YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
by Jonathan Aspatore, CEO of ExecRank. The right advisor can have a greater impact on the success of your small business than any other hire you ever make. Here are seven ways that advisors can immediately help your small business achieve the next level of success: Assist With Strategies & Connections to Have Record Revenue & Profit in 2016.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
One of the least understood parts of the venture capital industry and venture capital firms is how investment decisions actually get made. The truth is that each firm is different and there isn’t one standard but over the years I’ve talked with enough of my peers to get sense of how many firms work. Often if it’s a bigger firm (say 4 partners or more) and it’s a super small investment for their fund size (let’s say $250-500k when they normally invest $5-7 million) t
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Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
There is an old saying that good lawyers run away from risk, while good businessmen run towards risk. Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” In reality, all risks are not the same. Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
Starting up requires both passion and a willingness to learn from mistakes, and gender balanced teams outperform imbalanced teams. Those were the messages from the two latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 111. Anand Sanwal , co-founder and CEO of CB Insights ; and Chris Shipley , executive producer of MIT’s Solve initiative, joined me in the studio to discuss the day-to-day chaos of building a company.
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
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Oh how the media loves superlatives (but only because that’s what we click on and share). Jake Lodwick wrote an article on PandoDaily entitled “An acquisition is always a failure.” He explains: Either the founders failed to achieve their goal, or – far likelier – they failed to dream big enough. The proper ambition for a tech entrepreneur should be to join the ranks of the great tech companies, or, at least, to create a profitable, independent company beloved by employees, cus
Brandanew
SEPTEMBER 7, 2015
Social networks never fail to surprise us. After the initial upheaval, we have now settled down with a few networks that have survived the battle and emerged with their own dedicated user bases. But even then we often come across a lot of interesting factoids that makes us wonder what exactly is going on. Today we bring you ten such fun factoids that will surprise, amuse as well as educate you. 1.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
When most people think of John Shahidi two words come to mind. Bieber & Mayweather. Yes, that Bieber (67 million Twitter followers, 73 million on FB) & that Mayweather (6.4 million Twitter followers, 12 million on FB). The reason being – John Shahidi counts both as investors and friends. So. You’re probably thinking, “slick talking, super confident, tall, extroverted, arrogant, LA kinda dude.” You’d be dead wrong.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015
Entrepreneurs who experience success with their first startup are often amazed to realize that the risks and fears of doing it right the second time go up, rather than down. Encores are tough, especially in the high-risk world of startups, yet every entrepreneur I know can’t wait to start over and do it again. Sometimes their haste or ego causes them to ignore basics, and they fall hard.
Occam's Razor
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
The difference between a Reporting Squirrel and Analysis Ninja? Insights. As in, the former is in the business of providing data, the latter in the business of understanding the performance implied by the data. That understanding leads to insights about why the performance occurred, which leads to so what we should do. Do you see how far away a Reporting Squirrel's job is from that of an Analysis Ninja?
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
Your company is running smoothly enough, but you know things could be better. Sometimes, a project gets hung up a few days too long, or meetings that once felt productive and useful now seem to drag on for hours. It can feel like wheels spinning in the mud, and it’s hard to get that traction back. How can you fix these kinds of issues? By focusing on improving the efficiency of your business.
David Cohen
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Alex King recently passed away after a two year battle with cancer. Alex was not one of my closest friends, but his passing hit me very hard. I was riding in a car from the airport yesterday when I got the news from his wife, and I just started crying. I got to know Alex because he was a mentor in Boulder in the early years of Techstars. He totally leaned into mentoring startups and never for a moment asked what was in it for him.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
by Jason O’Brien, Chief Operating Officer of TollFreeForwarding.com. No matter what stage your business is currently at, it can cause significant difficulties when employees move on to find new employment. The time and energy it takes to look for new recruits, the loss of productivity whilst new staff learn the ropes – not to mention the financial repercussions, which can often run into the tens of thousands – are all going to have a drain on your business.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
My partner Greg Bettinelli is an avid sports fan who throughout his career has developed an expert understanding in online ticketing (at eBay has was a champion of the StubHub acquisition) and online marketing. Greg knows consumer businesses and customers, which has added tremendously to our team where I admittedly have more of a background in enterprise software, data and online video.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
Most aspiring entrepreneurs believe that a great idea alone will assure business success. Experts argue that it’s more important to have a great plan, and personal business acumen. Hardly anyone mentions selling principles. Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business.
Version One Ventures
SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
Back in July, we wrote about network effects in marketplaces and social platforms and how they are critical to defensibility. In the post, we talked about the difference between direct and indirect network effects, and how they may or may not relate to virality. Since then, we have been further developing our investment thesis on social platforms and want to add more nuance to the discussion.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
How can you market your startup more effectively? Offering a free trial of your product or service in exchange for a review on a well-trafficked blog is one creative way. In a recent article, Palo Alto Software founder Tim Berry equates startup marketing to throwing darts at a dartboard. While existing companies can get away with throwing their “marketing darts” a little aimlessly, a startup has to be more careful and precise.
