Sat.Nov 22, 2014 - Fri.Nov 28, 2014

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Technical Entrepreneurs Often Fail By Early Adopters

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias.

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Catch Them On Thanksgiving, Convert Them Into Customers By Christmas

YoungUpstarts

'by Gil Ilani, CEO of Camilyo. Beginning on Black Friday, and increasingly so later on Thanksgiving Day, online and traditional retailers alike enter a period that can make or break their business’ overall yearly performance. This is especially the case for SMBs without the cachet and powerful name recognition of the Amazons, Nordstroms, Macy’s and the like.

Customer 163
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What every company should know about hiring tech talent

The Next Web

'Vivek Ravisankar is the CEO and cofounder of Y Combinator alumnus HackerRank — a tech talent community for developers and companies that hire developers. The world is speeding up. Today, every company is a software company on some level. Developers are pushing the envelope, creating, iterating and scaling faster than ever before. Regardless of the industry your company is in or its size, hiring talented developers is critical for business to thrive.

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Our Favorite Black Friday Deals for Your Small Business

Up and Running

'Bplans Staff writer Angelique O’Rourke modeling a MacBook Air. We all know that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to pick up deals and get your holiday shopping done. But, what about your small business? It needs a few holiday gifts to get it ready for the New Year. Here are 10 of our favorite deals that will help boost your business this holiday season.

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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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Why I Look for Obsessive and Competitive Founders

Both Sides of the Table

'Obsession. The drive to succeed at all costs. When second place isn’t good enough because we live in winner-take-most markets. The desire to be better than anybody else in one’s field. This blog started from a series of conversations I found myself having over and over again with founders and eventually decided I should just start writing them.It would often make my colleagues laugh because they’d hear me like a broken record and then the next week read my ramblings in a post.

Founder 394
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Innovation: The Key To Entrepreneurial Success

YoungUpstarts

'By Dr. Karen Reddington, Regional Vice President of FedEx Express, South Pacific. Baidu, Tencent, Rakuten, Alibaba – the list goes on. Asia is home to some of the world’s most groundbreaking companies and you only have to look at the likes of Korbit and VMFive to realize it’s not just the larger players that are shaking things up. With Asia’s share of global research and development forecast to grow to 40% this year, the quest to drive innovation is at the forefront of conversation among busine

More Trending

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Surround Yourself With People Smarter Than You

Startup Professionals Musings

'Helpers do what you say, while good help does what you need, without you saying anything. People who can help you the most are actually smarter than you, at least in their domain. Top entrepreneurs spend more time putting the right team in place to accomplish their objectives than they spend on any other components of their job. Some entrepreneurs are so in love with themselves (narcissistic) that they insist on answering every question, and making every decision.

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The Right Startup Advisors Are As Valuable As Money

Gust

'Warren Buffett advises President Obama, image via Wikipedia. If you are a new entrepreneur, or entering a new business area, it’s always worth your time to assemble an Advisory Board of two or three executives who have travelled that road before. You need them before you need funding, and if you select the wrong people, or use them incorrectly, no amount of money will likely save your startup.

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10 Tips for Effectively Handling Customer Complaints During The Holiday Rush

YoungUpstarts

'By Ron Kaufman, author of “ Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet ”. For the customer service sector, the holiday season is crunch time. With more shoppers, more sales, more shipping, more advertisements, and more product demand, there’s (so much) more potential for something to go wrong.

Customer 157
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Thank you, Amazon

deal architect

'As I release another book, I am reminded once again how relentlessly customer-friendly Amazon is. Amazon has a growing number of detractors – investors are unhappy with its losses, Europeans about privacy and its data locations, labor groups about the.

Customer 239
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Focus On Profits Is Not Enough For A Great Business

Startup Professionals Musings

'It’s always been tough to start a new business, even when the bottom line was just making a profit to stay alive. A few years ago, a second focus of sustainability (“green”) was added as a requirement for respectability. Now I often hear a third mandate of social responsibility. Entrepreneurs are now measured against the “triple bottom line” (TBL or 3BL) of people, planet, and profit.

Green 262
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The real reason unlimited vacation policies work

The Next Web

'Mike Volpe is the CMO of Hubspot. At most companies in the United States, vacation starts in the most unrelaxing way possible: permission slips. Accruing enough time to go on vacation then having to ask for permission to do so feels more like a fifth grade field trip than a grown-up getaway. Still, far too many companies rely upon the status quo to inform vacation policies.

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[Infographic] 5 Tips For Starting A Small Business

YoungUpstarts

'Starting a small business doesn’t have to be a perplexing task – with the right tools and understanding, you can follow your dream all while creating a profitable company. For those individuals just starting out, knowing your audience is key. By understanding your customers and what they want, it is easier to sell not only your product to them, but also your brand.

