Startups

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    Fast Company

  • Google Unveils Buzz, a Social Media App for Gmail (Facebook Status: Concerned)

    Kit Eaton
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am
    Google, like someone arriving late to a party already drunk and boisterous but with a lot of party favors, is trying to grab some of that Web2.0 social glimmer by polishing up Gmail with Google Buzz. The app, which is integrated into Gmail, includes the best features of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other well-known social media offerings in a way that only Google could pull off. Buzz began rolling out to Gmail inboxes just minutes after a presentation at Google's headquarters today.Buzz has its own user interface, and leverages the data about you that's already inside Gmail--for example,…

  • Foursquare Steps Up its Location-Based Content With Zagat, HBO Deals

    Kit Eaton
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:22 am
    Conscious of the advancing, diversifying competition to its location-based gaming/info services, Foursquare is not sitting on its laurels: It's announcing new partnerships with some big-name media companies to add content to its system. First up is a deal with Zagat, which will add some named-quality reviews to Foursquare and act as a promotional vehicle: Foursquare players will be able to earn a special "Foodie" badge if they check into the right eateries--a lot like the special reward badges that the deal with Bravo kicked off in January. Zagat itself will get a boost, as its traditional…

  • Kiribati - A Climate Change Reality

    Craig Zamary
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:35 am
    In preparation to the Copenhagen climate change conference, UNDP produced a film about the reality of climate change in the Pacific island of Kiribati. The film clearly shows how people's lives are being affected right now by rising sea waters. GreenEnergyTV.com is an Online Television Channel that is dedicated to airing "Green" video content for millions of viewers around the world. We welcome companies, individuals, families, inventors, schools, kids, teachers and organizations to Upload videos showing what they are doing to be Green & Watch videos on the site. We are a community and a…

  • The New New Orleans: Best of Times for the Big Easy

    Maccabee Montandon
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:36 am
    What a difference five years makes. Hard to believe but it was that long ago that Katrina devastated New Orleans and made a comeback seem impossibly difficult and daunting. But now the Big Easy is not only home to the Super Bowl champions, but it also just elected as mayor in a landslide Mitch Landrieu, son of former New Orleans mayor, Moon Landrieu. While in most cities the election of a new mayor would not be cause for prolonged celebration, New Orleans of course is not most cities. It has a top-shelf reputation for political scandal and corruption, so these results--Landrieu secured 66% of…

  • Green Music Group Brings the Music Industry Together for the Environment

    Ariel Schwartz
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:04 am
    As a whole, the music industry can be pretty hard on the climate. Live shows spew emissions from special effects, fans travel in their cars and even on planes to get to events, CDs get shipped all over the world--you get the idea. And while climate change-battling concerts like Live Earth do plenty of good, they don't do much to change the music industry itself. Enter the Green Music Group, a coalition of musicians, so-called "industry leaders" and fans that aims to make the music industry green from the inside out. The group, founded by environmental nonprofit Reverb, has some ambitious…
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    VentureBeat

  • How Sergey Brin uses Google Buzz as a business product

    Anthony Ha
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:29 am
    Google Buzz, the social sharing tool that Google just announced at a press event in Mountain View, isn’t just for the fun. The company said it’s going to be launching a version of Buzz as an enterprise product, as a part of its Google Apps bundle of business applications. During the presentation, Google was pretty vague about Buzz in a business context, both in terms of how it might be used and when it will launch (“soon” is all the company would say). During the question-and-answer session, Google co-founder Sergey Brin offered one example: When he was writing his New…

  • Google socializes Gmail with Google Buzz

    Anthony Ha
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am
    Google announced the previously rumored social networking features in Gmail today with a new product called Google Buzz. Buzz is a service for sharing and talking about content. In the same way that the company calls Gmail “a Google approach to email,” it’s calling Buzz “a Google approach to sharing.” Todd Jackson, a product manager for Gmail and Google Buzz, demonstrated the product on-stage at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. He highlighted five key features: Auto-following — Buzz is built into Gmail, so instead of forcing you to…

  • Ubisoft hits reduced expectations, announces new Tom Clancy game

    Dean Takahashi
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:48 am
    Ubisoft, the big French game company, reported third fiscal quarter results that met reduced expectations for its sales of video games in the busy holiday quarter. Sales for the quarter were 495 million euros, down 2.7 percent from 508 million euros a year earlier. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, sales were down 22.5 percent. Ubisoft said it is refocusing its high-end game strategy by concentrating on more regular releases for its major franchises. Ubisoft is also cutting back on new investments in games, allowing the company to rebalance its workforce among existing titles.

  • EduRG Scores with the top technology and education conference in the country!

    Sponsored Post
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:41 am
    Special Offer for VentureBeat Readers: The Education Research Group is hosting the Education and Technology Conference in warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona, on February 27th and 28th. Showcase your technology and services to decision-makers in the explosive Education industry with a special reduced rate for all VentureBeat readers. Education administrators, directors, and media and advertising executives will all be on hand for the EduRG Conference, you won’t want to miss this! In addition to the excellent showcase and networking opportunities in the Exhibit Hall, the expo will also feature…

  • Twilio adds SMS text support to its phone-to-Web API

    Paul Boutin
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:40 am
    For website application developers, getting any sort of connection to telephones can be a show-stopper. Wireless carriers, which are enormous bureaucracies, can take forever to approve and support the connection. Twilio was founded in 2007 to solve that problem at an affordable price. Twilio offers Web app makers an API connection to phone service, for which Twilio already has the hookup to phone service. Twilio will sell your company one or more phone numbers that are already live and ready to take or make calls. High-profile customers include the Democratic National Committee, which hands…
 
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    Inc.com

  • Coupon Use Hits Record Highs

    Courtney Rubin
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:36 am
    After nearly two decades in decline, the coupon is back. Thanks to the recession, in 2009 consumers used coupons at a faster clip than they did the year before – the first increase in coupon redemption in 17 years, says a new study by Inmar Inc., a company that processes coupon transactions. Businesses issued 367 billion coupons last year and buyers redeemed 3.3 billion, a 27 percent increase from 2008's 2.6 billion – and the highest usage since Inmar began tracking trends in 1988. Online coupon access increased 92 percent (Google searches for "printable coupons" and…

  • Inc. 5000 Applicant of the Week: GreenLogic Energy

    Lauren Folino
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am
    As applications for the 2010 Inc. 500 | 5000 arrive, we thought it would be worthwhile to shine a spotlight on some of the companies that are vying to appear on our ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. (For more information and to apply, go to http://www.inc.com/inc5000apply/2010/.) One that caught our eye was Southampton, New York-based GreenLogic Energy.Founded in 2005, GreenLogic works with homes, businesses and municipalities from New York City to the tip of Long Island to install and maintain the best alternative energy solutions. According to GreenLogic…

  • Will Your Texting Policy Stand Up in Court?

    Minda Zetlin
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:39 am
    You have a mobile workforce, so you issue mobile devices to your employees. You pay for their mobile service and make sure their equipment is working. Since it's intended for business, you have the right to read employees' text messages. What's more, you have a policy that says so, in so many words. All employees must acknowledge this policy when receiving their Blackberry devices or other smartphones. Legally, you might think you're well covered -- and you might be wrong. In Ontario, Calif., police officials reviewed an unusually large number of texts sent by a police sergeant named Jeff…

  • Making Cents of Social Media Tools

    Saumil Mehta
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:36 am
    Let's get this out of the way: much like you, I too am sick of every single "social media" service that's going to magically bring customers in the door and turn them into lifetime fans of your business. Ever since Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn became mainstream applications, we've seen a torrent of entrants into the social space that's matched in number only by the sheer volume of vapid celebrity tweets on Twitter.But look underneath the surface and something interesting is truly afoot. Consumers across the globe are sharing media on Twitter and Facebook, friending relative strangers,…

  • How to Write an Offer Letter

    Sarah Kessler
    7 Feb 2010 | 10:33 pm
    You’ve combed through a barrage of resumes with a critical eye, conducted several rounds of interviews, and finally selected the perfect candidate. The verbal offer has been made and the salary negotiation has ended. After all of this time, energy, and discussion, you ask yourself, “Is an offer letter really necessary?”  Although we hate to be bearers of more paperwork, the short answer is yes. Skipping the written offer can lead to confusion later on. Interviews are stressful and emotionally charged occasions, and, even if you’ve mentioned job details throughout…
 
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    TechCrunch

  • Screenshots: Google Buzz In Action

    MG Siegler
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:17 am
    Now that the Google event is over, the company has started turning on Buzz for Gmail users. Here are some quick screenshots of it in action. CrunchBase Information Google Buzz Information provided by CrunchBase

  • If Google Wave Is The Future, Google Buzz Is The Present

    MG Siegler
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:40 am
    See our live notes from today’s Google Buzz event here. Google has a problem. Despite having their hands in just about everything online, they’ve never been able to tackle what is a key part of the fabric of the web: social. Yes, they have Orkut and OpenSocial, but no one actually uses them. Okay, some people use them, but not in the meaningful social ways that people use Facebook or even Twitter. Today, Google may have just solved their social problem. Google Buzz is easily the company’s boldest attempt yet to build a social network. Imagine taking elements of Twitter,…

  • Gowalla Rolls Out API

    Leena Rao
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:35 am
    As location-based social networks gain serious traction, its inevitable that that these applications will become full-fledged platforms. Like Twitter, these networks can become ecosystems. Plus, they have a better chance of continuing to survive when Facebook enters the location ring. Foursquare released its API in November. And now Gowalla will has released its API today. In a blog post announcing the API, Gowalla encourages developers to build out features that incolve location and the community, highlighting the recent addition of user-curated trips. Gowalla also suggested several uses of…

  • Google Street View Goes To The Top Of The Mountain

    Erick Schonfeld
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:31 am
    Google’s Street View has gone to many strange places, even off-road. But in preparation for the Winter Olympics it equipped a snowmobile with 360-degree cameras and took it to the top of Whistler, the Canadian ski resort where the Games will take place. The slope-side views can be seen in the map on Google’s new Winter Olympics information page. Google should do this for all major ski mountains. It’s a great way to see if you really want to go up to the top of that double black diamond chair lift. Here is a video showing how they got the images:

  • Morning Buzz: Live From Google’s Major Step Into The Social Spotlight

    MG Siegler
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:57 am
    This morning, Google is hosting an event at its Mountain View, CA headquarters to show off a new social product it has been working on. Google VP of Product Management Bradley Horowitz, VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra, and product manager Todd Jackson are on hand to show it off. Below, follow our live notes (paraphrased): They’ve announced it will start in a few minutes, waiting for people in traffic, etc… Horowitz: Exciting news to share this morning. This is exactly the right audience. Next 45 minutes to hour we’re going to be showing off something. I bet many of you are…
 
 
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    How to Change the World

  • How to Avoid Gullibility

    GuyKawasaki
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm
    We’ve all been sucked into doing something stupid, right? Fortunately, Steven Greenspan has written a book called Annals of Gullibility. In its conclusion he explains how to avoid gullibility, and I’ve provided a synopsis for you. Read the full story at the American Express Open Forum. More on psychology if you need the advice.

  • How to Be Empathetic

    GuyKawasaki
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:24 pm
    By definition, good marketers are empathetic. That is, they have a capacity to understand and care for the needs of others. Bruna Martinuzzi explains how to be empathetic over at the American Express Open Forum.

  • How to Not Be Annoying on Twitter

    GuyKawasaki
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:19 pm
    Amber MacArthur explains how to not be annoying on Twitter over at the American Express Open Forum. Sage advice for you to develop a great reputation and following on Twitter. More Twitter tips.

  • The Elements of Guyle: British Blogging

    GuyKawasaki
    27 Jan 2010 | 10:06 pm
    Want to make your blog classier? You should blog like a Brit. I explain how to do this in ten easy steps.

  • How to follow the Apple announcement

    GuyKawasaki
    27 Jan 2010 | 7:56 am
    Follow the Apple announcement at Apple.alltop. We aggregate over 200 sources there.
 
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    VatorNews.tv

  • Vator Box - Splash culminates with Splash Box

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:18 am
    Investors from Greycroft, Venrock, NEA and Ackrell Capital analyze RentCycle - Splash overall winnerMore than 175 companies, more than 3,000 people voting, and one company left standing onstage.The Vator Splash competition culminated at the Splash event, with the final round to find the overall winner consisting of voting among the 375 attendees gathered at the Cafe du Nord in San Francisco.  The overall Vator Splash winner was Rentcycle, a startup that wants to be the OpenTable for rentals. Rentcycle beat out the other nine startups who gave three-minute pitches to the audience. These…

  • Google Buzz brings the social Web to Gmail

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:05 am
    New social product integrates content-rich feed directly into GmailGoogle, in an effort to bring the ultimate social experience to Gmail, just announced Google Buzz, a social stream directly integrated into Gmail, alongside the user's inbox.Buzz, launching today with its own tab under "Inbox" on user Gmail accounts, delivers a stream of content similar in structure to Facebook's own news feed, but it actually has much more in common with FriendFeed. If you've shared content on any social networking site before, you essentially know how Buzz works. Click in a status update box, type a message,…

  • Motorola invests in TuneWiki

    9 Feb 2010 | 9:47 am
    Social media music player looking to expand and build an upcoming gameMotorola Ventures, on Tuesday announced it's invested into digital music startup, TuneWiki.  The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but Motorola was joined by new investors Intellect Capital Ventures, TeliaSonera, HillsVen Capital, Novel TMT and previous investors Benchmark Israel.  TuneWiki offers its users a social media music player.  Beyond a simple music player, the online application displays the lyrics of the song you're listening to and watching the video of.  Originally only a Web…

  • Social media marketing, Part 3

    9 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am
    Outline a strategy and an objectiveIn our first post in this series, we discussed the underlying basics of social media marketing.  And in the second post, we covered the avenues you should use when executing a social media marketing strategy.  In this, our third and final post in this series, let’s go through a couple of examples to help spark some more ideas. What follows is a few sample business types with a list of items for them to tweet, post, blog and provide guides and tools about, while also encouraging community comments, photos and participation. As you’ll see from…

  • OpenView embracing social media companies

    9 Feb 2010 | 7:56 am
    Social analytics, social monitoring, social gaming should continue to attract capitalAt Vator.tv's first-ever Vator Splash event on Thursday, February 4 at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco, Reena Jadhav, founder and CEO of NuAlerts caught up with Kobie Fuller, a venture capitalist at OpenView Venture Partners, an expansion-stage venture firm based in Boston.OpenView invests between $5 million to $50 million in companies that typically have recurring revenue and are well-established. Despite what seems to be saturation of investments in social media companies, Kobie expects more "social…
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    Small Business Labs

  • Low Cost, Easy to Use Technologies Changing Industries

    Steve
    9 Feb 2010 | 1:01 am
    A couple of good articles over the last few days on low cost technologies impacting industries in different ways. Apple Takes On Intel, from Forbes, covers Apple's use of their own chip in their new iPad tablet computer.  The article describes the trend towards cheaper and easier to use technology: "One of the fundamental rules of technology is that things that start out hard and complicated, able to be tackled by only a few people, eventually get easier to do, allowing more people to handle them." It then describes chip design as an example.  Instead of buying chips…

  • Siri: A Cloud Based Digital Assistant for the iPhone

    Steve
    8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am
    Siri is a new generation virtual, digital assistant that is meant to act just like a human assistant.  It understands what you say, accomplishes tasks for you and gets better at understanding what you want as you spend more time with it.    Initially available as an iPhone application, Siri can make reservations at restaurants, find movie times, provide weather forecasts and accomplish other relatively simple tasks.  Siri uses speech recognition software, so you have the option to speak or type commands. Siri is a new product with limited capabilities.  The…

  • Good Summary of Small Business Hiring Sentiment

    Steve
    6 Feb 2010 | 10:25 am
    Jan Norman's On Small Business column in the Orange County Register has an excellent summary of various surveys on small business hiring plans.  It's no surprise that small businesses continue to be hesitant to hire. 

  • Steve Rubel on Facebook Eating the Web

    Steve
    5 Feb 2010 | 9:49 am
    Steve Rubel's Facebook Could Eat the Web expands on a theme we've been examining over the last 6 months or so, which we call Is Facebook Taking Over the Web?   Since Steve is a communications professional, it's not surprising his title is better.  For those not familiar with Steve, he is an SVP at the giant PR firm Edelman and one of the most influential and thoughtful thinkers on the impact of social media and connective technologies on communications, media and marketing.  Key quote from his post: "In short, I believe Facebook…

  • Baby Boomers Flocking to Facebook, Twitter

    Steve
    4 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am
    eMarketer is reporting that the number of baby boomers using Facebook increased 107% from 2008 to 2009 and Twitter usage jumped 714%.  The chart below, from an eMarketer email, shows the growth for a number of social networking sites.    Other interesting observations about this data include:  - There are about 78 million baby boomers, so almost 30% of all baby boomers are on Facebook.  This is an impressive number and reinforces our view that Facebook may be taking over the Web.  - I'm not surprised to see Myspace losing visitors, but I am a bit…
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    Ben Parr

  • Don’t Rely on Anecdotal Evidence to Prove Your Point

    Ben Parr
    1 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am
    The definition of Anecdotal Evidence, via Wikipedia: (2) Evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence. For example “my grandfather smoked like a chimney and died healthy in a car crash at the age of 99″ does not disprove the proposition that “smoking markedly increases the probability of cancer and heart disease at a relatively early age”. In this case, the evidence may itself be true, but does not warrant the conclusion. Contrast that with…

  • Introducing: The BenParr.com iPhone App!

    Ben Parr
    21 Jan 2010 | 6:12 pm
    A few days ago, I wrote on Mashable about a new service called iSites, which lets you create your own, self-branded iPhone and Android app. For $25, you can have your blog, Twitter, and social feeds wrapped up into mobile form. As part of the write-up, iSites was kind enough to help me build my very own iPhone app I am excited and proud to announce the release of the Ben Parr iPhone App [iTunes], now available in the iTunes store! The app, which you can see below, provides a direct link to my BenParr.com articles, my Twitter feed, and the ability to share my thoughts with everyone else. In…

  • Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions

    Ben Parr
    27 Dec 2009 | 11:48 am
    Making a New Year’s Resolution is admirable: it’s an indication that you strive for self-improvement. It’s noble to want to be more charitable, to become physically fit, to quit smoking, or to make one of thousands of different changes that can make you happier and stronger. Yet while a majority of people make these resolutions, only about 14% of women and 22% of men keep their resolutions. Another study says that number is even lower. Why do so many people fail? Yes, part of it is the simple fact that many of these goals (especially losing weight) are very difficult to…

  • Thanksgiving Appearance on CNN

    Ben Parr
    8 Dec 2009 | 10:01 am
    I appeared on CNN Thanksgiving morning with CNN’s Josh Levs to give some quick pointers on how to manage your Facebook privacy settings. Facebook privacy made headlines again when a woman lost her health benefits due to Facebook. For details about my appearance on CNN, you can check out our Mashable article about it.

  • Mentorship and Your Startup

    Ben Parr
    22 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pm
    It shouldn’t surprise you that the vast majority of the world’s most successful businesses and entrepreneurs didn’t do it alone. Apple’s Steve Jobs had co-founder Steve Wozniak, Microsoft’s Bill Gates had co-founder Paul Allen, and Google was built by two men, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And any successful startup needs a driven, flexible, intelligent, and passionate team. What some entrepreneurs overlook though is the importance of mentorship. It’s not just about having a board of advisers, but building honest and long-lasting relationships, long before…
 
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    DEMO Conference Blog

  • DEMO Spring Preferred Registration deadline extended to 2/12

    DEMO Staff
    2 Feb 2010 | 2:27 pm
    Attend DEMO in 2010 and get involved early with the next round of companies shaping the industry. DEMO's focus on seven sectors: Social and Media, Health and Life Science, Clean and Sustaining Tech, Cloud, Enterprise, Mobile and Consumer has generated interest from hundreds of companies around the world looking to launch at DEMO this spring.  Read more

  • DEMO Spring 2010.. 7 key tech verticals to take center stage

    DEMO Staff
    25 Jan 2010 | 1:44 pm
    The DEMO Spring 2010 class of demonstrators and alphapitch companies is quickly coming together.  Attend DEMO and be there to see the latest innovation across seven different categories, both B2B and B2C, including: Read more

  • DEMOfall 09 demonstrator Micello's products now available

    DEMO Staff
    25 Jan 2010 | 1:38 pm
    The Micello Indoor Maps application is now available for download on the Apple iTunes store! www.micello.com.  Watch more on how Micello extends Google's navigation to indoor spaces  http://bit.ly/4Sa2A4  Read more

  • DEMO Conference, in 20th year, Gets Straight A’s from Participating Technology Start-Ups

    DEMO Staff
    13 Jan 2010 | 7:13 pm
    In observance of its 20th year as the industry’s premier forum for launching IT-enabled products, DEMO Conference organizers commissioned a survey by BluePoint Venture Marketing of all previous demonstrators to determine the conference’s impact on early-stage companies and gauge company success rates. Over 100 senior executives participated in the survey, and the results revealed that DEMO presenters achieved above-average success rates overall and nearly a quarter were able to obtain funding within one year of presenting. Read more

  • Want to launch at DEMO? Join us at an open house at Kleiner Perkins

    Matt Marshall
    11 Jan 2010 | 10:27 am
    If you’re considering launching your company’s product at DEMO conference this year, you’re welcome to join us at an open house at one of Silicon Valley’s most respected venture capital firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. On Feb. Read more
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    Bootstrapping a Startup - Business Exchange

  • Bootstrap or Die - Lessons Learned From a Web Startup's Murder/Suicide

    Business Exchange
    The following post is @chrisco's response to this TechCrunch article: EventVue’s Next Event: Deadpool. Co-Founder Shares Mistakes, which, along with EventVue's own post-mortem, is recommended reading for startup founders and prospective founders,...

  • 20 of the Best Resources to Get Your Startup Off the Ground

    Business Exchange
    et’s face it: as an entrepreneur, the odds are stacked against you. Most businesses fail after the first few years, and even if you do manage to survive, that doesn’t mean your business will redefine an industry, become profitable, or change the world. Getting off on the right foot is essential to navigating a startup from its infancy to profitability.

  • 12 tips for business success

    Business Exchange
    to periodically reflect on these attributes. You may be inspired to act. Bob Reiss is the author of 'Bootstrapping 101

  • Business Bootstrapping Advantage Number 6

    Business Exchange
    Funded business tends to be lax in terms of decision making. There is no much pressure when it comes to decision making, and this results to a lousy and risky decisions. One of the most obvious reasons why funded business failed is because they are...

  • How to have a Profitable Internet Business?

    Business Exchange
    If you are into internet business, you might be looking for an answer to this question.
 
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    Sophia Perl of Wisdom

  • Why I love living in the Silicon Valley area

    Sophia
    15 Jan 2010 | 8:57 am
    I want to say first that I went to school down in southern California and I still love it down there however for my industry, technology, I love it up here. Let’s talk about the cons of San Francisco Bay area: Expensive housing Besides San Francisco, very spread out, made up of many cities like Mountain View, San Jose, Palo Alto, etc For you single men, there are not a lot of women No good public transportation for the whole area Sometimes it’s really cold and windy in SF city Now the pros: There are a ton of technology companies in the area If you love outdoors, this is the place…

  • Did you do DECA in high school?

    Sophia
    13 Jan 2010 | 8:52 pm
    Back in the days of high school, I joined a marketing club called DECA.  I credit the club in shaping my passion for business.  For DECA, I managed the operations of my high school’s espresso coffee cart covering sales and purchasing of coffee and snack products.  For DECA competition in a written business plan category, I placed first in the state competition and top eight in the national competition. You are probably thinking what exactly do you compete in because this is a marketing club.  I’m glad that you asked.  For majority of the categories, students do a role play…

  • Datecheck app is a good spin on an existing business

    Sophia
    12 Jan 2010 | 7:59 pm
    I was browsing through the web reading things here and there and ran into an article about a Datecheck iPhone app.  For some reason, I really like dating business ideas.  I think that one day I’ll start a dating business myself, but that will be a different blog entry.  Imagine this, you’re on a date with someone or perhaps you are about talking to some random guy and you decide on your way to the bathroom to do a background check using your iPhone.  Well Datecheck can make it happen.  Find out if this guy is in debt, where he lives, if he has any criminal charges, etc. …

  • Mommies influence consumer tech purchases

    Sophia
    11 Jan 2010 | 7:59 pm
    There was an article on msnbc.com talking about tech firms targeting Moms.  Based on a survey by Babycenter.com (a good website for everything about babies / pregnancy), about 1,000 Mommies divulged their tech buying / use behavior.  The article talks about how Mommies are the “Chief Memory Officer” of the home, they use technology to capture the memories of their kids / life.  Mommies also use technology for its function rather than for fun.  When the kiddies need something techie, it’s Mommy that goes first and then maybe the Daddy. Basically if it makes sense, market…

  • Quick way to know whether you are a good leader

    Sophia
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:53 pm
    Scarce resources means that you have to be creative in getting people motivated to work for you.  Leadership is a big word.   So how can you gauge how effective you are as a leader.  Here are some quick ways. It’s good to do a self assessment periodically so that you can stay on your A game.  Most people are better at it than others.  Me, I tend to pick up the clues that people give whether it be a joke or a feedback sit down session.  The feedback can be good or bad, it doesn’t really matter which because both are good to hear.  Just be prepared to listen for them in…
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    Venture Hacks

  • In a board room, somewhere in Silicon Valley…

    Nivi
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm
    … a founder, a VC, and his Associate negotiate a down round. Very NSFW. Video: Old Face Andre talks economics with Omar Another business lesson from The Wire — about intellectual property: “It ain’t about right, it’s about money.”

  • StartupList: Day 1 — Thank You

    Nivi
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am
    We’re blown away by the support for StartupList and AngelList. Thank you to TechCrunch, Business Insider, and ReadWriteWeb for describing these lists better than we could. Thank you to the well-known investors, successful entrepreneurs, and up-and-coming entrepreneurs discussing these lists on Twitter. Widget: Twitter discussion about AngelList and StartupList New angels on AngelList 75 new angels have applied to AngelList. We’re going through the applications one-by-one. I added some great investors today: Chris DeVore from Founders Co-op Robin Klein in London Thomas Korte, an…

  • Launch: StartupList — a new way to reach angels

    Nivi
    3 Feb 2010 | 10:27 am
    Yesterday, we launched AngelList, a curated list of angel investors, representing $80M going into early-stage startups this year. Today, we’re launching a cool new way to get intros to these angels: StartupList. It’s a weekly email we send to AngelList, with 3 high-quality startups who want intros. Here’s how it works: you send us your pitch, we review it and, every Monday, we email the best 3 startups of the week to AngelList. StartupList is already getting meetings for startups I’m psyched because StartupList is already working. We released it on Twitter a few weeks…

  • Launch: AngelList, a curated list of angel investors

    Nivi
    2 Feb 2010 | 8:05 am
    I’m psyched to announce AngelList, a curated list of super high-quality angel investors. And how to reach them. Investors like Jeff Clavier, Dave McClure, Rob Hayes, Aaron Patzer, Brad Feld, and 50 other investors have already joined. I want to thank all of the angels for taking the time to fill out these extensive profiles. And it’s not fair for me to list just a few of the investors here — they’re all awesome. You should click and browse the entire AngelList. Together, they represent $80M that will be invested in early-stage startups this year. Angels: How to join…

  • When you’re raising money, the competition isn’t the competition

    Nivi
    2 Feb 2010 | 1:23 am
    Simeon Simeonov: “You have to understand that you are not competing with an abstract notion of what a good investment is. You are competing with the other teams that saw the investor that week.” This is why investors often don’t have good reasons why they’re passing. Maybe your company is good, but the competition is simply better. It’s really hard to understand this until 20 companies pitch you in one week. Simeon continues, “To an investor, it costs about the same in terms of time to make a big or a small investment. Given the same risk/return…
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    Tony Wright dot com» Tony Wright’s Startup Front-End

  • Design your Blog like You’d Design a Product

    Tony Wright
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:28 am
    When I decided to take a weekend and focus on my blog I realized one big thing: Most blogs are crappy products. And most of my favorite bloggers (the ones that espouse taking design, marketing, testing, and iteration have largely blown off the designs of their blogs To be clear, I think the quality of the blog is almost entirely measured by the quality of the content and not the theme. But blog success is a function of content quality and the ability to turn readers into people who retweet, comment, subscribe, or follow. Success (whether it’s a blog or a product) is looks a lot like…

  • Startups with Something to Believe In

    Tony Wright
    7 Jan 2010 | 1:56 pm
    I went to an informal Seattle startup CEO dinner a while back and it was an awesome opportunity to talk candidly about the problems that early stage products face. Someone remarked to me afterwards that a lot of people in that room had already “made it” (financially speaking). That’s one of the cool things about being a startup founder. There were plenty of folks in the room who put on their pants one leg at a time. There were some other folks who sip Pinot Noir while they have two pant-assistants dress them. But (with a few runaway exceptions) many of them were facing the…

  • Twitter isn’t a Social Network

    Tony Wright
    29 Dec 2009 | 1:55 pm
    One of my biggest frustrations with Twitter is that it’s a pretty clumsy mechanism for 2-way conversation (IM style) as well as “one and a half way” conversation (commenting on a tweet that may or may not elicit discussion). I posted a tweet the other day to see what other people think: I quickly got two responses from two people whose opinion I really respect (@sacca and @andrewchen). @Sacca’s Response: “@webwright Speaking for myself, it seems like that could induce some lame behavior in asymmetric networks.” @andrewchen’s response “@webwright…

  • The necessity of early stage valuations

    Tony Wright
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:54 pm
    A friend/contrarian Tweeted the following that I though was worth a discussion (the 140 character limit of Twitter quickly got too painful for me). “What’s wrong with this world: Twitter is making $4mil per year yet is valued at $1bil. #newmath” I think this is an important thing to talk about– it’s certainly something that would have resonated with me before I raised money from investors, but now falls pretty flat. I have two quick points to make about it, then I’ll wait for Marina to attack me in the comments. 1. Valuation does NOT equal market value for…

  • On Auto-Tweets, Facebook Games, and Other Potential Pollution

    Tony Wright
    26 Oct 2009 | 8:43 am
    I love games. While I did wear a letterman jacket through most of high school, I surreptitiously played Dungeons and Dragons every week with my brother’s gaming group. I’ve played a wide variety of games on every computer I’ve ever owned. I like board games like Settlers of Catan, and (god help me) I even futzed around with Magic: The Gathering. Like a lot of software folks, I have a secret wish to punt everything, run into the hills, and make GAMES. So it’s exciting to see this gaming renaissance. Casual games, social games– whatever you want to call them–…
 
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    The Businessmakers Radio Show

  • DealMaker Review of FUZZYLUKE

    The Businessmakers Radio Show - Blair Garrou|Russ Capper
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am
    The BusinessMakers present another real world snapshot deal review in our DealMaker Series. Blair Garrou, managing director of venture capital firm DFJ Mercury, introduces Michael Gile, founder of FUZZYLUKE, a car diagnostic app that links your iPhone to the diagnostic computer in your car. Gile talks past, present and future of his company: his early days of entrepreneurial passion and pitfalls, his present days seeking funding and future applications for his software.

  • The Business Side of the Super Bowl

    The Businessmakers Radio Show - Russ Capper|Katie Laird|Esther Steinfeld
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am
    Katie and Esther, our very own Overtime Girls, discuss The Big Game, an advertiser’s dream with an audience of nearly 100 million. Everyone makes money: the advertisers, the merchandisers, the restaurants, the host city, even Disney World. And those television ads. Remember “Nothin’ but net”?!

  • PKF Texas: The Entrepreneur’s Playbook® - Mentorship

    The Businessmakers Radio Show - Greg Price
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am
    How does your company mentor its junior team members? Greg Price offers tips for establishing an effective mentorship program.

  • School of Business 02/06/2010

    The Businessmakers Radio Show - Russ Capper|John Beddow
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am
    Russ and John present the show that features innovators from the private sector who are saving our bacon! We salute the entrepreneurs who make things happen. Includes: the BusinessMakers Quote of the Day—pithy commentary from American writer Channing Pollock; This Week in Business History includes such intriguing elements as volleyball, shoe rationing and the massive Boeing 747; Navigating Business Jargon—acronyms, technospeak and trendy new stuff; and Dumbest Moments in Business History—Hollywood pans a Civil War movie.

  • Business Survival Tip - Driving Distractions

    The Businessmakers Radio Show - Carl Kleimann
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am
    Commercial drivers are the topic of several new driving laws related to distracted driving. As an employer, you could be liable for your drivers’ mistakes. Carl Kleimann explains critical details you need to know.
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    Up and Running

  • Top Startup Mistake 6: Ideas vs. Opportunities

    Tim Berry
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:01 am
    (This is number 6 in my list of top 10 startup mistakes.) A business idea is not necessarily a real opportunity. You need to filter those business ideas, sifting through them, looking for the opportunities. What’s the difference? An idea is just that. It has no value unless you make a business out of it. An opportunity is an idea that can be implemented, for which resources are available, that will prosper. Opportunities are far rarer, and way more valuable than ideas. Business planning is a great way to filter the ideas and find the opportunities. Take the idea and lay out the basics,…

  • Top Startup Mistake 7: Investment or Bust

    Tim Berry
    8 Feb 2010 | 8:21 am
    Hooray for bootstrapping. My startup mistake number 7 is accepting the popular myth that has startups always requiring winning investment from some outsider. This idea is way too common in business schools, blogs and books. Sure, a few thousand high-profile startups get investment each year, but the vast majority of startups are bootstrapped. I saw a Wells Fargo study just a few years ago showing that the average startup cost in this country is $10,000. And that, obviously, isn’t something you get from outside investors. In addition, we gloss over the glaringly important fact that…

  • Top Startup Mistake 8: Misunderstanding Equity

    Tim Berry
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am
    There is only 100 percent ownership in a company. It’s for founders who are totally committed to it, for investors who spend money and, later, for the most important trusted key employees. It’s not for your cousins, your in-laws, the lawyer who did the initial paperwork or the vendor who did the website. It lasts forever. Ownership belongs with those who are fully dedicated to the company. I like this summary by Asheesh Avani, who’s a brilliant strategist and a true expert on the ins and outs of small business and startup financing. Asheesh founded Circle Lending, which was…

  • Top Startup Mistake No. 9: Incomplete Teams

    Tim Berry
    4 Feb 2010 | 8:29 am
    (This is number nine in my list of top 10 startup mistakes. I started yesterday with number 10, and will going from these less significant issues all the way to number 1, the most important mistakes to avoid .) So many of us do it. I certainly did, in my early startup days. We think entrepreneurship is supposed to mean that we do everything ourselves. Make the product, make the sales, do the books, and take out the garbage. Doing it all works sometimes, for some people, but it’s the exception to the rule. Most of us need to build a team to build a company. Think about likes and…

  • Top Startup Mistake No. 10: Unrealistic Forecasts

    Tim Berry
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am
    This is number 10 on my list of top 10 startup mistakes. I used the list last week at the Growth 2.0 conference in Miami, so I want to share it here. Once upon a time, I sat down for lunch with a venture capitalist friend of mine. To the standard rhetorical how are you question, he answered, “If I see another hockey stick forecast this week, I’m going to throw something at somebody.” I asked what that meant, and he answered: That means that sales are going along flat and boring, with nothing happening . . . but things are going to shoot up as soon as I get your money.
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    The Startup Lawyer

  • Ignite Dallas Coming March 3rd

    Ryan Roberts
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:42 pm
    Ignite Dallas is hosting its first event on March 3rd at the Granada Theater. What is Ignite Dallas? Five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say? At Ignite Dallas, 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities will take the stage to answer this challenge. Submissions are now open for speakers. If you want speak, fill out the form and submit your topic. Topics can be technical, geeky, funny, artistic, creative or just plain wild and crazy, but please no sale pitches. The Goal To spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines throughout the city of Dallas…

  • Never Ever Ever Ever Pay to Pitch

    Ryan Roberts
    3 Feb 2010 | 4:46 pm
    Your startup should never have to pay $$$ to pitch to potential investors. Period. Today, Alex Muse posted on his Texas Startup Blog about a recent encounter with an investor group asking $4,500 to pitch from ShopSavvy, one of my clients. Alex has written about why a startup should never have to pay to pitch time and time again. Thus, the investor group would have been wise to check out his blog before asking for the cash. Jason Calacanis authored an epic post on the topic of paying to pitch as well. It’s a great read. Just remember that no matter how hard it is to source funds, your…

  • White-Label Mobile App Users: Who Owns Them?