View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
Traction is a biweekly podcast where founders share the creative or unusual things they did during the seed stage to make early progress. Everyone knows startups should do scrappy things that “don’t scale” — this show explores what those things actually are. Founders from LinkedIn , DraftKings , General Assembly , The Muse , Behance , InsightSquared , and more have appeared on the show.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
By Brian Sutter, Director of Marketing, Wasp Barcode Technologies. The definition of a rock star is a celebrity in any field or profession who is highly admired. While most people think of a musician when they hear that word, small business owners should be able to think about their employees as rock stars too. Hiring someone who will be “highly admired” in the workplace is the ultimate goal when filling any type of position.
Mike Michalowicz
SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
Also Available On. Show Summary. Scott Spiro and Tony Lillios join us for Episode 44 of the Profit First Podcast. Scott sheds some light on the importance of credibility. Tony shares his success story with Speck products and how his company skyrocketed to profitability. Our Guests. Scott Spiro . Scott Spiro is founder and President of Computer Solutions Group, Inc (CSG), and author of the book “Hassle Free Computer Support”.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 5, 2015
Most of the technologists I know inherently believe that the terms inventor and entrepreneur mean the same thing, so they are frustrated and surprised when they build their products and no business evolves. They don’t understand that most great entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, had a partner with complementary skills on the business or technical side.
Version One Ventures
SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
The Blockchain is such an innovative and fundamentally transformative technology, but Bitcoin and Blockchain apps have not yet scaled as much as I would have liked. This slow traction is likely due to two things. First, Bitcoin startups that focus on commerce/payment solutions in North America are competing with existing products with strong network effects.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
Running a small business is a daunting challenge. Statistically, less than 50 percent of small businesses are still operational after five years. Globalization has increased the level of competition and introduced more turmoil to the business environment. If you want to take your business to the next level, you’ll need to be open to the current realities of the new global economy, and get more creative.
Hearpreneur
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
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YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
by Rhys Arkins, founder of Key Location. Singapore has a thriving economy, particularly when it comes to international business, so there are plenty of different paths to get rich in Singapore. Although with hard work and ingenuity you can get rich in almost any industry, you can certainly increase your chances by hitching a ride on a hot one. Some seem to be inherently lucrative in all countries, but may wax and wane over time.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
What Can You Do if a VC Pulls Their Term Sheet? I was asked to answer this exact question on Quora and I did so some time ago. The beauty of evergreen content is that it resurfaces all the time and it is as relevant today as it was years ago when I answered it. One of my favorite ways to resurface content is when I see people on Twitter put out a Tweet linking to an old post.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 13, 2015
In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. That’s why investors say they invest in people (bet on the jockey, not the horse), rather than the idea. Yet every entrepreneur I meet wants to talk about the idea, and rarely mentions the team.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015
A US District Judge will preside over a trial starting today in Las Vegas related to a $209 million copyright lawsuit Oracle has filed against Rimini Street. Having been an expert witness in a few software cases, I know both.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
You’re running a small business. You’d dearly love to have high visibility on Google for organic search engine traffic and leads—but you’re being overwhelmed by big competitors with deep pockets and an army of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists at their disposal. Cheer up! You can still win at SEO, but you have to be smart—very smart—about how you deploy your resources.
View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
Nearly all of the guidance for meetings with VCs is centered on the very first meeting: how to get it, how to prepare a pitch deck , how to run the meeting , etc. But then the tactical advice stops. What about the rest of the VC fundraising process? How should an entrepreneur approach the full set of meetings and emails during a fundraise? The purpose of all VC meetings is to get another meeting.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
It is a shame to see the fact that most site owners do not actually understand much about mobile websites and about the importance of having a site that is perfectly optimized for mobile browsing. This is due to the fact that many site owners do not have much knowledge about webs development. It is normal. After all, it is why people tend to hire other professionals to get the work done for them.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
I’ve spent this year working with corporations and government agencies that are adopting and adapting Lean Methodologies. I’ve summarized my learnings in this blog post , and here , here and here and here and put it together in the presentation here. One of the interesting innovation challenges I’ve encountered centers on a company’s culture.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
These days, with the many Internet articles and new courses available, most new professionals readily cross the gap from lack of business knowledge to knowing, but many never make it over the knowing versus doing gap. Investors I know highlight this problem with the mantra that they fund founders and teams who can execute, rather than ones who just talk about their great ideas.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP suffered a pretty catastrophic accident a few weeks ago. He said this in an eloquent Facebook post that I hope he does not mind me sharing “In early July, I was visiting my father on.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
Starting your own business may sound like an undertaking of epic proportions. The truth is, it’s not. Yes, you’re going to have to work hard, and commit to working on it at all hours of the day, but actually getting set up is simply down to making sure you’ve “checked all the boxes,” which is exactly what this list aims to help you do. I’ve broken the tasks down into manageable categories and included links that will help you complete each stage of getting started.
View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
New York City is a tremendous place to be an entrepreneur. For a pursuit that largely revolves around silent time spent at a computer by one person then, slowly at first, a few more people, a bit more talking, and on and on until failure, acquisition, or IPO, it may seem inconsequential to consider where it all goes down. There are, of course, many necessary considerations, emotions, and excursions beyond a laptop and wifi along the path of starting up and so place does matter.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
by Tony Campbell, founder and managing partner at WhichVoIP.com. Setting up your own business involves a lot of start-up costs, many of which you may not have even been aware of when you first launched. If you go into business without fully preparing for these costs, you may find that they take you by surprise, which can cause you unexpected problems.
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