View from Seed

MAY 24, 2019

An inevitable question that founders face is “how is your product different?” Whether it’s asked explicitly or not, most investors that you speak to have probably seen or heard of a company that does something pretty similar to yours. So it quickly becomes necessary to articular how you plan to stand out in a world of options. More important than what you say is what you actually do, and how your prioritization manifests itself.

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Early Stage Differentiation Product Founder 215

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay.

Entrepreneur 240

Entrepreneur Social Media Media Social Network 240

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 21, 2019

Managing Your Startup Board?—?A Short Presentation I was invited to do a keynote presentation at the Khosla Ventures CEO Summit this week in Sausalito. It was an amazing gathering of some of the most ambitious early-stage CEO’s looking to make a dent in fields related to healthcare, biology, AI and other transformative fields. It’s encouraging to know that there are still great VC firms like KV that are looking to make these short of big bets on shaping the future.

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Management Startup Dividend Early Stage 234

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Jennifer Warren of GoodFirms. Content is the cornerstone of online businesses these days. Simply put, content attracts traffic, leads and ultimately conversions. Not surprisingly, every online store out there is trying to make the most of it by crafting copies that compel the readers to take action. So, now the question is: how to make your content so compelling that readers don’t feel the need to look any other way but singularly focus on your business and your business alone.

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Marketing Social Media SEM Audience 127

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

Startup

Version One Ventures

MAY 23, 2019

Over the past few months, we have been running a series of posts where we profile one of the many incredible operators in our network. These operators are generous enough to share their expertise and wisdom, and we are lucky to do deep dives into unique topics. We’ve already learned about marketplaces from Bala Subramaniam , Head of Fulfillment at Instacart.

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Part-Time VPE Software Review Salary Non-Compete 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2019

Change is hard. But these days it’s required and inevitable. Yet, in my daily role as an advisor to entrepreneurs and small business owners, struggling to boost revenues, profits, and earnings, I still see too many managers falling back on command-and-control, a focus on weaknesses, and not enough time for people. The result is lost productivity and a poorly engaged work force.

Management 239

Management Technical Review .Net Employee 239

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2019

When you’re engaged in business, it’s important to be prepared for worst-case scenarios, like accidents due to incorrect machine operation, chemical spills, or slip and falls in the workplace. It’s crucial to know the legal consequences of your actions and seek legal advice as necessary, most especially when making business decisions, to avoid major problems.

Colorado 113

Colorado Software Review Technical Review Security 113

The Startup Magazine

MAY 23, 2019

Online jobs are starting to become obvious options for people who need to stay at home. One of the best choices out there is being a virtual assistant (VA). When you do it right, being a virtual assistant can be an excellent career move. Virtual assistant businesses offer an array of side hustle benefits. Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay. Personal assistants are the people you should hire first.

Social Media 99

Social Media Limited Liability Company Offshore LLC 99

Board Effect

MAY 24, 2019

In the construction world, there’s a standard saying: “Measure twice, cut once.” That’s because once something has been cut, if it’s too short, there’s no way to fix it. In the office world, the standard for emails should be: “Read it twice; send it once.”. Once you’ve hit that send button, you’ve released complete control over what was sent, even if it was sent to the wrong person.

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Retention Email Technical Review Technology 61

Up and Running

MAY 22, 2019

Congratulations! Now that you officially have a website , what started as a seed of an idea has grown into a full-fledged business—and the possibilities are endless. Creating your business’ website is an important step whether you plan to sell online or simply point prospective customers toward your brick and mortar location. It’s a platform—one that’s entirely under your own control—for helping customers to discover both your brand promise and what you offer.

Open Source 116

Open Source Security United States Reputation 116

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Bruce Cleveland, Founding Partner at Wildcat Venture Partners and author of “ Traversing the Traction Gap “ As we continue our exploration of the Traction Gap Framework® – a step-by-step approach that startup teams can use to go from ideation to preparing to scale – I will walk you through the principles. The first post drilled down into the often-overlooked notion of “market-engineering” and why it’s so critical.

Framework 113

Framework Architecture Cleveland Early Stage 113

Mike Michalowicz

MAY 22, 2019

The location of your restaurant will impact its success nearly as much as the menu – or anything else. If your restaurant is in the wrong place, you won’t attract the amount or type of customers you will need to stay in business. The same is true if your location is inundated with competitors, or has poor visibility, or is hard to find. There are many things that must be considered as you look for a location in which to open your business.

