An entrepreneur is literally “one who creates a new business.” The best new businesses are ones that have never been done before, so mastering creativity and recognizing creativity are key skills and mindsets. But how does one recognize and nurture creativity in a person or team? MORE

In a recent live stream from one of our mentors of The Product Mentor , Rishi Kumar, lead a conversation around “Working Remotely”. We are always looking for more product mentors from all around the world. Signup to be a Mentor Today! View the live stream…. About The Product Mentor. MORE

…but its the optimists who change the world. Someone important said that, and it struck me as incredibly accurate. The world is full of pessimists. They usually try to hide this fact by calling themselves other things (“realist” is the one I hear the most.). Being an optimist does not mean being ignorant of the risks. Being an optimist means knowing the risks but believing that you can overcome them. That there’s a chance you can be successful. That you believe. MORE

By LAURA LOREK Publisher with Silicon Hills News This is a sponsored post In 2013, Procore Technologies launched in Austin with two guys working out of a roughly 2,200 square foot house, built in the 1930s. But they didn’t have the whole house. They had 120 square feet. “We MORE

Earlier in the year, there were a significant number of victims who came forward to share stories of sexual harassment by investors. Some of those investors were prominent VCs. At Forward Partners we were really saddened by the reports – clearly, any abuse of an asymmetrical power relationship for sexual gain is wrong. Doctors have been held to a high standard in this regard for as long as I can remember and investors should be no different. MORE

The startup and venture capital businesses are based on a general idea that you can and should invest heavily into your business in order to increase value creation, amplify it, and accelerate it. These investments mostly take the form of operating losses, driven by headcount, where the monthly expenses are larger, often much larger, than revenues. These losses are known in the industry vernacular as “burn rates” – how much cash you burn on a monthly basis. MORE

I remember when I was in my early 20s and just starting out in the venture capital business, I came across an old wall street saying that “a market climbs a wall of worry.” ” I didn’t understand it and that made me want to. I read a bit about the saying and came to understand that bull markets require an uneasy feeling. Worrying is a fundamental characteristic of most investors I know. Greed and fear are the two opposing elements of market forces. MORE

BY LAURA LOREK Publisher with Silicon Hills News From the outside, 500 W. 2nd street might look like any new skyscraper in downtown Austin. But inside, it’s got that Google flair with scooters in the lobby, a swing, balance boards, a ceiling made of recycled canoes, an Airstream trailer food truck, outdoor movie theater, dog […]. The post Google Unveils its new Office in Downtown Austin appeared first on SiliconHills. Austin MORE

By LAURA LOREK Publisher of Silicon Hills News Sputnik ATX is one of Austin’s newest startup incubators and accelerators. “We’re We’re in a bit of a stealth mode right now,” said Oksana Malysheva, President, and CEO of Linden Education Partners and CEO of Sputnik ATX. Sputnik ATX, which fashions itself after a Y-Combinator incubation model, will […]. The post Sputnik ATX Launches an Incubator/Accelerator in Austin Aimed at Helping Startups Scale appeared first on SiliconHills. Austin MORE

Capital investments are like gasoline on a startup business’s metaphorical fire. They allow you to hire more people, purchase new technology, and establish new business connections, among many other benefits. If you’re like most startup CEOs, your startup has been your personal fiefdom and baby. MORE

Getting your start-up through its initial phase of the business cycle is a tough challenge for small business owners. If you have managed to pull off success with something that 90% of other start-ups fail at, namely make it through the start-up phase, then you deserve some kudos. MORE

Kauffman Fellows and Techstars are running another cycle of the Venture Deals course with me and Jason Mendelson. Signups close tomorrow as the course runs from 9/24/17 – 11/13/17. The course is free to everyone. The seven-week course, which is about five hours of work each week, has the following agenda. Week 1 – Introduction of key players/Form or join a team. Week 2 – Fundraising/Finding the Right VC. Week 3 – Capitalization Tables/Convertible Debt. MORE

Large corporations and conglomerates, the engines of growth and vitality in the twentieth century, have lost their edge and their image. They have proven themselves unable to innovate, and they have lost more jobs than they create. MORE

