November, 2014

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The Case for Optimism and Risk at Startups

Both Sides of the Table

'Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. The press around the raise & company was fantastic and the promise of their technology – wireless charging that works as easily as WiFi – would positively affect many of our lives.

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A Startup CTO’s Take on Early Technology Choices & Tradeoffs

View from Seed

'Isaac Cambron is co-founder and CTO of Zensight.co , whose pre-launch product enables sales reps to find and use their best content to close more deals. Below, he answers questions about developing products from scratch, as well as the difficult technology choices and tradeoffs CTOs must make. NextView Ventures: You just experienced something that most developers don’t ever see: zero code base at a company.

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The Lindy Effect on startup potential

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

'The first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 10 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time. — Tom Cargill, Bell Labs. However long the project took to get “close to done,” it will probably take that much time again to really be done. It’s funny because it’s true.

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More Successful New Entrepreneurs Are Baby Boomers

Startup Professionals Musings

'One of the biggest myths in the business world is that startups are no place for Baby Boomers, that aging generation born between 1945 and 1964. They couldn’t possibly understand the new social media culture, new technologies, or have the determination to beat their younger counterparts in the market. Yet credible reports on current trends tell us just the opposite.

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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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7 Reasons Businesses Need Expert Online Visibility

YoungUpstarts

'by Russell Wallace, founder and CEO of 29 Prime, Inc. If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? SMB brands are damaging their own success by not having an online presence. Because just having a website is not enough, here are 7 reasons why presence is a must: 1. If your business doesn’t have an online presence, it doesn’t exist in the current marketplace.

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Your Guide to the Complete Lean Startup Conference Program

Startup Lessons Learned

'Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference Eleven months in the making, the full schedule for The Lean Startup Conference is at last complete, and we can’t wait to show you around! OK, sure, we’re still nailing down a couple more speakers and sessions, which we’ll announce as we finalize them. But other than that, it’s all there.

Lean 156

More Trending

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Designing Products from Scratch: An Interview with UX Leader Josh Porter

View from Seed

'Josh Porter is the founder of What to Wear Daily , a service that helps you prepare for your day. He is best-known as the creator of 52 Weeks of UX and was also head of UX at HubSpot, by way of being co-founder of Performable (acquired in 2011). Below, Josh talks about designing features from nothing and how to make important design choices during the pre-seed and seed-stage phases of startup growth.

Design 330
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Pricing determines your business

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

'It’s often said that you shouldn’t talk about price during customer development interviews. The usual justification is that your goal is to uncover the details of your potential customers’ lives and pain-points, whereas a mention of price turns attention away from that topic, diverting the discussion to budgets and comparative value.

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The Planned Iteration Startup Launch Minimizes Risk

Startup Professionals Musings

'The traditional mode of starting a company has been to plan a serial process, where you complete once all the steps, leading to the “big bang” launch of the company. I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called “planned iteration” or Lean Startup methodology, where you assume you won’t get it right the first time, so you launch with a minimum viable product (MVP).

Agile 253
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Enterprise Messaging Comes Of Age With sqoope

YoungUpstarts

'Everybody’s on an instant messaging app these days. Fast, convenient and almost idiot-proof, they allow us to communicate quickly with each other via text, photos, videos and more. Tapping on our data connections – be it 4G or WiFi – data-based messaging is just as instantaneous as SMSes without incurring higher mobile charges. However, messaging on a consumer platform becomes a little dicey when it comes to work.

Singapore 250
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The Planned Iteration Startup Launch Minimizes Risk

Gust

'Eric Ries on Lean Startup methodology, via Wikipedia. The traditional mode of starting a company has been to plan a serial process, where you complete once all the steps, leading to the “big bang” launch of the company. I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called “planned iteration” or Lean Startup methodology, where you assume you won’t get it right the first time, so you launch with a minimum viable product (MVP).

Agile 163
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What every company should know about hiring tech talent

The Next Web

'Vivek Ravisankar is the CEO and cofounder of Y Combinator alumnus HackerRank — a tech talent community for developers and companies that hire developers. The world is speeding up. Today, every company is a software company on some level. Developers are pushing the envelope, creating, iterating and scaling faster than ever before. Regardless of the industry your company is in or its size, hiring talented developers is critical for business to thrive.

