Sat.Nov 07, 2015 - Fri.Nov 13, 2015

article thumbnail

10 Ways To Make A BAD First Impression On 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.

article thumbnail

Entrepreneurs are Everywhere Show No. 10: Reetu Gupta and Mandela Schumacher-Hodge

Steve Blank

A startup is not a part-time activity. Trying to do a startup while keeping your day job may doom you to failure. So will failing to understand your customers. Successful founders have a laser-like focus and commitment; a keen understanding of customers’ needs; and a tenacious spirit, said the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 111.

Cofounder 200
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

How To Prevent Your Startup Website From Being An Embarrassment

YoungUpstarts

So you either have a website right now or you’re thinking about putting one together. Perfect, except you need to make sure it fits the bill first. It needs to look good, work well, and most importantly, it needs to actually be live so the world can see it. Don’t let this stop you from actually putting your site out there and telling the world about your startup though.

Hosting 133
article thumbnail

If You Want To Start a Business Start Here

Up and Running

At Palo Alto Software, I am surrounded by entrepreneurs. Our LivePlan customers are entrepreneurs, our founder and staff have run and sold companies, the Bplans readers are aspiring entrepreneurs (or actual entrepreneurs), and as I sell my own handmade jewelry, I like to think I have a very small claim to the title. That said, there are still plenty of us, myself included, who do not feel ready to take the plunge and start a full-time business, and it’s not for lack of wanting to.

Curation 100
article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

Good, cheap, fast. Pick any two.

Berkonomics

This one is attributed to Rod Adair, the famous oil and gas fire suppressing expert. And boy, does it apply to most of us and our offerings. “Quality” products and services should not be positioned as “cheap,” or your potential customers will question your message from the start, and will be more critical of the delivered product than if offered as one or the other, but not both.

article thumbnail

Should You Optimize for Micro-Conversions?

ConversionXL

If we’re supposed to optimize what’s closest to the money, what is the value in optimizing for micro-conversions? Many blog posts have espoused this as a way to incrementally increase revenue and final conversions, but does tweaking stuff unrelated to purchase actually assist your bigger goals? There are many different opinions on this question. What Are Micro-Conversions?

More Trending

article thumbnail

How to Start a Successful Dental Practice

Up and Running

If your future career involves dentistry, you’re in luck—there are a growing number of opportunities for dentists. While routine services like cleanings and filling cavities are always in demand, new research shows a growing number of people are interested in cosmetic dentistry, such as whitening services and implants. As demand grows, so does the annual salary.

article thumbnail

Hasso: its as simple as A,B,C

deal architect

Dear Dr. Plattner: I read your latest rant about Oracle and I felt vindicated in writing in SAP Nation that Oracle is Moby Dick to SAP’s Ahab. You are obsessed with that whale – in the past you would complain.

Software 306
article thumbnail

Innovation vs. Execution

SVPG

In my last article I discussed how we need to simultaneously learn fast in product discovery, yet still release with confidence in product delivery. I got a very good response from this article, as well as many questions as to how teams can get better at one or both. This quickly gets into a very deep discussion of culture. You can think of this as the characteristics of a strong innovation culture, versus those of a strong execution culture.

Lean 62
article thumbnail

Startup Competition Slides: A Common Red Flag in Pitches

View from Seed

Guess what is often the worst slide in an investor pitch deck ? For me, it’s the competition slide. At best, it’s a list of competitors plotted in some 2×2 or Harvey-ball chart that isn’t terribly helpful. At worst, it’s hurtful. You’d be surprised how often a competitor slide has tons of players but not the one that I end up thinking the most about after a bit of research.

article thumbnail

The Top 4 Wrong Reasons to Seek Investors

Startup Professionals Musings

A popular myth these days is that successful entrepreneurs must attract investors to get their businesses going, when the reality has been that more than 80 percent of new businesses are started and grown with no outside investment at all. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that too much money can undermine a startup more quickly than squeezing pennies.

article thumbnail

Inviting input to my new project

deal architect

Over the last few weeks, I have started work on a research project, which should turn into several blogs and may be even a book. I am examining how automation - robotics, machine learning, wearables, drones etc - is changing.

article thumbnail

10 Storytelling Festivals You Must Attend in 2016

Brandanew

We are storytelling animals. And so, before you ask yourself what can storytelling offer to your business, think back on what you engage with as a person. Looking at the hundreds of thousands of years of storytelling history, we can see how storytelling has evolved. And there have been changes in businesses storytelling as well. What began with small brochures , television ads to very sophisticated content marketing strategies, we’ve come a long way.

