Sat.Apr 05, 2014 - Fri.Apr 11, 2014

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Don’t Follow The Buzzwords For Small Business Technology

YoungUpstarts

'by Don Thomas Jacob, Head Geek at SolarWinds. Today’s technology landscape is littered with buzzwords and seemingly urgent exhortations for businesses: move to the cloud, spend time and money developing a mobile app, support mobility, and so on. They are also inundated with news of trendy tech gear and encouraged to spend on implementing big technologies such as BYOD or big data and associated IT infrastructure.

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How to Make Better Reference Calls

Both Sides of the Table

'Reference calls. We all have to make them. Whether you’re considering hiring a new employee or as an investor whether you’re looking to do a background check on the founders of a company. My friend Jason Hirschhorn Tweeted about this today. Here are some pointers that I’ve learned over the years: 1. Ask for at least 5 references. As your candidate for at least 5 references.

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How to manage talented people by not bossing them around

The Next Web

'Walter Chen is the founder and CEO of iDoneThis, the easiest way to share and celebrate what you get done at work, every day. On his downtime, he blogs about management, entrepreneurship, and happiness on the iDoneThis blog. Getting rid of managers may seem like just another tech trend, but much of the skepticism around going “bossless” or flat is due to misleading terminology.

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Team Member Competency Is Critical To Your Startup

Gust

'Image via Amazon.com. Most people think that the Peter Principle (employee rises to his level of incompetence) only applies to large organizations. Let me assure you that it is also alive and well within startups. I see startup founders and managers who are stalled transplants from large organizations, as well as highly-capable technologists trying to start and run a business for the first time.

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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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[Singapore] Local Telco StarHub To Launch Crowdfunding Platform Crowdtivate

YoungUpstarts

'Crowdfunding may be set to take off in a big way in Singapore as local telecommunications provider StarHub announced during Crowdsourcing Week that it is set to launch Crowdtivate , an open crowdfunding platform which entrepreneurs and creative professionals can seek funding and obtain financial contributions from supporters around the region via a funding system in return for specific rewards.

Singapore 243
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This is How Startups “Level Up” After Raising Money

Both Sides of the Table

'One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. I also see companies as they move from having taken $1-5 million from me to their next round where they raise $8-15 million from Series B investors and sometimes I lead at this round (we’re stage agnostic but 8

Startup 381

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5 Questions for a CEO: Jacqui Chew, iFusion Marketing

Jeff Hilimire

'This is the ninth installment of my “5 Questions for a CEO” series. The list so far: Raymond King , Zoo Atlanta. Devon Wijesinghe , Insightpool. Mark Feinberg , Uruut. Simms Jenkins , BrightWave Marketing. Rob Kischuk , PerfectPost. Kyle Porter , SalesLoft. Brett Jacobsen , Mount Vernon Presbyterian School. I’ve known Jacqui Chew for a long time and she’s easily one of the most dynamic people killing it in Atlanta today.

Atlanta 65
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[Review] Epson LabelWorks Pro 100

YoungUpstarts

'For small businesses, printing stickers can be a very expensive affair. You really only had three options : to outsource to a professional printer to get the job done, buy and use sticker labels for your existing printer, or buy a small stationery label printing machine to use. Going to the professionals provides the best results but at a cost; using your existing printer to print them up requires pricey consumables, and small label machines are limited to printing, well, small-sized labels at

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A Founder’s First Key Decision Is The Business Name

Startup Professionals Musings

'First things first – your startup needs a name! This may seem a silly and frivolous task, but it may be the most important decision you make. The name of your business has a tremendous impact on how customers and investors view you, and in today’s small world, it’s a world-wide decision. Please don’t send me any more business plans with TBD or NewCo in the title position.

Naming 294
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Let your customers do the talking

deal architect

'I get way too many PR pitches where I am offered to talk to an exec of a vendor or one of its partner firms. When I ask instead to speak to some customers the answer is some variation of.

Customer 321
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Mathematical vs. Economic Dilution of Startup Equity: Thinner Slices of an Extra-Large Pizza

Gust

'Back from a hiatus, it’s time to venture forward once more. I appreciated hearing from those who asked about upcoming posts. Thanks in particular to the reader who reminded me that Part II of “Bored” of Directors Can Become Clash of Titans is still in the queue. Let’s get right down to business: Dilution of founders’ and other early shareholders’ equity in startups is frequently a subject of intense interest and debate.

Dilution 162
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14 Things Your Employees Are Dying To Hear From You

YoungUpstarts

'by Todd Patkin, author of “ Finding Happiness “ What were your last 10 or 15 employee conversations like? Chances are, they included phrases like, “I need you to finish that projection by the end of the day,” or, “I’m putting you on the Brown account,” or, “How much longer do you think it’ll take to finish that PowerPoint the client requested?

Employee 212
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Can Startups Surf The Huge Information Tidal Wave?

