View from Seed

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Whether an entrepreneur is raising a smaller (pre-)seed round entirely from individuals or she has a seed-stage or larger VC firm involved in (leading) the seed syndicate, it’s somewhere between necessary and optimal to have multiple individual angel investors involved. First and foremost, angels can provide capital. But secondly, the can play a strategic role in everything from optics (signaling “smart money” is involved to connections to tangible, operational help.

Angel Investor 332

Angel Investor Boston Seed Stage Syndicate 332

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As a small business and startup advisor, I find that entrepreneurs often love to talk about their latest idea, but not their execution. Like most investors, I’m convinced that success in business is more about the plan and the person than the idea. It’s great to be a visionary and a thinker, but a business that generates real world change and wealth requires people who get things done.

Entrepreneur 266

Entrepreneur Technical Review Metrics Restful 266

Agile VC

OCTOBER 3, 2016

This is the 2nd post in a series about self-driving vehicles and it explores how autonomous cars could become a reality. Self-Driving Vehicles: The Future Always Takes Longer to Arrive is the 1st post and covers the state of the vehicle autonomy (circa mid 2016) and how we’ve gotten here. . =. So what are the different paths towards commercially available self-driving cars?

Technical Review 186

Technical Review Software Review Business Model Developer 186

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, contributing editor of Lean Startup Co. It’s been exciting to watch the Lean Startup movement grow from a practice utilized in the tech world to one implemented in a wide variety of sectors ranging from enterprise to education, religious organizations, nonprofits, and government groups. When we talk about government, we mean both the macro outfits whose work affects the entire country (perhaps you’ve heard of the IRS ) and regionally-focused groups alike.

Government 165

Government Lean Startup San Francisco 165

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

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Looking for ways to improve your business often comes down to the technology and IT you utilize. It’s really important to make the most of the technology available to you and sustain it. IT in business helps to make everything much more efficient and effective. You can’t run a modern day to day business without using technology and IT. So, you have got to come up with ways of ensuring the systems within the company are looked after and running at the best possible level.

Technical Review 195

Technical Review Cloud Security Networking 195

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Sites that don’t work don’t convert. That’s why optimizers conduct quality assurance on sites, landing pages, test treatments, email campaigns, you name it… to make sure they work the way they’re supposed to. While it’s common knowledge that quality assurance is something you should do, not enough optimizers complete it properly.

Technical Review 104

Technical Review Software Review Mobile Analytics 104

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Share Each business has a story. No matter if the business is a Goliath like Wal-Mart, or a local business owned by a couple or family, the business has roots in an idea. For each business owner, the story of their journey can range from monetary needs or the passion for a unique project. Each story is different though the reasons may remain the same.

Entrepreneur 81

Entrepreneur Non-Compete LLC Social Media 81

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Stanford is an incubator with dorms. Download the full text file with links to the courses here. [link]. Filed under: Hacking For Defense , Hacking for Diplomacy , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Incubator 332

Incubator Lean 332

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 4, 2016

The traditional (and most used) approach to analyzing A/B tests is to use a so-called t-test , which is a method used in frequentist statistics. While this method is scientifically valid, it has a major drawback: if you only implement significant results, you will leave a lot of money on the table. In this blogpost, I will argue why a post-hoc Bayesian test evaluation is a better evaluation method than a frequentist one for growing your business.

Revenue 113

Revenue Programming Conversion Green 113

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Image Source: Pulatech.com. It’s no secret that mobile web use has skyrocketed over the past several years, with smartphone ownership in the U.S. nearly doubling between 2011 and 2015. And these smartphone users are all about the apps. The average smartphone user downloads 8.8 apps per month, spending 90% of their time on their phone in apps versus in mobile browsing windows.

Mobile 95

Mobile Developer Application Development Design 95

deal architect

OCTOBER 3, 2016

As I was writing Silicon Collar over the last year, I got to see the impact machines are having on jobs and workers in over 50 settings. I looked at work in accounting firms, in banks, on the battlefront, in.

