Sat.Sep 26, 2015 - Fri.Oct 02, 2015

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Why I Look for High Conviction, not Consensus, in Venture Capital Decisions

Both Sides of the Table

One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. The truth is that each firm is different and there isn’t one standard but over the years I’ve talked with enough of my peers to get sense of how many firms work. Often if it’s a bigger firm (say 4 partners or more) and it’s a super small investment for their fund size (let’s say $250-500k when they normally invest $5-7 million) t

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Developing Leadership Skills: What You Need to Know

Startup Professionals Musings

These days, with the many Internet articles and new courses available, most new professionals readily cross the gap from lack of business knowledge to knowing, but many never make it over the knowing versus doing gap. Investors I know highlight this problem with the mantra that they fund founders and teams who can execute, rather than ones who just talk about their great ideas.

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How To Hire Rock Star Employees

YoungUpstarts

By Brian Sutter, Director of Marketing, Wasp Barcode Technologies. The definition of a rock star is a celebrity in any field or profession who is highly admired. While most people think of a musician when they hear that word, small business owners should be able to think about their employees as rock stars too. Hiring someone who will be “highly admired” in the workplace is the ultimate goal when filling any type of position.

Hiring 208
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Refutation: An acquisition is always a failure

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

Oh how the media loves superlatives (but only because that’s what we click on and share). Jake Lodwick wrote an article on PandoDaily entitled “An acquisition is always a failure.” He explains: Either the founders failed to achieve their goal, or – far likelier – they failed to dream big enough. The proper ambition for a tech entrepreneur should be to join the ranks of the great tech companies, or, at least, to create a profitable, independent company beloved by employees, cus

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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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What Should You Make of the Web Summit Controversy? A View Behind the Scenes

Both Sides of the Table

Like many of you I read the Is Web Summit a Scam article making the rounds this week. I have attended Web Summits three times – it is not a scam. Let me get that out of the way. It’s a big conference and all big conferences charge money, make money and serve a diverse set of needs. I even wrote about my experiences attending Web Summit , something I rarely ever write about.

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Goodbye Alex

David Cohen

Alex King recently passed away after a two year battle with cancer. Alex was not one of my closest friends, but his passing hit me very hard. I was riding in a car from the airport yesterday when I got the news from his wife, and I just started crying. I got to know Alex because he was a mentor in Boulder in the early years of Techstars. He totally leaned into mentoring startups and never for a moment asked what was in it for him.

Denver 105

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How to Solve Problems in Your Business: Kanban, Kaizen and Scrum

Up and Running

Solving problems is a central issue in business ownership. In fact, you might say that business itself is a series of problems waiting to be solved. But, when it comes to finding the ideal approach, or the perfect process for solving any of the dozens of problems faced by the modern business, things get complicated. Today I’d like to discuss three methods for problem solving that have proven track records in the world of commerce.

SCRUM 97
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Should You Co-Found Your Company With a Software Development Shop (1 of 2)?

David Teten

You’ve got an amazing idea. You’ve got everything it takes to bring a start-up from nothing to something that really makes a dent in the universe. … and if you’re like most of today’s startups — you need to get an app in the hands of customers. Once customers love your app and you show some traction, you raise some money and grow it into that impactful dream of an idea that you’ve had figured out in your head for as long as you can remember.

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What Can You Do if a VC Pulls Their Term Sheet?

Both Sides of the Table

What Can You Do if a VC Pulls Their Term Sheet? I was asked to answer this exact question on Quora and I did so some time ago. The beauty of evergreen content is that it resurfaces all the time and it is as relevant today as it was years ago when I answered it. One of my favorite ways to resurface content is when I see people on Twitter put out a Tweet linking to an old post.

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What To Look For In A Reputable Crane Hire Company

YoungUpstarts

Cranes are the backbone of the building industry and are a fundamental part of what makes for a successful business. Without the use of cranes, it would be impossible to consider the construction of buildings like the Empire State building – or more recently the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This building spans a phenomenal 829.8 metres (or 2,722 feet) and it was a hotly contested race to see which building company would be contracted to build this incredible structure.

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Workday Rising: Fun and Focus

deal architect

Most vendors have moved to a bi-annual briefing of analysts – once at a dedicated summit, the other at their user conference. I find the latter a bit redundant – unless spaced out well from the summit. I also feel.