    Ryan Roberts
    3 Feb 2010 | 9:07 am
    As mobile applications continue to gain popularity, more white-label mobile app deals are popping up. And while both the startup and the large company will certainly contract with respect to intellectual property asset ownership, an asset that may be overlooked is the ownership of the white-label mobile app’s users. Worst-case scenario, ownership of the white-label mobile app users can be insurance against the large company bailing out of the white-label deal. Nothing New The importance and value of a mobile app’s users isn’t novel. I’m pretty sure Alamofire, maker of…

  • Austin Ventures to Invade Dallas on 2/24

    Ryan Roberts
    2 Feb 2010 | 6:12 pm
    Austin Ventures is holding their “AV Entrepreneur Hours” in Dallas on Wednesday, February 24. AV Entrepreneur Hours is a chance for early stage entrepreneurs (particularly those in the internet and software space) to dictate casual conversation with the VCs from Austin Ventures in a casual environment. AV plans to have 10-12 slots for quick 20-30 minute chats with entrepreneurs. To learn more about AVEH in Dallas and/or sign-up, check out AV’s post about it here. Thanks for coming, AV. (And thanks for the tip about the event, @mdavis)

  • The 5-Second Guide to Choosing Your Startup’s Legal Entity

    Ryan Roberts
    1 Feb 2010 | 9:40 pm
    Corporation. Because if you can log on to the Internet, you can handle the complexity of a corporation. Don’t be scurred.
 
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    Startup Professionals Musings

  • Understanding Real-Time Web Search Engines

    9 Feb 2010 | 4:08 am
    By Evan BrittonEach day, millions of internet users post updates on a variety of social networking sites. People make these updates to post what they are observing right now or give their opinion on something that is currently happening. Because of all of these updates, there is a wealth of real-time information on the web. This information is often relevant and useful for entrepreneurs and startups - so you need to understand the alternatives and implications.Perhaps the most interesting feature of real-time search engines is that the results are updated each minute. So, if you do a search…

  • How to Find the Perfect Startup CEO

    8 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am
    If you are a startup founder or small business owner, how do you find that right CEO to get you funded and kick start your company? It makes logical sense to scour the job boards, engage an executive recruiter, or scan the networking sites like LinkedIn for a good array of candidates, and then interview the ones with the best resumes.If that’s as far as you go, you are taking a big risk. In reality, none of these alternatives is as effective as face-to-face networking. As I’ve said before, there is no substitute for building your network, or using your network of trusted advisors.Everyone…

  • Entrepreneurs Dare to Stick Their Neck Out

    7 Feb 2010 | 5:58 am
    Willingness to take a risk is the hallmark of a serious entrepreneur. That’s why one of the first questions that potential investors ask is “How much of your own money, and friends and family, have you put into the new business?” If you won’t risk yours, you won’t get investors to risk theirs.Recently I read a new book called “When Turtles Fly” by Nikki Stone, an Olympic champion, which explains this well. She provides many examples of success stories from entrepreneurs to Olympians. She proclaims that if you want to be successful, you need to be soft on the inside, have a hard…

  • Bankruptcy Is Not the Easy Way Out

    6 Feb 2010 | 6:03 am
    If you are just plain tired of working so hard, or your startup is not getting the traction you expected, should you shut down cleanly, or just file for bankruptcy and walk away? For those who think that bankruptcy is the easy way out, think again. Bankruptcy should always be the absolutely last resort.The best alternative is always to get the business back on track, and sell it at a reasonable value, or do a normal closedown with full payout to vendors and investors. The next best alternative to avoid the stigma of bankruptcy (and the cost) is to privately negotiate partial business…

  • Don’t Get Burned By Your Startup Burn Rate

    5 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am
    Cash is the fuel of every startup. Your burn rate is the rate at which that money is being spent, and allows an estimate of how long you can go before refueling. That refueling is when you will need more investment, or when you will break even and begin to make a profit.Investors look at your burn rate to see how efficient and effective you are at running the business. It continually amazes me how two startups, seemingly comparable in stage and objective, can be so far apart in their burn rate. One can build a new website application for $10,000 per month, while another is burning $50,000 per…
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    Great Demo!

  • Best Practices for Network Connections for Face-to-Face Demos

    Peter E. Cohan
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:42 am
    I’ve watched a number of vendors struggle with trying to connect to their network/software applications when at customer sites. Typically, they are trying to run through both the customer’s network/firewall as well as their own. I’ve seen specific cases (many!) where the first 20 minutes of an on-site demo meeting was consumed by the vendor technical person (e.g., SC) working with the customer’s IT staff to figure out how to connect – and fail to connect! Often, running with virtual machines adds to the challenge. “OK, just reboot now and try it again…” – and it takes 20…

  • Live Meeting: Another Task for Your Meeting Manager

    Peter E. Cohan
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:11 am
    I’ve noted that the best practice for Remote Demos is to have a representative at the customer site to be your active conduit of information back to you delivering the demo remotely – to be your “eyes” on location. This person (the “Meeting Manager”) can be a representative from your company (best) or your champion/sponsor (next best) or designee (next next best). For Remote Demos done via Microsoft Live meeting, there are often problems with screen resolution that result in the audience computer having scrolls bars present, that must often be moved to be able to see the important…

  • Over 10,000 Great Demo! Copies Purchased

    Peter E. Cohan
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:27 am
    Sometime during the last few months Great Demo! passed the 10,000 copies purchased mark (wow!) – this doesn’t include copies resold on eBay and elsewhere, and copies that get passed around within teams…Many thanks to all of you![Shameless self-promotion time: if you don’t already have a copy of your own, it is available on Amazon.com (US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan), BarnesandNoble.com, or directly from me at The Second Derivative. I can also provide discounts on volume purchases and can ship right away.]

  • Summarize After Answering a Question to Re-engage Your Audience

    Peter E. Cohan
    31 Jan 2010 | 10:06 am
    After answering a question, in the midst of a demo, most presenters simply turn back to their flow and pick up where they left off. This makes sense to the presenter (who knows the demo and the product), but it is very likely that the audience has lost track…Instead, after answering a question, do a quick recap of the steps you’d just completed (before the question) to re-set and re-engage your audience. Works wonderfully!

  • We Are Programmed To Forget - And Its Impact on Our Demos

    Peter E. Cohan
    26 Jan 2010 | 11:06 am
    Indeed we are – and consider the impact this has on traditional software demos!Imagine you are driving home from work or on an errand… What do you remember about the cars and signs you see, the road-side debris, people, buildings and the roads you pass? How much of that information is retained?Very little is actually remembered about what you saw along your way. Our brains are continuously evaluating what we see and hear as we move through our day – and continuously discarding anything that is not considered important, threatening, or particularly interesting.What don’t we remember?
 
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    Patricia Handschiegel

  • The New Power Girls: Understanding The Future Of The Internet And How Women Entrepreneurs Are Taking Advantage Of It

    Patricia Handschiegel
    7 Feb 2010 | 5:49 am
    It's a sunny afternoon in the Los Angeles area as I take a chair at the long, rectangular table facing attendees at the Digital Hollywood conference. Seated next to me is a panel of successful producers, writers and others from the entertainment business. I'm the sole participant from business side of the Internet in the group, and likely the only person in the room with a background in Internet telecom and platform business engineering. About halfway through the discussion, someone says, "We don't know what the future will bring or what the Internet's going to do next." I lean into the…

  • The New Power Girls: The Right Support Can Benefit Your Business

    Patricia Handschiegel
    21 Jan 2010 | 12:06 pm
    It was just a short few months after the sale of my first startup as I took a somewhat long media interview for a profile on my work and business. As I shared the story of how I launched the company, then later sold it, it seemed like it had been decades of work, not just three short years. Not only was it harder to launch and operate a digital media company at that time, but also, back then I was one of the few female founders in the business. As we wrapped up the call, the reporter said something that has never left my mind. "You know, you always think when people have success, it came…

  • The New Power Girls: Women Founders On The Female Image In Life, Media And Business In 2010

    Patricia Handschiegel
    14 Jan 2010 | 12:01 pm
    The topic of the female image in America is an interesting one. It's something I've had to give a lot of thought in preparing to write this week's post. What is the female image in our country? Did I know, and more importantly, what did I think about it? It had all been inspired back in December of last year when Vogue Magazine had sent out a press pitch about a size 4, 5'10" model who "struggled to fit in" in the modeling world because of her weight. It came across NPG co-creator Meghan Cleary's desk, as she's a TV personality and often pitched stories. It prompted a discussion on email…

  • The New Power Girls: Women Entrepreneurs Are Positive And Planning To Rock It In 2010

    Patricia Handschiegel
    7 Jan 2010 | 1:34 pm
    It's just a few short hours before the New Year as a group of female founders slip into the side entrance at L.A.'s luxe Viceroy hotel on the city's ocean side. As we're greeted with flutes of Veuve and the private booth reserved for the evening, the room is filling up with revelers in dress pants and party dresses. I take a seat and can hardly wait for the countdown to 12am. Hours later, everybody's on the dance floor as a new year and a new decade rings in. Two days later, however, it was back to business as a trio of fellow founders and I talk shop over tea at West Hollywood's Pali House,…

  • The New Power Girls: Revisiting, Reevaluating in Business - And How To Do It To Benefit Yours Today

    Patricia Handschiegel
    18 Dec 2009 | 1:13 pm
    The end of the year is a time where people reflect on their goals, revisit ideas and aim for a new, even better direction towards the future. But when it comes to the new modern women entrepreneurs I've met and know, reflecting, revisiting, revamping and revising is a year round thing. Whether it's once a month, once a quarter or a handful of times a year, reflecting on what's ahead is a regular part of the business strategy. "I try to take time twice a year to reevaluate company goals and to review progress on past goals," said Sophia Chiang, founder of Qlubb.com. "This evaluation can ensure…
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    NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation

  • Inspirational Young Entrepreneurs – Part #1

    kathykormanfrey
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:35 am
    Ten9Eight Airs on BET February 7, 2010 Want to read about young people today who are getting it right? Going for it? Pursuing their dreams? This four-part series serves it up to you in spades with stories that will blow your mind, warm your heart and – if all goes well – line the pockets of the featured young entrepreneurs. Kicking off the series is Ten9Eight, Shoot for the Moon by director Mary Mazzio. This film is THE  cinematic rendering of the American dream.  Inspiration matters in this day and age, not just on a personal level – but a business level too.  Saatchi…

  • Top Low Cost and Free Small Business Tools – Part #4 The Best of the Rest

    kathykormanfrey
    25 Jan 2010 | 2:10 pm
    This is the final post in our series of low cost and free business tools for small business. Today, we’ll approach the area of cheap business resources just as you might: Googling!  After each listing, we’ll evaluate who makes it in this post and why.  For educators, this can also be a good exercise in critical thinking and filtering skills for students in this era of information overload. Search term:  Free Business Tools Search Results: Inc.com 100 Free Tools – First on the list were some tools from Inc Magazine. Upon further examination, the tools look solid. They are…

  • Top Low Cost and Free Small Business Tools – Part #3 For the New Year

    kathykormanfrey
    1 Jan 2010 | 7:39 am
    HAPPY NEW YEAR STUDENTS, ENTREPRENEURS, and EDUCATORS! Today for the new year, we cover our favorite small business tools that are: 1. Free or low cost, 2. Help start off the new year right for you both personally, and in business and 3. Proven TOP 10 SMALL BUSINESS TOOLS TO START THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT 1. www.Mint.com – A free finance tool. Financial literacy starts at home. 2. www.Doodle.com – Easy group scheduling tool. 3. www.GoogleDocs.com – Google docs are fabulous for virtual teams, and individuals who travel or have multiple offices. Tip: Use an excel sheet in Google Docs to…

  • Top Low Cost and Free Small Business Tools for Start Ups – Part #2

    kathykormanfrey
    7 Dec 2009 | 12:23 pm
    At the 2009 World Business Forum in New York, global leaders in business stated the importance of running lean and mean during this down economy.  With the expense of health care coverage, especially for small business, these tips have never been more pertinent. Below is the second in a series of  our favorite free and low cost tools for small businesses and starts ups.    Cost savings for year one of a business, or anytime:   1. WordPress. WordPress is the most popular blogging software in the world, and the templates can be used on a regular website. WordPress software gives you a…

  • Free & Low Cost Tips for Start Up Businesses – Part #1 – From Robert Tuchman & Young Guns

    kathykormanfrey
    10 Nov 2009 | 12:38 pm
    The Small Business Administration’s latest statistics show that a new startup has about a 50 percent chance of surviving for five years or more. Robert Tuchman is one of the success stories. When he graduated from college in 1993, he entered the stockbroker trainee program at Lehman Brothers but quickly realized his professional path in the rat race would leave him unfulfilled. Armed with one phone, a fax machine and his tiny, one-bedroom apartment, at the age of 25 he funneled his passion for sports and business into his own company, Tuchman Sports Enterprises (TSE). Within two years, TSE…
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    Building A Million Dollar Business Part Time

  • #31 Are Entrepreneurs Really Crazy? Escaping: The Vortex.

    hotmommas
    1 Feb 2010 | 2:21 pm
    Enter: THE VORTEX. (click here) Prior to the semi-calm and orderly exchange pasted below, I entered what I called ”the vortex.” This means I was nuts.  The Hot Mommas Project process is based on nominating dynamic women over the age of 18 to act as role models through writing their stories. Thus, I nominated women, re-nominated women, sent reminder emails, got the team to send reminder emails…the list goes on. This was all because of my passion for my project (combined with an inability to accept failure and a kind of control-freakishness). It was a gravitational pull.

  • #30 Would You Read This? My Book Outline for Women and The New Success – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

    hotmommas
    23 Jan 2010 | 1:36 pm
    It’s that time again. Time to stop messing around and throw down the gauntlet for myself, much as I did in the first post in March, 2008. At that time, I could not see what lay ahead. All I saw was fear, no money, and a bunch of to-do lists and ideas that never seemed to get done. Piece by piece – and while being incredibly cheap aka “resourceful” – I recruited help, enlisted partners, built the Hot Mommas Project story-telling software, and then…the clincher: THE WOMEN. Women came from everywhere…from Twitter…from HARO queries…from mail…

  • #29 Free Online Business Tools for Which I am Thankful – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

    hotmommas
    26 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am
    If you’re like me, then the holidays are the only time you have to dig out the neurons covered in dust that have been on sabbatical while you: -         Herd cats -         Deal with other mammals in your life -         Follow your own grandiose visions So, I am using this post to share some of my favorite “get your act together” tools I use for “dealing” on a daily basis. Keep in mind, I am a busy, quasi-stressed out mom, entrepreneur, and colossal nerd. THINGS I USE TO DEAL ON A DAILY BASIS www.Mint.com – A free finance tool www.Doodle.com – Easy group…

  • #28 – Free Black Friday Gifts: The Gift of Mentorship – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

    hotmommas
    23 Nov 2009 | 7:08 am
    Today I posted this attempt at inspiration on our main blog. As Kevin Roberts of Saatchi & Saatchi says, it’s not enough to just get attention. People want INSPIRATION. So – how to get tactical about inspiration is the topic of this post. I will update this insider’s post throughout the week to let you know how it’s going. It’s starting with a news show. All of this is being done to: 1.  Launch The Hot Mommas Project 2010 Case Study Competition 2. In preparation for my appearance on Washington Business Tonight with Rebecca Cooper (11.24) Stay tuned for our…

  • #27 Confessions and Reflections – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

    hotmommas
    14 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am
    Do you ever just stop? Stop to think. Stop to reflect. Stop to realize how far you’ve come? Stop to think about where you want to go? I’m not much of a stopper. But, today, I stop. This post is like a table of contents of the past year, as well as some inside scoop as to what was REALLY going on when I wrote these posts. Just a few  months ago, the Hot Mommas Project was just an idea and a couple of stories.  Today we are the world’s largest collection of teachable role models for women and girls. Learn more at www.HotMommasProject.org.  P.s. If you want to read last years’…
 
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    David Silverman

  • The Day I Didn't Become CEO

    David Silverman
    5 Feb 2010 | 12:24 pm
    This is the first in a series of stories from CEOs of their most life-changing day in their careers. Sometimes the result was promotion to the upper reaches of business, and sometimes a steep fall from grace. But good or bad, the events of these days represent defining moments in their lives and characters and serve as lessons to the rest of us who rarely, if ever, get to see what the view is like from the top. "I don't know about terrible days, I've never really had one of those," Richard Charkin said to me over the phone. He was in France, at his family's summer home, making eggs and toast…

  • That Written-By-Committee Flavor

    David Silverman
    21 Dec 2009 | 12:27 pm
    One of the challenges of corporate writing is the endless rounds of editing. No document of import can be published without a wide range of "stakeholders" taking those cudgels in their mitts and running them through the text. Every one of their comments is well intentioned, and invariably come from concerns where they have personally seen (or imagined) there to be potential for misunderstandings or lawsuits. But reading the end result is like riding a roller coaster with all the dangerous curves and loop-de-loops removed — we wouldn't want to frighten anyone, after all — leaving…

  • Should All Employees Feel Like Owners?

    David Silverman
    4 Dec 2009 | 6:41 am
    Apparently, my post on the "lunch lesson" rubbed some people the wrong way. When I opined that I found that leadership = responsibility = not always getting to eat lunch, this was, for some, the most heinous concept short of universal healthcare for illegal aliens. The comments that disagreed with me fell into a few major buckets: What kind of jerk thinks that only some people have responsibility to "own" the task at hand? What kind of jerk threatens his employees' lunch time? You are a jerk. Perhaps, yes. I am willing to concede that number 3 can be the case, especially when merging for the…

  • The Moment I Finally Felt Like an Executive

    David Silverman
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:55 am
    When I was little, I heard about "executives." "Executives at Mega Corp have denied rumors of misdeeds." "Executives at Giganta Corp could not be reached for comment." "Executives at Humongo Corp have promised double digit growth despite concerns about recent developments." The mystery around exactly what an executive did intrigued me, and I wondered if someday I could achieve my way to being one. In 1974, my father gave me a tour of the IBM plant where he worked as an engineer. We passed smoky grey glass panels, guarded by assistants at three-sided desks. They concealed, in his words, "the…

  • When Sensitive Messages Go Astray

    David Silverman
    2 Nov 2009 | 1:11 pm
    There are two of me. There's the me who gets up, changes my son's diaper and puts on my 17-year-old shoes that I know need to be replaced at some point but can't seem to get around to replacing. And then there's the me who lives in Los Angeles and gets my email. And I get his. We're both named David Silverman and we both work for the same company. Despite attempts to dispel confusion on the internal email system — I am David S. Silverman and he is David R. Silverman — things still go wrong because people type "David Silverman" into Outlook and press send, blithely relying on…
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    Grade A Entrepreneurs

  • Claudine Delphis: Survies d’un Juif européen: Correspondance de Paul Amann avec Romain Rolland et Jean-Richard Bloch

    admin
    2 Feb 2010 | 5:57 pm
    If you are interested in Jewish studies and read French, here is a fascinating book: Survies d’un Juif européen: Correspondance de Paul Amann avec Romain Rolland et Jean-Richard Bloch. This correspondance is put together, presented, annotated, and introduced by my sister, Claudine Delphis-Goettmann, and is published by the University Press of Leipzig (Leipziger Universitätsverlag). A Professor at the University of Paris VII, Claudine lives in Paris and Berlin. The history of literature rarely remembers translators, yet they are the ones who bridge cultures, hoping that an…

  • Your Charisma Coach, Olivia Fox Cabane: Impressive Results, Impressively Fast

    admin
    23 Jan 2010 | 5:25 pm
    I had a cup of coffee at Il Fornaio earlier this week with Olivia Fox Cabane. The short story is this: she is a consultant, speaker and leadership coach who has worked with a number of large corporations such as Deloitte, Citigroup, or Veracity Worldwide. She has given lectures at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, MIT and the United Nations. In short, at 30, she is a well-established expert in helping people to improve their charisma, their self-confidence as well as their influence and persuasion skills. She started her practice in 2003 in New York City and is successfully expanding it in the Silicon…

  • For an Insurrection of Talents: Seth Godin’s New Book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

    admin
    18 Jan 2010 | 8:24 pm
    Last week at a famous bookstore chain, the young lady at the cash register asked me if I had a coupon. “Yes,” I said. “It should show on my account.” “No, it doesn’t work that way,” she replied tersely. “You have to print it.” “Kind of a waste of paper,” I remarked. “It’s not my fault,” she said. And I had to agree – She is just a cog in the system. She doesn’t care. She is paid for her time and that’s it. She is not a linchpin. She is not indispensable. She could be replaced by virtually…

  • Dave Winer: “I’m a mystic about What It All Means.”

    admin
    7 Jan 2010 | 5:31 pm
    No Ars Poetica ever created poets. Creative writing classes rarely generate novelists. Do “how-to-write-a-post” recommendations work better? Yes, for posts that report industry messages (how to best sell a soap, promote or describe the latest and greatest products or trends, etc.) – i.e. when “blogging” is the expanded version of an annotated PowerPoint presentation, mini-tutorials, or downsized versions of journalistic articles. Yet, while commoditized blogging represents the quasi-totality of today’s blog production, there are auteur-blogs, just as there are…

  • How a company can carry on successfully exploiting new technology and new markets once its original guiding force has retired?

    admin
    1 Jan 2010 | 4:18 pm
    Guest writer: Mark Vernon Warner Bros Studios in Burbank : This past summer my son Gage and I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank. Unlike the glitzy Universal Studios Tours, at Warner they put you in an electric golf cart and drive you around the studios like a star, not a tourist. The tour was excellent and showcased much of what has made Warner so successful as both a movie studio and a television production company. We were told of Jack Warner’s famous words that “if it can’t be used on screen, we are not spending one nickel on it.” One of…
 
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    sales training blog - startup sales mentor

  • Why focus on utilizing web awareness and strategic email delivery i.e. forms of Sales 2.0

    Karl Goldfield
    7 Feb 2010 | 6:54 pm
    Yes, it is a damn long title! And it should be; why? Because, there is this mystery shrouding Sales 2.0 that just needs to go away. This is not Merlin in a secret chamber alchemy, it is simply progression of systems and implementation designed to enable sales teams to have real time access to the [...]

  • And we are back online! 2010, Sales 2.0, and beyond…

    Karl Goldfield
    1 Feb 2010 | 12:23 am
    After six months in the trenches, a hiatus that has included massive personal and professional change, I am glad to say we are back blogging in full force. 2010 will prove to be a challenging year for sales teams and startups alike. With that in mind the focus this year will be on boot strapping [...]

  • New Episode – Learning the Language of Your Buyers

    Karl Goldfield
    14 Jul 2009 | 8:53 pm
    Sales Evangelist TV s the home of Karl Goldfield the startup sales mentor. He delivers concise plan based sales training in series designed to help the startup make more money. Every few weeks some of the best in the sales training business join him and get interviewed. Come join the awesomeness and make more sales! Next [...]

  • TopSalesExperts Summer Series 2009

    Karl Goldfield
    9 Jul 2009 | 7:27 am
    We are very pleased to announce that the Top Sales Experts Summer Edition E-Book has been released and we think you’ll agree, that this is our best yet! You can download your copy here Many great minds are giving great advice on how to make more sales in the toughest of times. And yes, they even let [...]

  • Pipeline Management Series: “Diving is Not Your Roll, But You Have to Hold the Line.”

    Karl Goldfield
    7 Jul 2009 | 7:20 am
    After the last post some of you may be irritated with my assumptions that you can defer questions at presentation time. You think, “But I work with technical people, I have to show them the details.” or maybe it’s, “If I do not handle everything in the first presentation, I may not get another chance.” Well [...]
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    Silicontap.com

  • TwoF Nabs $2.1M

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:41 am
    San Mateo-based TwoF, a developer of proprietary technology for production of DNA microarrays, has raised $2.1M in an ongoing, $3.0M funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm this week. No details on the funding have been released. TwoF is commercializing technology from MIT, at facilities in Italy.

  • LiveScribe Ups Funding To $13.5M

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:36 am
    Oakland-based LiveScribe has upped its Series B funding to $13.5M, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. According to the filing, the round is part of an earlier, Series B the firm announced in March of 2009. Source of the new funding was not disclosed. liveScribe has previously raised funding from Aeris Capital, Lionheart Investments, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. LiveScribe is a maker of digital pen devices which capture handwriting.

  • ClientMagic Software Acquired

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:23 am
    Folsom-based ClientMagic Software, a developer of scheduling and business management software for salons and spas, has been acquired. According to MINDBODY, a developer of software for the salon industry, it acquired ClientMagic to expand its software into hair, nail, and skin salons. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. MINDBODY said it has hired Stewart E. Skiff, the founder of ClientMagic, as well as the firm's technical staff.

  • Redpoint Closes $400M, Redpoint IV Fund

    9 Feb 2010 | 6:58 am
    Menlo Park-based Redpoint Ventures has closed on a new venture capital fund, Redpoint IV, the firm said Monday evening. The firm said it will use the fund to invest in social and mobile Internet, cloud computing and clean technology companies. Redpoint said the new fund comes after the fund's entrepreneurs gained over $2B in liquidity over the last six months, including Fortinet's IPO, and acquisition of LifeSize, WiChorus, Networks in Motion, and Kazeon. READ MORE>>

  • Exar Buys Neterion

    9 Feb 2010 | 6:14 am
    Fremont-based Exar said this morning it is in a definitive agreement to acquire Sunnyvale-based Neterion, a developer of 10 Gigabit Ethernet network adapters supporting I/O virtualization. According to Exar, it will pay somewhere between $10M and $11M net of cash received for Neterion. Exar said the acquisition would complement the firm's existing solutions. Neterion was headed by Todd Oseth, and was venture backed by Menlo Ventures, VenGrowth, BDC Venture Capital, JAFCO Ventures, and Sand Hill Capital. The firm last announced a round of funding--a Series C round--worth $15M, in 2004. READ…
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    Austin Startup

  • Zilliant Continues Growth and Momentum

    Bryan Menell
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:37 am
    Zilliant, the leading provider of price optimization and management solutions for B2B manufacturers, distributors, high-tech, and industrial service companies, today announced strong financial results for the second half of 2009. Despite slow economic conditions, the company increased total bookings by 41 percent and increased Software License bookings by 245 percent from the same period in the previous year. In addition, the company doubled its recurring revenues in the fourth quarter alone. Zilliant also gained 15 new customers with eight of those customers signing on with the company’s…

  • RISE 2010 Registration Open

    Rob Ianelli
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm
    The fourth annual Relationship and Information Series for Entrepreneurs (RISE) returns to Austin, Texas, March 1-5, 2010 with five full days of free sessions covering a wide range of topics of interest to aspiring, new and established entrepreneurs in all industries. If you’re interested in becoming a host or participant, you can register online at www.riseaustin.org. RISE, known for innovation and new ideas now has new areas of the organization. -RISE Funding Forum -RISE Fast Pitch Competition and the -RISE Clean Technology Session Series. Speakers this year include: Red McCombs- One of…

  • Meet CEO’s With Major Recent Exits

    Bryan Menell
    5 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am
    The February 17th meeting of the Austin chapter of Texchange will be a milestone in two ways. First, we will have three incredible CEO’s who have all recently had major financial events in their company. Secondly, this will be the first Texchange “crowdsourced” event agenda. If you are a Texchange member please register for the event. If you’re not a member, and you’re a technology executive or entrepreneur, please apply now (and let me know via email). It’s inexpensive, and huge value. So who are these gentlemen on the left? Rod Favaron, CEO Lombardi…

  • Let the VC’s Pitch You at SXSW

    Bryan Menell
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:02 am
    Normally you’re out pitching the VC’s. Well during SXSW we’ve got a little party for you where the VC’s will be pitching you. Our friend Larry Chiang, who wrote What They Don’t Teach You at Business School (and writes a BusinessWeek column with the same name) is throwing a Reverse VC Pitch party downtown on March 14th. This isn’t an official SXSW event, so you don’t even need a badge to attend. This will be the first in a series of events that will take place in Seattle, LA, New York, Vancouver, etc. The first 75 people are free. The way it works is…

  • RenewData Unveils eDiscovery Acceleration Platform

    Bryan Menell
    1 Feb 2010 | 1:14 pm
    RenewData, a leading provider of services for the discovery, archiving, review and governance of Electronically Stored Information (ESI), today announced its eDiscovery Acceleration Platform designed to provide clients a solution that addresses the rising costs of eDiscovery and stringent litigation deadlines. RenewData’s revolutionary end-to-end platform is the industry’s first solution to expedite eDiscovery of both live and legacy electronic data without relying on significant manual oversight, which drastically reduces cycle times and gets information into the hands of…
 
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    Yes to Me

  • Meat Eaters vs Vegetarians / Vegans

    akemi
    5 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am
    What is the best way to eat for the optimal health of yourself and Mother Earth? Can we really live without eating any animal products? Is vegetarian way of living really superior? There are four reasons why people choose to eat vegetarian, including more strict vegan and raw vegan way: Health: Animal products (meat, fish, dairy, eggs) are loaded with saturated fat and very acid-forming, therefore bad for our health. Environment / Sustainability: Cows don’t convert all the energies they get from their feed to their meat. A big portion is used for them to stay warm and to move around. Eating…

  • How To Pray

    akemi
    2 Feb 2010 | 2:57 pm
    Prayer is an effective way to communicate your intention to Divinity. Unfortunately, however, some of us never learned how to pray, and some have been put off by the dogmatic approach of religion and are confused about prayers. So here is the basic of how to pray. (Photo credit) Format of a prayer In The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief, Gregg Braden analyzes the three-part sandwich format of a prayer: Opening Body Closing He explains how prayer works as the command code in the matrix, just as a piece of computer code works in the computer software. (For more about…

  • Online Gratitude Journal January 2010 Edition #37

    akemi
    29 Jan 2010 | 11:06 am
    Are you having a great start of the year? Keeping up with your new year’s resolution? Time is speeding up and I can hardly believe one twelfth of the year is already gone. (Photo credit) January in review My big goal of this year is to write a book on Akashic Records. This will be published in the old fashioned way in print. The starseed series will be incorporated in the book, with some additions and updates. So I’m putting extra effort in completing this series. My another goal is to eat healthy and well. The Slow Down Diet that I reviewed was very influential to me. I want to pay…

  • Starseeds: Arcturians

    akemi
    25 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am
    I’m putting in extra effort to complete this starseeds series. Sorry if you are not a fan of this New Age niche . . .I will be posting more general spirituality articles, too, so don’t un-subscribe — Yes to Me has something for everyone. (Photo credit) Arcturians, Earth’s guardians Arcturians come from the star system of Arcturus. There is a book called We the Arcturians, which was channeled by the non-incarnated Arcturians, but I have not read it yet. It is said Arcturians are the guardians of planet Earth. Arcturians have been watching us evolve for eons of time and…

  • Starseeds: Polarians

    akemi
    17 Jan 2010 | 5:10 pm
    Very sorry to hear about the earthquake in Haiti. Not just to those people there, but this kind of change in Earth energy affects many of us. Here is my piece about another starseeds who are especially sensitive to such energetic shift. (Photo credit) The Earth’s axis and the North Star Polarians come from the star system of Polaris, the North Star. Our Earth’s axis used to point directly to Polaris. However, when Maldec, the planet that used to be where asteroids are located now, exploded, it affected other planets including the Earth. It is also said one Earth year (the time it takes to…
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    The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

  • Trifocals: The Importance of Being Three Sighted

    Amy Ford
    8 Feb 2010 | 2:15 pm
    I recently attended an entrepreneurial lecture based on the book “Bootstrap to Billions: Proven Rules from Entrepreneurs who Built Great Companies from Scratch.” One of the panelists posed the idea of being three sighted in your planning process, using short, medium and long-range goals. Long-range goals: We’ve started with long-range goals first because these articulate your company’s overarching objectives, which come directly from your strategic business plan. These goals span five or more years and provide direction for where your company is headed. After defining these goals, the…

  • Obama: Is He Really Calculating the Costs?

    Amy Ford
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:04 am
    *The story was based on this article featured on CNN Money* Obama’s State of the Union address last Wednesday and his address from Baltimore Friday have small business owners perplexed. Obama has proposed a $5,000 tax break for each new employee hired this year, providing some safe-guarding stipulations and retro-active provisions to the start of the year. While this might sound nice, some small business owners insist that they need the cash flow at the start of the hiring process rather than after. And why not? According to the Department of Labor statistics of Employer Costs for Employee…

  • Get the Help You Need at a Fraction of the Price

    Amy Ford
    3 Feb 2010 | 10:35 am
    As the current economy has flooded the job market with experienced professionals looking for work, one would think that it would be easy to find the skilled people you are looking for to help run your business. However, most of these professionals come with a very high price tag. To avoid paying premium prices for similar work, consider hiring college interns for your business needs. Below are a few key benefits you will find with offering internships: College students are eager for experience in their designated field, and are usually willing to go above and beyond your expectations.

