Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2013

'Last year I wrote a blog post on entrepreneurs with a chip on their shoulders. I think it’s an important read. A chip on one’s shoulder as in, “F**k the system, it’s broken and I want to fix it” is exactly the energy I look for in entrepreneurs. My internal compass says that “country-club” entrepreneurs struggle to make as big of an impact because it’s really hard to totally change a system that you’re part of and have a vested interest in.

Churn Rate 371

Churn Rate Vesting Viral eCommerce 371

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

'The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation.

Angel Investor 256

Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch Matching 256

YoungUpstarts

JULY 31, 2013

'I’ll be honest about this – I was full of skepticism when I first approached “ Click! Work Anytime, Live Anywhere “, a self-help, “get rich”-type book from Singapore-based dotcom millionaire Fabian Lim. Serial entrepreneur Lim had made his fortune from creating and running a string of Internet businesses such as ClickMedia , as well as events company ClickEvents built around, yup, teaching people how to get rich by being Internet entrepreneurs.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Singapore Internet Partner 150

crowdSPRING Blog

AUGUST 2, 2013

'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 98

Social Media Small Business Design Media 98

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

The Next Web

JULY 29, 2013

'Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. It’s part two of a series, cross-posted from his own blog , in which he draws on his experience to offer advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond. You can follow him on Twitter, where he is @ChristianReber. Here’s part 2 of my series of blog posts about my learnings from starting 6Wunderkinder and creating Wunderlist.

San Francisco 125

San Francisco Cofounder Germany Europe 125

Venture Chronicles

AUGUST 2, 2013

'I have covered a couple of topics in this series, the first being hiring the best people and the second organizing for success based on the attributes of the people you are hiring. Today I want to go into territory less obvious because let’s face it, hiring the best people and creating conditions where they can succeed is the kind of startup advice that is squarely in the “stating the obvious” category.

Product 62

Product CTO Hire Architecture Startup 62

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 28, 2013

'Much has been written on the “Steve Jobs” school of human resources. Jobs was an uncompromising believer in hiring the most talented team possible and believed equally in firing folks at will. That was all well and good for the most valuable company in the world, where an endless stream of applicants lined up at the door everyday and allowed Jobs and company to cherry pick the very best.

Hiring 79

Hiring Small Business Employee Leadership 79

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2013

'The sad truth is that cash flow surprises kill many startups, even though they should have been adequately funded to survive. Overall, 90% of small business failures are caused by poor cash flow, according to the D&B Small Business website. Cash is king when it comes to the financial management of a growing company, so this is not the place for shortcuts and sloppy practices.

Startup 286

Startup Matching .Net Sales 286

deal architect

JULY 29, 2013

'Two large agencies, Publicis and Omnicon, announced a merger yesterday. Famous brands such as BBDO Worldwide, Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi will be part of the new empire. With merged revenues of $ 23 billion, it will become the.

Offshore 247

Offshore Merger Revenue 247

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 1, 2013

'By Brian Cristiano, CEO of BOLD Worldwide. 1. Tell an honest story. Big companies have budgets to make their TV ads look like Hollywood movies. Small businesses do not. But with an authentic, genuine message and the right team, even low budgets can produce advertisements that look professional and connect a great product or service with target customers.

Advertising 250

Advertising Small Business Campaign Media 250

crowdSPRING Blog

JULY 28, 2013

'Much has been written on the “Steve Jobs” school of human resources. Jobs was an uncompromising believer in hiring the most talented team possible and believed equally in firing folks at will. That was all well and good for the most valuable company in the world, where an endless stream of applicants lined up at the door everyday and allowed Jobs and company to cherry pick the very best.

Hiring 56

Hiring Small Business Reputation Restful 56

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2013

'Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. But even the best of them can easily slip into some bad decision habits that limit or hurt their business, due to natural human tendencies and the pressures of business challenges.

Metrics 275

Metrics Differentiation Demand Cloud 275

deal architect

AUGUST 1, 2013

'I wrote this post about Sabremetrics and Selling for the salesforce blog. Billy Beane of the Oakland A''s - Mr. Moneyball - is prominent in my post. He will also be keynoting at the HP Vertica Big Data conference in.

