View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

A little under a year ago, we hosted an event called Angel Bootcamp that was a primer for folks thinking about getting into angel investing. It was really helpful for the community, and it is something we’ll probably do again, although not every year. ( Here’s a great recap on the Boston Globe’s tech blog.). Of late, I have had a number of friends who have recently become more active as angels and have been trying to track down some of the advice from the event.

Technical Review 249

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 249

Steve Blank

AUGUST 25, 2015

I’ve spent this year working with corporations and government agencies that are adopting and adapting Lean Methodologies. The biggest surprise for me was getting schooled on how extremely difficult it is to be an innovator inside a company of executors. —– What Have We Lost? I’ve been working with Richard, a mid-level executive in a large federal agency facing increasing external disruption (technology shifts, new competitors, asymmetric warfare , etc.).

Lean 248

Lean Entrepreneur Business Model Silicon Valley 248

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2015

by Q Manning , CEO of Rocksauce Studios. App and tech development can sometimes turn into an ego trip. Put a bunch of brilliant minds on a great idea, and they’ll continue to grow the product’s features to an unruly state. They forget that before a product can rake in the big bucks, it has to be something that consumers want to use. That means keeping things simple.

Technical Review 189

Technical Review Software Review Social Media Developer 189

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 26, 2015

Most small businesses are trying to forget the last recession, and get back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone conversations, real product information spreads at astounding speeds. Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing will be left behind even in the best of times.

Agile 208

Agile Technical Review Leadership Social Media 208

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

AUGUST 25, 2015

Nice, and fairly comprehensive research by Forrester analyst JP Gownder. I like his balanced tone, not the Chicken Little tone so many recent books have taken “We forecast that 16% of jobs will disappear due to automation technologies between now.

Forecast 203

Forecast Technical Review Technology 203

Genuine VC

AUGUST 27, 2015

Tales become legends about founders of exceptionally transformative companies who truly struggled to get any investors’ attention early on. These rejection emails to the founder of Airbnb represent just one of the most recent example of this familiar theme. If a startup were obvious, then everybody would be doing it. And it wouldn’t be an opportunity.

Software Review 144

Software Review Portfolio Framework Distribution 144

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 25, 2015

In January, Jerry Neumann wrote a long and detailed analysis of his view of the VC industry in the 1980’s titled Heat Death: Venture Capital in the 1980’s. While I don’t know Jerry very well, I like him and thought his post was extremely detailed and thoughtful. However, there were some things in it that didn’t ring true for me. I sent out a few emails to mentors of mine who had been VCs in the 1980s.

Venture Capital 133

Venture Capital SBIC Technical Review Silicon Valley 133

View from Seed

AUGUST 26, 2015

A little under a year ago, we hosted an event called Angel Bootcamp that was a primer for folks thinking about getting into angel investing. It was really helpful for the community, and it is something we’ll probably do again, although not every year. ( Here’s a great recap on the Boston Globe’s tech blog.). Of late, I have had a number of friends who have recently become more active as angels and have been trying to track down some of the advice from the event.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Angel Investor Software Review Silicon Valley 120

crowdSPRING Blog

AUGUST 28, 2015

I guess I have a travel bug this month. Sad me, it’s August but there’s no time for vacation right now. I’ll have to continue from last week and fantasize about the places I would be visiting, oh if I only could. For instance, I do really like a good market in an exotic locale, and this may be one of the most comprehensive lists of these places yet crafted.

Small Business 81

Small Business Design Morocco Social Media 81

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

How do we escape the 9-5 shackles of corporate drudgery to build a life of adventure, meaning and purpose? Can we do this with $100 (or less) in our pocket? The answer to both questions is yes. At least according to Chris Guillebeau, author of “ The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future “ From a pool of over 1,500 small business owners who built businesses earning US$50,000 or more from a modest investment (often US$100 or less),

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 147

Mike Michalowicz

AUGUST 24, 2015

Also Available On. Show Summary. Adam Smith and Jonathan Domsky join us for Episode 42 of the Profit First Podcast. Adam talks about office products that can help protect your company. Jonathan tells us his journey of founding Kidorable and what it’s like to work with factories in other countries. Our Guests. Adam Smith (left) is currently a Director of Marketing for ACCO Brands based in Lake Zurich, IL.