Software Review 68

Software Review Boston Due Diligence Dividend 68

Board Effect

MAY 20, 2019

The duties and responsibilities of board directors are more complex and difficult than ever before. Serving on a board of directors requires complex oversight, transparency and accountability. Technology has become a friend to boards of directors because it solves many of their problems. At the same time, technology has opened up the door to more complex and interconnected risks.

Architecture 49

Architecture Technical Review Software Review Government 49

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 21, 2019

The Secrets to Impactful Speaking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Marketing Podcast with Allison Shapira. Podcast Transcript. On today’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I speak with founder and CEO of Global Public Speaking, Allison Shapira. As a former opera singer, Shapira brings a unique perspective to public speaking.

Software Review 69

Software Review Global Naming Government 69

YoungUpstarts

MAY 20, 2019

by Prasanna Krishnamoorthy , partner at Upekkha. Just as Information Technology (IT) services transformed India in the 1990s, Software as a Service (SaaS) will dramatically shift the nation in the 2020s. All the ingredients for Indian SaaS dominance are here: From producing some of the world’s best developers to competing on cost and producing quality products of global standard.

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India Silicon Valley Global Software 113

Austin Startup

MAY 23, 2019

Thank you to the Austin Technology Incubator at UT Austin for creating the Austin startup scene as we know it! This is no exaggeration: Austin’s startup community would not have taken off without the solid foundation laid by the Austin Technology Incubator , the longest running active tech incubator in the United States. When I came to Austin in 1999, ATI was one of the only organizations supporting entrepreneurs in Texas.

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Incubator Austin Technical Review Technology 58

Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

MAY 22, 2019

The Benefits of Innovation Training for Operational Employees. 85% of CEOs put Innovation as a Top Three priority. Consider a Brown Bag Innovation Training or Immersion in Innovation Concepts. Why is it that organizations don’t invest in training operational employees? It’s an opportunity to improve innovation culture that few are taking up.

Operations 54

Operations Employee Technical Review Agile 54

Board Effect

MAY 22, 2019

Governance has struggled to keep pace with today’s business landscape. The world we live in is switched on, digital and decentralized. Cyberattacks can originate from anywhere in the world. Social media amplifies the voice of every stakeholder and employee. In a world where nanoseconds count, old governance practices aren’t just out of date; they’re exposing today’s organizations to the kinds of risks that can lead to crises.

Government 40

Government Technical Review Framework Security 40

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

by Manish Dudharejia, President and Founder of E2M Solutions Inc. Hardworking, talented interns are a rare breed. Hiring a young worker to help out at your company can be a great decision, but only if you take the time to find someone who can add value to the team. Because almost every college student in America is looking for an internship at some point, you’ll need to sift through the applicant pool to find the best ones for your small business.

Small Business 113

Small Business San Diego Hiring eCommerce 113

Austin Startup

MAY 19, 2019

And why are you being photographed at airports all of a sudden? Some Background: What is a Visa? Generally, any foreign national wanting to visit the United States must obtain a visa. A travel visa is “conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter, remain within, or to leave that country.” There are many different kinds of visas.

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United States Los Angeles Technical Review Programming 48

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2019

My Commencement Speech?—?Life at Your Crossroads Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash Crossroads Cal Poly Pomona! What’s up!?! I’m so grateful to be up here addressing you today. Today you’re either here to graduate or support somebody graduating. A graduate is at his or her first major crossroad in life. You are faced with decisions about which road to take.

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Japan Chicago Europe South America 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2019

Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. But the entrepreneurs that have it, including Elon Musk and Richard Branson, seem to be able to effortlessly get team members, investors, and customers to follow them anywhere.

Entrepreneur 257

Entrepreneur Advisory Board Bandwidth .Net 257

YoungUpstarts

MAY 24, 2019

Frontier markets are developing countries that are still too small to be considered as emerging markets. This means that these are countries with a lot of potentials but are also too risky for investors to give attention to. The frontier market is a term coined by the International Finance Corporation’s Frida Khambata in 1992. Such countries are sometimes labeled as emerging markets, but they are still less advanced capital markets in the developing world.

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Bahrain Oman Lebanon Bangladesh 113

thebarefootvc

MAY 20, 2019

Unlike last year’s NYC Blockchain Week, which was more form over substance (anyone recall Lambos parked in front of the Hilton?), this year’s conferences focused on the progress that had been made over the past year and the future promise of the sector as institutions prepare their entries. While bitcoin’s price experienced a significant price hike from May 8 through the end of the week (albeit at one point retreating back to $7K before reaching $8K again), there was other note

Architecture 40

Architecture Software Engineering Security Portfolio 40

Seeing Both Sides

MAY 19, 2019

New graduates should jump on board one of these high flying companies and go along for the ride. Graduating students hungry to dive into the startup community around the world (aka StartUpLand ) often struggle to select the right, specific opportunity where they can productively start their career. Each spring, I provide a comprehensive list of exciting, growing, hiring startups that are worthy of consideration as places to start or continue a career in StartUpLand.

