Thu.Mar 26, 2015

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Crowdsourcing Your Next Design Project From Designhill

YoungUpstarts

'Over the last few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of small businesses and startups around the world, with each one being driven by entrepreneurs filled with unfaltering ambition, energy and desire. However, not every is lucky enough to early stage or seed funding, which makes most startups and small businesses obsessed with the words like low-cost and cost-effective.

Design 193
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What Type of Business Plan Do I Need?

Up and Running

'Unsure what kind of business plan you need? Read on. We get this question a lot, mainly because there are so many different things labelled as business plans: strategic plans, annual plans, operational plans, feasibility plans, and, of course, what most people think of, business plans for startups seeking investment. And also, what real business owners want—lean business plans for better management.

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Can Pre-Seed Capital Hurt an Entrepreneur’s Chances to Raise Seed from VCs?

View from Seed

'In the last year or so, the debate over the definitions of seed versus pre-seed capital (sometimes called genesis rounds) has exploded. Much digital ink has been spilled about what dollar amount constitutes a pre-seed and how that might affect a startup’s ability to go raise a “normal” seed round from institutional investors. (Among those trying to inform the industry and offer perspective was my partner Rob Go.).

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VoIP – Why Is It So Lucrative For Small And Medium Businesses?

YoungUpstarts

'There seems to be a lot of hype surrounding VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and unified communications. VoIP service providers call it the best thing to happen to small businesses but seriously, how advantageous is it to SMBs (small and medium businesses)? A recent report by the company Software Advice, where more than 350 mid-level businesses were surveyed (the respondents made less than $180 million or £120 a year), revealed reasons why mid-cards feel integration of VoIP to be daunting.

Bandwidth 168
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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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8 things to consider when determining your startup valuation

The Next Web

'Setting a valuation for an early-stage startup looking to raise money is tough. There’s no one right answer or formula to rely on, yet plenty of advice — some of which can lead you in the wrong direction. For starters, do you know where you stand in relation to other companies? In regards to your market? Should you rethink your magic number if you still have no revenue?

Valuation 129
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It May Be An Open Book, But The EU Ain’t On The Best-Seller List

YoungUpstarts

'If time is money – and in the world of business, it surely is – then honing the bottom line whilst at the same time hitting the marketing message home hard and accurately is key to survival in an increasingly competitive and straitened internationalised business landscape. Or putting it rather more succinctly, reduced marketing budgets have to be worked twice as hard nowadays, with little or no room for error.

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Switching Careers In Your Twenties

YoungUpstarts

'‘Quarter life crises’ appear to be on the rise – and it appears that’s partly down to many in their twenties leaving university and becoming disillusioned with their job as they experience it in the flesh. Some don’t even have the opportunity to follow the career path they had trained and envisioned success in – leading to them rethinking what they actually want to do for a living.

Developer 135
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Bob Metcalfe Wants to Create a Better Silicon Valley in Austin

SiliconHills

'By Laura Lorek Reporter with Silicon Hills News At 24 Diner in downtown Austin, Bob Metcalfe orders a large bowl of fruit with extra strawberries and coffee for breakfast. Metcalfe, 68, is training to walk his first marathon. And it’s not an ordinary marathon either. He’s doing the Boston Marathon in April. His wife, Robyn, […] The post Bob Metcalfe Wants to Create a Better Silicon Valley in Austin appeared first on SiliconHills.

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Renovating To Enhance Your Business

YoungUpstarts

'If you are a startup looking to add value to your business you should consider taking out a renovations loan. There are a number of reasons why this is a great option for your startup. Every business has a lot of overheads and especially in the early years. There are things like buying the office space, maybe a warehouse depending on your business, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Startup 131
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New Study Reveals Business Owners Investing in Technology in 2015

Up and Running

'“Where Main Street Meets Technology” – a study. In January 2015, Palo Alto Software surveyed approximately 500 small business owners and entrepreneurs from across 18 different industries. The “Where Main Street Meets Technology” study found that 81% of small businesses plan to invest in technology this year and that 48% of those surveyed said that they expected to invest over $5,000 throughout the year.

