Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'This post co-written by Sarah Milstein and Eric Ries, co-hosts of The Lean Startup Conference. Our goal in hosting The Lean Startup Conference —which starts in just over two weeks—is to help entrepreneurs learn absolutely useful things from each other. For our participants to stay open to the unique ideas we’re presenting and to share the advice they each have, we need an environment that’s dynamic, professional and respectful.

Software Review 167

Software Review Lean Hosting Ruby 167

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'In a seed or friends and family round, tough questions, in the eyes of many founders, signal an investor that will either a) never get to the writing a check part or b) be such a pain in the ass afterwards that it might not be worth taking their money. Especially if you already have the round circled, without anyone giving you a hard time, why bother stopping for that one investor who wants more detail on how you''re going to scale?

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Venture Capital 118

SVPG

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'Much has been written about how to do product discovery in startups, by me and many other people. There are many challenges for startups, most importantly, survival. But one of the real advantages from a product point of view is that there’s no legacy to drag along, there’s no revenue to preserve, and there’s no reputation to safeguard.

Product 67

Product NDA Continuous Deployment Reputation 67

deal architect

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'4 years ago, in The New Polymath, I quoted Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE “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.

Cloud 329

Cloud Technology 329

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

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'In working with entrepreneurs and other business people over the years, I often hear stories of entrepreneurs who were so close to success, but somehow let it slip through their fingers. They could always give a rational excuse, like the market changed, but somehow it seemed that they were actually afraid of success, so they subtly undermined their own efforts.

Founder 250

Founder Startup Entrepreneur Internet 250

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'by DJ Miller. For rising and aspiring entrepreneurs alike, the BBC’s Dragon’s Den television series offers a multitude of learning experiences. After all, the show is essentially about pitching a burgeoning business in order to secure venture capital funding. Even if a concept is a viewer favourite, it’s held under microscope by the Dragons and dissected on the spot.

Entrepreneur 162

Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Tampa Venture Capital 162

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'Nick Kishfy is the CEO of MojoTech , a design and development agency with offices in Providence, RI and New York, NY. If you’ve ever looked for a design and development agency to build your product, you know that lack of options is not a problem in this industry. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: thousands of agencies, from one-man shops to full-scale operations, want your business.

Design 126

Design Search Networking Developer 126

David Teten

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'I spoke at Womensphere a few weeks ago, a conference centered around empowering women and girls. I discussed my family’s approach to raising entrepreneurial kids, and some parallels to ffVC’s approach to supporting our portfolio entrepreneurs. One of the issues I talked about was our track record of investing in women-founded companies. I emphasize that our fiduciary duty is to look for the best entrepreneurs who will build the most meaningful companies.

Venture Capital 114

Venture Capital Portfolio Entrepreneur Operations 114

Mike Michalowicz

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'How many people does it take to tackle your toughest challenges? Surprisingly few! Five or six people is an effective brainstorm, ten is a distraction, and twenty or more is a nightmare. The next time you need a team to brainstorm a challenge, check out how many pizza’s were ordered. If you have more than a couple of boxes, you brainstorm is likely to fail.

Hiring 97

Hiring 97

The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'I’m stoked that Appear Here , brainchild of Ross Bailey and one of our portfolio companies has raised £1m in funding from a range of strong investors. Howzat Partners led the round with participation from Playfair Capital and a small number of strategic investors from the property industry. This funding is just rewards for a hard working team that deserves the success they’re getting.

Strategic Investors 94

Strategic Investors Later Stage Portfolio Early Stage 94

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Networking 138

Networking Entrepreneur 138

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'What Is the Best Way to Manage Multiple WordPress Sites? written by John Jantsch read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing Friday is “Question of the Week” day here at Duct Tape Marketing. Each Friday I’ll tackle a specific question I received via readers or in places where I’m speaking. Submit your question here and if we use it we’ll highlight you and send you a signed copy of Duct Tape Marketing.

Management 71

Management Affiliate SEO Analytics 71

Business Plan Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'How To Allocate Friends & Family Startup Capital. The most important principle of startup fundraising that every entrepreneur needs to know is: raise enough capital to achieve a set of milestones that will allow the company to attract the next round of investment. The use of your initial friends, family, and founders (FFF) capital should be directed towards achieving the milestones that will attract seed or angel investors (likewise, the use of your seed funding should be directed towards a

Intellectual Property 55

Intellectual Property Advisory Board Startup Seed Capital 55

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

'Paul Jarvis is a Web designer and author. His latest book, Everything I Know, is now available. Working for yourself is scary stuff. When you work for someone else, it’s easy to blame failings or frustrations on the boss, the company or even the customers you’re forced to deal with. But when you run the show, it’s all on you. Self-employment is the ultimate life experiment, complete with an uncountable number of variables that come with large amounts of fear and challenges.

Social Media 167

Social Media Sales Internet Web 167