Sat.Nov 30, 2019 - Fri.Dec 06, 2019

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6 Brand Must-Haves for Your Small Businesses

Up and Running

When you’re getting your small business off the ground, it’s important to make sure you’ve put into place the key pieces that can help your company stand out and attract customers. While there are many different ways a brand can stand, there are six essential things that every business should have in order to achieve success in their space. 1. Memorable name.

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How Self-Service Technology Can Boost Startup Growth

ReadWriteStart

For every startup business, the need to give customers the best customer service experience is the key priority. Customers are kings, and they determine business growth. Your company growth will largely depend on how you treat them. Here is how self-service technology can boost startup growth. Some startups are already making it big with self-service technology.

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How to prepare your employees when your business goes global

Our Own Start-up

Don't forget that world domination isn't exactly the simplest thing.

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7 Questions To Test Your Potential As An Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, the most common question I get is, “I want to be an entrepreneur -- how do I start?” The obvious answer is that you need an idea first, but I’ve come to realize that the process is really much more complex than that. Many people with great ideas never make it as entrepreneurs, and true entrepreneurs can make a business out of anything.

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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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5 Useful Tips Consider When Building A Startup

YFS Magazine

For would-be entrepreneurs, advice will pour in from every direction. Most would be common and familiar, but seasoned entrepreneurs will recommend this.

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How is the VC Asset Class Doing?

View from Seed

One of my more popular posts in recent years was a long write-up on how VC’s get measured. It occurred to me that about 2 years has transpired since that original post and I thought I’d write a follow-up. At the time, I spent most of my time describing the metrics themselves and how VCs and their LPs evaluate performance based on these measurements.

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10 Financing Alternatives For Your Next New Venture

Startup Professionals Musings

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here.

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5 ways to fast-track your startup success in 2020

The Startup Magazine

With the festive season fast approaching, it’s a rare time for you high-energy entrepreneurs to relax a little, recharge your batteries, review your accomplishments and consider priorities for the year ahead. If you’re operating in a highly competitive marketplace, you’re probably on the lookout for ways to develop your business skills and stay in tip-top mental and physical condition in order to maintain a competitive edge and ramp up your resilience.

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VCs eating our own dog food: Using technology and analytics to make better investments

David Teten

(To see the video above, please click the image, and then click on the Play button.). Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . When I was single, I registered for (a lot of) dating websites. When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer app.

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The Rise Of The Virtual Assistant

YoungUpstarts

by Daniel Ramsey, founder and CEO ofMyOutDesk. In today’s small business and start-up world, when you want a reliable (and affordable) assistant, you don’t have to limit yourself to your geographic location. In fact, remote work is on the rise – especially in the form of virtual assistants – and it’s one of the primary reasons why more small businesses are opting to outsource work.

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Don’t follow anyone

Start Up Blog

Some people like to accumulate followers. Not me. I hope I don’t have a single follower. I’d much rather have students of my work, as opposed to followers. A decade or so ago, the architecture of the internet took a turn, and gave birth to a new kind of digital zealotry, where people have become disciples of opinion instead of being students of fact.

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How to choose the right data science company?

The Startup Magazine

Data science is a hot topic, no doubt about that. But moving on it hastily without any clue about what even data science is, can result in a very disappointing outcome. . Outsourcing the right company and hiring the best candidates for the job requires some basic knowledge. Without proper background on the topic, we would not be capable of knowing what factors are more important than others.

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Free money for your impact tech startup

David Teten

Congratulations! You’ve decided to launch a technology-enabled startup with a positive social impact! Nearly every major Silicon Valley venture-capital firm has now invested in a B Corp ; maybe you will be one of them! Now the bad news: some venture capitallists have a bias against startups with an explicit positive social impact, on the grounds that they have a smaller addressable market, and that the founders are not sufficiently focused on creating shareholder wealth.

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What To Know About Friendly Fraud

YoungUpstarts

While online transactions have done much to help retailers and consumers alike, the technology has also opened up avenues for new kinds of fraud. Some instances of fraud are perpetrated by criminals against merchants. Others, though, occur through preventable mistakes. The prime example of the latter is what is known, somewhat ironically, as “friendly fraud” Online merchants, especially those operating small businesses, should take precautions and educate themselves on what friendly

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Why You Don't Get Real Feedback from VCs--and a Solution

This is going to be BIG.