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6 Things That Can Kill Business Growth

Up and Running

'Want your business to flourish? Avoid these six pitfalls. Whether you’re kicking around a business idea or working through your first year, it’s never too early to start thinking about growth. After all, the goal of every entrepreneur is to grow a profitable business. What kills business growth? Marc Meyer, a business professor and startup expert, explains.

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Twitter Link Roundup #243 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

'Today is Friday – end of week and ready to relax; anyone gonna see Interstellar this weekend? Anyhow, it’s time for our weekly roundup of the cool, intriguing, and compelling links and articles we shared with you over the past week on our very own crowdSPRING Twitter account (as well as my own Twitter account ). We like to talk about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and various random stuff!

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A Perspective On When A Business Plan Adds Value

Startup Professionals Musings

'As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. They cite sources like the BusinessWeek story, “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ” and this Forbes article. From my perspective, much of this advice is an urban legend and just plain wrong. Based on my experience, a business plan always adds value to the entrepreneur – most people can’t build a complete plan in their head, and need the process o

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Ways To Give Your Website An Additional Competitive Edge

YoungUpstarts

'by Chloe Hashemi, marketing consultant for film and video production company LAMBDA Films. As we near the end of a largely technology-centric year, it has become evident our dependence on the Internet and other digital services is not going to decrease in the years to come. At current rates, the Internet is estimated to gain six connections per second.

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Valuing My Own Time and Saying No

This is going to be BIG.

'The other day, I got a note asking whether I''d be willing to meet some "Head of New Things" at a big telecom. That wasn''t their actual title, but it was something like that. You''ve met them before. They''re new to the gig, super excited about all its potential, and getting out there selling founders hope for that one big gamechanging deal. But I''ve seen this movie before, so here''s how I responded: "Hi!

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How to Make Your Confirmation Emails Not Suck (and Make Money)

ConversionXL

'Confirmation emails may be the least developed customer touchpoint. These standard, expected emails are often as delightful as your typical in-store receipt (read: not at all delightful). Because confirmation emails are triggered by the user’s actions, your customers are expecting something – which means they open, notice and engage with them.

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Are You Ready for Equity Based Crowdfunding?

Up and Running

'Are you an emerging entrepreneur with an underfunded venture? Could your business flourish with a gush of money and hype? Then, the unveiling of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed equity crowdfunding rules reveals a panacea for growing your business’s coffers. The SEC’s proposed rules (mandated by the JOBS Act of 2012) amend the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow the offer and sale of securities through an internet crowdfunding campaign, simil

Equity 125
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Blockstream

thebarefootvc

'We’ve come together because we believe in the potential of this technology to have a significant, positive social impact. – Austin Hill , co-founder Blockstream (FPV’s newest portfolio company). I founded FuturePerfect Ventures earlier this year because I believe that technology’s potential for positive social impact is still in formative stages.

Kenya 109
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Technical Entrepreneurs Often Fail By Early Adopters

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

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Catch Them On Thanksgiving, Convert Them Into Customers By Christmas

YoungUpstarts

'by Gil Ilani, CEO of Camilyo. Beginning on Black Friday, and increasingly so later on Thanksgiving Day, online and traditional retailers alike enter a period that can make or break their business’ overall yearly performance. This is especially the case for SMBs without the cachet and powerful name recognition of the Amazons, Nordstroms, Macy’s and the like.

Customer 176
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Twitter Link Roundup #242 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

'Here we go! Time once again for our weekly roundup of the articles, videos, posts and quips that we shared with you over the past week on our very own crowdSPRING Twitter account (as well as my own Twitter account ). We like to talk about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and various random stuff!

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How to Use Qualitative Research to Drive Conversions

ConversionXL

'When marketers think of using data to come up with test hypotheses, they typically think of digital analytics. Quantifiable data. But qualitative research can actually offer more insight than anything else for coming up with winning test hypotheses. When quantitative stuff tells you what, where and how much, then qualitative tells you ‘why’ The goal of qualitative research is to gather an in-depth understanding of user behavior, and the reasons for that behavior.

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Planning for the Future: Your Exit Strategy

Up and Running

'Even if an island in the Maldives isn’t in the cards, if you’re seeking outside investment, an exit strategy is essential. What is an exit strategy? An exit strategy is a method by which entrepreneurs and investors, especially those that have invested large sums of money in startup companies, transfer ownership of their business to a third party, or by which they recoup money invested in the business.

