Mon.Jun 23, 2014

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Eight Ways To Get Past The Fear Of “No”  And Start Risking Rejection

YoungUpstarts

'by Tom Panaggio, author of “ The Risk Advantage: Embracing the Entrepreneur’s Unexpected Edge “. At 65, Colonel Harland Sanders set out in his car to promote his fried chicken recipe and to sell franchises. Col. Sanders had to endure more than a thousand rejections and travel thousands of miles, before he finally sold his first franchise. That franchise, of course, became Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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How True Entrepreneurs Make Themselves Accountable

Startup Professionals Musings

'Everyone seems to like the aspect of being an entrepreneur that goes with “being your own boss” and “able to do things my way.” But sometimes they forget that this kind of freedom comes with a price of personal accountability. Accountability means “the buck stops here,” and “all the failures are mine.” Too many people seem to do whatever it takes to avoid accountability, both before and after the fact.

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Keep Calm and Test the Hypothesis. 2 Minutes to See Why

Steve Blank

'Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Teaching.

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How To Build Startup Credibility Before Your Brand

Gust

'Blog image via Pixabay.com. With the estimated 510 million live websites at last year-end, and 280,000 new ones being added every day, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your brand value, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money.

Startup 174
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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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16 surprising things you learn about yourself when starting a business

The Next Web

'Danny Wong does marketing at Shareaholic, is the co-founder of Blank Label and likes to write every once in a while. Feel free to find him lurking on Google+ or Twitter. Starting a business is one of the most challenging, yet most fulfilling things you could ever do. In the process of starting up and growing a company you learn a wide variety of new things, including – but not limited to: Incorporating your business Setting up business banking Streamlining payroll Hiring (and firing) Driving sa

Cofounder 164
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How to Write a Market Analysis

Up and Running

'Once you start selling, will people start buying? Analyze your market to find out. The market analysis is one of the most important parts of any startup strategy. Do it right, and you will have a clear idea of the path down which you are headed. A good market analysis will enable you to lure investors, sidestep pitfalls, and most importantly, attract customers.

Marketing 147

More Trending

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Will A Different Approach to Search Work?

Feld Thoughts

'Google dominates search. Sure, there’s a thing called Bing and a few other choices out there, but everything ends up being the blue and purple link thing curated mostly by machines. In an effort to experiment with a different approach, we recently led an AngelList syndicated investment in one potential search challenger, a Kansas City based startup called Leap.it who is taking a different approach based on the belief that machine-based algorithms can only get you so far.

Search 141
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The Strong Rejection

This is going to be BIG.

'When I turn down the opportunity to invest in a startup, I really turn it down. I try and say exactly what I don''t believe will happen, or why I don''t believe in what you''re doing. In essence, I''m setting myself up to either be spectacularly wrong or to be right. The last thing I want is to not have a view on the space. My job is to have views--because not making a bet is making a bet.

Syndicate 124
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I’m Almost 29, Is It Too Late to Start a Business?

Up and Running

'This week’s Startup Monday question comes to us from a Quora user. If you’d like to contribute to the discussion or ask a question of your own, go ahead and leave a comment at the very bottom of the page. We will do our best to get to everyone! I’m almost 29, is it too late to start a business or to build a startup? It’s Monday again and you’re back at your desk at work, wondering why you still haven’t started your own business; why you’re still having to compile reports of things you have no i

Kentucky 126
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How Much Do IT Folks Work? Take A Survey And Potentially Win A Fitbit

Feld Thoughts

'Our portfolio company JumpCloud is running a survey to dig deeper into the professional lives of IT folks and their move to DevOps. If you are open to sharing your thoughts and experiences, please take their survey. It’s only about five minutes long and they are sharing all of the raw data (anonymized, of course). The survey ends at the end of June.

Cloud 100
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Thinking of UX work as a search for new experiences

The Equity Kicker

'At the end of yesterday’s post on Android and Amazon Forks Benedict Evans wrote: Amazon has never been a user experience company in that sense – it thinks about user experience the way Fedex does, as something to focus on ruthlessly, but not as a playground for new experiences. I’ve been long on Amazon for ages now (and hold some stock), but this got me thinking.

Search 102
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The Secret To Highly Effective Public Speaking

Mike Michalowicz

'One of the biggest fears that many people have in life is that of public speaking. Problem is, shying away from public speaking could be seriously holding you back from reaching your full potential. The greatest leaders in the world are usually masters when it comes to public speaking. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and when it comes to being a leader, you need to be heard!

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Michael Carruth: How A Return To A Childhood Passion For BMX Bikes Became An $80,000 A Year Online Community Business

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

'Mike Carruth was a school dropout at 14 years old. Rather than being a lost kid, he knew exactly what he wanted to do – become a journalist and photographer for the BMX bike scene – which he did. [ Download MP3 | Transcript | iTunes | Soundcloud | Raw RSS ]. As the computer era dawned, Mike became proficient … Read the rest of this entry » The post Michael Carruth: How A Return To A Childhood Passion For BMX Bikes Became An $80,000 A Year Online Commun

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How Much Do IT Folks Work? Take A Survey And Potentially Win A Fitbit

Feld Thoughts

'Our portfolio company JumpCloud is running a survey to dig deeper into the professional lives of IT folks and their move to DevOps. If you are open to sharing your thoughts and experiences, please take their survey. It’s only about five minutes long and they are sharing all of the raw data (anonymized, of course). The survey ends at the end of June.

