Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'In my last post I pointed out that many of the media commentators who have criticized the YouTube video network companies as not having strong businesses were mistaken. The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'I can always tell when one of my students has been in the military. They’re focused, they’re world-wise past their years, and they don’t break a sweat in the fast pace and chaotic nature of the class and entrepreneurship. Todd Branchflower took my Lean LaunchPad class having been entrepreneurial enough to convince the Air Force send him to Stanford to get his graduate engineering degree.

Lean 262

Lean Technical Review Acquisition Software Review 262

Version One Ventures

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'A key investment thesis here at Version One is that we like to invest in companies that “sell to many” over companies that “sell to few.” This preference isn’t necessarily due to market size, but rather the structure of the market: are there only a few dozen customers that might buy your product or are there thousands, or even tens of thousands of potential customers?

Fractional CTO 154

Fractional CTO Software Review Viral Sales Cycle 154

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

'Paul Jozefak, co-founder and managing director of innovation laboratory Liquid Labs , argues that outsourcing innovation will become a mainstream business practice and a key driver of growth, specifically in the tech sector. While he clearly has a business interest in companies outsourcing their innovation, we feel it’s an argument worth noting. Innovation within large corporations is often slow and ineffective.

Matching 152

Matching Cofounder Software Developers Software Development 152

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

Startup

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'By Robert L. Dilenschneider, author of “ A Briefing for Leaders: Communication As the Ultimate Exercise of Power “ There are many fine values, such as courtesy, confidence, ingenuity, thrift, and so on. The trouble is that the list of values grows easily and can cause many employees to lose their focus. They fail to prioritize. A “short list” of values is far more useful in putting the workplace back on track.

Technical Review 178

Technical Review United States Washington New York City 178

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'Sixty percent of small business owners and managers say their biggest human resources challenge is finding skilled talent. Heavy competition for workers with specialized skills doubles the difficulty budget crunches impose on recruiters. Some companies with deep pockets are offering generous transition packages to lure workers away from competitors.

Small Business 135

Small Business Software Review Hiring Database 135

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

'Daniel Jacobson ( Twitter | LinkedIn ), is currently director of engineering for the Netflix API. Prior to Netflix, Daniel ran application development for NPR where, among other things, he created the NPR API. He is also the co-author of APIs: A Strategy Guide. “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

API 135

API Audience Dividend Programming 135

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'by Mitchell Rigie and Keith Harmeyer, authors of “ Smartstorming: The Game-Changing Process for Generating Bigger, Better Ideas “ “There’s no such thing as a bad idea!”. Whether you’re in advertising, sales, HR, or just slaving away in the back cubicle, at some point you’ve probably been involved in a brainstorming session where someone has uttered those brave words.

Advertising 133

Advertising Leadership Developer Campaign 133

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'There is nothing quite so exciting to an entrepreneur as starting a new business venture or expanding an existing one. Following your passion and knowing that the success or failure of your business is on your shoulders alone is a great way to start each and every day. Unfortunately, business requires capital, which means you may need a business loan.

Small Business 112

Small Business Small Business Administration Finance Forecast 112

Diego Basch

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

'For some reason many people discuss the problem of estimating software development timeframes without properly understanding the issue. There is a famous answer on Quora that exemplifies this. Lots of people like that story, even though it’s inaccurate and misguided. “Software development” is such a huge endeavor that it doesn’t even make sense to talk about estimates without an understanding of the kinds of problems software can solve.

Software Developers 78

Software Developers Software Development Software Developer 78

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

'One of the great challenges in leading teams is creating an atmosphere where people work together efficiently, collaborate effectively and, and respect one another. On countless occasions meetings can devolve into spitting matches or personal clashes which lead to bad decisions, poor relationships, and weaker teams. Improv comedy provides some great rules and a strong framework for developing a positive atmosphere for teamwork, collaboration, and productivity.

Framework 85

Framework Small Business Partner Leadership 85

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

'For much of 2013 I watched the press write articles about how the YouTube “MCNs” (multi-channel networks) were doomed and tried to square that with the data I was watching at the one I invested in, Maker Studios, who has had one hell of a year. Maker announced it has raised $62 million this year, acquired an amazing off-YouTube distribution network and grown its business in monetary terms by almost 300% year-over-year off of an already large base.

