YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 25, 2011

The trouble with a book titled “ Gamification by Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps ” is that most people will assume it’s meant for games – or at the very most, application – designers. But “ Gamification by Design ” by gamification expert and chair of the Gamification Summit Gabe Zimmerman, and entrepreneur and veteran technologist Christopher Cunningham, is a lot more than that.

Mobile 172

Mobile Technical Review Software Review Web 172

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 24, 2011

Everyone can recognize a great manager a mile away, so why is it so hard to find one? We all remember a few that are “legends in their own mind”, but that doesn’t do it. In fact, the clue here is that the view in your mind is the only one that matters, rather than the other way around. Almost every one of us in business can remember that one special manager in their career who exemplifies the norm, who commanded our respect, and treated us like a friend, even in the toughest of personal or busin

Technical Review 254

Technical Review Leadership Employee Management 254

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

When it comes to building an online business (especially if you’re a blogger), one of the most valuable assets that you can have is a email list. I currently run two relatively active blogs, and my mailing lists play a HUGE role in helping to keep them going.

Email 81

Email Software Review Small Business Marketing 81

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

(Powered by LaunchBit ). This is the conclusion of Episode 3 of Smart Bear Live; see the original post for details and the first half. You can listen by subscribing to my podcast on iTunes , or it’s enclosed in this blog’s RSS feed , or you can just download the mp3 of the first hour. Why listen? Especially if you don’t normally listen to podcasts?

Widget 204

Widget Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 204

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

Startup

deal architect

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Rob Carter, CIO at Fedex, is an executive I have long respected. Every event I have seen him present at, it has been in business terms – not geek talk. He made a comment, though, last year to Chris Murphy.

Technology 231

Technology 231

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

We usually hear stories of young talent leaving corporate jobs to join technology startups, but here’s someone who left a fast-growing technology startup to found his own small business. 26-year old Adam Kaplan left his enterprise and large account sales role at Manhattan, New York-based online business listings site Yext and obtained a franchise so that he can “build something of his own” Kaplan is opening ShelfGenie – a franchise concept that designs, builds and install

Small Business 240

Small Business New York Mobile Technology 240

For Entrepreneurs

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Best practices for inside sales managers. An interview with Mark Roberge, VP of Sales at HubSpot, discussing how he blends science and process with the art of selling. HubSpot is a SaaS company selling Inbound Marketing software. HubSpot has grown revenue over 6,000% in the last four years, placing them #33 on the Inc 500 [.].

Sales 167

Sales Management Revenue Software 167

deal architect

NOVEMBER 24, 2011

I don’t think I will complain ever again how long it takes a PC to reboot. Because over the last year, I have watched with amazement (and some frustration) how my own body has “rebooted” Last Thanksgiving I had been.

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YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

by Christian Lanng, CEO of Tradeshift. 2011 was the year where global economy shaped the life for companies everywhere. The global recession has also had a massive effect on technology and start-ups, but just as often as new opportunities rather than challenges. Global finance is being remade. As the global financial system came to a halt and liquidity dried up a new generation of startups have been trying to remake it ranging from companies like Dwolla creating new ways to get paid to what we a

Spain 193

Spain Global Software Social Network 193

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 25, 2011

I love books. I love to read. I realize I’ve had a dry spell – I’ve hardly been reading books at all this fall. That hasn’t stopped them from piling up as my infinite pile of books to read remains – well – infinite. I gobbled down some entrepreneurship books in the last week. There are a number of great ones coming that seem to have been kicked off by Eric Ries’ dynamite The Lean Startup.

Cofounder 147

Cofounder New York Lean Community 147

Life Beyond Code

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Blind spots are a problem for everyone – not just for smart people. Sometimes one can’t see the blind spots and sometimes one suffers because they are treading the blind spot of someone else. While everyone pays a price for missing a blind spot, I think smart people pay a bigger price because they refuse to see those blind spots until a heavy price has been paid.

Developer 149

Developer 149

deal architect

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Ray Lane is taking hell for a photo which shows him with a MacBook at home. The sky is falling – how can the Chairman of HP be so un-PC? Shades of the poor Fedex man who supposedly got fired.

