Sat.Nov 23, 2013 - Fri.Nov 29, 2013

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7 Entrepreneur Oversights That Will Crash Profits

Startup Professionals Musings

'Many startups fail before reaching that magic “cash-flow positive” position they have been striving for, despite seemingly reasonable financial projections. A closer analysis often indicates the cause to be a lack of diligence in handling common business finances. These mistakes are usually masked by excuses, like the economy turned on me, or my competitors played dirty.

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Voila, A Simple But Feature-Rich Screen Capture And Annotating Tool

YoungUpstarts

'Say you’re a Mac user and need video recording, image capturing and annotating software – perhaps you simply need something nifty to manipulate videos and pictures for Web use - but unwilling to shell out the dough for Adobe’s full Creative Cloud suite, you may want to consider Voila by software developer Global Delight. Voila is an intuitive all-in-one tool that’s likely to prove useful for small business owners, web developers, content creators and educators – s

Metadata 154
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We crowdfunded $1.7 million for a new online news publication. This is our story so far.

The Next Web

'Ernst-Jan Pfauth is the former Editor in Chief of Internet at NRC Handelsblad, as well as an acclaimed technology author and columnist. He also served as The Next Web’s blog’s first blogger and Editor in Chief, back in 2008. At De Correspondent, Ernst-Jan serves as publisher, fostering the expansion of the platform. He originally published this post on on Medium.

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It’s An Agile World

Feld Thoughts

'My post on How to Fix Obamacare generated plenty of feedback – some public and some via email. One of the emails reinforced the challenge of “traditional software development” vs. the new generation of “Agile software development.” I started experiencing, and understanding, agile in 2004 when I made an investment in Rally Software.

Agile 134
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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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Lessons Learned: How Choosing the Wrong Partner Cost One Entrepreneur Her Business

Up and Running

'Adi Bittan, co-founder of a startup that failed due to a bad partnership. Like every new entrepreneur, Adi Bittan planned for success. With her business savvy and the scientific minds of her three other partners, the team planned to take Wall Street by storm. They were creating a high-tech calculator of sorts. Their product would help a financial firm crunch numbers instantly, so investors could make trades faster and set themselves apart from competitors. “We spent months at a venture fi

Partner 126
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The Five Most Common Legal Mistakes New Companies Make

YoungUpstarts

'by Tricia Meyer, managing attorney at Meyer Law. Although it’s impossible to know exactly what will happen as your business grows, many issues can be avoided, and many others made easier to overcome, if your company has carefully laid its legal foundation. Too many startups expose their business to unnecessary risk by making some common legal mistakes.

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Nine Webcasts to Learn From

Startup Lessons Learned

'Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Our fall webcast series concluded on a high note with three extraordinary conversations about the origins and implications of Lean Startup. If you missed these when they went out live, we encourage you to watch them now , as they lay a strong foundation for The Lean Startup Conference , December 9 -11 in San Francisco—less than two weeks from today.

Lean 165
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Bitcoins Bitcoins Everywhere

Feld Thoughts

'I woke up this morning to several articles about Bitcoins. From Dave Taylor’s explanation in the Boulder Daily Camera to a paywall article that you can’t buy with bitcoins (ironic) in the NY Times ( A Bitcoin Puzzle ) to Fred Wilson’s blog ( A Note about Bitcoin ), I was surrounded by words about them. We have an awesome CEO list that covers plenty of topics.

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5 Core Values For The Workplace

YoungUpstarts

'By Robert L. Dilenschneider, author of “ A Briefing for Leaders: Communication As the Ultimate Exercise of Power “ There are many fine values, such as courtesy, confidence, ingenuity, thrift, and so on. The trouble is that the list of values grows easily and can cause many employees to lose their focus. They fail to prioritize. A “short list” of values is far more useful in putting the workplace back on track.

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How clutter affects your productivity (and what you can do about it)

The Next Web

'Mikael Cho is the co-founder of ooomf , a creative marketplace connecting mobile and Web projects with vetted, handpicked developers and designers from around the world. This post originally appeared on the ooomf blog. Cleaning out your closet, emptying your inbox, putting things where they “belong.”. A few years ago, I worked at a Web design agency as a product manager.