Cofounder 101

Cofounder Product B2B China 101

ConversionXL

AUGUST 27, 2015

Imagine you’ve been working on optimizing a site for a while now, say 3, 6 or even 12 months. You’ve had solid winners each month, and you’re confident in the test results. These are not imaginary lifts. But now your conversion rate looks the same as when you started. How do you explain this to the boss/client? Another scenario: you’ve been optimizing for 12 months and your revenue per customer has increased by 2%.

PPC 95

PPC SEM Technical Review Conversion 95

YFS Magazine

AUGUST 26, 2015

Far from being too small to be targeted, small businesses are frequently being seen as easier targets by criminals – due mainly to their lax attitudes towards security.

Small Business 96

Small Business Security Technical Review Mobile 96

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2015

By Celina Kirchner, associate at Michelman & Robinson LLP. One of the first actions you will take with your startup is to organize your company a separate legal entity to protect yourself from personal liability for the company’s debts. In the tech startup context, you’ll typically choose between a Corporation and a Limited Liability Company (“LLC”).

LLC 161

LLC Technical Review Software Review Limited Liability Company 161

crowdSPRING Blog

AUGUST 24, 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE: We originally published this post back in 2012. Next month crowdSPRING will move from a 60% remote work environment to around 90%! This means that the team will gather together on just one day per week, the rest of the time we will be working remote from our homes, hotel rooms, Starbucks, front porches, or wherever we can find a decent WiFi signal!

Lean 76

Lean Small Business Restful Engineer 76

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2015

If you didn’t notice that the stock markets in the US dropped nearly 4% today (after falling last Thursday and Friday) then you were probably completely off-the-grid and on vacation. It was a nerve racking morning. My favorite Tweet of the morning came from Hunter Walk. You thought media twitter was bad… You thought tech twitter was bad… — Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) August 24, 2015.

Stock 279

Stock Finance Marketing Valuation 279

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 27, 2015

Why Smart Technology Use is the Key to Better Customer Marketing Data written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing. photo credit: pexels. If you haven’t already heard, 2015 is the year big data became a ubiquitous business necessity. Whether used for operational efficiencies or customer information, the benefits of big data are limitless.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Technology Customer Marketing 54

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 28, 2015

By Larry Weidel, author of “ Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success “ Itʼs easy to get the impression that the most successful people have been given some kind of advantage that the rest of us donʼt have — a special gift of physical, mental, or economic privilege that made their rise to greatness inevitable. This reinforces the often-unconscious belief that average people like you and me have a disadvantage that makes real, lasting success almost impossible.

United States 189

United States Canada Restful Leadership 189

deal architect

AUGUST 23, 2015

In time for Labor Day weekend reading, Amazon is launching 2.0 on Kindle today. It is starting to show up in book stores (print on demand at CreateSpace ). As with previous books, I will be excerpting 10% of the.

Demand 230

Demand 230

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2015

Last night I wrote a post about how the fall in the stock market over a 3-day period may affect the venture capital markets. If you’re an entrepreneur or VC who wants somebody else’s view on that you should read it. This morning the US stock markets are rallying. So now what? Let me give you the quick summary of what I said yesterday: Public markets affect venture funding.

Balance Sheet 255

Balance Sheet Valuation Burn Rate Stock 255

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2015

In my experience mentoring new entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders, I see far too many who seem to be driven by all the wrong reasons. Everyone seems to espouse extrinsic motivations, such as getting rich, having power, and fulfilling parent dreams, when in fact a focus on satisfying internal interests and desires will likely lead to more success, as well as satisfaction.

Entrepreneur 225

Entrepreneur Leadership Media 225

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 28, 2015

If you’re reading this blog or stumbled across this website, you’re probably an online entrepreneur. You’ve got a great idea, and maybe already started your own website. But, you’re having trouble standing out. You’re writing blogs and making connections, but you’re struggling to rise above the crowd. Don’t get disheartened. Every business starts out like this.

Metadata 135

Metadata Social Media SEO Advertising 135

Brandanew

AUGUST 25, 2015

Earlier in May, I visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. It was an exceptional visit. It prompted me to visit Arles and St. Remy where Van Gogh lived and created his wonderful masterpieces. Brands that connect not only make us feel good in the moment, they also make us react emotionally. The Van Gogh museum has this effect on a lot of people who visit it- offline or online.

Charlotte 218

Charlotte Social Media Curation Audio 218

deal architect

AUGUST 26, 2015

In time for Labor Day weekend reading, 2.0 is starting to show up in book stores (print at CreateSpace and ebook at Amazon). As with previous books, I will be excerpting 10% of the contents over the next few weeks.

