Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Lately, I’ve been hearing from a lot of entrepreneurs experiencing pushback to the concept of minimum viable product. Their teams may disagree about what a product should look like, who the customer is, and which distributors to work with, but one thing they can all agree upon is: “We build high-quality products in this company. We wouldn’t even know how to go about building something ‘minimally viable.

Stealth 131

Stealth Engineer Leadership Design 131

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 14, 2015

'by Lewis Robinson. In the United States, successful entrepreneurs come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and therefore bring different skill strengths to the table when viewing the overall contribution that they make to an organization or effort. Just the same, it is possible to look at soft skills and find commonalities where executives that have the requisite tool set will typically outperform others.

Entrepreneur 212

Entrepreneur United States Venture Capital Social Media 212

The Equity Kicker

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Over the last couple of days a lot of people have been linking to Jerry Neuman’s great essay on the history of venture capital. It’s US focused, starting when the venture industry started in the 1970s and analysing all the up and down cycles of investment and returns since then. It’s a long read, but highly recommended if you are a student of the industry.

Venture Capital 109

Venture Capital Marketing Early Stage Social Network 109

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Digitalization is a process that has changed the way brands communicate with their targeted audience. The user has gained a lot of experience when it comes to their online behavior and there are many things that find themselves useless due to the fact that the brands don’t know how to communicate with their users quite well. Here are some examples on how to use the digital world to boost a startup and make it appealing to the public: Be Different.

Startup 141

Startup Viral Differentiation Campaign 141

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

Mike Michalowicz

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Whether you’re selling something that costs $1000 or $100,000, putting together a compelling proposal is time consuming and can be intimidating. Writing that proposal, though, and taking the time to do it right, may be the most productive use of your time. Don’t make the mistake of carelessly throwing a whole lot of facts and figures at a client and hoping you will magically walk away with a sale.

Differentiation 83

Differentiation Cost Sales Customer 83

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Receptionists have a very important role to play in the running of a business. They answer and transfer calls to various departments and are responsible for a number of important tasks, such as taking messages. No matter how much an in-house receptionist might be important, the high costs involved make it difficult for some companies to hire them. This does not mean you can do without a receptionist; you just need to opt for a more economical alternative, and the best solution comes in form of

Hiring 145

Hiring Employee Demand Cost 145

Up and Running

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Who doesn’t want this guy for a lunch date? At a cat cafe, you can dine surrounded by felines. Where can Syrian entrepreneurs find startup funding? What U.S. industry is becoming more pet-friendly? Here are interesting news stories about innovative small businesses, surprising PR choices, and a business competition opportunity in the Middle East.

Syria 76

Syria Kenya Cofounder New York City 76

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 14, 2015

'When perusing our galleries here on crowdSPRING, we see some amazing work submitted in the projects. Today, we noticed this gem submitted in this logo project. Let us start the slow clap for niteshthapa. Check out more great work on niteshthapa’s profile page. Nicely done, niteshthapa, nicely done! Related posts: Fresh from the SPRING: ?ravitejabhukya.

Design 66

Design Community Marketing 66

Up and Running

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Palo Alto Software HQ in Eugene, Oregon. Hi. I’m Noah and I’m COO here at Palo Alto Software. In case you didn’t know, Palo Alto Software is the great company behind Bplans. Our goal has always been to help entrepreneurs succeed in business. In addition to making business planning software , we also try and help by providing all of the articles and advice that you find here on Bplans.

Oregon 74

Oregon Software Business Plan Community 74

SiliconHills

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Austin-based Dropoff is now available in Houston. The startup provides same-day delivery for a variety of businesses. It originally launched in Austin last November. Houston businesses will be able to use Dropoff’s online platform to easily order same-day deliveries and to track them. Dropoff provides “accurate ETAs for pickups and deliveries, email confirmations and driver […] The post Dropoff Expands to Houston appeared first on SiliconHills.

Houston 70

Houston Austin Email Startup 70

Growthink Blog

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Last week, I wrote about how some very positive economic factors - ranging from low oil prices to low interest rates to US technological leadership to just good old-fashioned confidence are coalescing to set up 2015 as one of the best years ever for US business. Now, positive “macro” conditions are nice, but all they really do is create the opportunity - but by no means the promise - for entrepreneurs and executives to prosper and profit.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Global Finance Leadership 60

SiliconHills

JANUARY 14, 2015

'LawnStarter announced Wednesday that it has landed $1 million in seed round financing. The Austin-based online lawn care company raised the money to expand into new markets. The funds came from several angel investors including Rob Taylor, Cotter Cunningham, Pat Matthews as well as venture fund Vayner RSE, headed up by Gary Vaynerchuk. LawnStarter, founded […] The post LawnStarter Raises $1 Million in Seed Financing appeared first on SiliconHills.

Finance 66

Finance Angel Investor Austin Marketing 66

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Successful startups seem to follow similar paths to greatness, and unfortunately all too often that path leads them back down the hill much faster than they went up. Big company powerhouses, like IBM and Xerox, took fifty years to make the cycle, but new companies today, in the age of the Internet, often make the cycle in five to ten years, or even less.

Matching 204

Matching Marketing Dilution Startup 204

SiliconHills

JANUARY 14, 2015

'Buzz Points named Dwayne Spradlin, a technology industry veteran, as its new Chief Executive Officer. The Austin-based company, which creates loyalty programs for banks and local businesses, appointed Spradlin to replace Jay Valanju, the company’s founder. Valanju will become senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships.

Hiring 52

Hiring Austin Programming Naming 52