YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'by Aneace Haddad, CEO & Founder, Taggo. Loyalty programs have not changed much since the first airline loyalty cards took off more than 30 years ago. Sure, lots of features were added over the years. Co-branded cards were invented, combining a Visa, MasterCard or American Express payment brand along with a retailer or airline brand. CRM became more sophisticated, resulting in detailed monthly statements and targeted direct marketing.

Programming 150

Programming Turkey Social Media Redemption 150

The Equity Kicker

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'As I’ve written before here at Forward Partners we work with entrepreneurs to help them launch and scale their companies in two different ways. About half our investments are in companies at true startup stage – i.e. founder + idea, nothing built – and half are in slightly more mature companies, up to late seed stage when there are maybe 5-10 people in the company.

Partner 117

Partner Software Review eCommerce Due Diligence 117

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'It’s been over a decade since Westin left Singapore’s shores; the hotel chain sold off its two properties – The Westin Stamford and The Westin Plaza – to Swissôtel and Raffles Hotel in 2002, after the brand’s own acquisition by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in 1998. But its aggressive expansion in Asia Pacific – over 40 properties in recent years, with another 20 in the pipeline – meant that a return to Singapore, and one of the world’s

Singapore 140

Singapore Asia Technical Review Acquisition 140

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. In the short run, there are real costs associated with the “triple bottom line” of maximizing profit, people (social), and planet (environment). But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs.

Vermont 254

Vermont Maryland Startup California 254

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

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'by Sr amana Mitra, founder of One Million by One Million . Five years ago, a good friend of mine hanged herself. I had coffee with her the day before. She was married to a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur who ran a couple of major companies and had a brilliant career. She did not work. But on the surface, they had everything. I knew both of them well.

Silicon Valley 266

Silicon Valley Utah India Massachusetts 266

deal architect

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'When I read this Alicia Liu post a couple of weeks ago, I liked her assessment of vendor sponsored hackathons Corporate-sponsored hackathons are all-win for the sponsoring company. They get a big influx of fresh ideas, and developers working themselves.

Developer 207

Developer 207

deal architect

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'I am seeing clients come up to end of 3-5-7 year SaaS and outsourcing deals I and others helped them with. And I often hear things like “routine renewal” or “let’s re-bid with a slightly different group of vendors than.

Cloud 191

Cloud 191

The Next Web

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Jake Athey is the Marketing Manager for Smartimage and Widen Enterprises. Rebranding is an inward process of recreating your organization’s outward expression of identity. Whether the current brand feels stale and outdated, or just fails to reflect the growth and evolution of the organization, a rebranding requires exceptional commitment, creativity, and sometimes resources.

Affiliate 160

Affiliate Design Social Media Government 160

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Jackson Pollock is one of my favorite abstract expressionists. So, when Sphero decided to dance around in NY City and do an art project, he immediately came to mind. If you wonder how kids describe a Sphero, this short video will make you smile. And then laugh. And then smile some more. One of these kids needs to be on The Voice. Sphero says, “ buy me, buy me, buy me.” The post Jackson Pollock Would Have Loved Sphero appeared first on Feld Thoughts.

Video 118

Video 118

The Next Web

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Leads are great. But even if you’re swimming in them, that doesn’t mean you’re actively converting as many as you could be. Luckily, there are some incredibly powerful SaaS products out there that can help move the needle forward. I asked a panel of fellow founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following: Name one SaaS product your business uses to convert more leads into actual sales and why is it so effective.

Sales 136

Sales Product Aggregator Database 136

SiliconHills

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Claire England, former executive director RISE Austin, has joined Tech Ranch Austin. While England has resigned the full-time executive director role at RISE Austin, she will continue to work with the organization in an advisory role and is leading the planning of next year’s conference. In her new role at Tech Ranch Austin, England will […] The post Q &A with Claire England on Her New Role Promoting Startups at Tech Ranch Austin appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 123

Austin America Startup Global 123

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'When you''re selling something to anyone, be it a prospective investor or prospective customer, there are two main types of selling techniques to employ: emotional selling and logical selling. In emotional selling, you appeal to the buyer''s emotions. For example, if selling a sports car, emotional selling would have the prospective buyer visualize how they will feel when they press down on the accelerator and surge forward, and how the wind will feel in their hair when they put the sun roof do

Social Media 104

Social Media Web Metrics Media 104

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Money. I’ve been obsessed with it for years. Not accumulation but the construct. Any currency is a mass hallucination. A store of value which holds its place only so long as there’s collective belief in it. Studying the history of American dollar bills during my study at Vassar. Diving into the “is it art or counterfeit” debate around JSG Boggs. My early years at virtual world Second Life helping to create a virtual currency called Linden Dollars with a floating point exchange rate.