If there’s any one thing I’ve focused on in my VC career, it’s trying to give real, actionable feedback to founders. I’ve made a bet that if a founder pitches me, whether or not I fund them, if I make the process worthwhile by telling them exactly why I couldn’t get there, they’re likely to recommend that other founders do the same. The risk is that if I give a definitive “no”, then if they pivot, or figure out something else, or if they get more traction than I expect because I was flat out wro

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How Brand Consistency Can Help You Put Competitors In Your Rearview Mirror

crowdSPRING Blog

You’ve probably heard by now that consistent branding is important. Everyone says so – it’s one of those common business truisms that, for many, goes in one ear and out the other. But, you can’t afford to let this wisdom fall on deaf ears. It’s too valuable. Because… Consistent. Branding. Is. Vital. Your company’s logo design , your business website , your mobile app, your store signage, your marketing and customer support messaging… they must all

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Who Needs Freelancer Management Software ?

Transformify

There are many freelance marketplaces helping recruiters to source freelance talent. Transformify Freelance Platform is one of them but what makes it stand out is the option to not only source flexible workforce, but also to on-board, assign to projects and manage the relationship with their existing on-demand workforce. In fact, most employers and temporary staffing agencies prefer to work with the same team of freelancers and independent contractors over time.

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5 Ways To Boost Employee Engagement Through Technology

YoungUpstarts

by Josh Fechter , co-founder and CEO of Squibler. Why keep employees engaged? Engagement isn’t just about putting on a good face for your customers and business partners. By understanding employee engagement , you can enhance productivity, improve retention in demanding fields and deliver higher quality products and services. When employees feel like what they’re doing serves a greater purpose, your staff members will take ownership and put their all into their jobs.

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Best Practices for a Healthcare Compliance Plan

Board Effect

In today’s world, healthcare is more complex than ever. That may be at least one reason why fraud has been increasing in this industry. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) reports that financial losses due to fraud run in the tens of billions of dollars every year. The high rate of medical fraud is fomenting an increase in governmental inquiries, audits, and investigations.

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Will WeWork finally put our image of a "backable" founder to rest?

This is going to be BIG.

There’s one thing that no one can ever take away from Adam Neumann—he was world class at fundraising. His ability to tell a story and gain investor confidence was unmatched relative to the underlying progress of the company. He exuded confidence told people he was going to change the world. It’s not actually surprising that investors bought into it, considering that for a long time, VCs have focused on one particular archtype of leader as being more worthy of venture investment than others—the b

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Decade-end review: Enterprise Applications have NOT eaten the world

deal architect

Over the last couple of weeks, as we get ready to welcome the 20s, I have been reviewing blog posts, books I have written and notes from advisory work helping clients pick vendors, negotiate contracts, review vendor performance etc from.

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10 Early Business Strategies That Can Lead To Failure

Startup Professionals Musings

Starting a new business is a serious undertaking. Yet many aspiring entrepreneurs I know approach it as a fun project, get-rich quick scheme, or perhaps an expensive hobby. Others quit their day jobs and commit everything to their new passion, without regard for their own well-being, or the welfare of others around them. Neither of these approaches bodes well for success.

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5 Useful Tips for Frequent Business Travelers

Women Entrepreneurs Can

Not all of us are born travel enthusiasts. That characteristic especially tends to “pop” when we need to travel across the country for the sake of a potential business deal, and the stress of it all can make the journey even less appealing, let alone fulfilling. Now, while there’s no such thing as a perfect travel scenario, you can certainly make the most of each trip you take for the sake of your professional development and your career, and actually turn it into a more balanced, pleasurable ex

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Make Pinterest Your Marketing Secret Weapon

Duct Tape Marketing

Make Pinterest Your Marketing Secret Weapon written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Alisa Meredith. Podcast Transcript. On the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast today, I visit with visual marketing expert and self-proclaimed “Pinterest nerd,” Alisa Meredith. Meredith is a social media consultant and the content marketing manager at Tailwind , an Instagram and Pinterest scheduling tool.

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Trailblazer by Marc Benioff - a review

deal architect

I have been reading Marc Benioff's new book and also factoring what I heard at the latest Dreamforce, Salesforce's annual conference. At times, I felt like I was re-reading Frederic Laloux's "Reinventing Organizations" and his points about companies like Patagonia.