  • Happy Groundhog’s Day/International Networking Day

    Megan Dorn
    2 Feb 2010 | 9:38 am
    As most of you probably already know, today is Groundhog’s Day—the day when a rodent in the large squirrel family lets us know whether or not our sanity will soon be restored or we’ll have to weather the winter doldrums for six more weeks. What many of you may not know is that today is also International Networking Day. Feb. 2, 2010 marks the fourth annual global celebration of networking. How are people celebrating today? With networking events obviously! Check your local events calendars to see if there are any networking events taking place in your neck of the woods today. Chances…

  • Small Business Tip of the Week: Delegating Responsibility and Authority

    Megan Dorn
    1 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am
    When you grant an employee responsibility, you must also grant authority. For successful delegation, the two must go hand in hand. Giving employees responsibility over outcomes as well as authority over resources will empower them to succeed and enable them to get the job done smoothly.
 
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    BUZZ in theHUB: Genotrope's Startup Watch

  • Peerium

    TS
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:36 am
    Genotrope Record: Peerium Funding Status: Self Funded? Founders Backgrounds: Harvard PHD CS, Microsoft Investors: ? Industry: White label iPhone apps, B2B web infrastructure Offering Description: A serverless platform that lowers the overhead of internet applications. Peerium is a software company focused on building a highly scaleable , serverless application platform. Currently creating white label iPhone apps.

  • Performable

    TS
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:58 pm
    Genotrope Record:  Performable Currently Hiring Funding Status: Series A Founders Backgrounds: Compete, Lookery , Bokardo Design Investors: CRV Industry: B2B, Web Application Offering Description: Performable’s easy-to-use technology can pick and choose from literally thousands of creative elements in real-time, testing everything from a single word to an entire layout. These elements can be optimized depending on factors including where your visitor came from, location, user demographics, the time of day, or even results from your previous tests.

  • Plummelo

    TS
    30 Jan 2010 | 6:03 am
    Genotrope Record: Plummelo Funding Status:  Seed Investors: ? Industry: Consumer Web, B2B Offering Description: Plummelo is a web service that allows users to collect and share recipes, to plan meals, and to print shopping lists for meal plans. Plummelo combines these three activities in one convenient place. Plummelo makes cooking easier.

  • 10 Free Tickets ($70 value) to What Will “E-Commerce 2.0″ Look Like in the Next Few Years? Panel

    TS
    20 Jan 2010 | 7:49 am
    Genotrope is very pleased to be able to offer 10 free tickets ($70 value) to the awesome E-Commerce panel on 1/28/2010, sponsored by MITX. If you are not familiar with MITX, check it out. I attended their Interactive Awards event last year for the first time and was blown away by the size of the event and the quality of work respresented. Also, the event itself is a huge production (think Oscars) and very well done. It is a must attend for any web design or web application company. If you are interested and feel that you would benefit from attending this Panel, drop us an email at…

  • MITX Event – What Will “E-Commerce 2.0″ Look Like in the Next Few Years?

    TS
    20 Jan 2010 | 7:04 am
    MITX  has put together a very interesting panel to be held January 28, 2010 at the Microsoft NERD center. They don’t get too much press, but the Boston area has some pretty significant players in e-commerce. Come and hear the experts discuss the coming e-commerce trends and new marketing channels.    Register Here What Will “E-Commerce 2.0″ Look Like in the Next Few Years? Speakers: Jeff Bussgang – General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners (moderator) Tom Beecher – President and CEO, Mall Networks Brian Eberman – CEO, Avenue 100 Media Solutions Scott…
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    Escape From Cubicle Nation

  • How do you want to lead your life?

    Pamela
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:30 pm
    I had a very interesting coaching conversation the other day with a bright young woman. We were talking about her desire to expand her business and play bigger in the world. (And don’t worry, I asked her permission to tell this story. And no, that is not her picture, it is a stock photo ) When I asked what would happen if she started to put herself out in the world in a bigger way by offering more programs and connecting with more people, she got kind of quiet. I asked her what it would mean to her life if she grew her business.  This is what she said: “I would have to be out…

  • Your all-or-nothing attitude will bring all stress and no progress

    Pamela
    2 Feb 2010 | 5:08 pm
    I can always tell when new entrepreneurs are starting to crack under the pressure of decisions. They say things like: “I know everyone tells me I have to choose a specific niche, but I really don’t want to limit myself to only working with one type of person!” “What if I spend all this time and energy getting this business off the ground and I find out (no one will buy from me) (I don’t like it) (I have no time) (fill in the concern).” “The URL for the business name I wanted is not available! How can I be successful without a catchy business…

  • Question for you: what stops you from testing your biz ideas early? What helps?

    Pamela
    28 Jan 2010 | 1:26 pm
    I am really obsessed with the topic of test often and fail fast. I wrote a whole chapter about it in my book, and still feel like I barely scratched the surface. By “test often and fail fast,” I mean the ability to create a very small prototype or sample of your product or service and get it in front of your target market for feedback. So many new entrepreneurs get paralyzed with perfectionism. And you know what I feel about that! I am writing an article on this topic, and would love your insight into two questions (choose either or both, depending on which apply to your…

  • Guest post by Seth Godin: You are not a cog

    Pamela
    26 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am
    I have never had a guest post on my blog before. Until now. Seth Godin wrote a special post for EfCN to celebrate the launch of his new book Linchpin. It comes out today — check it out here. You are not a cog If you have your own business, you’ve already taken a huge step, but it’s tempting, really tempting to let fear take over and let it push you to start following the rule book. You know the rule book I mean. The one with the musts, the shoulds and the of courses in it. The one that’s amplified by most how-to books and blogs, and enforced by banks, in-laws and…

  • Registration now open for $100 Business with me and Chris Guillebeau

    Pamela
    18 Jan 2010 | 7:01 am
    Good morning! I am excited to give you the registration link for the program I told you about last week that I am co-teaching with Chris Guillebeau. We will be working intensively with an inaugural group in a month-long program aimed to power-charge your micro business. See all the details here, and if you are interested, grab a seat, because I have a feeling they will go fast. http://unconventionalguides.com/100biz.htm Here is to a fantastic, supportive start to 2010! — Update 5pm MT on 1/18: We had an amazing day — we sold out the February program in 3 hours, and are halfway…
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    Life Beyond Code

  • The Distinguish Cycle – Where do you want to begin?

    thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)
    9 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am
    For those of you who have reading this blog for a while, you know that one of the themes on the blog is how to escape the prison of commodotization – being one of the many. Why? Simply because commodotization erodes value. If you are valuable and can distinguish yourself, you can claim a premium in the marketplace. Of course, nobody is smart to be able to permanently distinguish themselves because for anything that is getting a premium, there are others who will follow suit and compete for attention until that “anything” is commodotized and loses the early premium that…

  • The problem is never the problem…

    thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am
    In this short (around 2-minutes) video, one of my heroes, Tom Peters explains (with examples) why the problem is never the problem, the response to the problem is. Totally loved the video and is embedded below for you: Why did the 2-minute video touch my heart? The way I look at it, the statement can be extended to many other things – such as an “opportunity.” An opportunity is not an opportunity unless you do something about it. The trick is in “taking action” and doing something about what we are faced with. And, that is in our control. ---Related Articles at…

  • A killer app – “Free” + “Social Proof” + Now!

    thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)
    7 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am
    The other day, I was at the Campbell post office standing in the line waiting for my turn. It was a long line so (as usual) I was busy browsing a book. The person in front of me brought me out of my dream when he stepped out asking me to hold his place. I nodded and continued reading. I couldn’t help notice what the person did. There was a box to drop off a business card to win a prize at the end of the month. The person dropped off his business card and walked back. I looked at the box again. There were probably 200 other business cards in the box. Not fully believing what I just saw,…

  • Grace and Elegance

    thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)
    6 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am
    Photo Courtesy: Amitabh Bacchan’s blog Criticism is part of life. If you are doing anything significant, there will always be some criticism from someone Why? Simply because you can’t please everyone. A simple thing to do is to handle criticism with grace. Here is an example of how Amitabh Bacchan (who needs no introduction for anyone who has heard of Bollywood) handled criticism from another superb Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah. Here it is, in his own words (on his blog) [ Note: I made VERY minor edits for the sake of readability. Emphasis is mine ] A question came my way…

  • A gentle push…

    thinksulting@gmail.com (Rajesh Setty)
    5 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am
    When you are on the fence, sometimes all it requires is a gentle push and you will move to one side. But someone or something has to give that gentle push. It does not take a lot of effort (remember: it’s gentle) but someone still has to do it. With that in the background, let’s put the “proverbial” fence aside and take a real situation. You are contemplating whether to attend a networking event or not. You want to do it but you also have other competing priorities to take care of. You know that in the long run it will help you but there are some short-term fires to…
 
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    Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog

  • 15% Off Olympic Gear for Get Elastic Readers

    Linda Bustos
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:11 pm
    As a thank you to our valued Get Elastic readers, we’re offering you our Friends and Family discount code for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store. The code is good for 15% off any purchase, no minimum! (Excluding Red Mittens, Petro Canada glasses and video games. Ends February 14th.) For our US readers, use the code EPFRIENDS2010US at the US Olympic Store. The rest of the world, use EPFRIENDS2010 at the Olympic Store. Just to clarify, that is the year 2010, not the letter “O” in the code. You may also like these similar posts:QRious About QR Codes? Turn Customer Reviews Into…

  • Do Affiliates Make Good Conversion Consultants?

    Linda Bustos
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:05 am
    I recently caught the replay of a web clinic presented by Marketing Experiments titled Affiliate Marketing: Tests and tactics that increased clicks and leads by 165%. The presentation is full of great tips for both retailers and affiliates and I encourage you to watch the whole thing, but there was one point that stood out as a really novel idea: “Solicit advice from your affiliates, many are seasoned online marketers who can offer you valuable insight on what does and does not work.” Improving your landing page is essential when you have an affiliate program. Not only does it…

  • A/B Test Case Study: Homepage

    Janis Lanka
    5 Feb 2010 | 3:03 am
    This post is contributed by Janis Lanka (@janislanka, who manages front-end development for Elastic Path Software. This post is a continuation of a series of posts related to conversion optimization for the Official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store. Following checkout process and product details page optimization, in collaboration with Wider Funnel, we looked at the store’s homepage. Following list of hypotheses were made: Too many banner spaces create high clutter Secondary (left side) navigation doesn’t stand out and is difficult to navigate Product photos are too small with no…

  • 9 Quick Tips for Catalog Quick Order

    Linda Bustos
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:02 am
    1. Show visually where to find item numbers. 2. Provide instructions, but keep them short. 3. Allow customer to add extra input fields, or give instructions on how to add more items than your default form provides. 4. Allow customer to input quantity. 5. Watch your error handling. Make it clear when the item no longer exists and provide a search tool or customer service number. Eddie Bauer (above) does this well. 1-800-Flowers unfortunately kicks you out of Catalog Quick Order to the home page if you make a mistake or the product no longer exists. 6. Allow customer to request a catalog. 7. If…

  • Bloggers Digest: January 2010

    Linda Bustos
    1 Feb 2010 | 3:04 am
    No shortage of amazing blog posts to link to this month, was tough to narrow it down. Here’s a list of my favorite ecommerce related posts in January. Enjoy. Justin Palmer kicks off our list with 5 Anti-Resolutions for Marketing Success in 2010. All the things you shouldn’t rely on this year. While we’re talking about things to avoid, Kevin Hillstrom has 5 things to avoid in your annual sales forecast. Ever wonder if those “Tweet this” links in emails get used? According to Silverpop research, sadly, the answer is no. Essential reading for anyone involved in…
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    Tim Berry: Planning, Startups, Stories

  • Why Mirror Neurons Are Critical to Your Business Success

    Tim Berry
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:32 am
    Empathy is essential. Sure, that’s obvious for your life and your relationships, but also, although not so obvious, for your business. Empathy is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes: feeling what they’re feeling, imagining what it’s like to be them. Isn’t that the key to marketing and product development? Isn’t that also the single most important factor in leadership? Dealing with people? And business strategy? I think so. I posted Empathy as a key to business success here a bit more than a year ago. What’s new about it today is Gandhi’s Neurons: The Practice of…

  • 5 Things Avatar Can Teach You About Development

    Tim Berry
    8 Feb 2010 | 8:30 am
    (Note: this is a guest post by Megan Berry (my daughter), social media evangelist for Mobclix. It was originally posted on the mobclix blog Avatar is a world-wide phenomenon and is currently the top grossing movie of all time*. How can you learn from its success and apply it to your own projects (even if they aren’t billion dollar movies). Technology Matters. James Cameron first wrote Avatar in 1994, but he ended up tabling it until 2005 because he felt the technology wasn’t there yet. Figure out what your idea needs and how you can make it happen. If your current idea won’t work well,…

  • The Truth in a Graphic About High-Tech Distractions

    Tim Berry
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:30 am
    I just couldn’t resist sharing this. It’s called The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions, and it’s brilliant; and even better in full size, so you should click this link or on the picture to see the original. I got it from Ann Handley, @marketingprofs on Twitter. It’s from a site called Information is Beautiful, by David McCandless. And it certainly depicts, way too accurately, the way digital distractions stack up for me. (Image: by David McCandless, via Information is Beautiful) Share and Enjoy:

  • Business Strategy in Action, or Reaction, Both, or Neither

    Tim Berry
    4 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am
    Apple vs. Kindle vs. publishers, oh my. Do you know the background? It’s all over the web. And I posted here this week about how Apple and Amazon.com and Macmillan are wrapped up in an ebook battle. And it gets better. As I write this, Wednesday evening, the news is that Amazon gave in and put Macmillan back into the mix, but at higher prices. But I just checked the site and my favorite Macmillan book, Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded, is listed there as available through third parties only. So go figure. I’m fascinated with all of this. Really, business strategy in…

  • Planning Fundamentals 4: Its About Accountability

    Tim Berry
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:30 am
    (This is the fourth in a series of posts reviewing the fundamentals of planning, with an eye for how they’re changing over time. Part one was Form Follows Function. Part 2 was All Business Plans are Wrong. Part 3 was Cash Not Profits.) I predict accountability is going to be an increasingly important issue as we head into this new decade. The old-fashioned tools of accountability, mainly physical presence, as in hours in the office, or days on the road, are fading. If for no other reasons, it’s because the world can’t continue to support needless commuting, an average of 51…
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    KK Lifestream

  • The network economy is a meta-country.

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:16 am
    Originally posted in New Rules Its web of relationships differ from those of a country in three ways: No geographical or temporal boundaries exist--relations flow ceaselessly 24 by 7 by 365. Relations in the network economy are more tightly coupled, more intense, more persistent, more diverse, and more intimate in many ways than most of those in a country. Multiple overlapping networks exist, with multiple overlapping allegiances. These hyperconnections can either strengthen or weaken traditional relationships. The extremely personal, highly trust-bound relations in a family stand to be…

  • Kitchen Fire Extinguisher

    8 Feb 2010 | 9:16 am
    Originally posted in Cool Tools You need a fire extinguisher in your kitchen. One that really works well rather than one that looks really good. Most fire extinguishers that easily put out a kitchen-type fire use a mix of chemicals that are not food safe. Cleaning up the sticky powder left after a short blast for even a small grease fire will be quite a chore. The benefit of this new Kidde extinguisher is that this regular 3-pound, high power, dry powder class B/C fire extinguisher is packed with only sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda. It will extinguish fires as well as equivalent models,…

  • Eventually technical standards...

    3 Feb 2010 | 9:37 am
    Originally posted in New Rules ...will become as important as laws. Laws are codified social standards; but in the future, codified technical standards will be just as important as laws. Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig says, "Law is becoming irrelevant. The real locus of regulation is going to be (computer) code." As networks mature, and make the transition from ad hoc prestandard free-for-alls to fluid hot spots of innovation, and then into full-fledged systems with deeply embedded standards, standards increasingly ossify into something like laws. Standards also harden with age. They…

  • Can-Gun 1

    1 Feb 2010 | 9:26 am
    Originally posted in Cool Tools Using your index finger to press and steer a can of spray paint gets old very quickly. If your paint job lasts more than a few minutes, you really should use a snap-on pistol grip. It saves your knuckle, keeps paint off your trigger finger, and gives you an easy way to guide the spray. For years I've used an earlier model of this grip (called simply Can-Gun), but that one was only operated with a single finger trigger. This new version uses your whole palm. It's comfortable, quick-on and off, and the only way to spray. I had a 5-can job on a chain-link fence…

  • Fifty Dangerous Things

    25 Jan 2010 | 9:31 am
    Originally posted in Cool Tools The idea of this thin book is that danger is something kids need to learn to handle by experience. The 50 small experiments in this book can potentially cause a minor injury (although they are unlikely to), but are never really seriously dangerous. In fact most of them aren't dangerous at all, but at least they are fun. There are no special techniques, secret formulas or exclusive knowhow here that everyday knowledge or a quick internet search would not turn up. The activities are the kinds of things kids will sometimes do on their own -- at least in the past.
 
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    Preneur Marketing - The Blog of Entrepreneur Pete Williams

  • Forget Email – Offline AutoResponders Is Where It’s At In 2010…

    pete@preneurmarketing.com (Pete Williams)
    16 Jan 2010 | 1:39 pm
    Not sure about you, but I use a tonne of email auto-responders in all my companies – and not just the online businesses. The sequential, set & forget marketing from the email auto-responders are killing it for my biggest real world company Infiniti Telecommunications See, I’ve been looking for a way to implement the same automated follow-up marketing offline via direct mail for about a year, and not a single direct mail print company (in Australia or USA) offered a solution. They all offered the ability to do a mail merge (variable data) print run, if I wanted to arrange a…

  • Where are they looking ?

    pete@preneurmarketing.com (Pete Williams)
    5 Jan 2010 | 12:32 pm
    The old adage of ‘be (read: advertise) where your customers are’ simply doesn’t cut it any more. It’s all about going where your customers are looking; NOT where they are… Yeah, customers are on facebook and twitter, but that’s not where they are looking. Marketing and advertising on social media sites is, in most cases, as effective as billboard advertising on the freeway. Just because people are on the freeway (twitter/facebook) doesn’t mean they are actively looking for your products… It’s not about being where they are, it’ about…

  • The Sunscreen Song – 10 Year Tribute (Everybody’s Free)

    pete@preneurmarketing.com (Pete Williams)
    3 Jan 2010 | 6:07 pm
    This is an amazing video created by Jesse (@pickupdance or http://www.risingbean.com) compiled from clips of his recent adventures and activities. It’s been 10 years since this song, ‘Everybodies Free To Wear Sunscreen’ was released, and this is Jesse’s tribute saying “I’m not trying to tell everyone to do everything possible, but rather inspire people to live more freely – and that you can start today by doing something simple, such as dancing in your living room!” The Origins of Sunscreen Wear Sunscreen or the Sunscreen Speech are the common…

  • And Don’t Forget Your, um, Subresolutions?

    pete@preneurmarketing.com (Pete Williams)
    1 Jan 2010 | 3:46 pm
    This is a ‘guest post’ from Neil Strauss. If you’re on his email list, you may have also seen something similar list in your inbox recently. As a side note: Keep an eye out for the StyleLife iPhone app we’re releasing very shortly. It’s going to be a killer. New Year’s Resolutions are a great way to set your intent for a positive, fulfilling year of growth and accomplishment. But, on the other hand, when the year ends, if you haven’t completely fulfilled your resolutions, it can be frustrating. This usually happens because New Year’s resolutions…

  • 15 Real-World 4HWW Lifestyle Design Case Studies [+ Vote For Me]

    pete@preneurmarketing.com (Pete Williams)
    31 Dec 2009 | 10:46 pm
    Happy New Year Folks… From Denmark to India, from college students to retirees, from yoga instructors to engineers, over on Tim Ferriss’ blog there a bunch of awesome lifestyle design case studies based on the Four Hour Work Week methodology. Like Tim’s says “These videos represent a real-life crash course in the many paths and practicalities of lifestyle design. I hope you love watching them as much as I did…” Check them out at: Cold Remedy: 15 Real-World Lifestyle Design Case Studies (Now It’s Your Turn) The video I posted in my recent 30DC vs 4HWW…
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    Signal vs. Noise

  • PHOTO: Stewart Butterfield's resignation letter

    37signals
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:12 am
    Stewart Butterfield’s resignation letter from Yahoo (from Watching the birth of Flickr co-founder’s gaming start-up)

  • PHOTO: There's quality control for you. This is

    David
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:06 pm
    There’s quality control for you. This is the latest entries in the Entertainment category on iTunes.

  • The App Store: Quality control without the quality

    David
    8 Feb 2010 | 1:42 pm
    I love my iPhone and I love Apple (cue images of flag pins and “I love muh countray!”), but I believe they’re blowing it with the App Store gate keeping. That’s of course not a new opinion. Developers left and right have been decrying the broken process. But there’s nothing like feeling it on your own bones to make the point. We have a couple of new features in the wing for Campfire. They’ve been done for more than 10 days now. Why haven’t we released them yet? Because the iPhone app Ember needed to have a simple regular expression updated to support…

  • Scope a variable to a block in your template code

    Ryan
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:38 am
    Sometimes you are coding a template and you need to refer to the same method chain over and over. For example, you’re coding a template that summarizes activity on recent messages. You iterate through a block of messages, and for each message you want to display some information pertaining to the last comment. You could do it like this: <div class="active_messages"> <% @active_messages.each do |message| %> <h1><%= message.title %></h1> <div class="latest_comment"> <div class="avatar"> <%= avatar_for(message.comments.last.creator) %>…

  • Descriptive words and phrases found on a $6 bottle of hand soap

    Jason F.
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:38 am
    Extremely mild Richly foaming Naturally gentle Deeply cleanses Nourishes Pure and soothing Synergistically Refresh and restore Skin radiance Cool soothing Protects and restores balance Harmonize and replenish Additional moisturizing benefit What doesn’t this stuff do? Lather up and this naturally gentle, richly foaming, pure and soothing nourishing cleanser will synergistically refresh, harmonize, replenish, protect and restore balance with cool soothing botanicals. Kinda ridiculous, isn’t it? Reading this should remind you to read your own site, your own marketing copy, your own…
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    OnStartups

  • 9 Quick Tips Learned While Raising $33 Million In Venture Capital

    Dharmesh Shah
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:48 pm
    As the market improves, my guess is that many of you will likely be thinking about raising funding for your company.  With my latest startup, I’m now a venture-backed startup founder (I’ve raised $33 million in three rounds of capital for my marketing software company).  So, I’ve got some direct experience with the process.  Several of the companies I’m an angel investor in or otherwise involved with have also been in the fund-raising process.  So, along the way, I’ve learned a few things, and I’d like to share them with you.  There’s…

  • Prehistoric Steve Jobs Introduces The New Apple iRock Tablet [cartoon]

    Dharmesh Shah
    27 Jan 2010 | 3:07 am
    Though it's easy to get caught up in Apple's new tablet announcement, let's not forget the original idea that sparked the whole thing.  It's the iRock -- it transformed how people chiseled. Looking for other startup fanatics?  Request access to the OnStartups LinkedIn Group.  100,000+ members and growing daily.Oh, and by the way, you should follow me on twitter here (that's @dharmesh).

  • A Geek's Guide To Hiring Marketing People

    Jason Cohen
    26 Jan 2010 | 2:02 am
    The following is a guest post by Jason Cohen. Interviewing developers is easy. OK, not easy. You have to generate resumes, you have to sift through the deluge of candidates, you have to pound your network continuously, you have to develop a phone-screen, you have to schedule interviews, you have to ask them questions and get them to write code and be fair. But still, you're a great developer and you've worked with enough other developers that you can tell pretty quickly whether someone else is also a great developer. Do they say the right things? Do they make reasonable mistakes? Do they…

  • Startup Advice In Exactly Three Words - #StartupTriplets

    Dharmesh Shah
    8 Jan 2010 | 5:35 am
    This article is a bit out of the ordinary.  But, it's a Friday so I'm hoping you'll cut me some slack.  For some reason, I like wordsmithing and trying to make phrases smaller (but still have some meaning).   So, late at night, I tried to come up with some of my best startup advice and see if I could reduce it down to exactly three words (which is why I call them "triplets").  One thing led to another, and I became obsessed with it. So, then I made 47 before I had to make myself stop.  And, to ensure that you didn't take this too seriously, I included a photo of some…

  • Releasing Early Is Not Always Good? Heresy!

    Jason Cohen
    21 Dec 2009 | 7:21 am
    The following is a guest post by Jason Cohen. Jason's got a knack for stirring pots and getting us thinking a bit.  And, thinking is a good thing.   Even when the thinking makes me awfully uncomfortable and goes against my strongly held beliefs.  I couldn't be a stronger advocate of "Release Early, Release Often", so it took a bit of effort to post this article "as is".  But, as I hope you'll see, Jason does make some pretty good points.  Well worth debating -Dharmesh[UPDATE: I originally stated that Eric Ries was a proponent of "Release Early," but I was…
 
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    Growthology

  • Policy Options, KEO part 2

    Tim Kane
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:53 am
    The second set of questions from the Kauffman Economic Outlook Q1 2010 focus on policy options for the U.S. economy. The summary text from the report itself is copied here: Despite being a balanced panel in terms of political alignment...

  • Did the Unemployment Fever Just Break?

    Tim Kane
    5 Feb 2010 | 9:25 am
    The topline rate of unemployment dropped from 10.0 to 9.7 in this morning's BLS Employment Situation report. Everyone probably had the same reaction I did: "Really?? Or is this some data quirk driven by a collapsing labor force denominator?" In...

  • What I Meant to Say . . .

    Dane Stangler
    5 Feb 2010 | 7:39 am
    Some timely humor, courtesy of here: And I totally wish I'd had this poster in hand for yesterday's post:

  • If Only the Public Listened to Economists!!!

    Dane Stangler
    3 Feb 2010 | 10:36 am
    Most readers have seen the results of the Kauffman Economic Outlook, a survey of scores of economics bloggers from across the Internet. Kudos to Tim for pulling it together. Not to sound crankish, but I just wanted to highlight a...

  • Why So Gloomy? KEO, part 1

    Tim Kane
    2 Feb 2010 | 11:31 am
    The first few questions from the Kauffman Economic Outlook Q1 2010 focus on the overall U.S. economy, and our summary emphasized the gloominess of the blogger's consensus opinion. Here are the individual charts (in .gif format) from this section: One...
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    ArcticStartup

  • Scope Invests € 7 million In Footbalance

    Ville Vesterinen
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm
    As Swedish private equity company Scope has invested a whopping €7m in a Finnish company Footbalance System Ltd. The investment will enable the company to further accelerate growth and sales of its custom insole concept (see videos below). The solution is sold through Road Runner Sports in the US and Intersport International Corporation in Europe. Here’s a more in-depth take on the investment from Technopolis. Footbalance’s solution is a 100% customized insole, which it creates through its computer-aided foot analysis and in-store production units. Footbalance’s concept is…

  • Eqvitec Gives Voddler A 2.5 Million Euro Boost

    Antti Vilpponen
    7 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Eqvitec Technology Fund III has invested a hefty 26 million Swedish Kronors (about 2.55 million euro) into Voddler, a Swedish startup looking to disrupt the way we watch movies at home. Hadar Cars, a partner of Eqvitec will join the Voddler board with the investment. This is great news for the whole ecosystem as consumer internet had been a little less active in terms of investments in the recent quarters. Also, another sign of this investment for the ecosystem is its size, if there is potential – investors are willing to invest and with Voddler’s 26 million Kronor investment it…

  • Sofanatics is Social Videochat Around Sports, Works With Finnish Broadcasting Company

    Antti Vilpponen
    5 Feb 2010 | 3:57 am
    We’ve done our share of guessing what Sofanatics, a new Finnish stealth startup, is up to with their concept and it seems that finally there’s some light being shed to their work. It comes from an interesting source, one of the blogs hosted by Finnish Broadcasting Company. The blog post is titled “Videochat combines home couches during the Olympics”. The blog post also tells us that on 17th of February, they will open yle.sofanatics.com to showcase the service and enable social video viewing during the first ice hockey match of the Finnish national team in Vancouver.

  • Foodie.fm Helps You Grocery Shop Smarter

    Ville Vesterinen
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Foodie.fm is that obvious thing that I always knew I needed but could not think of. There’s about a million different ToDo list apps and cooking apps that help you do partly what Foodie.fm does, but not really. Foodie.fm enables smart grocery shopping by allowing the user to browse different recipes and then add that meal to their shopping cart. It lets me see different meals and then breaks them down into the needed ingredients in just the right amounts and once I tab ‘Add to cart’ it ads it to my shopping list on my phone. Now, here’s the beauty. Foodie’s…

  • Mobile Premier Awards At Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress

    Miikka Kukkosuo
    4 Feb 2010 | 11:30 am
    ArcticStartup is an official media partner of this year’s Mobile Premier Awards (MPA), the biggest open and global startup competition in the mobile industry. (The event went by the name Mobile Peer Awards last year.) The event is organized in collaboration by the industry’s largest networks such as MobileMonday, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), MEX, MobileActive.org, and Women 2.0. The final program of the event has just been announced. Besides the classic MPA in Innovation live 3-minute pitches, this year there will be the winners of the…
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    NextBillion.net

  • Business Development Manager

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:03 am
    Organization: FUNDES InternationalLocation: San José, CRAbout FUNDES Since its foundation in 1984, FUNDES has been a pioneering and visionary organization in developing the region's private sector. Its efforts have focused on strengthening the business capacity of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in order to improve their position in the markets and transform the sectors, regions, and overall business-enabling environment. FUNDES's efforts have set the pace for creating a business development services market in Latin America geared toward the MSME. Likewise, it has helped…

  • Overwhelming Response to the NextBillion Case Competition

    9 Feb 2010 | 8:19 am
    Authored by: Moses LeeThe date for submitting intention to compete forms for the first annual NextBillion Case Writing Competition has come and gone.  At the onset, the editors and I were unsure of how many people would submit."I'd be happy if we got ten," I told the Rob and Francisco. Well, I'm pleased to let the NextBillion community know that we more than doubled that number with over 20 submissions from teams all over the world!  We had submissions from Washington University in St. Louis, Xavier Institute of Management, Dehlhi Technological University, Indian Institute of…

  • Senior Manager, Business Development, Global Business Division

    8 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm
    Organization: IntuitLocation: Bangalore, INAbout Intuit Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) is the world's leading provider of software and web-based services for consumers and small businesses. Our flagship products and services include well-known brands such as TurboTax, Quicken and QuickBooks. Founded in 1983, Intuit has annual revenues of over $3 billion and reaches over 25 million customers with ~8,000 employees in several countries. Fortune Magazine recognized Intuit as "America's Most Admired Software Company" and one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the last several years running.

  • Introducing NextBillion’s Newest Managing Partner: WDI

    8 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pm
    Authored by: Bob KennedyAs announced in January (link), The William Davidson Institute (WDI) has joined the World Resources Institute and Acumen Fund as co-Managing Partners of the NextBillion.net site.  The Managing Partners set strategy, fund enhancements to the site, manage the site, and work together to grow the NextBillion community. This post is intended to introduce WDI to the NextBillion community and to invite you to explore ways to engage with the Institute.  WDI is a think tank located at the University of Michigan (UM) that focuses on business and policy issues in…

  • Market Linkages: The Achilles' Heel of Livelihoods

    8 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am
    Authored by: Sriram GuttaOver the last two decades, models for livelihoods for the poor have come of age and many organizations have focused their efforts on reducing the vulnerability of marginalized communities. A lot of these activities have been through the efforts of NGOs, international funding agencies, and local organizations working in specific regions and with specific segments. Though these models have been successful in creating employment, they haven't scaled to realize their true potential. One such example is of Chamba chappals where over 500 artisans make sturdy and beautifully…
 
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    My New Biz

  • Rymdreglage 8bit trip

    9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    From the page quot1500 hours of moving legobricks and take photos of themquotRead More...

  • I really dont like keeping secrets but I promised

    7 Feb 2010 | 2:01 am
    Rating ExcellentRead More...

  • The Interview With The Programmer

    6 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    From the Coding Horror BlogIf the internet has perfected anything its the art of the crappy phonedin halfassed email quotinterviewquot For all those who have bemoaned the often pathetic state of internet journalism when it comes to interviews youre largely correct The purpose of most of these interviews is quick and dirty content filler with semiRead More...

  • Why Fredericton should never get a hybrid transit bus

    4 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    Seen on Lamespotting Fredericton BlogYou keep hearing of more progressive cities getting hybrid transit buses Maybe Fredericton should get some too Lets first run some numbersCost of a bus 400000 for a regular one 600000 for a hybridAs with hybrid cars you need to change the batteries every 6 years As Fredericton keepRead More...

  • Canadian TV providers are ripping us off with PVR fees

    30 Jan 2010 | 2:01 am
    Seen on Lamespotting Fredericton BlogRecently there has been a lot of talk about broadcast reform in Canada Heres another argument as to why we need legislation to be more consumerfriendlyA Personal Video Recorder PVR also known as a DVR can be rented from 2025month depending on your provider Rogers 2495 BellTV 20 In the USRead More...
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    Silicon Moon

  • FRED: Tonight at TCHO in SF!

    9 Feb 2010 | 12:17 pm
    Our friend Deborah is co-hosting FRED in San Francisco tonight! More from their site:You’ve heard of TED. Meet his brother, FRED (Frivolity Revelry Eating Drinking). He’s slightly less ambitious but always the life of the party.We’d all love to be TED. We like giving back. We often ponder ways to fix the world. We’d certainly attend TED2010 if it was a little more accessible.FRED’s got you covered. Join a group of festive folks with great intentions at FRED’s inaugural event: “The Power of Chocolate to Change the Future,” brought to you by PR & Company and Tajima…

  • News & Links List

    8 Feb 2010 | 11:55 pm
    "First month Nexus One sales slow, says analytics group" Total TelecomInteresting number here is that Motorola's Droid sold 525,000 units during its first month versus Apple's iPhone first month of 600,000 units."Silicon Valley: You and Some of Your VC's have a Gender Problem" TechCrunch"Cisco's Big Bet on New Songdo: Creating Cities From Scratch" Fast CompanyWrote about Songdo before here."Obama: 'She insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt'" Washington Examiner"Gerard Alexander: Why are liberals so condescending?" The Washington Post"Down With the People: Blame the childish,…

  • "Hungry for New Content, Google Tries to Grow Its Own in Africa"

    8 Feb 2010 | 11:07 pm
    Not the most positive piece by the NYTimes, but pretty cool since it covered my wife's lead on this contest "to encourage students in Tanzania and Kenya to create articles for the Swahili version of Wikipedia."I remember Christine brainstorming about this idea, so it was great to see it come to fruition."Hungry for New Content, Google Tries to Grow Its Own in Africa" NYTimes, Noam Cohen

  • New Google Ad with Tiger Woods

    8 Feb 2010 | 12:34 pm
    HatTip to Dave L. Very funny...

  • Help LiNK Win $250K from Pepsi!

