View from Seed
DECEMBER 8, 2015
Editor’s note: At a recent team meeting at NextView, we looked at the high number of startups we invested in which were pre-product at the time. The question arose: What is a seed VC’s process like when a company is pre-product? The below article answers that question. You can also find a graphic outlining Rob’s process in detail here.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 10, 2015
by Shawn Murphy, author of “ The Optimistic Workplace: Creating an Environment That Energizes Everyone “ To change the world through your work, you need to be grounded in beliefs that unleash human potential. After all, changing the world isn’t a solo endeavor. It takes a group of purpose-oriented people to shift realities. You could say it takes a rebellious mindset to even believe it’s possible to change the world.
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Version One Ventures
DECEMBER 7, 2015
We know that companies are successful (or not successful) because of their people. Over the past few years, it has become relatively acceptable to work with a leadership coach and investors typically have a handful of good coaches in their rolodex ready to support and develop young founders. Yet even with this rise in popularity, leadership development is still primarily limited to CEOs and select executives.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 6, 2015
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs seem to prefer to fail their way to the top, rather than do some research and learn from the successes and mistakes of others. It seems to be part of the “ fail fast, fail often ” mantra often heard in Silicon Valley. As an advisor to many startups, I’m convinced it’s an expensive and painful approach, but I do see it used all too often.
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
Up and Running
DECEMBER 8, 2015
Legal help can be really expensive. . But, it’s one of those things that, when done right, will save you more in the long run than what it cost you up front. Finding the right legal help will steer your company clear of potential lawsuits, saving your hard earned cash for other money-making endeavors. Anyone who has had the need for a lawyer understands the pinch of hiring competent legal help.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 8, 2015
by Emma Rosser of Publicize. A successful entrepreneur is one that disrupts, creates and innovates. This quality is inherent in all great leaders. Having a depth of knowledge in a selected field and the ability to shout about it allows entrepreneurs to differentiate themselves and their products. For a startup, being new to the scene this can be difficult.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 5, 2015
Building a successful startup is not a job for the Lone Ranger. Every entrepreneur must effectively collaborate with many people, including internal team members, partners, customers, and investors. Real collaboration requires leadership and initiative from the entrepreneur in order to drive the collaborative process and make the whole team better than the sum of its parts.
Hearpreneur
DECEMBER 5, 2015
Being in love is great. Being in love with your business, when you’re an entrepreneur, is even better. Waking up each morning knowing you are getting to do exactly what you love is more than most people could ever say about any “job” they have had. Although there are days when tossing in your hat seems like a viable option, remembering how much you love your “job” can quickly snap an entrepreneur out of that mentality.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 7, 2015
By David Kidd, Vice President of Governance, Risk & Compliance at Peak 10. In the aftermath of recent data breaches, two thirds of consumers say they don’t trust retailers with their payment and personal information. [1] But has pubic concern inspired action? According to the 2015 ISACA IT Risk/Reward Barometer the majority of U.S. consumers (89 percent) want employees with access to their personal information to be cyber-security certified, but only 64 percent of businesses feel confi
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
DECEMBER 8, 2015
Does it feel like everyone is working very hard, all the time, and yet not accomplishing as much as everyone would like? Maybe this is why. Suppose a web server is running at 50% of its full capacity. Browser traffic doesn’t arrive in regular, smooth amounts; it comes in spurts and occasionally large spikes. Because the server is under-utilized, when a spike arrives there are spare resource to deal with the increase.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 6, 2015
I came off of a few tough weeks at work. In part that’s why you’ve heard less from me recently. I had some good days and bad days like most of you. I had a very big negative surprise which I’ve mostly worked through but will take time. And I’ve had some good moments, too, for sure. But through all of this I’m always reminded that in tough times some people pull up their socks and help get the job done while others turn to being critics: Even some who don’t act
deal architect
DECEMBER 10, 2015
I started the year with voices of customers still ringing in my ear from interviews for SAP Nation. They were fretting that there were few operational, industry-specific applications in the cloud. Workday and other cloud vendors were missing out on.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 7, 2015
by Ajay Kapur, CEO and Founder of Moovweb. The holidays are approaching, and mobile is going to play a bigger role in eCommerce than ever before. Last year, mobile holiday shopping traffic surpassed desktop for the first time and retailers are expecting even higher mobile traffic this year. Below are six key mobile holiday shopping trends we’re seeing take shape for 2015: 1.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 8, 2015
This is the third in a series about the changing models of corporate innovation co-authored with Evangelos Simoudis. Evangelos and I are working on what we hope will become a book about the new model for corporate entrepreneurship. Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D and part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley. . —– Corporate Leadership’s Innovation Outpost Decision Process.