257

257

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Stanford is an incubator with dorms. Download the full text file with links to the courses here. Filed under: Hacking For Defense , Hacking for Diplomacy , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Incubator 332

Incubator Lean 332

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2016

The single most important SaaS metric is retention , because cancellations indicate lack of product/market fit, no matter the cause (price, features, severity of need, duration of need). If it cannot be fixed, it means the business is a failure even if other metrics are stellar. Once you’re scaling (i.e. past product/market fit and into tens of millions in revenue), you realize that cancellation scales with total customers whereas growth scales with sales and marketing costs, which means cancell

Metrics 270

Metrics Retention Revenue Equity 270

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Image Source: Evolation Yoga. If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two decades, you’ve probably at least had a passing encounter with the term “mindfulness,” whether it was seeing the term splashed on magazine covers, listening to self-help gurus extol its value on daytime talk shoes, or hearing your own therapist encourage its application in your day to day life.

Product 56

Product Technical Review Restful Demand 56

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2016

By Ernst Gemassmer, Chairman, Startup Professionals As a retired executive I now reflect on my own leadership styles in different situations during my extensive career. My leadership style has evolved over time and I am wondering whether this is related to increasing experience or different situations. I have concluded that leadership styles must be in line with the ‘life cycle’ of companies, as discussed below.

Leadership 219

Leadership Matching Exit Strategy Europe 219

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2016

In large companies innovators have to work twice as hard – they spend time fighting the system. In a startup, your ideas turn into reality really, really fast. A startup founder needs to never lose sight of the vision, but be extremely adaptable to pretty much everything else. Lots of people have visions. Most are hallucinations. In a startup, you don’t fight the system; you are the system.

Cofounder 274

Cofounder Silicon Valley Entrepreneur EC2 274

deal architect

OCTOBER 1, 2016

I heard Peter Diamandis of X-Prize fame and author of Abundance present at a tech event this week. It was staple Peter talking about how human development has moved to an age of “exponential and global” after 150,000 years of.

Global 188

Global Developer 188

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Image Source: Pulatech.com. It’s no secret that mobile web use has skyrocketed over the past several years, with smartphone ownership in the U.S. nearly doubling between 2011 and 2015. And these smartphone users are all about the apps. The average smartphone user downloads 8.8 apps per month, spending 90% of their time on their phone in apps versus in mobile browsing windows.

Mobile 48

Mobile Developer Application Development Design 48

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2016

In my experience in large businesses as well as years of advising startups, I see far too much focus on product skills, and too little on people and process skills. In my view, this focus on the wrong skill set is the primary reason why over half of new businesses fail in the first five years, and only one out of a hundred startups get their requested funding from professional investors.

Entrepreneur 267

Entrepreneur Leadership Sales Matching 267

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2016

In large companies innovators have to work twice as hard – they spend time fighting the system. In a startup, your ideas turn into reality really, really fast. A startup founder needs to never lose sight of the vision, but be extremely adaptable to pretty much everything else. Lots of people have visions. Most are hallucinations. In a startup, you don’t fight the system; you are the system.

Cofounder 274

Cofounder Silicon Valley Entrepreneur EC2 274

Brandanew

OCTOBER 3, 2016

It’s good to start with good news. Fall has begun and we’re in a rush to get all the latest content on to our readers. And talking of readers, I’m very proud to announce that this blog (now only just 2 years old) has been ranked #20 on the list of the top branding blogs every marketer should read! Now that’s amazing. So, if you’re wondering how to achieve this feat for your brand, and basically how to scale content and social, tips here will help!

Social Media 220

Social Media Analytics Community Media 220

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2016

Image Source: Pulatech.com. It’s no secret that mobile web use has skyrocketed over the past several years, with smartphone ownership in the U.S. nearly doubling between 2011 and 2015. And these smartphone users are all about the apps. The average smartphone user downloads 8.8 apps per month, spending 90% of their time on their phone in apps versus in mobile browsing windows.

Mobile 48

Mobile Developer Application Development Design 48

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Creating a new business is not rocket science. Whether you are starting a paper route, or commercializing a complex technology, the same basic principles of success apply. I found this illustrated well in a new book I just finished, “ A Paperboy’s Fable ,” by a young entrepreneur and writer Deep Patel. It doesn’t take a superior intellect or big credentials to succeed in business.

Social Media 248

Social Media Hiring Entrepreneur Search 248

deal architect

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Five years ago, I called Dreamforce a “rainbow coalition” given the wide range of musicians, politicians, and guest executives you could see on the stage and often run into the luminaries on the floor. If that was diverse, you should.

Cloud 191

Cloud 191

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 6, 2016

by Jamillah Rahmaad, principle consultant at JR|PR. Regardless of whether you run a well-established business, are a 9 to 5 corporate ladder climber, or are a side-hustle-preneur, your personal brand is an important factor directly connected to your success. Having a personal brand is the best way to influence and gain the trust of others, especially within your industry.