This is a little bit of unique motivational post for entrepreneurs and business owners to start your week off on the right foot. Here’s 12 habits to adopt, many of which will make you a successful entrepreneur as well: Have a budget. Be proactive. Read a lot. Be curious. Pursue your curiosity. MORE

Every so often a promising entrepreneur seems to freeze in the oncoming headlights and gets run over by his competition. Why is it that his idea which seemed so fundable only months ago fails to attract investors today? The team is the same. The company's market is the same. MORE

Sometimes reading a book is the best way to learn. Business Books MORE

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Angel investors and venture capitalists don’t make equity investments in nonprofit good causes. The simple reason is that it’s impossible to make money for investors when the goal of the company is to not make money. MORE

Sir Richard Branson's unconventional leadership approach is on full display in "Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School.". MORE

by Jason Tan, CEO of Sift Science. Online businesses everywhere are going to be dealing with the effects of the recent Equifax breach. It’s a tough truth to swallow, but these large-scale data breaches have become a fact of life – and it’s not just the breached business that pays the price. MORE

The availability of technical tools and a dynamic office presence in the modern era are especially conducive to leading global business teams. In the recent past, multinational companies could only have dreamed about having team members on different continents work together in real time. MORE

Self-improvement often comes from the penned wisdom of others. MORE

From The Best Product Person of 2016, Chris Butler, …. Looking Forward. > > What new skill should I be honing right now to get ready for the future? Get great at doing research and customer development. MORE

Being an entrepreneur or business owner has its share of ups and downs. While the downs can be pretty low the ups always seem to triumph for a true entrepreneur at heart. Milestones are what entrepreneurs and business owners work towards. MORE

The launch of a new company can cost between hundreds and millions of dollars, but what’s essential isn’t the amount of money you invest, but how you plan for and accommodate expenses. MORE

Trying to sum up the ride will have to wait for another post. Instead, I’d love to share some of the thoughts that riders shared after the ride (I kept them anonymous for privacy). One can meet. This is a content summary only. Click on the post title to continue reading this post, share your comments, browse the website and more! Tech for Good Techbikers charity Copenhagen to Berlin Cycling Education Room to read tech for good MORE

In a remarkable email, Uber's new leader teaches a major lesson in emotional intelligence. MORE

by Uzair Khan, VP of Sales & Marketing at Enterprise Monkey. Wondering what your audience is glued to while you are busy using traditional advertising, core campaigning, and doing paid marketing for your products? MORE

Business productivity is all about having the right people, even though I’m bombarded daily with online tools and mobile apps that promise to solve every problem with automation and data. MORE

Next Coast Ventures announced Wednesday that it is has added two technology venture partners and its first entrepreneur in residence. The Austin-based venture capital firm has added Paul Rogers and Jim Dunham as Technology Venture Partners, which will serve as mentors to the firm’s tech entrepreneurs in its portfolio and advisers to the fund’s leadership. […]. MORE

Innovation theory and innovation in practice are radically different. Here are some simple tools to get your company’s innovation pipeline through the obstacles it will encounter. MORE

Each business has a story. No matter if the business is a Goliath like Wal-Mart, or a local business owned by a couple or family, the business has roots in an idea. For each business owner, the story of their journey can range from monetary needs or the passion for a unique project. MORE

Every so often, a new innovation in shareable media changes the game. It starts slowly at first—everything from printed type to television began small—but eventually, it becomes the gold standard for information sharing and entertainment. MORE

Tackling the Sales Aspect of Being an Entrepreneur written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Jim Brown. Podcast Transcript. My guest for this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is Jim Brown, founder and host of SalesTuners. MORE

“Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” – Margaret Atwood. A few weeks ago, after reading the New York Times Sunday Review article The Book That Made Us Feminists , I asked Amy for several recommendations for books that were foundational to the feminist movement. I purchased all that she suggested and added them to my infinite list of books to read. MORE

Recent SaaS trends and the Accel Euroscape of the 100 most promising companies in Europe and Israel This article was co-authored with my colleague Pia d'Iribarne and published initially on Tech.eu. MORE

If you are in the startup ecosystem — or just a casual reader of tech sites — I’m sure that the majority of the fundraising stories you must have heard in past few months had a new term attached to them — ICO. MORE