Sat.Mar 21, 2015 - Fri.Mar 27, 2015

article thumbnail

What I’ve Learned from Fred Wilson

Both Sides of the Table

'Last week Fred Wilson and I sat down in Santa Monica for an hour+ discussion with the video cameras rolling. One of the questions we discussed is, “How much capital should a startup raise?” Fred & I are both in agreement that there is a tension between capital constraints and creativity. In his words, [in some instances] “because lots of capital is available, the company takes on the capital and that ends up resulting in no constraints on decision making and so the company

article thumbnail

Crowdsourcing Your Next Design Project From Designhill

YoungUpstarts

'Over the last few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of small businesses and startups around the world, with each one being driven by entrepreneurs filled with unfaltering ambition, energy and desire. However, not every is lucky enough to early stage or seed funding, which makes most startups and small businesses obsessed with the words like low-cost and cost-effective.

Design 193
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

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

article thumbnail

The 7 Website Mistakes Small Business Owners Make (and How to Avoid Them)

Up and Running

'Does your website have you feeling stressed? If you’re a small business owner or service professional who wants to develop a new website, you might find yourself thinking, “It’s a jungle out there!” You wouldn’t be wrong. Let’s work through a case study with Carl, a financial planner, who’s a composite of several professional service businesses.

article thumbnail

Midas List 2020: Forerunner’s Eurie Kim (and Why Company Names Matter to Her)

Hunter Walker

'Forerunner Ventures is one of Homebrew’s favorite co-investors for consumer commerce/retail startups. Firm founder Kirsten Green has an amazing analytical mind combined with empathy for the consumer. Since talent attracts talent, it’s not surprising Kirsten built a small community around her that also shines, notably Eurie Kim. We got to know Eurie over the last two years via our work together and I asked her to share some of her stories here… Hunter Walk: What was your path

Naming 101
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

Why We Invested in Rubrik

Lightspeed Venture Partners

'Today we are excited to announce Lightspeed’s $10 million Series A investment in Rubrik. Just as Apple built a time machine to protect Macs, Rubrik has built a powerful time machine for enterprise cloud infrastructure that unites data management with web-scale technology. A market size of epic proportions, a groundbreaking architectural approach, and a world-class founding team drove our decision to invest.

article thumbnail

Evading “Zombies” While Shopping Online

YoungUpstarts

'by Max Nomad, author of “ Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse: Safer Computing Tips for Small Business Managers and Everyday People ” . Cybercriminals are coming up with more and more devious ways to steal every day. Some of the breaches are huge, like the recent Anthem security breach, allow hackers to get access to millions of people social security numbers, email address, credit card numbers and other personal information.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Accel APX conference: short take aways

Cracking the Code

'A NEW GENERATION OF APPS AND THE APIs THAT POWER THEM I was lucky to be able to attend our Accel APX conference in San Francisco last week. In an environment becoming increasingly more competitive, it is becoming critical for companies to leverage external platforms & APIs to build a product fast and concentrate their resources on their core products.

API 52
article thumbnail

Unicorns Don’t Exist: Why This Startup Dialogue Is Incredibly Dangerous

View from Seed

'There is something so funny and also so appropriate about all this talk about Unicorn companies. I’m not the first person to say that the proliferation of startups valued at $1 billion or higher is a signal of an overheated late-stage market. Yet there continues to be so much fanfare and excitement about all of these unicorn companies. Unicorns are a great metaphor and a brilliant meme – just excellent marketing.

Valuation 246
article thumbnail

How Video Conferencing Has Made A Difference

YoungUpstarts

'How has video conferencing changed the professional landscape for companies and employees? Read on to find insights collected from the Small Business site and The Future of Business Collaboration and Pownowwow blogs. . Cost savings. Company: this is one of the best results if not outright the best one, on the list. With low cost web based video technologies like Blue Jeans, small companies and startups now have the chance to add video to their organizations without hurting their bottom line.

Video 161
article thumbnail

S/4HANA Customer Survey

deal architect

'When SAP announced S4 in February, several analysts commented (see my post here) there were scores of unanswered questions. What does the product release roadmap look like beyond the Simple Finance? When will industry specific applications become part of the.

Customer 215
article thumbnail

What Can Big Data Ever Tell Us About Human Behavior?

Startup Professionals Musings

'We are now solidly in the era of big data , where computers are capturing and processing the details of everything we do with all our interconnected devices in real time. Businesses see this as the Holy Grail for finally being able to predict who, where, and when customers will buy their existing solutions, and what their future solutions must look like to be attractive.

article thumbnail

Can Pre-Seed Capital Hurt an Entrepreneur’s Chances to Raise Seed from VCs?

