June, 2017

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Why a Company Can’t “Be More Like a Startup”

Steve Blank

This article originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review. As more and more companies face disruption from globalization, new technology, and startups that have more capital than the incumbents, the continuing cry from Wall Street investors is, “Why can’t companies be as innovative as startups?”. Here’s one reason why: Startups can do anything.

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4 Ways Start-Ups Can Make Their Virtual Meetings More Productive

YoungUpstarts

by Brian Zeng, owner of Ponbee.com. “We spend as much as half our days in meetings.” – ‘ State of Modern Meeting ’ by Blue Jeans Network. It is therefore essential for business owners to think of ways to make meetings more productive and reduce the time spent in the conference rooms. This will not only ensure higher productivity and better efficiency within the organization, but the employees will be better engaged.

Product 243
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21 Entrepreneurs Explain Their Favorite Songs to Get Them Motivated

Hearpreneur

Music can change your spirit. If you’re having a bad day and listen to your favorite song, it can change your entire mood. Music can also help you to get through difficult moments in life. One of the hardest things anyone can ever do is start and run a business. We knew that entrepreneurs have the best playlists and we decided to ask them their favorite tracks. #1 – All I do is Win by DJ Khaled.

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How and Why You Should Validate Your App Idea Before You Build

Up and Running

Almost on a weekly basis, I meet new aspiring entrepreneurs looking to execute on their ideas. Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. If it works, they’ll hit it big, and if it doesn’t, they’ll make some changes and do it again. Others believe in the start small, grow strong approach: build a small version of the app, test user demand, and then take it from there.

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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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What we learned from the first week of Uber & Lyft returning to Austin

Austin Startup

by Andy Tryba & Marisa Goldenberg Ridesharing in Austin got even more interesting on Memorial Day as Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a statewide regulation framework overruling local Austin rules. After investing in 36 lobbyists to win this bill — Uber and Lyft got basically everything they wanted and both Silicon Valley giants turned their apps back on in Austin a few hours later.

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Personalization: How to Build a Revenue Boosting Program from Scratch

ConversionXL

Did you know that Netflix has only 90 seconds to find a show that suits a user before she gets frustrated and quits? According to a recent academic study, “a typical Netflix member loses interest after perhaps 60 to 90 seconds of choosing, having reviewed 10 to 20 titles (perhaps 3 in detail) on one or two screens.” How does Netflix manage to find the right show for the right user so quickly?

More Trending

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Danger From Above: Be Aware Of Cloud Security Threats

YoungUpstarts

Cloud computing has many advantages, so it’s no wonder that uptake and growth continue to increase at a formidable pace. Many companies, not just the major players, are moving their data and applications over to the cloud. As with all technologies, new and old, there are strengths and weaknesses. One of the major concerns about cloud computing is security.

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Making Better Business Decisions

Growthink Blog

There are only 3 things to know to make dramatically better decisions: 1) How we’ve done in the past. 2) What our competition is doing now. 3) What our customers will want in the future. 1. How We’ve Done in the Past. At this point in the Big Data and SaaS revolutions at our fingertips should always be dead accurate data on mission critical processes like customer acquisition costs by marketing and sales channel, profitability by client type / employee role, and really anything else that moves a

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4 Strategic Tools Service Businesses Can Borrow From Their Retail Counterparts

Up and Running

Over the past decade, ecommerce has enjoyed explosive growth. Retailers everywhere, large and small, have their pick from a range of tools to create an online shopping presence that attracts customers and increases revenue. But for today’s hair salons, spas, car repair shops, and other service- or appointment-based businesses, the technology needed to enhance the customer experience requires a slightly different set of features.

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Why the Majority of Websites Fail

Duct Tape Marketing

Why the Majority of Websites Fail written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Gone are the days where businesses can rely solely on “pretty” websites. In today’s digital marketing landscape, a website must be an optimized, revenue-generating platform. I’ll just get right to it: The reason so many websites fail is because businesses take a design-driven approach from the beginning as opposed to developing a website from the ground up with SEO in mind.

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The US is a leader in Clean!

deal architect

The French President tweeted yesterday "Tonight the United States has turned its back on the world, but France will not turn its back on Americans," He is talking about President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Turned.

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Dalhousie University Commencement Speech – 2017

Steve Blank

Light a path for the better angels. Thank you, Chancellor McLellan, President Florizone, Dean Charlebois, Dr. Hewitt, and Dr. Kilfoil for the invitation to speak today and thank you for the honorary degree. I’m honored to speak at a university whose motto is: Pray and Work. It’s pretty close to the one I had as an entrepreneur, which was – Pray it Will Work. — First, my congratulations.