Product 167
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Small Business and Startups: End-of-Year Mishegoss, 2013!

crowdSPRING Blog

'Every year I have to sit you down and explain to you the importance of preparing for the end of year madness that every small business is required to experience. There is a ton of work to be done, myriad details to attend, and fun that must be had; this I need like a loch in keppe , but hey, we make our own choices in life, right? The madness is best summed up in the Yiddish and there are several variations: meshuggah (which Merriam Webster defines as crazy or foolish, but also happens to be a

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Structuring Your Projects For Passive Income And The “Holy Trinity” That Leads To The Perfect Business

Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

'Subscribe to this Podcast in iTunes. This edition of Everything Entrepreneurship with Walter and Yaro focuses on passive income. We also review what I call the “holy trinity” of concepts necessary to feel completely satisfied with your business, especially as a lifestyle entrepreneur. Here are some of the subjects we discussed -. Can buying a website lead to true … Read the rest of this entry » The post Structuring Your Projects For Passive Income And The “Holy Trin

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Simple Tips To Look After Customers Effectively And Grow The Business

YoungUpstarts

'by Keith Tully , a partner at business rescue specialists Real Business Rescue. Without customers, no commercial organisation can survive. It can be a struggle initially to attract new customers to your organization, but once you have done this, how do you keep them? Satisfied customers will return, and may also tell their family and friends about their good experiences.

Customer 161
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How to Deal with Pure Recruiting Mistakes

Both Sides of the Table

'One of the unavoidable realities of building a startup is having to fire people. In a normal business you can often sweep bad performers under the rug and not deal with them. When you have millions or billions of dollars of revenue you can suffer a few bad performers or bad apples. You can miss a quarter’s target and not cull the inefficiencies.

Hiring 338
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Enterprise Software has its perks

deal architect

'You think it is all boring? See what 3 of my friends in the industry got to do recently Mini Peiris at NetSuite got to ring the closing bell at the NYSE Fred Studer gets to star in this really.

Software 297
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No Startup Founder Was Born With All Skills Needed

Startup Professionals Musings

'I have met several young people in business recently who believe that they are natural born entrepreneurs, and actually seem to feel that traditional training and experience may be a detriment to their success in this new world. I concede that some natural born skills do exist, but more often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker , who said “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes.

Founder 281
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Enhancing Your Business Communications With The Right System

YoungUpstarts

'When you think about running a business, staying on top of the communications system generally isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. While this process isn’t as exciting as brokering new deals and expanding into new industries, the reality is that communications serve as the central nervous system of your entire organization. Having a fault or defect anywhere along the way invites chaos and confusion to enter the business place.

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What am I Thankful for This Year?

Both Sides of the Table

'2013 has proved to be a wild year. Companies being created has continued to go up dramatically making managing dealflow nearly impossible. Thank you to Tasha for helping to keep me sane by managing the onslaught of meeting requests, board meetings and constant change. You’ve had a few difficult years outside of work – I feel confident 2014 is going to be a great one!

Valuation 288
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How a bad technology decision can bite for years

deal architect

'Kelly, the flight attendant, saw me shake my head as I entered my connecting flight to the Bay Area this week. I recognized the plane as an older Southwest 737-300 plane with no wi-fi. An email a few days prior.

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7 Key Realities Many Startup Founders Never Learn

Startup Professionals Musings

'When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” I find that the basics are actually the hardest to answer, just like your parents found out when they first tried to fill you in on the “facts of life” a long time ago.

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Overcoming The Kiddo Factor

YoungUpstarts

'By Dana Kaye, owner of Kaye Publicity. I’m used to being the youngest person in the room. I graduated high school at seventeen, couldn’t legally drink at my college graduation, and launched my company before I could rent a car without a co-signer. As a publicist and owner of a PR company, my youth comes with its advantages: I grew up in the age of the internet, technology comes easy to me, and I have the creativity and energy needed to execute unique publicity campaigns.

Agile 252
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What Are You Going To Stop Doing in 2014?

Feld Thoughts

'Sometimes you have to stop doing things to make more progress. 2013 was a complicated year for me. Lots of things have gone well, but I struggled with a deep depression from January to May. My running has been erratic (no marathons this year) and I’ve struggled a lot physiologically, which at this point I think I’ve been able to determine is some version of what is called adrenal burnout or cortisol deficiency.

Flash 180
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Forget SAP

deal architect

'InformationWeek has a nearly 1,500 word column about a session with Bill McDermott. And he talks about the younger, greener SAP. And he talks about HANA and he talks about Oracle. What’s striking is there is no mention of SAP.

Software 290
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Your Venture Is All About You, Not Your Invention

Startup Professionals Musings

'If you expect to succeed in the thrill-a-minute, roller coaster ride of a startup, let me assure you it takes more than a good idea, a rich uncle, and luck. In fact, the idea is often the least important part of the equation. Most investors tell me that they look at the people first, the business plan second, and only then at the idea. If you want some tips to beat the insurmountable odds, take a look at the following concepts, adapted from Richard C.

