June, 2017

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Why a Company Can’t “Be More Like a Startup”

Steve Blank

This article originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review. As more and more companies face disruption from globalization, new technology, and startups that have more capital than the incumbents, the continuing cry from Wall Street investors is, “Why can’t companies be as innovative as startups?”. Here’s one reason why: Startups can do anything.

Startup 292
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4 Ways Start-Ups Can Make Their Virtual Meetings More Productive

YoungUpstarts

by Brian Zeng, owner of Ponbee.com. “We spend as much as half our days in meetings.” – ‘ State of Modern Meeting ’ by Blue Jeans Network. It is therefore essential for business owners to think of ways to make meetings more productive and reduce the time spent in the conference rooms. This will not only ensure higher productivity and better efficiency within the organization, but the employees will be better engaged.

Product 243
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27 Entrepreneurs Explain Why They Started Their Business

Hearpreneur

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 be the same. No matter the tale, the background behind each and every business is what fuels each and brand.

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Agile Marketing: How to Implement Scrum for Digital Marketing

ConversionXL

Agile marketing may not be a phrase you hear often, but it’s becoming increasingly popular and important. Traditionally associated with development and product management, agile is a lightweight and, well, agile framework for software development and bringing features and products to market. It stands in opposition to “waterfall” production methods that treat analysis, design, coding, and testing as discrete phases – where in agile they are treated as continuous.

SCRUM 112
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Building Healthy Innovation Ecosystems for Your Projects

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

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How and Why You Should Validate Your App Idea Before You Build

Up and Running

Almost on a weekly basis, I meet new aspiring entrepreneurs looking to execute on their ideas. Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. If it works, they’ll hit it big, and if it doesn’t, they’ll make some changes and do it again. Others believe in the start small, grow strong approach: build a small version of the app, test user demand, and then take it from there.

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What we learned from the first week of Uber & Lyft returning to Austin

Austin Startup

by Andy Tryba & Marisa Goldenberg Ridesharing in Austin got even more interesting on Memorial Day as Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a statewide regulation framework overruling local Austin rules. After investing in 36 lobbyists to win this bill — Uber and Lyft got basically everything they wanted and both Silicon Valley giants turned their apps back on in Austin a few hours later.

Austin 83

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7 Content Marketing Tips For Small Business Owners

YoungUpstarts

by Keval Padia , co-founder and CEO at Nimblechapps. What makes aspiring small businesses different from their big brothers is that they have an insufficiently small budget to fulfill big dreams. But interestingly, such dreams are worthy enough in the level playing field of content marketing. Yes, when it comes to effectively reaching an audience with quality contents, even big budget marketing teams can fall short of the achievement of many smart content marketers in startups.

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21 Entrepreneurs Explain Their Favorite Songs to Get Them Motivated

Hearpreneur

Music can change your spirit. If you’re having a bad day and listen to your favorite song, it can change your entire mood. Music can also help you to get through difficult moments in life. One of the hardest things anyone can ever do is start and run a business. We knew that entrepreneurs have the best playlists and we decided to ask them their favorite tracks. #1 – All I do is Win by DJ Khaled.

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Personalization: How to Build a Revenue Boosting Program from Scratch

ConversionXL

Did you know that Netflix has only 90 seconds to find a show that suits a user before she gets frustrated and quits? According to a recent academic study, “a typical Netflix member loses interest after perhaps 60 to 90 seconds of choosing, having reviewed 10 to 20 titles (perhaps 3 in detail) on one or two screens.” How does Netflix manage to find the right show for the right user so quickly?

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4 Strategic Tools Service Businesses Can Borrow From Their Retail Counterparts

Up and Running

Over the past decade, ecommerce has enjoyed explosive growth. Retailers everywhere, large and small, have their pick from a range of tools to create an online shopping presence that attracts customers and increases revenue. But for today’s hair salons, spas, car repair shops, and other service- or appointment-based businesses, the technology needed to enhance the customer experience requires a slightly different set of features.

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5 Keys to Launching New Initiatives

Growthink Blog

The world’s best run businesses efficiently and effectively decide upon, launch, manage and optimize new business projects and initiatives. In contrast, poorly run businesses struggle mightily to do so on all fronts. They struggle deciding where to invest scarce project time and resources. Once they do decide, they then struggle to get those new projects launched.

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Why the Majority of Websites Fail

Duct Tape Marketing

Why the Majority of Websites Fail written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Gone are the days where businesses can rely solely on “pretty” websites. In today’s digital marketing landscape, a website must be an optimized, revenue-generating platform. I’ll just get right to it: The reason so many websites fail is because businesses take a design-driven approach from the beginning as opposed to developing a website from the ground up with SEO in mind.