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YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Constant Contact recently released data from its Fall 2011 Attitudes and Outlook Survey , and the biggest and most interesting finding was that small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) are more comfortable using social media marketing as opposed to six months ago. The data, gathered from over 1,900 respondents across a range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries, gives new insight into a variety of marketing tools and how they are being used by small businesses.

Social Media 191

Social Media Small Business Media Video 191

David Teten

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

We’re looking to spend money with a startup business: a marketplace for businesses which want consulting research and students who want jobs, internships and experience. Specifically, we want a website where we can advertise the research topics that are important to us (e.g., best practices of operational improvement among VCs), along with the qualifications (e.g., consulting experience) required to execute each of them.

Private Equity 146

Private Equity Venture Capital Affiliate Startup 146

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

This is a note from your Gmail tech support person (my life in a parallel universe) just trying to help with whatever frustration you are having today. Over the weekend I noticed that my iPhone (which had recently upgraded to the latest iOS (5.0.1) was now regularly giving me an error from within the native email app. A little box would pop up and tell me that my Exchange Password was incorrect.

Email 139

Email Search 139

deal architect

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

on the innovation blog An evening with Bill Clinton CES 2012 Sneak Peek James Dyson – the serial disruptor “Moneyball Marketing”.

Marketing 186

Marketing Technology 186

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

by Todd Patkin, author of Finding Happiness. If you’re like most Americans, you’re gearing up to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones. Chances are, you’ll probably participate in the annual ritual of listing the things for which you’re grateful. For most of us, that includes our family, our friends, our homes, and our possessions, for example.

Employee 177

Employee Massachusetts Naming Customer 177

Rembrandt Communications

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

If you are just starting a business, you are probably overwhelmed with information and a huge, “To Do” list. If you are like me and have been in business for several years, you are probably swamped right now with end-of-year activities. Well, whether you are a new entrepreneur or a seasoned pro, it can be [.].

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur PR Engineer SEO 124

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

PBS Newshour has a neat eight minute segment on accelerators. TechStars is featured, along with several others. This makes me happy as part of our goal when we started TechStars was to “open-source” the mentor driven accelerator process. It’s been awesome to be part of this incredible (and – in my opinion – incredibly important phenomenon).

Washington 134

Washington IP India China 134

deal architect

NOVEMBER 25, 2011

on the innovation blog Technology for your RV The GE Advantium Oven and App Correlating TV to social media The Surveillance Arms Race.

Social Media 170

Social Media Technology Media 170

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Here’s an insightful yet provocative video into the minds of the Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, in the workforce. The video is put together with the findings from a survey by global human resource and financial consultancy firm Mercer , which was conducted among nearly 30,000 employees in 17 markets worldwide from Q4 2010 to Q2 2011.

Video 171

Video Employee Global Marketing 171

Occam's Razor

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

It is astonishingly common that we are asked to analyze the impossible. In perhaps a career-limiting move I'm going to try to do that today (and for a controversial topic to boot!). In this post about an important Google change, I want you to focus less on the data and focus more on the methodology. And – so important – I want you to help me with your ideas of how we can do this impossible analysis better, in the complete absence of data :).

Analytics 136

Analytics Metrics Search Aggregator 136

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Turn of your lights, close your door, and full screen this five minute video. It’s an incredibly time lapse video of the journey of the International Space Station (from one of my favorite random sites – NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day ) around Earth. It’ll put whatever you are working on in perspective. Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

Video 132

Video 132

Life Beyond Code

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

Note : I created this checklist a couple of years ago and it has served me well. No changes on the checklist except the dates. Please feel free to download, modify, re-use or share. We are obsessed about measuring everything. We want to know the number o connections, number of followers, number of pageviews, number of minutes someone spends on our website, number of clickthroughs, number of times the shopping cart was abandoned, number of repeat visitors, number of new visitors. and the list go

Metrics 128

Metrics Clickthrough Restful Video 128

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

If we judged people based solely on looks, then our dressing and presentation is perhaps most important. And yet a look around Main Street surely reveals that fashion and dress sense can be sorely lacking. That’s where startup Lookmash ( www.lookmash.com ) comes in: aiming to help solve one of the greatest everyday problems – what to wear, what to wear.