View from Seed
DECEMBER 10, 2015
You know that when someone is able to raise $55,000 on a Kickstarter campaign for potato salad , we have reached peak-crowdfunding craziness. But just because the campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo seem to be getting more absurd and less beneficial to both backers and startups doesn’t mean that crowdfunding — as a fundraising and market gauging mechanism — has become less effective.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 11, 2015
As an angel investor, I hear many entrepreneurs making negative comments about competitors or asserting they don’t have any competitors. They don’t realize that knocking competitors is assessed as a weakness and denying that you have any competition suggests there is no market for your solution. The smart approach is to find competitors to highlight your strengths.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 10, 2015
So you have decided to start a business. That is fantastic. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurship. Now you need to achieve your goal of getting the desired success from your startup venture. It may be a long road, but you want to make it as efficient and smooth as possible to reach your desired success. You already know that most startups fail within the first three years of business due to making mistakes that set them back to where they started or worse, into closure.
Brandanew
DECEMBER 11, 2015
In our ultimate storytelling guideline , we shared how storytelling began from pre-historic times. It is definitely not new. For marketers and business owners, storytelling helps you keep the audience glued to your brand and connect with them emotionally. Many tend to believe that storytelling skills are an exotic mumbo-jumbo that cannot be taught. But, the reality is, authentic brand storytelling is a trend for the future.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 10, 2015
Successful founders believe anything is possible but they build strong founding teams to achieve their startup dreams. Naivete and a shared vision are among the key markers for success, two social entrepreneurs said on the latest episode of Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111. Liz Powers. Joining me at the Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco were: Liz Powers , co-founder of ArtLifting , a for-profit online art gallery that features the work of homeless and d
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 9, 2015
One of the biggest challenges in any business, large or small, is overcoming the natural human preference for status quo , or fear of change. It means that most team members and executives alike have a natural tendency to prefer killing innovations rather than implementing them. Even customers, while they all want the next big thing, want it to happen with minimal new learning.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 10, 2015
By Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage co-founder and COO. As someone who has been involved in seven start-up businesses, I understand the challenges associated with finding business funding. Since co-founding Kabbage Inc. more than six years ago, I’ve been fortunate to play a role in supporting tens of thousands of entrepreneurs working to sustain and grow their businesses.
Brandanew
DECEMBER 9, 2015
There are old brand ads that we still love. But a very small number of global brands manage to withstand the test of time. For Startups these numbers are even more glaring. 90% of Startups fail. There are numerous brands that never take off. There are also brands that are hugely successful for a short while but do not adapt to the changing markets. This begs the question, is it possible to future proof your brand?
Rembrandt Communications
DECEMBER 11, 2015
Take a few hours to make changes that bring results It’s the peak of the holiday season, and your sales are flat. What can you do? Here are… 5 Fast Ways to Boost Holiday Sales with Content Marketing Now! 1. Review your site. Potential, new customers are visiting your site to find gifts. Do you […]. The post 5 Fast Ways to Boost Holiday Sales with Content Marketing Now!
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 7, 2015
According to several reliable reports , job satisfaction for employees is at an all-time low. An online survey published earlier this year found that nearly two-thirds of the respondents were not happy at work. One obvious alternative is to become an entrepreneur. As a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m often asked what it takes to switch and get real satisfaction from this lifestyle.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 11, 2015
by Heather Foley, consultant at etsplc.com. The holiday period can be a tricky time for any business. You may struggle to meet an increase in demand, customers may insist that you work to even tighter deadlines and your workforce may be running on minimal numbers, but nowhere are problems more evident than in the small business. A holiday time can impose pressures on a small business which may stretch it to breaking-point.