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How to start making sense of your data

Version One Ventures

'Now more than ever, companies are collecting large amounts of data at a high frequency. This is thanks to cheap storage and a multitude of tools available to automate the process (i.e. Google Analytics, Flurry, Mixpanel, etc.). While collecting data is one thing, finding meaning or actionable insights is another task altogether. Over the past month, I have spent time with some of our portfolio companies talking about how to leverage the power of their data.

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The Best Business Leaders Are Visible At The Front

Startup Professionals Musings

'True leaders realize that, by definition, the word "leader" places the leader at the front, and not the rear. Yet many, many executives try to lead through fear and intimidation. This isn’t really leading at all. It’s pushing. In all businesses, leading from the front means that you are not afraid to get your hands dirty, pitching in to get the job done.

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The anatomy of a marketing email that drives results

The Next Web

'Janet Choi is the Marketing Manager at Customer.io. Most writing in email marketing is terrible. Experiencing lame email copy can be educational on what not to do and motivate you to aim higher, if anything. But what are some positive techniques used to craft compelling emails? Here’s one simple but powerful method: AIDA, a time-tested copywriting formula that’s been used in marketing and advertising in all types of media for over a century.

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How To Prepare Your Business For Black Friday

YoungUpstarts

'By Carla Freberg, Sales Manager – Vendor Services Group, Balboa Capital. The beginning of the holiday shopping season starts on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is referred to as Black Friday, and it brings out shoppers in droves who are looking for special promotions, door-buster deals, one-day sales and free giveaways. This year, Black Friday is expected to once again set new sales records.

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Thanksgiving is Important for Entrepreneurs… Why?

Rembrandt Communications

'Say Thanks All Year Long It’s Thanksgiving, and you are probably looking forward to spending time with family and friends… or just getting some much-needed rest. But for entrepreneurs, Thanksgiving is something much more important. It’s a time to be thankful for how far you’ve come and all of the ups and downs involved in […]. The post Thanksgiving is Important for Entrepreneurs… Why?

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Digital Marketing Is A Great Equalizer For Startups

Startup Professionals Musings

'Most technical entrepreneurs cringe when they finally realize that marketing is still king, despite the power of technology, and they are up against competitors who have a hundred times their spending power. Luckily, the digital revolution has been a great equalizer in the marketing world, if used effectively to target the audience, engage the customer, and measure results.

Marketing 253
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Why a tech reporter will create the next great startup

The Next Web

'Conrad Egusa is the CEO of Publicize. He is happy to connect on LinkedIn here. Tech journalists spend a lot of time thinking about the future. Which company will become the next Instagram? What’s the next product to change the face of gaming? The journalist-launched journalism startup is a relatively established concept, with Time’s Dan Fletcher and the Beacon crowdfunding platform being one recent example.

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[Infographic] Does It Pay To Be Pretty?

YoungUpstarts

'Do looks matter when it comes to success? The answer, quite expectedly, is a resounding yes. But before you pick up your pitchfork in defense of equality, consider the numbers: the average call back rate when you submit a resume is 30%. An attractive male gets called back 47%, while their less attractive brethren gets called back 26% of the time. For women, the variance is staggering – a pretty female gets called back 54%.

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Good tips for a pitch deck

The Equity Kicker

'The pitch deck guide below is one of the best I’ve seen. Thanks to my friend @alexhoye for sharing. It’s a great guideline for content – both everything that should be in a deck and a slide by slide guide – that’s hugely valuable, but the other thing that’s important is to sell a story. One simple and highly recommended way to do that is to cultivate a sense of inevitability , another is to make it exciting by following standard story telling arcs – e.g

Startup 146
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The Right Startup Advisors Are As Valuable As Money

Gust

Warren Buffett advises President Obama, image via Wikipedia. If you are a new entrepreneur, or entering a new business area, it’s always worth your time to assemble an Advisory Board of two or three executives who have travelled that road before. You need them before you need funding, and if you select the wrong people, or use them incorrectly, no Read more >.

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What Salary Means

This is going to be BIG.

'When I was coming out of college, working in finance, I used to think a lot about my salary. I wanted the best offer out of my classmates. I wanted the biggest signing bonus. I liked maxing out on raises and I liked the feeling I got getting to a six figure salary. The funny thing was that I didn''t even particularly care about the money itself. It was, in my mind, what the salary meant.

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Reasons Why China Android Smartphones Are Trending In The Smartphone Market

YoungUpstarts

'Over the last few years, the smartphone market has greatly changed. Major mobile phone brands like Samsung and Apple have been leading the premium smartphone market with innovative and captivating products and designs – but all that has been lately matched by other upcoming mobile phone brands. The biggest competitors to these already established mobile giants are the little known manufacturers from China.