Networking 366

Networking Media Distribution Video 366

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'Best-practices for conducting retail business continue to evolve as new technology develops. Business owners have seen the benefits of establishing online stores together with their brick-and-mortar storefronts, and a growing number of new entrepreneurs start out with an online store and skip the brick-and-mortar thing altogether. This is where dropshipping comes in.

Stock 67

Stock Technical Review Operations Reputation 67

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'Many enterprise vendors and customers view mobile UI as just another more convenient portal to their back end processes. A growing number of companies are, however, building “rich” mobile apps to get more face time with their customers and even.

Mobile 339

Mobile Technology Customer 339

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

'All true entrepreneurs operate off a set of tenets that are built into their psyche, or drilled into them from training and mentors. These are represented by sayings like “You never get anywhere unless you take a chance” and “Passion and persistence are the keys to success,” Unfortunately, there are still other old, reliable tenets that don’t work anymore.

Entrepreneur 259

Entrepreneur Design Operations Customer 259

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'Six months ago Upfront Ventures announced its first Partner hire since 2007 – Greg Bettinelli. I wrote about him here. More importantly, he has just announced his first investment – he led a $7 million investment in Deliv – please read about it on Greg’s spiffy new blog. It’s been a really exciting time for me personally to be able to see a partner come in with the energy, enthusiasm and new ideas that remind me of myself 6 years ago.

B2B 331

B2B eCommerce B2C Differentiation 331

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'The recession is hitting the economy hard, and a study is finding that it’s impacting attitudes on entrepreneurship quite differently across different generations. According to a recent American Express OPEN® Ages Survey, Generation Y entrepreneurs are actually more risk adverse after experiencing their first-ever economic downturn (just 56% say they like taking risks, down from 72% in 2007), while those from the Baby Boomer generation’s appetite for risk have remained somewhat unch

Channel 231

Channel Finance Revenue Small Business 231

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'In a world where we are bombarded with a relentless stream of emails, slides, webinars, it is so nice to get a crisp, rapid update on product “delta” In April, I wrote “There is something very reassuring when Stan Swete, Cloud Computing, SaaS'

Cloud 247

Cloud Email Product 247

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'An underutilized, but valuable resource, every startup should investigate is a formal or informal connection to your alma mater, including any local university. These resources are definitely not limited to students, since every university seeks out and needs the real world exposure and experience of entrepreneurs who already are active in the real world marketplace.

Arizona 239

Arizona Phoenix Intellectual Property Incubator 239

Rembrandt Communications

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'Tips to boost online awareness fast without spending a fortune Yes, Google just announced that links in your press releases should be marked as “no follow” in order to avoid negative rankings by the search engine. However, that doesn’t mean you should stop announcing valuable news and information online. Google and the other search engines […].

SEO 217

SEO Public Relations PR Engineer 217

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'by Mitch Wainer, CMO of DigitalOcean. In the past, expanding your technological reach required heavy financial investment, expert planning, and significant time away from the actual running of your business. For many companies, cloud providers have taken the pain out of the traditional hosting model. Cloud computing offers many compelling advantages that can be game-changers, a few of which are discussed below. 1.

Cloud 212

Cloud New York City Agile New York 212

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'Oracle has shared some of the factoids behind the giant event which starts Sunday. What a logistical feat! Expecting 60,000 attendees and more than 2.1 million viewers online ( btw, they are showcasing a People Counter at the event -.

246

246

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'Businesses always seem to take longer to succeed than an entrepreneur expects. Seth Godin once said that overnight success in startups takes about six years, and Seth is an optimist. Thus we all look for shortcuts. Execution shortcuts would be hidden strategies to achieve the endgame sooner, without losing 40 to 60 percent of the financial potential along the way.

Demand 236

Demand Entrepreneur Startup Product 236

Rembrandt Communications

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

'What is your landing page saying? You spent all of that time and effort, and probably a good amount of money, to get people to your site via search engine optimization (SEO) and public relations (PR), but are people clicking on your links and buying your products and services? If not, you are wasting […].