SEO 52
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Danger From Above: Be Aware Of Cloud Security Threats

YoungUpstarts

Cloud computing has many advantages, so it’s no wonder that uptake and growth continue to increase at a formidable pace. Many companies, not just the major players, are moving their data and applications over to the cloud. As with all technologies, new and old, there are strengths and weaknesses. One of the major concerns about cloud computing is security.

Cloud 153
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28 Entrepreneurs Reveal What Entrepreneurship Means to Them

Hearpreneur

Being an entrepreneur is a source of pride. It also evidences an individual with a huge amount of discipline and focus to be able to build a business a lot of times from just an idea. It is the ambition of an entrepreneur that built the most profitable and successful companies. The only issue is that the word entrepreneurship can often vary from person to person. #1 – A Few Things.

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Beyond Reason: 8 Subconscious Marketing Techniques to Boost Sales and UX

ConversionXL

According to research by Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, up to 95% of our purchase decisions are directed by subconscious mental processes. As digital marketers, we know this intuitively. How many articles have you read that advised you to appeal to the emotional, irrational, subconscious part of the brain? Despite this evidence, a majority of marketing efforts still focus on making logical appeals to a rational mind.

Sales 86
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Why Small Community Lenders Have Your Back

Up and Running

One of the largest banks in the country, with branch locations in your town, advertises everywhere. You know their jingle. Those ads are tempting for small business owners—it’s hard to resist the ten largest banks because they control over $10.1 trillion in assets and have the marketing budget to prove it. After seeing the ads for weeks on TV, you apply for a small business loan.

Community 117
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The US is a leader in Clean!

deal architect

The French President tweeted yesterday "Tonight the United States has turned its back on the world, but France will not turn its back on Americans," He is talking about President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Turned.

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Why Customer Experience Is the Key to an Amazing Business

Duct Tape Marketing

Why Customer Experience Is the Key to an Amazing Business written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. In this post – 5 Steps to Restart, Recharge and Revive Your Marketing Right Now! – I introduced an aggressive initiative to help any business owner struggling to stay on plan with their marketing for the year. The idea is to take the mid-point of the year and get a fresh restart.

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Great Tech Support – The Answer To Running A Successful Startup

YoungUpstarts

by James Ontra, CEO of Shufflrr. Startups typically lack the resources of larger organizations – cash, staff, and huge marketing budgets. Yet the good ones can compensate with a great product combined with great service. Customer support is one venue where start-ups can differentiate themselves from their larger competitors. To run a successful startup in the tech industry, you need to understand how critical tech support really is to the livelihood of your business, especially in the competitiv

Startup 182
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Dalhousie University Commencement Speech – 2017

Steve Blank

Light a path for the better angels. Thank you, Chancellor McLellan, President Florizone, Dean Charlebois, Dr. Hewitt, and Dr. Kilfoil for the invitation to speak today and thank you for the honorary degree. I’m honored to speak at a university whose motto is: Pray and Work. It’s pretty close to the one I had as an entrepreneur, which was – Pray it Will Work. — First, my congratulations.

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13 Empirically-Backed No BS Form Design Best Practices

ConversionXL

If you’re not following form design best practices, you might be leaving a significant amount of money on the table. While forms aren’t the sexiest part of conversion optimization , they tend to be the closest to the money, the macro-conversions. Spending a little time optimizing forms can be some of the most important optimization work you can do. Of course, best practices don’t work the same on all sites.

Design 91
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What to Do When Your Business Hits a Rough Patch

Up and Running

Just three years after launching, FedEx was burning a million dollars per month just to stay afloat. Cash supplies were dwindling and the outlook was grim. With just five thousand dollars in the bank and a five-figure monthly fuel bill, the curtain was about to drop. With few other options, FedEx founder Fred Smith flew to Las Vegas and sat down at a blackjack table.

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Maybe this will spur SAP?

deal architect

I honestly cannot remember the last time SAP showed in the lower left quadrant – for niche players – in a Gartner MQ. But in the latest MQ for “Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises”.

Cloud 275
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How to Use Your Website to Convert Consulting Leads into Clients

Duct Tape Marketing

How to Use Your Website to Convert Consulting Leads into Clients written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing and selling consulting services can take weeks, months, and in some cases — years. As a consultant who must balance delivery versus sales, not having enough leads can lead to the dreaded feast-or-famine cycle. Nurturing and educating your leads is time-consuming work.

