Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

'Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). New crowd funding platforms on the Internet, like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as well as the Jobs Act of 2012 , are expected by many to ramp up regular people’s ability to fund new opportunities and kill the need for angel groups.

Angel Investor 278

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 278

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'by Scott Hirsch, f ounder and CEO of Appsbar. Starting a business comes with great excitement and emotion, the challenges involved in turning your idea into a viable business are many and when you overcome those challenges you feel like you’re on top of the world. Now that you have your business up and running you must sustain and grow it, but how do you do that?

Management 167

Management Software Review eCommerce Entrepreneur 167

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2014

'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!

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'There was a time when you could not even dream of applying to an outstation job. Even though you were more than qualified for the job, there was no way you could leave your existing job to travel for a job interview. Times have changed though. Now with video conferencing, you can think about applying for a job anywhere in the country or the world without even moving from your home.

Video 216

Video Software Review Employee Hosting 216

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

Agile VC

MAY 9, 2014

'One of the first things that caught my eye when I started reading the Alibaba Group S-1 was a section on page 7 of the filing regarding something called the “Alibaba Partnership” It quickly struck me that the Alibaba Group’s corporate governance in some ways mirrors China’s Politburo. Some context… like many startups, the founders of Alibaba still own substantial stakes in the company and believe it’s in the company’s best interests for them to retain

Government 153

Government Silicon Valley China Cofounder 153

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'by Eric Groves, CEO and co-founder of Alignable. Small Business Week is a great time to reflect on ways local businesses can become stronger in the year ahead. Based upon our knowledge and experience, here are five things they can do to put them on the path to greater success: Tip #1. Connect with others nearby to become stronger. Your best next customer is frequenting another local business nearby, so the best path to that customer is getting to know other local business owners.

Marketing 203

Marketing Social Media Cofounder Small Business 203

Feld Thoughts

MAY 9, 2014

'Every entrepreneur has a mom. Take a look at a few of the Techstars moms and, as a special bonus, some childhood pictures of me and my brother Daniel. My mom – Cecelia Feld – has had an enormous influence on me in so many different ways. She’s an artist, so from a very young age I was exposed to an endless stream of creative activities.

Entrepreneur 130

Entrepreneur 130

The Next Web

MAY 9, 2014

'This post originally appeared on the Buffer blog. What are we really talking about when we’re talking about conversions? Persuasion, right? Influence. When we talk about conversions, we are—most of the time—discussing ways we can be more persuasive, more influential. We’re interested in meeting the needs of customers, fans, and followers and doing so in a way that truly speaks to them.

Audience 165

Audience Social Media Conversion Media 165

The Equity Kicker

MAY 9, 2014

'Mike Maples (pictured above) is a prominent upcoming Valley VC whose instincts include Twitter and Lyft. At a Pando event last night he said: The best VCs I’ve seen in the business act as if they’re working with a strong founder. Amen to that.

Founder 118

Founder Venture Capital 118

The Next Web

MAY 9, 2014

'Alex Klein is the co-founder of YogaTrail. This post originally appeared on the YogaTrail blog. YogaTrail is a global yoga directory, created and maintained by a team that’s based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since launching the site last summer, we’ve built decent traction, generated some revenue, and are just now reaching the point of “ramen profitability.

Thailand 143

Thailand Cofounder Global Revenue 143

Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

MAY 9, 2014

'Six Reasons Why CPS Training Is Innovation Training. It’s ironic that the so-called soft skills often have the biggest payoff in business results. I’m always straddling the fence between creativity and innovation. I do this because innovation is why people pay me. Yet creativity is where it all starts. Creative training only feels like a soft skill.

Framework 118

Framework Lean Design Programming 118

Mike Michalowicz

MAY 9, 2014

'I am a big believer in “less is more.” When you have less money, you are more innovative. When you narrow your niche, you attract more targeted customers. And when you take in less information, you make better decisions. The saying, “Go with your gut” is so overused, we sometimes forget that it’s 100% true. We are genetically programmed with a lifetime of knowledge that equips us with the ability to make GOOD decisions, quickly.

Flash 96

Flash Analytics Cloud Programming 96

SiliconHills

MAY 9, 2014

'By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Can Austin produce a thunder lizard, a $100 billion tech startup? Mike Maples Jr., managing partner of Floodgate Ventures in Palo Alto, thinks so. He wants Austin to hatch what he calls a thunder lizard in the next 10 years. Bob Metcalfe, professor of innovation at the […] The post Hatching Thunder Lizards from Radioactive Eggs in Austin appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 94

Austin Partner Founder Management 94

Up and Running

MAY 9, 2014

'The best way to know what customers want is to ask them. Some of the things you hear might surprise you. The main question will be, are you willing to implement the ideas your best customers provide? Let’s explore some of the feedback you may hear: 1. Provide better product selection. You’ll need to ask if this means more variety, higher-quality merchandise, or lower-priced products.

Customer 91

Customer Oregon Operations Small Business 91

The Entrepreneurial Mind

MAY 9, 2014

'The Entrepreneurial Mind : Patrick Woodyard of Nisolo shares the history of this social enterprise. Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Tumblr Stumble Digg Delicious The post Peruvian Shoemakers Reach New Markets — Nisolo Shoes appeared first on Dr Jeff Cornwall.

Marketing 63

Marketing 63

Jeff Hilimire

MAY 9, 2014

'Every once in a while I need a reminder that too much technology can be a bad thing. For that purpose, this video is great. Plus, I’m a big fan of The Streets, mainly for this song. And I think this is the same dude.

Video 34

Video Technology 34

The Entrepreneurial Mind

MAY 9, 2014

'The Entrepreneurial Mind : A conversation with a good friend, Clint Smith. Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Tumblr Stumble Digg Delicious The post The Story of Emma appeared first on Dr Jeff Cornwall.

Conversion 56

Conversion 56

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 9, 2014

'Why Live Chat is a Powerful Sales Tool written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. It is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is from Sunir Shah – Enjoy! . As you read this article, potential customers are browsing your website, looking to buy something from you. Lost, confused, skittish, they will abandon your site before buying anything.

Sales 68

Sales Technical Support LLC Conversion 68