Sat.Feb 11, 2017 - Fri.Feb 17, 2017

article thumbnail

What’s FinTech, And What Does It Mean For Your Business?

YoungUpstarts

by Andriy Skoropad, co-founder & CEO at Perfectial. You know PayPal, have heard of Bitcoin and, probably, even stumbled upon the term FinTech a few times. But have you a clear understanding of what exactly does this word stand for? Some claim that all possible interactions of finance and technology, which I guess includes credit cards – the 1950’s invention, are FinTech.

Ruby 210
article thumbnail

How Do I Feel About the Snap IPO Given I Didn’t Invest?

Both Sides of the Table

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” I won’t speak to most of them due to time and also due to the fact that I simply am not the story and don’t want to pretend like I am.

IPO 214
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Book Review: What to Do When Machines Do Everything

deal architect

Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring, thought leaders at Cognizant are back with a follow up to their last book, Code Halos. The title of the new book is gloomy but the book (they sent me a review copy).

article thumbnail

5 Success Practices of Ultra-Effective Business Teams

Startup Professionals Musings

It takes an effective team to attract and serve a community in business these days. With real-time online reviews and feedback via the Internet, and instant relationships via social media, a voice from the top that is inconsistent with what is heard from the firing line defines a dysfunctional and noncompetitive company for today’s customer. Thus team makeup is the critical success factor.

article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

5 Essential Guidelines To Selecting The Right CRM For Your Startup

YoungUpstarts

by Rohit Thakral, CEO of Target Integration. Customer relation management is one of the most important aspects of any business. The essence of any business establishment is the set of customers and clients. Now, when it comes to a start-up, this aspect becomes all the more important. The people, who bring you the revenue by using your products or services, need to be kept content and appeased.

article thumbnail

Top Hat Raises $22.5M Series C in a Tough Vertical: What Can We Learn from their Success

Version One Ventures

Our portfolio company Top Hat just closed a $22.5M (USD) Series C round. Union Square Ventures – one of our favorite co-investors – added to Top Hat’s existing investors and USV’s Albert Wenger joined their Board of Directors. This funding is big news, particularly since 2016 was a weak year for Ed Tech funding. Generally speaking, Ed Tech has proven to be a tough vertical, primarily due to the fact that it’s hard to charge consumers (students) directly.

Vertical 133

More Trending

article thumbnail

Alexa, what is the Alexa Accelerator?

David Cohen

The Alexa Accelerator , powered by Techstars , is a new program designed to support early-stage companies advancing the state-of-the-art in voice-powered technologies, interfaces and applications. Created in partnership with Amazon’s Alexa Fund , the program will focus on Alexa domains such as connected home and car, wearables and hearables, communication devices and more.

article thumbnail

Understanding What’s Going on in #LATech

Both Sides of the Table

Upfront Ventures was created 20 years ago as one of the original VC funds in Los Angeles. Back then only 15% of our dollars were invested locally whereas today 50% of our dollars are invested in LA. 10 years ago we found ourselves trying to persuade LPs and VCs that it was worth spending more time getting to know the LA market and now the most common refrain that I hear from them is “there really is something going on in LA.

article thumbnail

This could be mutually assured destruction in SAP world

deal architect

One of the most toxic contractual terms in SAP world is that of “indirect access” where users exchange information with the SAP software in dialog or prompt mode. The issue is not with licensed users who access the software using.

Software 314
article thumbnail

How to Optimize Your Referral Program and Boost Your Sales

Duct Tape Marketing

How to Optimize Your Referral Program and Boost Your Sales written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Referral marketing looks like the elixir of marketing. You are making your customers refer their friends to your business at no extra cost. Doesn’t that sound great? If you are a business owner, I know it does. But here’s the thing: creating a referral program isn’t hard.

article thumbnail

6 Strategies to Keep Your Business Self-Sustaining

Startup Professionals Musings

Every new business owner looks forward to the day when their business becomes self-sustaining, and settles into a long-term growth curve that will assure financial success, as well as a lasting legacy. Unfortunately, in this age of vacillating customer trends and a wealth of new competitors scratching and clawing for a piece of the action, long-term growth requires constant focus.