    7 Feb 2010 | 2:44 pm
    Vote for Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) in the Pepsi Refresh Project, so they can win $250K that will help them:* Provide job training, and career counseling for refugees.* Provide medical and psychological services for North Korean refugees.* Provide food for North Korean refugees once resettled in the U.S.* Facilitate language acquisition and cultural orientation for refugees.* Provide housing for North Korean refugees once resettled in the U.S.
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    Leveraging Ideas

  • Networking Arbitrage: The Comment

    Sam
    3 Feb 2010 | 9:35 pm
    As I have noted before, I feel that the quality of my online interactions with other individuals has been dropping. I no longer use Twitter as a conversation medium with friends because Twitter has changed. I don’t really like instant messaging because I find it distracting; when I’m in front of my computer I want to focus on the task at hand. On Facebook I tend not to get solicited much due to my privacy settings. Which leads me to a recent conclusion…the best way to engage with someone, especially if for the purposes of networking, is to leave thoughtful comments on their…

  • Where Art & Science Meet on the ‘Now Web’

    Sam
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:42 pm
    I loved the quote below from Howard Lindzon. No matter the vertical, links are the currency of the web. The ‘Now’ web is all about links, and the financial community is all about fresh ideas. Stocktwits streams can move pretty quickly especially in fast markets.  Therefore, some level of aggregation is a welcome tool for many users.  While aggregation tools continue to evolve, curation remains a crucial component. Blending the two is where art and science meet. I’ve also really been really enjoying Howard’s interviews with leading financial thinkers such as Paul Kedrosky,…

  • No Facebook IPO in 2010: The Writing Was On the Wall

    Sam
    26 Jan 2010 | 10:24 am
    As I pointed out in a tweet a week ago — the fact that Dave Morin left Facebook seemed a clear signal to me that Facebook would not IPO in 2010. It’s awesome that Dave is pursuing his dream, but also says something interesting when you read between the lines. My Tweet: News Story One Week Later:

  • Why I Share and Why You Will Too

    Sam
    24 Jan 2010 | 11:34 pm
    My good friend Mike authored a great post tonight on “behavior generated content.” An all-star cast followed up with great comments (@lessin, @andyweissman, @jonsteinberg, @ericfriedman and others). It’s worth a read. A comment Jon Steinberg made struck a chord with me: “it’s more an overall issue of people sharing more and the line being further public than we ever thought we’d be comfortable with. Each successive push goes further: Twitter to Foursquare to Blippy” Yes! A simple but powerful observation. The early-adopters are pushing the envelope with new services that…

  • Esther Dyson on Identifying Tension Points

    Sam
    15 Jan 2010 | 7:58 am
    From the most recent GOOD Magazine: Esther Dyson notices the present in a way others don’t. Take a building, for example. “One will say it’s red with two stories,” she says. “Another will say it’s made out of wood, two hundred years old, with a pointed roof. And I will say, ‘Here’s the building. This is where the stresses are and here is where the floor is sagging.’” Much of Dyson’s skill in spotting tensions can be traced back to her early economics studies at Harvard. “I felt it was a good way to understand the world. Economics is a fundamental mover, and it has…
 
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    D.I.Y. Startup news

  • Doocu.com alpha (Helps You Save Your PDF Documents Online.)

    public
    4 Feb 2010 | 7:11 am
    Save, organize, and share your PDF documents online. Doocu.com provides one step easy signup where you can instantly start to upload and share. You can browse other people/groups collection. Download the PDF or just read it online. http://www.doocu.com/

  • Start a virtual company by sharing ownership in a domain name

    public
    2 Feb 2010 | 9:24 pm
    With Sitepie you can share ownership in an internet domain name. By sharing the ownership of a domain name, you and the other owners can develop a website without having the hassle of starting a real company.

  • Televize your Twitter

    public
    1 Feb 2010 | 5:44 pm
    Tweetz.tv is a fast and personalized way of watching the videos mentioned on Twitter. It brings all tweeted videos together on one site and gives it a fantastic overview and great browsing abilities. http://www.tweetz.tv

  • Leadtail Announces the Best Free and Affordable Press Release Services

    public
    29 Jan 2010 | 5:52 pm
    Leadtail, the world’s first online advertising search engine, announced its choices for the 31 Best Free and Affordable Press Release Services.

  • Market Research dedicated to Startups and Pre-Startups

    public
    29 Jan 2010 | 5:50 pm
    We provide a full range of market research services, testing the way people will react to a product or service. We use online questionnaires to examine the buying habits and needs of specially selected sample groups of potential customers.
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    KillerStartups.com - all

  • GreenGoose.com - A Different Way To Save Energy

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:08 am
    A service that might seem a little on the gimmicky side but which turns out to work quite well, Green Goose will let you estimate how much energy you are spending and how much you could consequently save. This solution is web-based, and it also entails buying a basket of green eggs to measure your expenditure. Yes, you read right.Read moreLearn more about GreenGoose.com in Dataopedia.comFind out how much GreenGoose.com is worth with Stimator.com

  • Dcyder.com - For Women In Need Of Advice

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:05 am
    Dcyder is a brand new site that aims to let women young and seasoned alike convene online and answer questions collectively. That is, the dynamics of the site imply that one asks a question and the online community will then offer its insight. The questions that are featured go by the names of “dilemmas”, and they range far and wide.Read moreLearn more about Dcyder.com in Dataopedia.comFind out how much Dcyder.com is worth with Stimator.com

  • CapsuleCRM.com - Managing Customers In An Easy Way

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am
    Small businesses could find a visit to the Capsule website convenient. In general terms, Capsule is a management system both for customers and sales teams. Using it, anybody can keep the ones he does business with fully in track, and never let any vital communication slip unheeded.Read moreLearn more about CapsuleCRM.com in Dataopedia.comFind out how much CapsuleCRM.com is worth with Stimator.com

  • ToDoTweet.com - Managing Your Tweets

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am
    There are people out there that use Twitter for more than letting us all know that they are watching the final season of “Lost” , and reminding us about that every five minutes. There are actually people to whom Twitter is a true professional tool, and these individuals are the ones who will maximize this site for certain. TodoTweet is a task manager for Twitter.Read moreLearn more about ToDoTweet.com in Dataopedia.comFind out how much ToDoTweet.com is worth with Stimator.com

  • Bandize.com - For Bands That Want To Be Organized

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am
    There is no reason why a band shouldn’t be run like a serious business. I mean, it is not like Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention sang - nobody is “only in it for the money”, but money is there and it is a big part of the equation. So is keeping your finances in order - you don’t want to end like Willie Nelson and record an album just to pay the Inland Revenue Service.Read moreLearn more about Bandize.com in Dataopedia.comFind out how much Bandize.com is worth with Stimator.com
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    Campus Entrepreneurship

  • NYTimes.com The Prize Covers Business Plan Competitions

    David J. Miller
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:34 pm
    Somehow I missed this, but the NY Times now has a blog called the Prize written by Lora Kolodny that covers the world of business plan competitions, prizes, and winners. Its great to see that business plan competitions, whose roots come out of entrepreneurship education are receiving coverage from the mainstream press. Some recent posts include: Shopify, a Start-Up, Starts its Own Business Plan Competition Can Main Street Win Business Plan Competitions? Encouraging Minority Entrepreneurship at Morehouse

  • 4 Harvard Students Bring Energy/Soccer Social Venture

    David J. Miller
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:29 pm
    Found out about this super cool new social venture  from the most recent Springwise newsletter. Soccket is a soccer ball for the developing world that also acts as an energy harvester. Each time a ball is impacted (by a kick, head, or bounce) energy is available. The Soccket collect the energy and it can be used by a variety of devices. This venture was created a four person team during a Harvard engineering class where they were tasked Harvard born Soccket is on to something fun and potential game changing. with finding a problem and solving it. The hope is that the energy from the soccer…

  • Peter Drucker and Social Innovation

    David J. Miller
    31 Jan 2010 | 9:15 pm
    Was spending some time over at Changing Higher Education and was reading a post on higher education’s social responsibilities in a globalizing economy. A lot of the piece is about educating workers that satisfy the needs of today’s businesses. The post then went on to reference some of Peter Drucker’s writings and linked to a great article on Drucker by Michael Hiltzik  of the LA Times on Dec. 31, 2009. From Hiltzik: Drucker’s most important insight concerned the role of the corporation in society. “The business enterprise is a creature of a society and an…

  • TV Shows Make Entrepreneurs Lead Characters

    David J. Miller
    31 Jan 2010 | 4:27 pm
    During my introductory class of New Venture Management for undergraduates I explain the role the media has played in promoting entrepreneurs and the idea of running your own business. We discuss reality shows like American Chopper (Discovery Channel) and Ax Men (History Channel) and others like Shark Tank (ABC) and How Things Are Made (Science Channel) as well as ‘news magazine’ style shows like Donny Deutsch’s The Entrepreneurs and Bloomberg TV’s Venture. The Wall Street Journal recently had a piece by Emily Maltby that looks into the trend of reality shows based on…

  • 50 Amazing Quotes for Entrepreneurs

    David J. Miller
    30 Jan 2010 | 8:09 am
    Good quotes can reveal a truth or challenge an assumption — often succinctly and directly. I love using quotes while working with entrepreneurship students and student entrepreneurs because the right quote can often explain the idea better than I can. The source of the quote matters too. The Work at Home Based Business Blog has a list of 50 Success Quotes for Entrepreneurs. I will be sure to integrate some of these into my research and my teaching of entrepreneurship. Here are a few from the list that highlight why I think quotes are beneficial for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship…
 
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    Newly Corporate

  • 3 Tips on Avoiding the Dark Side of Working Weekends

    Brandon Henak
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am
    This guest post was contributed by Shannon Wills, an avid reader and contributor to a number of other professional blogs. There are some people who swear that their job is their life, and then there are others who try their very best to prevent their jobs from becoming their lives. It’s different strokes for different folks, but no matter which category you belong to, there will come a time when you have to work harder than ever, stay long hours at the office, spend your weekends cooped up in your cubicle, or have to forsake your holiday because an important project just cropped up.

  • Fit Professional Secret 1: A Mid-Day Workout

    Brandon Henak
    11 Jan 2010 | 9:27 am
    As young professionals, or any age professionals for that matter, we often struggle to balance heavy workloads with the right amount of exercise to keep us physically fit and focused.  Although we aren’t perfect here at Newly Corporate, we are going to share which “secrets” or strategies have worked best for us, we welcome your feedback and additional suggestions as well. The first “secret” is a mid-day workout.  Many workplaces have in-house or nearby gyms with discounted memberships for employees (and showers), especially in this healthcare-sensitive…

  • 2009 Holiday Gifts For Young Professionals

    Dan
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:39 pm
    It is getting to be that time of year again. It can be hard to shop for twentysomethings, but the team here at Newly Corporate does an annual brainstorm to identify great products for generation Y professionals. We try not to break the bank with our recommendations, but we don’t discriminate against more expensive objects of desire either. Everything we link to goes to amazon.com, so feel free to investigate the suggested products as well. We’re confident you’ll be able to find something nice for that young professional on your list! See the whole list! 1. LG Blue-ray player…

  • 5 Engagement Ring Buying Tips for the Young Professional

    Brandon Henak
    28 Oct 2009 | 10:36 am
    Yes, it’s true, I have recently taken a major step in my life and asked my girlfriend to marry me.  As part of this process, I went through what most men do: the search for the perfect ring.  Based on my girlfriend’s answer to my proposal (Yes!) and all the positive feedback I have received on the ring post-proposal, I figured I would share what worked for me.  No yes-answer guarantees but, here are my tips on a purchase that can be pretty daunting. 1. Decide whether you want it to be a surprise or you want to go shop with her.  Being old fashioned, I wanted to surprise…

  • 10 Lessons from Creating an iPhone Application Start Up (Part 2)

    Brandon Henak
    30 Sep 2009 | 7:18 am
    This is the second of a two part series (click here for part one) from a friend of the Newly Corporate bloggers, Eli Gratz.  iPhone Apps and Start Ups are two of the most fascinating things for young professionals today and Eli has done both during his spare time (see http://www.drinkspecialsapp.com)!  I asked him to share some of his experiences creating the Drink Specials App for the iPhone (available in the app store) and recieved 10 great lessons for young professionals looking to start their own businesses or develop mobile applications! 6. Be flexible on your vision, hold to your…
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    TheFunded Founder Institute News

  • The Founder Institute Goes International

    20 Jan 2010 | 10:50 pm
    The Founder Institute is announcing a big expansion today, with new Spring 2010 Semesters in Singapore, Paris, Los Angeles and Denver. The deadline for early admissions is February 15th, with all applications due by February 28th, 2010.  Apply to the Singapore Program Apply to the Paris Program Apply to the Los Angeles Program  Apply to the Denver Program Apply to the San Diego/Orange County Program   The Institute is run by founders for founders, providing a framework for successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences and to help. We've already lined up an impressive…

  • Happy New Year!

    5 Jan 2010 | 5:00 pm
    The Founder Institute wishes all of the participating entrepreneurs, Mentors, sponsors, and partners a Happy New Year and a successful 2010! This will be an exciting year for hundreds of enrolled Founders, who will incorporate a new technology business during the semester as part of their graduation process. After incorporating on April 16th, 2009, the Institute had three goals: launch a successful first semester that proves the model, implement a founder selection process that efficiently identifies strong talent, and, assuming success, expand the model into six operating locations. The…

  • Two Grads Launch in TechCrunch

    22 Dec 2009 | 10:00 am
    Two graduates of the Founder Institute Summer 2009 Bay Area semester have launched within three days of each other with articles in TechCrunch. The Summer 2009 Graduates are starting to gain traction with their ideas, which range from consumer electronics to video games. The first graduate, Got Clues, is an educational entertainment company. Got Clues announced the launch of iRewardChart, an interactive iPhone application to help parents track and reward children activities, such as cleaning their room. You can read more below: RewardChart Gets Your Kids To Shoot For The Stars… And…

  • 195 Founders Enrolled in Winter 2009 Semesters

    9 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm
    The Founder Institute has enrolled 195 Founders in the Bay Area, New York, Seattle, Washington DC, and San Diego for Winter 2009 semesters that run through ealry April, 2010. After tonight, all five locations will have launched first sessions. Congratulations to the incoming Founders! We hope to help make your startups successful in 2009 and 2010!

  • 41 Accepted from DC and New York

    28 Nov 2009 | 10:03 pm
    The Institute accepted 41 Founders into the New York and Washington DC Area semesters Saturday evening, filling both locations with excellent candidates. The final admissions process occurs quickly by design. If you receive an acceptance letter, act on it sooner rather than later. Accepted Founders have less than 48 hours to enroll. If an invited applicant does not respond, two people from the waiting list are invited to fill any single vacancy. The moment a location has the desired number of Founders committed, enrollment is closed and everyone is sent notice. The Institute will start…
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    Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing

  • From MSFT evangelist to Mac enthusiast - the other side of the road

    DonDodge
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:50 am
    For five years I was a Microsoft evangelist to the startup and venture capital community. That ended a couple months ago. I am now a Developer Advocate at Google and I love it. After years of defending Microsoft against the Apple fanatics I decided to go to the other side of the road to see for myself. Microsoft frowns on employees using competitive products, and there isn't much time or budget to do it anyway. So, the move from Microsoft gave me the opportunity to try lots of new things. The move from Microsoft was complete. From Windows to Mac, from Outlook to Gmail, from Explorer to Google…

  • Google Apps announces de-support of IE6

    DonDodge
    1 Feb 2010 | 5:30 pm
    Internet Explorer 6.0 launched in August of 2001, more than 8 years ago. Microsoft’s current version is IE 8. Web developers have complained for years about needing to support multiple versions of browsers and the security risks in older browsers. Older browsers don’t support new features, particularly around voice and video. In a move to encourage users to upgrade to modern browser versions Google Apps announced they will stop supporting IE 6 effective March 1, 2010. The feedback from developers was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Microsoft itself will end support for IE 6 on July…

  • How Google sets goals and measures success

    DonDodge
    28 Jan 2010 | 7:05 am
    Google sets impossible bodacious goals…and then achieves them. The engineering mindset of solving the impossible problem is part of the culture instilled in every group at Google. Tough engineering problems don’t have obvious answers. You need to invent the solution, not just optimize something that exists. Every quarter every group at Google sets goals, called OKRs, for the next 90 days. Most big companies set annual goals like improving or growing something by x%, and then measure performance once a year. At Google a year is like a decade. Annual goals aren’t good enough. Set…

  • SeedCamp European startups visit NYC and Silicon Valley

    DonDodge
    21 Jan 2010 | 3:55 pm
    SeedCamp is a European based startup incubator similar to Ycombinator or TechStars here in the USA. Google hosted the top startups from the program in New York City and Silicon Valley this week. Each startup pitched to an audience of VCs, Angels, and startup mentors. Here is a short overview of each company written in real time as they presented. Please forgive the brevity…they talk very fast. Advertag - Tag based search for advertisements for job listings, stock photos, etc. Companies looking to hire people tag their ads with Advertag. Then the ads show up on their destination site. Sort…

  • What do Mark Cuban, Dan Farber, Steve Ballmer, and Mary Jo Foley have in common?

    DonDodge
    21 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am
    Doing what you love to do is a special privilege. Many people trudge through life working jobs they don’t like, or in these times, struggling to find a job at all. This week I had the chance to spend time with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Dan Farber, Editor in Chief of CBSnews.com, and Mary Jo Foley, author of Microsoft 2.0, and writer of MicrosoftWatch. During our conversations Microsoft and Steve Ballmer usually came up. On reflection it became clear to me what all of these people have in common; they love what they do. Steve Ballmer and Mark Cuban are billionaires many…
 
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    Colorado Startups

  • Beers with Brad (Feld, that is)

    David Cohen
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:39 am
      KGNU is having a Beers with Brad (Feld) event, a benefit for KGNU at the Twisted Pine brewery (in the brewery itself, not the tasting room!) on Feb. 18th – 6-8 pm. It’s the first BWB event in Boulder in a very long time. If you like beer, and you like Brad, you should go. The details are available at http://beerswithbrad.eventbrite.com/, or twitter @beerswithbrad.

  • Help! The proposed “software tax” stinks

    David Cohen
    27 Jan 2010 | 9:01 am
    You may have heard by now that Governor Ritter is rushing a new tax on software through legislation at an unprecedented rate, with an effective date of March 1, if passed. The bill proposes a new tax on any software purchased or installed in Colorado. Yes, a tax on software. Wait, it’s worse. It’s unclear that this new tax is even constitutional as none of us will be given the chance to vote on the issue! We’re making huge progress in making sure Colorado is known as a great place to build software companies. Colorado is now on the map as a friendly place for software…

  • How I use Plancast

    David Cohen
    26 Jan 2010 | 8:15 pm
    I’m loving Plancast. It’s a very powerful social discovery tool. Here’s a quick overview of how I use it. I put in any events that I’m attending that are “significant” that I think my friends might like to know about. I love how easy it is to put in a future plan. It’s just 3 fields (what, when, where), and takes 3 seconds. People that subscribe to my plans then know about those events and can easily “join me” with a single click. Try it here. At first I found all the email notifications a little annoying. Every time someone that I follow…

  • Open Angel Forum Colorado – February 3 FAQS

    David Cohen
    21 Jan 2010 | 10:57 am
    Since my original post on the Open Angel Forum, I’ve received the following frequently asked questions: Q. What is the deadline to apply to present at OAFCO1 on February 3rd, 2010? A. From my experience with TechStars, I know you need a deadline so you can apply 32 seconds before it. So let’s make it 6:00PM Mountain time, February 1st, 2010. Of course, applying earlier would be helpful and appreciated. Here’s the application form again. Q. What types of angels/companies should attend/present at OAFCO? A. The angel makeup so far seems to be about 80% software/IT/web and 20%…

  • Startup2Student at CU

    David Cohen
    17 Jan 2010 | 9:26 am
    If you’re a Colorado company looking to hire interns or full time, check out Startup2Student on March 11th, 2010. This was a great event last year, and I expect that Ben Limmer who’s organizing it will make sure it’s even better this year. The event is held on campus, and it’s an easy way for students to engage with startups. Part of the original mission here was simply to expose students to entrepreneurial companies. I know that this led to several direct hires last year, but perhaps more importantly it built awareness on campus about the lively startup scene in…
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    OnlyOnce

  • Context is King

    Matt
    26 Jan 2010 | 3:53 am
    Context is KingA small post with a good point.  I noticed in The Economist this week something that struck me.  They posted a correction to a prior article.  Publications do that all the time, but this particular correction was placed on a page in the same section of the magazine in which the error appeared a couple weeks before.  Most print publications tend to bury their corrections in the front or the back where they never get seen.  But this one was right in the middle of the magazine, saying "we made a mistake - right here."  Noteworthy to me for its show of transparency, always…

  • Book Short: Not About Going With The...

    Matt
    25 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am
    Book Short:  Not About Going With The...   Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (book, Kindle), was a great read and a nice change from either strictly business books or my regular fiction/non-fiction reading.  It's basically about the process of achieving happiness through control over one’s inner life, but it's far from a self-help book.  It's almost more of practical psychology deep dive into what brings about happiness and peak performance - a state the author calls Flow but others have called other things over time,…

  • The Beginning of the DMA’s Next Chapter

    Matt
    20 Jan 2010 | 8:49 am
    The Beginning of the DMA’s Next Chapter   As I wrote a few months back, I recently joined the DMA’s Board of Directors and its Executive Committee to try to help the association – one of the largest and highest profile groups representing marketers – advance its agenda in a few specific ways.  At the time, I noted that my interests would be on consumer advocacy and engagement, execution around interactive marketing issues and the internet community, and transparency around the organization itself.   Yesterday, John Greco, the association’s CEO, announced he is…

  • Jump Starting Start Ups

    Matt
    14 Jan 2010 | 4:02 pm
      As I mentioned in some recent posts, I’ve really enjoyed sharing the Return Path story with the tech start-up community in New York through groups like the NYC Lean Startup Meetup.     Next week I’m taking the Return Path story on the road to Silicon Valley where I’ll be presenting to Startup2Startup.  Startup2Startup is a group of Silicon Valley geeks, entrepreneurs, and investors dedicated to educating and helping the next generation of Internet startups. They meet monthly over dinner to discuss relevant topics in technology and entrepreneurship,…

  • What Gets Said vs. What Gets Heard

    Matt
    5 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am
    What Gets Said vs. What Gets HeardI've been on the edge of a few different situations lately at work where what seems like a very clear (even by objective standards) conversation ends up with two very different understandings down the road.  This is the problem I'd characterize as "What gets said isn't necessarily what gets heard."  More often than not, this is around delivering bad news, but there are other use cases as well.  Imagine these three fictitious examples: Edward was surprised he got fired, even though his manager said he gave him repeated warnings and performance feedback…
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    Learn to Duck

  • 750 Words on Advice

    Micah
    6 Feb 2010 | 8:55 am
    I like to give advice. I really do. I am an opinionated person, and I have a big mouth. I often tell my team, when asked, I will always make a decision, so if you dont want me to make a decision, then dont ask. I like to give advice. Over the years, I have made many mistakes, both personally and professionally. It seems that sharing those experiences is a good thing. So, I give advice. I like to give advice. Maybe its a Jewish thing? Maybe its something that my family does. During most conversations I have with my sisters, Mom and Dad, there are moments where advice is given or sought. Its…

  • 750 Words on Leadership

    Micah
    5 Feb 2010 | 6:42 am
    I hate the topic of leadership. I really do. There are a thousand books written about it, a million blog posts. There are courses one can take at college (I know I took some at the Masters level) and professional courses you can take through your employer. Because of the focus on the tactics and application of leadership, we assume that leaders come from a certain stock of people, and the rest of us just have to learn how to become leaders. But leadership really isnt that much of a mystery. Work based leadership is task based. The goal is to achieve something, and the chain of command is…

  • 750 Words on Real Connections

    Micah
    4 Feb 2010 | 7:45 am
    Last week(ish), my friend Michael Galpert [twitter] turned me on to a site called 750words. A super simple site, where you literally get a blinking cursor and a word counter. The idea, as Buster Benson [twitter], the creator lays out: I’ve long been inspired by an idea I first learned about in The Artist’s Way called morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in “long hand”, typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It’s about getting it all out of…

  • What Kind of Entrepreneur Am I?

    Micah
    31 Jan 2010 | 1:07 pm
    Yesterday, Mark Suster (if you are in a startup, thinking about startups, even just kinda like startups, you should be reading religiously) wrote a post about the importance of competitiveness in a successful entrepreneur. I met Mark at last year’s Twiistup in LA, and we had some interesting discussions about startup ecosystems, and when it was time to raise money for Graphic.ly, Mark and GRP Partners, was high on my list. I did a couple of pitches before meeting with Mark in LA to make sure that I had it down. I went in and sat down, excited to show Mark what we had built, and the…

  • Giving You Me.

    Micah
    30 Jan 2010 | 1:57 pm
    Last week, I spent a decent part of the week in introspection. I do that now and again. Its the only way I can gut check myself and figure out what I am doing right and wrong. I found that in my zeal to “be me,” I forgot to “be me.” I was trying so hard to become my vision of “perfect Micah,” and lost sight of real Micah. Why does that matter? Well, I live in public. Not quite as much as Josh Harris did, but enough to allow anyone to call me, IM me, figure out where I am, email me, send a monkey call, basically connect to me in anyway at anytime they want.
 
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    Startup Weekend

  • Startup Weekend Direction

    Startup Weekend Crew
    4 Feb 2010 | 2:46 pm
    I want to touch on the future direction of Startup Weekend but first here is a little background on it’s evolution.  Andrew Hyde launched Startup Weekend in June of 2007 and held the first event in Boulder, CO.  At that point in time Startup Weekend was structured as a Colorado LLC where attendees would gather to pitch ideas for a new startup.  Of the ideas pitched, one was chosen and all of the attendees in the room would roll up their sleeves and get to work building it.  My first experience with this model was at the first event that came to Seattle which was held at…

  • NYC for BizSpark Camp Jan 28-29

    Startup Weekend Crew
    22 Jan 2010 | 11:58 am
    We like to get involved in various startup activities from time to time, and we like to invite the Startup Weekend community to take advantage of them too. Marc and Clint from Startup Weekend will be flying out the end of Jan. for the Azure BizSpark Camp in NYC at the MS office in Manhattan. This is a FREE event with a chance to win $5k. If you are familiar with Azure or any other MS platforms or want to learn, this is a great opportunity. Not a member of BizSpark? Apply through Startup Weekend here. We will be putting on a happy hour with the help of the BizSpark team one of the evenings…

  • Give us your feedback!

    Startup Weekend Crew
    19 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm
    It’s our mission to keep improving… obviously the best way to do that is to respond to what the community wants to see. Please take 1 minute to fill out our quick survey and help us make Startup Weekend better!

  • Seattle Startup Weekend 4 Planning Meeting

    Startup Weekend Crew
    14 Jan 2010 | 2:26 pm
    Come join us on January 25th at Cyclops beginning at 6pm for to talk about the upcoming Seattle Startup Weekend event.  We have our sights set on March 19-21 Seattle Startup Weekend 4.  We want to get everyone involved that is interested in being part of the event and want your feedback to keep making it better. We’re hoping to see some familiar faces and new ones as well.  This is a great reason to mingle with the Seattle startup community.  Looking forward to seeing you there and getting your input! Map of Cyclops

  • Past Companies

    Startup Weekend Crew
    12 Jan 2010 | 8:54 pm
    Want to see some of the most successful past companies that started at Startup Weekend events? Check out http://startupweekend.org/past-companies/
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    Startup Houston

  • iPhone Dev Camp Houston Live Stream is Live

    kurtstoll
    30 Jan 2010 | 6:48 am
    Join us today for the live stream and live blog of Houston’s first iPhone Dev Camp! Streaming live video by Ustream

  • Tech Connection Event January 28, 2010

    Marc Nathan
    16 Jan 2010 | 5:52 am
    Houston is home to a number of organizations that offer the keys to building a successful technology company. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn about their plans for 2010. Startup Houston will be participating for the first time this year. Tech Connection Thursday, January 28, 2010 The Houstonian Hotel Keynote by Michael Garfield 5:30 -8:30 pm Pre-registration Jan. 22th: Tickets $25 Registration deadline Jan 27th: Tickets $35 At the door: Tickets $40 Register Here Organizations Represented: Greater Houston Partnership www.houston.org BioHouston www.biohouston.org Houston Angel…

  • Houston iPhone Application Developers are Gaining Visibility

    Marc Nathan
    15 Jan 2010 | 5:02 am
    In light of the article written in the Houston Chronicle by Purva Patel last week: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/6808624.html# some other news has come out about the Houston mobile development scene. Anthony Broussard gave a great interview about his company Quantum Potato to the BusinessMakers radio show. You can hear the entire interview here http://www.thebusinessmakers.com/episodes/shows/2010/january-2010/episode-240/anthony-broussard.html He talks about how his very first game called Enlightenment Vision: http://linktoapp.com/enlightenment_vision was approved in four days…

  • BMC buys DFJ Mercury Funded Phurnace

    Marc Nathan
    7 Jan 2010 | 7:25 am
    While it’s neither of the two companies involved are actually ‘Houston Startups’, BMC is far from its startup days and Phurnace is based in Austin -  it was funded by DFJ Mercury – making it the Houston-based early stage Venture Capitalists first exit. It nice to see a win for the hometown team and this gives them the opportunity to look at more deals in our area: From Texas Tech Pulse: http://texastechpulse.com/bmc_buys_phurnace_software/s-0026067.html BMC Buys Phurnace Software —- Houston-based BMC Software said this morning that it has acquired Austin’s…

  • Answers.onstartups.com

    Marc Nathan
    5 Jan 2010 | 7:05 am
    I got a email last night from a good friend and fellow Capital Factory mentor, Jason Cohen who writes one of the best blogs about startups, named A Smart Bear that has great posts like this and is also the cofounder of answers.onstartups.com along with startup rockstar Dharmesh Shah, the founder of HubSpot and author of Inbound Marketing. Jason alerted me to this recent question, asking if Houston was a good startup town. http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/5983/is-houston-tx-a-good-place-for-startup What do you think? I encourage you to answer honestly on that site and then paste your…
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    Bootstrapping

  • Building on strengths or fixing weaknesses?

    heckman
    31 Jan 2010 | 4:35 pm
    When we start off in business, we often do so because we have a great strength. Whether, you’re a terrific salesperson or an intrepid designer, your strength is the vehicle to make you money. Unfortunately, it only takes about a week into your business when you realize what you do poorly. This can be customer relations, accounting, or…well, practically anything and everything that can go wrong when it comes to running a bootstrapped business. So what do you do? You only have so much time and effort, so do you build on strengths or fix weaknesses? A little perspective: Almost everybody…

  • Can Diet Improve My Business?

    heckman
    22 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am
    For many people who run businesses that are located in offices, their bodies don’t seem like vital investments. Sure, if you were a cook or a construction worker, your physical wellbeing might be something you invested in. After all, it’s the only way to make money. But office workers tend to think that they only need their thinking, which doesn’t depend on physical wellbeing, right? Wrong! How you take care of your body is vital to how well you can work; whether you crush rocks or philosophize. One place to really make this happen is with your diet. It might seem odd…can diet improve…

  • 10 Ways to Improve Workflow

    heckman
    19 Oct 2009 | 4:44 am
    Whatever your job is, when you sit down to do it, often the task at hand can distract you from the importance of the way you do it. If you’re a small business owner or otherwise, you’ll want to save yourself small bits of time that can otherwise add up to entire days of extra work performed. Here are 10 ways to improve workflow. Think mise en place, or everything in its place. This idea is popular among professional chefs. Basically put, make sure your work space is organized with everything in easy reach and nothing in the way. Your computer desktop is still a desktop. Clean your…

  • Submission Doesn’t Always Mean Obedience

    heckman
    15 Oct 2009 | 5:37 am
    How Article submission Can Create Business Stating that the Web has forever changed business is a massive understatement. The amount of customers available to a business like yours has exploded with people from all over the world able to access your products any time of day. However, every business is taking advantage of this new market and crowding has become a significant problem for businesses trying to stand out in search engine listings and against other competitors selling similar products. Though it may seem like spending loads of money on advertising is the only way to really get…

  • Marketing Campaigns for Under $100

    heckman
    12 Oct 2009 | 4:21 am
    Today’s businesses suffer from one giant dilemma—they need to reach more customers in an increasingly competitive marketplace and they also have tight budgets that demand results. It doesn’t take much thinking to realize that this is a huge problem for many businesses. In an ideal world, you could just throw unlimited amounts of money into your marketing budget, yet this isn’t possible. When money is abundant, businesses tend to make choices that aren’t as effective or pragmatic. In this way, a tight budget may be beneficial in helping you create a concise marketing plan that…
 
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    Startup Story Radio

  • Rob McNealy Testifies at the CO Senate Finance Committee

    Rob McNealy
    4 Feb 2010 | 9:24 pm
    I testified at the Colorado Senate Finance Committee on a package of new tax bills known as the “Dirty Dozen.”  Here is an audio of that testimony:

  • Rob McNealy Joins Colorado Union of Taxpayers

    Rob McNealy
    13 Dec 2009 | 10:45 pm
    I recently joined the Colorado Union of Taxpayers and signed their pledge.  This pledge affirms my commitment to the principles of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, and reads as follows: I Rob McNealy, candidate U.S. House of Representatives – CD6 hereby pledge to the Citizens of Colorado: Tabor: to honor and uphold the spirit as well [...]

  • Why I Am Running as a Libertarian for Colorado’s CD 6

    Rob McNealy
    12 Dec 2009 | 9:07 pm
    I have been asked recently why I am running for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District as a Libertarian, instead of as a Republican. Many have said that I would make a great GOP contender in a primary against the incumbent-that I am a great alternative to the typical big government career politician in office now. [...]

  • Rob McNealy Interviewed on CBS 4 News

    Rob McNealy
    4 Dec 2009 | 10:51 pm
    I had an early morning interview with CBS 4 News the other day.  We talked over Skype about my campaign for CD6 and how social media is changing politics.