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8 Steps Every Leader Must Take To Deal With Setbacks

Startup Professionals Musings

As a business owner in this age of rapid technological change, with the surge of worldwide competitors, setbacks and adversity are virtually guaranteed. Based on my years of experience mentoring and advising entrepreneurs, you need to attack problems and challenges with a mindset of success, or it is unlikely that you or your business will survive. I found that view confirmed for a wide range of leadership situations in a classic book, “ The Mindset of Success ,” by Jo Owen.

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The 5 Stages of the Blog Sales Funnel – and How to Use Them

Women Entrepreneurs Can

While sales funnels are far from being a new concept, adapting them to suit an online economy is relatively recent. Having an in-depth understanding of how the blog sales funnel works can help you increase your reach and monetize your website. The blog sales funnel follows the traditional sales funnel format with a few modern twists. Here are the five stages and how you can use them to attract and convert customers.

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Great Ways Your Business Can Increase Their Leads And Customers

YoungUpstarts

If you’re thinking about how you’re going to increase your leads and customer base, you must understand the value of your customers to your business. Just like any other business, it’s essential to keep in constant contact with your prospects and existing customers to build a loyal relationship with them. After all, the more you cultivate a solid customer base, the more sales you can probably get.

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The Version One Anti-Portfolio – the opportunities we missed…

Version One Ventures

Bessemer started the idea of the “anti-portfolio” – the companies that you passed on, but ended up doing very, very well. . After Honey was acquired by PayPal for $4B a few weeks ago, we thought it was a good time to share the Version One anti-portfolio: Honey. We had a chance to invest in a $500K round at a $12M valuation in 2015. We loved the founders, but didn’t have much conviction around the scalability of a browser plug-in and the fact that this was a bridge round.

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Getting Schooled – Lessons from an Adjunct

Steve Blank

This post previously appeared in Poets and Quants. I’ve been an adjunct professor for nearly two decades. Here’s what I’ve learned. Colleges and universities that offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to teach innovation and entrepreneurship classes may benefit from a more formal onboarding process. The goal would be six-fold: Integrate adjuncts as partners with their entrepreneurship centers .

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Small Business Owners, Change Your Life Instantly With This 6-Letter Word!

Rembrandt Communications

Small Business Success is More Than Sales, PR and Marketing… As a small business owner, you probably utter many four-letter words under your breath, or hear them from others, on a regular basis. Well, I’m going to remind you of a six-letter word you can say as much as possible, 365 days a year. It will: • Put you in a better mood; • Cause others to like you more; • Open up business opportunities; • Reduce stress and increase humility; • Give you a competitive edge; and so much more!

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5 Essential Habits You Need To Become Successful

YoungUpstarts

by Andrew Armstrong. Success is not easy. Some think that people are born talented, while others believe it comes down to hard work and luck. It’s true. A select few people do have the innate ability or good fortune to achieve success, but this isn’t true of the population at-large. Aristotle said ( or maybe didn’t exactly say ?) that “ We are what we repeatedly do.

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Book: Stillness Is The Key

Feld Thoughts

Ryan Holiday’s newest book, Stillness Is The Key , came out at the beginning of October. I ended up with two copies and thought I’d read it over the weekend after they showed up at my house. The weekend slipped by and I didn’t pick it up until mid-day on Thanksgiving. It was pouring rain in San Diego all day so it was a perfect laying on the couch reading afternoon.

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Why A Gaming Laptop Is A Good Tech Investment

The Startup Magazine

Nowadays, gaming laptops aren’t just for gamers. These powerful workhorses can do a multitude of tasks with great ease and speed. They make a lot of work tasks much simpler to do and can improve your overall output since slow processing won’t be holding you back. These tools are called gaming laptops because that’s what they were designed to do: play games that demand a lot of computing power with no trouble at all, and nowadays, games need a whole lot just for it to run smooth

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Techstars Austin Welcomes 10 Startups Into its 2020 Program

SiliconHills

Techstars Austin announced its 2020 class this week, including five Austin-based startups among the ten participating in the program. Another startup comes from Dallas and the remaining ones from New York, Florida, Ohio, and India. Also, this is the 10th Techstars program in Austin since it kicked off in 2014 and the fifth being run […]. The post Techstars Austin Welcomes 10 Startups Into its 2020 Program appeared first on SiliconHills.

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5 Tips On Creating A Killer Digital Marketing Plan For Your Startup

YoungUpstarts

Every month of the year, approximately 540,000 people start new businesses and become self-employed entrepreneurs. That’s over half a million new startups every month, all fighting for customers’ attention. If you’re starting a business and hope to reach those customers, you’ll need a killer digital marketing plan to get noticed.

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