Vertical 167
article thumbnail

How Teens Must Adapt To Growing Up In The Gig Economy

YoungUpstarts

by Scott Bennett, Founder and CEO of Skratch. Today’s generation of teens will be more prepared for the future work environment than the generations before them because of the accelerating gig economy. Generation Z, which are those born between 1996 and 2010, strive to solve problems instantly and are maturing in a stranger-trusting community that utilizes daily on-demand services for food delivery like Favor, transportation solutions like Uber, and instant current event influence with news sent

Demand 172
article thumbnail

This is what Florence must have felt like during the European Renaissance

deal architect

Florence was an incredibly wealthy and innovative place in the 1400s “The artists, architects, thinkers and political figures who led the Renaissance were all born on the fertile soil in and around Florence, within the same century: Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti,

Global 210
article thumbnail

How Smart Founders Vet Tech Talent for Coding and Culture [Traction #36: Dan Reich, Troops]

View from Seed

Dan Reich is the CEO and co-founder of Troops, a company bringing artificial intelligence to your sales team’s workflow, right in Slack. (Disclosure: NextView is an investor in Troops.). Today, we discuss Dan’s smart process hiring his early technical talent — both leadership and front-line developers. Subscribe to the NextView blog for future episodes and more resources for seed-stage startups: nextviewvc.com/blog.

article thumbnail

10 Personality Types That Shouldn’t Be Entrepreneurs

Startup Professionals Musings

People who get stressed managing their own lives don’t make good entrepreneurs. Small businesses require multi-tasking, work prioritization, and decision-making, with no assistants or help from specialists. That’s why Fortune 500 executives usually don’t survive as startup CEOs. First you have to learn to accept total responsibility for things that happen to your business, just like you are responsible for everything in your personal life.

article thumbnail

3 tech founders on scaling multi-million dollar businesses

The Next Web

Creating a startup may be one of the most difficult things you ever attempt, but scaling the venture to a mass market is even harder. As your brand grows, unless you’re fully prepared to scale it properly, everything will become chaotic. Often leading everything to fall into disarray and eventually crumble. With over 90 percent of startups never reaching their fifth birthday, it’s no secret starting a business is just the beginning of the race.

Founder 167
article thumbnail

The H-1B Visa Pivot: A major opportunity for Indian outsourcing

deal architect

Dr. Michio Kaku, the renowned theoretical physicist, has called the H-1B the “genius visa” for US employers. That was certainly the goal with the usage designed for “specialty occupations”. In reality, many of the visas have been used for tactical.

Design 163
article thumbnail

Cash Flow Hacks Every Startup Should Know

YoungUpstarts

If you are a founder, then you already know the odds are against you. Let’s face it most do. Well, it turns out there are some simple hacks you can use to dramatically improve your chances of success. While every startup should know these hacks, most don’t. Lucky for you, here is a list of cash flow hacks every startup should know: Know Your Breakeven.

Startup 124
article thumbnail

7 Rules For Maintaining A Creative Business Culture

Startup Professionals Musings

Within the startup realm, there is a big difference between having an innovative product versus an innovative business. Some startups have a new technology, but stick to a tried-and-true business model. Others take an existing product, and give it new life with a creative business model. The most competitive startups do both, all the time and every time.

article thumbnail

Top Startup Mistake: Unrealistic Forecasts

Up and Running

True story: I sat down for lunch with a friend, a Sand Hill Drive venture capitalist. When I asked the standard “How are you,” he answered: “If I see another hockey stick forecast this week, I’m going to throw something at somebody.”. That was so long ago that I had to ask him to explain the hockey stick metaphor. He answered: “That means that sales are going along flat and boring, with nothing happening—but things are going to shoot up as soon as I get your money.” See A

Forecast 130
article thumbnail

5 more inspiring reads for aspiring entrepreneurs: top tech CEOs tip top books

The Next Web

The best books you’ll read are typically recommended by people you like or admire. Which is why we’re partnering up with bookshelf.tips to do a monthly roundup of short book recommendations from the apex of the tech world. Bookshelf.tips asked entrepreneurs, CEOs, and other visionaries share stories about books that changed their life or the way they do business – in less than 50 words, because we know you’re busy people (but hopefully not too busy to read these books).

article thumbnail

4 Ways To Expand Brand Awareness To A Larger Customer Base

YoungUpstarts

Today there are more ways to market than ever before. And we’re not referring to throwing a lot of things out there and hoping something sticks. These are highly targeted marketing tactics that can be fine-tuned using a long list of metrics. Between the constantly connected Internet and 24/7 television, consumers can be reached at anytime from anywhere.

article thumbnail

6 Reasons Your Business Needs A Website At Rollout

Startup Professionals Musings

These days, if your startup does not have an Internet home base up and running, you are not ready for business or potential investors. Customers go there to check on the details of your offerings and verify that you are not a scam, investors look there to check out your management and sales approach, and suppliers expect to find contact information.

Viral 143
article thumbnail

Are We Trading Human Connection For More YouTube Views?

YFS Magazine

Online video and video marketing is on the rise while real human connections and attention spans are dwindling. Is any of it doing the world any favors? This article Are We Trading Human Connection For More YouTube Views? appeared first in YFS Magazine.

