Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 20, 2013

'In my first enterprise software company we developed a methodology for sales that we called PUCCKA , which I wrote about previously. Having a good sales methodology can help you ensure your company runs more disciplined campaigns and focuses scarce resources on your best opportunities. The first post covered the topic of “P” or pain. Simply, this is identifying a customer need which has economic value to them if they can solve it.

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Campaign Sales Software Customer 336

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2013

'When entrepreneurs come to me with that “million dollar idea,” I have to tell them that an idea alone is really worth nothing. It’s all about the execution, and investors invest in the people who can execute, or even better, have a history of successful execution. Execution is making things happen, and for startups it usually means making change happen, which is even more difficult.

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Startup Founder Entrepreneur Revenue 245

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2013

'by Bill McBean, author of “ The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows that You Don’t “ Doomed from the start. If you’re an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur-hopeful, it’s probably difficult to keep those four words from causing you to second guess your every move as you plan and run your business. They become especially hard to ignore when you consider the fact that less than 30 percent of businesses last more than 10 years, and most failures happen within

Leadership 203

Leadership .Net Bankruptcy Operations 203

Rembrandt Communications

JUNE 20, 2013

'Hint – It’s not just about adding search engine optimization keywords to your Website SEO, or search engine optimization, is a big mystery to many people. While many of us in the media and communications business have no trouble understanding it, it can be misunderstood by entrepreneurs and business people worldwide. If you fall into [.].

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SEO Public Relations Engineer Web 157

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

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2013

'by Morgan Sims. There are many different challenges that face a person or group of people when diving into the world of entrepreneurialism. This could either be getting the loans or the money to get this project off the ground or even ironing out the final business plan. Too Big Too Fast? Readers of this sentence maybe thinking that getting big fast is a great thing.

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Startup Florida Austin Texas 170

Life Beyond Code

JUNE 20, 2013

'In the world of social media, a network can mean a lot of things. Unfortunately, your network is not equivalent to the sum of all the friends, follower and connections across your social networks. That would be a fantasy. If we have to over-simplify, your network comprises of people who will care enough to take some positive action for the things that matter most to you AND to some degree you would do the same to them.

Networking 150

Networking Social Network Social Media Operations 150

Mike Michalowicz

JUNE 20, 2013

'What if BMW radically changed their pricing model ? Imagine if BMW dropped the price of the car. Significantly. Same car, same service, same experience, just one difference: They price the BMW to compete with Kia. What do you think would happen? Mercedes’ sales would take off. With the BMW price drop, there would be a run on the car. Everyone and there mother would get one.

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Sales Marketing 128

The Next Web

JUNE 20, 2013

'When cloud services company Cornerstone OnDemand got its start in Los Angeles in 1999, the odds were against it. Three months after getting up and running, the tech bubble burst and all the money dried up. Improbably, founder and CEO Adam Miller and his partners soldiered on to eventually build a $2 billion+ cloud company. The firm, which offers cloud-based employee management and training software, boasts 11 million users in 189 countries.

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Cloud Southern California Los Angeles New York City 118

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 20, 2013

'Yesterday, it was announced that Makerbot was acquired in a deal that could be worth up to $600 million. While any exit in NYC is great, what makes this particularly special to those of us on this side of the river is that it was the first tech startup in Brooklyn to sell that was a) native, b) bought for what it did, and perhaps, more importantly, c) had a model whose idea was native to the ideals we promote in this community, namely creativity.

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Venture Capital Community Restful Founder 109

The Next Web

JUNE 20, 2013

'Got a question for Chris? Use the chat feature below to get it answered live. Christopher Kelly, 30, is a successful serial entrepreneur who co-founded Convene to capitalize on converging trends in real estate and workplace collaboration. The company has experienced triple digit year-over-year growth by repurposing underutilized commercial office space and defunct retail into full-service conference centers for off-site corporate meetings.

Video 114

Video United States Founder Global 114

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 20, 2013

'Ok, still thinking about the Makerbot news. I have to admit, part of my reaction to the Makerbot news was "Already. jeez? It didn''t even have much time.". That''s because our recent experience with exits is that they suck--or the company sells right at its peak meaningfulness. Most of the startup exits that we''ve seen lately are of companies that are one acquiring company management pivot away from disappearing off the face of the earth.

