Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

I spoke with Toptal Co-founder and CEO Taso Du Val to find out more about how Toptal got started and his predictions for the future of the talent economy. Our emphasis is on community, not commodity, and it’s about quality, not quantity. All of that sets us apart. How did you come up with the idea for Toptal?

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ConversionXL

APRIL 18, 2017

Think about it: you’re in the business of expertise. If leads come to you, then the sales call that follows is now about qualification. The first lever is all about resources and politics. Also, think about it from a business perspective. It definitely helps to position us as the knowledge leader in the space.

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Austin Startup

APRIL 15, 2017

Participant Instructions Be draconian strict about the slide format. It takes many hours for us to compile the master deck. Make sure that it is clear what stage you are at — is this an idea or is it a product that in available for the public to use? Make everyone follow it and don’t let them make changes at the last minute.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2017

I have written about this before and often recommend to executives that they do less, but complete more by avoiding the shiny objects and distractions stop us from living up to our true potential. Move stuff down the funnel and be careful about widening your funnel if you’re not closing enough of your tasks.

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Up and Running

APRIL 17, 2017

Before you start worrying about a candidate sourcing strategy or hiring your first employee, you need to have a little understanding of payroll. At Patriot Software , we’re payroll experts, so check out the links throughout this article for more detailed information from us on the various aspects of setting up your payroll.

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A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 25, 2017

Like Fornax, which is just three stars: But which humans have no trouble rendering as an intricate sequence of machinery: It would be funny, if this natural compulsion didn’t also cause us to make bad decisions, all the time. Most people say “no,” because they’ve just been primed to think about conformity as a negative.

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ConversionXL

APRIL 4, 2017

That sounds like an obvious statement, but not a lot of people think about it critically. It doesn’t help that there’s a new blog post out every day about how you’re missing out on [X] and this company is killing it by doing [Y]. This is, of course, an effective channel for us (or we wouldn’t do it). Just think about it.

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Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

APRIL 6, 2017

The Founder , starring Michael Keaton as McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc , is the best film about innovation since Moneyball in 2011. Unlike Moneyball , which had the surface covering of a baseball story, The Founder is actually about how innovation happens. It also includes the dark side of innovation.

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Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 11, 2017

One of the greatest things about technology is that it can make us more efficient, however, it can also allow us to automate interactions. Human connection to manage the coldness of technology. Here are a few tips to not only reignite the human connections but grow your business as well. Interact with your peers and customers.

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Austin Startup

APRIL 25, 2017

Even by July 2014, Facebook’s core application had effectively saturated the US market, with more than 80% of US adults on Facebook. The smartphone is for everyone, we don’t have to think the iPhone is about a certain demographic, or country or vertical market: it’s for everyone. Global smartphone revenue is about $420B.

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Valuation Technical Review Forecast Social Network 48

View from Seed

APRIL 4, 2017

As a seed-focused venture firm with offices in New York and Boston, we believe there’s a responsibility for us to not just be participants in the local entrepreneurial community, but also contributors to it. Subscribe to Gotham Voices. indicates required. First Name. Email Address *.

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SoCal CTO

APRIL 25, 2017

I'm working on a start up idea in the XXX market with my partner and we are currently looking for full stack developer to join us as a technical co-founder. We have been reading about the LA CTO Forum and we thought it would be a great place to find him/her. I've written before about having an Initial Conversation with a Potential CTO.

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Austin Startup

APRIL 2, 2017

What about entrepreneurs? my top strengths are learner, achiever, focus, self-assurance and futuristic) Why do we take these assessments and how do they help us? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, see my related article titled “ Founding Principles — Do You Have Them ?” Successful songwriters must be creative.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 19, 2017

In 2014, Seth, Jason, Ryan, and I had the first of many conversations about our long-term plans for Foundry Group. The conversation that we started in 2014 has continued on a regular basis, both formally at our quarterly off-sites but also pretty much every time the four of us were together.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 17, 2017

Ten zillion words have been written about Net Neutrality. Help us send a message from startups and entrepreneurs that his rumored action to undermine net neutrality is not ok. The post Support Startups for Net Neutrality appeared first on Feld Thoughts.

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Version One Ventures

APRIL 18, 2017

If you’re a founder, data scientist, engineer, product or growth leader who is curious about how you can leverage data science to build a marketplace, this is the event for you! If you’re interested, please email us with the subject line “Marketplace Meetup” and we will send you an invitation. Hope that you can join us!

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Up and Running

APRIL 10, 2017

There was a hustle and bustle of people, and everyone was speaking Spanish at 100 miles per hour—I’d learned it at about 10 mph. Our cab driver peppered us with questions in Spanish as he sped down the narrow streets. On the way to our hostel, he warned us about crime in the city. Out of the airport and into the cab.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2017

The happiest of all people are those who have reached the point at which they no longer worry about money. For many, health is only a “deficiency need,” meaning you don’t think much about it until you are deprived of it. But the wonderful thing about self-actualization needs is that they never need to be completely satisfied.