Startup 24

Startup DC India Software Review 24

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2019

Image via Flickr by jardenberg Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Yet it is the one element that too many entrepreneurs focus on only as an afterthought. Everyone assumes their product or service is so great that “word-of-mouth” will carry the day for them.

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Customer Marketing Viral Conversion 233

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2019

by Jonathan Musgrave, owner and chief digital marketer of Steep Digital Marketing. Forget those jokes about Baby Boomers and their supposed struggles grasping today’s technology. They may have grown up in a black-and-white TV, rotary-phone era, but most Baby Boomers long ago adapted to the 21st-century digital world. And that includes social media, which they took to with almost as much delight as their children and grandchildren if recent studies on the subject are any indication.

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Social Media Media Colorado Audience 187

The Startup Magazine

MAY 18, 2019

Have you always thought about being your own boss? Being in business for yourself is your chance to do what you love for a living, make higher wages, and then enjoy retirement. Image by Igor Link from Pixabay. But being your own boss isn’t easy. It requires a number of skills that not everyone possesses. You have to be ambitious, organized, and self-motivated.

Entrepreneur 141

Entrepreneur Business Plan Lean Leadership 141

Feld Thoughts

MAY 23, 2019

Michael Natkin at Glowforge recently wrote a great post titled Strong Opinions Loosely Held Might be the Worst Idea in Tech. I have never liked this entrepreneurial cliche. While I have a large personality, I don’t have a temper and I’m not argumentative. I try hard to listen (although I’m not always great at it), try to express my thoughts as “data” rather than “opinions”, and try to evolve my thinking based on the inputs that I get.

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Differentiation Engineer 132

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2019

Image via Good Free Photos It’s time for more entrepreneurs to reset their focus, and shift their thinking to completely different ways of doing things. Everyone talks about innovation, but the majority of business plans I see still reflect linear thinking – one more social network with improved usability, one more wind-farm energy generator with a few more blades, or one more dating site with a new dimension of compatibility.

Social Network 214

Social Network Social Media Demand Internet 214

YoungUpstarts

MAY 19, 2019

Today, we are living in the Information Age. It is symbolized by a digital transformation of universal scale. In this activity, modern technologies are utilized to turn traditional, analog content into digital format. This increases the quality of the content and makes it available for today’s audiences. The process of turning analog film into digital format needs special skills and equipment.

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Los Angeles Texas New York Distribution 164

ReadWriteStart

MAY 22, 2019

Data breaches make the news all the time, but only when they affect major companies like Equifax or Marriott. Focusing on the highest-profile attacks makes sense because they also have the most victims. However, this selective coverage paints a distorted portrait of our current cybersecurity landscape. You will want to know how to upgrade your cyber […].

Small Business 126

Small Business Security Startup 126

Feld Thoughts

MAY 22, 2019

If the majority of your understanding of how tariffs work is from Twitter, CNN, or Fox News, I encourage you to go read Trump’s China Tariffs Hit America’s Poor and Working Class the Hardest. And, if you think China is paying the U.S. directly for the tariffs, well, no … We have a lot of hardware companies in our portfolio so I’ve been living in the world of “what to do about tariffs” for several quarters.

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Startup China B2B Government 126

SiliconHills

MAY 21, 2019

By LAURA LOREK, publisher of Silicon Hills News At Hypergiant’s Austin headquarters, Ben Lamm, CEO, and Co-founder takes to the conference room’s whiteboard to explain its structure and expansion plans. Hypergiant launched out of stealth mode in February of 2018 and has been growing steadily with 140 employees in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Seattle.

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Stealth Houston Dallas Seattle 122

YoungUpstarts

MAY 21, 2019

Reduced productivity can have a significant negative impact on your business. However, thankfully there are ways to give it a boost. You’ll find lots of tools and gadgets out there designed to maximise productivity. However, with so much choice available it can be difficult to know which ones are worth investing in. To help, below you’ll discover 3 of the best workplace gadgets which can increase your productivity. 1.

Product 157

Product Design Marketing 157

ReadWriteStart

MAY 23, 2019

Technology for financial services came about as a response to the challenge of making finance more straightforward and more accessible. Now, people are demanding that their transactions be fast, easy and secure — globalization has required to work at a broader, more rapid speed. Multi-currency digital payments are a norm, peer-to-peer lending is now more […].

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Global Demand Finance Security 119