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Great Tech Support – The Answer To Running A Successful Startup

YoungUpstarts

by James Ontra, CEO of Shufflrr. Startups typically lack the resources of larger organizations – cash, staff, and huge marketing budgets. Yet the good ones can compensate with a great product combined with great service. Customer support is one venue where start-ups can differentiate themselves from their larger competitors. To run a successful startup in the tech industry, you need to understand how critical tech support really is to the livelihood of your business, especially in the competitiv

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5 Keys to Launching New Initiatives

Growthink Blog

The world’s best run businesses efficiently and effectively decide upon, launch, manage and optimize new business projects and initiatives. In contrast, poorly run businesses struggle mightily to do so on all fronts. They struggle deciding where to invest scarce project time and resources. Once they do decide, they then struggle to get those new projects launched.

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Why Small Community Lenders Have Your Back

Up and Running

One of the largest banks in the country, with branch locations in your town, advertises everywhere. You know their jingle. Those ads are tempting for small business owners—it’s hard to resist the ten largest banks because they control over $10.1 trillion in assets and have the marketing budget to prove it. After seeing the ads for weeks on TV, you apply for a small business loan.

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Why Customer Experience Is the Key to an Amazing Business

Duct Tape Marketing

Why Customer Experience Is the Key to an Amazing Business written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. In this post – 5 Steps to Restart, Recharge and Revive Your Marketing Right Now! – I introduced an aggressive initiative to help any business owner struggling to stay on plan with their marketing for the year. The idea is to take the mid-point of the year and get a fresh restart.

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Maybe this will spur SAP?

deal architect

I honestly cannot remember the last time SAP showed in the lower left quadrant – for niche players – in a Gartner MQ. But in the latest MQ for “Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises”.

Cloud 275
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One Simple Way You Can Make an Actual Difference in Somebody’s Life

Both Sides of the Table

Fresno State students receive supplies for school with help from Renaissance Scholars staff John Hunt, Jr. (left) and Kizzy Lopez (right). We’re all bombarded with social media campaigns asking for us to Tweet, share, like, change our badge, use a hashtag or generally show outrage at a topic du jour. We jump in when we feel compelled or want to support the person who enlisted us.

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How To Negotiate with Vendors, Partners And Employees

YoungUpstarts

by Ross Kimbarovsky, founder of crowdSPRING. Not every entrepreneur or business owner is comfortable negotiating. Many dread the adversarial nature of negotiation. Even so, it’s difficult (and perhaps impossible) to operate a small business or startup and not negotiate agreements with employees, vendors, customers, and others. I’ve negotiated with thousands of people (for 13 years as an attorney and for the past 10 as an entrepreneur and business owner).

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What Got You Here, Won't Get You There. Change Drives Business Growth.

Small Business Force

While all entrepreneurs want to grow their business, growth is not inevitable. And just as often, elusive. What got you here, won’t get you there. Because you were successful in getting to a particular level of revenue or profit for one year doesn’t mean that beating it (or even meeting it) the following year is a given. To do better, you need to perform better.

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We Have A Moral Obligation

Steve Blank

I was in Boston and was interviewed by The Growth Show about my current thinking about innovation in companies and government agencies.The interviewer was great and managed to get me to summarize several years of learning in one podcast. It’s worth a listen. At the end of the interview I got surprised by a great question – “What’s the Problem that Still Haunts You?

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How to Use Your Website to Convert Consulting Leads into Clients

Duct Tape Marketing

How to Use Your Website to Convert Consulting Leads into Clients written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing and selling consulting services can take weeks, months, and in some cases — years. As a consultant who must balance delivery versus sales, not having enough leads can lead to the dreaded feast-or-famine cycle. Nurturing and educating your leads is time-consuming work.

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Does the enterprise matter?

deal architect

I love Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report. This year though it struck me that over 95% of her 355 slides focused on consumer world – digital advertising, ecommerce, ride-sharing, gaming. wearables and digital healthcare etc. The “vertical” growth in.

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How to Ditch the False Silver Bullets and Run a Growth Hacking Process

View from Seed

Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown are entrepreneurs, growth experts, and co-authors of the book Hacking Growth. Today, we talk about this notion of growth hacking and debunk some myths, then walk through a smart process you can use to start running a growth engine strategically, instead of seeking false silver bullets. Find their book, Hacking Growth , on Amazon.