  • Rob McNealy Kicks Off Campaign for Colorado Congressional District 6

    Rob McNealy
    4 Dec 2009 | 7:58 pm
    Our historic campaign launch event was last night, and a great time was had by all.  We had over 50 people attend, which is unprecedented for a third party launch event.  We were also the first campaign launch to be done via Twitter.   These are only a few of the many firsts that will be [...]
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    TechStars

  • Applicant Geography

    shawnbroderick
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:51 am
    Now that the selection process for TechStars’ spring Boston program is behind us, I was curious to do some digging through the applicant data to understand a bit more about their demographics, specifically re: geography. My a priori expectations were that the number of MA-based companies had increased 2009 to 2010, but clearly I was incorrect. I did not expect the big change in international applicants. 14% in 2009 to 24% in 2010 is a huge bump. NB: Don’t try to add up the percentages. A company based in MA with co-founders in Zagreb is counted in all 3 columns. The goal of my math was to…

  • FiltrBox #4 TechStars Team Acquired

    andrewhyde
    29 Jan 2010 | 1:52 pm
    The class of 2007 TechStars is turning out to be something special, as outlined by David here. I went over the FiltrBox offices today and presented Ari Newman and Tom Chikoore their gold shirts (my favorite TechStars tradition). Excited for their future at Jive!

  • TechStars Founder Dating Meetup is Feb 10th

    nicoleglaros
    14 Jan 2010 | 7:32 pm
    What are the 2 major things we look for in our portfolio companies?  Team, and idea, in that order. But maybe you have a great idea and are still looking to build out your team.  Or maybe you’d make a fantastic entrepreneur, but are looking for a killer idea.  If you’re looking to apply to TechStars and need to round out your application, Founder Dating is the perfect place. There’s no agenda, no lectures, no lessons;  only an opportunity to find your ideal partner-in-crime, allowing you to build the next fantastic company.  It’s a must-attend event if…

  • Boston applications closed, Boulder applications open

    davidcohen
    13 Jan 2010 | 7:59 am
    Applications for the Boston program are now closed. We’re hard at work processing hundreds of applications for Boston, and approximately 25 finalists will be selected by January 23rd. The 10 or so companies to ultimately be invited will come from that group of finalists. If you applied to the Boston program and you are ultimately not selected, your application will automatically roll over for consideration for the Boulder program this summer. Speaking of Boulder, we are now accepting applications for the summer version of TechStars. If you apply early enough, you might receive an…

  • Class of 2007 has thrown down the guantlet

    davidcohen
    7 Jan 2010 | 9:19 pm
    I’m immensely proud of every one of those companies from 2007 who served as alpha testers for TechStars. TechStars has improved in substantial ways since year one, based largely on the feedback of those who have experienced it. Even within some of the companies from 2007 that have struggled and/or failed, I know that there are strong entrepreneurs who will just come back stronger. The first class of ten companies went through TechStars in the summer of 2007. It’s just 2 1/2 years since then, and already we’ve seen four positive acquisitions from that class of ten companies.
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    Money Magnet

  • And how is the Canadian economy doing?

    29 Jan 2010 | 5:55 am
    "When we see government stimulus end and the private sector to walk on its own two legs, I will feel a lot more confident," says David Rosenberg, Chief Economist & Strategist, Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.David spoke at YPO Leadership conference and gave the strong message that he is looking for sustainability. For investors, the market is being driven by government stimulus. This is the reason he is a bear on the US equity market. Canada is different as it is financial and commodities only, so much less of a diverse market. Resources have driven up the value of the Canadian dollar.Look…

  • What do you think of upfront fees?

    26 Jan 2010 | 12:18 pm
    The Private equity and Venture Capital Group has been running the longest discussion on Linkedin on the hot topic of paying up front fees for capital raises.Here is one comment that caught my eye"I've worked with the CEO's and BOD's of many companies in their efforts to raise series A, B, or C capital. The issue of upfront fees normally arises when efforts to raise angel or VC funds have been exhausted and companies reach out to the alternative capital markets. As we all know during the last 18 months the traditional sources of capital have become scarce.In the alternative capital markets, it…

  • Peter's Question

    26 Jan 2010 | 7:17 am
    “If the company disappeared, would it be missed?”This question was posed by the thoughtful Peter Barlas, a portfolio manager at KJ Harrison, a company that invests high net worth individuals’ money. Peter was taking us through his logic in picking companies for this next stretch of market which is going to have "S" curves with oil slicks galore. If you want to know his stock picks, which I thought to be shrewd, you can get hold of him at KJ Harrison.Now, what about you, what companies would you miss? Philip Lieberman, KJ Harrison, told me he would miss Gillette, but not Crate &…

  • What happens to companies with private equity?

    25 Jan 2010 | 12:47 pm
    Financial Post's John Turley-Ewart discusses private equity with author and entrepreneur Jacoline Loewen.Watch the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnfT3110upo&feature=relatedhttp://www.moneymagnetbook.ca

  • Family businesses can grow to become major forces in their economies.

    25 Jan 2010 | 11:53 am
    It is tough to keep a family business in the hands of the family, yet there are options. Private equity likes family businesses as other companies prefer doing work with them and customers like the feel of a family brand over a corporate one.Very few large family businesses thrive beyond the third generation. Those that do, find ways to run themselves professionally while making the family happy. Private equity can play a huge role in keeping family legacy but the business moving forward profitably.McKinsey and Co did research on how family businesses have managed to evolve and survive in…
 
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    Gawker: valleywag

  • The Lonely Faces of Five Minutes On Chat Roulette

    Richard Lawson
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:17 am
    So have you checked out this Chat Roulette thing? It's like Omegle, sudden instant e-chats with a stranger, only this time there's video and audio (which can both be turned off for anonymous browsing). Click, get a person, repeat. Curious about what the whole fuss was about, we spent exactly five minutes this afternoon (for this we are paid!) flipping through, and being flipped through. Who's on the strange, sad thing? Well, your typical gay dudes looking for action. There are also a few depressingly cheap, Eastern Bloc-looking porn ads. But mostly it's just lonely-looking people — in…

  • Map of a Divided Facebook

    Ryan Tate
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:07 am
    Did you know "God" is the most popular Facebook fan page in every southern U.S. state? The West Coast elites, meanwhile, like Michael Jackson, Barack Obama and Starbucks. Above: a map of Pete Warden's social network census, via ReadWriteWeb.

  • The Stripper Party Pics the Google Elite Didn't Want You to See

    Ryan Tate
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:55 am
    Google engineer and San Francisco partyboy Orkut Büyükkökten's wild housewarming may have been packed with internet billionaires like Sergey Brin last Saturday, but online pictures were reportedly forbidden. And yet here are snapshots of strippers and nude sculpture. Google co-founder Brin and search products VP Marissa Mayer helped christen co-worker Orkut's tenth-floor penthouse on San Francisco's Mint Plaza this past weekend, as we reported yesterday. It turns out co-founder Larry Page may have been there too; his model/Ph.D wife Lucy Southworth certainly was. At the time, we couldn't…

  • Google's One of the Few Things in the World That Can Still Scare Lindsay Lohan

    Ryan Tate
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:24 pm
    The Huffington Post looked for suckers in a target-rich environment; Lindsay Robertson offered a shocking new David Paterson rumor; and Lindsay Lohan is frightened by Google. The Twitterati hated the players and the game. Lindsay Lohan tried to imagine a world in which she had no privacy, in which her every move was digitally recorded and transmitted to strangers, and in which everyone else knew she hadn't read the news since 2006. So scary. The Huffington Post's tech editor wondered whether MacWorld Expo has attracted any technology bloggers eager to sacrifice their own time and money to…

  • Google's Chief of Fabulous Opens a Disco — In His Penthouse

    Ryan Tate
    8 Feb 2010 | 2:45 pm
    We couldn't persuade Orkut Büyükkökten to invite us to his opulent birthday-and-housewarmingparty Saturday, but we won't hold it against him. After all, Google's ambassador to the gay party scene had to fit several billionaires between his new dance poles. Orkut, in case you've forgotten, is by far the most interesting person to work for the Mountain View, California internet company, where the technical skills are valued over all else, resulting in a (mostly) boring army of engineer droids. Orkut's the fun exception. Sure, the Turkish programmer built Google's also-ran social network,…
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    E-Consulting - Entrepreneur

  • Is social media a threat to paid search?

    Ashley Friedlein
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:23 am
    For a while now people have been speculating whether ‘social media’ sites, in particular Twitter, pose a threat to Google search as people increasingly choose to ask their network for help rather than search. I can see this happening in a small way but it is certainly nothing like a Google killer. However, based in part on our own experience, I have been wondering increasingly how social media could impact negatively on paid search spend, which might be some cause for concern at the search engines?Charles Arthur at the Guardian yesterday posted his US media sites' traffic shows that…

  • How to control SEO spending post-recession

    Kevin Gibbons
    9 Feb 2010 | 3:45 am
    Remember back when the credit crunch was new? Every other blog post, including a fair few of mine, urged firms not to lose faith in online marketing, not to hack at their search engine marketing (SEM) budgets or lay off members of their online PR team. I still think it’s important to hold marketing nerve. If you are to grow your business then a successful marketing strategy is essential and budget cuts are not going to help.However, as the country shudders its way out of a historic recession, achieving an estimated 0.1% of growth in the last three months of 2009, it’s time to face facts.

  • The rules of email engagement: part two

    Matthew Kelleher
    9 Feb 2010 | 2:26 am
    A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece on the rules of email engagement, very much laying out fairly broad thoughts on the subject. Now I want to follow up with a more pointed ‘plan’ that, if followed, will ensure a virtuous spiral of engagement and increased ROI... That is a horribly glib statement, something that a Californian ‘guru’ might pen, so let's preface these comments with two facts: You cannot sell to someone who isn’t listening, or, to put it another way, if a customer is not opening and reading your email, you cannot influence them into purchasing. A customer engaged…

  • Q&A: Ian Hendry of WeCanDo.BIZ on social media and lead generation

    Graham Charlton
    9 Feb 2010 | 1:39 am
    WeCanDo.BIZ is an online network which helps SMEs find sales leads and business referrals, and it also offers a sales lead service for Twitter. I've been talking to CEO Ian Hendry about the company, the potential of Twitter for finding leads, and the effects of social media on Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Tell me about Wecando.biz, what is your business model?  The site helps businesses engage with potential new customers. We use social networking methods to broker introductions between people with a need and those who offer a solution; and provide Social CRM tools to help…

  • Is social media destroying trust in friends?

    Patricio Robles
    9 Feb 2010 | 1:05 am
    Just as marketers increase their spending on social media marketing comes potentially discouraging news: consumers are trusting their friends a whole lot less. According to AdAge, the 2010 Edelman Financial Services U.S. Trust Barometer found that only 25% of those surveyed considered friends and peers to be credible sources of information. That's down from 45% in 2008.The findings are stirring up a lot of buzz for obvious reasons. One of the reasons that social media is finally coming into its own as a bona fide marketing medium, where companies can interact with consumers and influence them…
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    The Freestyle Entrepreneur

  • YOUR LITTLE POCKET NOTEBOOK

    John Ingrisano
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:31 am
    If it’s the little things that count, here’s one big little thing: I’ve noticed that, of the many successful business people I’ve met over the years, perhaps half of them keep a little notebook in their shirt pockets.  Tell them something of interest or when they think of a potentially good idea, and they pull out the notebook, scribble a few notes and then go about the rest of their day.  Personally, I’ve found that carrying such a notebook has helped me “remember” tons of neat ideas and information that would have otherwise been lost. On the personal side, I tutor a fellow…

  • Forget About Your Customers

    John Ingrisano
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:47 am
    I know.  I know.  The customer is king.  But for a moment, consider two things:   Your customers have a need for your product.  They will buy it somewhere, either from you or from a competitor. They will buy it from you if you can demonstrate not that you’re great, but that you’re better than your competition.  (It’s like that story about not having to outrun the bear chasing two guys; you just have to outrun the other guy!)  So, for just a little while, forget about your customers and take a long, hard look at your competition.  And ask the question:  “Why are people buying…

  • WEDNESDAY QUOTE OF THE DAY

    John Ingrisano
    27 Jan 2010 | 6:11 am
    You don’t “stand” your business. You don’t “walk” your business. You “run” your business! Ready?  Set? Go!         –    John R. Ingrisano                The Freestyle Entrepreneur

  • Do What You Love

    John Ingrisano
    21 Jan 2010 | 1:22 pm
    I love to work hard.  In my opinion, there’s nothing more demanding or thrilling than getting out every day and taking on the enormous challenges of running a business.  Some days I slay the dragons; some days I come home smoked and char-broiled.  That’s half the fun.    But I also love to get away from work.  I can devote myself completely to business for 50 or 60 hours a week … provided I also know when to quit, when to call it a day, and when to do something else I love.    For me, that means finding time for my children and grandchildren; finding time to take…

  • THE ONE PERCENT SOLUTION!

    John Ingrisano
    15 Jan 2010 | 10:47 am
    As business owners, we love (or envy) those stories about the business that increases its sales by 35% one year, 50% the next, etc.  Unfortunately, most of us would giggle ourselves silly if we picked up 10% a year. Here’s what I do:  I look for ways to directly increase my sales or lower my expenses by a few dollars here, a few percentages points there.   For example (and you can read more about this is my column in the March  2010 edition of Corporate Report Wisconsin), when I had my ill-fated Jimmy Buffett retail store in the Caribbean, I learned that if I put a CD player at…
 
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    Mind Petals

  • Why Should I Learn A Foreign Language ?

    David Askaripour
    7 Feb 2010 | 1:36 pm
    Why Should I Learn A Foreign Language ? The answer — Why Not ! Learning a NEW language will open up so many NEW doors for you. And you’ll never regret it. What an amazing gift it is to be able to communicate with more people.

  • Let Me help YOU help YOURSELF – Mind Petals Consulting

    David Askaripour
    7 Feb 2010 | 12:46 pm
    It’s how to make a Million dollars by doing “nothing” because when you do something that you truly love, it’ll feel like you’re doing nothing… all the way to the bank.. And that “nothing” can potentially amount to millions of dollars. Or at least enough to allow you to feed your kids and travel the world. Money is a joke!!! Make as much of it as you want. Peacefully and Positively. Realize that it WON’T solve your problems. DON’T be a slave to it. THEN… make all the MONEY you desire. Live life abundantly. Why not? You can! Go…

  • How to be Rich

    David Askaripour
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:17 am
    Sure, be RICH in your bank. Why the hell not? But FIRST, be rich of spirit and heart. You MUST know this first. Then, go for the millions!!

  • Never Stop Filling up your Glass

    David Askaripour
    1 Feb 2010 | 1:07 pm
    Don’t become too fixed and rigid. Remain pliable and flexible. Thinking that you are only a “Christian” or “Biologist” limits you. You are not your degree. You are not your religious beliefs. You are not the organization you subscribe to. If you remain too stiff, you are bound to break.

  • Technology and Books can KILL you

    David Askaripour
    1 Feb 2010 | 1:04 pm
    Be careful of relying on books, videos, and gurus to find awareness. These things can never truly change you in any profound and meaningful way. Only you can do that.
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    Startup Lucky

  • UNmarketing on engagement, viral video, building your platform, social media, start-ups +

    Aronado
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:11 pm
    Fun interview with Scott Stratten aka UNmarketing.  Scott goes into detail for almost a full hour on engagement, viral video, building your platform, social media, start-ups and muchos more.  Watch, listen, learn and then get your ass back to work!! thx for stopping by. > Download MP3 Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing.com. He is [...]

  • ^Awesome #entrepreneur story (post Katrina): Naked Pizza “healthy fast food”

    Aronado
    1 Feb 2010 | 6:48 pm
    We wanted to share this awesome story from Entrepreneur.com full article HERE. The founders of Naked Pizza talk about creating jobs and promoting healthy eating in post-Katrina New Orleans. The NAKEDpizza guys offer the following advice for those passionate believers who are crazy enough to change the world, too: Passion: Figure out what you are passionate about and [...]

  • Is your core business under control? Scott Anthony of Innosight: Harvard Business

    Aronado
    25 Jan 2010 | 7:59 pm
    Credit: Harvard Business Review Scott Anthony, president of Innosight, explains how to innovate when time and money are tight. About Innosight: Our philosophy is unique in the consulting industry. We were founded by Clayton Christensen, professor and author of the best-selling books The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution, but we are not a typical “guru” firm. [...]

  • Start-ups & small businesses learn how to get featured in Entrepreneur Magazine. (Interview w/ Editor)

    Aronado
    19 Jan 2010 | 7:35 pm
    Amy Cosper aka *Queen of the Twitch* (Twitter pitch), Editor-In-Chief, Entrepreneur Magazine came by to educate & enlighten us today.  If you’d like to learn what Entrepreneur is looking for and how to get featured, we suggest you get ready to take some notes and watch! Please let us know your thoughts in the comments [...]

  • Peter Jones’s ten rules for entrepreneurial brilliance+

    Aronado
    16 Jan 2010 | 7:04 pm
    Leading businessman and TV personality Peter Jones reveals the behaviours you need to adopt in order to achieve entrepreneurial brilliance. 1. Vision 2. Influence 3. Confidence 4. Committment 5. Results Oriented 6. Timing 7. Perseverance 8. Caring 9. Action 10. Intuition Business entrepreneurship BBC Dragons Den enterprise top tips rich wealth inspiration investment guru startup
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    Texas Startup Blog

  • Negative Target Acquisition

    Alexander Muse
    7 Feb 2010 | 2:40 pm
    If you have ever been in a hang glider you know about ‘Negative Target Acquisition’. The concept is pretty simple, if you focus on the obstacles you are more likely to hit them. Hang gliding instructors will tell you, “Don’t focus on the power lines or the trees, instead focus on the path.” Of course this seems obvious. In business it isn’t so obvious. I was quoted in the paper today as saying that my biggest challenge was, “focus[ing] on what we’re doing, not what our competitors are doing. If I focus on my competitors, I can’t sleep, I…

  • To clarify a few things. . .

    Alexander Muse
    7 Feb 2010 | 6:17 am
    The Dallas Morning News ran a nice piece about me this morning, but while it was generally correct there were a few errors and omissions. I think my biggest problem with the article was that it failed to mention my current business partner Scott Ryan. Very few entrepreneurs have the ability to succeed without great partners - Richard Branson and Michael Dell may have been able to do it, but not me, I NEED the fellowship of other entrepreneurs to win. I wish I had been able to articulate this better to the reporter. The biggest error worthy of correction was with the time line. My first…

  • My seemingly ’suite’ deal that turned sour. . .

    Alexander Muse
    6 Feb 2010 | 8:37 am
    Over the years I have tried to share my experiences as an entrepreneur in this blog - some experiences that make me seem smarter than I actually am and others that make me seem downright stupid. Unfortunately this week I find myself in the latter position. Eventually most entrepreneurs will find themselves involved in a lawsuit either as either the plaintiff or defendant. I have been on both sides over the years, but this week I learned that the Cowboys were suing a partnership I set up to buy a suite at the new stadium. Back in 2008 everyone I knew was feeling wealthy. The housing market was…

  • Paying to Pitch (revisited again)

    Alexander Muse
    3 Feb 2010 | 2:57 pm
    Two years ago I asked, “Should Startups Pay to Pitch” and last year after reading a post from Jason Calacanis titled, “Why startups shouldn’t have to pay to pitch…“  I revisited the issue.  Earlier this week I got several emails from a group called youngStartup Ventures that called my attention to this issue once again. Koby Radonsky from youngStartup sent several emails to various people at Big in Japan offering to feature ShopSavvy as one of the ‘20 Top Wireless Innovators‘ at the 2010 Mobile Venture Summit later this year.  He suggested…

  • Startup Happy Hour on Monday

    Bradley Joyce
    30 Jan 2010 | 8:07 am
    Architel is the 2010 sponsor of the monthly Startup Happy Hour.  The regular get together of between 20-80 entrepreneurs began in 2008 when Alexander Muse, my friend sent an email to a few of his friends suggesting they invite a few entrepreneurs to the High Tech Bar in our building for a get together.  Over the past couple of years more than 2,500 entrepreneurs have shared a beer (or two) with us.  As part of our 2010 community engagement effort Architel is becoming the official sponsor of the event. Are you an entrepreneur? Do you work for a startup or small business?  Looking for a…
 
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    BootStrapMe

  • Can your vendors scale with you?

    8 Feb 2010 | 7:41 am
    © squarepants2004j/auntyhuiaScaling is on the minds of most bootstrappers at least some of the time; you have dreams, you're working hard on them, what happens when the inevitable wild success strikes you and your company? Surely you have given some consideration not just to how you would spend the piles of money you will be raking in but to how you will serve the demands of all those customers shoveling that money toward you? Working with small businesses that are finding success lately has ...

  • Startup Confidential

    1 Feb 2010 | 8:48 am
    © Randy Son Of RobertIf there is anything that bootstrappers like to do more than think about and talk about their own startup businesses, it is listening to other bootstrappers talking about their startup businesses. So the new series of guest posts on Seattle's TechFlash technology news website called "Startup Confidential" should be right up your alley. Following Seattle entrepreneurs Damon Cortesi and Aviel Ginsburg as they launch their own startup, the series promises to unveil many of the normally obscured process of ...

  • The strength of stipends

    25 Jan 2010 | 7:36 am
    It's easy to get distracted and dragged off track with all the minutiae and details that go along with starting up a business, even if you are not someone who is naturally inclined toward micro-management. There are just a lot of complications that come up, a lot of unexpected costs, and a lot of plans that don't pay off quite the way you hope and it's easy to get sucked into the loop of trying to manage all that cost and bother. You can't ...

  • Self-Employed? Tax Time Is Coming

    21 Jan 2010 | 8:41 pm
    © alancleaver_2000 It's almost that time of year. I never was a Beatles fan, but you've probably heard the lyrics...Let me tell you how it will be; There's one for you, nineteen for me. Should five per cent appear too small, Be thankful I don't take it all.I have it by Stevie Ray Vaughn. And he makes it sound even more cynical and depressing. Taxes don't have to be that bad. But if you've moved recently from a staff position to being self-employed, you need to change ...

  • Simple starting accounting

    18 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am
    © Dan Lockton Speaking of simple, one area that gets complicated quickly for many entrepreneurs is accounting. Although it's an entirely anecdotal observation, it seems to me that frequently the most successful entrepreneurs I work with are those who have the best heads for numbers. They know what their financial situation looks like and where their targets are to meet their corporate goals. Those who are less financially astute have to work harder to keep up, and they often end up complicating things more than ...
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    I Will Teach You To Be Rich

  • Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

    Ramit Sethi
    4 Feb 2010 | 8:02 am
    [Edit]: The course is now closed. Today I’m thrilled to announce a totally new course called Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side. The short version: An all-new course that I’ve been quietly developing for a year, which includes 16 super-specific lessons on finding a profitable idea, testing it, finding clients, pricing, marketing, all designed to help you earn $1,000 (and more) on the side — every month. Also includes hours of gorgeous HD video strategies and tactics, Master Classes from people like Tim Ferriss (4HWW) on specific topics like marketing, time management &…

  • The Briefcase Technique — to earn thousands of dollars

    Ramit Sethi
    1 Feb 2010 | 11:03 pm
    Here’s a technique I’ve used to earn thousands of dollars in salary and freelance negotiations. The Briefcase Technique God I love it This is just one simple example of the hours and hours of HD video in a new course I’m launching, called “Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side.” Live webcast tonight, Tuesday, 2/2 So tonight, I’m hosting a special webcast. In the webcast, you’ll see… 2-3 “teardowns” of people’s freelance ideas: I’ll get them on the line, analyze their freelance business, and show them how to skyrocket their…

  • This week, I’m unveiling the new I Will Teach You To Be Rich course to earn more money

    Ramit Sethi
    1 Feb 2010 | 2:12 am
    Over the past 4 years, the #1 request on this site has been how to earn more money. Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve covered earning more money in extreme detail. But over the last 11 months…I’ve been quietly working on building the I Will Teach You To Be Rich course on earning more money. This week, after previewing it to 10,000+ people, I’m ready to release it publicly. Here’s a quote from people one of my preview members: Q: What’s surprised you so far? A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is…

  • Why do so many personal-finance sites focus on spending LESS?

    Ramit Sethi
    27 Jan 2010 | 1:21 am
    I’m in the middle of my private Earn1k course this week before announcing something next week. I was doing a live webcast last night and I was trying to make a point, but I wasn’t sure how to say it. It seems like 98% of personal-finance material (blogs, magazines, books) focus on spending LESS — keeping a budget, saying “no, no, no” to lattes, jeans, and vacations. Why? Why don’t they cover earning more, or negotiating, or increasing your responsibilities at work, or understanding the psychology of your own behavior, or all the other things besides cutting…

  • Recap of the 3-week course on earning money

    Ramit Sethi
    22 Jan 2010 | 1:31 pm
    This course on earning more has been a lot of fun. Instead of more useless tips on saving money on lattes and burritos, we’ve gone through case studies, exercises, and specific email scripts to earn more money on the side. The important thing is to understand that it’s not simply a series of formulaic tactics to follow. To earn money, you have to get inside your customers’ heads and understand what they really want. For example, check out the comments on this post — you’ll see that some people can do this very well, while others cannot. Here’s a recap of…
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    Start Up Blog

  • The Thomas Edison Strategy

    Steve Sammartino
    7 Feb 2010 | 9:56 pm
    In business, demand is invariably more important than supply. If demand doesn’t exist, supply is irrelevant. If demand exists, supply will eventuate. I happened upon a quote from one of the greatest inventors / entrepreneurs in history Thomas Edison. Despite the simplicity of the idea, it’s very profound. “I find out what the world needs, and then I proceed to invent it.” This is some pretty good advice for any entrepreneur. It’s better to make what you can sell, than try to sell what you can make.

  • When to quit

    Steve Sammartino
    7 Feb 2010 | 7:48 pm
    This is the fifth of my crowd sourced blog entry ideas as suggested by Cameron Reilly. Cam wanted to get my thoughts on the following: When to call it a day. When to close up shop. This is one of the most difficult propositions as an entrepreneur – when to stick and when to quit? My view is a simple analogy. When the startup or business feels like a bad romantic relationship you’ve had. The type of relationship you knew you had to get out of, but couldn’t. The type of relationship you had an unhealthy addition to, or found it too hard to leave emotionally, or was scared of…

  • ABC 7.30 report – Virtual Offices

    Steve Sammartino
    5 Feb 2010 | 2:40 am
    I was fortunate enough to feature in a story on the ABC 7.30 report this week. The topic was on virtual offices and digital offshoring. My business rentoid got a nice little plug which is a bonus on a non-commercial channel. The opportunity arose from this newspaper article I was in on the topic in the Sydney Morning Herald. Which goes to show media exposure also has a compounding effect for your startup as well. Although the story and offshoring in general has it’s detractors (unions love the status quo, unless it involves profit increases they want a share in). I’m very proud of…

  • We only have one

    Steve Sammartino
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:57 pm
    There is no career, only life. If we think of our life and career as separate entities, we’ve  got things terribly wrong. They are inextricably linked. If we want to be happy, we need to make sure what we spend our days doing is how we want our life to be.

  • Good Guys, Smart Guys

    Steve Sammartino
    29 Jan 2010 | 1:11 am
    ♫ Come in and see the good, good good guys. Pay cash and we’ll slash the prices… ♫ If you live in Australia, you’ve seen the TV advertisement and heard the jingle. It’s a pretty simple proposition. It encourages customers to negotiate a price. I went to the Good Guys to buy a fridge and negotiate like everyone else does. After we cut the deal and agreed on a price, I proceeded to pay in cash, when the sales guy said; ‘Credit card is fine. We are not that strict on cash payments these days.’ So I paid using my card. It got me thinking about the truth of…
 
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    Springwise

  • Hand-made shoes, designed by consumers

    Springwise
    9 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am
    Following in the footsteps of companies we've covered that let consumers customize their own sneakers and baby shoes, Sydney-based online shoe retailer Shoes of Prey is directing the design-your-own trend towards stylish, custom-made women's shoes. Launched in October, Shoes of Prey's simple, online design tool puts bespoke shoes just a few clicks away for women wanting to design their dream shoes and have them hand-crafted to match their requirements. Customers choose the style, heel type, heel height, adornments and colours, and select from raw materials including calf skin, snake skin,…

  • Plastic bottles for carbon-saving wines

    Springwise
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:36 am
    The key to wine may lie in the soil, but it's the container that carries a heavy carbon footprint. That's why Yealands—a sustainable winemaker from New Zealand—is producing wine in plastic bottles. Shattering the shining, purist image of glass, the recyclable PET plastic used in Yealands' newly launched Full Circle range generates 54% less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 19% less energy. The plastic bottles boast a weight saving of 89% over glass, earning them kudos as carbon-saving cargo. The first full circle wine is a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. To ensure that the wine quality is…

  • More artistic urns and memorials

    Springwise
    7 Feb 2010 | 5:49 am
    We've watched countless product categories get transformed in recent years to reflect the varying tastes and lifestyles of the baby-boom generation, offering a variety of alternatives to the mass-produced, one-size-fits-all approach. Funerals and urns are no exception, as we noted back in 2007, and recently we came across further evidence: Shine on Brightly, a North Carolina company that offers a wide range of artist-made urns and memorials. The works of 27 artists are currently featured on the Shine on Brightly site, including handmade urns, memorial jewelry, textile art, remains-infused…

  • Helping rental companies take their business online

    Springwise
    6 Feb 2010 | 11:53 pm
    Rentcycle is an online platform for rental businesses. The brainchild of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tim Hyer, this startup offers web-based hosting and software utilities to help rental companies streamline their business process and improve customer conversion. In addition, the site aims to become a portal for consumers wishing to rent goods or services. Once registered, companies get a branded online storefront to present their wares, along with reservation systems, inventory management and analytics. Customers can search both by product or provider in their area, and can order and pay for…

  • Eco-iconic toilet reuses sink's wastewater

    Springwise
    5 Feb 2010 | 8:33 am
    Eco-minded bathroom fixtures are no longer hard to find, but they still tend to focus more on function than on form. One notable exception is W+W, a combined toilet and sink from Spanish brand Roca that combines compact style with green-minded thinking. Launched last fall, W+W is a single, L-shaped unit in which the sink and toilet are not only attached but also integrated internally. Specifically, wastewater from the sink is used to fill the toilet's cistern, thus saving as much as 25 percent of the water that would normally be used. An automatic cleaning system prevents bad odors and…
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    StartUpArabia

  • Altibbi, An Online Arabic Medical & Health Resource

    Mohamed Marwen Meddah
    20 Jan 2010 | 2:01 am
    Altibbi is an online Arabic medical and health resource, that aims to be a one stop destination for Arab users who are interested in researching and finding more about certain medical and health terms and conditions. The portal provides a medical dictionary, medical articles and news, as well as question and answer features. It currently includes over 60,000 concise definitions of medical and health terms, and provides detailed descriptions of medical conditions, medications, conventional medical and healing practices, anatomical and physiological terms, illnesses and disorders, drugs, tests…

  • Fora9, A New Online Job Service For Women

    Mohamed Marwen Meddah
    19 Jan 2010 | 5:49 am
    Fora9 (read ‘Foras’, which means ‘Opportunities’ in Arabic) is a new free online job service out of Kuwait, created for women in the Middle East and North Africa, to make it easier for them to find job opportunities. The idea came to life when the developing company was looking to build a team and faced difficulties getting to qualified women for certain positions even though they know they were obviously out there. The design is simplistic and presents job opportunities under four different types which are part time jobs, full time jobs, telework, and volunteer work;…

  • Kngine, A New Semantic Web Search Engine

    Mohamed Marwen Meddah
    18 Jan 2010 | 1:04 am
    Kngine is a new semantic web search engine and question answering engine that was launched from Egypt, aiming to provide more meaningful search results to users. Unlike other regular search engines that focus more on the ranking of pages to serve search results to users, Kngine attempts to understand what the user is searching for exactly or what question they are asking, and then tries to come up with the best information, answers and results it can find. This is done by analyzing the entered keywords to discover the relationships between them, linking the different found data together and…

  • Global Technology Forum 2010 – March 18th 2010

    Mohamed Marwen Meddah
    16 Jan 2010 | 11:00 pm
    TechWadi, the leading networking association for Arab American professionals in the Technology industry, has announced a new conference under the title ‘Global Technology Forum 2010‘, which is a conference on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and a new initiative to accelerate the growth of both – in the Middle East as well as other emerging markets. The event’s tagline is ‘Silicon Valley and the Middle East: Building a Successful Entrepreneurial Ecosystem,’ and will be held on Thursday March 18th 2010, at PlugandPlayTechCenter (440 N. Wolfe Rd. –…

  • Arab World Is A Step Closer To .Arab Domain Names

    Mohamed Marwen Meddah
    16 Jan 2010 | 11:19 am
    The recent Arab Top Level Domain Names Steering Committee Meetings held in Damascus, Syria, saw the appointment of Mr. Ahmed Al Doseri, the representative of Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) as president of the Committee that comprises representatives from the Kingdom of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen. This Committee is tasked by the League of Arab States with the direct supervision and follow-up on the League’s application for the domains (.arab) and the equivalent in Arabic (.عرب). TRA’s ICT Manager Mr. Ahmed Al Doseri, who chaired…
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    Home Office Warrior

  • Stuck in a Rut? Try this…

    Tina Hilton
    26 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am
    Being a Home Office Warrior comes with a lot of wonderful perks like flexible schedules, being your own boss and more.  But what many of us fail to share is that it can also come with a feeling of being alone, lack of motivation and fear.  Of course, traditional careers come with all of that too, but when you’re working for someone else, staying employed tends to motivate you when these type of situations arise.  When you’re self-employed , sometimes fear of failure can motivate, but it can also be paralyzing. We’ve all been there. We may call it anything from writers…

  • Answering the Question, What Do You Do?

    Tina Hilton
    13 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am
    What exactly is it you do? I get that question a lot. From the first day I opened my virtual assistance business it became evident that I was going to have to learn how to perfect that so-called elevator speech, because no one that I came into contact with knew what a virtual assistant was. When called upon to introduce myself at networking events I always start by asking if anyone has heard of a virtual assistant. I see more hands now that I used to. Still, those same people who raise their hands end up finding me at some point and admitting that although they’ve heard of it, they…

  • 2010, the Year of Changes?

