Sat.Jul 13, 2013 - Fri.Jul 19, 2013

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Startup Grind Turns the Tables on Mark Suster

Both Sides of the Table

'One of my favorite events last year was attending Startup Grind where I got to interview Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. Not just because meeting Clayton was influential in shaping my thinking about markets but also because Derek Andersen (who founded Startup Grind) is such an awesome host and runs a very informative events.

Cofounder 337
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The Secret Sauce Of Start-Up Success

YoungUpstarts

'By Wain Kellum, CEO of Vocalocity. I grew the business that I currently lead as CEO from a start-up to more than 60 million dollars in revenue in less than six years. Because of this, fellow entrepreneurs are always asking me the proverbial question that is woven into the media interview of every successful CEO, “So, what’s your secret?”. I have more than 25 years of experience in leading fast-growth technology companies, and Vocalocity’s success follows on the heels of a long-standing track r

Georgia 186
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Startup Communities Are Up To The Entrepreneurs

Feld Thoughts

'As I continue to talk about Startup Communities , I say over and over and over again that the leaders have to be entrepreneurs. Everyone else – who I call the “feeders” (government, university, non-profits, big companies, VCs, angel investors) – have an important role, but the leaders must be entrepreneurs. Now – members of feeder organizations can play a leadership role, but in the absence of a critical mass of entrepreneurs, the startup community won’t ever

Community 163
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Here’s how London’s other ‘Tech City’ in Croydon has fared in its first 6 months

The Next Web

'If you think about the UK tech startup scene, London’s Tech City in the east of town will probably jump to mind. But look a little closer and you’d realize that while most focus goes on the Silicon Roundabout area of the city, there are other parts of the capital, and country, with a burgeoning startup scene. One of these hubs of new activity is Croydon, just on the southern outskirts of Greater London, which saw the official launch of Croydon Tech City (CTC) six months ago.

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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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Summer Business Books: What to Read Now

crowdSPRING Blog

'I love to read. Books, newspapers, magazine, blogs, comment threads. Put the written word in front of me, whether on a sheet of paper bound into a book or magazine, or as pixels on a glowing screen and I will consume it. But like most small business owners, I have very little time available for reading and what time there is tends to be pretty well consumed by the other parts of my life; you know – family, the couple of friends I still have, household chores and (this week at least) the a

Viral 93
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[Review] Customer Sense

YoungUpstarts

'Do you know that your five senses (sight, sound, scent, taste and touch) play a major role in what you buy? While marketers go gaga over social technologies and their impact on digital commerce, it is often our physical perceptions of a product which influence buying decisions. The challenge, however, is this: How can we design our products, advertisements and experiences such that they push the right sensory buttons in our consumers?

More Trending

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9 pieces of data e-commerce entrepreneurs should collect

The Next Web

'There’s no question that the future of e-commerce is in personalization. But you can’t improve your customers’ online shopping experience (or retain existing customers) without understanding what it is they want in the first place — which means you need to be understanding, and then acting, on whatever data you’re collecting. Figuring out where to start is daunting, so I asked 9 successful founders the following question: What is one piece of data that most novice e-commerce entrepreneurs would

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You Can’t Beat ‘Em, So Join ‘Em: Get Your Retail Shop Online

Up and Running

'In recent years the retail industry–and small retailers in particular–have come to see the internet as something of a threat to their livelihoods. Industry experts have blamed high profile businesses (such as Amazon or Nordstrom) for the rise in popularity of online shopping, claiming that consumers now have no need to visit physical retail shops. In fact, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) in the U.K. has forecast that one in five High Street shops will close by 2018.

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[Review] YOUtility

YoungUpstarts

'Can businesses be helpful without getting paid? After all, they are created to make money by selling a product or a service to a customer. Well, Jay Baer , author of “ Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype “, seems to think so. And if you read his book, you’re likely to agree with him too. I first blogged about Jay’s notion of helpful marketing last year after hearing his engaging podcast on Copyblogger Radio.

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Your Computer May Already be Hacked – NSA Inside?

Steve Blank

'In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell. In Russia, President Putin’s office just stopped using PC’s and switched to typewriters. What do they know what we don’t? Perhaps it’s Intel NSA inside. ——— For those of you who haven’t kept up, the National Security Agency (NSA’s) Prism program has been in the news.

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8 ways to cultivate more inventiveness at work

The Next Web

'When people think of the word “work,” a creative space perfect for cultivating ideas isn’t exactly what comes to mind. But really great startups tend to do one thing well, and that’s innovate. I wanted to know how successful founders make sure creative juices are always flowing (even if their office or local coffee shop isn’t necessarily the next Googleplex).

