April, 2014

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Helping Startups Understand Salespeople & the Sales Culture

Both Sides of the Table

'Most technology startups seem to be funded by product people or business people. Specifically what is often not in the DNA of founders are sales skills. Nor do they exist in the investors of early-stage companies. The result is a lack of knowledge of the process and of sales people themselves. My first startup was no different. I had never had any sales training so everything we did for the first couple of years was instinctual.

Sales 382
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10 Key Traits Of An Ideal Entrepreneur Partner

Startup Professionals Musings

'A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this context, I’m broadening the definition of partner from co-founder to “business partner.

Partner 269
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Don’t Follow The Buzzwords For Small Business Technology

YoungUpstarts

'by Don Thomas Jacob, Head Geek at SolarWinds. Today’s technology landscape is littered with buzzwords and seemingly urgent exhortations for businesses: move to the cloud, spend time and money developing a mobile app, support mobility, and so on. They are also inundated with news of trendy tech gear and encouraged to spend on implementing big technologies such as BYOD or big data and associated IT infrastructure.

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Corporate Acquisitions of Startups: Why Do They Fail?

Steve Blank

'For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. Lately the pressure of continuous disruption has forced them to step up the pace. More often than not the results of these acquisitions are disappointing. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle.

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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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10 Key Traits Of An Ideal Entrepreneur Partner

Gust

'Photo of Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt with Sergey Brin and Larry Page via Wikipedia. A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “ For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One ”. The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for.

Partner 179
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Resources for Girls Learning to Code

Feld Thoughts

'This morning littleBits released their Space Kit. I’ve been on the board of littleBits since last year and am just in awe of what the team, led by Ayah Bdeir, is cranking out. Ayah is an example of an amazing female entrepreneur and CEO. I first met her via Joanne Wilson who wrote about here here. I hope to work with her for a long time. Seeing the launch inspired me to go dig up a list of resourced for girls learning to code.

More Trending

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10 C-Level Positions That Are Red Flags For Funding

Startup Professionals Musings

'It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. More executives, or other more creative titles are seen as a big red flag.

CTO Hire 252
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[Singapore] Local Telco StarHub To Launch Crowdfunding Platform Crowdtivate

YoungUpstarts

'Crowdfunding may be set to take off in a big way in Singapore as local telecommunications provider StarHub announced during Crowdsourcing Week that it is set to launch Crowdtivate , an open crowdfunding platform which entrepreneurs and creative professionals can seek funding and obtain financial contributions from supporters around the region via a funding system in return for specific rewards.

Singapore 243
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6 Tips for Coming Up With Your Million-Dollar Business Idea

Up and Running

'When I was a kid, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was going to be the next Boris Vallejo! (You know, the famous fantasy and sci-fi artist who always painted ripped, shirtless men and buxom, bikini-clad women atop flying dragons and Pegasuses… Yeah, I wanted to be him.). There were two problems with my future career plans though: 1) I wasn’t very good at art, and 2) my parents made it clear there wasn’t a snowball’s chance that they would pay for me to go to art school

Detroit 156
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Don’t Let Investors Conclude Your Startup Is A Hobby

Gust

'Software Development Process via Wikipedia. Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.

Startup 187
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Female Founders: What the numbers mean and what they don't

This is going to be BIG.

'Last week, there was a Business Insider article measuring the percent of female founded companies that NYC seed funds invest in. Brooklyn Bridge Ventures came in first, with a whopping 61%. Lerer Ventures was second, with just under 20%. So, clearly, I''m making some kind of a portfolio-wide bet there, right? Nope. Well, it''s gotta mean something, right?

Founder 142
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How to manage talented people by not bossing them around

The Next Web

'Walter Chen is the founder and CEO of iDoneThis, the easiest way to share and celebrate what you get done at work, every day. On his downtime, he blogs about management, entrepreneurship, and happiness on the iDoneThis blog. Getting rid of managers may seem like just another tech trend, but much of the skepticism around going “bossless” or flat is due to misleading terminology.

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‘Do-It-Yourself’ Startups Have Never Been Easier

Startup Professionals Musings

'Sponsored by VISA Business If you have a unique product or service, and you are not selling it around the world on the Internet, now is the time to start. The cost of entry has never been lower. Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, lawyers, venture capitalists, or Angels. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites, for example, cost a million dollars to set up.