Oakland 207

Oakland 207

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 1, 2013

'Singapore-based accelerator Joyful Frog Digital Incubator ( JFDI Asia ) has revealed that over 300 digital startup teams have applied for its second accelerator program for this year, competing for just 12 places in this intake. Applications has streamed in from all over Asia, with applicants from Singapore and India comprising over half of the total number, with representation even from the UK – India (28%), Singapore (23%), Philippines (7%), Indonesia (6%), Taiwan (4%), Vietnam (4%), UK

Singapore 243

Singapore Programming Asia Incubator 243

Rembrandt Communications

AUGUST 1, 2013

'Hiring outside experts may be the key to boosting sales now. Summer is flying by and August is here. With this in mind, what are you doing to make your life easier during these warmer months? As a business owner, it’s easy to want to control every aspect of your business. But you can actually [.].

SEO 153

SEO Hiring Sales Marketing 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2013

'Success in a startup is not possible as a “one-man show.” An entrepreneur has to engage with team members, partners, investors, vendors, and customers. In my experience, the joy of positive engagement is sometimes the only pay you get in an early startup. Amazingly, many successful startups are built on this basis alone, with almost no money. I will talk here primarily about building the internal team of a startup, but the same principles apply outside to your “extended team” and customers.

Entrepreneur 250

Entrepreneur Social Media Hiring Employee 250

deal architect

JULY 31, 2013

'Oh how I wish Ed had written a few months ago this nice summary of Microsoft mistakes around Windows 8. Instead, I have had a frustrating time for 6 months now with my Toshiba Ultrabook. I have had a phenomenal.

207

207

YoungUpstarts

JULY 28, 2013

'by Dr. Jeff Cornwall. There is little doubt that America needs a strong dose of entrepreneurial activity to jumpstart the economy. But unlike past recessions, we are not seeing a significant number of entrepreneurs who view the downturn as an opportune time to start a new business. There seems to be a growing concern that the American culture has lost its entrepreneurial fire.

Nashville 230

Nashville America Programming Entrepreneur 230

Feld Thoughts

JULY 30, 2013

'Fred Wilson had a post yesterday titled Mentor/Investor Whiplash. His recommendations for dealing with it can be summarized as “collect all the data, think about it, discount what investors have to say, and ultimately listen to what the market is telling you over what advisors / investors tell you.” I then read through the comments on the post and was bummed out.

Early Stage 166

Early Stage Lean Programming Conversion 166

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 28, 2013

'I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? The answer is still the same, but I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.

Networking 250

Networking Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Elevator Pitch 250

deal architect

JULY 30, 2013

'Most companies will say things like customers are our highest priority. Or quality. Or Investors. Or even write bestselling books about "Employees First". But SAP unabashedly says Our Partners are Job 1. Not sure how else to explain that SAP.

Partner 207

Partner Software Employee Customer 207

YoungUpstarts

JULY 29, 2013

'by Meng Weng Wong, co-founder and social engineer at JFDI Asia. You’re supposed to demo the business, not just the product. The investors who come to Demo Day might nod politely when you talk about the features of your product. But they’ll sit up and pay attention when you talk about the customers and revenues of the business. You’re in dialogue with the marketplace.

Asia 207

Asia Singapore Cofounder Incubator 207

Life Beyond Code

JULY 30, 2013

'Kare Anderson and I have been friends for a while. Every meeting and conversation with Kare is an absolute delight because she is simply a powerhouse of ideas, enthusiasm, energy and a bundle of possibilities. I was not there when these videos were recorded by Japjot mentioned to me that the experience was very similar to that of what we had when we recorded Guy Kawasaki videos – almost no retakes, insights with clarity and compassion.

Video 160

Video Conversion Founder Marketing 160

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2013

'Entrepreneurs often get the advice from their lawyers and friends to always get a Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA or CDA) signed before disclosing anything about their new venture. Most investors and startup advisors I know hate them, and refuse to sign them. Who is right? Let me try to put this question in perspective. If you are totally risk-averse, then push to always get signed NDAs.

NDA 230

NDA Non-disclosure Agreement Demand Non-Compete 230

deal architect

JULY 30, 2013

'I have been reading plenty of stories recently about how technology and automation are killing jobs. And my usual reaction is to think of William Gibson and his quote "The future is already here — it''s just not very evenly.

Distribution 191

Distribution Software Technology 191

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 2, 2013

'by Alessandra Colaci, marketing manager of Auctiva. With summer winding down to its final blissful weeks, a new school year is soon to begin, and that means shoppers will be on the hunt for essential study supplies, clothing and gear for their school-age kids. Back-to-school promotions are well underway at major retailers, but there’s still ample opportunity for small and midsize merchants to succeed in this competitive market.