PR 174

PR SEO Public Relations Web 174

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'by Melissa Page. If you’re running a small business, you need to be on top of legal basics to make your business successful. To make sure you don’t encounter any nasty surprises, here are the common legal issues behind running a small business you should be familiar with: Contracts. A business operation entails many transactions and agreements that should be recorded in written form.

Small Business 207

Small Business Intellectual Property Covenant IP 207

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'Readers of this blog know I have been cataloging massive changes in outsourcing for the last few years – many new entrants driven by mobile, social, cloud technologies; changing business models to non-linear, usage and outcome based; changes in delivery.

Offshore 191

Offshore Cloud Business Model Mobile 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'Even though the world is getting smaller, due to easy global connectivity, people still feel alone if not well-connected locally. There is also more going on in every location, so this personal need and super sensitivity to the local community has spawned a new breed of Internet startups, called “hyperlocal.” The term first appeared at least five years ago, but the model is now very common.

Finder 210

Finder Curation Seattle Community 210

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, including those working abroad, often have to retool Lean Startup methods to apply them in places with very different business cultures. On September 24 in the U.S. (September 25 in Asia), international Lean Startup experts Kevin Dewalt , Takashi Tsutsumi and Justin Wilcox will meet for a webcast to compare notes and hash out solutions.

Silicon Valley 168

Silicon Valley Lean Puerto Rico Japan 168

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

'For some obscure reason, people are suddenly starting to realize the dangers of posting too much information on their social media platforms, especially when it comes to oversharing photos of their children online. But the trouble is, with nuclear families and various other assorted family relations getting scattered all across the world, there needs a better way for us to stay in touch.

Networking 207

Networking Social Network United States Canada 207

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'People scratched their heads when Marc Benioff started talking about the “Customer Company”. Having written a few guest posts for their blog in the last few months (see some linked below), I have been exposed to the wide range of.

Customer 191

Customer Cloud 191

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'Today, my partners at Foundry Group and I are contributing $100,000 to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to help with the Boulder Flood Relief Effort. This is our second gift to the EFCO – we previously contributed a portion of our carry across all of our funds. The floods in Boulder and the surrounding area the past week have been devastating.

Community 161

Community Colorado Angel Investor Equity 161

Mike Michalowicz

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

'Ask any small business owner how business is going and they will tell you how it has been the last week or two. Maybe even the last month. Business will either “suck” or be “awesome,” based on what happened yesterday. Small business owners suffer from the influence of recency. In short, humans (you are one of them, Bucko) put a disproportionate significance on the most recent events.

Cloud 136

Cloud Small Business Conversion Management 136

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

'Nothing is more magical than appreciation and recognition and these are the driving forces for any employee working in an organization. The working class needs appreciation, and it is how employers can show their employees the concern towards them. It is a morale booster for employees as they would be certainly more involved if they believe their superiors acknowledge and appreciate their efforts.

Employee 197

Employee Leadership Naming Developer 197

deal architect

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

'Inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s travels, innovations from various parts of the world we don’t usually expect innovation from Wushu Painting – Malaysia High-tech camel racing – UAE Global Video Blogger – Dennis Howlett Wi-fi Hopping – Zambia Raspberry Pi -.

Zambia 191

Zambia UAE Malaysia Global 191

Feld Thoughts

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

'I love being involved in magical stuff. One of our portfolio companies, Occipital , just announced their newest product, the Structure Sensor. It’s available for purchase right now on Kickstarter – they blew through their $100k goal in the first four hours of being up. But this is a “show don’t tell” classic, so take a look at the video below and prepare to have your mind blown.

Mobile 158

Mobile Portfolio Video Product 158

Mike Michalowicz

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

'The riches are in the niches. But, how do you know which niche you should be serving? How do you know which community is right for you? Here are three simple steps to instantly finding your niche: 1. Past Thrills. – Look back at your life and think about times when you were thrilled helping others. When you get joy from helping someone else and the joy is more important than anything else, you are serving others in a way that connects with your passion and purpose.

Community 132

Community Customer Entrepreneur Marketing 132