Reputation 98

Reputation Bootstrapping Global Social Network 98

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation. It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. Where did you get the data to drive your assumptions of market size or market share?

China 95

China Metrics Demand Business Plan 95

Mike Michalowicz

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'When you leave your client’s site. After you provided the phone support. Once your customer opens your email. Are they talking about how happy they are to have you as their vendor, or are they saying something else? Oscar Wilde once said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”. Which one are you?

Email 83

Email Customer 83

Up and Running

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'It takes some people years to understand the business world, but Senen Garcia got a jump-start on his fellow entrepreneurs. He had a print production business in his teenage years and ran his own promotion business in college. Senen Garcia opened a franchise that turned out to be a bad fit. While his business savvy has taken him down some profitable paths, there is one blimp on his otherwise impressive resume.

Florida 80

Florida Finance Business Plan Matching 80

Start Up Blog

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'I recently did a talk at Depo8 a Melbourne co-working space for an event which was aptly titled: Leap and the neat will appear. I thought the general theme of the talk was worth sharing as it really summarises the entrepreneurial spirit and can also assist in removing irrational fear associated with taking the leap to pursue an enterprise. The way I see it, the truth about entrepreneurship can be broken into 4 parts. 1.

South Africa 86

South Africa Africa Australia Japan 86

Up and Running

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'If you are thinking about opening a franchise, the most important advice anyone can give you is to choose the franchise that’s right for you. Finding that perfect fit doesn’t happen in a day, but when it happens for you, you’ll feel the difference. Palo Alto Software CEO Sabrina Parsons recently hosted Joel Libava, The Franchise King and a long-time franchise purchasing consultant, for an hourlong chat on how to take the first steps towards successful franchise ownership.

Video 80

Video Matching Software Hosting 80

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'3 Simple Tips to Increase Your Following on Pinterest written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Brian Jensen – Enjoy! photo credit: seo.com. In January 2012, it was announced by comScore that Pinterest was the fastest website ever to reach 10 million unique visitors.

Social Media 77

Social Media Social Network Channel HTML 77

SiliconHills

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'In another move to expand its reach into the Asia Pacific Region, HomeAway announced its acquisition of Stayz Group, the leading online vacation rental marketplace in Australia. Austin-based HomeAway paid $198 million to Fairfax Digital, owner of Stayz Group, which publishes Stay.com.au, Rentahome.com.au, TakeABreak.com.au and YesBookIt. Stayz reported revenue of $25.4 million for its fiscal […] The post HomeAway Acquires Australian-based Stayz Group appeared first on SiliconHills.

Australia 63

Australia Asia Austin Acquisition 63

Early Growth Financial Services

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'I have always been a huge fan of underdogs. Josh Shipp started his life without a safety net. Abandoned at birth by his mother, he spent most of his youth bouncing between foster homes, growing increasingly disillusioned and angry. He finally landed in a home with a family who gave him the kind of support and encouragement he needed. He then built an amazing speaking business, reaching more than 2 million teens with live presentations.

.Net 61

.Net 61

The Startup Toolkit

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'Thinking isn’t work. Nor is strategy, nor planning. They’re just the stuff that comes before work. They’re supposed to save time, not cost it. To be useful, an hour of thinking ought to save at least two. And it can! A touch of time spent on the goals of a site redesign will repay itself tenfold in coding time. The problem comes from longer chunks of thinking.

Customer Development 53

Customer Development Business Plan Developer Cost 53

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'HomeAway acquired Australian-based Stayz for $198M in cash.

Acquisition 64

Acquisition 64

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 5, 2013

'How to Increase Customer Loyalty written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Jill Spiritus – Enjoy! photo credit: SurveyAct. Customer satisfaction is the number one driving force behind developing loyal customers. Gaining loyal customers is like striking gold!

Customer 68

Customer Widget Social Media Conversion 68