View from Seed

'In the last year or so, the debate over the definitions of seed versus pre-seed capital (sometimes called genesis rounds) has exploded. Much digital ink has been spilled about what dollar amount constitutes a pre-seed and how that might affect a startup’s ability to go raise a “normal” seed round from institutional investors. (Among those trying to inform the industry and offer perspective was my partner Rob Go.).

article thumbnail

Saving Universities From Extinction No Easy Task

YoungUpstarts

'by David E. Goldberg, founder of ThreeJoy Associates, Inc. and co-author of “ A Whole New Engineer ” . Universities are as outmoded as buggy whips. The cost and value of a college education is increasingly in question or under attack, public university budgets are being slashed, and traditional colleges and universities are challenged by new forms of educational institutions and by students and parents who increasingly just say “no.

Illinois 211
article thumbnail

SAPs Continuing Myopia

deal architect

'In SAP Nation, I wrote “SAP has a tendency to write code, and then hand it over to its partners. It fails to think enough about customer deployment issues.” More of that focus on what happens in their labs and.

Software 214
article thumbnail

Is Your Advisor a Critic Posing as a Mentor?

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every startup needs a couple of advisors with deep experience and connections in your business domain or financial skills to complement your technical focus. Advisors need to be mentors, looking ahead and directing you on key actions to take or avoid. Unfortunately, many prefer the role of critic, looking backward to highlight your mistakes. These people don’t help you or your startup.

Matching 210
article thumbnail

How to Know if Your Content Stinks and What to Do About it… Fast!

Rembrandt Communications

'Your writing is great… that’s what you think! Are you happy with all of the marketing content your business is producing? If so, it’s time for a review. Yes, I know you have many responsibilities as a business owner, and you may place your content near the bottom of the “To Do” pile. But your […]. The post How to Know if Your Content Stinks and What to Do About it… Fast!

PPC 136
article thumbnail

How To Motivate Your Employees To Save On Business Travel

YoungUpstarts

'By Dan Ruch, founder and CEO of Rocketrip. If business travel has mushroomed into one of your startup’s biggest costs, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Travel is typically a company’s third largest expense after rent and salaries, and reducing it can create way more friction than you might expect. Business travelers are used to maxing out their travel budget.

Employee 188
article thumbnail

Enterprise Software Churn: The NetSuite edition

deal architect

'This continues a series showcasing customers which are adopting two-tier, ring fence, third party maintenance strategies or outright replacing their core enterprise applications. Previous posts have highlighted UNIT4, Microsoft, Rimini Street , E2Open and Infor. NetSuite has shared with us.

Software 200
article thumbnail

Is Your Use Of Social Media For Marketing Working?

Startup Professionals Musings

'Isn’t it frustrating to think you finally understand something in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? For example, it used to be that marketing via social media meant banner ads on Facebook, buying search engine results, and sponsoring blog entries, but these don’t suffice anymore.

article thumbnail

CEO Shadowing

Feld Thoughts

'Following is a guest post from Zack Rosen at Pantheon about his experience shadowing Jud Valeski, founder and then-CEO of Gnip for a day in 2012. Behind the stories of most first-time venture-backed CEOs building startups and attacking markets at breakneck speed, there is usually a tight network of mentors and peers showing them the ropes of company building.

NDA 135
article thumbnail

The Lender Perspective On Your Business Loan

YoungUpstarts

'by Carl Faulds, managing director of Cashsolv. In the current economic climate, getting the right business loan isn’t easy. Following the financial crash of 2008, banks are more wary than ever of handing out unserviceable credit and have considerably tightened up their lending criteria. So what factors will they consider when you make your application?

Finance 172
article thumbnail

Enterprise Software Churn: Infors co-existence scenarios

deal architect

'When I was researching SAP Nation, I was impressed with how many customers are swapping out software, moving to third party maintenance, “ring fencing” the core solution with specialist tools, and implementing two and three tier strategies – different solutions.

Software 199
article thumbnail

Protect Your Business Reputation Online Or Lose It

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every startup fears that one angry and unfair customer who can jeopardize the business by a negative post on Ripoff Report , Yelp , or one of the hundreds of other consumer complaint and review sites on the Internet. Most entrepreneurs don’t even know how to keep track of what people are saying about them on the web, much less how to respond or remove it.

article thumbnail

8 things to consider when determining your startup valuation

The Next Web

'Setting a valuation for an early-stage startup looking to raise money is tough. There’s no one right answer or formula to rely on, yet plenty of advice — some of which can lead you in the wrong direction. For starters, do you know where you stand in relation to other companies? In regards to your market? Should you rethink your magic number if you still have no revenue?

Valuation 129
article thumbnail

VoIP – Why Is It So Lucrative For Small And Medium Businesses?

YoungUpstarts

'There seems to be a lot of hype surrounding VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and unified communications. VoIP service providers call it the best thing to happen to small businesses but seriously, how advantageous is it to SMBs (small and medium businesses)? A recent report by the company Software Advice, where more than 350 mid-level businesses were surveyed (the respondents made less than $180 million or £120 a year), revealed reasons why mid-cards feel integration of VoIP to be daunting.