article thumbnail

5 Mistakes That Can Cost You On Small Business Saturday

YoungUpstarts

By Evan Singer, General Manager for SmartBiz. Bye bye Black Friday. The big day for small business owners is November 28th this year. Launched in 2010, American Express Small Business Saturday has become an annual tradition celebrating independent retailers. It’s a great way for small local businesses to compete with larger companies for holiday dollars.

article thumbnail

8 Ways To Enhance Your Work Performance With Focus

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur and most professionals wish there were more hours in a day to get their work done. These days, with all the new technology, including smartphones and social media, many are convinced that multi-tasking is the answer. Yet there is more and more evidence that jumping tasks on every alert for a new email, text, or phone call actually decreases overall productivity.

article thumbnail

He who dies with the most tweets wins?

deal architect

I moderated a panel at Oracle OpenWorld. Chris Leone of Oracle introduced me to the audience as an author. My OOW registration badge said “independent analyst”. Most of my clients call me an adviser. I travel in many circles and.

Audience 214
article thumbnail

3 Reasons Your Corporate Blogs Are Not Working And How You Can Improve

Brandanew

82 percent consumers like reading company blogs. 70 percent consumers learn about a company through articles rather than adverts. You already know it. And yet, your corporate blogs seem to be generating none of the benefits that you expected. Why is that? Today I will list out the top three reasons why your corporate blogs are not working. Also read further for how you can improve the situation and create some brand magic!

article thumbnail

Top 3 Tips On Managing Virtual Teams

YoungUpstarts

by Sebastien Boyer, Director of Products at Nutcache. With businesses expanding and going global, working virtually with teams operating from different geographies is becoming more and more common. But it is easy for ideas and work to get scattered in the virtual world. One question that immediately comes to mind is how a manager is going to keep track of such teams and their activities?

article thumbnail

4 Communication Hacks to Entice Customers

Startup Professionals Musings

Entrepreneurship is more about building a business than inventing a product. It’s more about the quality of the execution, rather than the quality of the idea. Most importantly, it’s more about being a proactive leader who connects to customers and the team deeply, rather than a bright light that struggles to be seen amidst the glare of a million other bright lights.

Customer 203
article thumbnail

Amazon holiday promotion for my books

deal architect

Hard to believe but Amazon tells me some of you have still not read my books. Shocking The good news is with Thanksgiving and the December holidays coming up Amazon is discounting the Kindle copies of SAP Nation and SAP.

207
207
article thumbnail

How To Get Perfect Pictures For Your Blog And Social Media

Brandanew

Visual content rules social media. Whatever you have to say, it gets better with an image. People nowadays have little patience to read long paragraphs. Conveying the message through an image is the easiest way to make an impact. While not everyone can be a professional photographer, it is possible to come up with reasonably good photographs suitable for social networks and blogs.

article thumbnail

Seven Questions Startups Should Ask To Get On Store Shelves

YoungUpstarts

By Abigail Steinberg, author of “ Recipe for Success: An Insider’s Guide to Bringing Your Natural Food to Market “ I have always been fascinated by start-ups, dreaming big, and being an entrepreneur. Zevia Natural Soda was a brand I helped build, nearly from conception. It all started for me in Los Angeles. I was making short films, working with major networks like the NFL, had a two-year first look deal with DreamWorks, and living an artistic life.

article thumbnail

How To Take Money From Friends And Still Be Friends

Startup Professionals Musings

In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Other entrepreneurs never start their adventure, because they can’t face the prospect of even approaching friends and family for an investment kick-start.

Cram Down 202
article thumbnail

When It Comes to Running a Business, Here Are 12 Things Entrepreneurs Say Are Invaluable

Up and Running

What’s your thing? You know—that thing that helps you be at your best. It helps you be more productive. It makes completing your workload feel easier. It’s that little trick up your sleeve for managing tasks and getting things done. Mine is making lists. I can’t start a task without a good, solid, pen-and-paper to-do list (no apps for me, thanks—this is one thing I go old-school for).

article thumbnail

Thanks! – How Often Are You Using This Simple Word That Means So Much?

Rembrandt Communications

Take time to remember what’s important in life… It’s Veterans Day, and with Thanksgiving coming up too, it’s the perfect time to say “Thanks.” While this word is very simple, it can mean a lot. Yes, many of us are swamped with year-end projects, holiday festivities and planning for 2016 right now. But when you […]. The post Thanks! – How Often Are You Using This Simple Word That Means So Much?

