Sat.Jun 14, 2014 - Fri.Jun 20, 2014

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Why Lean May Save Your Life – The I-Corps @ NIH

Steve Blank

'Today the National Institutes of Health announced they are offering my Lean LaunchPad class ( I-Corps @ NIH ) to commercialize Life Science. There may come a day that one of these teams makes a drug, diagnostic or medical device that saves your life. —-. Over the last two and a half years the National Science Foundation I-Corps has taught over 300 teams of scientists how to commercialize their technology and how to fail less, increasing their odds for commercial success.

Lean 269
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10 Key Outsourcing Mistakes Made By Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

'These days, it is almost impossible to find a small business where everything is done at the home location, by full-time employees. We are in the age of outsourcing, by any of many popular names, including subcontracting, freelancing, and virtual assistants. These approaches allow your startup to grow more rapidly, save costs, but costly mistakes can lead to business failure.

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How early should you connect to a VC? Here's some data.

This is going to be BIG.

'How long does it take from first meeting a VC to getting cash in the bank? That''s an interesting question. Theoretically, someone could meet you, sign your document, and write you a check for deposit that day, but that''s not how it usually works. It''s also not the best way to create a helpful syndicate of investors that share the founder''s vision for the company.

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Om Malik on why valuations defy metrics

The Equity Kicker

'Yesterday Om Malik reminded us that predicting the future is hard. That’s true, but in the startup industry we have to do it every day. Both as investors and entrepreneurs. When companies attract high valuations their investors are predicting the future too – either that the business will trade in M&A at a ‘strategic multiple’ or that they will generate big cash flows.

Valuation 123
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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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Twitter Link Roundup #228 – 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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What do investors REALLY want?

Up and Running

'This week, begins the first in a series of question and answer posts. You ask a question related to starting a business and for the next few weeks, every Monday, we will provide the answer. Simply leave a comment below or get in touch on any of our social media accounts – Twitter , Google+ and Facebook. QUESTION: Should I send out market research surveys prior to approaching an investor?

More Trending

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When Third is First

thebarefootvc

'In 2011, I wrote about Jugaad, according to Wikipedia “a colloquial Hindi word that can mean an innovative fix or a simple work-around”. I noted in the blog post that Jugaad is “now an acceptable management technique…and also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders”. Resource scarcity leads to innovation — as those of us who have lived and worked in the developing world are acutely aware.

Africa 106
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Find your champion.

Berkonomics

'If you seek funds from an organized investment group such as an angel fund, venture capital entity, or even an investment club, the first thing you want to do is to find one person to buy into your vision, become excited by your enthusiasm and be willing to become the internal champion for your fund-raising effort. In some groups, if you cannot find such a person, you cannot even find the way to apply for funding, as some groups make it imperative that any introductions come from the inside, fr

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Has The Bar For Series A Changed?

Rob Go

'(Note: The majority of this post first ran on BetaBoston. This version goes a little deeper into some of my more nuanced thoughts). There has been a lot of discussion recently about the bar required to raise a series A. A few notable excerpts: Kyle Alspach’s commentary on seed and series A at BetaBoston; Brad Feld’s tweet a few weeks ago that “$100k MRR [monthly recurring revenue] used to be interesting.

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Why I Doubled Down on YouTube Investments with MiTú

Both Sides of the Table

'Yesterday MiTú Networks announced that Upfront Ventures led a $10 million financing in what is now the largest producer of Latino online videos – primarily driven through YouTube. As you may know we co-lead the first round of financing of Maker Studios, the largest overall producer for online video content, along with Greycroft Partners. I was an early and tireless advocate for the growth of the Internet video ecosystem and as virtually every article I wrote made clear I believe the 800-

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High Performing Virtual Teams Have 8 Key Attributes

Startup Professionals Musings

'Almost every startup is a virtual team these days, since most don’t start out with dedicated office space, and some or all members of the team work part-time or out of their own home. It’s a small world, so these team members may not even be in the same town, or the same country. Outsourcing is just another extension of the virtual team concept to people you don’t even know.

Global 252
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Do You Understand Contactless Payment?

YoungUpstarts

'by Andy Macauley, Chief Operating Officer and Director of merchant services company, Handepay. The way we work and the way we pay are all changing thanks to new technology. No matter what business you run, your customers will expect to be able to pay you in a variety of new and different ways. Contactless payment is one method that has really taken off in the last 12 months.

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When Third is First

thebarefootvc

In 2011, I wrote about Jugaad, according to Wikipedia “a colloquial Hindi word that can mean an innovative fix or a simple work-around”. I noted in the blog post that Jugaad is “now an acceptable management technique…and also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders”. Resource scarcity leads to innovation — as those of us who have lived and worked in the developing world are acutely aware.