Startup 252
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[Review] Epson LabelWorks Pro 100

YoungUpstarts

'For small businesses, printing stickers can be a very expensive affair. You really only had three options : to outsource to a professional printer to get the job done, buy and use sticker labels for your existing printer, or buy a small stationery label printing machine to use. Going to the professionals provides the best results but at a cost; using your existing printer to print them up requires pricey consumables, and small label machines are limited to printing, well, small-sized labels at

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6 Customer Success Secrets

Guy Nirpaz

'In the 2nd annual customer success summit last month in San Francisco, I’ve introduced the Customer Success Manifesto. If you are familiar with the agile software development manifesto will see a similar presentation style (visuals are updated to 2014 though). The Customer Success Manifesto should be viewed as 6 rules for great customer success.

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10 C-Level Positions That Are Red Flags For Funding

Gust

'Image via Wikimedia Commons. It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. More executives, or other more creative titles are seen as a big red flag.

CTO Hire 171
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The 5 Most Important Entrepreneurial Skills

Growthink Blog

'It’s been 15 years now since I started working with entrepreneurs. Over this time, I’ve seen lots of successes, and unfortunately lots of failures. So, I started thinking, “what is it about those entrepreneurs who have achieved the most success? What are their common attributes and skills?” While the initial list was pretty large, when I boiled it down, there were 5 common attributes or skills that the successful entrepreneurs all had.

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Training is an Innovation Accelerant

Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

'Creativity and innovation training is a highly effective accelerant for business results. When I step into a room to facilitate an innovation, strategy, or idea generation session I nearly always find a great deal of energy. What I also often find is inexperience — in the kind of thinking necessary to innovate. Successful managers and leaders are promoted up the ladder because of their great analytical thinking skills.

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8 Guidelines For Friends And Family Startup Funding

Startup Professionals Musings

'Most entrepreneurs have learned that it’s almost always quicker and easier to get cash from someone you know, rather than Angel investors or professional investors (VCs). In fact, most investors “require” that you already have some investment from friends and family before they will even step up to the plate. You see, investors invest in people, before they invest in ideas or products.

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14 Things Your Employees Are Dying To Hear From You

YoungUpstarts

'by Todd Patkin, author of “ Finding Happiness “ What were your last 10 or 15 employee conversations like? Chances are, they included phrases like, “I need you to finish that projection by the end of the day,” or, “I’m putting you on the Brown account,” or, “How much longer do you think it’ll take to finish that PowerPoint the client requested?

Employee 212
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Why Won’t Consumers Pay for Productivity Apps?

Hunter Walker

'It’s a shame that consumers largely balk at paying for mobile productivity apps like email, calendars, to do lists and so on. Despite spending our lives inside of this software the developers can’t seem to charge more than a few bucks. Perhaps it’s because the free alternatives are ‘good enough.’ Perhaps because they’re often *just* front-ends to other infrastructure.

Product 95
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Team Member Competency Is Critical To Your Startup

Gust

'Image via Amazon.com. Most people think that the Peter Principle (employee rises to his level of incompetence) only applies to large organizations. Let me assure you that it is also alive and well within startups. I see startup founders and managers who are stalled transplants from large organizations, as well as highly-capable technologists trying to start and run a business for the first time.

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This is How Startups “Level Up” After Raising Money

Both Sides of the Table

'One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. I also see companies as they move from having taken $1-5 million from me to their next round where they raise $8-15 million from Series B investors and sometimes I lead at this round (we’re stage agnostic but 8

Startup 381
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Plex a nuanced version of 2 Tier ERP

deal architect

'The concept of 2 (or 3) Tier ERP is certainly not new. Platinum (now Epicor), J. D Edwards (now Oracle), and more recently NetSuite have for decades gone to large, typically multi-national companies and convinced them to adopt their software.

Cloud 345
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Entrepreneurs Need Time Management Accelerators

Startup Professionals Musings

'Many entrepreneurs fantasize about days longer than 24 hours, convinced that their new venture could change the world, if they just had more time. They don’t realize that a more viable solution is to get more done per existing hour, rather than creating more hours. We all know at least one person who is always “very busy” and works plenty of hours, but generates few significant results.