Bandwidth 168
article thumbnail

Dj vuAll over again

deal architect

'Almost to the day, two decades ago, I got a recruiting call.

266
266
article thumbnail

Close Relationships At Work Bring Value And Risks

Startup Professionals Musings

'We all have to communicate and collaborate with other people at work, but most of us start out instinctively trying to maintain an emotional distance from others in the work environment. In fact, most employee training courses recommend the distance if the work relationship crosses management levels, and most management policies strictly forbid fraternizing with the team.

Salary 201
article thumbnail

11 Angel Investor Blogs You Should Be Reading

Up and Running

'In the business world, angel investors are sometimes equated with actual angels, sent to help us fund what could not otherwise be funded. These guardian angels of innovation are responsible for bringing many new ideas to life. The thing is, many of us—most notably those seeking investment—don’t know a lot about what angel investors are looking for in a person, idea, or company, before they agree to invest.

article thumbnail

Having The Guts To Be Bold In Business

YoungUpstarts

'by Irv Rothman, President and CEO of HP Financial Services. What if you came face to face with the realization, that to survive and thrive five to ten years from now, you would have to dismantle your company — throw out all the old policies and procedures, the way things have always been done — and rebuild it from the ground up in the next 30 days?

Merger 156
article thumbnail

Kickstarter news -- and a Reddit AMA

Startup Lessons Learned

'Thank you - thank you - thank you! You''ve helped make the first week of my Kickstarter campaign a success—we''ve blown through our funding goal and are scrambling to add new backer rewards to replace the ones you''ve all sold out. (Read the detailed update here ). I wanted to share some news and updates about stretch goals, bonus rewards, and you can Ask Me Anything at 5:30 EST today (Wednesday, March 25th) on Reddit.

article thumbnail

Boulder Startup Community Members: Help Fund the Code for America Fellowship

Feld Thoughts

'If you are a founder or employee of a startup in Boulder and want to increase the overall effectiveness of our local Boulder government, please help us fund the Code for America Fellowship in Boulder. We are raising a total of $75,000 to match the $75,000 being contributed to this effort by the City of Boulder. So far $30,000 of the $75,000 has been funded by my partners at Foundry Group, Rally Software, and the Anchor Point Foundation (the foundation that Amy and I run).

America 120
article thumbnail

Why the New Seed Might Be a Bad Seed

This is going to be BIG.

'About a year ago, I started hearing about the existence of a "pre-seed" round. At first, it sounded ridiculous. Actually, it still sounds ridiculous to me. The term "seed" implies the very beginning to me. If you can''t go to "seed" investors for your very first investment because you''re too early, that just seems weird to me. At Brooklyn Bridge Ventures , I want to be part of the first money to go into a company, no matter what you call it.

article thumbnail

Tips On Choosing A Control Panel For Your Web Hosting Environment

YoungUpstarts

'by Greg Rockwood, community and PR manager at Softsys Hosting. It is not an easy decision to choose a correct control panel for your web hosting account – particularly when you have several options available in market. A few popular control panels that have the most market share are as follows: 1) WHM / CPanel – Supports Linux OS – CentOS only. 2) Plesk Panel – Supports Linux + Windows Server. 3) WebsitePanel – Supports Windows Server only. 4) DirectAdmin – S

Hosting 152
article thumbnail

Video: Sergie Magdalin of Webflow explains his acceptance into Y Combinator

The Next Web

'This is the first episode in a video series profiling startups and their founders. In our pilot, host Julian Shapiro (@Shapiro) interviews Sergie Magdalin, co-founder and creative director of site building tool Webflow. WebFlow is a design tool for visual professionals who want to build responsive websites without having to learn reams of code. Since its launch in 2013, it has been used by design teams from the likes of IBM, GroupOn, Ideo, MTV and HP, along with more than 10,000 other users.

Video 110
article thumbnail

Resolving Conflicts in a VC Partnership

Feld Thoughts

'I got the following question the other day. “If you get a chance, I’d request you to write a blog post about various business decision related conflicts or misunderstanding that might occur in a partnership and how you folks at the Foundry Group resolve it. My partners and I grapple with such challenges quite often.” Every VC firm is different so to answer a question like this, it’s important to remember that the answer is one specific to Foundry Group.

article thumbnail

Fundraising advice: Don’t over optimise on terms

The Equity Kicker

'Everyone loves a high valuation and it’s natural for founders to want to minimise dilution. They will most probably go on to raise multiple rounds of venture capital after all. And look at what Zuck achieved… But companies that spend too much time optimising terms end up as net losers. YC’s Sam Altman explained why in a post last year: Startups are usually a pass-fail course — either you succeed or you don’t.

Valuation 109