Brandanew
DECEMBER 7, 2015
As marketers, when we are in a hurry trying to create new, interesting content for our audience. We can sometimes forget how easy it is, nowadays, to take advantage of some great DIY content marketing tools. These really can take your content marketing efforts to the next level! . Today we’ll be talking about some free tools that you may not have heard about or may not have given the attention they deserve.
Gust
DECEMBER 6, 2015
Canada has not tapped its female angel investor potential – yet. The female angel investor conversation has been discussed inside and out. From TechCrunch, BetaKit to the Financial Post, there have been more than a few arguments made about the lack of female representation in Canada’s early-stage investment community and the benefits of tapping into this financial resource.
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 8, 2015
If you play tennis almost every day for five weeks you get a lot better. I’m back from what was an amazing sabbatical. Last year Amy and I went to Bora Bora. This year we went to Rancho Valencia – a tennis resort near San Diego. In addition to turning 50, I had an incredible mental, emotional, and physical reset. Two years ago, Seth, Jason, Ryan, and I decided that we would each take a month off the grid each year.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 6, 2015
by Monesh Shrivastava, content marketing manager at CloudBooks. Invoicing is an essential part of any business. Being a freelancer makes you your own boss. But you have to be your accountant also. The demands from different clients and the burden for perfection and hurry up may make you crack. Besides that if you have to prepare invoices for each of them with different fees and payment system separately?
For Entrepreneurs
DECEMBER 10, 2015
Overview The old formula that everyone uses for customer lifetime value (LTV)) –average gross profit per customer divided by churn – ceases to work properly when you have very long customer lifetimes and negative churn. LTV can become infinite, which clearly doesn’t reflect reality. This post offers a new way to calculate LTV based on discounted.
Up and Running
DECEMBER 10, 2015
Which path should you choose? Do what you know, or do what you love? It’s a polarizing question. Some entrepreneurs will tell you unequivocally that you should follow your heart, and start a business based around something you’re truly passionate about. Others will suggest that you look to the things you do well, and build a business based around your skills.
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 9, 2015
Over the years at Foundry Group we’ve built an extensive network of companies. While we’ve invested in some of these directly, this actually represents the smallest set of companies that we are involved with. We have also invested indirectly in many others through our investment in Techstars. Yet another, and much larger set of companies, come from our investments in other venture funds.
YoungUpstarts
DECEMBER 10, 2015
Whether you have an idea for a killer app or a vision of a better mousetrap, getting your idea for a new business from concept to actual income can take time and effort. Along the way it is natural to be concerned if your idea could be stolen or someone you tell it to could get the jump on you and invalidate all your hard work. But it is hard to develop any kind of viable business alone.
The Equity Kicker
DECEMBER 10, 2015
A post from Bryce Roberts, a VC with AlphaTech O’Reilly, titled You can never size a market in Excel has been doing the rounds this morning. His main point is that assessments of market size for early stage companies is largely instinctual. He makes three great points: Questions over market size are the single biggest killer of deals. Once doubts over market size set in they are very hard to overcome.
Mike Michalowicz
DECEMBER 7, 2015
Also Available On. Show Summary. Pizza Champion Michael Shepherd joins Mike Michalowicz, Chris Curran and Kristina Bolduc for Episode 57 of the Profit First Podcast! Michael talks about his experience in growing his pizza chain an how he managed business growth at a fast rate. Our Guest . M ichael Shepherd a 4 time World Pizza Champion, 3 Time U.S.
Up and Running
DECEMBER 9, 2015
Do you remember the last time you built a relationship with a brand during a commercial or a magazine ad? We don’t. Sure, it’s eye catching, you may crack a smile at its humor, but within seconds you turn the page or flip the channel and it’s completely forgotten about. These mediums are becoming saturated with stale content and repetitive visuals, and it’s becoming harder and harder to make a real and memorable connection.
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