Email 64
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How To Negotiate with Vendors, Partners And Employees

YoungUpstarts

by Ross Kimbarovsky, founder of crowdSPRING. Not every entrepreneur or business owner is comfortable negotiating. Many dread the adversarial nature of negotiation. Even so, it’s difficult (and perhaps impossible) to operate a small business or startup and not negotiate agreements with employees, vendors, customers, and others. I’ve negotiated with thousands of people (for 13 years as an attorney and for the past 10 as an entrepreneur and business owner).

Partner 171
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One Simple Way You Can Make an Actual Difference in Somebody’s Life

Both Sides of the Table

Fresno State students receive supplies for school with help from Renaissance Scholars staff John Hunt, Jr. (left) and Kizzy Lopez (right). We’re all bombarded with social media campaigns asking for us to Tweet, share, like, change our badge, use a hashtag or generally show outrage at a topic du jour. We jump in when we feel compelled or want to support the person who enlisted us.

Fresno 221
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Key Insights from Every Speaker of Elite Camp 2017

ConversionXL

Elite Camp is a traffic and (mainly) conversion event held in Estonia every summer. It’s among the very best CRO events in the world, and of course in Europe. Elite Camp 2017 had an enviable line-up of heavy hitters and rock stars. Here are top insights from every speaker of this year’s event. Thanks to the inimitable Karl Gilis for all the photos below.

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A Complete Guide to Marketing ROI Tracking

Up and Running

If there is one thing that has allowed us at Slidebean to grow fast and efficiently, is our obsessive tracking of marketing budget returns. Back in 2015 when we only had about $2,000-$3,000 worth of marketing budget to spend each month, getting the most out of our buck was fundamental—not only for growth, but for survival. But keeping track of where a customer came from is very hard, especially when you start diversifying your marketing channels to campaigns that don’t have a direct conve

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Does the enterprise matter?

deal architect

I love Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report. This year though it struck me that over 95% of her 355 slides focused on consumer world – digital advertising, ecommerce, ride-sharing, gaming. wearables and digital healthcare etc. The “vertical” growth in.

Vertical 247
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Find Out Why Nobody is Finding Your Content

Duct Tape Marketing

Find Out Why Nobody is Finding Your Content written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Brian Dean. I believe that elements of SEO are now elevated to the strategic level. In other words, as you plan your message, website structure, and content for your marketing, you better include some research commonly seen as a technical aspect of SEO.

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Simple And Effective Ways To Promote Your Business

YoungUpstarts

Whether you’re a startup looking at taking those first steps into the business world or an established company wanting to expand your customer base, marketing your business is an important step in getting your brand in front of the right people. With the variety of marketing options available to all industries, choosing the right one for you can seem like a long and arduous task.

Database 164
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What Got You Here, Won't Get You There. Change Drives Business Growth.

Small Business Force

While all entrepreneurs want to grow their business, growth is not inevitable. And just as often, elusive. What got you here, won’t get you there. Because you were successful in getting to a particular level of revenue or profit for one year doesn’t mean that beating it (or even meeting it) the following year is a given. To do better, you need to perform better.

Widget 39
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We Have A Moral Obligation

Steve Blank

I was in Boston and was interviewed by The Growth Show about my current thinking about innovation in companies and government agencies.The interviewer was great and managed to get me to summarize several years of learning in one podcast. It’s worth a listen. At the end of the interview I got surprised by a great question – “What’s the Problem that Still Haunts You?

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How to Ditch the False Silver Bullets and Run a Growth Hacking Process

View from Seed

Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown are entrepreneurs, growth experts, and co-authors of the book Hacking Growth. Today, we talk about this notion of growth hacking and debunk some myths, then walk through a smart process you can use to start running a growth engine strategically, instead of seeking false silver bullets. Find their book, Hacking Growth , on Amazon.

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Kara Swisher interviews Mark Hurd

deal architect

As part of Recode Decode webinar series, Kara Swisher interviewed Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle on their Media Day in May. It’s always interesting to hear a consumer tech journalist interview an executive in enterprise tech. Kara did a nice.

Media 247
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What Your Customers Really Need Is…More Site Testing?

Duct Tape Marketing

What Your Customers Really Need Is…More Site Testing? written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Why do your customers buy? What are they looking for? Why do they convert on your site? Ask most marketers or business owners these questions and you’ll usually get a lot of very specific answers. “We have the best prices”…“Our product has more features than the competition”…“Our customer service is incredible”… Now, all of these answers are great, but most of the