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Not all businesses can be a habit

The Equity Kicker

'Nir Eyal’s book Hooked has become the go-to manual for anyone wanting to build a habit forming business, and who wouldn’t want to build one of those? Businesses that are part of our regular routines profit hugely from regular custom without marketing spend, and many of today’s biggest businesses have habits at their core. Want to know something? You probably reach for Google.

China 91
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The Journey Of Entrepreneurial Success

Mike Michalowicz

'First, be “crazy” enough to pursue your passion. Second, find purpose in what you do since it will see you through the tough times and give you more momentum during the strong times. Third, keep asking your best customers how you can serve them better. Then do it. Fourth, align what your best customers want with what you want. If you just cater to your customer’s wants, your business will succeed but you will resent it.

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Option Value and False Hopes

A Crowded Space

'Ever had this response to a pitch meeting? “Really exciting stuff, would love to work with you, please come back and see me when you’re formally fundraising.” As many of you probably know by now, a VC gives that response to founders all the time. It’s extremely common. It’s really the only answer that makes sense for a VC to give to a founder.

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A tale of two CEOs and the management of pain

Berkonomics

'This is the tale of two CEOs, one of them unfortunately….me. It’s a story of how people handle unusual situations when selling to the top – an executive of a prospective customer. And the stories couldn’t be more different. Recently a CEO friend told me her story of a dinner with her director of business development and an executive of a major company, a candidate for a large sale.

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How Working Collectively Can Create a Better Customer Experience

Duct Tape Marketing

'How Working Collectively Can Create a Better Customer Experience written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. Today’s Guest Post is by Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, Jamie Patterson-Kaulmann – Enjoy! . via PhotoPin. The concept of the Marketing Hourglass is ubiquitous in the marketing world.

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Legal Cannabis: Poised for Growth, But Banking And Tax Hurdles Remain Chokepoints

Early Growth Financial Services

'The widening market for legal marijuana has created significant business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Estimates put the existing legal cannabis market at around $2.5-$2.7 billion at the end of 2014, while growth projections for the medium-term are bullish. Not only has legalization of medical marijuana reached a tipping point at the state-level, the beginnings of a legal recreational market are also emerging.

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The Search for Product-Market Fit

Seeing Both Sides

' I participated on a panel at the First Growth Venture Network yesterday on product-market fit and customer acquisition. Lowenstein''s Ed Zimmerman , our host, asked me to cram a semester''s worth of content (related to my HBS class ) in 10 minutes and below are the slides I pulled together: .

Search 40
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Startup Fundraising: Friends, Family, And Accredited Investors

Early Growth Financial Services

'When it comes to startups’ earliest funding sources, beyond founders’ personal liquidity (or debt capacity) friends and family are usually the first places founders turn to for help getting their startups going. But there are significant risks to tapping those close to you for funds. And I’m not just talking about the obvious possibility of emotions becoming wrapped up in funding decisions or the potential negative impacts to your personal relationships.

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The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping

Software By Rob

'Between this blog, my podcast , MicroConf and the Micropreneur Academy , I’ve had the privilege of watching hundreds of entrepreneurs launch products over the past decade (even into the thousands, depending on how you count). After a while, I started to notice a pattern emerging among the pool of bootstrappers who were able to successfully replace their income, buy back their time, and quit their jobs.

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The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping

Software By Rob

Between this blog, my podcast , MicroConf and the Micropreneur Academy , I’ve had the privilege of watching hundreds of entrepreneurs launch products over the past decade (even into the thousands, depending on how you count). After a while, I started to notice a pattern emerging among the pool of bootstrappers who were able to successfully replace their income, buy back their time, and quit their jobs.

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The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping

Software By Rob

Between this blog, my podcast , MicroConf and the TinySeed , I’ve had the privilege of watching hundreds of entrepreneurs launch products over the past decade (even into the thousands, depending on how you count). After a while, I started to notice a pattern emerging among the pool of bootstrappers who were able to successfully replace their income, buy back their time, and quit their jobs.