Steve Blank
MARCH 15, 2017
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? I was having a second coffee with an ex student, now the head of a marketing inside a rapidly growing startup. His company had marched through customer discovery, learning about the customer problem, validated solutions and was now scaling sales and marketing. All good news.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
MARCH 21, 2017
Large companies don’t acquire small companies for their financials. Revenue multiples, profit multiples, premium over the previous financing — these are metrics used by sellers to help determine a minimum acceptable price. That’s the price that “pays for” enough foreseeable upside that it’s not worth rolling the dice against future troubles or the unlikelihood of an exit.
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YoungUpstarts
MARCH 7, 2017
by Pratik Dholakiya , Co-Founder of E2M and MoveoApps. Most of the time, we’re told about the qualities that great entrepreneurs possess and the things they do that make them successful. However, incomplete knowledge can be dangerous, which is why it is equally important to know what great entrepreneurs do not do. Sometimes, avoiding or skipping certain habits and characteristics can help.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 6, 2017
Mayor Eric Garcetti at Upfront Summit, February 2017 I first sat down with then councilman Eric Garcetti on the Ides of March 2012 — almost 5 years ago exactly. He was running to be the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles and he outlined his vision to “open up the city government to technology and innovation” if he were elected. He wanted to bring the same level of technology focus and energy that Mayor Bloomberg had brought to New York City.
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 Professionals Musings
MARCH 15, 2017
Startup investors tell me they invest in a new venture with a higher caliber of people, rather than the product or service, and I agree. In my role as a business advisor, I see successful businesses most often emerging from great teams rather than great products. Yet I find the people building teams are usually product experts, often with no experience in team building.
Occam's Razor
MARCH 30, 2017
A rare post today. It looks a little further out into the future than I normally tend to. It attempts to simplify a topic that has more than it’s share of coolness, confusion and complexity. While the phrase Artificial Intelligence has been around since the first human wondered if she could go further if she had access to entities with inorganic intelligence, it truly jumped the shark in 2016.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Feld Thoughts
MARCH 2, 2017
A little over a year ago I wrote a post about a documentary Amy and I were helping fund called For Here or To Go. The movie is about a set of Indian software developers in the US on H1-B visas. The main character wanted to start a company, or join a startup, but couldn’t make either happen in the context of the current H1-B visa constraints. It felt relevant when we helped fund it.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 15, 2017
In these days of technological prowess and tremendous advancements in the digital area, most, if not all companies rely on a website to reach their consumers and potential clients, and to maintain a relationship with people across the globe. Many companies have built legacies that have accumulated to decades of hard work, but in this day and age, a website is absolutely crucial for business survival.
ConversionXL
MARCH 7, 2017
User personas are often talked about in marketing and product design, but they’re almost never done well. There are certainly companies doing them well, but not a lot of detail goes into instruction, and the blog posts out there on how to build personas are generally pretty bad. I recently created robust user personas for CXL Institute (on inspiration from a course in our CRO certification program taught by Stefania Mereu and Eric Taylor ), and it went well.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 24, 2017
More than ever, businesses need to take full advantage of automation, data, and analytics to run their business more productively and competitively. Yet, in my role as a small business advisor, I still see many founders and executives who see data and analytics primarily as a measurement device on current results, rather than using it to evolve the business strategy and direction.
Up and Running
MARCH 15, 2017
As an entrepreneur, you know that not every part of the job is glamorous. Buying insurance can feel like a hassle, but if you invest in finding the right policies now, you’ll save yourself from potential legal headaches and unexpected costs down the road. You probably have a lot of questions surrounding what specific risks different types of coverage actually protect against, and whether or not they apply to your business.
YFS Magazine
MARCH 23, 2017
Effective web design involves creating a practical and aesthetically pleasing site. Here are 7 useful tips to keep in mind.
Version One Ventures
MARCH 15, 2017
Three weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Domino Data Science Pop-up , which was one of the best days of talks on data science that I have attended. You can check out recordings of the talks as well as copies of the presentations on SlideShare. I won’t dive into all the nitty-gritty discussions on math and statistics, but I do want to share some insightful discussions surrounding the definition and role of data scientists in today’s startups.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 14, 2017
by Eliot Burdett, co-founder and CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting , and author of “ Sales Recruiting 2.0: How to Find Top Performing Sales People, Fast “ Diversity in the workplace has been an issue since the civil war. In February, 1869, a letter to the editor of the New York Times questioned why female government employees were not paid the same as male counterparts.
ConversionXL
MARCH 29, 2017
Sean Ellis coined the term “growth hacking” way back in 2010. Since then, the term has taken on a life of its own. It’s the focus of dozens of books, new roles, new departments and teams, new methods of thinking, hundreds of articles, hundreds of guides, hundreds of webinars… you get the idea. Yet, it still feels very elusive.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 31, 2017
If you haven’t had a setback in business, you are probably risk averse and doomed to mediocrity. The business leaders who create real technology paradigm shifts, or have changed the world of commerce, don’t advertise their failures, but they still feel them. Yet they have been able to learn from their mistakes and bounce back stronger for the next challenge.
Hearpreneur
MARCH 5, 2017
Share Entrepreneurship and mentorships are often seen as going hand-in-hand. Business mentors are as old as concept of entrepreneurs themselves. From Oprah and Maya Angelou to Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, famous mentorships have a powerful impact on the lives of entrepreneurs. Having a strong figure in your life to help steady you through the currents of growing your business can be a lifesaver.
YFS Magazine
MARCH 28, 2017
There is a common misconception in the startup world that suggests you need to be a technical founder to launch a startup.
