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'Everybody has a blog these days and there is much advice to be had. Many startups now go through accelerators and have mentors passing through each day with advice – usually it’s conflicting. WTF? There are bootcamps, startup classes, video interviews – the sources are now endless. What is a founder to do? There are some smart if not somewhat cerebral bloggers I read who say that you shouldn’t take any startup advice at all because it’s too generalized to be useful
'If you have a software development background like mine, Im sure you often get questions about when to outsource, versus building the solution in-house. The same applies to manufacturing and almost any process these days. Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe.
'This article was originally published on the WP Engine Blog. Calm your freneticTL;DR twitchy-Twitter-brain for five minutes, and let some Chinese philosophy wash over you. Thirty spokes join in one hub In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle Mix clay to create a container In its emptiness, there is the function of a container Cut open doors and windows to create a room In its emptiness, there is the function of a room Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit That wh
'by Monica Wells, BizDB . It’s safe to say that enterprise gamification is one of those increasingly popular trends for management that are simply bound to explode in the next few years. Great project management is all about fostering worker engagement and motivation – and what better way to this than through specifically designed games? Gamification of everyday activities can also pave the way to building a creative and passionate team.
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
'Post by Sarah Milstein & Eric Ries, co-hosts for The Lean Startup Conference At this year’s Lean Startup Conference , we seek to answer the difficult questions you face as an entrepreneur. To give you a sense of how we’ll do that, we’re introducing you to three of our speakers—all of whom are appearing for the first time at The Lean Startup Conference, and all of whom have advice you can put to work today.
'In comparison to traditional business ventures, startups are expected to grow rapidly, at a rate of between 5% and 7% per week in their initial stage – Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator. When I hear the word ‘startup’, my mind immediately begins playing a reel of a bunch of twenty-something year old web developers, huddled together in a retro office somewhere in the SF Bay Area.
'Just back from vacation and also some work travel and want to get back to blogging so expect a few posts over the next couple weeks. During my absence I posted a couple new episodes of Bothsides TV recently. I’ll try to get write-ups shortly but for now here is an overview of my interview with Nanea Reeves – President and COO of textPlus.
'Just back from vacation and also some work travel and want to get back to blogging so expect a few posts over the next couple weeks. During my absence I posted a couple new episodes of Bothsides TV recently. I’ll try to get write-ups shortly but for now here is an overview of my interview with Nanea Reeves – President and COO of textPlus.
'Two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology or money. The first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want.
'Zappos logo via Flickr by Ben Spark. One of the most common failures I see in startups is lack of focus. Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition.
'by Todd Unger. Starting a business involves establishing new processes and systems that will ensure a strong foundation from which to grow. Here are a few simple tax tips all new businesses should put into place, before they officially hit the ground running: Establish the appropriate structure for your business. Because there can be different tax implications associated with different business structures, its important that you have the appropriate legal entity established before you offici
'This is the first of a two-part series on mobile conversion and how to improve it. It’s based on thousands of user tests conducted by UserTesting , the leading usability testing service for mobile apps and websites. If there’s a consensus about anything in the fast-changing mobile market, it’s the idea that mobile eCommerce conversions are lower than they are on personal computers.
'If you don’t handle your business accounts correctly, you might be headed for trouble. Accounting is a significant part of any business endeavor and is not as easy as adding and subtracting. Small businesses often think of handling their own accounting to save money—but this may not be the best idea. Accounting errors can cost a company to a great extent.
'Most times when I finish a meeting, I think to myself “that was such a great meeting. I’m so excited for what happens next” If your meetings aren’t ending like this, then you’ve just wasted everyone’s time. Here are a few lessons I learnt from having hundreds of business meetings in Australia, Chile, and the USA.
'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.
'No one wants to be *that* founder--the non-technical founder poking around developer meetups asking for a unicorn with a Github account. It''s not that there aren''t great technical people willing to take a lot of risk to join a small team--it''s just that there are *so many* people out there looking for them that it''s hard to figure out who to take seriously.
'by Dana Brownlee, President of Professionalism Matters, Inc. How many times have you said to yourself, “By the time I teach him/her how to do it, I could have just done it myself!” Has your spouse told you in the heat of an argument about household chores, “Well, you never ask for help anyway. You won’t let anyone help you!” If these refrains sound familiar, you’re not alone.
'As more and more business owners are learning about the benefits of the new version of Google Analytics (referred to as “Universal Analytics”) as well as the utility of Tag Management Systems (made even more popular by the release of the free Google Tag Manager), Peep reached out to me to write an article about moving an inline GA implementation to Google Tag Manager.
'Got a question for one of the angel investors mentioned below? Skip ahead and leave it in the comments. Today is Ask an Angel day! Don’t forget to share the feedback on Twitter using #AngelTip as your hashtag. Tips from real angel investors about how to impress them and stand out from the crowd. Before I jump in and share the secrets of how to impress angel investors, I should tell you what an angel investor is, and how they differ from venture capitalists.
