September, 2014

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What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

'I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. ” I highly recommend reading it. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Danielle goes through some commentary from Bill Gurley, Fred Wilson and Marc Andreessen about burn rate and then goes on to discuss her own burn rate and others publicly weigh in.

Burn Rate 383
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Why Founders Should Know How to Code

Steve Blank

'“ By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist.”. Book of Five Rings. A startup is not just about the idea, it’s about testing and then implementing the idea. A founding team without these skills is likely dead on arrival. —-. I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress.

Cofounder 336
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10 Entrepreneur Approaches That Turn Off Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

'Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.

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Shortening The Small Business Software Selection Process

YoungUpstarts

'by Tim Handorf, Co-Founder and President of G2 Crowd. When launching a new business, every second and every penny count towards the bottom line. Wasted time and money can mean the difference between a business becoming successful and profitable, and one that fails. According to the 2013 OfficeMax Small Business Efficiency Index , small business owners lose four billion hours each year managing time-consuming tasks.

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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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How to Raise Startup Funding from Unlikely Angel Investors

Up and Running

'Angel investors come from a variety of ages, backgrounds, and professions. I’m not your average angel. I’m a mom, a full-time sales manager, and recruiter. I’m not active in an angel group. I don’t have an MBA and I don’t live in Silicon Valley. I live in a small town surrounded by farms and I made my first angel investment at 29 because my dad said it was a good idea.

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The end of ownership: The zero-marginal-cost economy

The Next Web

'Dries Buytaert created Drupal, an open source content management platform, in his dorm room. He is also the co-founder and CTO at Acquia, a company providing enterprise software for websites and commerce. Society is undergoing tremendous change right now — those of us who enjoy services like Uber and Kickstarter are experiencing it firsthand. The sharing and collaboration practices of the internet are extending to transportation (Uber), hotels (Airbnb), financing (Kickstarter, LendingClub), mus

Cost 167

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How To Find the Right Co-Founders?

Steve Blank

'How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. ——-. I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup.

Cofounder 335
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Entrepreneurs Need To Reality Check Their Ideas

Startup Professionals Musings

'In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? After all, most great breakthroughs, like a computer in every home, seemed like a crazy idea before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made it happen.

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[Review] Pebble Steel

YoungUpstarts

'Apple’s newly announced Apple Watch may be the product that will finally skyrocket the smartwatch category into massive popularity, but the real honor of being the first to really bring the idea of a wristwatch that could do so much more – since Casio in the 80s – should rightfully belong to Pebble. The smartwatch startup first burst unto the scene on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in 2012 raising over US$10 million from almost 70,000 backers in a very short time.

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The Market Is Hot for Code Climate, NextView’s Newest Investment

Genuine VC

'When Chad Pytel introduced me to Bryan Helmkamp , CEO/Co-founder of Code Climate , I knew that I had to pay attention. Chad is the CEO of thoughtbot, a consulting firm that makes web + mobile apps for early-stage startups. The two companies had been working together for a while, especially as both are deeply embedded within the Ruby on Rails developer community, with a strong following for their respective offerings.

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How to Get Funding from Billionaire Investor Mark Cuban and Other Stories

Up and Running

'Sometimes your business needs money fast. The question is, how do you get it when the traditional methods don’t work for you? Let’s be honest, when it comes to funding, it’s never as straightforward as business advisors, lenders, backers, and investors might have you think. And, if you’re a small business, it’s unlikely you can afford to pay someone to do all the legal research and nit-picky stuff that the big boys can.