Version One Ventures
MARCH 23, 2017
Last week, I shared some lessons learned from a Domino Data Science Pop-up that I attended a month ago. There were some very important discussions surrounding the world of data science today. One thread explored the differences between data science and data engineering. I’ll admit that I was completely unaware of the engineering behind data science when we first launched Insight Data Science back in 2012.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 29, 2017
PCBs, also known as printed circuit boards, are very important components that are found in various electronic devices. Medical devices , smartphones, calculators and weapons systems all contain PCBs. These designs have become integral in many industries, and this industry has shifted globally to areas such as China and India. One segment of this market includes application and manufacturing, while the other segment focuses on innovation.
ConversionXL
MARCH 22, 2017
Today, there are more than 2.32 billion smartphone owners around the world. These devices aren’t just for browsing social media, texting, and making calls. They take owners beyond mere communication and act as resources for consumers who are finding and researching products – and in more and more instances, making purchases. Mobile Commerce to Take Over as Primary Checkout Point.
Hunter Walker
MARCH 27, 2017
Here’s a question I recommend founders ask Seed or Series A VCs during their fundraising: “What’s a risk you’re more comfortable with than the average VC?” In four years and hundreds (1,000?) of pitch meetings, I’m not sure it’s been asked of me. But I think it’s a good question ¯_(ツ)_/¯. Why? At the early stages, EVERY company still has significant risks associated with it.
Up and Running
MARCH 28, 2017
Before you start your business, it’s essential that you make sure that customers are interested in buying your product. Taking this one step will save you weeks (or possibly even months) of lost time, and potentially save you thousands of dollars. In this article, I’ll show you how you can make sure your customers are interested in your product before you spend any time building your business.
YFS Magazine
MARCH 29, 2017
If you rely on your brand image and reputation, there is nothing more important than having a web design style guide in place to protect that image online.
Feld Thoughts
MARCH 24, 2017
Foundry Group is best known for our investments in startups, but our vehicle currently investing in other venture funds, Foundry Group Next, is off to what we believe to be a great start and I wanted to share an update about it by talking about our new investment in a fund managed by Founder Collective. I’ve written previously about why we created Foundry Group Next.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 30, 2017
WordPress is one of the world’s greatest, if not the greatest, open-source platforms available. Powering over 26% of the world-wide web, it is the world’s most popular Content Management System with a market share of over 54%! With its great ease comes great flexibility and plenty of opportunity to optimise your WordPress website for maximum performance.
ConversionXL
MARCH 10, 2017
There’s no such thing as a perfect email subject line. No one can give you a formula that will work every time. However, you can follow these principles, which will guide you closer to writing email subject lines that are perfect for your audience. It’s an iterative process though, so you’ll need to put in the work to reap the rewards. 1.
Steve Blank
MARCH 8, 2017
Getting ready for our next semester’s class, I asked my Teaching Assistant why I hadn’t seen the posters for our new class around campus. Hearing the litany of excuses that followed –“It was raining.” (The posters go inside the building.) “We still have time.” (We had agreed they were to go up a week ago) — I had a strong sense of déjà vu. When I took the job of VP of Marketing in a company emerging from bankruptcy, excuses seemed to be our main product.
View from Seed
MARCH 15, 2017
VC evaluation of seed-stage startups can seem arbitrary or imitative at times. Internally, the scarcity of tangible business metrics – product usage or revenue multiples for example – can make an investment decision feel daunting. Presented with various unknowns from any one pitch, VCs often lack an existing information infrastructure to examine in forming an opinion.
YFS Magazine
MARCH 22, 2017
As your business grows, so do your technology needs. Here's a look at how to find a good candidate and the qualities you should look for.
deal architect
MARCH 28, 2017
I groaned when I read this from my former employer, PwC “Our analysis suggests that up to 30% of UK jobs could potentially be at high risk of automation by the early 2030s, lower than the US (38%) or Germany.
YoungUpstarts
MARCH 6, 2017
by Evan Stephens, Senior Tax Manager at Sensiba San Filippo and Carlos Freitas, Director with Hull & Knarr LLP. Starting in 2016, Research and Development (R&D) tax credits can be used to offset payroll taxes. Previously, these credits could only be used to offset income taxes. Since many start-ups produce little to no profit in the first few years, there was no income tax for the R&D credits to offset, and therefore, no opportunity to use the research tax credit.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 2, 2017
There are so many moments from the Upfront Summit that I want to share with you — it just takes time to watch through all the videos, do write ups and still do my day job. One of the most exciting thinkers at Summit was Rebecca Kantar, the founder of Imbellus. I was excited to see her perform on stage because I’ve long been telling people how crazy smart, ambitious and talented she is but I was excited for people to hear for themselves.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 10, 2017
Every entrepreneur I know has a few bad habits they intended to overcome a long time ago, such as micromanaging, or failure to get enough rest and relaxation. As a result, both their business and their personal lives continue to suffer. Wouldn’t you like to know how to make that big step to get past your procrastination and get to your maximum potential once and for all?
Steve Blank
MARCH 28, 2017
When Colonel Peter Newell headed up the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF) he used lean methods on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to provide immediate technology solutions to urgent problems. Today, his company BMNT does for government and commercial customers what the Rapid Equipping Force did for the U.S. Army. Pete and I created the Hacking for Defense class (with Joe Felter and Tom Byers.
YFS Magazine
MARCH 8, 2017
Here's a look at 10 inspiring female entrepreneurs who are pioneers making moves and taking names every day of the week. Be inspired!
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