YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 12, 2017
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.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 16, 2017
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.
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Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 25, 2017
Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. The founder explains that the product is so “buzz-worthy” that usage will spread rapidly through word-of-mouth only, meaning people loving it and recommending it to their friends. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth.
VC Cafe
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be eating the world. Don’t take my word for it – in the roundup of venture capital predictions for 2017 , I found it to be the top recurring theme. Some examples: AI will be the new mobile. Investors will ask management what their “AI strategy” is before investing and will be wary of companies that don’t have one (Fred Wilson, USV).
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
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
It is daunting to start your own business—very daunting. There are a hundred and one things that can go wrong, and inevitably it will the thing that you’re least expecting. To be honest, it doesn’t matter if you are starting up a business for the first time, or kicking off your latest venture; it doesn’t get less challenging. This is why advice from people who have gone through something similar can be both hugely helpful and crucially important.
ConversionXL
FEBRUARY 3, 2017
Bo Bennett once said, “Affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires.”. Of course, affiliate marketing has this mysterious aura about it. Many of the top search results for the term are focused on what it is and whether you can make money from it. The truth is that it’s not all that mysterious. It’s nothing more than another marketing channel for you to experiment with, analyze, optimize and grow.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Version One Ventures
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
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.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 13, 2017
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.
BeyondVC
FEBRUARY 5, 2017
It’s going to be fun to watch the enterprise collaboration wars and how each company is approaching the market! In my mind it is a microcosm of many battles being played out with startups versus incumbents. Do large enterprises go for “best of breed” providers or the “one throat to choke” model? How does the bottom-up model work versus the traditional top-down enterprise sales model?
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
A few months ago, I finally bit the bullet and bought a Fitbit. I’m a runner and general exerciser; I figured I was “active enough,” so I never really saw the appeal. However, one of my recent goals has been to integrate walks into my daily routine, and I assumed (correctly) that some fun wearable tech would make it easier to build this habit. As an “office worker” (even though I work remotely), it can be easy to stay cooped up inside all day; cultivating a walking habit has helped me disengage,
Occam's Razor
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
A story where data is the hero, followed by two mind-challenging business-shifting ideas. At a previous employer customer service on the phone was a huge part of the operation. Qualitative surveys were giving the company a read that customers were unhappy with the service being provided. As bad customer service is a massive long-term cost – and short-term pain –, it was decided that the company would undertake a serious re-training effort for all the customer service reps and with that problems
YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
by Taylor Ryan , head of marketing at GenieBelt. According to recent reports, more and more people are looking forward to starting their own companies. In case you too are thinking of setting up your own company, it is essential to note that: the distance between the thought of starting up and finally being able to take action is usually extremely vast.
ConversionXL
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
Think you’re sitting on the next big idea for a product or a product feature? Before you spend dozens of hours and tens of thousands of dollars on the idea, you need to validate it. In other words, you need to make sure your audience is just as excited about the idea as you are. So, how can you validate the ideas sitting in your startup notebook or your product feature backlog without wasting resources?
David Cohen
FEBRUARY 11, 2017
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.
Hearpreneur
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
Share Being an entrepreneur is the road rarely traveled. It’s certainly not an easy road. There are twists and turns and ups and downs. Everyone who decides to start a business or an entrepreneurial venture does it for their own specific reason. We asked entrepreneurs and business owners how they got into entrepreneurship. #1 – Freedom. Image Credit: Jessica Freeman.
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 14, 2017
If you’re serious about opening a restaurant, you’ll have to draft up a formal and accurate business plan to pitch to banks, investors, and even potential employees. I won’t lie—writing a formal business plan isn’t exactly a breeze. It takes a lot of time, effort, dedication, knowledge, and passion to get it right. But if opening a restaurant is your goal, a business plan is one of the first steps toward reaching it.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
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.
YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
Financial technology, also known as fintech , is changing business in a number of ways, and the value it provides for the average investor will only accelerate the transformation. Fintech affects every aspect of the financial sector, may it be investing, money transfers, online purchases or banking. Let’s look at how fintech startups are completely transforming the world of business and finance: On Demand Financial Products.
ConversionXL
FEBRUARY 21, 2017
User experience is a nebulous term. What defines a “good” UX from a “bad’ UX, and what do the gradations look like between the two poles? The challenge comes in testing and measuring UX. Can you do it in a rigorous way and are there tools that can help you? Yes you can, and yes there are. That’s what this article is about: measuring and testing UX. If you’re an experience UX or conversion optimization person, this might be basic to you, but it will be a good overview for those new to the field.
TechEmpower
FEBRUARY 14, 2017
This article discusses java.util.EnumSet. and java.util.EnumMap. from Java's standard libraries. What are they? When should they be used? Could the implementations be improved? Could the APIs be improved? Conclusion. What are they? EnumSet. and EnumMap are compact, efficient implementations of the Set and Map interfaces. They have the constraint that their elements/keys come from a single enum type.
