konstantin, nicely done! Related posts: Fresh from the SPRING: bokomoslav. Fresh from the SPRING: greenblack.

Design 64
article thumbnail

Finding a Focused Niche Market

The Entrepreneurial Mind

'The Entrepreneurial Mind : Floyd DePalma- DePalma Studios. Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Tumblr Stumble Digg Delicious The post Finding a Focused Niche Market appeared first on Dr Jeff Cornwall.

article thumbnail

5 Tools that Changed the Way I Do Business

Duct Tape Marketing

'5 Tools that Changed the Way I Do Business written by John Jantsch read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. I write about lots of tools, but mostly tools that help you do a better job with marketing or social media or SEO. Today I want to spend some time sharing tools I use to run my business. Like so many folks these days, I’ve assembled a team that includes in office staff, remote staff and third party collaborators for projects and specific business services

article thumbnail

Learning from 2014 Security Hacks

Feld Thoughts

'Raj Bhargava (CEO of JumpCloud ) and I got into a discussion at dinner the other night about the major security hacks this past year including Sony, eBay, Target, and The Home Depot. Raj spend over a decade in the security software business and it was fascinating to realize that a common thread on virtually all of these major compromises was hacked credentials.

Security 117
article thumbnail

A founder’s advice on hiring a VP of Sales

Version One Ventures

'One of the best parts about having a strong portfolio filled with smart people is the wise advice that founders share with each other. In this case, one of V1’s portfolio companies has been looking to hire a VP of Sales and I asked Jon Zimmerman ( @jpzimmerman ), CEO of Front Desk , to share his experiences and insight on the matter. The resulting dialogue proved so thoughtful and valuable that I wanted to share parts of it with others who might be wondering if it’s time to hire a VP of Sales.

Sales 120
article thumbnail

How Effective Is Your Business Communication Skill?

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every business professional and entrepreneur believes they are good communicators, but how do they know? It’s really the perception of the recipients that counts, and poor communicators are almost always poor listeners, so they don’t hear the shortcomings. Warren Buffet once told a class of business students that better communication could boost their value by fifty percent.

article thumbnail

Why You Should Meet With Your Job References

YoungUpstarts

'by Peter K. Studner, author of “ Super Job Search IV: The Complete Manual for Job Seekers and Career Changers “ Each time you make it past the résumé-review stage and interview with a potential employer, the meeting seems to go really well. But then — crickets. If you do hear from the employer, it’s only to say that they’ve decided to go with another candidate.

article thumbnail

The Adored Entrepreneur: 9 Traits To Acknowledge

Mike Michalowicz

'We all know the type – the business owner for whom any employee would bend over backwards. The shop owner whose staff treats every single customer as if they’re the most important person in the world. There are entrepreneurs who inspire fierce loyalty and adoration, and we can learn a lot from these people. What is it that makes them so special?

article thumbnail

Bartering For The Purpose Of Growing One’s Business

YoungUpstarts

'Small business owners constantly look for new ways to grow the company, and with the tough economic conditions things can be rather complicated. And while we know it is critical to consider every option that can be available to the business owner, the challenge is this: how do we learn about the kinds of options we have? That’s where professionals come in – as you talk to them you are likely to quickly find out there may be alternatives you had no idea about (it goes without saying