Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 9, 2014

'Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). New crowd funding platforms on the Internet, like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as well as the Jobs Act of 2012 , are expected by many to ramp up regular people’s ability to fund new opportunities and kill the need for angel groups.

Angel Investor 278

Angel Investor Angel Groups Accredited Investor IRR 278

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'by Scott Hirsch, f ounder and CEO of Appsbar. Starting a business comes with great excitement and emotion, the challenges involved in turning your idea into a viable business are many and when you overcome those challenges you feel like you’re on top of the world. Now that you have your business up and running you must sustain and grow it, but how do you do that?

Management 167

Management Software Review eCommerce Entrepreneur 167

Version One Ventures

MAY 6, 2014

'There is not doubt that Bitcoin / the blockchain is a revolutionary technology. Once implemented, the blockchain might be able to disrupt many verticals that are built around managing the transfer of ownership by replacing a centralized approach with a decentralized (and hence usually more efficient) approach. While the blockchain can be applied to a range of verticals , from passports to wills, vacation rental keys and movie tickets, most of the start-up activity to date has focused on using B

North America 160

North America Technical Review Vertical China 160

Feld Thoughts

MAY 5, 2014

'Today, Orbotix , the maker of Sphero, has raised a new round of $15.5 million, led by Shea Ventures and including new investor Grishin Robotics. We were the original investors in Orbotix and I joined their board in the fall of 2010 after they went through the Techstars Boulder program. The first post I wrote about Orbotix included an aspirational phrase for what they were working on.

Software Review 136

Software Review Agile Mobile Programming 136

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

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2014

'Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account , I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'There was a time when you could not even dream of applying to an outstation job. Even though you were more than qualified for the job, there was no way you could leave your existing job to travel for a job interview. Times have changed though. Now with video conferencing, you can think about applying for a job anywhere in the country or the world without even moving from your home.

Video 216

Video Software Review Employee Hosting 216

deal architect

MAY 6, 2014

'We are still a long ways from where the Apple CEO shows off a new product and the supply chain and partners have long been working on it and several million units and related apps are delivered to customers within.

Software 286

Software Cloud Marketing Partner 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

'Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” The right question is “What is the minimum that I need?

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

YoungUpstarts

MAY 5, 2014

'by Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard and author of “ The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Lasting Success “. Blow up your bureaucracy and replace it with teams of 8 to 12 people. This is not as radical as it sounds. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos calls it the “Two-Pizza Rule” — a team should be no larger than can be fed by two pizzas.

Silicon Valley 164

Silicon Valley Technical Review Cofounder Lean 164

Feld Thoughts

MAY 7, 2014

'Yesterday when we were having Comcast issues in downtown Boulder, I thought about how slow the Internet speed at my office was. For several hours, it was 0 Mbps down and 0 Mbps up (0/0) until I gave up and tethered my iPhone to my computer and used Verizon LTE for the rest of the afternoon. When I got home, Pandora had trouble starting up on my CenturyLink connection, which Speedtest showed was 2/0.5.

Internet 195

Internet Kansas City Kansas .Net 195

deal architect

MAY 4, 2014

'No I am not reversing course on my decision to not write about SAP on this blog. That decision had nothing to do with any individual executive but with broader customer issues I believe SAP has been unwilling to address.

Software 218

Software Customer 218

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 3, 2014

'With the uptick in the economy, as an active startup mentor, I’m seeing a new surge of entrepreneurs and startups, with the commensurate scramble for funding. There just aren’t enough Angel investors and VCs to go around. Thus I’m getting more questions on new mechanisms, like crowd funding, and an old one long out of favor, the so-called “reverse merger.

Merger 246

Merger OTC IPO Stock 246

YoungUpstarts

MAY 7, 2014

'If you run a successful business, you probably spend plenty of time ensuring that your customers’ experiences are good ones, but that relationship — as vital as it is to your bottom line — is just one of many that are essential. From your suppliers and shippers to the local mom and pop business that keeps your HVAC working, operating a business requires doing business with a lot of different people and companies, and finding good, reliable people to keep your ship afloat still requires the art

Networking 279

Networking Social Media Reputation Media 279

Gust

MAY 4, 2014

'Barack Obama meets Mark Zuckerberg, photo via Wikimedia. Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Poor first impressions can be avoided, but I’m amazed at the number of unnecessary mistakes I see at those critical first introductions, presentations, and meetings.

Entrepreneur 172

Entrepreneur Angel Investor Affiliate .Net 172

deal architect

MAY 7, 2014

'Extract from The Digital Enterprise There is a growing acceptance that most commercially available antivirus software cannot keep up with the speed and intensity of the attacker community. Also, if attackers are going to target an enterprise directly, they are.