Hearpreneur
FEBRUARY 12, 2017
Share Being in love is great. Being in love with your business, when you’re an entrepreneur, is even better. Waking up each morning knowing you are getting to do exactly what you love is more than most people could ever say about any job they have had. Although there are days when tossing in your hat seems like a viable option, remembering how much you love your job can quickly snap an entrepreneur out of that mentality.
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
When I became the copywriter at the call technology company Phonexa , I had to crack down on several unexplored topics, one of which completely fascinated me and had me spellbound during and after work hours. While immersed in my research and pumping out at least 2,000 words a day on the topic, I noticed that I was slowly consumed by the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Duct Tape Marketing
FEBRUARY 22, 2017
The One-Week Social Selling Action Plan written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Think back to a sales situation with a friend of a friend, one where you started with a huge trust advantage: how much smoother and faster was the process? What if you could replicate that dynamic on a much larger digital scale? Your friends of friends are not hiding in distant corners of the world, in fact, they’re probably right in front of you, and you can take advantage of warm connections withou
YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 6, 2017
by Jason Mendelson and Brad Feld, co-authors of “ Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist “ So, you’ve got a brilliant idea and you’re ready to launch a company. You’re passionate and ready to act! But first comes the tricky part: securing funds to make your dream a reality. If you’re new to the concept of raising massive amounts of cash for a new business, it’s only natural to be unsure of how to proceed from here.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 17, 2017
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.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
When you’re up to your neck in alligators, don’t forget the goal was to drain the swamp. I love teaching because I learn something new every class. This time it was, “Don’t let process distract you from finding the strategy.”. The latest “aha” moment for me when I was at Columbia University teaching an intensive 5-day version of the Lean LaunchPad/I-Corps class.
Austin Startup
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
Latinitas Austin and El Paso chapters together at last for our strategic planning session with IBM. Coffee and pink cake helped with the process. If you looked at just the business pages in American newspapers, you’d think corporations working with nonprofits and delivering global responsibility was a new trend. However, global companies like IBM have been modeling social impact for decades now and Latinitas can attest to their commitment.
Up and Running
FEBRUARY 27, 2017
We’re big fans of goal setting here at Palo Alto Software. We set goals for the company as a whole, and by specific team as well. We even set additional personal development goals, using the OKR (“objectives and key results”) goal-setting technique. We take the time to review our progress often, and we’re always working to refine and optimize it. That being said, creating a goal-setting methodology for an entire company doesn’t happen overnight.
Duct Tape Marketing
FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Leverage Your Network to Help Drive Your Own Branded Content written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. The Content Creation Conundrum. If you’re looking to grow your business’s online presence, original branded content is the way to go. According to a Forrester study , 74% of business buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making a purchase.
YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 14, 2017
by Jon Leighton, Director of digital agency iResources and founder of neatly.io. ‘Pivoting’ is spoken about a lot in the tech world. Indeed some of the biggest names out there started off as a completely different business; including Twitter, Nintendo and most recently, Slack. But pivoting applies to all businesses and the theory behind it is exactly the same.
deal architect
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
Quincy Larson quotes Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking as he warns There’s a rising chorus of concern about how quickly robots are taking away human jobs. He also cites an Oxford U. study In 2013, policy makers largely.
Rob Go
FEBRUARY 8, 2017
Our entire team at NextView is very pleased to announce that Ginny Mineo will be joining us as Director of Platform. Ginny comes to us from HubSpot, where she had a tremendous impact on the company in a variety of ways. Most recently, she led the team responsible for growing their successful podcast audience and expanding the company’s presence on emerging channels like Medium.
Both Sides of the Table
FEBRUARY 6, 2017
It was only a year ago that many in the Venture Capital industry were predicting that “winter was coming” and to be fair the author of this post was chief amongst them. Yet as we enter February 2017 the VC funding markets are booming, Snap, Inc has filed for its IPO, AppDynamics was just purchased for $3.7 billion by Cisco and the only winter that can be found is at the ski resorts following California’s epic snowy and rainy January.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 27, 2017
Today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making a decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales.
Duct Tape Marketing
FEBRUARY 10, 2017
Do You Have a Plan to Scale Content Creation? written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Content marketing seems simple enough…at first. You write content, then you publish it. I can’t help but be reminded of this scene from Mrs. Doubtfire : Daniel : What do I do? Tony : Well you take all these cans, you box ’em, you ship ’em.
YoungUpstarts
FEBRUARY 20, 2017
Although the New Year is almost two months old, you should not give up on your resolutions if they involve starting a new business. If you want to pursue that entrepreneurial dream, it is not too late. Getting started can be scary, but these ideas can help you get your business off the ground this year: Tech Consultants. Do your friends call you a ‘tech geek’ and come to you when they are having issues with their mobile devices or networks?
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