Cloud 220
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5 Unpleasant Startup Surprises and How To Recover

Startup Professionals Musings

By definition, every startup is predictably unpredictable, since new solutions have no proven track record, startups are usually building a new market, and the world around them is changing faster than ever. Yet, as an advisor to startups, I see some common disasters, and recommend some anticipation and recovery moves that can save every entrepreneur some painful time and money.

Startup 215
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Entrepreneurs are Everywhere show No. 4: David Lerner and Gary Marcus

Steve Blank

Growing interest in entrepreneurship is driving a culture change across Columbia University. And Silicon Valley’s pay-it-forward culture is a huge help to startup founders. Culture matters whether you’re starting up or helping others to do so. That was the message from the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 111.

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Keeping On Top Of Your Occupational Health & Safety Obligations

YoungUpstarts

Australian business owners often find themselves so busy that they neglect other important areas of their business. And despite the valiant efforts of most businesses trying to do the right thing, they are getting caught out by not keeping on top of their occupational health and safety requirements. In a report provided by Safework Australia , there were 129 reported deaths in the workplace in 2014. 101 have been recorded so far in 2015.

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A new world order

deal architect

I feel like I have been a hermit in SAP Nation for the last couple of years. Not exactly, have plenty of travel expenses which prove otherwise, but in the last month, I have become aware of massive global changes.

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7 Investor Term Sheet Demands Startups Need Not Fear

Startup Professionals Musings

Most entrepreneurs looking for an investor can tell you how much money they need, but few have given much thought to what they are willing to give up for it. Perhaps they're way off in their valuation (usually far too high), or paralyzed by fear at seeing the other terms, because they have no idea what's normal, and what's worth a fight to the death (their startup's).

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Why You Need To Master Social Media For Customer Service

Brandanew

All the hard work in development and marketing can go down the drain if you do not keep your customers in good humor whenever they require any help. Sometimes they might be having real issues and sometimes they might be on account of a misunderstanding. But you need to respond politely and sort out issues immediately before they snowball. On top of that, there’s no telling when they have a problem and contact you on the fly.

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What You Need To Know About Motivating Your Team

YoungUpstarts

by Chuck Cohn, CEO and founder of Varsity Tutors. There are several factors that go into creating a successful business, but certainly one of the most important is building an outstanding team. Hiring the right talent is the first step; keeping them genuinely motivated is the next. For many leaders, this can be a difficult task. Certain statistics have shown that 52 percent of employees don’t feel engaged with their work — and this doesn’t necessarily mean the other 48 percent do feel engaged.

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Postmodern ERP Strategies: Next-Gen Application Management

deal architect

Another in the series of postmodern ERP Strategies. While these are excerpted from SAP Nation 2.0, the concepts can be applied to many other ERP environments. One of the largest cost components in the SAP economy is application management, much.

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8 Steps to Exit Your Startup With Pride And Profit

Startup Professionals Musings

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Although many won’t admit it, true entrepreneurs can’t wait to exit their current startup, and build a new and better one with their next great idea. In addition, current investors want to see every startup go public or be acquired, as an exit event, so they can get their due return for that investment which has been tied up for the last few years.

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Announcing Our Investment in Renoviso

Genuine VC

A few years ago I replaced all of the decades-old windows in our home with new ones. The entire process was horrible. I used home service lead-gen and recommendation-review sites to identify a half-dozen installers to set up initial in-person consultation appointments. Only half of them even showed up. For those who did, I was offered a set of confusing options with opaque pricing without any relative understanding of the quality of the service or the product itself.

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The Sandbox And The Titanic

YoungUpstarts

by Jaime Bancroft Gennaro, CEO of Neologic. A recent New York Times article about the culture at Amazon has put this topic at the front of everyone’s minds… again. And it created some discord between my husband and I. As a business owner, developing a positive company culture and supporting employees is incredibly important to me. The employee stories that surfaced as a result of the Amazon article made me cringe.

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Postmodern ERP strategies: Tiering

deal architect

Another in the series of postmodern ERP Strategies. While these are excerpted from SAP Nation 2.0, the concepts can be applied to many other ERP environments. In the 1980s, as AS/400s and LANs matured, many multinationals adopted two- or three-tier.

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5 Traits of Great Writers That You Can Learn From!

Brandanew

The air’s getting a bit nippy, October in its glory has finally arrived. We thought, a great start to the month could be by sharing some awesome inspiration with you all. So, at the start of the new month, we share the traits of great writers that you can learn from! Sure, there is no formula to being a great storyteller or a writer. What is defined as greats can be chalk and cheese in terms of approach.

