Tue.Jan 20, 2015

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ReturnShip Program

OnlyOnce

'ReturnShip Program. Today is a very exciting day for Return Path as we launch a new program we have been cooking for more than a year called the ReturnShip program. (Sometimes the name of our company comes in handy.). Return Path has always had a significant commitment to building a strong and diverse organization as well as supporting and encouraging women to pursue careers in technical environments.

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Not Every Startup Is “Killing It” (How to Speak Up During Tough Times)

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. But the reality of tech entrepreneurship is that not everyone is “killing it,” and certainly not all of the time.

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[Infographic] What Engagement Drivers Motivate Employees?

YoungUpstarts

'Bosses and managers, repeat after me – employee engagement can impact a company’s bottom line. That is, effective and employee engagement can lead to a healthier bottom line – but employee engagement does not automatically mean employee happiness or satisfaction, as Douglas Brown, president of Canadian human resources consultancy Engaged2Perform found out.

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The Illusion of Product/Market Fit for SaaS Companies

Feld Thoughts

'“We have product/market fit.” “We are searching for product/market fit.” “We are raising this financing to find product/market fit.” “Our customer traction demonstrates product/market fit.” Product/market fit. It’s a wonderful phrase, thanks to Marc Andreessen, Sean Ellis, Steve Blank, and Eric Ries.

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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

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Afraid To Admit That You Don’t Understand Social Media?

YoungUpstarts

'By Marsha Friedman, CEO of EMSI Public Relations and author of “ Celebritize Yourself ”. I talk to a lot of business owners and authors who don’t “get” social media. A year or two ago when I’d speak with them, most were quick to say they didn’t understand it and didn’t need to. Today what I hear is: “I know I’m supposed to be doing that, so I have a Facebook account.

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Presentation on the future of funding

The Equity Kicker

'I was scheduled to give the embedded presentation in one minutes time to the London School of Economics SU Alternative Invesments Conference but they are running late, which gives me a chance to put it online. You saw it here first. This will be the second time in a week that I’ve presented to an audience of students. It’s good to see such a high level of interest in startups and venture.

More Trending

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The 10x Angel. The 0x Angel.

Hunter Walker

'10x, as in “10x Engineer,” is a well-trod expression used to suggest there are classes of people who are so much better than average that the results you get from them are an order of magnitude higher. There’s appropriate debate around whether the concept is true enough to turn into a hiring principle and if the concept celebrates the individual at the expense of the team.

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Smart Data, Diversity and our Decentralized Future

thebarefootvc

'As a keen traveler, observer of the world and a technophile, I’ve been struck by the parallels in the development of technology with the broader the evolution of humanity. At FuturePerfect Ventures, we’re investing in decentralization as a theme – including new infrastructure models that are emerging (such as the blockchain and wireless mesh networks) as well as smart data applications that can utilize this new infrastructure.

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Are THESE Employees Draining Your Profit? By Sabrina Schleicher, PhD, PCC, BCC

Mike Michalowicz

'There is a hidden profit leak in many small businesses. Payroll is typically one of the largest expenses in a small business. It’s also the source of a significant hidden cost—employee disengagement. During a Pumpkin Plan Kickstart Mike and I conducted, I walked our participants through calculating the cost of employee disengagement in their small businesses.

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The Power of Customer Misbehavior

SVPG

'There are of course many ways to come up with significant new product ideas. Historically, the two main approaches have been: 1) to try to assess the market opportunities and pick potentially lucrative areas where significant pain exists; and 2) to look at what the technology or data enables – what’s just now possible – and match that up with the significant pain.

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Doing Financial Projections Right (A Five Step Process)

Growthink Blog

'Especially this time of year - when so many of us are assembling and committing to our professional resolutions and goals, questions arise as how to best develop financial (growth, revenues, and profits) projections for our businesses. Questions including: Should projections be “realistic” – i.e. feel “doable” and in line with past results or… …should they be “aspirational,” not hot air by any means but also representative of goals that make us feel more than a little anxious as to our ability

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New Homebrew Investment Pillow Lets Short-Term Rental Hosts & Guests Sleep Easy

Hunter Walker

'Today, Pillow announced their seed financing which we led in 2014 along with a great syndicate including our friends at Sherpa Ventures and Homebrew advisor Lee Linden. Pillow works to solve some pain points for the short-term property rental market, namely how to make it easier for home owners to earn predictable income from their property and know the operational components of hosting (cleaning, supplies, etc) will be taken care of professionally.

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FounderLine interview with Joe Beninato

K9 Ventures

'Last fall, Joe Beninato interviewed K9 Ventures founder and Chief Firestarter, Manu Kumar , on his weekly webcast FounderLine. Manu talks about the history of K9 Ventures including the origin of the firm’s name. Joe and Manu also talk about K9 Ventures’ investment focus (hint: new technology/new market), investment stage (hint: frighteningly early), teams (hint: need a builder and a CEO), direct revenue (hint: customers pay you), location (hint: 30-miles around the Stanford Oval

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Entrepreneur Aids Inmate Reform

The Entrepreneurial Mind

'The Entrepreneurial Mind : Turner Nashe- Innertainment Delivery Systems. Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Tumblr Stumble Digg Delicious The post Entrepreneur Aids Inmate Reform appeared first on Dr Jeff Cornwall.

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Making Sense of Seed Investment Data

Rob Go

'There were a number of interesting articles published over the last week in response to Mattermark and CB Insight’s data around early stage financing activity. In particular, a number of people commented on what looks like a dramatic rise and fall in seed deal volume over the past four years coupled with an increase in seed investment dollars. As a team, we’ve been thinking about what has been going on in the seed market in recent years.

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Manu talks with Joe Beninato of FounderLine

K9 Ventures

'Manu gives the history of K9 Ventures, his perspectives on investing, startup teams, new technology and answers questions from entrepreneurs! The post Manu talks with Joe Beninato of FounderLine appeared first on K9 Ventures.

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Walker Twitter Highlights: December 22nd – January 19th

Scott Edward Walker

'I’m using Twitter as a form of micro-blogging to share interesting articles, posts and podcasts relating to entrepreneurship and startups, M&A and legal issues. Below are my five most popular tweets for the past four weeks and a couple of popular blog-related tweets. Cheers, Scott. Top 5 Tweets. “If you’re not willing to eat rice and beans…don’t bother… You have to have that mentality.” - @B_Frei [link].

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Smart Data, Diversity and our Decentralized Future

thebarefootvc

As an avid traveler, observer of the world and a technophile, I’ve been struck by the parallels in the development of technology with the broader evolution of societal structures. These observations have led me to the investment thesis at the core of FuturePerfect Ventures. We’re investing in decentralization as a theme – including new infrastructure models that are emerging (such as the blockchain and wireless mesh networks) as well as smart data applications that can utilize this new infrastru

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83(b) Elections: A Tool For Managing Startup Taxes

Early Growth Financial Services

'This guest post was contributed by Daniel Peters and Stefan Smith, Partners at Locke Lord LLP. Entrepreneurs founding startup companies are often unaware of a potentially significant tax liability that can rear its ugly head with respect to stock issued to founders and employees. Emerging business founders often acquire their stock through a restricted stock purchase arrangement providing for time-based vesting.

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12 Business Books I Can’t Wait to Read This Year

Up and Running

'Are you a voracious reader? I have to admit that I’m not. I’m what you call a voracious book starter. A lot of topics interest me, but there a only a few books each year that keep my attention long enough for me to finish them. I’ve looked at some of the business books coming out over the next few months, and highlighted twelve that sound incredibly interesting and informative.

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