209

209

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 23, 2015

These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute.

Startup 219

Startup Angel Investor Database Cofounder 219

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

By Carla Freberg, Vendor Services Manager at Balboa Capital. Small business owners are vital to the American economy. They create jobs, increase innovation, and provide a personal experience for consumers. But recent fluctuations in the economy have caused many small business owners to struggle to stay afloat, shutting down some and disheartening many.

Small Business 164

Small Business Louisiana Technical Review Finance 164

Brandanew

AUGUST 24, 2015

Great news trickles down sometimes in ways that we don’t quite expect. Personally, I’ve spent many years inspired by several TED talks. To be invited for a TEDx talk seemed like a far away possibility when we began Brandanew. It’s one of those goals that we didn’t quite set, but secretly hoped for. Because, creating stories is a fascinating job.

India 199

India Video Partner Founder 199

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 23, 2015

After skimming the New York Times this morning (while Amy reads it word by word), I felt like a philosophical dump. Maybe it was the article on why Trump is so popular. Or the completely banal business section where everyone knows what is going on. Confidence is an attribute that humans value. We like and are attracted to confident people. Competence is an attribute that we also value.

New York 133

New York Employee Management 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2015

Entrepreneurs and business executives seem to be even more focused on their technology than the rest of us, and less inclined to listen to the voice of the customer, even if they remember to ask. Real two-way conversations with real customers, including the all-important body language, are unheard-of these days. Being connected to the Internet many hours a day is not enough.

Customer 214

Customer Social Network Startup Internet 214

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2015

Telephonic technology has gone several notches high with the arrival of Hosted PBX. This business telecommunication technology is gradually taking the world by storm. All kinds of business ranging from small to medium size can have an advanced telephone system. Hosted PBX solution is cost effective and more economical. It doesn’t involve large scale capital investment as in case with telephone equipment.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Hosting Technology IP 142

Brandanew

AUGUST 22, 2015

We recently shared 5 business blogs that are kicking ass in content marketing , but we believe in giving you ample inspiration for your next content strategy. One might think that B2C companies have a lot of room to play around in when it comes to interesting content, but we came across some B2B companies that nailed interesting to the t! While most of them play it safe using textual content primarily, there are some B2B companies that are bringing in some inspiring Content Marketing changes.

B2B 180

B2B B2C Social Media Video 180

The Next Web

AUGUST 28, 2015

Soroush Ghodsi is 13-years-old. It shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t really matter. And yet… I first encountered Soroush when I emailed him about an experimental anonymous Twitter bot called Whispererly, not realising that it was a side-project from such a young entrepreneur. After working on Slik – his *real* company, which lets you search, filter and track companies based on criteria including investment round, employee count, page visits. etc. – he “reached out” (I hate that term) to me again.

PR 132

PR Founder Email Search 132

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2015

Creating a successful startup is all about marketing these days, no matter how compelling your solution. Technologists have long believed that marketing is only required when selling the next pet rock, but in this age of information overload, even the most exciting solutions will be lost from view or assumed to have no value unless they are surrounded by hype.

Management 201

Management Startup Stealth Seed Stage 201

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 27, 2015

By Daniel DiGriz, CEO of MadPipe. One day, we all look up and realize our businesses aren’t in Kansas anymore. In the past, we viewed company processes as static, because the economy was steady. The intervals between economic hills and valleys were shorter, the gestation period for new ideas was generous, and the rate of evolution of customer demands was slower.

Kansas 185

Kansas Ruby Operations Hosting 185

Brandanew

AUGUST 26, 2015

Many amateur bloggers have been using guest posting purely as a method for building back links to their own sites. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s head of spam, said that the time of guest posting for link building is over. However, the big guys in the Content marketing world including: the founder of Quicksprout, the Buffer team, the Hubspot team and whosoever is on your “ best practice list ” are still guest posting.

Advertising 158

Advertising SEO Reputation Audience 158

Version One Ventures

AUGUST 25, 2015

As you’re building your marketplace, consider which tools and technology to leverage. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel as new infrastructure solutions are emerging to help facilitate transactions on your platform, including: payment software, background checks, shipping and fulfillment solutions, and data privacy. With help from the Marketplaces Facebook Group , we have curated a list of recommended B2B tools by marketplace founders.

Product 131

Product B2B Curation Demand 131