Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 3, 2015
In our industry we always talk about funding big ideas or funding things with more meaning. It’s something Yves Sisteron & I have been talking about for years at Upfront Ventures. Today we’re proud to talk more about Grove Labs – we really hope you’ll quickly check out this innovative product and we think many of you will be as impressed with Grove as we have been.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
Valuing a business based on assets and financial performance is a well-understood process, but every investor knows the real value goes well beyond these parameters, either higher or lower. The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public.
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TechEmpower
NOVEMBER 23, 2015
Round 11 of the ongoing Web Framework Benchmarks project is now available! We'll keep this blog entry short and sweet. The highlights for Round 11. Three new languages are represented in Round 11: Crystal , D , and Rust. Meanwhile, the total number of frameworks has increased by 26. The new frameworks are: silicon (C++). aleph (clojure). pedestal (clojure). crystal-raw (crystal). moonshine (crystal). vibed (d). jawn (java). mangooio (java). koa (js). sails (js). clancats (php). limonade (php). a
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
A startup is not a part-time activity. Trying to do a startup while keeping your day job may doom you to failure. So will failing to understand your customers. Successful founders have a laser-like focus and commitment; a keen understanding of customers’ needs; and a tenacious spirit, said the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 111.
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
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 10, 2015
So you either have a website right now or you’re thinking about putting one together. Perfect, except you need to make sure it fits the bill first. It needs to look good, work well, and most importantly, it needs to actually be live so the world can see it. Don’t let this stop you from actually putting your site out there and telling the world about your startup though.
Up and Running
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
These are the tools that we know, love, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend—many of them we use ourselves. Use them to propel your startup into success and growth. Accounting software. Quickbooks: In the U.S., QuickBooks is hands-down the most popular accounting software out there. If you’re working with an accountant, chances are that they’ll ask you to use QuickBooks.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 8, 2015
Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.
YFS Magazine
NOVEMBER 5, 2015
Following these fundamentals may not guarantee success, but they will lower your chance of failure by decreasing the room for error.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 21, 2015
I first met Evangelos Simoudis when he ran IBM’s Business Intelligence Solutions Division and then as CEO of his first startup Customer Analytics. Evangelos has spent the last 15 years as a Venture Capitalist, first at Apax Partners and later at Trident Capital. During the last three years he’s worked with over 100 companies, many of which established Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley.
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 5, 2015
Anyone involved in the modern workplace knows that Human Resources is changing. Technology has been pushing the vanguard of this very human industry, automating processes that have long required human attention, and changing perspectives that have been in place for several generations. These changes are most deeply felt in the hiring process. Modern Human Resources techniques allow managers to know a lot more about the people they consider hiring, and to find them more easily as well.
ConversionXL
NOVEMBER 6, 2015
You have an A/B testing tool, a well-researched hypothesis and a winning test with 95% confidence. The next step is to declare the winner and push it live, right? Not so fast. There are factors threatening the validity of your test, without you even realizing it. If they go unrecognized, you risk making decisions based on bad data. [Tweet It!]. What Are Validity Threats?
Up and Running
NOVEMBER 10, 2015
At Palo Alto Software, I am surrounded by entrepreneurs. Our LivePlan customers are entrepreneurs, our founder and staff have run and sold companies, the Bplans readers are aspiring entrepreneurs (or actual entrepreneurs), and as I sell my own handmade jewelry, I like to think I have a very small claim to the title. That said, there are still plenty of us, myself included, who do not feel ready to take the plunge and start a full-time business, and it’s not for lack of wanting to.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 27, 2015
Big-bang hard launches make sense for large enterprises like Apple or Microsoft, who are building on existing revenue streams and have the resources for lavish events, Superbowl ads and large inventory buildups. But for startups with limited resources and experience, I always recommend a soft launch or toe-in-the-water approach in a local market -- and scale up later.
Version One Ventures
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
Nearly four years ago, I joined the Insight Data Science team and we launched an intensive 7 week post-doctoral training fellowship bridging the gap between academia and data science. Since then, over 400 Insight alumni have been hired as data scientists or data engineers at top tier companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Airbnb, and Google. Although I formally left the company in March 2013 (but continue to have an advisory role there), I still field countless questions from entrepreneur
YFS Magazine
NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Starting a website isn’t the massive headache it used to be. With a little bit of time, minimal tech knowledge, and little to zero cost, you can create a site that puts the early days of the Internet to shame.
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 20, 2015
Let’s face it, navigating your 20s and 30s is no easy feat, but doing that while looking to start a business is even more difficult. From initial funding processes to increasing your online presence, to tackling accounting and more, there’s a lot that goes into getting your business off the ground. Even with all this, it doesn’t have to keep you up at night.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 12, 2015
This one is attributed to Rod Adair, the famous oil and gas fire suppressing expert. And boy, does it apply to most of us and our offerings. “Quality” products and services should not be positioned as “cheap,” or your potential customers will question your message from the start, and will be more critical of the delivered product than if offered as one or the other, but not both.
Up and Running
NOVEMBER 19, 2015
We all want the best for our babies—and our business plans! Nearly all businesses, whether they are small or large, are comprised of intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets, which can serve as the foundation for commercial success. The World Intellectual Property Organization defines IP as, “creations of the mind,” which, depending on the business, can take many forms.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 30, 2015
Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me what to do first when starting a business. Let me assure you, there is no absolute right or wrong, but there is real value in doing things in a sequence that minimizes the risks, optimizes your efforts and generates the best “first impression” on potential investors. Just don’t try to sell your business to investors before it is well established.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
NOVEMBER 12, 2015
One of my favorite things about the tech industry is that reputations and relationships matter. Unlike Wall Street, or Hollywood, people in the tech industry pay it forward and treat each other well. This isn’t just Northern California touchie feelie; life goes in cycles and startups are a repeat game. We will all see each other again if we hang around the valley long enough.