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Ecommerce discovery on mobile – no apps?

The Equity Kicker

'It’s been troubling me recently that at first glance the trend towards mobile and the trend within mobile towards apps mitigates against startup ecommerce companies. Amazon is one of the first apps I download whenever I change phone, but it’s the only ecommerce app that I have, and that’s because Amazon is the only place I shop frequently enough to be bothered to download an app.

eCommerce 133
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B.A.S.H.H. Founder Lani Rosales Keeps Austin Authentic

SiliconHills

'By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News “There’s not one business meeting I go to where I can’t cuss and wear flip flops,” said Lani Rosales, explaining one reason why—when she married her husband, Benn Rosales—she agreed to include in their vows that she’d never force him to leave Austin. Many people know Lani […] The post B.A.S.H.H.

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What is a real missed opportunity?

Life Beyond Code

'One of my favorite quotes is actually an African proverb. It goes like this: When you want to go fast, go alone. When you want to go far, go together. It’s easy to understand and equally easy to forget, unfortunately. With that in the background, let’s get to answering the question we started with: What is a real missed opportunity? In short, the “real missed opportunity” is your inability to proactively help people in your network to accelerate the pursuit of their dreams.

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How Mobile Payment Will Impact The Growth Of Mobile Commerce This Holiday Season

YoungUpstarts

'by Scott Hirsch, f ounder and CEO of Appsbar. The growing consumerism of our society is always a hot topic this time of year. Discussions about whether or not retailers should open on Thanksgiving to the monitoring of ‘Christmas Creep’ by various blogs and websites can be seen everywhere. However what gets lost in the shuffle is the fundamental question involved – what do consumers want?

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There’s a great entrepreneur at the heart of every great business

The Equity Kicker

'One of our core beliefs is that at the heart of every great business there’s a great entrepreneur. It says so on our homepage and it underpins our strategy at Forward Partners – we have set ourselves up to be attractive to the best entrepreneurs. That manifests itself throughout our business. We try to run quick and transparent investment processes, we try hard to add value through due diligence, our terms are fair and simple (we will release them soon as standard docs for anybody

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Want to Run a Nonprofit? Start Here.

Up and Running

'Image copyright Bplans.com. Starting a nonprofit means you want to make a difference. You’re not starting your NPO to hawk silly mobile apps or book infomercial time, you’re trying to make the world a better place. And that’s great! But, since a nonprofit is meant to serve the public good, the government takes regulation of nonprofits a lot more seriously.

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Rackspace’s Thanksgiving Day Food Drive Helps Needy Families

SiliconHills

'By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News A voucher for a free turkey and a box of food items from Rackspace came as a surprise to Robin Dysart. Crestview Elementary School sent the voucher home with her daughter. “It means the world to us, we’ve been having some difficulties for the last few years,” […] The post Rackspace’s Thanksgiving Day Food Drive Helps Needy Families appeared first on SiliconHills.

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5 Tips For Throwing The Ultimate Office Christmas Party

YoungUpstarts

'The office Christmas party. Boom time for brewers and HR consultants worldwide! So how do you plan the ultimate office Christmas party? Is it in the details? The guest list? The dress code? Here’s the five top tips for throwing the ultimate office Christmas party: Plan Backwards. You know what ruins an office Christmas party quicker than Greg from Accounts trying to charm his way into your Christmas stocking?

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Episode 3: Profitable Family Business With Barry Moltz

Mike Michalowicz

'Show Summary. Barry Moltz, author of How To Get Unstuck , Bounce , You Need To Be A Little Crazy and other business books joins us for Episode 3 of the Profit First Podcast. Barry explains the extra steps family run businesses must take to be profitable. Our Guest. Barry Moltz gets business owners growing again by unlocking their long forgotten potential.

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The Right Startup Advisors Are As Valuable As Money

Gust

'Warren Buffett advises President Obama, image via Wikipedia. If you are a new entrepreneur, or entering a new business area, it’s always worth your time to assemble an Advisory Board of two or three executives who have travelled that road before. You need them before you need funding, and if you select the wrong people, or use them incorrectly, no Read more >.

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Imagining a brighter future

The Equity Kicker

'It’s a pretty common for futurists to lament that public perceptions of the future are generally dystopian. Hollywood often gets much of the blame for providing us with Terminator, The Matrix and many other nightmare visions of the future, but our evolutionary history is perhaps more responsible. Simply put, we are built to be pessimistic. The best way to stay safe on the African savannah was to be super sensitive to anything that might represent a threat, so our brains evolved to be good