PR 116
article thumbnail

The 20/20/20 Rule: A Road Map To Marketplace Success

YoungUpstarts

by TX Zhuo , managing partner at Karlin Ventures. Uber has been on fire lately. As Scott Reeder of the Chicago Sun-Times proclaims that ride-hailing service Uber and the sharing economy are here to stay , leaders from industries across the spectrum are trying to decipher the secret to the company’s success. The short answer is relatively simple: Uber, unlike many startups, has already figured out how to make money.

article thumbnail

What I said when I was advised to take a man to an investor meeting

The Next Web

At first, I didn’t say anything. I just stared forward with a puzzled look. I never saw myself needing to be supported by a man in order to sustain my entrepreneurial fervor or build investor relationships. I saw no reason to be separated from the male gender or for anyone to suggest bringing a man to support my professional endeavor. When I thought about what I’d been told to do, I looked at the person making the recommendation and said, “I’ve never felt less because I was a female.

Web 115
article thumbnail

3 Startup Lessons Every Successful Entrepreneur Must Learn

YFS Magazine

You’ve got an amazing business idea, and you know it will be a total hit! Now you just need to put it into place and put some cash and time behind it, right?

article thumbnail

Parallels between data science and traditional scientific observation

The Equity Kicker

Reading The Art of Observation and Why Genius Lies in the Selection of What Is Worth Observing on brainpickings (which seems to be the source of much inspiration for me at the moment) I was struck by the parallels between what data scientists do at tech companies and the traditional scientific observation. Hence these descriptions of scientific observation are relevant for data scientists and their managers.

article thumbnail

Four Common Fears About Employee Feedback (And How To Overcome Them)

YoungUpstarts

By Tom Silk, Executive Vice President of WorkStride. It’s a difficult thing to balance protecting your company’s image with the need to get honest, frequent feedback from your employees. One thing you should never do is let fear drive you to cut off all feedback mechanisms. Millennials especially are used to being able to review and comment on everything online — their friends’ photos, news articles, restaurants, and even their doctors.

Employee 151
article thumbnail

Startup stories: inDinero’s Jessica Mah on knowing when to stop being a stubborn CEO

The Next Web

This is the third episode in a video series profiling startups and their founders, hosted by Julian Shapiro (@shapiro). Jessica Mah thought she had the next big thing in Silicon Valley when she and her co-founder launched inDinero – but soon, her company was rapidly losing money and she couldn’t understand why the business wasn’t attracting customers… or revenue.

article thumbnail

Life Coaching’s Ugly Debate: To Certify or Not Certify?

YFS Magazine

We all benefit when life coaching is seen as a respected, valuable profession. Just like we all hurt when a client is disappointed or disillusioned by poor coaching.

article thumbnail

Rent the Runway’s Project Entrepreneur Launches Venture Competition

SiliconHills

By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Six years ago, Jenny Fleiss founded Rent the Runway with Harvard Business School classmate Jenn Hyman. Today, the New York-based company has more than five million members and 500 employees. And to scale their venture, Fleiss and Hyman have raised $114 million in venture capital from Bain […] The post Rent the Runway’s Project Entrepreneur Launches Venture Competition appeared first on SiliconHills.

article thumbnail

Outsourcing Technology Alleviates Payroll Burden For Startups

YoungUpstarts

by Andy Roe, General Manager of SurePayroll, Inc. Startups are often focused on innovations and new technology, trying to find a niche in the market that hasn’t been filled or delivering a product/service unlike anything else. That’s why the formation of companies like Uber and Airbnb (and the unicorn startups of the future) is exciting for both consumers and the founders of the company.

article thumbnail

Why do you win?

This is going to be BIG.

When I first started in venture capital, back in 2001, I used to fund funds. I worked for an institutional investor that invested in both venture capital funds and later stage growth deals. My job was to figure out why certain firms were winning and why they might continue to win. Part of this, of course, involves looking into the past. Why someone did well previously is the first clue to figuring out whether or not that would be sustainable--but it isn't necessarily predictive.

article thumbnail

Should Founders Add A Board Of Directors Or A Board Of Advisors?

YFS Magazine

Consultation with counsel and with any existing advisors, directors or key stockholders is often the best course when determining whether a strategic value-add person should be evaluated for an advisor or director role.

Founder 98