ConversionXL
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
Understanding what consumers want, what consumers need and why is a crucial part of conversion rate optimization. Earlier this year, BrandShop released the results of the 2015 Digital Consumer Preferences Survey , which revealed in no uncertain terms that consumers want (and need) buying online directly from brands to be easier. Why do consumers, despite the rise of eCommerce, find buying online difficult?
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 20, 2015
Today, the world is smaller than it ever was before. The developments in technology now allow us to communicate with other people based anywhere across the globe within seconds. Similarly to our personal lives, globalisation can also have a positive effect on businesses. The idea of international expansion becomes more and more popular within the UK SMEs.
K9 Ventures
NOVEMBER 2, 2015
I love teaching (Although I hate grading, but that’s why I invested in Gradescope. More on that some other time). Every time I interact with students, I find myself repeating the same contrarian advice to them over and over again. So I figured I should write up a quick post so that I can point students to it and also have it hopefully reach more students than I get to interact with one on one.
Up and Running
NOVEMBER 9, 2015
It’s easy to picture the journey to entrepreneurship as a solitary adventure. The late-night brainstorming sessions, the planning, the research—I don’t know about you, but in my mind that’s one lone figure doing it all (fueled by a seemingly bottomless mug of coffee). Hey, if it works, it works—innumerable companies have been started in just such a way.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 21, 2015
Based on my experience advising entrepreneurs, I’m convinced that success is often more a mindset than a specific set of skills or intelligence. The mindset I’m looking for is one that sees challenges as exciting rather than threatening, setbacks as learning opportunities and that effort and perseverance will overcome any obstacle. Most experts call this a growth mindset.
deal architect
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
Dear Dr. Plattner: I read your latest rant about Oracle and I felt vindicated in writing in SAP Nation that Oracle is Moby Dick to SAP’s Ahab. You are obsessed with that whale – in the past you would complain.
ConversionXL
NOVEMBER 3, 2015
Most product copy is awful. Or worse, non-existent. Product copy seems like such a minor thing in the grand scheme of conversion optimization, so many brands brush it off. But for companies doing it right, excellent product copy is a great way to sprinkle brand personality in a place that most people don’t expect it. In fact, some companies do product copy so well that it’s almost a feature of the product itself.
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 19, 2015
By Marina Djordjevic, Director of Talent Acquisition at Idean. The rapid rise of the digital economy and sharp focus on delivering an excellent user experience has made it challenging for companies that aren’t Google or some other tech giant to recruit the creative talent they need. Big companies can throw money at candidates with hard-to-find skill sets, an option that isn’t available to most startups or smaller app development businesses.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
Implementing the Lean Startup in any company is hard. All the culture and incentives are designed for execution. Innovation at times seems like you’re swimming up hill. Now compound that level of effort with trying to put a Lean Startup culture in place in Japan. According to Takashi Tsutsumi and Masato Iino, Japanese companies tend to be technology centric, obsess over quality and have weak leadership.
View from Seed
NOVEMBER 12, 2015
Guess what is often the worst slide in an investor pitch deck ? For me, it’s the competition slide. At best, it’s a list of competitors plotted in some 2×2 or Harvey-ball chart that isn’t terribly helpful. At worst, it’s hurtful. You’d be surprised how often a competitor slide has tons of players but not the one that I end up thinking the most about after a bit of research.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 25, 2015
Starting an entrepreneurial business, or maintaining the competitiveness of a mature business, requires innovation. Yet everyone I know seems to have a different perspective on what constitutes real innovation, and why is seems to happen so rarely. Another challenge is to debunk some of the common myths that seem prevent many from even assuming they can innovate.
deal architect
NOVEMBER 18, 2015
I am researching how automation – robotics, AI, 3D printing, process bots, drones etc – is changing every job category and the results may end up in a book, several blogs. In just the beginning stages of my research, I.
ConversionXL
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
When you think about the holiday season, you think more traffic, right? More traffic means more conversions. More conversions mean more data. More data means more insights. But is the data from the tests you run during major shopping holidays representative? We can’t throw sample pollution out the window, can we? Will your insights still be relevant in February when the rush dies down?
YoungUpstarts
NOVEMBER 3, 2015
By Haresh Kumar VP of Marketing, Moovweb. Retailers are losing $18 billion annually due to shopping cart abandonment. Research shows over 2 out of 3 users who add items to their online shopping cart leave without making a purchase. The numbers are even worse on mobile where conversion rates are 70% lower than desktop. So why are consumers leaving right at the point of sale and what can companies do about it?
Brandanew
NOVEMBER 6, 2015
Twitter has over 300 million monthly active users. And who best to talk about awesome Twitter hacks than the founder of TribeGrowth, Nathan Murphy, helping businesses grow their social following. Here’s his story… Over the last 12 months I’ve learnt to leverage my time on Twitter for the massive gains. In the beginning of 2015 I had less than 500 followers, now I’ve got over 22,000 – and I’ve helped clients do the same.
View from Seed
NOVEMBER 19, 2015
To raise or not to raise, that is the question. The following is a real (but anonymized) email to us at NextView where a founder debates the timing of his seed raise: I met with someone today who said I should push to close a seed round before I launch the product. I planned on launching, taking in the feedback, iterating based on the data, and then working hard to get to product-market fit.
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