    Tina Hilton
    6 Jan 2010 | 7:45 am
    I want to start off by saying ‘Thank You’  to our loyal Home Office Warriors. Both Grant and I are aware that the posting has been slow here in recent months. But I have great news for all of you. Part of the reason for that is because we have some big plans for HOW in 2010. And that means great things for all of you too. Be watching for a new look and tons of new helps and information for those of us who run our businesses from home. And according to recent statistics, there are more of us than ever! I want to start out by sharing a couple of items that can help you build…

  • A ‘Gift’ for Virtual Professionals

    Tina Hilton
    11 Dec 2009 | 9:52 am
    It’s the holiday season, so it only seems right that I ‘give a little gift’ to the Virtual Assistant community. In the spirit of the Twelve Days of Christmas, I’ll be sharing survival tips for virtual assistants from Monday, December 14 through Christmas Day on the blog at Clerical Advantage. These tips were born because of the numerous times I’ve been contacted by new and struggling virtual assistants needing some advice. You can find out more here and you can even sign up for the newsletter to have them delivered right to your inbox. But that’s not the…

  • What To Do When You Hit a Business Roadblock

    Tina Hilton
    12 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm
    As entrepreneurs, whether virtual assistants or any other business venture, we start out with a bright, positive outlook. We’re excited about what we have to offer and optimistic about how successful we’re going to be offering it to others. The excitement bubbles over and we attack whatever we need to do with gusto. But then something happens along the way. For VA’s it’s often the difficulty in finding that first client, or sufficient clients to keep the business rolling along. It seems like the real world comes crashing down on our enthusiasm and douses us with the…
 
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    The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

  • What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Sex and the City

    Charla Kucko
    6 Feb 2010 | 8:50 am
    by Marita Greenidge Carrie: Oh my God… cccome come back! What is this? Why is this happening? My computer just crashed right in the middle of my work!Apple Tech: When was the last time you backed up your work?Carrie: Um… I don’t do thatAidan: You don’t back up?Carrie: NoCarrie: Hi… You remember me? I am number P438W, you have my computer. Apple Tech: Yup… okay and this is what we could recover from your hard drive. Any of that look familiar to you?Carrie: and there it was, my past… it was a mess..can you please tell me why this happened in the first place?Apple Tech: Ah I…

  • Taking the Plunge—Timing the Risk to Optimize Success

    Charla Kucko
    31 Jan 2010 | 1:42 pm
    by Elisabeth Hager, MD You have a great idea for a company, but you also have a great job, or a family that depends on you, or other realities that must be considered before you take the plunge into entrepreneurship. So how do you know when it’s time to take the risk? The answer depends on a few factors. To define your risk, it helps to consider your current and potential income, your preference for independence, your current and expected work effort, your tolerance for risk, and other working conditions. For new entrepreneurial ventures, many of these variables are unknown and have to be…

  • What did I get myself into?!

    Charla Kucko
    25 Jan 2010 | 7:55 am
    by Claire SiegristI’ve had a frustrating couple of weeks in the YEA program.We’re now in week 14 and time is going fast. Entrepreneurship is not for sissies! My original idea was to establish an indoor off-leash dog-park. I loved the concept of a climate-controlled, big, safe space where owners and their dogs could stay active all year long. A dog-sitting option would be available as well, where customers could leave their dog for pick up later.I believe that there is a market opportunity where busy people can drop off their dogs and quickly get to Wegmans, the library, etc. While they…

  • Who is My Competition?

    Charla Kucko
    19 Jan 2010 | 10:47 am
    by Victoria ReynoldsBusiness takes place in a highly competitive, volatile environment, so it is important to understand the competition. As always, you must continually assess who your nearest direct competitors are. You should also know your indirect competitors - is their business growing, steady, or declining? What can you learn from their operations or advertising? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How does their product or service differ from yours? What to Address in Your Competitor Analysis Names of competitors: List all of your current competitors and research any that might…

  • Discovering Untapped Markets

    Charla Kucko
    14 Jan 2010 | 4:45 pm
    by Lauren DixonWhile 2010 is the "The Year of the Tiger," it might also be the year for businesses to discover untapped markets! The fragmentation of media and technology presents an exciting mix of challenges and opportunities, allowing companies to target specific customers in unique ways. Technology makes it easier than ever for entrepreneurs to self-market using social networks and websites, but how can they best earn customer loyalty and trust while maintaining a focus on their core businesses?  Since advertising is primarily focused on the individual with a personalized…
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    entrepreMusings

  • High Tech Entrepreneur’s Raise Money for Haiti

    Aruni
    18 Jan 2010 | 5:23 pm
    A short, but important, interruption to my blogging break for the benefit of the earthquake victims in Haiti.  The Entrepreneur’s Foundation of Central Texas is coordinating a fund raising effort among technology entrepreneur’s to raise money for the victims in Haiti. Even if you aren’t a technology entrepreneur or don’t work for a technology company, you can donate! The Austin Startup blog did a great post about this today is copied below. Austin Tech Leaders Create Matching HelpHaiti Fund “If you haven’t yet donated to help out the victims of the devastating earthquake…

  • Once In A Blue Moon – It’s Complicated

    Aruni
    1 Jan 2010 | 8:09 pm
    Last night, December 31, 2009, we had a blue moon.  Most years have 12 full moons but every 2 to 3 years we have an extra full moon and it’s called a blue moon.  We saw it coming back from the airport after a really nice visit with my cousin and her family.  On the way out, after getting up at 3:30 a.m. to make a flight that was 3 hours delayed, we ended up being almost 7 hours late getting to our final destination because of an issue we had leaving Austin having to do with de-icing our plane.  Just before they had us get off the plane to wait it out, my son said loudly “I…

  • Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

    Aruni
    22 Dec 2009 | 6:05 pm
    I couldn’t end the year without at least one more post!  It has been quite a year, and I needed to take a break so that my off blog/real life wouldn’t bleed too heavily into my online blog life as it seemed to start to do.   For those of you who are writers, you know how hard it is not to let your real life affect your writing even if it’s only subtly profound.  For those of you who are writers (or creative people), you know how hard it can be not to write.  It’s like holding back the tears or your laughter when you want to cry an ocean or laugh uncontrollably.

  • Happy Thanksgiving!

    Aruni
    26 Nov 2009 | 8:51 am
    I’m interrupting my blogging break to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for, and I hope all my readers feel the same.  Here’s a short list: My wonderful, beautiful, healthy kids My health My family My precious, caring friends My job Living in Austin where the weather these days is pretty nice And many more things too numerous to list here May you all be living the life of your dreams or at least like most of us working towards it…

  • Contemplating A Blogging Break

    Aruni
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:07 pm
    I’m seriously considering a very long blogging break while I figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  Or shall I say what I want this blog to be as it grows up.  The posts have been kind of random lately…a bit out of focus like I feel these days. I was having lunch with one of my advisers today who always pumps me up.   He’s almost 70 years old and calls himself a recycled dad because he has grand kids older than his youngest kids.  I like him a lot because he’s used to working with strong, smart, professional women.  In the company he founded some 30 years…
 
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    The Next Web

  • The Official Google Buzz Video – Check It Out

    Alex Wilhelm
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:12 am

  • McClatchy CEO: We’re Happy To Stay Ad-Supported

    Jacob Friedman
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:51 am
    In a move sure to please opponents of news site paywalls, The McClatchy Company has come out in favor of keeping an ad-supported online model. Speaking at the Local Online Advertising Conference, McClatchy Chairman and CEO Gary Pruitt said that he did not support a paywall model for McClatchy’s papers’ online editions. In addition, he predicts that online advertising revenues will continue to grow as newspapers continue to shift towards a digital-centric business model. “The percent of internet-only ad dollars will grow because of self-serve vehicles and classifieds. We…

  • Google Officially Announces Google Buzz – A Google Approach To Sharing

    Alex Wilhelm
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:23 am
    Buzz will begin to roll out in the next 9 – 10 minutes. Full roll out over the next few days. – We are updating, bear with us. As we expected after yesterday’s breaking news, Google has officially announced a new product called Google Buzz, a real time status and filtering feature for Gmail. Buzz is how Google wants to bring you the news, and keep the chatter to a minimum. Google Buzz is a new way to share and discover  inside of Gmail. It is akin to a whole new environment inside of Gmail, a “new world” in Google’s words. Buzz has  a feature called…

  • The Top Five Reasons Brands Fear Social Media

    Ayelet Noff
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:28 am
    I’ve been in the social media space now for quite a few years and I meet with at least 5 companies each week who have understood the importance of utilizing social media for their businesses but are still afraid of entering their brands into the new media age. What are they worried about? Here are the top five concerns that I’ve heard from executives and my response to them: 1) They’re afraid they’ll lose control of their brand and open themselves up to negative feedback. When you open a business and start marketing your services and exposing your brand to others,…

  • What will be seen in Google Goggles future? People Recognition.

    Kevin Korpi
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:50 am
    Last night at the monthly Tokyo 2.0 event, Google Mobile Product Managers  Riku Inoue & Brad Ellis from Google Japan, gave a presentation entitled Convergence and beyond. In my opinion the most interesting part was during the Q&A session that followed, I asked if Google had plans to add people or face recognition to Google Goggles? This would be possible since: Picassa has face recognition, Flickr has added people tagging, and of course Facebook has support for tagging people in photos. Riku and Brad’s response was Google has person recognition working in a Google internal…
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    Entrepreneur Success Blog

  • You Want a Job?

    jared
    3 Feb 2010 | 6:54 am
    Then stop sending crappy resumes. Being an employer for a decade now, I have seen every type of resume you can imagine. I really like to interview everyone even if it’s for 10 minutes. I like to make sure that person fits within our culture (while lowering the risk of a lawsuit because of our wonderful, politically incorrect organization). Every time we try to fill a position, I feel that the majority of people either a.) aren’t really looking for a job but are just sending their resumes to see what is out there or, b.) don’t have any self-esteem and feel that they are one…

  • A Cool Communication Concept

    jared
    26 Jan 2010 | 12:03 pm
    Recently I purchased Dell’s Wireless Projector (The 4610x). What’s great about this device is that you can connect to it wirelessly from a laptop. Actually up to 4 people can connect and all project their own screens in 4 different quadrants. mobileStorm just moved its corporate headquarters into a new building with tons of space, really high ceilings etc.. I am working on ways to use all of the space since the majority of our employees don’t work out of corporate. A couple of employees gave me the idea to project stuff on this big white wall we have. I found this projector…

  • How to Turn A Service Into A Product

    jared
    8 Dec 2009 | 12:35 pm
    This is an article for all the service-based business out there… The reason I push my team to document everything and turn it into a process, is because the faster and more efficiently we can do something, the more we can scale our business. And the more we can scale our business, the bigger we will get and the more valuable we will be. The benefit of a product is you are selling a thing and not your time. However a big part of a service-based business requires human involvement. So how do you turn a service into a product? Smaller companies are so busy hustling to make a buck; they…

  • Mining The Thought Stream - TweekDeck Rules

    jared
    6 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm
    Ok maybe I am late to the game but for the last month and a half I have been using TweekDeck. If you follow me on twitter you will notice that I am not a big tweeter, I am however turning into a big consumer of tweets. Twitter has really turned into a major news source. It is not only where I go to find out in real-time what is going on around me (like what was that loud boom in my neighborhood), it is also becoming one of my primary news sources for my industry, my company and myself. If you can think of something and say it within 140 characters, you can enter your thought into the thought…

  • How CEOs Could Use Twitter

    jared
    5 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am
    This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of executive mba programs . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com —————————————————————— They are one in a million too now, even though they may be the CEOs of some of the richest and most successful companies in the world - Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, Kevin Rose of Digg.Com, Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems…
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    Startup Africa

  • Africa’s New Frontier – Day 2 – Morning Sessions

    Ismail Dhorat
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:15 pm
    9:30 – Plenary Session Topic: Innovative Approaches by African universities to meet Africa’s Development Challenges Speaker: Goolam Mohamedbhai, Secretary General, Association of African Universities Participation in HE is no more then 5% in Africa, while it is as much as 20% in developed countries. Challenges to Higher Education in Africa Coping with huge demand Gender disparity Poort and insufficient infrastructure Poor research output Poor linkages with community & rural areas Poor ICT African’s have developed innovative approaches to meet these challenges Addressing…

  • Africa’s New Frontier – Afternoon Sessions

    Ismail Dhorat
    4 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am
    13:30 – Society Topic: Educating Generation Next: Expanding higher education for future African leaders What are the connections between higher education and long-term economic growth How can international partnerships expand access to higher education in African countries, and for African students What kind of higher education is most relevant for Africans and Africa How are old and new broadcasting mediums used to expand access to education Speakers: Boubakar Barry, Coordinator, Research and Education Networks, Association of African Universities, Ghana Neil Turok, Director, Perimeter…

  • Africa’s New Frontier – Creating Prosperity Through Innovation

    Ismail Dhorat
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:58 am
    I previously wrote about Africa’s New Frontier conference here in Ottawa. I will be live blogging the event, you can refresh the page to get the latest updates. I will cover each session with a different post. 11:00 – Creating Prosperity Through Innovation Speaker: Minister Venancio Massingue, Minister of Science & Technology (Mozambique) The minister is thanking the previous speaker, organizers and giving an introduction to his talk.  His points: The time for Africa has arrived, if we believe we can do it we can. We should not underestimate ourselves. No co-operation…

  • SAFIPA Knowledge Exchange Visit 2010

    Ismail Dhorat
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am
    Knowledge Exchange Visit - 2009 SAFIPA have announced that they are accepting applications for the 2010 knowledge exchange visit to Finland. I previously wrote about the Knowledge exchange visit: The Governments of Finland and South Africa have been working together in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation, as part of that mandate SAFIPA is planning a knowledge exchange visit for South African entrepreneurs and other relevant people. From the Invitation email: Open call to all interested parties. This time the call will be especially directed to people interested in e-Health,…

  • Zoopy redesigns and adds HD

    Ismail Dhorat
    2 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    Zoopy, a social media and content sharing platform has just redesigned their site. This is the fourth iteration, and over time the site seems to be getting better and better. However, i wonder if the focus on content produced internally by Zoopy over user generated content is wise? New Zoopy Features HD Content You can now upload, share and watch videos in brilliant high definition on Zoopy. Any videos uploaded at a resolution of 1280×720 or higher will be encoded into a special HD MP4 format, which can then be viewed either by clicking on the HD button inside the Zoopy video player or by…
 
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    Trizle

  • How Google Selected Its Super Bowl Ad

    The Trizle Team
    9 Feb 2010 | 6:19 am
    You see S.U.C.K. ads on the Super Bowl. "Why did those suckas spend millions on that suck ad?" you ask yourself. BUT THEN BAM YOU SEE GOOGLE'S AD ...and if you're like most people, you like/love it. "How in the heck are they so good at everything, including advertising, you ask yourself?" Building great ads starts with this two-stepper: Test with a sample size (i.e., a randomly selected group of people) Go with the best (i.e., the one that achieves your ultimate goal most). WTFREAK? A sample size, provided that it's random and represents your target audience, lets you generalize/predict what…

  • Why Did Google Advertise at The Super Bowl?

    The Trizle Team
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:12 am
    The armchair noobs go: "Ohhh Google's scared by the competition!" "Oh noes, they're advertising now! They're scared of Bing!" "They're going to die!" Google's not scared; advertising to the world in 60 seconds just let it pound its competitors further. Google is still gaining market share, capturing a leading 67% of search queries (compared to Bing's 10%), and with a Dream Team of search experts (and several billions of dollars in free cash flow at its disposal to invest further in search), Google won't lose its leading position anytime soon. Why Did Google Advertise? When you see an ad, you…

  • How To Choose Your Suppliers

    The Trizle Team
    5 Feb 2010 | 6:29 am
    A vendor gives you a great presentation. You hire them on the spot. Then, you start working with them and suddenly you realize: BAM THEY SUK OH NOES You selected the supplier based on a great presentation; why in the $@"&&"&&@$$@&$$ did that happen? It's because of this psychological phenomenon that warps your brain into thinking: "X is good at Y, so X must be good at Z." The Halo Effect You see Tiger Woods, the golf legend. How would do you think of him as a businessman? "Top notch." "Crazy awsome." "The best negotiator in town." "One of this generation's greatest…

  • What Makes Companies Great

    The Trizle Team
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:15 am
    The path of least resistance: Humans tend to seek the easiest path to satisfy X (e.g., their customers); they don't go further. For instance, say you're working on a project with a contractor to build your ridiculous shack. Your contractor will build your shack to meet your needs. S/he won't go any further to satisfy you more. The contractor then loses opportunities to provide your shack additional value (destroying future sales opportunities with you and referrals from you). BAM TEH SUK Apple and Google? Satisfy customer needs. Then, blow customers the motherfrrrruuukkkk away with…

  • How to Complete Projects for Your Customers

    The Trizle Team
    3 Feb 2010 | 6:35 am
    You get your website designed. It's BLAH. So, you go back, think of ways to improve it, get your ideas to the designer, and weeks later you still get BLAH. How do complex stuff get done for happy clients? Software developers call the approach agile development: They release client projects early and often. Every release can stand on its own (e.g., Version 0.001, Version 0.002, Version 0.003, etc.) That way, you correct mistakes early and often without having to go back and redo chunks of the project -- saving freakish: Money Time Spirits You also ensure that the project improves…
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    The Product Guy

  • Slow Paced Conversation Pieces

    Jeremy Horn
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:17 am
    A company can have the best product around, but if the pages are too sluggish, if the product suffers recurring outages, if the user-product interaction is varied and inconsistent, the product’s overall Usability can, and does, suffer. Quick-UX provides for the rapid, simple and quantifiable assessment of a product’s User Experience (UX). Among the various components that define a product’s Usability, as well as Quick-UX’s, are Accessibility, Consistency, Recognition, Navigation, and Page Load Time. In answering the question of Usability, “Can I use it?”…

  • From Removing Features to Meebo Modular Innovation

    Jeremy Horn
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:14 am
    Every week I read thousands of blog posts. Here, for your weekend enjoyment, are some highlights from my recent reading, for you.  Have a great weekend! On Starting Up… http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/02/02/removing-features/ Show your product who is boss… remove those features!     On Design & Product Experience… http://www.everydayux.com/2010/02/03/from-sketch-to-comp-an-exploration-of-the-wireframe-process/ Going from idea to implementation in 1 minute and 30 seconds. On Modular Innovation……

  • jQuery Plugin: CuteTime, C’est Magnifique! (v 1.1) [UPDATE]

    Jeremy Horn
    1 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am
    I am very pleased to announce the latest major update to the CuteTime jQuery plugin. CuteTime provides the ability to easily… convert timestamps to ‘cuter’ language-styled forms (e.g. yesterday, 2 hours ago, last year, in the future!), customize the time scales and output formatting, and update automatically and/or manually the displayed CuteTime(s). Un-Cute Cute 2010-1-27 23:14:17 a few days ago Thu, October 29, 2004 12:14:19 PM 5 years ago Since CuteTime was released last year, there continues to be a flood of excellent feedback from many of you consisting of suggestions,…

  • From a Look Inside the Boxee to Curing Cancer

    Jeremy Horn
    28 Jan 2010 | 6:36 pm
    Every week I read thousands of blog posts. Here, for your weekend enjoyment, are some highlights from my recent reading, for you.  Have a great weekend! On Starting Up… http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/01/25/building-products-for-mass-adoption/ Achieve mass adoption by appealing to the "Normals". Right?     On Design & Product Experience… http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2010/01/27/the-ux-design-process-for-the-boxee-beta/ A look inside the Boxee user experience creation process. On Modular Innovation……

  • Twine Tied Up in Load Time

    Jeremy Horn
    25 Jan 2010 | 11:29 am
    A company can have the best product around, but if the pages are too sluggish, if the product suffers recurring outages, if the user-product interaction is varied and inconsistent, the product’s overall Usability can, and does, suffer. Quick-UX provides for the rapid, simple and quantifiable assessment of a product’s User Experience (UX). Among the various components that define a product’s Usability, as well as Quick-UX’s, are Accessibility, Consistency, Recognition, Navigation, and Page Load Time. In answering the question of Usability, "Can I use it?" the…
 
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    Ben Casnocha: The Blog

  • The Condom and Other Links

    Ben Casnocha
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:06 pm
    "The condom is...in its essence, a compromise: at the moment of greatest potential pleasure, it interferes. It requires that the rush of desire be interrupted, its course modified, its sensation diminished. At the moment of being consumed by the present, a concern with the future intrudes. The condom is a declaration of sacrifice in the midst of indulgence. It is evidence of civilization and its discontents." -- Edwad Rothsein, in a review of a museum exhibit of condoms. It is very, very sad that the Catholic church refuses to endorse the condom -- in fact it proactively speaks out against…

  • The Paradox of Attitudinal Self-Help Books

    Ben Casnocha
    5 Feb 2010 | 12:11 pm
    Marketing author Seth Godin, who I respect a lot, recently published a new book. I want to point out a theme in his blog interviews (which he did instead of a media tour; I haven't read the book itself yet). With Gretchen Rubin there's this exchange: Q: If you had to sum up in one sentence what you want a reader to understand from reading Linchpin [Seth's new book], what would it be? Seth: The world wants you to be a faceless, replaceable cog in the vast machinery of production -- but if you choose, and you work at it, you can become the sort of person we really need, an indispensable…

  • The Unbearable Lightness of Travel

    Ben Casnocha
    4 Feb 2010 | 2:59 pm
    Levi is an American traveler and talented writer who's riding his bicycle through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Kenya. His dispatches from the road are worth following if you read travel blogs. In a recent post he first covers the liberating freedom of not owning much stuff. Things are a burden: nice and expensive things come with the stress of potentially losing those nice and expensive things. I know more and more people, including non-travelers, who have gone minimalist and report great improvements in psychic calmness. In the second half of Levi's post he reflects on the…

  • How to Write Funny

    Ben Casnocha
    2 Feb 2010 | 6:49 pm
    A couple years ago Scott Adams laid out the keys to writing funny. It's excellent advice. A few up-front points about humor: A company's or an executive's ability to deploy humor is an undervalued asset in the business world. It is rare to find someone who is very funny and not smart. My two main filters on whether I want to spend time with someone: interestingness and sense of humor. Writing funny is harder than in-person humor. I discussed this a bit in my post The Best Jokes Are Hardest to Recall. So, read Scott's advice on writing funny quoted below:Picking a Topic-------------------The…

  • Is Amazon Evil?

    Ben Casnocha
    1 Feb 2010 | 2:49 pm
    When companies achieve a certain level of market dominance, similarly-themed complaints tend to emerge. The headline in the tech industry goes: Is Company X Evil? The evil charge usually has three components: 1) the complaints are about corporate strategy more than tactics, 2) the company is only able to execute said strategy thanks to its near-monopoly in a niche, 3) the strategy feels good to consumers in the short-term but is harmful long-term.Apple and Google have faced the "evil" charge for a few years now. With Apple, people have raised philosophical objections about everything from its…
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    infoChachkie

  • Conforming To Your Customers’ Realities: Your Stakeholders’ Perceptions Are Your Reality

    John Greathouse
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am
    The man at left built the first personal computer. He also spearheaded a number of fundamental software breakthroughs, including creating the basic hardware / software architecture which resulted in the creation of the third-party personal computer (PC) software industry. If this gentleman was such a pivotal player in the early days of the PC revolution, why is he essentially unknown to most entrepreneurs under forty years old? The short answer is that he failed to conform to his Stakeholders’ realities. Few mistakes would have such wide-ranging implications in the business world over the…

  • Limit… less: Ignore Limits – Focus On Opportunities

    John Greathouse
    12 Jan 2010 | 3:54 pm
    During the late 1800’s, American author Horatio Alger wrote 129 novels, most of which recount the deeds of impoverished young people who overcome their modest means to establish independent lives as self-sufficient, middle class citizens. Years after Alger created this new genre, it was derisively (and incorrectly) termed “rags to riches.” A common critique is that Mr. Alger’s heroes succeeded by conveying a simplistic formula comprised of honesty, cheerfulness, virtue, thrift, and hard work. Dismissing Mr. Alger’s works as juvenile rags to riches novels misses the…

  • Pour And Stir II – Managing Your Cost Per Customer

    John Greathouse
    2 Dec 2009 | 3:52 pm
     “I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half.” John Wanamaker If Mr. Wanamaker had access to the Internet, his oft-repeated quote, would have never been uttered. In the “good old days”, pre- 1999, advertising dollars were largely gambled away. As noted in Pour and Stir Part I the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation:      The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer This entry focuses on how you can minimize your cost per customer acquired by systematically…

  • Pour And Stir I – In Pursuit Of The Ideal Business Model

    John Greathouse
    20 Oct 2009 | 1:22 pm
    Note: This is Part I in a three-part series on The Perfect Business Model. Click here for Part II, and Part III Authentic, hand-crafted Persian rugs always include intentional imperfections. They are said to be, “Perfectly Imperfect, and Precisely Imprecise.” The same is true with many crafts and architecture created in Muslim cultures. I am not a Muslim scholar, but a layman’s interpretation of this tradition of intentional errors is that it arises from the belief that attempting to emulate God’s perfection is sinful.   Fortunately, entrepreneurs need not fear running afoul of this…

  • Sales Kids With Grit – Web 2.0 Paper Routes

    John Greathouse
    13 Oct 2009 | 11:08 am
    What do Warren Buffet, Martin Luther King, John Wayne, Walt Disney, Harry Truman and Wayne Gretzky all have in common? In addition to all of them reaching the pinnacle of their chosen professions, they also all started their careers performing the same job. All of these extremely successful individuals were paperboys*. At its peak circulation in 1969, the weekly newspaper Grit had a circulation in excess of 1.5 million. Each paper was delivered by a child and all of the money was likewise collected by children and sent to Grit’s main office by snail mail. Despite its inherent…
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    The Entrepreneurial Generation

  • HBO Launches Series on Young Entrepreneurs

    8 Feb 2010 | 10:38 am
    If you ever doubted that it’s incredibly hip to be a young entrepreneur these days, consider that HBO is about to launch a new Entouragesque series about the travails of aspiring young business owners. How To Make It In America, which airs Feb. 14 at 10 p.m., follows Ben Epstein (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam Calderon (Victor Rasuk), two twenty-something New Yorkers who decide to launch a premium denim company. Greenberg and Rasuk, along with co-star Lake Bell, who plays Ben’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel, and series creator Ian Edelman, were at the New York Stock Exchange this morning to ring the…

  • Tom Friedman Gets Why Youth Entrepreneurship Matters

    25 Jan 2010 | 10:47 am
    If you missed Tom Friedman’s OpEd piece in The New York Times yesterday on why the Obama administration needs to focus on youth entrepreneurship, please read it here right now. Go ahead; I’ll wait. Friedman suggests that President Obama seems to have all but forgotten the “amazing, young, Internet-enabled, grass-roots movement he mobilized to get elected.” I couldn’t agree more. Sure, there was a meeting of young entrepreneurs at the White House last March, organized by Elliott Bisnow, founder of the Summit Series. In attendance: Jake Nickell (Threadless); Tony Hsieh (Zappos); Aaron…

  • Happy Holidays, GenY Style

    23 Dec 2009 | 5:12 am
    It's the time of year when our mailboxes and our inboxes are flooded with generic greetings -- electronic and paper -- from the people with whom we've done business throughout the year. The messages are pretty much all the same. We read them and often rack our holiday-fried brains to remember who we met where and what conversations took place. So when I checked my email this morning and saw that Zach Ferres had sent me a link to a video greeting, I guess I was a little cynical. Ah, I thought, the generic holiday video greeting is now replacing the generic email holiday greeting. Zach, the CEO…

  • Is Milo the Next Mint?

    9 Dec 2009 | 10:17 am
    The ink was barely dry on the check from Intuit when Mint.com founder Aaron Patzer, flush from the software giant’s recent acquisition of his young company, wrote a check of his own last month. The happy recipient was 23-year-old Jack Abraham, who I met in Manhattan a couple of days ago and whose website, Milo.com, moved out of beta today with a million unique users and $4 million in Series A financing. Patzer is an enthusiastic participant in that round. Milo enables shoppers to research items on line and then actually find them in stock at local retailers. So if you’d like to buy, say,…

  • Snoop Dogg Speaks to Young Entrepreneurs

    16 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm
    To kick off Global Entrepreneurship Week, I spent the morning at the New York Stock Exchange at an event called “Mentoring Madness,” sponsored by NYSE Euronext and the Kauffman Foundation. A roomful of eager, aspiring college entrepreneurs soaked up advice from a panel of inspiring veterans, including Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, Barry Sternlicht, chairman of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Stephen Hanson, founder of B.R. Guest Restaurants, and rapper/entrepreneur Snoop Dogg (no wonder every seat was filled!). CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo interviewed the group and extracted…
 
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    Fresh Inc.: The Staff Blog

  • Google Takes Aim at Twitter

    9 Feb 2010 | 5:45 am
    Google gunning for Twitter, Facebook. In a not-so-subtle attempt to put some pressure on social networking behemoths Facebook and Twitter, Google is set to announce today that its adding new status-driven functionality to Gmail, The New York Times reports. The Times describes the new features as "add-ons to Gmail that let users post and view messages about their day-to-day activities." But over at TechCrunch, Michael Arrington expects more, writing, "our understanding is that the product goes well beyond a Gmail integration." How to avoid getting duped. We've all been guilty of falling for a…

  • Advertisement:

    9 Feb 2010 | 5:45 am

  • What to Do After Selling

    8 Feb 2010 | 8:18 am
    Super Bowl ads: The verdict. "Beer solves a lot of problems, women hold men back from their dream, and this year, pants are optional." That's what NewTeeVee took away from last night's ads. AdAge, on the other hand, thinks most of the marketers should have stayed home. And Slate says, Google wins, talking babies lose. If you missed any of the good ones switching over to the Puppy Bowl, Hulu and The Wall Street Journal will let you watch--and vote on--all the ads, including spots from two Inc. 500 alums: flat-screen TV maker Vizio and domain name registrar Go Daddy, which built its brand name…

  • 7 Lessons from 7 Virtual Days

    8 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am
    Last week, Inc. magazine went virtual, as part of a month-long experiment to understand why some companies are ditching their offices and letting employees work from home. Here are seven lessons we've learned from our first seven days of office exile. Use the comments below to let us know what we forgot. 1. Remember to eat. "For the first day or two, I found myself starving and couldn't understand why I was so irritable," says our deputy art director Jason Mischka. "I realized it was 4 o’clock, and I had only eaten a banana." Not everyone missed lunch. Another staffer discovered that…

  • Entrepreneurs In Outer Space

    5 Feb 2010 | 9:07 am
    Obama shifts funding for space exploration toward small business. Perhaps it has been the success of programs like the X Prize and Elon Musk's aerospace start-up SpaceX, but President Obama is making a push to shift funding for space exploration away from big contractors like Boeing and Northrop to smaller, privately-held start-ups. As the Los Angeles Times reports, if the president's plan makes it through Congress, it could drastically divert funding for spacecraft development to privately-funded space start-ups. Already this week, NASA awarded $50 million in research funds to five private…
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    The Mission Driven Business

  • The Plan-o-Gram Scramble

    15 Jan 2010 | 9:58 am
    "Plan-o-gram" may sound like the newest board game to hit the toy stores this past holiday season, but it is no game at all in the beverage industry. A plan-o-gram is the organizational chart for a chain store's beverage shelf. And though I had no idea such a thing existed when we started 12 years ago, I've learned how important those official "sets" are for determining which brands and varieties occupy which shelves and coolers for the year. It may seem counterintuitive that salespeople from iced tea and soda companies are all running around the country scrambling for shelf space in December…

  • A New Home for Green Companies

    26 Oct 2009 | 11:42 am
    Earlier this month, we opened Maryland's first green business incubator. It is housed in the offices of Bethesda Green, the local sustainability non-profit which I co-chair with County Council member George Leventhal. I would have said it was a ribbon cutting, but instead of wasting synthetic material, we gathered local leaders around a pair of hedge clippers and cut a green vine of an invasive species that had been draped across the entryway. (Click to see the photo.) Here is an excerpt of my comments from the opening: We hear a lot of talk about our nation's environmental challenges, but…

  • Don't Judge a Drink by Its Bottle

    6 Oct 2009 | 11:43 am
    We learned an interesting lesson this month about the danger of hiding your light under a bushel. Over the past few years, we had been working hard with bottle suppliers to find ways to decrease the weight of our plastic (Polyethylene terephthalate or PET) bottle. There are obvious environmental benefits for such a package -- such a move could eliminate up to 1 million pounds of PET resin on an annual basis. Another advantage of a lighter bottle is that it takes less fuel to ship (before and after filling). And, of course, we'd save money as well because the price of the bottles is directly…

  • A Crash Course in Social Entrepreneurship -- Part 2

    1 May 2009 | 10:08 am
    Earlier this week, I posted some of the most common questions I get from entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs -- a list that was inspired by a lengthy correspondence I had recently with a group of California MBA students. Here is the second half of that list, focused on the dynamics of social entrepreneurship. Why social entrepreneurship? I have always had a personal interest in social causes, and incorporating that passion into my business came naturally -- tea is a beverage that we recognized had a "natural" link to everything we wanted to accomplish -- a healthy product with a strong…

  • A Crash Course in Social Entrepreneurship -- Part 1

    28 Apr 2009 | 10:55 am
    Every week, I talk with lots of entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, or students of entrepreneurship. I recently had a lengthy correspondence with a group of California MBA students, which inspired me to pull together some of the more common questions and answers in this two part series. This first set of questions is focused on getting started in the social entrepreneurship world. How did you start? Step one to starting Honest Tea was a series of e-mails with my cofounder, Barry Nalebuff, about six months before we launched. He was a former professor of mine at the Yale School of…
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    Start-Up Toolkit

  • 2 Services to Help Start-ups Promote

    3 Feb 2010 | 1:54 pm
    Start-ups often work in secret until they’re ready to go public. Then, suddenly, it’s time to promote what they’re doing and some entrepreneurs are stuck. It seems that they should be able to quickly and easily promote themselves – but the reality is that it’s often a good idea to get some marketing help. For those that choose to go it alone, there are several new choices for distributing news and announcements that allow multimedia content and search engine indexing, but won’t break a start-up’s budget. PitchEngine founder Jason Kintzler, told me “As I blogged about PR and…

  • Smells Like Victory - Olympic Style

    27 Jan 2010 | 12:53 pm
    According to NBC’s Olympic coverage, a Freestyle Mogul Skier races “down a slope with an average incline of 26.5 degrees over large uniform bumps called moguls.” Such a skier has to be able to use the bumps in the mountain to direct their path, effectively absorb impacts, and jump when the run calls for it. Sounds like many successful entrepreneurs. So it’s no surprise that former World Cup Silver Medalist and Current Freestyle Mogul National Champion Michelle Roark is returning to the Olympics with a successful business behind her. And just like the mountain runs she loves, there…

  • New Year's Financial Planning Resolutions

    13 Jan 2010 | 1:00 pm
    Financial information is the lifeblood any company. Run out of money, and you’re done. For startups and small businesses, it’s often our accountants that keep us on track. So, to start the New Year off right, I asked several accounting and financial professionals to provide suggestions that start up leaders can use to be more effective. Bob Hammer, MBA, CFO for Hytrust has run several businesses in several different industries. He also teaches accounting management at Monterrey Peninsula College. Bob told me “It’s always important to start the new year by figuring out where you’ve…

  • New Year, New Startup, New York?