Public Relations 189

Public Relations Reputation PR Atlanta 189

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Image Source: Evolation Yoga. If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two decades, you’ve probably at least had a passing encounter with the term “mindfulness,” whether it was seeing the term splashed on magazine covers, listening to self-help gurus extol its value on daytime talk shoes, or hearing your own therapist encourage its application in your day to day life.

Product 48

Product Technical Review Restful Demand 48

Brandanew

OCTOBER 7, 2016

We’ve time and again shared the importance of niche social communities in today’s digital world. Niche social communities work when they’re connected, engaged and generate consumer value. It’s more desirable to be appreciated by a select set of followers in a specific area, rather than run around getting generic likes that amount to nothing.

Community 174

Community Colorado Social Media Acquisition 174

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 3, 2016

After a 30 day hard reset (also known as sabbatical ) I felt like this was an important re-entry topic as I fling myself back into the fray. Several years ago I got tired of the phrase “Work Life Balance” (and its various permutations – Work/Life Balance and Work-Life Balance.) When Amy and I wrote Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur we wrestled a lot with this notion, and the phrase.

Entrepreneur 181

Entrepreneur Customer Startup 181

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 7, 2016

One area of customer service that many new business owners overlook is convenience. It’s a huge driver for loyalty and relationship building. Just think of the independent grocery stores you find in every community for the perfect example. Sure, they can’t compete with the supermarkets on price. But they are easier to access, less hassle, and people are prepared to pay a little more for the pleasure of convenience.

Customer 166

Customer Community Stock Channel 166

The Next Web

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Although established giants like Microsoft have proprietary software and systems, much of today’s internet is built on open source software. So it’s only natural that companies, startups in particular, are going to build their tools with it too. Curious about how new companies are using open source to change the business landscape — and be successful despite large tech companies dominating the market — I polled a group of startup founders from YEC, asking them the following question: How will op

Open Source 166

Open Source Software Startup Internet 166

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Regular readers will know that for me the rising pace of change is one of the defining features of the early 21st century. Things are now changing so quickly that traditional structures are breaking down. Within a decade or so we will have adjusted to rapid change as the new normal, but in the short to medium term expect more disruption rather than less.

Startup 154

Startup Partner 154

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 1, 2016

Amy and I just got back from a month off the grid in Aspen. If you are an Atlas Shrugged fan, think of it like the annual trip to Galt’s Gulch. Since 2000, Amy and I have been taking a week of the grid every quarter. I’ve never been a good moderator with anything, especially work, so it has been a way to get a cold reset every twelve weeks or so.

Social Media 131

Social Media Partner Email Media 131

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Effective pricing is essential for a business. That’s the only way they’d know at what price they should offer a product, while maintaining a good profit margin and keeping up with the competition. A business can pick from a variety of pricing strategies and the selection depends on different factors. A business can set a price to maximise profitability on each unit sold or on the overall market share.

Bankruptcy 166

Bankruptcy Cost Demand Advertising 166

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 3, 2016

That was a question posed to me by a new analyst at a venture capital fund. Admittedly, I finished this person's sentence after their long pause. but the word "jerks" was agreed to as the direction they were taking the question. While there are lots and lots of really kind, generous people working in venture capital--the recently retired Howard Morgan, Hunter Walk, Brad Feld, and Karin Klein for example--it's really tough to argue that there isn't widespread jerkery.

Venture Capital 148

Venture Capital Bootstrapping Founder Entrepreneur 148

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 5, 2016

I was talking with an old friend on Friday about the fundraising pitch for his startup and how his conversations with VCs were progressing. He’s got a great business and I think he will get his round away, but he felt that he was losing some potential investors because they weren’t buying into the upside of his story. We discussed how he could add a slide making a better link from his impressive recent results to his vision of the endgame and I hope that will make a difference.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Founder Conversion Entrepreneur 140

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 4, 2016

It’s been a while since I wrote a post deconstructing the Techstars Mentor Manifesto. The last one I wrote was number 12 of 18: Know What You Don’t Know. Say I Don’t Know When You Don’t Know. Since I’m now working on the first draft of my next book #GiveFirst (or maybe it’ll be called Give First, or GiveFirst – I haven’t decided yet) it’s time to get my s**t together and write the last six posts.

Founder 148

Founder Partner 148