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Three Basic Tips For Creating A Successful App

YoungUpstarts

'By Ashish Toshniwal, CEO of Y Media Labs. Apps remain the hottest trend in technology, with over one million available on each major platform and app downloads topping the 50 billion mark on both the App Store and Google Play. The competition is fierce, but if you can create an app that compels consumers to download it, use it, and tell their friends about it, the opportunities are virtually limitless.

Analytics 197
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5 Questions for a CEO: Jacqui Chew, iFusion Marketing

Jeff Hilimire

'This is the ninth installment of my “5 Questions for a CEO” series. The list so far: Raymond King , Zoo Atlanta. Devon Wijesinghe , Insightpool. Mark Feinberg , Uruut. Simms Jenkins , BrightWave Marketing. Rob Kischuk , PerfectPost. Kyle Porter , SalesLoft. Brett Jacobsen , Mount Vernon Presbyterian School. I’ve known Jacqui Chew for a long time and she’s easily one of the most dynamic people killing it in Atlanta today.

Atlanta 65
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Innovating Municipal Government Culture

Steve Blank

'D.R. Widder is the Vice President of Innovation and holds the Steve Blank Innovation Chair at Philadelphia University. He’s helping city government in Philadelphia become more innovative by applying Lean startup methods and Philadelphia University’s innovation curriculum. I asked him to share an update on his work on teaching lean techniques to local governments. —-.

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Some Reflections on VC Investment Decisions

Both Sides of the Table

'I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly.

Cofounder 374
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Let your customers do the talking

deal architect

'I get way too many PR pitches where I am offered to talk to an exec of a vendor or one of its partner firms. When I ask instead to speak to some customers the answer is some variation of.

Customer 321
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Team Member Competency Is Critical To Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

'Most people think that the Peter Principle (employee rises to his level of incompetence) only applies to large organizations. Let me assure you that it is also alive and well within startups. I see startup founders and managers who are stalled transplants from large organizations, as well as highly-capable technologists trying to start and run a business for the first time.

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The 21-Day Job Search: 5 Tips To Ensure Success

YoungUpstarts

'by Teddy Hunt. In 21 days, you can redecorate your home, form a new habit, lose enough weight to not feel guilty about indulging while you’re on vacation, or find a job. With all the horror stories about people going jobless for months or years at a time, the idea might seem absurd. It is possible, however, if you diligently apply the following tips: Make Your Job Search Your Job.

Search 196
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Why startup biz dev deals almost never get done

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

'As the founder of WP Engine, I receive weekly emails from startups proposing a “win-win” deal. So far, approximately zero have resulted in an successful deal. Here’s the problem , and how you can change your approach to business development so that it can succeed. Distribution is the hardest thing for a young startup, defined as “getting in front of potential customers.” Large companies, on the other hand, have solved the distribution problem (proof: 100,000 payin

Startup 293
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How’s the launch of Robots Love Ice Cream doing?

Jeff Hilimire

'Since we launched Robots Love Ice Cream for iOS – you did download it , right :) – on the 9th, I’ve been asked by a ton of friends how the launch is going. So, five days in… We were featured in the Apple App Store on April 10th, which looks like this. and we’ve had a ridiculously high ratio of five star ratings and reviews. and the press has loved the game so far. and we had our first fan create a cake of the game!

Atlanta 60
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How You Know You’ve Got the Right Startup Model?

Both Sides of the Table

'If you’ve watched any industry in the last 20 years where technology has begun to transform how the industry works the results are always predictable driven by what Clay Christensen appropriately called “ The Innovator’s Dilemma ” (one of the most influential books that changed my thinking about markets). Young startups claim they are going to change the world, large companies that dominate that sector scoff at how low quality these new entrants are, until l ike frogs bo

Turkey 338
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New Lessons Learned from Berkeley & Stanford Lean LaunchPad Classes

Steve Blank

'Our Stanford and Berkeley Lean LaunchPad classes are over for this year, and as usual we learned as much from teaching the teams as the teams did from us. Here are a few of the Lessons Learned from these two classes. — Have each team talk to 10 customers before the class starts. Each year we learn how to move more of the Lean LaunchPad class logistics outside our classroom so teams have more time for in-class learning.

Lean 268