Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. As a rule of thumb, you should double every employee’s salary in estimating employee costs, so less is more. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. MORE >>

can’t count the number of startups that aimed squarely at small businesses or “prosumers&# with sub-$100 price point and have no idea on how they’re going to buy a customer (other than word of mouth, SEM/SEO, and PR). A great developer I once worked with was kvetching at lunch one day. His last two jobs had been similar. MORE >>

To compute the cost to acquire a customer, CAC, you would take your entire cost of sales and marketing over a given period, including salaries and other headcount related expenses, and divide it by the number of customers that you acquired in that period. SolidWorks 2: The best VAR management program in the world? This is a mistake. Thanks! MORE >>

But we are rarely asked to put in a quick call to a young engineer or hotshot SEO magician. They all have to figure out payroll and insurance and office leasing and hosting providers and salary levels and. I'm always amazed to hear VCs describe themselves as "value added investors." There's a lot of money out there. Recruiting. meet X. MORE >>

When I hear these stories, I cant help but think of black hat vs. white hat hacking and SEO, so I call recruiters who engage in unethical practices "black hat recruiters". For example, a recruiter will inflate the salary/compensation portion of the job description or inflate the job responsibilities while dumbing down the job requirements. MORE >>