Video 125
article thumbnail

5 Funny Business Ideas That Actually Worked

Brandanew

Have you ever considered expanding your business, but you are running short of ideas? Perhaps you are thinking that your business idea is so ridiculous that it will be a flop. To keep you motivated , here is a list of five funny business ideas that actually ended up as big hits. Read through these tips and you might actually find a cool and crazy idea that could work for you!

Japan 100
article thumbnail

Defending Groundbreaking Ideas From Killer Competition

YoungUpstarts

by Lewis Robinson. It’s finally happened. After years of brainstorming, of tossing out bad ideas, of beating your head against the wall in frustration, you’ve finally done it. You’ve come up with your Big Idea. It’s going to revolutionize the world, and the idea is 100 percent your own. This is what you’ve been working for your entire life. Congratulations!

article thumbnail

Do You Love Your SEO Content Marketing Results?

Rembrandt Communications

Make your business heart race with a new, SEO content marketing strategy. It’s time for Valentine’s Day and that means love is in the air… unless your SEO content marketing strategy is not giving you the results you want! When copywriting works, it can skyrocket sales, online awareness, a positive reputation, and more. So if […]. The post Do You Love Your SEO Content Marketing Results?

SEO 100
article thumbnail

Do Less And Delegate More: How Leaders Learn To Let Go

YFS Magazine

As a leader, you’ll never help your business reach its highest potential if you’re drowning in daily minutiae. Try a few of these tips and learn to let go. This article Do Less And Delegate More: How Leaders Learn To Let Go appeared first in YFS Magazine.

Product 121
article thumbnail

The Power Of A Digital Sabbath

Feld Thoughts

I’m doing a little better than I was on Friday morning when I wrote the post Generosity Burnout. Just writing the post put me in an appropriate frame of mind to reflect on things on Saturday. I took a digital sabbath , something I’ve been doing on 90% of the Saturdays since I first tried it in March, 2013 in the middle of a deep depressive episode.

article thumbnail

How To Hire Your First Employee

YoungUpstarts

by Anand Srinivasan, founder of LeadJoint.com . The number of independent workers has been on the fall over the past few decades. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 15 million self-employed people in the country. That is nearly 10.1% of all workers in the United States and this figure is down by nearly two percentage points over the past two decades.

Hiring 113
article thumbnail

A Guide to Open-Ended Questions in Marketing Research

ConversionXL

A good conversationalist knows that asking closed-ended questions is no way to make real friends. Similarly, in marketing research, there are certain limitations inherent to closed-ended questions. There’s a lot of value in asking both open and closed questions in a survey. This article, however, will dive into the intricacies of asking and acting upon open-ended questions in your research.

Marketing 105
article thumbnail

It’s Time To Re-Evaluate Your Relationships — In Life And Business

YFS Magazine

Take a moment and think about your life and business relationships. Have you ever considered how they contribute to your life? This article It’s Time To Re-Evaluate Your Relationships — In Life And Business appeared first in YFS Magazine.

Developer 117
article thumbnail

Entrepreneur Helps Businesses Focus on Passion Points Instead of Pain Points to Get Results

Hearpreneur

Share. “Content is King.” It’s a popular phrase that has been used over and over again. Especially with changes from Google and the introduction of platforms like LinkedIn Pulse, content has a lot of value for entrepreneurs and business owners when leveraged correctly. Lisa Manyon through her company Write On Creative provides coaching, consulting and copywriting services for entrepreneurs and business owners helping them to communicate accurately and effectively to be success

article thumbnail

How To Securely Transact With An Overseas Client

YoungUpstarts

by Anand Srinivasan, founder of LeadJoint.com . Doing business with a client who is based outside your country can be a risky affair. For one, you may not really get a chance to meet them personally and vet their credentials. Also, contracts do not really make a lot of sense unless this is a deal worth thousands of dollars – filing lawsuits and getting court orders implemented may be impossible, expensive and time-consuming.

article thumbnail

Control your euphoria!

Berkonomics

One thing a senior manager can count on is that someday, something will go right, very right. Well, after all the disappointments, pressure and outright failures, this is NEWS. So we tend to go overboard a bit. As a member of the board, I’ve received calls on weekends, at night and texts at hours I didn’t even think existed – from CEOs who couldn’t control the euphoria.

Armenia 97
article thumbnail

5 Online Business Ideas For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

YFS Magazine

Here is a look at 5 compelling, easy-to-start online business ideas that often have a short learning curve and require very little capital. This article 5 Online Business Ideas For Aspiring Entrepreneurs appeared first in YFS Magazine.