Venture Capital 101

Venture Capital Acquisition Valuation Community 101

Up and Running

JUNE 20, 2013

'Bogged down in accounting standards? The American Institute of CPAs recently released a new, simplified framework for small business accounting to make your life a little easier. The guidelines are meant to differentiate small business accounting standards from those of big, publicly-traded companies that are legally required to adhere to the more complicated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

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SBA Cofounder Differentiation Framework 70

SiliconHills

JUNE 20, 2013

'By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News Gamefication builds a framework into an experience that taps into humans’ need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness or relevance. It uses people’s craving for the brain chemical dopamine—connected with reward–to hook them. And it can be used for good or evil. Robin Kriegelstein, senior architect with Badgeville, [.

Framework 74

Framework Austin 74

Up and Running

JUNE 20, 2013

'Before you read any further, I want you to know that I’ve personally used Gust to raise money for my first tech startup. I know a lot of other entrepreneurs who use or have used Gust to seek funds, but their profiles don’t always get attention from investors. Below are my recommendations for how to help your company profile stand out on Gust, so you can successfully grab attention and raise capital.

Angel Investor 68

Angel Investor Angel Groups Video Business Plan 68

Berkonomics

JUNE 20, 2013

'Much of work place safety is common sense. But there is a natural tension between economy of operation and provision for safety for employees, and the resulting risk to the enterprise must be carefully weighed. Good boards of directors have a committee of the board to deal with “audit” issues, which should include analysis and recommendations to management about workplace safety as a part of a broader issue of risk management.

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Employee Management Operations Email 71

OnlyOnce

JUNE 20, 2013

'Book Short: Deep Dive on Customer Development. I continue to be on a tear reading books about startups as I finish and get ready for the publication of Startup CEO ( now available for pre-ordering at Amazon ). This week’s selection was The Startup Owners Manual: A Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company , by Steve Blank and Bon Dorf.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Lean 61

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 20, 2013

'Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Joe Shervell – Enjoy! photo credit: alexkess via photopin cc. Social media allows businesses to take their products and services to the next level by actively harnessing the power of the crowd. More typically this involved turning users into unknowing promoters, but it can also be an excellent way to target strategic business partners.

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Social Media Community Media Campaign 68

Early Growth Financial Services

JUNE 20, 2013

'If you’re an early-stage startup who has already closed a seed round of funding, you have probably already recognized the need for financial support. When you’re in high-growth mode and have raised somewhere in the ballpark of $400K to $1.5M, you need more than just day-to-day support with financial transactions; you need the kind of strategic financial support that a CFO provides.

Early Stage 54

Early Stage Startup Finance Hiring 54

Business Plan Blog

JUNE 20, 2013

'When writing a business plan, many entrepreneurs get confused about value propositions and positioning statements. In this blog post, we will tell you just how to write a value proposition. Please refer to the following links for instructions on how to write a positioning statement and the difference between a value proposition and positioning statement.

Differentiation 45

Differentiation Business Plan Naming Sales 45

aweissman.com

JUNE 20, 2013

'And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They''re quite aware of what they''re goin'' through The acquisition of Tumblr by Yahoo! is now complete , which has set off another round of analysis about the past , the future , praising and questioning the move by both sides, investor returns, and other sundry items.

New York 36

New York Internet Acquisition Distribution 36

Jeff Hilimire

JUNE 20, 2013

'Man I love Breaking Bad. It’s up there close to The Wire as one of the best shows of all time, IMHO.

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Early Growth Financial Services

JUNE 20, 2013

'If you’re an early-stage startup who has already closed a seed round of funding, you have probably already recognized the need for financial support. When you’re in high-growth mode and have raised somewhere in the ballpark of $400K to $1.5M, you need more than just day-to-day support with financial transactions; you need the kind of strategic financial support that a CFO provides.

Early Stage 28

Early Stage Startup Finance Hiring 28

Growthink Blog

JUNE 20, 2013

'Lead generation is critical for all entrepreneurs. And once you master it, your business will thrive. To help you with lead generation, below I have answered the most common questions entrepreneurs. However, let me start with some definitions. Your "leads" are simply your pool of prospective buyers who might be interested in your product or service.

Lead Generation 98

Lead Generation Social Network Social Media Audience 98

Software By Rob

JUNE 20, 2013

'This article is a guest post from Bronson Taylor. Bronson is a co-founder and host of Growth Hacker TV , the only educational platform focused exclusively on helping startups acquire, retain, and monetize users. They have over 60 episodes, with guests from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, DropBox, and many more. Founders sometimes assume that they need an influx of cash to truly grow a product.

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Bootstrapping Distribution Conversion Ratio 40