Community 191

Community Software 191

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2014

'The cost of entry for an aspiring entrepreneur has never been lower, and the total wealth of opportunities has never been larger. You can start a new e-Commerce site on the Internet for as little as $100, with cheap smart phone apps, new technology innovations, or tapping the multitude of opportunities brought by capitalizing on our concern for dwindling natural resources.

Startup 241

Startup Differentiation Social Media Entrepreneur 241

YoungUpstarts

MAY 5, 2014

'by Regan Billie, Social Media & PR Coordinator at Fleetmatics. There are two ways for a business to increase its profits. The first is to bring in more revenue, whether it’s by raising prices or just selling more of a product or service. Another way is to decrease cost. When running a business, specifically a startup, it’s easy to get fixated on the idea of making money.

Cost 238

Cost Small Business Cloud PR 238

Agile VC

MAY 9, 2014

'One of the first things that caught my eye when I started reading the Alibaba Group S-1 was a section on page 7 of the filing regarding something called the “Alibaba Partnership” It quickly struck me that the Alibaba Group’s corporate governance in some ways mirrors China’s Politburo. Some context… like many startups, the founders of Alibaba still own substantial stakes in the company and believe it’s in the company’s best interests for them to retain

Government 153

Government Silicon Valley China Cofounder 153

The Next Web

MAY 5, 2014

'JT Marino and Daehee Park are the founders of Tuft & Needle, an e-commerce mattress startup cutting out the industry gimmicks and markups. As a startup, every day is a battle against distractions—meaningless or nice-to-have ideas from customers, team members and advisors—that may throw you off course. Even more valuable than cash on hand is time.

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur Product Web Founder 167

Gust

MAY 7, 2014

'The venture capital fund itself makes money… …by investing early in a startup company’s life, when success is not at all assured. In exchange for investing capital to help the company grow, the fund receives an ownership interest in the company. Because in the early days a company will not be worth very much, the fund’s ownership interest will be worth exactly what it paid.

Venture Capital 154

Venture Capital IPO Limited Partner Carried Interest 154

YoungUpstarts

MAY 7, 2014

'by Alaina Percival, Marketing Manager for Riviera Partners and CEO of Women Who Code. Now more than ever, the increased competition for talented engineers is forcing technology companies to optimize their hiring strategies. The language used in job listings is particularly important, as that acts as the first barrier to entry for any potential employees.

Hiring 217

Hiring Employee Engineer Partner 217

Rembrandt Communications

MAY 6, 2014

'Are you guilty of blurting out these mistakes? If you are a new entrepreneur, you may be looking forward to an upcoming interview with a local or national reporter. You’ve reviewed your notes and talking points and feel prepared. But just as a reminder don’t forget these… 3 Things Never to Say to a Reporter […].

Public Relations 138

Public Relations PR Small Business Media 138

The Next Web

MAY 9, 2014

'Jennifer Cirpici is a Dutch graphic designer and blogger. Designers are often people who are stubborn, full of drive, and either good or bad at planning, but not in between. Designers can also be hard workers. Actually, designers are odd people to understand. We think a lot about everything, we overanalyze situations, we can spend hours on a project without realizing that time is passing by, and we have a very direct opinion.

Design 167

Design Web Entrepreneur 167

Gust

MAY 3, 2014

'The facile answer to this assumptive question is “because some women are not seeking funding from venture capital firms” But there is actually quite a bit of truth in both statements. Women-led ventures definitely account for a smaller percentage of venture investments than do ventures led by men, but women-led ventures also account for a MUCH smaller percentage of ventures seeking funding in the first place!

Venture Capital 152

Venture Capital Portfolio Equity Programming 152

YoungUpstarts

MAY 9, 2014

'by Eric Groves, CEO and co-founder of Alignable. Small Business Week is a great time to reflect on ways local businesses can become stronger in the year ahead. Based upon our knowledge and experience, here are five things they can do to put them on the path to greater success: Tip #1. Connect with others nearby to become stronger. Your best next customer is frequenting another local business nearby, so the best path to that customer is getting to know other local business owners.

Marketing 203

Marketing Social Media Cofounder Small Business 203

Feld Thoughts

MAY 8, 2014

'Just now Fred Wilson posted an Open Internet Letter to the FCC that my partners and I at Foundry Group signed on to. It came together in the last 24 hours and was driven by our friends at Union Square Ventures. If you are a VC and are interested in signing on before we file this formally with the FCC, please send me or nick [at] usv [dot] com an email.