Search 190

Search Forecast Boston Engineer 190

The Next Web

JULY 28, 2013

' . Just because you have a great idea doesn’t mean your startup will succeed, and there’s a simple reason for this: concepts don’t make companies. Startups depend on everything from the capabilities of their founders to the depth of their pockets. But, just because an idea hasn’t taken off doesn’t mean it won’t eventually, right? Particularly in the tech scene, you’ll see ideas tried countless times before a true winner emerges.

Social Network 159

Social Network Startup eCommerce Issued Shares 159

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2013

'Every entrepreneur wishes that he could predict whether his idea could be the “next big thing,” before he spent his life savings and years of energy on it. Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan. I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, comp

Entrepreneur 228

Entrepreneur Search Web Business Plan 228

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 1, 2013

'Put this in the protip category. When you create a calendar event and invite someone to it, make it useful. For example “Board Meeting” is not helpful. But “BigDoor Board Meeting” is very helpful. Don’t invite me to a meeting that says “Meeting with Brad Feld.” Make it something like “Smith / Feld – UX for BigDoor” meeting.

152

152

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2013

'The pivot – at least as far as a startup is concerned – is defined by Eric Ries, author of “ The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses ” as a structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about (a startup’s} product, strategy, and engine of growth.

Naming 176

Naming Startup Lean Engineer 176

Mike Michalowicz

JULY 31, 2013

'Today, as I write this, I am sitting on a veranda with the most magnificent views of Jamaica. I came here to speak at the annual Business Summit event in Kingston, and my wonderful host has me staying in a villa at Strawberry Hill. My room sits on top of a mountain (a hill for Jamaicans, a mountain for New Jerseians), over looking other mountains in all directions.

Jamaica 156

Jamaica Hosting Entrepreneur 156

The Equity Kicker

JULY 30, 2013

'One of the reasons I moved to Forward was to be in the vanguard of change for early stage company finance. Union Square Ventures partner Albert Wenger wrote a post yesterday about the disruption of venture capital which lists the changes afoot: Information about VCs on the internet. In the mid-1990s VCs began to have websites, but there were no good resources for entrepreneurs to find out about the venture capital process and learn about individual firms or partners.

Venture Capital 144

Venture Capital Silicon Valley Early Stage Angel Investor 144

Feld Thoughts

AUGUST 2, 2013

'I adore Jeremy Bloom. He co-founded Integrate , which we are investors in. I’ve interviewed him for the Entrepreneurs Unplugged series I do at CU Boulder. We’ve been part of a few events together. He’s got an enormous heart, soul, and brain. A while ago he created a foundation called Wish of a Lifetime. It’s a magnificent example of what I call “ Random Acts of Kindness ” and is a deep part of my value system.

Denver 151

Denver Video Email Entrepreneur 151

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2013

'by Libby Fischer Hellmann, author of ” Havana Lost ” and “ A Bitter Veil “ Some say the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Until recently, agents and traditional publishers were publishing’s gatekeepers, deciding whose work was printed and whose was rejected. The growth of self-publishing has turned everything upside down now that anyone, anywhere, can publish, market their books, and call themselves an author.

Cuba 168

Cuba Aggregator Iran Social Media 168

Mike Michalowicz

AUGUST 1, 2013

'Wouldn’t you know it. I am at the Four Seasons in Kingston, Jamaica for breakfast today (not today “today,” but as I write this “today”), and out of nowhere six or seven people emerge for a photo shoot. Not of me mind you. The cliche Austin Powers photographer is barking out commands in preparation for the shoot. A model stands in the shade off in the distance, as a makeup artist applies makeup, another feeds her water and grapes (literally), and yet another is cir

Jamaica 153

Jamaica Austin Entrepreneur 153

The Next Web

AUGUST 2, 2013

'Editors note: This is a guest post by Kevin Bracken , founder of Speak Easy, a social space sharing marketplace. Whilst we by no means condone the act of selling alcohol without the legalities addressed before hand, the “hustle” in this is undeniably impressive. The month was January 2013. We had a product launch coming up in a little under three weeks – our events product.

Las Vegas 143

Las Vegas New York Hosting Startup 143