Cofounder 137
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Why We’re Looking to Fund Stuff With More Meaning

Both Sides of the Table

'Venture Capital is a tricky industry. If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Far from it. Many questioned whether it could survive under the fail whale, inevitable competition from Facebook, founder fighting, fights with 3rd-party developers let alone be

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The evolution of early stage investing in the UK

The Equity Kicker

'I wrote the post below for Crowdcube , one of the UK’s leading equity crowdfuding sites. It went up on their blog yesterday. _. Two developments have changed the face of startup investing in the UK in recent years. The first development is increased capital efficiency. Entrepreneurs can now achieve an awful lot with very little money. We see this all the time at Forward Partners where we invest right from the idea stage and most of the companies get a first version of their product live

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Size Up Your Investors Before Accepting Their Money

Startup Professionals Musings

'Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.

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Never ask for "Just 5 Minutes!"

This is going to be BIG.

'A few weeks ago, I was talking with a founder that I backed and he was telling me how excited he was about his company. He said the path was so clear that he could literally see it--and that''s the way he''s always been since I met him. He has a quiet confidence and he''s excited to talk about his company--and he could go on and on if you let him. It''s a stark contrast to people who beg for "just five minutes" of my time.

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What are the most valuable recommendations in order to raise money from VCs connected via Gust?

Gust

'To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it. As such, the competition from an entrepreneur’s standpoint is very, very tough.

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Do You Have What It Takes to Provide Stand-out Customer Service?

Up and Running

'Almost all businesses have a customer-facing aspect to them. Restaurants have waiters and cashiers. Boutiques have shop assistants. Software companies have project managers, sales people, and sometimes whole customer service departments. Even B2B companies need a point-of-contact to provide solutions. Often, these employees will mean the difference between a company that is perceived in a positive light, and a company that appears not to care.

Customer 113
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Lessons from my first year at Version One

Version One Ventures

'Today marks my first full year in VC at Version One. Over this time, I have grown so much and am happy to report that being an investor is still very much aligned with my core values. As I reflect on the past year, I want to share what I have discovered about these 3 core values: learning, compassion, and freedom. Continuous learning. I believe that the more we know, the better our decisions are.

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So you’ve validated your startup idea. What next?

The Next Web

'Ariel Rosenthal is a co-founder at Xprt, a new startup looking to provide instant technical support and shopping advice from reliable and vetted experts. Working on startups for the last 10 years, I had some successes and some failures. Six months ago, I pulled the curtains on a startup I had dedicated years my life to, but today I am working on a new venture.

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Mentors 6/18: The Best Mentor Relationships Eventually Become Two-Way

Feld Thoughts

'I spent the day yesterday at the Disney Accelerator meeting with each of the teams and then had dinner with the CEOs and a lead mentor for each company. While I’m proud of all the Techstars programs, some of what I heard yesterday, especially around mentor engagement in the Disney program was remarkable. Our premise when we started doing branded accelerators with large companies was that we’d get deep mentor involvement from execs at the company we are partnering with.

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Twitter Link Roundup #235 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

'Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

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How and Why To Be an Angel Investor

David Teten

'Dave Kerpen, founder and CEO of Likeable Local , just published an interview with me on Linkedin, which I’ve included below. He’s the #1 LinkedIn Influencer of all time in page views, ahead of Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Mark Cuban, and President Barack Obama. Enter Dave: Angel investing is a great way to make a lot of money. It’s also a fast way to lose all your money.

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7 Bookkeeping Habits Every Entrepreneur Should Adopt

Up and Running

'Good bookkeeping is essential to keep your business thriving—not just surviving. Badly tracked finances can cause your business a world of problems—from poor cash flow to improper tax filings and beyond. These kinds of problems can put a young business at serious risk. Good bookkeeping habits, on the other hand, can help a business thrive—and not just survive.

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Quick & Dirty Innovation

Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

'Many companies started 2014 with the good intention of “getting after innovation” this year. Was that your organization? How’s that going? Are you jumping for joy or singing the blues? Some companies have worked hard and consistently at innovation all this year. They started the year running and got things done. Look at the slew of announcements Apple just made (to be fair the watch took years ).