Africa 40
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After Failure, What’s Next?

Feld Thoughts

'Recently, I wrote a post titled After Your First Big Success, What’s Next? The comment thread was powerful and fascinating, as was the direct email feedback I got, including the following note: “I think it would be interesting to hear your perspective on how an entrepreneur should approach “what’s next” after coming off a failed business.

IPO 195
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Tough Competitors Are Your Best Strategic Partners

Startup Professionals Musings

'Entrepreneurs seem to have blinders on when looking at competitors. Generally they are so focused on killing competitors that they fail to see the positive potential of a strategic partnership or some other type of collaborative relationship. Sometimes you have to put aside the emotion and the passion, and just look at what is best for your business.

Partner 244
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Elon Musk Makes Right Decision Over Tesla Patents

YoungUpstarts

'By Topher Morrison, author of “ Collaboration Economy: Eliminate the Competition by Creating Partnership Opportunities ”. Tesla Motors announced yesterday it has opened its patent portfolio in hopes of encouraging other companies to create new electric vehicles. In a blog post, CEO Elon Musk said this was done “In the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

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How True Entrepreneurs Make Themselves Accountable

Gust

'Image via Wikipedia. Everyone seems to like the aspect of being an entrepreneur that goes with “being your own boss” and “able to do things my way.” But sometimes they forget that this kind of freedom comes with a price of personal accountability. Accountability means “the buck stops here,” and “all the failures are mine.”. Too many people seem to do whatever it takes to avoid accountability, both before and after the fact.

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How to become a confident public speaker

The Next Web

'Matthew Capala is the author of “Away with the Average,” an NYU Professor, and Founder of SearchDecoder.com. This post originally appeared on Matthew’s Medium blog. I lived in Poland until the age of 23. I moved to New York 10 years ago, where I’ve led several lives: construction worker, scaffold operator, waiter, office manager, digital marketer, consultant, corporate trainer, entrepreneur, professional speaker, professor and executive.

Poland 166
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3 Tips to Find a Good Publicist

Rembrandt Communications

'Get the content and publicity results you really want! Recently, I talked to several entrepreneurs who were “ripped off” by large agencies. They were promised big results and ended up wasting time and money. Has this happened to you? If so, here are a few tips to help you find good, PR people who will […].

PR 138
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The New Brainstorming: Six Principles To Redeem Group Ideation

YoungUpstarts

'by Stephanie Gioia, Director of Consulting at XPLANE. “Brainstorming” is a dirty word these days. It conjures up images of people shouting out ideas, getting hit by unreliable bolts of “a-ha” lightning, and touchy-feely groupthink. We know that the original tenants of brainstorming, developed by Alex Osborn in the 1940s, were somewhat flawed. Social scientists and researchers can point to concepts like free riding, groupthink, framing and anchoring as detrimental to the creative process.

Portland 189
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The Opportunity / Growth Fund Trend

Feld Thoughts

'With yesterday’s announcement that early-stage VC Greycroft has raised a $200 million growth fund , this type of fund has officially become a trend. But before we dig into the dynamics of it, let’s pay homage to the originator of this concept, Union Square Ventures. In January 2011, USV raised what I believe was the first “opportunity fund.” Prior to this, plenty of VC firms invested across the early stage to late stage spectrum from the same fund (e.g.

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Our 3 favorite startups from the Microsoft Ventures Global Startup Day

The Next Web

'Everyone has an accelerator nowadays and Microsoft is no different. At its Global Startup Day event in San Francisco today, the company that Windows built put 11 companies on stage to present their company for VCs, journalists and analysts. General Manager of Microsoft Ventures, Rahul Sood took the stage and talked about mentoring companies from around the world to bring “creativity, engineering and business together.

Global 166
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Do you have to be tech savvy to start a business these days?

Gust

'It depends on how you define “tech savvy”: The appropriate analogy would be to ask if you need to be “auto savvy” If the question is “do I need to know how to drive a car, be comfortable fueling my vehicle at a gas station, and understand the difference between a sports car, an SUV, a panel van and a semi-trailer?”, the answer is an absolute yes.

API 133
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10 Steps To Creating Your First Product

YoungUpstarts

'by Eran Weinberg, founder and CEO of the personalized health and wellness platform Liv360. Let’s face it – your first product will most likely fail. Creating a successful product or service is about constantly prototyping, tweaking, refining, making mistakes, learning, and repeating. That might sound like a chaotic mess, but there’s a process behind it – one that can be applied not only to your first product, but to your first startup, website, or small business.

Product 187
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The Business of Who Makes is Changing

This is going to be BIG.