    6 Jan 2010 | 1:01 pm
    With the New Year upon us, many entrepreneurs thoughts turn to starting a new company. As a New Yorker, I’ll admit a small bias towards creating a company in the city that never sleeps. It wasn’t a coincidence that Sinatra sang “If I can make it there I’ll make it anywhere.” NYCSeed is looking for start up types to come to New York this summer for their SeedStart 2010 program. NYCSeed was formed “to provide deserving New York City seed stage entrepreneurs with the capital and support they need to move from idea to product launch.” The fund has partnerships with New York City and…

  • How Do You End The Year? (Part 2)

    23 Dec 2009 | 12:43 pm
    End of Year is a time for Goal-Setting as well as the year end rituals I discussed last week. Many entrepreneurs focus on what has worked, and what didn’t in the past year, and try to motivate employees for a fresh start. Several companies go on year-end retreats. Managing partner Doug Hall from and Dallas-based Financial Additions said “Everyone has to list the 3 things they are most proud of, and 3 ‘do-overs.’ We also ask for the one thing they are going to do differently and one thing the company could do different. We then set goals, hand write them and sign the handwritten…
 
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    Young Upstarts

  • Om Republic – Apparel That Makes You Go Ommm…

    Daniel
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:51 pm
    Om Republic's stylish and functional activewear employs eco-friendly materials such as organic cotton. What do investment bankers do when they are retrenched from their jobs in the financial crisis? They can sit, complain and suck their thumbs. Or they can be like Singaporean Min Sim, who chose to start her own business – in exactly what she enjoyed doing. Inspiration Min Sim loved yoga. An avid student of classical Chinese dance in her growing years, she was immediately hooked when she first tried yoga after college. It was a natural transition from dance, she found, and a welcome…

  • BT, SPRING And IE Announces New Magazine for SMEs

    Daniel
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:01 am
    It’s been announced that a new magazine that focuses on the needs of Singapore’s small and medium-sized businesses will be hitting the streets, and which is touted as a “must-read” for business leaders seeking to operate more effectively in new markets. A collaboration between The Business Times, SPRING Singapore and IE Singapore (which pretty much means that the two agencies will underwrite part, if not most, of its cost), the imaginatively titled The SME Magazine will provide “news, stories and information to help Singapore’s homegrown companies grow,…

  • AskGerber.com – Entrepreneur Magazine Columnist Wants Your Stories

    Daniel
    5 Feb 2010 | 5:32 pm
    Find out how you and your business can be featured in Scott Gerber’s new book, Never Get A Real Job at AskGerber.com. In Never Get A Real Job, Gerber challenges the social conventions behind the real job and empowers entrepreneurs to take control of their lives, fears and careers. Drawing upon case studies, experiences and observations, the author dissects failures, shares hard-learned lessons and presents practical, affordable and systematic action steps to building, managing and marketing a successful business. The methodology presented in Never Get A Real Job looks at teaching…

  • 6 Steps To The Perfect Pitch

    Scott Gerber
    3 Feb 2010 | 6:12 pm
    Scott Gerber is Entrepreneur Magazine's Young Entrepreneur columnist, CEO of Gerber Enterprises and founder of AskGerber.com. Shortly after my college graduation, a few friends and I started a new media company. Within a few weeks we fleshed out the concept, wrote a business plan and set out to seek financing. With a little hustle, I managed to get us a meeting with a well-known investment firm to discuss the opportunity. Even though our business had yet to bring in a single dollar, and none of us had ever been the CEO of coffee shop let alone a multi-million dollar enterprise, we were…

  • What Can You Do With 24 Hours?

    Daniel
    31 Jan 2010 | 6:27 pm
    Participating teams at the Startup@Singapore 24-Hour Business Challenge. A lot, apparently. You can come up with a business plan. That’s what over 40 teams of 2-4 members each did, when they participated in Startup@Singapore’s first-ever 24-hour Business Plan Challenge last weekend at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. The teams were tasked to develop, from scratch, a business plan for an idea in three identified industries – the silver industry (the elderly market, not the precious metal), social entrepreneurship and interactive digital media. At…
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    Startup Meme

  • You Can Keep Yourself Out Of Apps And Games Dashboard On Facebook: Only If You Are Sherlock Holmes To Discover These

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am
    I have all the praise for Facebook, from being the leading social network that has mashed up every aspect of networking into one platform to being a tool for brands to keep consumers occupied. But there is one thing I seriously dislike about it: it is so very secret. Secret about the most important issue: User Privacy. How many of you have actually learnt about the social network introducing changes [be they good or ones that people retaliate to] on the site itself? I bet that number is confined to select few of the massive users it is swarmed with. And even that select group has come to know…

  • Say Your Prayers For Lexicon As Facebook Shuts Down The Tool

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am
    We are removing the product from Facebook, at least for now: says the page for Lexicon. No surprising at all as we had already reported the tool not seeing any updates on its page for quite some time. What’s surprising is the fact that the tool had been around for almost a year and a half and it was quite a useful one. However, I personally think that the move has been made to create the much needed and an improved analytics tool. There is definitely a need for a much powerful and reliable tool to monitor engagement on the countless pages on the social network and more importantly how…

  • Snowboard Your Time On Facebook With Go Big From HP, Best Buy Rossignol And Intel

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:11 pm
    Everyone will join Facebook, because everyone else is. You will because all your friends are there on the  social networking platform and brands will because the competitors are jumping in. However there is another way they are making use of the social network’s gaming to make it big. The latest move comes with major players namely; HP, Best Buy, Rossignol and Intel collaborating to bring Go Big a new gaming app for Facebook. The game is all about letting you make points while you go along performing snowboarding tricks. So what do you get spending time performing tricks? Lucky users…

  • Gaming On Facebook Will Get Even Better As EA Plans To Bring Madden NFL To It

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am
    It was only last week when we reported that Sid Meier’s Civilization, the famed strategy game on PCs was set to step onto the Facebook platform in June. Today, Peter Moore announced the coming of Madden NFL to Facebook. The reason to do so? Well everyone is jumping on the Facebook wagon, why not EA with a few games in its armory? Madden NFL has been big in the gaming market with over 60 million games sold globally. Now I am not sure as to what exactly did Peter mean when he stated that he wants to give gamers a simpler experience. I personally think by simpler experience he meant a much…

  • Talk With Facebook Friends MSN Way With Chit Chat

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am
    While Microsoft has really brought the Facebook experience to the desktop in the most complete manner with its Silverlight Client for Facebook, it did miss out one important aspect: Facebook Chat. To be honest that is one of the most wanted yet an equally problematic feature that drastically reduces browsing speed. I was quite surprised as to why Microsoft left this feature out its client. Enough bragging about features being missed or not, if you are really into having a Facebook chat client then try Chit Chat for Facebook. I will call it MSN messengers version of Facebook, though without…
 
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    StartupCFO

  • If you love your idea, set it free....

    3 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am
    This week I was contacted by someone with a common question about starting up:My question is regarding intellectual property in the tech field and VC start-up: You wrote that at the pre-funding stage, all you need is a couple of slides / mock-ups. Even if you don't know your target customer directly you can get to them. How do you ensure, if you are sharing your idea, that it won’t be stolen and copied before you get the funding needed to launch it yourself?This is a common concern. You don't want to share your idea for fear that someone will steal it. My feeling is that ideas are not where…

  • Do VCs compete?

    1 Feb 2010 | 5:16 am
    Former VC / startup CEO / seed fund manager / guy who clearly does not sleep Chris Dixon posted recently that "being friendly has become a competitive advantage for VCs". He argues that scrappy early stage VCs who are out there hustling, meeting companies and working hard are going to win over the big, traditional funds sitting back waiting for deals to come to them. There's no question that this new breed of investor is a better fit for entrepreneurs. This is something I posted on a while back.My issue however is with this notion of "competitive advantage". For this to have an effect in the…

  • Free legal tools for your startup

    22 Jan 2010 | 3:45 am
    Legal River, a graduate from Launchbox Digital released some free tools yesterday that might be of interest to your startup. In partnership with a local law firm they have released a generator for Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy. These are two required elements for anyone offering a web service.I gave it a test run yesterday. Works well. So far, it only works in the U.S. But that's a pretty big market. If you're looking to skip the lawyers till you have more funding, check out these tools.

  • What can go wrong?

    21 Jan 2010 | 5:17 am
    Entrepreneurs are optimists by nature. That's what enables them to create something out of nothing, see a vision and go for it, and tolerate lots of bumps along the way. So, it's not necessarily in their DNA to think through everything that can go wrong either with the business generally or with specific aspects like key hires, partnerships, etc. Yet, failing to do so can be a business killer.This is particularly true with startups where things just happen faster and where the positive and negative impact of your actions are amplified by the addition of outside capital. When you are bringing…

  • It's not just about Silicon Valley...

    18 Jan 2010 | 9:58 am
    Startup guru Naval from Venture Hacks wrote a post recently on why you need to be in Silicon Valley. Now, I'm a big fan of Venture Hacks and think its required reading. But, I take exception to this notion that only in the valley can you build a great consumer internet startup.The Valley does have huge advantages. It's the mecca. But I think it's dangerous to think that this is the only place that matters. Naval raises some good points: consumer internet (I would say other sectors as well) is a winner takes all game. The capital is there and the startup culture is there. But, I absolutely…
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    Paul Marshall

  • Things To Think About

    Paul Marshall
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:40 pm
    Things To Think About E Book View more presentations from Paul Marshall. I was asked to contribute to a book that was being pulled together by Terry O’Hanlon from Reliabilityweb.com (a thought leader in our space).  Terry did a great job of collecting thoughts from many senior and very experienced folks in the Operations and Maintenance industry.  My particular piece of insight is on page 23 but I hope you’ll take a minute and flip through the book and I hope and expect you will find some nugget of knowledge that will be applicable to your daily life regardless of whether you are on the…

  • Relocated and Refocused!

    Paul Marshall
    1 Feb 2010 | 6:06 am
    For some time now I have been meaning to move my blog to a more professional format and focus on providing meaning regular guidance and thoughts for my audience.  I have a full time job as most of you know running a great Company and working with a great group of people at Ivara Corp.  Running any company is a lot of work but in the past week a great entrepreneur and great blogger Chris Dixon said it perfectly…”VCs / entrepreneurs who say they don’t have time to blog: please show me your calendar and I guarantee I can find things less important”. I have retitled and…

  • Outlier Example

    Paul Marshall
    23 Jan 2010 | 8:42 am
    Outlier via youtube.com OK so I am a big Neil Peart fan and a bit of a drum geek but having heard Neil speak and his story it is an excellent example of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hr rule in his Outlier book. (I have linked to my favorite solo of his on Youtube for my pleasure as much as yours) In my opinion Neil is probably the greatest drummer in the world, if you disagree thats OK as long as you can acknowledge that he is one of the best at his craft. Neil started as a kid (pre-ten years old) laying magazines out on his bed, listening to music and beating the covers the magazines. At…

  • Can’t wait to Read!

    Paul Marshall
    22 Jan 2010 | 11:53 am
    via startuplessonslearned.com I know I am late to the game but I FINALLY ordered my copy of “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” by Steve Blank….can’t wait to read it as it has been one of the single most frequently recommended read from folks. Not exactly an early adopter on this one but I’m hoping better late than never! I’ll post my thoughts as and after I get through it but for those who have I’d like to hear how it changed your perspective? What you did differently after reading? Do you recommend it to friends? Why or Why not? Posted via web from…

  • Updated Customer Development Image | Market By Numbers | Marketing Help

    Paul Marshall
    22 Jan 2010 | 7:48 am
    via market-by-numbers.com Really great illustrative piece of work by Brant Cooper that nicely outlines the customer evoluation…go to Brant’s Market By Numbers blog and add to your reader if you are at all interested in customer development. Posted via web from Paul’s posterous
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    47 Hats

  • And the winner is…

    Bob Walsh
    8 Feb 2010 | 1:41 pm
    Michael Buckbee. Michael asked the best question during our recent contest with Legal River and its new answerboard. Michael gets an hour of free legal advice/work and a free year’s membership to StartupToDo.com. “I’m a software developer for The Social Collective (http://www.thesocialcollective.com) we create specialized social network tools for conference, festivals and tradeshows. If you’re going to SXSW this year, we’re the company behind their my.sxsw.com website where you can create your own custom personal schedule on the site, sync it to your iPhone and…

  • MicroISV Digest – 01/30/2010

    Bob Walsh
    30 Jan 2010 | 12:57 pm
    Community News: Rob Bazinet, Stillriversoftware.com, has purchased Expens’d from Atlantic Dominion Solutions (Robert Dempsey). This is a good move for Rob, Robert and Expens’d’s customers. It’s also a good model – on both sides – how to create and grow value. Michael Douma, IDEA, has launched ColorRotate – a 3D color picker for PhotoShop and other programs unlike – and better – than any color picker you’ve ever seen. Seriously. Their pricing model is interesting too: $39 as a PhotoShop plugin, $49/year as an online service. Also,…

  • Disrupting the Law with a Lending Tree for Startups

    Bob Walsh
    25 Jan 2010 | 8:40 am
    It’s been an axiom of mine for a long time: everybody wants justice, but you’ve have to have the money to buy it. And for bootstrapping startups and microISVs, lawyering up even when you desperately need to has been too damn expensive. Legal River, a new Washington D.C based startup is standing that on its head. Instead of a sellers market based on relying on recommendations of friends or the local bar association, Legal River has created a buyers market. At Legal River you anonymously post your requirements for free and within a business day bids by attorneys with their…

  • 47Hats: There’s an iPhone app for that!

    Bob Walsh
    21 Jan 2010 | 9:55 am
    Woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise: my Apple iPhone App was approved overnight and is waiting for you to download free! [iTunes link]. There’s a couple of reasons I thought this was worth doing for me and for any microISV or startup who wants to reach out to the 40 million or so iPhone users: As good as HTML5 iPhone apps are (go to http://47hats.com on your mobile and you’ll see what I mean), they’re just not as good an experience as a native app. Click a post, it’s there. Click a podcast, it plays. Nice! Since I don’t code iPhone apps yet, going with…

  • MicroISV Digest – 01/20/2010

    Bob Walsh
    20 Jan 2010 | 9:52 pm
    Community News: Anthony Williams, Just Software Solutions Ltd, Tired of waiting for the upcoming C++ standard (C++0x)’s support of multithreading and concurrency? Just Software Solutions’ just::thread library is an implementation of the C++0x thread library for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and g++. V1.3 introduces support for the new std::async function for launching asynchronous tasks, support for 64-bit Windows and support for g++ 4.4.. There’s more than one way to create a startup: my friend Tsutomu Kodama in Japan has launched a site for non-Japanese who want to get to…
 
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    The Common Sense Web... An Entrepreneurs' Blog

  • Pay to Pitch, Emotions Removed

    Chris Treadaway
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:14 pm
    One of the hot topics among entrepreneurs and venture capitalists over the last few months has been the emerging "pay to pitch" trend across the industry.  I thought I'd take the emotion out of the debate insofar as it is necessary & approach this issue from a purely economic standpoint. I personally think this whole thing really sucks for entrepreneurs -- startup folks spend a lot of time/resources and sometimes money preparing for a pitch, rehearsing it, and delivering it enough times for it to rock.  That's a barrier to entry in and of itself -- and a lot of…

  • Groundhog Day Update

    Chris Treadaway
    2 Feb 2010 | 11:51 am
    Howdy everyone.  Sorry for the time it's taken me to update this blog.  A lot of things are moving fast with our business and in the markets where we compete, and I haven't had time to maintain the blog. It has fallen way down in priorities all of a sudden.  Here's a quick rundown of the things that are keeping me happily driving to work at 7am, engaged throughout the day, and starting another half workday or more around 8pm. Company - Last week, we launched our first deployment of MinutesNotice at QuickDFW.  Quick is a Dallas Fort-Worth Metro Area nightlife portal that…

  • Gary Hoover

    Chris Treadaway
    19 Jan 2010 | 3:25 pm
    One of the best (and only I might add) books I read in business school was Hoover's Vision, a book that provides a framework for entrepreneurial thinking across a variety of areas.  I'm actually re-reading it again -- quite a bit of content in the book is timeless and the lessons are just as valuable today as they were when the book was published almost a decade ago. Aside from working as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the McCombs School of Business, Gary is blogging at Hoover's World.  Some of the content there is reposted from the book, while other content has been…

  • Business is not binary

    Chris Treadaway
    18 Jan 2010 | 5:40 am
    My father was a retail executive for most of his professional career.  As such, he's met a lot of people along the way.  Some have come and gone, while others are still around.  Interestingly, in almost every case his relationships are not defined by the success or failure of a particular business relationship.  Instead, the relationship today is defined by the nature of the interaction on a more human level.  Was there a mutual respect?  Was there understanding in difficult times?  Did one party help the other when he/she didn't necessarily need to do so or when it…

  • Why People Mistrust "Social Media Experts"

    Chris Treadaway
    13 Jan 2010 | 8:23 am
    I think I've figured out why social media folks have a bad "brand" in the business marketplace and amongst people who are not in that industry.  It really comes down to one word... Execution (or lack thereof) It's a loaded word -- "execution" can mean different things for different people: following through on promises - there is just a high correlation of "social media expertise" to lack of follow-up.  I don't know what it is, but it's a real phenomenon.  I have encouraged my old friends at Microsoft to create a "social media…
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    Fort Worth Startup Blog

  • TechWorking - Tech Networking Event in Dallas

    Bradley Joyce
    26 Jan 2010 | 2:16 pm
    Who: Leadership of North Texas technology companies, community organizations that support technology companies and related stakeholders What: A special evening of networking with your technology industry peers.  Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with the various community organizations that support our industry in this region and learn about major initiatives and events in 2010. Dress is casual. Cocktails and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. Parking in the Chase building garage will be $1 after 5 PM. When: Thursday, February 4, 2010 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM Where: The…

  • Effective Pitching @ MIT Enterprise Forum DFW

    Bradley Joyce
    25 Jan 2010 | 1:50 pm
    The DFW MIT Enterprise Forum is putting on an Effective Pitching workshop this Thursday for their January event. Here are the details: As an entrepreneur you have often heard about the elevator pitch. There is more to pitching than 30 second pitches. It is critical for entrepreneurs to sell their ideas and products to customers and investors. Can you effectively communicate the value of your products and ideas? Do you know what does it take to sell to a CEO? What are the things that investors want to hear? Our panel of experts will share what works and what does not work. Learn the rules…

  • Time for 2010

    Bradley Joyce
    22 Jan 2010 | 3:39 pm
    Things have been pretty dormant here for the past few months, as I was in Peru. Now that I’m back in the Metroplex, hopefully you will see more activity here as I start to get spooled back up on the DFW startup scene. Already this year the DFW startup community has a lot to look forward to with StartupWeekend coming back and the launch of the new seed-stage incubator, TechWildcatters. In order to get yourself pumped up for a new year of startups and entrepreneurship, I highly recommend watching ALL the awesome videos from This Week In Startups and Mixergy.

  • TheFunded Launches Founder Showcase

    Bradley Joyce
    16 Dec 2009 | 5:46 am
    TheFunded.com launched what they’re calling the Founder Showcase, an opportunity for new startups to get exposure on their website. From their email: The overall startup climate is improving, but it’s still too hard for young companies to get exposure. Finding the right investors and getting access to the media is as challenging as it every was. It’s time to democratize access and address this problem head on. We can change this together. Today, we’re launching the Founder Showcase, where any Member can showcase their business on TheFunded.com. Once a quarter,…

  • Just Listen - Powerful Advice for the Startup Founder/CEO

    Bradley Joyce
    10 Oct 2009 | 11:18 am
    This was an incredible episode of This Week in Startups with special guest Mark Goulston. Definitely worth a watch if your in a leadership/founder position at a startup or hope to be some day!
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    charliecrystle.com

  • Deal Terms: Liquidation Preferences, Founder Options

    charliecrystle
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:58 am
    Liquidation preferences have always seemed to be a case of having your cake and eating it too for investors. I’m guessing the original intent was strictly for downside protection. But it’s become a way for investors to guarantee a certain upside–risk mitigation at the expense of common. Put another way, it’s terms like these that value [...]

  • The Importance of Call Volume for Execs

    charliecrystle
    2 Feb 2010 | 8:20 am
    First, let me say I always appreciate the courtesy of a phone call, even when it’s disappointing news. I think people deserve the call back. When I don’t want to buy something from someone who calls repeatedly, I call back or email back to let them know they should move on. Courtesy is easy and [...]

  • 100% of Nothing

    charliecrystle
    1 Feb 2010 | 8:48 am
    One of my investors argued with me that I’d end up with 100% of nothing if I passed on a deal. And I know the argument well. In that case, it was a bad deal, but it was the only deal, and was something we likely should have done. I didn’t block it but did ask [...]

  • Beta Update

    charliecrystle
    1 Feb 2010 | 3:13 am
    Sometimes things just aren’t going well, yet things are going really well. I haven’t worked in over a year, and have been kicking about trying new things out, figuring things out, and finally committing to an idea I’ve had for a long time. In between I’ve consulted to a number of companies–mostly startups. A few actually [...]

  • Sign Up for the Focus Beta

    charliecrystle
    26 Jan 2010 | 6:09 am
    The new software is coming along slowly. Ironically, it’s to help people focus while using the computer, and I’ve had trouble focusing throughout the development progress. While the software isn’t just for those with ADD/ADHD, it’s been helpful for me ever since I finished a few features that help block out distractions. A few years ago [...]
 
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    IttyBiz

  • Updates! We Have Updates! And Gossip!

    Naomi Dunford
    3 Feb 2010 | 6:47 pm
    I have many things to say. You may take comfort in knowing that they are all small things. An update on my ass So, this one time? At a funeral? I slipped and fell down the funeral home steps? Yeah, it turns out I broke my tailbone or something. This is only making the list so lots of people can come in the comments and say “sorry about your ass”. I have to get my joy from somewhere, and there’s an outside chance of a Guinness Book of World Records win. An update on the sale 249 of you lovely people (not including the emails Jamie got) have commented on the Choose Your Own…

  • What to Do With the Worm at the Bottom of the Tequila Bottle?

    GuestAuthor
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:38 am
    Sometimes being self-employed sucks. You spend every waking hour (and some sleeping ones, too) working on your precious business – it’s your baby, your lover, your ever so slightly co-dependent best friend. You spend so much time and energy on it that your real baby, lover, and best friend complain that there is nothing left for them. But you can’t help it – you are obsessed. You are determined to share what you got with the world. And sometimes people love what you’ve got, love you, and shower you with roses and orders and blog comments and 83% organic dark chocolate. And…

  • Johnny’s method for writing about nothing, yet getting paid for something

    Johnny Truant
    1 Feb 2010 | 12:21 pm
    A weird revelation occurred to me in December. Around Christmastime, I realized that by the end of the month, I’d have launched 80 or 90 blogs and would have had my best month ever — and by “ever,” I don’t just mean since I’ve been doing this online thing. I meant that it would literally be my best month ever, and by nearly double my previous best month — all from setting up websites and blogs, and doing business consulting. And at the same time, the most recent post on my blog was a rerun of last year’s “Christmas is Gay.” Of…

  • Happy 6th Anniversary To Me, or Way To Not Get Divorced Yet, Naomi

    Naomi Dunford
    29 Jan 2010 | 7:05 am
    Today is my 6th anniversary. Jamie has not left me yet, and that deserves a party, doesn’t it? Last year, we had a sale, but it was really boring. (Well, it wasn’t totally boring. The fifth anniversary is symbolized by wood, so the coupon code was wood. That’s not totally boring, right? OK, yes it is. Forget I asked. Keep reading and we’ll pretend this never came up.) Anyway, this year we wanted to do something more interesting. Also, we wanted to put all the responsibility on your head so we could sit around and eat lots and lots of candy. (The sixth anniversary is the sugar and…

  • The One Thing You Have To Know About Sales Pages

    Dr. Charlie
    28 Jan 2010 | 7:33 am
    I just released some paper productivity planners, and the reason I’m telling you this is not because I want you to run over and buy them – though that would be cool – but instead because I’m going through the very thing that I’m going to be telling you today. Few people actually like writing sales pages, and it doesn’t matter whether they write long sales pages or short sales pages – there are plenty of things we’d rather be doing. When you think about it, though, it’s easy to see why we hate it: writing your sales page causes a lot of…
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    Business of Software Blog

  • What will happen when a software company downs tools for a week?

    Neil Davidson
    4 Feb 2010 | 3:40 am
    Three months ago, four Red Gaters volunteered to lock themselves into a converted barn on the Suffolk coast for a week, ate pizza, drank beer and coded. When Alex, Dom, Nagashree and Rob stumbled back into the office, they’d conceived, gestated and birthed SQL Search. Last week, we launched the product – a free tool to search SQL Server databases. But this blog post isn’t about that. It’s about an idea that popped into my head after reading Dan Pink’s excellent book DriveOne section talks about Atlassian and their FedEx days: the company takes a day off, splits up into adhoc teams,…

  • Ingeniously simple tools ... don't happen by chance

    Neil Davidson
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:53 pm
    Have you ever wondered what pulling a pint of English ale can tell you about software interfaces? Or are you curious about Steve Jobs's magic ability to create news from a vacuum*? These are just two of the topics our user experience folk (they're the people who design Red Gate's software) have covered in our new UX blog. You can read more in pride and preference by Adam Walker and the empty magic of Steve Jobs by Marine Barbaroux.Browse the blog posts, and then put faces to the names. *The iPad is cool, but this is cooler.

  • The rise of the expert

    Neil Davidson
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:23 am
    I’m sitting in my doctor’s office. I’ve described my symptoms and he’s asked a few questions. For a few seconds, he seems puzzled. He starts typing at his computer. I shift my chair so I can see what he’s typing into which expert medical database. He’s on Google. This episode from a couple of weeks back illustrates the ever increasing importance of experts. As information swells in quantity but shrinks in quality, people who can sift through the muck to find the gold become more important and more powerful. People who can judge and interpret; who tell us, the public, what is worth…

  • How much is that little piccie in the window? Why product doesn't determine price

    Neil Davidson
    2 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am
    In 1989 this tiny oil painting of the Virgin Mary was valued at some $9000. On November 29th 1991 it was worth $180,000. A day later, on November 30th, it was valued at between $36 million and $54 million. The valuation proved accurate. In 2004, the UK's National Gallery bought it for some $50m. What changed in those 24 hours? Clearly the physical painting didn't change. It had the same brushstrokes and the same paint made from the same chemicals. It was painted with the same degree of technical skill. The subject matter was the same. It was as pleasing to look at after as it was before. It…

  • Inbound marketing by @dharmesh and @bhalligan - a book review

    Neil Davidson
    8 Nov 2009 | 10:43 pm
    Inbound marketing - get found using Google, social media and blogs is a great book. It's not the book I expected, but it's a great book nonetheless. Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan and their company, Hubspot, are creating the digital wave. They're throwing giant twitter and facebook rocks into the sea of traditional marketing. This book isn't, of course, targeted at the impossibly thin market of people who, like Dharmesh and Brian, are creating this wave. But neither is it targeted at people like myself; those of us who are surfing the wave with differing levels of skill and success. Instead,…
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    Kentucky Startup Blog

  • April is Tech Month in Lexington

    Richard Stump
    9 Feb 2010 | 6:44 am
    The month of April is called Tech Month here in Lexington.  Many different organizations are planning events that are technology or innovation related.  Below is a highlight of some of the most interesting happenings: Creative Cities Summit www.creativecitieslexington.com Date:April 7-9, 2010 Time:varies Location:Lexington Center Corporation Costs:$199 A multi-disciplinary conference bringing together leading thinkers and practitioners who are changing cities and communities all over the world. Areas of focus include talent attraction & retention, innovation, developing…

  • Innovation Scorecard and playbook

    Richard Stump
    26 Jan 2010 | 12:16 pm
    Bill Warner, A technology entrepreneur in Boston posted the following Scorecard and play book for building an innovation economy.  Bill is in Boston but this simple methodology is applicable elsewhere including Kentucky.  We need plays and metrics with which to judge the success of efforts to boost a technology cluster.  Our politicians often tout the work they are doing in these areas but use outdated or no methodology at all to judge their impact and many of the tactics are outdated or ineffective.  This might give us a common language. Scorecard Single Any growing company that…

  • Nine companies receive matching funds from the state

    Richard Stump
    25 Jan 2010 | 10:21 am
    Through the SBIR-STTR matching funds program: Four Tigers, near Paris, is developing blackberry-based cosmetics, dietary supplements, food and medical products that offer the fruit’s potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. www.four-tigers.com NaugaNeedles, of Louisville, produces nano-scale probes and electrodes for use in mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical sensing and manipulation at cellular and molecular levels. www.nauganeedles.com SCR, of Louisville, is developing a long-term implantable counterpulsation medical device to treat heart failure patients who may be…

  • Free Innovation Workshops

    Richard Stump
    20 Jan 2010 | 6:46 am
    The Eastern ICC at EKU will host a special Innovation training program on Feb. 9. Eureka Ranch, a nationally recognized Innovation Lab will present two sessions on Innovation-Profit 101 (8:30am-12:30pm) and USA National Innovation Marketplace (1:30-2:30pm) in the EKU Perkins Building on Kit Carson Drive on the south campus at EKU in Richmond. The first session, Profit 101 Growth program is designed to assist existing organizations get the most out of the creative process (start-ups will also benefit).  Find out how to accelerate ideas and successfully diversify into more profitable products,…

  • Entrepreneurs Foundation creates High-Tech helpHaiti fund

    Richard Stump
    17 Jan 2010 | 2:12 pm
    Check out the info at EFKY about the High-Tech HelpHaiti fund.   An example of the leadership shown by entrepreneurial companies in the US.  The funds donated are being matched leading to at least $1.2 million for Haitian relief.
 
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    Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

  • Attention Microsoft – Pace of Innovation Matters

    GREGG FRALEY
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am
    There’s been an interesting dust-up in the press recently, having to do with innovation at Microsoft. An ex-Microsoft employee, Dick Brass, wrote an op-ed piece in the New  York Times, basically saying that Microsoft is failing to innovate.  He says that in spite of good intentions, great employees, and beaucoup resources they don’t have a formal [...]

  • JD Salinger, Lessons in Creativity & Innovation

    GREGG FRALEY
    30 Jan 2010 | 5:50 am
    I feel compelled to write something about J.D. Salinger. I loved his work and read all of it, which sadly for fans such as I, wasn’t really that much.  Beyond Catcher in the Rye, there was Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Raise High the Roombeam Carpenters, and Seymour an Introduction. This is his body of [...]

  • A Tribute to Bob’s Big Boy, a Cartoon

    GREGG FRALEY
    28 Jan 2010 | 10:58 am
    Branding is something we are imprinted with at a subconscious level. I saw this guy at Hobgoblins, a quite ordinary guy, but with this poofy quiff.  I asked myself why? The result is this drawing. Non-Americans might not get the Bob’s Big Boy reference, click here and you’ll see what that is.

  • Creativity is Where Prosperity Starts

    GREGG FRALEY
    26 Jan 2010 | 2:59 am
    I have no idea who Steven Weber is, but I’m going to find out. He posted a piece on The Huffington Post today that I think is brilliant. In my view, it’s one of those things that needs to be said more often.  The simple fact Steven brings up is this: creativity leads to prosperity. Value [...]

  • Thomas Friedman – Spot on Re: Jobs, Jobs, (Steve) Jobs

    GREGG FRALEY
    25 Jan 2010 | 3:38 am
    Thomas Friedman is one of my favorite writers in the political-economic arena. Probably because he’s a great thinker. When he writes a column you can be sure it is well thought out, well researched, and to the point. He also has ideas — he goes beyond reporting. Yesterday he wrote a New York Times Op-Ed piece [...]
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    TeenEntrepreneurBlog.com

  • NY Teens to Play HALO for 24 Hours Straight to Raise Money For Charity

    admin
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:21 am
    Three socially inspired teens and childhood friends, Jesse Lifshitz, 17, Joey Katz, 17 and Alex Ainsberg, 17 have decided to take their love of video games to another level – they joined forces to create a 24 hour HALO Marathon. They will play Halo 1, 2, 3 andODST for 24 hours straight. The teens were [...]

  • Eastern European Teen Entrepreneurs Heat Things Up Post Cold War

    admin
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:16 am
    Harun Merdzanic is a sixteen year old global fashionista situated in Sarajevo Bosnia, and Herzogovina. He describes his life as a French Musical from the 60’s. He is the visionary and blogger behind AccordingtoHarun.blogspot.com Harun was named the Teen Passioneer of the Month (February 2010) and yesterday he was interviewed live on Sue Oliver’s Passions and [...]

  • Girls Going Places Nationwide Competition to Award $30,000 in Prizes for Teen Girl Entrepreneurs

    admin
    21 Jan 2010 | 9:14 am
    This information comes courtesy of Mara Tyler (thanks so much). Additional information about the program and nomination forms for the competition can be found at www.girlsgoingplaces.com and online at YouTube, MySpace and Facebook (Keyword: GirlsGoingPlaces). Note from Shonika - If you fit the bill and are a teen girl that I have personally had experience with, [...]

  • Foundation For Youth Social Entrepreneurship Launches DB For Youth in Asia Pacific

    admin
    13 Jan 2010 | 5:39 am
    This announcement comes courtesy of Andrea Krause, Executive Director of Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE). The Renegade CEO’s is proud to serve as one of their sponsors for their upcoming conference in India, July 2010. Official Announcement: We are very happy to inform you about our new resource base for aspiring entrepreneurs! Today we launched the first [...]

  • How and Why Teen Entrepreneurs Publish Books

    admin
    2 Jan 2010 | 8:10 am
    Print on Demand Makes Publishing a Book Accessible for Teen Entrepreneurs The old adage says that ‘everybody has at least one great book in them’. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy technology has made it to turn that dream into a reality. The teen entrepreneurs I work with are discovering the accessibility and ease [...]
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    Startup Daddy Home Business Development

  • SD 16 | From Idea To Company In 7 Days

    Ian Gordon | StartupDaddy.com
    22 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am
    In this episode of Startup Daddy I talk about my new company, Memory Deck.  I hope that by talking about the process I’m going through as I start this new company, you will see that you can do it too. While my partner and I have been researching and planning this for months, when it came time to create the company and form the LLC, we got the whole process done in a week.  Yes, I filled out the application at LegalZoom, and seven days later we had a company with a business checking account, and we were on our way. I’m not smarter than you.  You can do this. Download the Mp3

  • I Wrote On Dad-O-Matic Today About Talking To My Daughter About Haiti

    Ian Gordon | StartupDaddy.com
    20 Jan 2010 | 12:10 pm
    I wrote a post for Dad-O-Matic about talking to our 6 year old about the earthquake in Haiti, and all of the horrific images she catches on TV now and then.  It’s never easy to talk to your kids about death and tragedy but it’s important.  It’s not the usual business fair, but you can read it here.