Jordan 131
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3 Website Trends That Customers (and Business Owners) Will Love

Duct Tape Marketing

'3 Website Trends That Customers (and Business Owners) Will Love written by Guest Post read more at Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Andy Hayes – Enjoy! I know what you’re probably thinking: oh, great, another trends post. Personally, I think trend-watching is interesting because it can give you new ideas for your business.

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TrustRadius Gets $5 Million in Funding

SiliconHills

'Austin-based TrustRadius, a crowdsource software review site for companies, landed $5 million in Series A financing from Mayfield Fund. Rajeev Batra, Mayfield Fund partner, will also join its board of directors. Last November, the company debuted at Innotech Austin’s Beta Summit. TrustRadius has a platform that allows people to review major software programs so other [.

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IFRS, as in SAP

deal architect

'I think Jim Snabe, co CEO of SAP is creating his own new terminology for reporting numbers when he says about 1H13 numbers "First of all, we don''t like to be in the category of traditional software players. We''re now.

Cloud 308
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Zesty: the dental startup with ‘denture capital’ and an eye firmly on UK healthcare

The Next Web

'“We had bookings at midnight, one AM last night and six ‘o’ clock this morning. I had a couple of calls, two people had booked and were in pain. ‘I’ve booked in Tower Bridge’ ‘I’ve Booked in Soho’. So I said, ‘great, did you read the email, everything’s fine.’”. This is currently the life of Lloyd Price, ex- Badoo man and founder of Zesty , a service that will find you a dentist in London at the click of a button. “’Yeah but I just need to know is the appointment booked?’.

Cloud 121
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10 Reality Checks to Verify Your Entrepreneur Fit

Startup Professionals Musings

'Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is a major commitment, with huge implications for skills and lifestyle. Yet there is no standardized testing or certification required or available anywhere to help you decide if you are a good fit for entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship is right for you. An MBA or other academic credentials just don’t do it.

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4 dumb and 1 good way I’ve structured my work/life balance

The Startup Toolkit

'false I’ve tried a bunch of work/life balances over the past 7ish years: Full-on startup. Four of us living & working under one roof, with an unhealthy peer pressure around working harder and longer. We always thought things would get better once we raised the next funding round. Turns out that money doesn’t fix bad culture. We’d moved the company from SF to London to be closer to our customers and I decided to stay there.

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Microsoft Enterprise Apps: A Revisit

deal architect

'In March I asked why Dynamics teams alway lag in leveraging innovations like Azure, Surface, Lync and others that Microsoft colleagues are developing just down the office. Maybe I spoke too soon. Josh Greenbaum does not have too many kind.

Azure 239
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How I read magazines and newspapers #pocket

Jeff Hilimire

'Believe it or not, I do still read both magazines and newspapers. Let’s get the newspaper thing over with. I subscribe to the AJC Thursday – Sunday edition to a) give me access to the digital content on their site and b) so I am forced to keep up with the goings-on in Atlanta. If I didn’t get the paper and have to walk to the end of the driveway and bring it back up to the house, I’d probably go a week or two without ever looking at Atlanta-based content.

Atlanta 41
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7 Reasons to Brand Yourself Before Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

'Starting a business is usually the result of a personal dream or need. Investors tell me that they invest in people, more than the idea. Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at the startup stages. That’s why it’s important to build a personal brand, in parallel and before your business brand. This will kick-start your business, and improve your odds of success.

Startup 274
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[Infographic] What The SEC Announcement Means For Startups And Entrepreneurs

YoungUpstarts

'July 10th, 2013 marked a monumental day for many startups across the United States – the US Securities and and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that the ban on general solicitation has been removed for small businesses seeking startup capital , allowing for sweeping changes in the way businesses find funding. With general solicitation now permitted, startups have the opportunity raise money from a wider range of investors and sources – potentially accelerating their funding and i

SEC 174
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HR Tech Conference

deal architect

'My old friend Bill Kutik is leaving after this year as co-chair of the the popular HR Technology Conference he started 16 years ago. Rather than coasting to a finish, he continues to run as fast as he can with.

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Humans and Robots Dancing in the Tesla Model S Factory

Feld Thoughts

'My partner Jason Mendelson sent me a five minute video from Wired that shows how a Telsa Model S is built. I watched from my condo in downtown Boulder as the sun was coming up and thought some of the images were as beautiful a dance as I’ve ever seen. The factory has 160 robots and 3000 humans and it’s just remarkable to watch the machines do their thing.

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How Do Entrepreneurs Build an Innovative Team?