'The 1970''s was a boom for minicomputers. Minicomputers were "midrange" machines that were used in all sorts of industrial applications--manufacturing process control, telephone switching and to control laboratory equipment. " In the 1970s, they were the hardware that was used to launch the computer-aided design (CAD) industry ," according to Wikipedia.

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The ultimate guide to bootstrapping hardware startups

The Next Web

'Adam Benzion founded Entirely, a network for hardware startups. A Microsoft alumni and a hardware entrepreneur, Adam also moderates The Hardware Startup group on LinkedIn. In 2010, I started an exploration project based on a common hardware problem: short battery life in mobile devices. Together with my co-founder, we kicked off a 20 months adventure with two major aspirations: develop smarter charging technology that increases energy efficiency by 30 percent ahead of existing products, as well

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How often do investors take a meeting with companies that they have rejected when the company was in its early stages?

Gust

'It happens, but it’s not typical, given their limited time and the large number of companies they need to process in order to find the “keepers” Things that increase their likelihood of being open to another meeting after having previously passed on an investment: A case where the entrepreneur was specifically asked to “come back after they have more traction.” A major, public, positive event affecting the company.

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Small Business Owners: Top Tips For How To Compete In A Digital World

YoungUpstarts

'By Lance Brown, VP of Product Development at Huzzah Media , provider of innovative digital solutions for small businesses. With today’s consumers always on the go, it’s more imperative than ever for small businesses to engage with their customers on a more frequent basis – since many of their big box counterparts are already doing so. However, 7 out of 10 small business owners say time and cost restraints prohibit them from improving their online presence, according to a new study from Hu

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Growing wealth inequality should be addressed now

The Equity Kicker

'In my news feeds today I read that twice as many British households are in poverty as 30 years ago and saw Alex Payne’s letter to Marc Andreessen which calls b t on the assumption that tech development will solve our social problems. I couldn’t agree more. As well as being plain wrong from an ethical perspective growing wealth inequality will ultimately undermine economic growth.

Global 129
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Creating customers for life: 50 resources on loyalty, churn and customer retention

The Next Web

'Gregory Ciotti is the marketing director at Help Scout. This post originally appeared on the Helpscout blog. Earning customer loyalty is an uphill battle, but it is always worth the effort. You’ve seen the data: the Harvard Business School report that showcased how, on average, increasing customer retention rates by 5 percent increases profits by 25 percent to 95 percent.

Retention 158
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Finally, A Social Media Marketing Strategy That Puts You Right In The Middle Of Your Target Market

ConversionXL

'Most conversation about social media strategy sucks. Write compelling headlines, use interesting photos, follow “influencers” Pfffft… what a crock of s**t. I’m going to blow the doors wide open on why most social media marketing strategies are garbage & why even the halfway decent ones still aren’t nearly as effective as they could be.

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Choosing An Accelerator That Fits Like A Glove – 5 Questions To Ask

YoungUpstarts

'By Elton Rivas, co-founder of KYN. Starting a company a few years ago was a lonely enterprise. The path was simple, yet fairly indirect and organic. It started with an entrepreneur with an idea for a new product or service gathering funds from personal savings, obtaining money from a friends and family round and soliciting help from anyone and everyone to get the idea off the ground.

Cofounder 171
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4 Things Game of Thrones Can Teach You About Business

Up and Running

'The hit HBO show “Game of Thrones,” which has fans enthralled over the fight for the Iron Throne, averages 14.2 million viewers per episode, and has been lauded as the network’s most popular show ever. With a growing cast of 250+ actors, “Game of Thrones” costs about $50-60 million to produce each season, and is now airing in 75 countries.

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How to value and nurture your local coworking community

The Next Web

'Ramon Suarez is the founder of Betacowork. His latest work, “The Coworking Handbook,” is a guide for company owners and managers. Below is an excerpt from the chapter about growing your community. We all have a different definition of community. Community is an elastic concept, like so many others in the world of coworking. The community of coworkers (of which you are part of as an operator) is what makes a coworking space sustainable in the long term and what brings more value to the coworkers

Community 157
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Finally, A Social Media Marketing Strategy That Puts You Right In The Middle Of Your Target Market

ConversionXL

'Most conversation about social media strategy sucks. Write compelling headlines, use interesting photos, follow “influencers” Pfffft… what a crock of s**t. I’m going to blow the doors wide open on why most social media marketing strategies are garbage & why even the halfway decent ones still aren’t nearly as effective as they could be.

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These Five Characteristics Will Help You Be A Successful Entrepreneur

YoungUpstarts

'by Ronn Cordova, VP of Franchise Development at The Maids. There’s no such thing as overnight success, but what does it take to be an effective entrepreneur? The Maids®, the residential cleaning company that stands out from competitors, remains a model for the franchising industry, in part, because of the extensive training it provides franchisees.