Community 171

Community Poland Distribution Channel 171

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the world of sport, and in particular we can learn from the professional athletes themselves. In the past year, I have written a number of posts about ways we can learn from others and from the world around us; I wrote about how much we can learn from kids , about what dogs can teach us , and about what we can learn from musicians.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Non-Compete Jordan Leadership 131

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

I hate astroturfing. I think think it’s the lamest form of promotion and advocacy possible. It’s the opposite of authenticity and the antithesis of the brilliance of Twitter. Last week I tweeted about one of my investments and a number of people replied. After each reply, the founder of a competitor tweeted out his own message to the @replies that responded to me.

Social Media 128

Social Media Media Campaign Conversion 128

Gust

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Talented entrepreneurs are nothing if not resilient in the face of change: Market forces, competitive threats, technological shifts, you name it. In recent years, government regulation has emerged as another such force to be reckoned with in the technology industry. Startups and founders need to come to terms with the stark reality that the rules of the game may be changed mid-play.

IPO 110

IPO Prospectus SEC Intellectual Property 110

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

First up: a warning. “ The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them ” by author and business coach Jim Muelhausen is not an easy book to read. And I don’t mean it’s terribly written – it’s just that the book is chockful of rather harsh business lessons that will lead you, the business owner, to plenty of potentially painful soul-searching.

Hiring 167

Hiring Sales Search Employee 167

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

I've been interviewed twice over the past couple of weeks about the recent Crowdfunding legislation that was recently introduced. And each time, I've found myself correcting the misinformation about it that the media has been spreading. So in this article, I'll give you the truth about what's going on, and how to leverage it. read more.

Startup 103

Startup Media 103

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 19, 2011

Tomorrow I’m running the Philadelphia Marathon , which will be the sixth marathon I’ll do this year and the last one for 2011. This year I’ve done marathons in Cincinnati, Madison WI, Bismarck ND, Newport RI, and St. Louis. My times have ranged from 4:47:27 to 5:24:45. Overall I’m pleased with what I’ve done, especially since I didn’t chance my normal life tempo for them.

St. Louis 118

St. Louis Tucson Philadelphia Michigan 118

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

This happens to me far too often. I think change can be a good thing, but change for the sake of change is not. The same goes for growth for the sake of growth. There is no quicker way to kill your business than to grow too fast.

Restful 103

Restful 103

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

If following tried-and-true processes and templates for your small business can lead to success, then perhaps Richard B. Sanford’s “ Success By Design: How to Create Ever-Increasing Income, Profit & Wealth in the World of Small Business ” may be the answer. Sanford, an entrepreneur who has launched eleven successful small enterprises over a 40-plus year career, challenges the reader to employ what he calls “Simplified Strategic Business Planning” for their busin

Design 160

Design Business Plan Small Business Revenue 160

Growthink Blog

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

A recent survey of business owners showed that 41.4% of businesses count on referrals for over 80% of their sales. I actually don't believe this statistic; I think it's way too high. But the statistic is very exciting. Because it means that these 41.4% of entrepreneurs are doing it right; because getting referrals is absolutely critical to your business' success.

Programming 100

Programming Revenue Sales Email 100

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Marathon #21 is done. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 4:28:46 yesterday. Of the 21 marathons I’ve run, it was my third fastest (I did the Dallas Marathon in 4:28:00 when I was 17 and the Chicago Marathon in 4:05:27 in 2003.) And yes – I was surprised, as this was my fourth marathon in the past eight weeks. When I got to Philadelphia on Friday I was tired and mopey, as evidenced by the post I wrote on Saturday titled The Last Marathon of the Year.

Philadelphia 110

Philadelphia Dallas Chicago Audio 110

Start Up Blog

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

The person who was seen as most likely to succeed at your final year of school didn’t change the world. Not yet, probably not ever. They’ve already had too much success in the early years. Too many congratulations, too many girlfriends, too many party invites, too many A’s on their report card. And so they’ve missed out on the most important ingredient anyone needs to succeed.

Developer 98

Developer Entrepreneur Startup 98