Startup Professionals Musings

'Most entrepreneurs I know are individually very innovative, but a successful startup can’t be a one-man show (for long). That means they need to build an innovative team, which is not a skill that most people are born with. In fact, some very innovative individuals, known as ‘idea people’ or inventors, often end up creating the most dysfunctional teams.

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10 Ways To Overcome Impostor Syndrome

YoungUpstarts

'By Joyce Roché, author of “ The Empress Has No Clothes: Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success “ Many successful people suffer from impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome is the feeling that you’re a fraud – and that you’ll be “found out” if you don’t work longer and harder than everyone else. You may believe that others are more qualified than you, and every time you succeed, you’re not confident you can do it again.

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Systems of Advantage

deal architect

'We all know of systems of record. Geoffrey Moore coined the term Systems of Engagement a few years ago to reflect growing social applications. It’s time to recognize systems of competitive/strategic advantage. I wrote this in the Preface to The.

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Entrepreneurial Density and Venture Capital

Feld Thoughts

'Richard Florida continues to write amazing stuff about Startup Communities in The Atlantic Online. Two of his latest articles talk about entrepreneurial density and venture capital. High-Tech Challengers to Silicon Valley. The Connection Between Venture Capital and Diverse, Dense Communities. For a long time I’ve suggested that an interesting measure of entrepreneurial density would be ((entrepreneurs + employees of startups) / total population).

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Don’t Ask a Best Friend to be Your Startup Mentor

Startup Professionals Musings

'Friends tell you what you want to hear. Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. You always need the friend. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. A mentor’s aim is to teach you what to do and how, in specific situations, unlike a coach who helps you develop your generic skills for deciding what to do and how.

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[Asia] Revolver Asia Fires Its Way Into Regional F&B Scene

YoungUpstarts

'Singapore-based F&B veteran Michel Lu earlier this week launched Revolver Asia , a boutique corporate advisory that looks to provide business incubation and acceleration for startup lifestyle businesses in the food and beverage sector. The consulting and venture firm will offer an end-to-end suite of services for F&B businesses in varying stages of their business life cycles, from conceptualization to business process improvement, as well as franchising and mergers and acquisitions.

Asia 163
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Seven life lessons at 40

Version One Ventures

'I recently turned 40, which many consider to be a pretty significant milestone. Entering a new decade of life sparked a few reflective moments where I thought about what truly matters and what I’ve learned over the years, both in my professional and personal life. To that end, here are seven key life lessons I’ve learned over my first 40 years. 1. Always have options : The best decisions are made when you feel that you have options.

Search 167
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Romancing the Pitch…

Life Beyond Code

'The easiest advice you can give to a first-time entrepreneur is to ask him or her to make their pitch better. Why? Two reasons to start with: 1. That advice (unintentionally) implies that everything else about the business is quite all right and all it requires is a pitch upgrade. 2. If you are that entrepreneur, you might take that quite literally and start working on the components of the pitch (narrative, length, structure, sequencing etc.) and/or the mechanics of its delivery (tone, style e

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10 Dilemmas Every Startup Founder Must Deal With

Startup Professionals Musings

'Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup Founders dilemmas in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. People may jump into the lifestyle to be their own boss, achieve great wealth, start a new trend, or all the above. The dilemma is that these goals are usually mutually exclusive.

Founder 245
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[Infographic] Five Long Term Recruitment Trends In Southeast Asia: LinkedIn

YoungUpstarts

'Hiring trends are evolving rapidly, and in some cases even veteran talent acquisition professionals have been flatfooted as they seek to deal with the changing talent landscape. In Southeast Asia, having a pulse on those changes is getting increasingly important. According to LinkedIn’s recently released 2013 Global Recruiting Trends Report , the war for talent wages unabated across Southeast Asia.

Asia 160
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How I went from beginner to selling my app in the app store in 2 months

The Next Web

'I’ve read many posts in the past asking how to get started learning to code, or asking what people should do next after they’ve finished Code Academy. I wanted to give my story thus far to help others get started, because I’m currently on a “progress high” from how exciting it is to make an app. “ No experience”. It would be a lie to say I had absolutely no experience, but the experience I had prior to this process was limited to my engineering 101 course, where we learned how to draft algorit

Ruby 157
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The Proposed SEC Rules Undermine The Goal Of The JOBS Act

Feld Thoughts

'The JOBS Act , which was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama with much fanfare over a year ago, was intended to help small business. It is, after all, called the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. A number of the provisions have been slow to get written into law and the SEC has missed their deadlines on a bunch of stuff, including the often talked about equity crowdfunding activity.

SEC 152
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The Bar Keeps Going Up for Venerable Entrepreneurs

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.