Flash 261
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Why A Small Business Might Be The Perfect “Retirement” Gig

YoungUpstarts

'By Sean C. Castrina, author of “ 8 Unbreakable Rules For Business Start-Up Success “ Most people look forward to retirement, viewing it as a time of relaxation, freedom, and fun. Finally, I’ll be able to do what I want , they think. No boss breathing down my neck; no need to get up at a certain time; no stress. And for the first few weeks or months, retirement lives up to the hype.

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How investors evaluate VCs

The Equity Kicker

'LPs, the investors in VC funds, have a difficult job to do, largely because they have to work with poor quality data and only a small fraction of VCs deliver the returns that make them worth investing in. The problem is made worse by the fact that LP demand to invest in the handful of serially successful VCs well outstrips supply and most LPs have to invest most or all of their venture allocation in other VC funds.

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Enterprise blogging at the crossroads

deal architect

'I looked around the room during Marc Benioff’s press conference at Dreamforce, and felt pride that bloggers were the ones asking the smartest questions. They are banded together at ZDNet, Constellation, Forbes and Diginomica or stay solo like Brian Vellmure.

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Founders Need A Vision and A Plan, Not Just An Idea

Startup Professionals Musings

'A popular approach for aspiring entrepreneurs these days seems to be to corner anyone who will listen, with a pitch on their current “million dollar idea.” The initial monologue usually ends with the question “How much money do you think this is worth?” In my humble opinion, ideas are a commodity, and are really not worth much, outside the context of a visionary leader and a plan.

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Learn Forex With OANDA’s Mobile App

YoungUpstarts

'To many small business owners and entrepreneurs, foreign exchange is exactly that – very foreign. But currency trading shouldn’t just be the domain of currency traders and speculators; the truth is that any business that intends to sell their products and services outside of the country they’re based in need to at least have a rudimentary understanding of how foreign exchange (forex) works.

Mobile 160
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6 reasons to consider adding Live Chat support to your business

The Next Web

'Brian Honigman is a marketing consultant, a freelance writer and a social media enthusiast. This post was originally published on Jumplead. . You don’t need a master’s degree in marketing to understand that quality customer service is crucial to the long-term success of your business. Your existing customers will become your most vocal advocates and help grow your customer base on your behalf if you provide a worthwhile and memorable experience each and every time.

Vertical 151
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Anon has become a grumpy old man

deal architect

'“Books of quotations are cluttered with sayings attributed to Anon, and these scraps of truth and wisdom have earned Anon universal recognition and immortality” says this essay which celebrates the prolific author. Problem is the essay was written before the.

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Keep Your Business Plan Succinct Yet Impressive

Startup Professionals Musings

'If you want people to invest in your idea, then my best advice is first write a business plan, and keep it simple. Don''t confuse your business plan with a doctoral thesis or the back of a napkin. Keep the wording and formatting straightforward, and keep the plan short. For minimum content, see my article “ These 10 Key Elements Make a Business Plan Fundable.

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Business Apps That Are Changing The Way People Transact

YoungUpstarts

'Apps have changed many aspects of our day to day lives. Whether we are sending selfies on Instagram or catching up on our favorite iPod podcast, apps are essential for keeping us in touch and entertained. But, they are also increasingly transforming the way that we conduct business. An advanced mobile operating system like iOS for the iPhone can literally give us the power of an office in our pocket.

Mobile 150
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Compass lets startups check their growth against similar companies using more than 30 data sources

The Next Web

'While startup CEOs measure key metrics to keep tabs on how well their business is doing, it can be hard for them to know exactly what counts as a good figure or a bad figure. How are they faring against their peers? Compass is a new tool that aims to answer that question. Compass comes from the team behind the Startup Genome project , that collected data from around the world about what makes startups succeed or fail.

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Disruptions and Innovations for 2014

deal architect

'Have 2 interesting sessions coming up: On December 3, Phil Fersht and Ned May of HfS and I will have a fireside chat at their Blueprint conference in New York on “Five Disruptions Shaking the Foundations of the Modern Enterprise”.

New York 207
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In The Future, Everyone Will Have Some littleBits

Feld Thoughts

'We recently invested in littleBits. It’s another of our investments that traces its roots to the MIT Media Lab. It’s also another investment we are making with our friends from True Ventures. It’s another one that mixes hardware and software in a delightful way that is part of our human computer interaction theme. And yet another investment in New York.

New York 138