Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Investors check your burn rate to assess your efficiency, and project your remaining runway before you run out of money and into a brick wall. Don’t wait until you are almost out of cash before managing every dollar spent, or looking for the next refueling from investors. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
by Claudia Elliott, head of content creation at internet marketing consulting agency Deep End. The life of a creative freelancer is challenging. You have no choice but to do everything yourself. And unfortunately, this can often have a negative impact on your business. When you are a one-man show, you are responsible for doing administrative work, sales, design, development and so much more.
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View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
New York City is a dream but can also be a navigational nightmare, equal parts crammed circus and rat race mixed at warp speed. This holds for the city’s tech sector. NYC Tech is bursting at the seams with nightly networking events at floors and floors of co-working spaces. We do not suffer a lack of tech activities. At the same time, the perception of our ecosystem as an insider’s game can often be self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating – creating a walled garden that can’t be breached.
Brandanew
SEPTEMBER 12, 2016
Brands are closer to their audience with the help of social media. They experiment and try various creative styles to win hearts. But quite often ideas may end up in a paradox when the implementation goes awry. Social media fails can prove to be costly and brands may have to balance a tricky situation to regain their position. It takes many campaigns, much brainstorming and creative effort to nurture and build a brand cult, but it takes just one misstep to offend people.
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
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
The great thing about starting an online business is that it’s one of the more affordable business options, and for the most part, can be started from home. Beyond making sure you’re registered as a business entity, all you really need to get going is a home office (and even that isn’t a strict requirement), a good internet connection, and some great entrepreneurial follow through.
Startup Lessons Learned
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, contributing editor of Lean Startup Co. The Lean Startup team has been hard at work finalizing the details of this year’s Lean Startup Week. Each year, we bring you new case studies from Silicon Valley startups (and beyond), government agencies, and global enterprise companies, along with expert advice from seasoned entrepreneurs and newcomers alike.
Start Up Roar brings together the best content for start up professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
by Sam Wheeler, Digital Business Consultant with Inseev Interactive. With more e-commerce websites popping up on the Internet than ever before, you might be thinking it’s time for your own company to strengthen its digital presence. While there’s never been a better time to start creating the website of your dreams, it’d be wise to get informed on some industry-leading tips and recommendations your new online marketplace should employ.
YFS Magazine
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Here's a look at 14 tell-tale signs that your website is need of a refresh.
This is going to be BIG.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
When hardware maker Quirky went out of business, Ben Einstein at Bolt had this to say : "A good company builds one product, learns from its customers, and iterates to make that product exceptional. Each step in the process is designed to refine a product and find the often elusive “product/market fit” that is the basis for all successful startups. Imagine if Apple built the first app-free iPhone and then moved on to the Apple Watch, or GoPro only sold one version of its camera and then decided t
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
I work in business insurance, which means that as soon as I tell people what I do, they’re yawning. And yet, almost every business has some form of insurance to protect it from fires, lawsuits, and vandalism—things that are 100 percent not boring. In fact, the first business insurance policies came from Lloyd’s of London, which used to be a coffee shop where sailors and merchants gathered.
Brandanew
SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
A lot of people have problems with marketing because they often don’t understand it all too well. The whole world of marketing can be confusing. Pitching your business services and products in the structured way can make a huge difference to your bottom line. A correctly set-up marketing network can make lead generation easy. Here are some tips to help you learn how to get started!
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
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.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
by Michael Manning , chief relationship officer at Rocksauce Studios. No matter your age, just about everybody loves the Beatles. But can your company learn from the Fab Four’s success? Of course, John, Paul, George, and Ringo had the swinging outfits and the screaming fans. But up until the very end, they also shared a key element that helped them stay together as a collective.
ConversionXL
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
With Google processing over 40,000 searches every second and Facebook being a hub for 1.13 billion daily active users , Google AdWords and Facebook ads are obvious choices for PPC campaigns. But is one better than the other? Are the optimization processes for both similar? What about A/B testing? These are the questions optimizers need answers to before they can really reap the benefits of two very powerful advertising platforms.
The Equity Kicker
SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
I just read a review of a new Wiley book Design a better business which argues that: better businesses are ones that approach problems in a new, systematic way, focusing more on doing rather than on planning and prediction. For them, of course, the point is that design thinking is that ‘new, systematic way’, but this sentence made me think of startups, where the emphasis is very much on doing rather than planning.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
It seems you can’t talk about business anymore without talking about disruption. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently singled out disruption as his country’s defining economic issue, telling Channel NewsAsia: “Old models are not working, new models are coming thick and fast, and we’re having to adjust and to keep up, because of technology and globalization.
crowdSPRING Blog
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
Image Source: American Salon. You are not alone, although it often feels that you are. According to the Small Business Administration , 78.5 percent of the nearly 28 million small businesses in the U.S. are individually owned and run by the owner, without any employees. Many of you are already leading teams or have employees working for you. Even if you aren’t doing so now, the odds are pretty good that you’ll need to start building your team as your business grows and you find yours
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
In business, and in your personal life, the ability to anticipate and overcome criticism is one of the biggest differentiators between leaders, who make things happen, and followers, who may have great ideas but never seem to get things to go their way. In fact, leaders are not remembered for their dreams, aspirations, or intentions – they are remembered because they achieved results.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 4, 2016
by Andrew Armstrong. Too often, businesses view their supply chain as a necessary evil as opposed to a valuable resource. This integral element of most businesses is woven through every aspect of operations. From manufacturing to sales to finance, the supply chain routinely fails to command the respect it deserve. For most companies to succeed, the goal is to deliver a quality product at a reasonable profit.
