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This Week in Venture Capital – Episode 4

Both Sides of the Table

It was an early example of the power of direct marketing and subscription services. ShoeDazzle has Kim Kardashian as a co-founder / company as a spokesperson as well as Brian Lee who was a co-founder at Legal Zoom. Enter ShoeDazzle. I think of it as Columbia House meets Zara. 13mm in Series B.

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13 Of The Biggest Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make (That May Not Seem Like Mistakes At All)

YoungUpstarts

Tom Panaggio, author of “ The Risk Advantage: Embracing the Entrepreneur’s Unexpected Edge “, has enjoyed a 30-year entrepreneurial career as cofounder of two successful direct marketing companies. In 1983 he cofounded Direct Mail Express (DME) in Daytona Beach, Florida, with his siblings Mike and Kathy.

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Always Right: Five Risks You Must Take With Your Customers

YoungUpstarts

You’d be much better served to use what you know about your customers to create highly targeted and personalized direct marketing campaigns. In 1983 he cofounded Direct Mail Express (DME) in Daytona Beach, Florida, with his siblings Mike and Kathy.

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From Loyalty Programs To Fan Clubs, A Paradigm Shift

YoungUpstarts

by Aneace Haddad, CEO & Founder, Taggo. Co-branded cards were invented, combining a Visa, MasterCard or American Express payment brand along with a retailer or airline brand. CRM became more sophisticated, resulting in detailed monthly statements and targeted direct marketing.

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From Airbnb to TaskRabbit to Zimride, sharing is becoming big business

www.usatoday.com

TaskRabbit has (people) making over $5,000 a month in San Francisco," says Craig Shapiro, founder of Collaborative Fund, a venture-capital fund specializing in sharing sites. Inspired in Zimbabwe The founders of Zimride were inspired by drivers in Zimbabwe, who pick up strangers and give them a lift for a few bucks. Thats real money."

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Episode 44: Communication and Credibility with Scott Spiro and Tony Lillios

Mike Michalowicz

Scott Spiro is founder and President of Computer Solutions Group, Inc (CSG), and author of the book “Hassle Free Computer Support”. Tony Lillios is a serial entrepreneur and most notably a co-founder of Speck Products, the protective case maker for mobile products, which was acquired by Samsonite in 2014. Our Guests.

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Learning is better than optimization (the local maximum problem)

Startup Lessons Learned

Many optimizers are in favor of split-testing, too: direct marketers, landing page and SEO experts -- heck even the Google Website Optimizer team. When you read stories of successful startups in the popular and business press, you usually hear about how the founders anticipated several of these challenges in their initial vision.