Cloud 73
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Brewbot, Vaporshot and Other Tech Gadgets at Engadget Austin Live

SiliconHills

'A big crowd turned out for Engadget Live Austin held last Friday to showcase some of the city’s latest tech products. A customized beer brewing station controlled with a smartphone, a vaporized alcohol machine and a virtual reality Oculus Rift headset were a few of the devices on display at the Austin Music Hall. Engadget, […] The post Brewbot, Vaporshot and Other Tech Gadgets at Engadget Austin Live appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 81
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Will A Different Approach to Search Work?

Feld Thoughts

'Google dominates search. Sure, there’s a thing called Bing and a few other choices out there, but everything ends up being the blue and purple link thing curated mostly by machines. In an effort to experiment with a different approach, we recently led an AngelList syndicated investment in one potential search challenger, a Kansas City based startup called Leap.it who is taking a different approach based on the belief that machine-based algorithms can only get you so far.

Search 73
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The Term Sheet Mating Dance

Mucker Lab

'There is no word more sacred and yet over-used than “term sheet” in the entrepreneurial circle. The pursuit of the mythical VC term sheet has blinded entrepreneurs from the real goal of building a business: revenue, customers, users, engagement and retention. Securing a term sheet is about more than money — more than survival. It’s validation. It’s the exact moment when the entrepreneur, the beggar, turns into the auctioneer of precious equity.

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How to Systematically Build Personal Brand Authority

Duct Tape Marketing

'How to Systematically Build Personal Brand Authority written by John Jantsch read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. Today, authority is it. If you’re an entrepreneur, coach, consultant, professional service provider or salesperson, your perceived authority is what allows you to up your game significantly. Now, don’t take the word authority to mean fame or notoriety – it’s really more about possessing person power – the kind that can at

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How Much Should You Listen To Your Investors?

Rob Go

'Investors love to give advice. Even more so if they are board members or major investors. It’s part of our “value add” Some investors have a, shall we say, over-estimation of how much they know. It’s easy to make suggestions from the cheap seats, and even great investors or operators are often wrong. At the same time, the very reason that you allowed certain people to invest in your company is because you valued their perspective and opinions.

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Like Selling Ice to Eskimos?

The Entrepreneurial Mind

'ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILE : John Burke: Louisiana Caviar Company. The Louisiana Caviar Company , founded by John Burke, sells its product to customers in an unlikely foreign market: Russia. Louisiana Caviar Company harvest its caviar from bowfin fish in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Swamp, which is the largest wetland in the U.S. The company sells caviar with a Cajun twist, flavoring the delicacy with various Cajun spices.

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Five Important Business Lessons On Minimizing Risk

YoungUpstarts

'There are numerous risks involved with starting a new business. Many of these risks have been experienced enough times that serial entrepreneurs can learn from the mistakes. The following will provide five business lessons in the hope of minimizing risks you’re likely to find during launch: Risk #1: A Lack of Understanding for the Marketplace. A great product will have no value to a marketplace that is resistant.

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I’ve been having too much “screen time” at home, so I’m adding one more screen to solve the problem

Jeff Hilimire

'There’s an on-going struggle at my house to get my children to use less screen time (iPads or iPhones, TV, or video games). My wife actually does an amazing job keeping the kids our circus at bay with this and from what I can tell, their screen time is below the average. However, its still too much and I realized recently – because my wife told me – that I am a bad influence on them with the amount of time I was spending on a device.

Video 48
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Creative space and empty weeks

The Startup Toolkit

'I was always busy in London. Lots of connections and meetings and introductions and so on. And after 4 years, I hadn’t made any progress on my top creative priority (a book, in my case). Some people would say that means I didn’t care enough about it. Or else I would have made time. But I’m not sure making a few hours here and there can help. I think you need all your time.

Restful 29
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Random: Yo, Slingshot, Product Hunt, Yelp Competition, Taptalk

Hunter Walker

'I don’t feel strongly enough yet to turn any of these thoughts into standalone blog posts so instead: Yo (single note notifications). Last week has been less like Yo and more like Whoa as lots of folks had pretty passionate debates about whether this was a new social platform or the dumbest investment ever. First, single purpose websites have been around for a long time but now we’re seeing single purpose apps.

Product 93
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Six Tips On Making Your Fight Against The Clock A Little Easier

YoungUpstarts

'by Andy Core, author of “ Change Your Day, Not Your Life: A Realistic Guide to Sustained Motivation, More Productivity and the Art Of Working Well “. We all know what it feels like to start the day knowing we won’t even come close to tackling all the tasks on our to-do list. Sure, you might be able to kick off the morning on the right foot by checking off a task or two.

Email 169