Lean 112
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MeasrFood, a Smart Food Scale, Wins Intel’s Internet of Things Roadshow in Austin

SiliconHills

'By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Americans have a problem counting calories which contributes to skyrocketing rates of obesity, said Brad Hughes, software engineer at National Instruments. He thought Intel’s Internet of Things Hackathon might be a good place to tackle the problem. He pitched the idea of a smart food scale connected […] The post MeasrFood, a Smart Food Scale, Wins Intel’s Internet of Things Roadshow in Austin appeared first on SiliconHills.

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Why This SEO Veteran Is Joining the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network

Duct Tape Marketing

'Why This SEO Veteran Is Joining the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. It’s guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest post is from Phil Singleton – Enjoy! I recently enrolled in John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing Certified Consultant program.

SEO 73
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Twitter Link Roundup #236 – Small Business, Startups, Innovation, Social Media, Design, Marketing and More

crowdSPRING Blog

'Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

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How to Get World Class Experts to Support Your Company

David Teten

'As the former CEO of a professional expert network , I’m a firm believer in the value of speedy access to relevant experts. I was excited to see that GLG (formerly Gerson Lehrman Group), the industry leader, is now offering a professional network service geared to the needs of the startup community: GLG Share. When you’re looking for investors, advisors, introductions, and insight, you can get that information by attending conferences and cocktail parties, and hoping randomly that you find som

New York 114
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10 Tips for Finding Venture Funding

Up and Running

'How to find venture funding? I have to start with a major negative: if you have to ask if your startup can get venture capital, then it almost certainly can’t. Venture capital is a very rarified atmosphere of high-end startups and emerging businesses with experienced management teams, high potential growth, secret sauce, and so on. People without track records don’t get venture capital.

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Bad Notes on Venture Capital

Both Sides of the Table

'This week. On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Him: Yeah. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price? Him: It wasn’t priced. We raised a convertible note. Me: With a cap? Him: Yes, $8 million. Me: Ah. I see. So you did raise with a price. It’s just a maximum price. You’ll find out the minimum when the next round is raised.

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Modi and Ma

thebarefootvc

'The last 2 weeks were notable for the world’s two most populous countries. If there was any doubt that the 21st century will be “The Asian Century” Jack Ma and Narendra Modi, an unlikely pair, lay those doubts to rest. On September 19, Ma led Alibaba to the largest IPO in history, listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange.

India 85
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How to Add Serious Value to Your Online Community

Duct Tape Marketing

'How to Add Serious Value to Your Online Community written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. It’s guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest post is from Jamie Thomson – Enjoy! . photo credit: Flickr – Andrew Becraft. According to research carried out by social media experts, Socialnomics , 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, whereas only 14% trust advertisements.

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Hassos Dozen

deal architect

'Dr. Hasso Plattner has written a long blog post about Business Suite on HANA. He has 12 reasons justifying why. His passion for the product screams through the post. I wish he would make it a Baker’s dozen and add.

Cloud 355
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How To Think Like an Entrepreneur: the Inventure Cycle

Steve Blank

'The Lean Startup is a process for turning ideas into commercial ventures. Its premise is that startups begin with a series of untested hypotheses. They succeed by getting out of the building, testing those hypotheses and learning by iterating and refining minimal viable products in front of potential customers. That’s all well and good if you already have an idea.

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6 Expert Troubleshooting Tips to Improve Your Cash Flow

Up and Running

'To ensure your business’s success, remember that cash is king. Cash flow is king. It flows into your business from satisfied clients who pay your invoices, and it flows out as you pay employees, suppliers, and others who serve your business. And, if you play your cards right, some of that cash flows into your own pockets as a return on your investment in your business.

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Why Recruiting Isn’t Over When an Employee Accepts Your Offer

Both Sides of the Table

'Recruiting. It is the bane of every startups existence because it takes up so much time, it is so competitive to sign people and it feels like unproductive time because it’s not moving the ball forward on product, engineering, sales, marketing, biz dev, fund raising. It consumes time and energy and the payoff doesn’t come for a long time.

Employee 341