Internet 144

Internet .Net Partner Email 144

The Next Web

MAY 7, 2014

'Dominic Smith is a senior writer and content strategist for Rackspace Digital, the digital marketing infrastructure specialists. Digital marketing, like the “analog” marketing that came before it, relies on word of mouth. Clicks, shares, pins and retweets are all part of the conversation. Even in the age of BuzzFeed and go-viral formulas (online quizzes involving yesteryear celebrities apparently back in style), many brands still engage traditional ad agencies and marketing consultants to craft

Marketing 167

Marketing Viral Social Media Media 167

Up and Running

MAY 7, 2014

'Asking for help is one thing; asking for financial help is another beast all its own. Yet many entrepreneurs turn to family and friends to help fund their business. A recent study from the National Knowledge Commission shows that 63 percent of entrepreneurs “self-financed” their business, but that doesn’t mean every owner saved up their own money. Upon closer investigation, at least half of these entrepreneurs asked friends and family for financial support.

Finance 133

Finance Business Plan Entrepreneur Software 133

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2014

'by James Monsees, CEO and Co-Founder of Ploom. Businesses have the power to change perception — to elicit wonder in their customers and revolutionize entire industries. Tesla reinvented the car-buying experience for consumers by creating an interactive platform to enlighten shoppers on the technology behind the electric car and help them configure possible purchases to their own tastes.

San Francisco 198

San Francisco Cofounder Audience Technology 198

Feld Thoughts

MAY 8, 2014

'If you are an founder or employee of a public company, repeat after me: “ I am not my stock price.” This is one of my favorite Jeff Bezos quotes. It’s easily to get bummed out when your stock price drops. I believe the emotions follow the +1/-5 rule. Each time it goes up, you get one unit of happiness. Each time it goes down, you get -5 units of happiness.

Stock 143

Stock Restful Employee Founder 143

The Next Web

MAY 4, 2014

'Brian Honigman is a marketing consultant, a professional speaker and freelance writer. This post originally appeared on the Adknowledge blog. Many marketers have experienced it: presenting a case to superiors for a larger budget or defending how they spent the existing budget. At times, it can be a difficult process with lots of push back and discussion, while other times it’s an easy conversation due to the success of your spending decisions or widespread internal buy-in.

Mobile 167

Mobile Marketing Social Media Design 167

SiliconHills

MAY 8, 2014

'By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News The Austin Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night named 12 companies to its A-List of Startups for 2014. In the “Emerging” category, for companies that have raised less than $1 million, the winners were Datical, Compare Metrics, Embrace, TeVido, TrustRadius and Spot on Sciences. In the “Growth” category, […] The post Austin Chamber Names 12 Startups to its Austin A-List for 2014 appeared first on SiliconHills.

Austin 134

Austin Naming Metrics Startup 134

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2014

'by Josh Gerben, principal of Gerben Law Firm, PLLC. “Branding.” You can’t turn around today without hearing another marketing expert talk about the importance and power of a brand. Building a strong brand is key to building a strong and successful business — but many entrepreneurs, in the excitement and chaos of the startup process, ignore a very important element of building a brand: registering a brand trademark.

Intellectual Property 196

Intellectual Property Naming Search Product Name 196

Feld Thoughts

MAY 6, 2014

'Dane McDonald, the CEO of FG Press , took my 3D Robotics IRIS drone out for a spin around Boulder and the surrounding area. His three minute composite video is beautiful, and just the beginning of some fun drone exploratory imagery. And yes, he got at least one gratuitous non-Boulder mountain snow shot in there. Enjoy! The post A Drone’s Eye View of Boulder appeared first on Feld Thoughts.

Video 136

Video 136

The Next Web

MAY 8, 2014

'Paul Adams is the VP of Product at Intercom, previously at Facebook and Google. This post originally appeared on the Intercom blog. The reshuffles in management in Google+ recently attracted a lot of press comment and speculation. I thought it an appropriate time to look back on the last couple of years and see what broader product lessons we can learn from the inception, launch and evolution of Google+.

Product 166

Product Design Web Entrepreneur 166

ConversionXL

MAY 7, 2014

'In the world of conversion optimization it’s always a good idea to keep your eyes open for case studies that you can learn from, adapt to your needs and go test it. What we have are 6 case studies that are a bit different. They take something as common social sharing buttons, Facebook Connect or huge product pictures, things that in theory would give you nice boost if you tested them.

Conversion 127

Conversion eCommerce Canada Mobile 127