ConversionXL
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
If you’re part of a conversion optimization team, a big part of that job is communicating treatments to other specialists on your team (analysts, designers). Depending on the scope of the changes, you could use a few different tools and methods. Almost always, though, this includes wireframing – and it helps to be able to do wireframing decently well.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
There are only two emotions in startups — utter ebullient enthusiasm and outright terror. Here’s the big thing about tech companies: They all believe that if they build it, the world will come, but it doesn’t really work that way. The reality distortion you create is imperative to be able to believe what you’re doing, and get the people around you to believe what you’re doing.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
Running your own business is a journey of ten thousand miles, and you’re about to take the first step. But before your business really gets off the ground, you need to make sure you have your accounting administration set up properly. Accounting may seem like the most mundane aspect of running a business, but it’s also the most essential to keep on track —especially during the early stages.
crowdSPRING Blog
SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
Image credit: Apple. When Apple held their Special Event keynote on September 7th, their live video stream garnered the highest-ever video traffic for an Apple event. In the days following the announcement, almost every technology publication, blogger, and influencer posted some kind of content related to the new iPhone. The phone’s release took over the news cycle again 9 days later, with reviews, guides, and commentary dominating the front page of most news outlets and technology websit
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
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.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
by Nate Vickery, editor-in-chief of Bizzmarkblog.com. If you are starting a new business you must have heard a million times already that building up your reputation is one of the most important keys to success. A great way to tell others about your brand and about what you have to offer is to start blogging. Blogging is your gateway to communicating with the outside world and reaching out to potential customers.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 17, 2016
Silicon Collar is off to very nice media reviews, Amazon reader reviews and many nice emails from readers. But in many ways it has also touched a nerve. Some are irritated with my optimism. I find they fall into three.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
The more that people pay you, the more influence customers feel they should have, but they don’t necessarily know what they want. Customers will try to be polite and tell you want you want to hear. We had to figure out how to get honest feedback. Doing customer discovery isn’t the same as running a focus group. And customers don’t always know the best way to solve a problem or fill a need they have.
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
Of the 543,000 new small businesses started each month, approximately 52 percent of them are home-based. It’s no surprise really when you consider the primary reason for starting a business from home has to do with money (or lack thereof). According to Peterson’s Ultimate Home Office Survival Guide, most entrepreneurs who work from home start with less than $5,000.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
Rolf Winkler wrote a piece in the WSJ about A16Z’s returns in which he says they “lag behind Sequoia, Benchmark and Founders Fund.” Scott Kupor of A16Z responded with a comprehensive overview of valuation methodology in a post that while accurate feels more targeted at sophisticated Limited Partners (LPs) who invest in funds. Let me offer you an insider’s take.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 11, 2016
In my experience, consummate entrepreneurs tend come up with more startup ideas than they can ever implement, and some of the ideas may not even make business sense. But how does any entrepreneur know which ideas to implement, and which ones are best left behind? After all, most great breakthroughs, like a computer in every home, seemed like a crazy idea before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made it happen.
YoungUpstarts
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
by Seyran Dalipovski, Social Media and Content Manager at Simpliday. TED Talks touch on a large amount of topics and we decided – why not add our favorite productivity talks for you? TED which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design was started back in the 80s as a private nonprofit organization. They had a simple message and that is “Ideas Worth Spreading”.
deal architect
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
I struck me when Infosys CEO, Vishal Sikka talked about his acquisition of Panaya in his keynote this afternoon, how little attention SAP has received at Oracle OpenWorld this year.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 19, 2016
Hacking for Defense is a battle-tested problem-solving methodology that runs at Silicon Valley speed. We just held our first Hacking for Defense Educators Class with 75 attendees. The results: 13 Universities will offer the course in the next year, government sponsors committed to keep sending hard problems to the course, the Department of Defense is expanding their use of H4D to include a classified version, and corporate partners are expanding their efforts to support the course and to create
Up and Running
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016
Congratulations—you’ve successfully launched your business! However, before you get too comfy, it’s important to make sure you’ve got a plan going forward. The success of your business during its first year comes down, in large part, to having a clear plan of action. We’re here to make that process as smooth and easy for you as possible. To that end, we’ve created this checklist to go over the essential tasks you’ll need to complete during your first year of business.
View from Seed
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
New tech ecosystems often benefit from entrepreneurs who will dive in blind and figure out their direction along the way. This profile of founder tends to be younger, obsessively driven, and inclined towards making big, bold, necessary mistakes early and often on the path towards product-market fit. In 2010, Eli Bronner and his Lua Technologies co-founders were this exact profile of entrepreneurs, and New York City was an exuberant tech ecosystem without much structure or identity.
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
Today Upfront Ventures is announcing that we’ve backed Rebecca Kantar ’s startup Imbellus , a company designed to assess human potential and ultimately change the way we teach children. We led a $4 million investment along with Thrive Capital, GLG and Sound Ventures. The news blogs will cover the what, how and how much but I want to focus on the “why” and try to be instructive of what I think makes for a great A-round startup.
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