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Brandanew

APRIL 27, 2017

But they also give us an opportunity to think about brand authenticity. It’s easy to be sitting in a marketing room and brainstorm about things that’ll give your brand instant fame. The post What Do Pepsi and Shea Moisture’s Recent Issues Teach Us About Brand Authenticity? Resources HERE. .

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 9, 2017

Very few of us can claim to be experts at every task. It took us four tries to get it right, which was an expensive way to learn that sometimes it’s best to call in the experts right away. If there’s ever been a construction project that rolled out exactly according to plan, I don’t know about it. Choose your battles wisely.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2017

In reality, even the best performers and leaders need some coaching from time to time, and everyone has the potential to be a coach, so it behooves all of us to learn how to do it right. The best team members feel good enough about themselves to not use the coaching relationship to feed their ego.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 26, 2017

For many of us, stress reactions come from our own thoughts about a situation, not necessarily the situation itself. When you’re ready to share, the key is being open with your team about the situation and how it impacts your people. Luckily, you probably will not be facing a life and death situation in your business.

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Up and Running

APRIL 19, 2017

Our comprehensive overview of the sales forecasting process offers an explanation of why sales forecasting is essential, gives examples, and offers helpful insights into how to forecast sales within your own business (hint: it isn’t about predicting the future). Don’t Want to Plan? Just Do a Sales Forecast.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 13, 2017

No matter where in the world your company is based, the number one language in offices is always the same and no, I’m not talking about English. In fact, the language I’m talking about doesn’t even involve talking at all. by Rafael Romis , founder of Weberous. Why Learn It? Obviously it helps if you know the person well.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 27, 2017

More of us than ever are considering a startup as the solution to our career problems. It offers autonomy, creative scope, and the chance to pursue something you’re really passionate about. So just how do you go about starting a startup? People who understand your vision and are passionate about it too.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 19, 2017

There are a number of notable conferences that happen across the US & Canada each year, but you want to make sure you pick the right ones for you so that you can gain the most out of each trip. Some of the tips really surprised us, so we hope they are able to help you in upping your game at each conference.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 15, 2017

First of all, the glory days of “dot.coms” are gone, when investors “didn’t care” about profitability, and all the big money was focused on user count growth. But some of you will surely say “What about Facebook and Snapchat, who focused on growth first and are clearly successful?” So let’s take a look. Marty Zwilling.

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Version One Ventures

APRIL 5, 2017

As we’ve said before, we’re just writing about the things that have been announced publicly. Updates from us. To make sure you don’t miss any of the action, follow us at @VersionOneVC. There’s a lot of great stuff happening behind the scenes as well. . Fundraising News. We’re looking forward to Q2 and onward.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 21, 2017

Businesses talk to customers about how they can better meet their needs and customers reach out to the business when their needs are not met. I admit, a lot of people started using my product because it was the cheapest option available to them. In fact, write about other businesses in your cluster. So why don’t we talk anymore?

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 19, 2017

At its core, AREA as a process can be boiled down to four simple steps that you can use immediately to help you make smarter, better decisions when you’re facing a complex problem that you need to solve: Recognize that research is a fundamental part of decision making. Break down your research so it’s manageable and organized.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2017

Equally often, I see startups who are on the road to implementing an idea, but haven’t figured out what problem it solves – the business plan waxes on eloquently for 20 pages about how great this product and technology is, but never gets around to defining the problem (investors call this the “solution looking for a problem” syndrome).

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2017

If you think about it, you should realize that not everyone is ‘ideal partner material.’ Most of us learn that fact from other partner relationships, like dating and marriage. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 24, 2017

If you are an NCIS fan, you are probably excited about the upcoming 48 Hours: NCIS which premieres on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 10pm ET/PT. I like NCIS, but I’m especially excited about Oblong’s Mezzanine product being a central part of the show.

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Feld Thoughts

APRIL 11, 2017

Jeff Clavier introduced us, and I think it was the first investment Jeff and I did together. But that doesn’t matter, as it’s not what is important about this thing we call life. Passion for making the Internet do exciting and wonderful things.” I haven’t kept up with Ted other than a periodic email.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 28, 2017

Today most of us continue to prefer to ride in cars with someone at the wheel. Cities, too, are thinking about a future of cars that run on their own. In addition, women will no longer have to worry about getting a cab ride late at night. A driverless car will cost significantly less to operate, bringing fares down even further.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 24, 2017

Sites would be able to add forums and it allowed everyone to connect, ask questions, talk about their business, and just have fun. Unfortunately, it never took off like it could have, not through any fault of either of us. I can clearly remember when I first heard about Twitter. These were big back then.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 19, 2017

When most of us imagine applying for a business loan, we probably think of driving down to the local bank where we’ve done business for years, speaking with a loan officer, and going through the loan application process with that known and trusted lender. Here’s the formula to use: 4. by Meredith Wood, Editor-in-Chief at Fundera.

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