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Why ADD Might Actually Benefit Startup Entrepreneurs

Both Sides of the Table

'This weekend I was reading the NY Times online and I came across this excellent piece about ADHD written by Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry. In the article the author talks about the condition of the brain – which affects up to 11% of American children in which people with ADHD (or ADD, which doesn’t have hyperactivity) – in which people with ADD have a low tolerance for routine tasks and thus they seek out “novelty” The author believes this ma

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Investors Consider These 7 Elements to Be High Risk

Startup Professionals Musings

'If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. If you need investors, it’s important that you understand their filters, and even if you are funding your own efforts, you need to recognize the red flags.

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11 Ways Virtual Offices Can Increase Your Productivity

YoungUpstarts

'by Deanna Ayres, SEM Strategist and Community Outreach Supervisor at The Marketing Zen Group. Virtual offices like Sococo are more common than ever and many are enjoying the benefits that they bring. Operating a virtual office and having a remote workforce can increase your organizations productivity exponentially. Here are 11 ways to stay competitive and productive with your business: 1.

Product 217
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Announcing availability: SAP Nation

deal architect

'This weekend I emailed preview copies of my new book on the SAP economy to select media around the world. I have attached below the “front matter” for my blog readers – the table of contents and the preface. In.

Email 390
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Startup Data: 4 Strategies Changing the Speed & Size of Your Series A

View from Seed

'Once a startup has raised seed capital, plenty of theories and advice exist on how to successfully raise a Series A. Recently, we looked at our own portfolio at NextView Ventures to dig a little deeper on how startups actually raise that next round of financing. It’s been four years since we founded NextView Ventures, so we’re now at a critical mass of startups that have accomplished this Series A milestone.

Syndicate 333
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Why Corporate Skunk Works Need to Die

Steve Blank

'In the 20 th century corporate skunk works were used to develop disruptive innovation separate from the rest of the company. They were the hallmark of innovative corporations. By the middle of the 21 st century the only companies with skunk works will be the ones that have failed to master continuous innovation. Skunk works will be the signposts of companies that will be left behind. ——– In the 20 th century companies could be leaders in a market for decades by just focusing o

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The Very First Startup Founder You Need to Invest in is You

Both Sides of the Table

'This week I wrote about obsessive and competitive founders and how this forms the basis of what I look for when I invest. I had been thinking a lot about this recently because I’m often asked the question of “what I look for in an entrepreneur when I want to invest?” I look for a lot of things, actually: Persistence (above all else), resiliency, leadership, humility, attention-to-detail, street smarts, transparency and both obsession with one’s company and a burning desi

Founder 409
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Surround Yourself With People Smarter Than You

Startup Professionals Musings

'Helpers do what you say, while good help does what you need, without you saying anything. People who can help you the most are actually smarter than you, at least in their domain. Top entrepreneurs spend more time putting the right team in place to accomplish their objectives than they spend on any other components of their job. Some entrepreneurs are so in love with themselves (narcissistic) that they insist on answering every question, and making every decision.

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The “Musts” For Being A Successful Entrepreneur

YoungUpstarts

'By Chelsea Berler, author of “ The Curious One: From Food Stamps to CEO – One Woman’s Journey through Struggle, Tragedy, Success and Love “. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a kit that made you into a successful entrepreneur every time? Or a fairy godmother that touched you with her magic wand and abracadabra. instant success? Without any road bumps, detours, or wrong turns.

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Workday Rising: Speak softly and carry big, happy customers

deal architect

'Howard Street in San Francisco on Tuesday morning looked different. The tarmac was visible and cars were actually using it. Outside Moscone Center, a local folk rock band, Blind Willies was playing. Excellent, but nowhere near the brand recognition of.

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The hidden benefits of Uniform Culture

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

'This article originally appeared on the WP Engine Blog. I don’t mean “uniform” as in “identical.” (Although, that’s not a bad definition of culture : The attributes that we all share.). I mean “uniform” as in, “Wearing the same clothes, thereby reducing individuality.” We have a swag culture at WP Engine, particularly in T-shirts.

Engineer 229