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Simple And Effective Ways To Promote Your Business

YoungUpstarts

Whether you’re a startup looking at taking those first steps into the business world or an established company wanting to expand your customer base, marketing your business is an important step in getting your brand in front of the right people. With the variety of marketing options available to all industries, choosing the right one for you can seem like a long and arduous task.

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Do You Have The Right Stuff For A Growth Business?

Startup Professionals Musings

As an angel investor, I get approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who can talk endlessly about their latest great idea, and little else. While I recognize that every new venture starts with an idea, a successful business of lasting value is all about people and execution. Every investor is looking for someone who can turn an idea into a solution, and turn that solution into a business.

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Summer is Not Here Yet, But Holiday Marketing Time Is!

Rembrandt Communications

Christmas starts in October. Are you ready for holiday marketing? It’s that time of year when you prepare for graduations, Father’s Day and upcoming vacations. But there is something else you need to think about now… Christmas. That’s right. Summer is not even officially here yet, but the winter holiday sales season starts in just […]. The post Summer is Not Here Yet, But Holiday Marketing Time Is!

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Find Out Why Nobody is Finding Your Content

Duct Tape Marketing

Find Out Why Nobody is Finding Your Content written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Brian Dean. I believe that elements of SEO are now elevated to the strategic level. In other words, as you plan your message, website structure, and content for your marketing, you better include some research commonly seen as a technical aspect of SEO.

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Kara Swisher interviews Mark Hurd

deal architect

As part of Recode Decode webinar series, Kara Swisher interviewed Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle on their Media Day in May. It’s always interesting to hear a consumer tech journalist interview an executive in enterprise tech. Kara did a nice.

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Global EIR and Silicon Valley Bank Funding Match

Feld Thoughts

Today Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced their support for Global EIR , a cause for which I care deeply. As you may know, over breakfast in 2015 Jeff Bussgang and I launched Global EIR with the hope of advancing the startup visa effort on a local and state level after it stalled in Congress. Since then, Global EIR has grown to 13 university programs across the country, helping 42 international founders start companies.

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How To Plan Your First Business Trip As An Entrepreneur

YoungUpstarts

Are you new to the wonderful world of entrepreneurship? Are you ready to take on everything that comes your way? Are you looking forward to your first business trip? As your business grows and you continue to travel, you’ll find that this can be an enjoyable experience. Planning your first business trip as an entrepreneur can be a challenge. There is something about being in charge of every aspect of your trip that can slow you down.

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7 Business Lessons You Can Learn From A 7-Year-Old

Startup Professionals Musings

Parents, it’s never too early to start nurturing entrepreneurial talents in your kids! As an active business advisor and angel investor, I’m convinced that we are rapidly entering a new age of the entrepreneur, and those who are best prepared will be the first to reap some big rewards. You may think you need more entrepreneurial courses in school, or more advanced degrees, but in my experience it’s more of a mindset, some good coaching, and learning by doing that separates the winners from the l

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Mary Meeker’s Internet And Digital Trends for 2017

Brandanew

The much awaited Mary Meeker digital trends report is out. Lo and behold, Internet growth is stagnating if you take out India. India still is at only 27% Internet penetration so there’s a lot of growth opportunity. It makes me wonder how connected we will be when the next billion is online. Here are some of my favorite key takeaways: Mary Meeker’s Key Internet and Digital Trends for 2017.

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What Your Customers Really Need Is…More Site Testing?

Duct Tape Marketing

What Your Customers Really Need Is…More Site Testing? written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Why do your customers buy? What are they looking for? Why do they convert on your site? Ask most marketers or business owners these questions and you’ll usually get a lot of very specific answers. “We have the best prices”…“Our product has more features than the competition”…“Our customer service is incredible”… Now, all of these answers are great, but most of the

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Why early-stage startups should wait to calculate LTV:CAC, and how they should use it when they do

For Entrepreneurs

I have the great pleasure in introducing you to a new writer, Jared Sleeper, who will make regular contributions to this blog. We were very excited to have Jared to join Matrix Partners recently as he is a truly exceptional individual. Jared grew up in Maine working in his family’s grocery store. He had a.

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Lessons From The Internet Bubble: Growth vs. Profitability

Feld Thoughts

Over the weekend, Mark Suster and Fred Wilson each put up awesome posts discussing the idea of profitability in startups. Mark’s is a master class about how to look at the financial characteristics of a startup and Fred’s discusses what he’s been working on with some of his more mature companies. They are both worth reading right now.

Internet 162