Startup Professionals Musings

'A tidal wave of valuable data is surging from the Internet and connected devices today, and the volume is growing exponentially each year. It’s enough to drown any business which tries to fight it or ignore it, and it’s an opportunity to ride higher and faster than even the successes of Google and Facebook, for those startups that use it as their driving force.

Startup 247
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Its a small world after all

deal architect

'Innovation from around the globe Wagenstandanzeiger – a beauty of data visualization - Germany Daring New Buildings – Azerbaijan Microsoft and the Sochi Olympics – Russia Video Analytics Capital – Macau World Design Capital – S. Africa Innovation is GREAT.

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Why the best entrepreneurs and creators are humble

The Next Web

'Herbert Lui is the Creative Director of marketing agency Wonder Shuttle. He is the author of a guide to building credibility online. This post originally appeared on the Busy Building Things blog. In an age where social media runs rampant with humblebrags and constant barking, humility grows scarcer every day. While this trend may not appear to have any face value, it holds significant implications for your personal achievements, your team building and relationships, and a more realistic projec

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Three Basic Tips For Creating A Successful App

YoungUpstarts

'By Ashish Toshniwal, CEO of Y Media Labs. Apps remain the hottest trend in technology, with over one million available on each major platform and app downloads topping the 50 billion mark on both the App Store and Google Play. The competition is fierce, but if you can create an app that compels consumers to download it, use it, and tell their friends about it, the opportunities are virtually limitless.

Analytics 197
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Hard Questions Spark Breakthrough Business Thinking

Startup Professionals Musings

'The entrepreneurs I see are always talking about “disruptive innovation” ideas, but the plans I read are more often linear extensions of a current hot offering, like one more social network with the best of Facebook and Twitter, one more dating site dimension, or another “must-have” accessory for smartphones. Perhaps hard questions need to come before ideas, rather than after.

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Introducing our latest investment: Mattermark – Big Data Comes to VC

Version One Ventures

'Image via CrunchBase. Look across virtually any industry and you’ll see great examples where traditional spaces are being disrupted by software, access to data, and massive online communities. The net effect is powerful: it empowers all of us (no matter who we are or where we are) to learn more quickly, make better decisions, and operate more efficiently.

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What I learned in my first year as a female startup CEO

The Next Web

'Yunha Kim is the founder and CEO of Locket, a San Francisco-based startup that’s changing the way we use our lock screens. This post originally appeared on Kim’s Medium blog. What is it like to be a female in tech? I think the industry is really curious about this topic?—?almost so much so that we appear committed to proving how different (or perhaps difficult) it is to be a female CEO.

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Stop Fighting What You Don’t Love And Outsource The Nonessential

YoungUpstarts

'by Sean Broihier is the founder and CEO of Fine Art America and Pixels.com , As an entrepreneur, you’re probably used to wearing multiple hats and tackling all sorts of problems by yourself. Versatility and self-sufficiency are great traits for entrepreneurs, but once you start working on your business (rather than in it), you need to have the capacity to step back and oversee all of the moving parts, rather than let yourself get bogged down with technical support and answering the phone.

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Don’t Assume A Non-Profit Will Reduce Failure Risk

Startup Professionals Musings

'A common misconception I often hear in the startup world is that non-profits are easy and safe, since they don’t have to pay taxes, and they don’t have to make a profit for their shareholders. In reality, from the feedback I get from non-profit executives, exactly the opposite is true. Technically speaking, in the United States, a non-profit corporation or association is one which has been exempted from Federal income taxes by meeting the criteria set out Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

Africa 214
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How does equity dilution work for startups?

Gust

'Equity dilution works when the same pie is divided among more people. The Founder of a company starts by owning all the shares representing ownership of the company. Over time, other people receive pieces of equity in exchange for work (employee stock options), money (seed, angel and venture investors), services (attorneys, directors, etc.). Because the total percentage of equity will always equal exactly 100%, every time anyone gets another piece, by definition it “dilutes” all o

Dilution 150
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The Spotify effect: Why every company is now a data company

The Next Web

'Marius Moscovici is the founder and CEO of Metric Insights. After landing a $200 million credit line and acquiring music data platform The Echo Nest, Spotify is widely expected to announce its IPO in coming months. Spotify is a unique spin on the same fundamental formula that generated value for Netflix, Amazon, Groupon, Pandora and LinkedIn before it.

IPO 164
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Tempted To Buy Social Media Followers? Why Less Is More.

YoungUpstarts

'By Marsha Friedman, CEO of EMSI Public Relations and author of “ Celebritize Yourself ”. If you get spam emails, you’ve probably seen subject lines like this: “Buy followers for cheap!”. “Look more legit – Twitter followers $2.99 per 1,000”. Boosting your following on social media for just a few bucks can be tempting. Popularity increases perceived value, so a large audience conveys clout and credibility.

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How to Improve Your Content for the Search Engines… Fast

Rembrandt Communications

'3 No-Cost Ways to Get Noticed Online Improve your content to boost online awareness. As an entrepreneur, you know you need to build online awareness and get high rankings on the search engines. And, of course, there are hundreds of services out there ready to help you… from very expensive, full-services to consultants to do-it-yourself […].