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18 Ways to Make Your Financial Model Stand Out to Investors

Gust

The median investor looking at your proposal is in her 40s. Her eyes are going, not to mention her brain. I look at a lot of spreadsheets and analytic reports, and way too many are difficult to read and therefore hard to understand. In an effort to make my life easier, I’ve summarized here the steps that will make it much Read more >. The post 18 Ways to Make Your Financial Model Stand Out to Investors appeared first on The Gust Blog.

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4 Key Lessons JotForm Learned From Its Users

YoungUpstarts

by Steve Gibson, director at JotForm. JotForm is an all-purpose tool – an online form builder which allows you to do just about anything you need with forms. Its free version does everything the paid version does – only limiting users by the number of submissions received. Included are thousands of form templates with preset questions, form themes with preset styles and designs, hundreds of widgets for specialized fields on your form, and over a hundred integrations for processing y

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Postmodern ERP Strategies: Rip and Replace

deal architect

Another in the series of postmodern ERP Strategies. While these are excerpted from SAP Nation 2.0, the concepts can be applied to many other ERP environments. While this is an extreme move, many midsized companies especially those being spun off.

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5 Social Scheduling Tools That You Can Use For a Worry-Free Vacation!

Brandanew

Going on a vacation and looking for someone who could help you keep up with the latest? Reduce the trouble. Here are 5 social scheduling tools that will do the job for you, without having to be monitored. Editor’s note: Social media scheduling is the need of the hour. We recommend using scheduling to optimize on the best timings to post- whether or not you’re around.

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Content Strategy…Turn Social Media Hassles Into Happiness!

Rembrandt Communications

Sales Await! You have your morning cup of coffee, turn on your computer and look at all of your e-mails and “To Do” list. Then, that gnawing feeling hits you. You need to post something on all of your social-media channels again. Ugh! It’s never-ending. What to post? Where do you find information to share? […]. The post Content Strategy…Turn Social Media Hassles Into Happiness!

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Five Reasons It Pays To Be Your Own Boss

YoungUpstarts

by Ian Cowley, managing director of www.cartridgesave.co.uk. The number of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses is at an all-time high in the UK. Latest government figures reveal that 4.6million of us, that’s 15% of the workforce, are self-employed. There are most likely tens of thousands more out there, running micro businesses whilst working for someone else.

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Postmodern ERP Strategies: Next-gen infrastructure

deal architect

Another in the series of postmodern ERP Strategies. While these are excerpted from SAP Nation 2.0, the concepts can be applied to many other ERP environments. A number of SAP customers have been changing hosting providers and moving to private.

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Meet Arbor Brewing Company: How Do You Grow A Local Business Brand?

Brandanew

Ann Arbor is a special town. There are very many local and small businesses that lace the downtown. Some of the more famous ones have been here for decades and almost define the brand of this little town. Most recently, I met up with one of the founders of the Arbor Brewing company, Rene Greff. The establishment is a well known Ann Arbor feature, and is found in any and every travel book you may read about this little town.

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The cheapest way to improve productivity: make your employees happy

The Next Web

Some employers view their relationship with workers as purely transactional: The company pays employees for their services, and staff members are responsible for getting their work done. Happiness doesn’t even enter into the equation, but we now know this is a mistake. A slew of research has found that employee happiness has a dramatic effect on performance.

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[Infographic] How Non-Techies Can Find The Right Tech Talent

YoungUpstarts

Finding the right talent in this competitive job landscape is tough enough, but it’s far worse when you’re a technology startup founder without a technology background – how do you know who has the right skills and the right mindset that will help take your startup to the next level? With the unemployment rates for professional services logging in at an all-time low since 2007, demand for IT professionals is at an all-time high.

Salary 154
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Postmodern ERP strategies: Independent Support

deal architect

Gartner has been talking about "postmodern ERP" for a couple of years now: "Businesses looking to improve administration today can take advantage of lower costs, better functional fit and process flexibility offered by blending cloud applications with on-premises applications in.

Cloud 203
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How To Tell A Remarkable Product Story!

Brandanew

We have all heard great brand stories. The story of an aspiring entrepreneur with humble means overcoming all obstacles with his wit and perseverance is always a good read. But have you ever thought about product stories? Do they work too? Sure it depends on the product. But if you really have a unique and innovative product, it is possible to create a story that entertains, creates awareness and also enhances its value in the eyes of the customers.

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