'Almost 30 years ago, my father decided to uproot the entire family from Taiwan to the United States so that his academically “inconsistent” son could have an education tolerant and perhaps even encouraging of his idiosyncrasies. As an entrepreneur himself, founding and operating printed circuit board factories in Taiwan, my father was debating between two places to immigrate to and build his next new venture: Los Angeles (“The Valley” aka San Fernando Valley) and Santa
'Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on making change happen for others, that they forget that continually changing themselves and their company is equally important. Some get stuck in a rut and get run over by competitors with new technology, like Eastman Kodak, and others get pushed into a crisis, like Apple did, before they reinvent themselves into a new market.
'The world rains sugar on my children. The bus driver offers my child bubble gum. The teachers offer a cupcake for every birthday party. The school vending machine is full of junk food; so is the one at the Y. At camp, the counselors offer candy and a freeze pop at the end of the day.and craft activities like decorating a cookie or making a gingerbread house.
'When a new business first begins to operate, one of the most important things for it to focus on is marketing. Too many new business owners see marketing as an add-on, far less important than the core activities around which their work is based and something that can be dealt with after the initial rush of getting things going is over. These businesses don’t tend to last very long.
'Here’s something scary, according to MECLabs & Magento’s 2014 eCommerce Benchmark, only 13% of those studied base their testing on extensive historical data. The sad part is, the same study found that in almost every revenue group – with the exception the $0-10k group – companies that test changes based on extensive historical data were proportionally the most likely to be more successful.
'A couple of weeks ago, when I interviewed Tim Richards, ReefCam’s CEO, I had no notion of where our conversation might go. I was simply interested in the business because it was different; because it was young, and because it has the potential to do real good. Since then, I have come to believe that ReefCam is a great company for aspiring entrepreneurs to look to and to learn from.
'Last Wednesday I had coffee with an old friend and former colleague. We haven’t worked together in a while and were reminiscing about the old days. I miss the old days when we used to be locked in battle together on the issues affecting our company. Seeing him again also reminded me of one of my first big lessons as a VC – knowing when giving in is more important than being right.
'One of the most common failures I see in startups is lack of focus. Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition.
'I met Kathryn Gould longer ago than either of us want to admit. Kathryn has been the founding VP of Marketing of Oracle , a successful recruiter, a world class Venture Capitalist, a co-founder of a Venture Capital firm, a great board member, one of my mentors and most importantly a wonderful friend. During her career she made a big point of not telling you: she was one of the first women Venture Capitalist’s in Silicon Valley (along with M.J.
'by Conrad Ford, Managing Director of Check Business. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are particularly prone to seeing their invoices go unpaid for a number of interconnected reasons. Firstly, the clients involved often feel as if they can quite easily refuse to pay your invoice because they doubt whether you have the money or the inclination to chase them for payment through the courts or in any other way.
'We at NextView Ventures invest exclusively in a startup’s seed-stage round , meaning that many if not most of our deals are made alongside individual angel investors. These angels, however, come in many different shapes and sizes. So to successfully raise a seed round of capital, founders should possess at least a basic understanding of the different types of angel investors they’ll encounter.
'While there may be generational gaps about fashion or social conventions, millenials are often at the forefront when it comes to technology. At the end of June, U.S. employers listed more available jobs—4.7 million—than at any point since 2001. Unemployment is also falling, while consumer confidence has stabilized. By multiple measures, the economy is in better shape now than at any point over the last few years.
'Once again Gartner is in the news. Its is being sued and a whole slew of blogs and articles have piled on. My summer project researching and writing about the SAP economy has allowed me a chance to go back.
'Many entrepreneurs think that adapting to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, are the key to attracting new customers. In fact, businesses need to adapt just as completely to the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers. High-technology product startups, without customers, don’t make a business. Today’s customer buying dynamics are all about “user experience,” according to Brian Solis, in his recent book “ What’s the Future of Business?
'It is surprising just how much admin is involved in running a company, especially one-man operations where the budget is simply not there to employ a secretary. The owner simply drowns in paperwork, failing to keep on top of invoices and bills and often incurs hefty fines for non-payment due to a mislaid tax form. All too many new businesses fail because of this sort of problem.
'This is a guest post from Ben Rubin , co-founder and CEO of Change Collective , which offers courses for behavior change with world-class experts. For seed-stage startups, when resources are tight, trying to consciously build startup culture can feel wasteful. Below, Ben makes the case for why defining values is actually a worthwhile exercise, and he outlines his startup’s approach.
'75% of marketers may know something you dont! Are you using SEO content strategy to your advantage? If not, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to significantly increase site traffic and sales. Specifically, did you see the recent report on Digital Trends 2014 by Ektron? It found that 76.6% of the 400 Website […]. The post Is Your SEO Content Strategy A Priority?
'I formally invited SAP to provide a 10 page, unedited column to include at end of the book I am writing - how things will be different with its new management team. The book model shows customer spend at a.
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