Engineer 133
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Improv and Entrepreneurship – Playback Theatre West

Feld Thoughts

'I spent the last few days at CEO Bootcamp – Leadership Reboot. It’s run by my close friend Jerry Colonna with an awesome team of four. The next one is going to be in Tuscany, Italy from 6/4/14 – 6/8/14 and I expect it will be amazing. I encourage you to explore it and apply – the deadline for applications is 4/20/14. I arrived at Devil’s Thumb Ranch on Wednesday afternoon.

Italy 140
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5 ways technology has changed recruiting forever

The Next Web

'Franklin Morris is a senior writer for Rackspace. A recent CareerBuilder report finds that 77 percent of full-time workers are either looking for a new job or are open to a change this year. Candidates who haven’t applied in a couple years will quickly find that the rules are different. Anyone who still thinks dropping off a resume at the front desk is enough will have better luck uploading it to their MySpace page and rushing to the nearest pay phone to place a follow-up call.

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Business Insurance Is One Of The Most Valuable Things You Can Get

YoungUpstarts

'Being a business owner requires a lot of work and commitment. Once you have the foundations of your business up and running there is no room not to protect yourself from risks that you can negate. It is extremely important to cover yourself for the ‘what ifs’ that you may worry about. Why you need business insurance. There are many factors to consider within your business; whether it be customers, employees, your premises or assets.

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What is the best approach to get funding for my startup?

Gust

'When you create a profile on Gust, you immediately get emailed a link for a free download of Bill Payne’s excellent book “The Definitive Guide to Raising Money from Angels”, which is an excellent overview of the whole process. Good luck! *original post can be found on Quora @ [link] *.

Startup 140
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Massachusetts Has An Innovative Approach To Immigration Reform

Feld Thoughts

'Two big proposals from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today. First, he’s proposing to ban non-competition agreements. He’s also proposing an incredibly clever and innovative approach to immigration reform applicable only to Massachusetts. I lived in the Boston-area for twelve years (Cambridge for four years and Boston for eight years. ) Even though I often say that was 11 years and 364 days too many for my “non-big city, non-east coast” personality, Boston still ha

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3 things you need to know about making a marketing video convert

The Next Web

'Daniel Glickman is CMO of PowToon, an animated videos & presentations platform. In this brilliant digital era, consumers are watching more videos now than ever – in fact by 2016, the number of people who watch online videos is expected to reach 1.5 billion. Standing out in the crowd is remarkably difficult and growing harder by the minute. Analyzing data of 2 million videos created in a well-known platform, here are 3 facts that you need to know about using Videos to generate conversions i

Video 146
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[Infographic] How To Incorporate Diversity Into Your Recruitment Strategy

YoungUpstarts

'Many employers may focus their efforts on hiring a team with similar mentalities, educational histories, or skills knowledge. But a diverse team offers varying perspectives and a multitude of skillsets — often equating to better performance, a great brand image, and growth in an organization. Earlier we looked at how human resource practitioners could look at how to incorporate diversity in workplaces , and one of the best ways to do it is to start at the recruitment stage.

Matching 174
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The 5 Types of Employees You’ll Find on Your Startup Journey (and How to Manage Them)

Up and Running

'Several years ago, when I was just starting out as an entrepreneur, a friend introduced me to a concept he called “Serengeti Management.” His premise was that, as a new employer, I was going to have to deal with any number of different personalities, each represented by a creature you might find roaming the plains of East Africa. He was joking, of course—your employees aren’t a bunch of animals struggling for survival at a watering hole in Tanzania—but they sure will act like it sometimes.

Employee 140
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Q&A on Startups, DevOps, and Agile

Feld Thoughts

'Raj Bhargava (CEO of JumpCloud ) and I have been talking about how startups can leverage DevOps and Agile more. We created a conference on DevOps last year for our portfolio companies and it was a huge hit. DevOps is a movement that we are deeply interested in from multiple perspectives. It’s integral to almost all of the companies we invest in and many, especially in our Glue and Protocol themes, are DevOps driven companies.

Agile 131
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11 Web tools for controlling internal email chaos

The Next Web

'Whether your team works remotely or side by side, minimizing inessential inbox chaos is a constant challenge startups face. Luckily, there are now countless resources dedicated to fixing this very problem. (Actually asking people to stop emailing you doesn’t seem to be an option.) To find out which tools are the best bets for entrepreneurs who rely on email 24/7, I asked 11 founders from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question: What is your favorite Web tool for streamlining int

Web 146
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Keeping Employment Law In Check At Your Workplace

YoungUpstarts

'You always imagine a specific type of employer who doesn’t care about their workers – they’re cigar-chomping nutters with a white wife-beater shirt and a piercing laugh that erupts whenever one of his employees asks for time off work or, god forbid, a pay rise. The truth of the matter is that numerous employers don’t follow the law, too many for these cigar-chomping caricatures to be the sole perpetrators.

Employee 171