  • I’m Taking A Mulligan For 2009

    Ian Gordon | StartupDaddy.com
    14 Jan 2010 | 8:34 am
    I’m taking a mulligan for 2009.  In golf, a mulligan is when you hit the ball poorly, into the woods or a lake, or five feet in front of you, and you want a do over. I know a lot about mulligans.  I was inspired by CC Chapman, who had a bad week, and called a mulligan. If you haven’t heard CC Chapman’s podcast Managing the Gray, you should really check it out.  Anyway, I thought this was a fantastic idea.  I want to take it a few steps farther though, and call a mulligan for all of 2009. Like a lot of people, 2009 was a particularly hard year for me.  Now A LOT of…

  • Why The Google Announcement About China Is A Really Big Deal

    Ian Gordon | StartupDaddy.com
    12 Jan 2010 | 6:50 pm
    Google made a huge announcement today.  Essentially, because of an attempt by the Chinese Government to hack the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google has made a decision that will likely lead to their leaving China. In 2006, in order to make the deal in China, Google agreed to censor some search results. They announced today that they are no longer willing to continue censoring results. This is a big deal because it is not often that Corporations the size of Google, with access to the market of markets that China is, decide to give it up because it’s the right thing…

  • Some New Year’s Inspiration From Steve Jobs.

    Ian Gordon | StartupDaddy.com
    4 Jan 2010 | 9:59 am
    As this is the beginning of a new year, and I am starting a new venture, I find myself going through a list of inspiring reads and videos I have bookmarked.  For my first post of 2010, I want to share a video of Steve Jobs giving the commencement speech at Stanford in 2005.  It’s only 14 minutes so if you are not one of the 3 million that have seen it, I suggest you do. He talks about getting fired from Apple at 30, being told cancer was going to kill him within 6 months and how seemingly random things in his life had an impact on future wins when at the time, he of course had no idea…
 
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    The Entrepreneurial Mind

  • Still Just Surviving

    9 Feb 2010 | 4:29 am
    The NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism for January finds that optimism has clearly stalled for small business owners.  "Small business owners entered 2010 the same way they left 2009, depressed," said William Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist. "The biggest problem continues to be a shortage of customers." The highlights:Employment --Owners reported workforce reductions that average .52 workers per firm, basically unchanged for the past several months.Capital Spending --the frequency of reported capital outlays over the past six months rose three points to 47 percent of all firms, an…

  • When a Bailout Plan Ends Up as Good News

    9 Feb 2010 | 4:09 am
    Ben Cunningham sent along a link to a story that looks into what actually happened with the $15 billion for small business support announced by the SBA last spring.  I had raised concerns about an artificial infusion of debt financing for small businesses when this was first announced (see here and here).It seems that as of today, none of the money has been distributed.  From Jake Tapper with ABC News:The source told me that the reason the program has not been officially utilized was twofold. One, almost every potential participant declined to cooperate because they didn't want the…

  • Supporting Guatemala Honey Entrepreneurs

    8 Feb 2010 | 11:20 am
    My colleague here at Belmont University, Jose Gonzalez, has been working with a group of students to assist honey farmers in Guatemala.They all spent time in Guatemala over part of the Christmas break and are now back working on plans to help these farmers.  Toward that end they have entered their project in Dell's Social Innovation Competition.Here is our students' entry into this competition to set up an entity to support these farmers and to expand a microloan fund:Our plan is to support the creation of an independent venture that manages the production and commercialization of Fair…

  • Don't Add to the Challenges of Startup

    4 Feb 2010 | 4:01 am
    There are enough challenges with start-ups -- finding capital, finding space, attracting customers, reaching breakeven, hiring employees, etc., etc..  Why do so many entrepreneurs add interpersonal problems to this the already long list of challenges that must be dealt with during startup?I have written often about the pitfalls of working with partners in entrepreneurial ventures (see here and here for a couple of recent musings). When a partnership works well, it can help you achieve things you never could have achieved alone.  That was certainly the case with some of my partners…

  • There is Still Money Out There

    3 Feb 2010 | 4:23 am
    While money is harder to come by, there is still money out there for deals that hold promise.Last year the Forbes America's Most Promising Companies identified twenty entrepreneurial ventures with strong promise for growth.In a follow-up, we find that many of these firms have had success in raising money.  Mind you, it has not been a flood gate of cash flow opening for these firms even with the publicity from this event.  But, together they have raised about $19 million.But, because funding is still limited, the firms in this group are being prudent with every dollar they raise,…
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    College Mogul

  • Part 1: Guide to Creating Products Linked to Social Entrepreneurship

    Alex.Lindahl
    30 Jan 2010 | 2:01 pm
    The following post is by Mershard Frierson, founder of Mojo Body Fuel, a startup that puts a portion of its proceeds towards planting trees and international aid organizations. Mojo Body Fuel is working in Surigao Del Sur, Philippines and Port-au-prince, Haiti. Mershard is 21 and will be graduating from Fisk University in Nashville in May 2010. [Interested in contributing an article to College Mogul? Shoot Alex Lindahl an email.] Studies show that people are much more likely to switch brands if the product influences or relates to social causes. The following is part 1 of a…

  • Interested In Taking Over College Mogul?

    Alex.Lindahl
    12 Jan 2010 | 8:24 pm
    Hi, This is Alex here. I started College Mogul some time ago and have since moved on. It's a bit difficult to stay in the college loop after being out of school for so long. As I'm not sure what to do with this blog, I'm opening this up for suggestions. I'd be willing to entertain the idea of someone else taking this blog over as long as there is a plan in place. In fact, I'd probably much rather see someone take this over then to let it die. If you are interested in taking over College Mogul or have a good idea for what I should do with it - shoot me an email. Otherwise - check out Clean…

  • DailyTailgate: Simple and witty sports info delivered to you

    Miles.Lennon
    31 Aug 2009 | 7:46 pm
    Calling all sports enthusiasts (and people who should know a bit more about sports): there is a new tool on the market worth checking out. DailyTailgate is a refreshingly simple and witty email newsletter that features hot sports topics as well as personalized sports information in your inbox every morning. Each newsletter features a mix of quotes, facts, witty editorial, schedules, results, and analysis giving you the conversation fodder you need to avoid awkward silence during work lunch or appearing clueless in the eyes of your friends. I had a chance to ask Michael Corcoran,…

  • 8 Free Online Entrepreneurial Finance Classes from MIT

    Alex.Lindahl
    21 Aug 2009 | 3:13 pm
    Running a business is never easy, especially if it’s your first time going it on your own. There are a million things to remember, clients to find, employees to be managed and of course, money to be accounted for. If you don’t have much experience managing the finances of a small business, these free courses from big name colleges like MIT can be just what you need to learn about everything from the basics of accounting to more complex economic theory—and everything in between. 1. Business Analysis Using Financial Statements: Take this course to learn more about how to read…

  • Poll: Did Facebook Acquire FriendFeed to Specifically Attack Twitter?

    Alex.Lindahl
    10 Aug 2009 | 2:46 pm
    * Yes * No * Maybe * Unsure
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    Jun's Startup Life

  • Answer to a reader: I hate my corporate job. Should I become an entrepreneur?

    JunLoayza
    9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am
    Let me start off by saying that I truly appreciate every email that I get from my readers.  I may not be able to get back to you right away, but if you put time and effort into connecting with me and asking a very good question, then I will put an equal amount of effort in my response.  Hence, the person who emailed me last week gets a blog post and video response because of his sincere email and enthusiasm to connect. If you have any questions about entrepreneurship, relationships, or business, please shoot me an email at me [at] JunLoayza.com and I promise to respond to you with an…

  • How to discipline your clients

    JunLoayza
    28 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am
    I was in the client kickoff call with the Director of SEO and Director of PPC.  After an effective 30-minute conference call, the client asks THE question that will set ALL campaign expectations: “When should we schedule our weekly meetings to discuss the campaign progress?” Director of SEO: “Best times for me are Tuesdays or Thursdays before 11am PST” Director of PPC: “Same here” Me (Director of Social Media): “My team does not schedule weekly meetings with our clients; instead, our Account Managers send weekly reports at the end of each week.  We…

  • When you hit the wall…

    JunLoayza
    26 Jan 2010 | 3:00 am
    Three miles from my house I hit the wall.  I pushed as hard as I could, but my noodle legs had no effect on my forward momentum.  I tightly gripped the handle bars to maintain a straight course, but my trembling and sobbing hands uncontrollably caused the wheels to shake back and forth.  My visioned blurred and every gasp for air was accompanied by dry saliva. Never had I felt so tired.  I screamed at the top of my lungs - a feeble attempt at a kiai - but no matter how much my mind wanted to keep pushing, my body gave up. Slowly I pulled over to the side of the curb, and on a nearby patch…

  • Get ready for your socks to be blown off: the Launch of Untemplater!!!

    JunLoayza
    5 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am
    This is for the professional who drags herself out of bed every morning to go to an unfulfilling job… This is for the undergraduate who can’t decide on a major or career path, and has no idea how to live happily… This is for the family who wants to break free of the routine life but has no idea where to start… If you want to take control of your life, work where you want, live how you want, and be who you want to be, then this is for you. I present to you: Untemplater My posts on Untemplater will focus on how I built an internet company with barely any capital.  You…

  • Remember your first time?

    JunLoayza
    24 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    I remember my first time so well. It was Spring 2007, and I was an inexperienced 21 year-old getting ready to graduate and enter the real world.  My brother Yu-kai Chou had already done it and I thought, “Yu-kai seems like such a Fob.  If Yu-kai has done it, then I should be able to do it as well!” I was nervous.  I had consistently heard my peers talking about how good it felt, and those wild college success stories made it seem like it was just so easy to accomplish.  It was my last year in college, and I knew if I didn’t do it now, there was just no way I’d be…
 
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    Entrepreneur Bootcamp

  • Ten Easy Tips For Writing Your Business Ezine

    Del Williams
    2 Feb 2010 | 3:19 pm
    If you're a solo professional you probably write an ezine. Sending out an electronic newsletter ezine (e-zine) is one of the least expensive and best ways to create value and top of mind awareness in your customer's mind.One common issue I see in working with my own clients is sticking to a regular schedule, getting it done and out. Creating an expectation in your customer's mind that you will reach out to them regularly and then not fulfilling that expectation can be deadly for your business. Here's some tips and techniques for making sure you get your ezine out the door.1. To create useful…

  • Why You Should Have an Email Autoresponder For Your Business by Rob Larson

    Del Williams
    29 Jan 2010 | 5:27 pm
    There are many things to consider when starting a home based business. If you are on a limited budget and want to stick with just the necessities to get started then, by all means, follow along while I show you how focal an email autoresponder is and why you need to have one.An email autoresponder is a major component to how your sales funnel is set up. It is what collects and stores the name, email and phone numbers you receive through your lead capture page or website. It is important to have a technique in place that keeps track of this information because this is how you create your leads…

  • Lengthy Business Plans Obsolete

    Del Williams
    11 Jan 2010 | 7:03 pm
     QuikPitch™ (http://www.quikpitch.com), a first of its kind enterprise application for managing venture capital investment tasks, today announced release of its innovative tool. QuikPitch is a free online application to enable quick and easy collaboration between startup entrepreneurs seeking venture capital and investors looking for new ideas and investment opportunities.QuikPitch will completely transform the way of startup pitching and investing. As both a collaboration application and a tool for achieving everyday venture capital investment tasks, QuikPitch helps entrepreneurs…

  • Choosing the Best Domain Name For You and Your Online Business

    Del Williams
    7 Jan 2010 | 1:27 pm
    Choosing the best domain name for you and your online business can be a crucial step in defining the success or failure of your hard work. You may build the best website in the world with great content and design but if the domain name is totally unrelated to your content you will be making more hard work for yourself.Brainstorming is a common way of choosing a domain name. Once you have your website theme and content decided upon you can simply write down all of the possibly good names for your site and then check to see which ones are available.Choosing what is available can be…

  • Time59 Web-Based Time and Billing Software Now on iPhone

    Del Williams
    7 Jan 2010 | 1:11 pm
    Time59, the web-based time and billing application for independent professionals such as lawyers and consultants, now runs in the Mobile Safari web browser that comes pre-installed on the iPhone and iPod Touch.Users can track time and expenses, email invoices to clients, and manage accounts receivable from any internet-connected computer, iPhone or iPod Touch."Imagine being away from your office talking to a client on your iPhone. When the conversation ends you can send the client an invoice. Or you can check the status of the client's account before your call," said Christopher Monaghan,…
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    Chasing the Storm

  • Augmented Reality marketing campaigns

    buzzoptima@yahoo.com.sg (Shalabh Pandey)
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:58 pm
    Showcasing some really cool yet workable Augmented Reality concepts Click the title for complete post. (twitter.com/shalabhpandey)

  • And the winner is…

    buzzoptima@yahoo.com.sg (Shalabh Pandey)
    2 Feb 2010 | 10:50 pm
    We decided the winner of the Final cover layout design. And the winner is... Click the title for complete post. (twitter.com/shalabhpandey)

  • Business Evangelism- meet Malcom Gladwell in Singapore

    buzzoptima@yahoo.com.sg (Shalabh Pandey)
    2 Feb 2010 | 6:50 am
    Meet Malcom Gladwell in Singapore- and a deal for ChasingTheStorm readers Click the title for complete post. (twitter.com/shalabhpandey)

  • Think About It: A Book by me- A Cover design by you

    buzzoptima@yahoo.com.sg (Shalabh Pandey)
    31 Jan 2010 | 7:45 pm
    My first book. Help me with the cover. Click the title for complete post. (twitter.com/shalabhpandey)

  • Podcast: LinchPin and other topics by Seth Godin

    buzzoptima@yahoo.com.sg (Shalabh Pandey)
    25 Jan 2010 | 6:17 pm
    Podcast with Seth Godin from Marketing Over Coffee in the wake of his book Linchpin Click the title for complete post. (twitter.com/shalabhpandey)
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    Startup Economy

  • Thoughts on Winner-Take-All Businesses

    25 Jan 2010 | 12:57 pm
    Startup Boy pointed out in a recent post that consumer internet is increasingly becoming winner-take-all businesses and that every bit of advantage over competitor means you own the market.Though his blog makes a case for why you need to be in Silicon Valley, that got me think about the non-compete agreement prevalent in MA. With the non-compete in place, employees can oly jump over ship to unrelated industry and are forced to forego the relevant experience built over time. This seems to be a big inefficiency in loss of productivity especially in the startup community. What if Google,…

  • Can VC and entrepreneurs just get along?

    11 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am
    I've been thinking about the discontent between entrepreneurs and VCs. The story goes like this:Entrepreneur (E), VC (V)E: The venture capital model is dead. I'm working on a hot company that's going to change the world. VCs don't understand my business.V: What's the correlation between dead VC model and your inability to raise VC money? Bring on the VC-fundable idea and team, and we'll write a check.E: We have a target market with no competition and great idea.V: No competition? If it's an attractive market, there's gotta be someone else competing against you in that market. No product? Too…

  • Startup vs. Big Company - Politics

    10 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am
    (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.so says Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/politics)Many of us in startups talk about flat organization, no hierarchy, no politics quite often. We tend to believe that bureaucratic organizational structure in big companies is the enemy of all, and that startups are nimble and move faster to adapt to changes to customer demand and market conditions.I recently engaged in a discussion with some friends and talked about the office politics. There were entrereneurs,…

  • Future VC Crisis

    15 May 2009 | 7:22 am
    I usually don't pretend to predict the future outcome of industry. I'm often very wrong about the future like many people out there, but what the heck! There will be a VC crisis... at least in the small segment of those affected by the current trends and from pure perspective of financials .It is no secret that the cost of startup decreased dramatically. Paul Graham agrees here, and Prof (via NY Times) has an article here to reinforce the case in point. Wait, didn't I argue for rise of startup cost in the past? Not so fast here. Here's the difference:The cost of starting up a company (e.g.

  • Ouch...

    21 Apr 2009 | 4:16 am
    John Sculley: Don't Be Afraid to Make Tough DecisionsJohn Sculley says it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do as a CEO: stripping his friend and sponsor, Steve Jobs, of any operating role in the company Jobs had co-founded. Sculley spoke to Inc. in 1987 about what became a very public crisis at Apple Computer, explaining why working with entrepreneurs -- especially those who crave control -- can be trying. "The hardest part of dealing with entrepreneurs is getting them to recognize their own weaknesses. Sometimes they will say they are weak in certain areas, and then try to…
 
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    Growthink

  • There is No Recession in...

    Jay Turo
    8 Feb 2010 | 8:58 am
    Over $135 billion MORE was spent on healthcare in 2009 ($2.5 trillion) than in 2008. Let's put that number in perspective - the increase in healthcare spending in the U.S. in 2009 was greater than the revenues of Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Apple. Combined. And with over 50% of this spending coming from government - primarily from Medicaid spending (up 10%) and Medicare (up 8%) - there is no end in sight to the growth. Quite simply, there is NO recession in healthcare. You Can Cry About It or You Can Seek Opportunities In It We here at Growthink are not doomsayers. Far from it. As a…

  • How much is this shortcut worth to you?

    Andrew Bordeaux
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:59 pm
    Imagine you had been driving to and from work the same way every day for the past 4 years. And let's say that the drive each way typically took 30 minutes. And then one day, a friend told you about a shortcut that would save you 10 minutes each way. So, that's 20 minutes a day in time savings.At 250 work days each year, that's 83 hours per year. Or 332 hours over 4 years.I bet you wouldn't be too happy about having wasted 332 hours...Or would you?Because you would subsequently save 83 hours this year, and 83 hours next year, and so on and so on. That's pretty cool. The point is this -…

  • The One Law That Business Owners Must Break

    Dave Lavinsky
    1 Feb 2010 | 2:22 pm
    Last month I reached my boiling point.My son Max was driving me absolutely crazy. And something had to be done about it.What was happening?Well, a couple of months ago, he started taking forever to get anything done. For example, if you told him to brush his teeth, it would take him 20 minutes. He just didn't have any focus. He would walk upstairs. Then get sidetracked by something on the way to the bathroom. Ten minutes later he still wouldn't have started brushing.And then the real problem started last month. That's when his fourth grade teacher started cranking up the homework. Homework…

  • The One Thing You Can't Live Without

    Jay Turo
    1 Feb 2010 | 12:37 pm
    If you're like me, there's one thing you probably take for granted. Interestingly, this one thing is something you can't live without. At least not for long. But fortunately, there are some cutting-edge entrepreneurs working wonders on solving the challenges of this one thing. What is it?Water  All around the world water shortages long ago crossed the crisis threshold. In California. Arizona. New Mexico. Georgia and Florida. The Middle East. China.  Too many years of antiquated public policy, population and economic growth, climate change, and unsustainable agriculture have strained…

  • New Training Program: "Ultimate Internet Marketing System"

    Dave Lavinsky
    24 Jan 2010 | 10:37 pm
    *** UPDATED Wednesday, January 27th at 2:01pm EST ***The "Ultimate Internet Marketing System" is Now Available.Click Here to Get All the Details*** UPDATED Monday, January 25th at 5:27pm EST *** Be sure to check out the "Special Announcement" at the bottom of the this blog entry. If you've already read the original version of this blog entry, you can click here to go straight to the special announcement.  -- Dave Over the past several weeks, I have been putting the finishing touches on my new Internet Marketing training program. And I'm finally ready to reveal what's included... But…
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    crowdSPRING Blog

  • Build A Strong Brand, Not Just A Strong Business

    Ross
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pm
    There are thousands – perhaps millions – of social networks. Today, no company can control all the conversations that take place about that company’s products and services. This is an especially challenging problem for small businesses and startups because they have few resources and little capacity to participate on many social networks at once. This means small businesses and startups – and even large Brands – must find ways to empower their customers and fans to promote their brands. In the following video I discuss why you should focus on building a strong…

  • Micro marketing: 5 tips for small business and startups

    Mike
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:30 am
    crowdSPRING is a B2B venture tapping into the ever-fragmented SMB market. This presents us with some specific challenges, including how to better convert the curious first time visitor to the site into a customer and how to continuously deliver value to existing customers to build long-lasting relationships. We use a “micro-conversion” approach that we believe is a powerful strategy for attracting and retaining customers. Our typical customer is the small and mid-size business owner or manager and these folks present two key challenges: first, they are notoriously difficult to…

  • Which Army Recruitment Video Would Borat Prefer?

    Ross
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pm
    The United States army has a substantial marketing budget. The advertising tends to promote strength, honor, duty, etc. Here’s a typical ad: The Ukrainian Army takes a slightly different approach. Why waste time talking about strength, honor, duty or the fancy toys when you can just shortcut to a theme that always sells. Sex. Watch:

  • Twitter Link Roundup #26 – Design, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media And More

    Ross
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:28 am
    Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week! 100+ Truly Stunning Skateboard Designs - http://bit.ly/dtmVRZ Information is beautiful: 30 examples of creative infography – http://j.mp/cQ1ORJ 110+ Resources For Creative Minds - http://j.mp/b7HoEN 10 Great Tips for Using Twitter as a Designer…

  • Bootstrapping Your Startup or Small Business

    Ross
    2 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pm
    I spent this past weekend talking with 100 brilliant people at ORD Camp in Chicago. ORD Camp is an invitation-only unconference, loosely based on Foo Camp. During the conference, I participated, among many other things (including an awesome presentation about roasting a pig!), in two discussions about startups. Although Mike (Thoughts for small businesses and startups on raising capital) and I (Start-up Tip: Ten Suggestions For Raising Start-up Capital From Angels and Start-up Tip: When To Leave Your Full Time Job) have written and talked about startup fundraising a number of times,…
 
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    Spartina.com

  • Affiliate Marketing

    25 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pm
    For a tech startup, an easy source of revenue can often be using affiliate channels. It does take some work to find them, get them signed up, and pick the ones who reach your target audience. However, in general, results are positive. Here's an article that takes a look at the steps in tapping into the affiliate market. Note that the affiliate information is about half-way down the article. Skip the opening and go right to his tips. You'll find them helpful.

  • Hiring Tips for Startups

    25 Jan 2010 | 1:06 pm
    Here's an interesting perspective on how to hire great employees for your startup: hire people who are already working. This article is worth reading just so you can see if you agree. Personally, it's not necessarily a perfect solution. In the article, Hoffman encourages lots of web recruiting. There is another side: stealing people can bring bad karma. If someone is already working, but unhappy, why haven't they left? Also, there is too much of a stigma placed on someone who is not working. Perhaps they are the ones who have the courage to vote with their feet, and walk out…

  • Here's David Heineimeier Hansson

    25 Jan 2010 | 12:59 pm
    There are some great entrepreneurs out there, and David Hannson in definately one of them. The creator of Ruby on Rails, and a partner at 37 Signals, in this presentation at Stanford, he offers some wise advice to entrepreneurs who are looking at starting their own business. A great video to watch.

  • Truth is Sometimes In the Middle

    30 Nov 2009 | 12:10 pm
    This is an article to read before your answer your first phone  call from a VC. The end of the article warms us: "Is there a lesson here for other entrepreneurs? It may be that no question is impolite during a meeting with investors. “It’s fair game to ask who they’ve seen, who they’re talking to, what they’re incubating,’" In other words, if a VC is asking you a lot of strategic questions, you need to know who you are talking to. What are they going to do with the information in addition to perhaps investing in your company.

  • Liquidation Preferences

    30 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm
    Be  careful how you create the liquidation preferences in your offerings. They are getting a closer scrutiny these days because of the markets. Here's a thoughtful article from the Wall Street Journal Blog.
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    Usman Sheikh's Entrepreneurial Journey

  • It is All About Your Attitude

    Usman Sheikh
    7 Feb 2010 | 1:51 pm
    Image by JustUptown Life as an entrepreneur is undoubtedly very challenging. One always seems to be on a roller coaster ride, with emotions yoyoing up and down on a regular basis. The other day I was forwarded the letter below, it really made me pause and think. The message is a simple one, yet…so many of us tend not to give it the attention it deserves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. John is the kind of guy you love to hate.   He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.  When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were…

  • Book Review: Building Brand Value the Playboy Way

    Usman Sheikh
    30 Jan 2010 | 11:49 am
    Marketing really fascinates me. The ability to get people to buy into your vision and what you are selling is something few people/companies pull off really well. The best way to equip yourself for this is to read about brands and their development. The Playboy story, narrated in this book, guides you through the brand being built to where it is today, along with key marketing principles they followed, and ignored. It walks you through the practical implementation of many concepts, which, if read in isolation are not as clear. A core factor that led to the rise of Playboy in the 50’s,…

  • Just Do It!

    Usman Sheikh
    26 Jan 2010 | 11:00 pm
    These words have been immortalized by the Nike slogan. They were also the first ones that came to mind this morning when I read Brad Feld’s post It’s So Hard When Contemplated In Advance And So Easy When You Do It. After a long time, I instantly connected with a post. The feeling he talks about is one I have been witnessing these last couple of weeks on account of a project that was just not going as planned. We had to finally take it into our own hands to get it done. In the beginning it seemed an insurmountable task.  I had no idea how we would take it on. Nonetheless, we put our…

  • A Lack of Sleep can Kill you

    Madhur Kotharay
    23 Jan 2010 | 1:11 pm
    A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra’s Carter Road. Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids. It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India. However, it was even more disastrous for…

  • Book Review: Secrets of a Rut-Buster

    Usman Sheikh
    21 Jan 2010 | 4:25 am
    Entrepreneurs as a whole, are a rut-busting community of individuals. We break away from the norms, challenge rules and more often than not, choose to walk down the path less traveled. This book intrigued me as it held the secrets of a woman who has achieved tremendous success in her life. The book is Myra Janco Daniels biography. In it she lists eight secrets that have enabled her to become a life long rut-buster. She is an award winning entrepreneur, and ran one of the top boutique advertising agencies in America. The book is an extremely easy read, I finished it in one sitting. It is full…
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    The Mogul Mom Blog

  • February Action: Plan Ahead

    Heather Allard
    7 Feb 2010 | 7:42 am
    Last weekend, my husband and I took our three kids and one big dog to New Hampshire for three days. The stars and planets must’ve been aligned just so because, before we left, I completely outdid myself with planning ahead. I: Scheduled a blog post Turned on my email autoresponder letting people know I was away Planned the [...] Current Sponsors: [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Become A Blogger Premium (Review)

    Heather Allard
    3 Feb 2010 | 4:11 pm
    Back in 2007, I started blogging here on The Mogul Mom using Google’s Blogger platform. I didn’t know anything about blogging but thought it was a great way for me to share with mom entrepreneurs everything I’d learned along my own journey without the hassle and expense of a website. Not long into my blogging career, [...] Current Sponsors: [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Pitch Perfect With Cristin Mitchell

    Heather Allard
    30 Jan 2010 | 5:38 pm
    This post was originally published on October 27, 2008. To continue our perfect pitch practice, I asked Cristin Mitchell, my sister AND a former Boston news producer, to share some pitching peeves and positives with us from a pitchee’s perspective. The view is much different on that end. Heather: Tell us about your background—education and professional experience. Cristin: [...] Current Sponsors: [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Your Ambassador of Quan

    Heather Allard
    29 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pm
    So you have this incredible product that you’ve created, right? And you want to sell the heck out it and see it on store shelves everywhere, right? But where do you start? How in the world do you get retail stores to start carrying your product? That’s exactly what I wondered back in 2004 when I [...] Current Sponsors: [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Business Baby Shower Contest

    Heather Allard
    25 Jan 2010 | 2:07 pm
    Celebrating entrepreneurial moms and all they do to birth and grow a business The Business Baby Shower, a new contest celebrating entrepreneurial moms and all they do to birth and grow a successful company while balancing family life, was recently launched as a partnership between The Mom Entrepreneur and Corporate Mom DropOuts. The Contest, which runs from [...] Current Sponsors: [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
 
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    SimplyRFiD

  • Recall: 4" x 2" label used with Zebra R110Xi printer

    Ashley Lange
    6 Feb 2010 | 11:37 am
    The Issue  On February 2, SimplyRFiD discovered that a problem had arisen with our On-Demand DoD RFID system. Zebra R110Xi printers were programming "the next tag" instead of the current tag on the 4" x 2" label when used with the Avery Dennison AD223 and AD224 RFID chip. As a result, it is necessary to replace all 4" x 2" labels with the larger 4" x 3" or longer size label.  By February 8, SimplyRFiD will be ready to replace the labels in question. Email us at support(at)simplyrfid.com if you need more information on this, or to be put on the replacement list. As always, SimplyRFiD…

  • Free Pass to ISC West in Las Vegas - Come learn about RFID Asset Tracking!

    Ashley Lange
    29 Jan 2010 | 8:07 am
    Join us in March 23 - 26 at the ISC West show in Las Vegas. This premiere security industry event connects everyone from solution creators to implementers to those that need to find out more. SimplyRFiD will be there showing off our RFID Asset Tracking Solution -- Nox. Click the link below to sign up for a free pass to the exhibit hall and come visit us at booth 2061!   

  • New SimplyRFiD website!

    Ashley Lange
    27 Jan 2010 | 9:19 am
    What better time to unveil our new website than in the very first month of a new decade! Our shiny new SimplyRFiD homepage is finally ready for business.    Come check out all the new ways we've made shopping for RFID and UID solutions easier than ever. Whether it's pre-printed tags for an upcoming shipment to the DoD or an asset tracking solution designed from the ground up for your company, SimplyRFiD's new website can help you make the best decision for your business. 
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    The Entrepreneurial MD

  • Want to Organize Your Physician Expert "How-To Book"? 5 Tips for Success

    Philippa Kennealy
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:13 am
    Guest post by Lisa Tener, author and book writing coach. Physicians who have long fancied the idea of writing a book are often overwhelmed by their goal. After, "Where do I start?" and "How do I make time for this?" their next big question is, "How do I organize my book?" Good question. There's no one best way, but here are five suggestions to get you started Motivate Your Readers with Potential Benefits: Think about your reader and what they want to know.  Start with what the book can do for them (benefits) and include stories of how your system or program has helped other people in…

  • Frustrated physicians -- Is it time to lay yourself off?

    Philippa Kennealy
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:03 am
    Calling all depressed or angry physicians who are unhappy with your working lives or frustrated at how your professional world is slowing eroding, I urge you to watch Lemonade. This 36-minute visually gorgeous movie will zap you in the amygdala and hopefully leave you inspired to examine your work and life ... and decide what really matters to you. Are you still passionate about medicine? Redesign your life to re-own and re-exercise that passion. Tired of the grind? Lay yourself off and get involved with something you care deeply about. Hate it when Monday arrives? Decipher what is missing…

  • The 5 biggest marketing mistakes entrepreneurial physicians make

    Philippa Kennealy
    29 Jan 2010 | 2:17 pm
    Are you surprised when I tell you that most physicians with practices and businesses suck at marketing? Me, neither. Is it because we weren't taught about its importance? Or that we feel it's tacky and beneath us? Or that it just plain scares the heck out of us? It used to be, even when I started out in my family practice, that you just had to treat patients well, spend a minute or two extra with them and (hopefully) provide decent medical care, and that would be enough to guarantee building a steady medical practice. Those days are gone, unless you're the only game in a small town! Now, it's…

  • Hey, Physicians -- Is it Time to Write Your Book?

    Philippa Kennealy
    26 Jan 2010 | 8:13 am
    Guest post By Lisa Tener, author and book coach Have you noticed how many people are writing books lately? Maybe some colleagues and competitors in your field have recently become published authors. Do you wonder if becoming a published author is for you? A book can help you start a new business or take an existing medical practice or business to the next level. It can help you position yourself as an Expert in your field and open up new (or bigger) opportunities in public speaking, media attention, joint ventures and more. Evana Maggiore, Author of Fashion Feng Shui: The Power of Dressing…

  • How should entrepreneurial physicians respond to the call for healthcare reform?

    Philippa Kennealy
    23 Jan 2010 | 8:16 am
    Paul Craig Roberts has a distinguished career track record as a journalist and economist. His Wikipedia entry reads as follows: Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an economist  and a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate. He served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration earning fame as the "Father of Reaganomics". He is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Scripps Howard News Service. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology  and he holds a Ph.D. from…
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    Business Startup Success Club

  • What’s Your Most Urgent Question About Business Taxes?

    Sheryl
    4 Feb 2010 | 9:55 am
    What questions do you have about your business taxes? I’d like to do a series of articles this month and next to help small business owners like you to better understand their business taxes. Rather than write only about what I think is important, I’d like to hear what’s on your mind. Leave a comment [...] Related posts:Save $100’s in Taxes with a Home Office Deduction 3 Tips for Business Owners to Save Money on Taxes Solo Business Owners: Beware of IRS Focus on Schedule C

  • You Don’t Have to be an Einstein

    Sheryl
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am
    You don’t have to think like Einstein, belong to Phi Beta Kappa, or even have a high school diploma to start a successful on-line business. It’s OK if you do, but credentials aren’t the most important thing you need. You don’t even have to be especially creative. What do you need to get started working [...] Related posts:How Can I Help You Get Your Business Started? Open 24/7/365 How Much Does it Cost to Start an On-line Business

  • Crash Course in Taxes for Schedule C Businesses: Car Expenses

    Sheryl
    1 Feb 2010 | 11:06 pm
    If you don’t feel like wading through zillions of pages of IRS material in hopes of discovering information that will help you understand how to deduct your car expenses, you’re in luck. Here’s a special report that spells out the basic definitions, methods of calculation, restrictions, reporting, and record keeping requirements. It’s for business owners who operate [...] Related posts:3 Ways to Save Money on Your Taxes, Even if Your Business Records Look Like This… Taxes 101: Part 1 Business Taxes 101

  • 3 Tips for Business Owners to Save Money on Taxes

    Sheryl
    28 Jan 2010 | 4:54 am
    1. Make sure you get the maximum allowable tax deduction for business use of your car There are two methods to calculate your auto expenses and you can choose the one that gives you the best results: actual costs optional mileage amount (for 2009 it’s .55 per mile) You can choose differently each year without needing permission from the [...] Related posts:Save $100’s in Taxes with a Home Office Deduction Tax Tips for Business Owners Solo Business Owners: Beware of IRS Focus on Schedule C

  • 3 Ways to Save Money on Your Taxes, Even if Your Business Records Look Like This…

    Sheryl
    27 Jan 2010 | 4:47 am
    1. Get a copy of your return from last year. If you’re like most people, your tax situation doesn’t change much from year to year.  So last year’s return is probably full of clues to help you know what paperwork you need to collect for this year. If your circumstances have changed, make sure to note [...] Related posts:Why Your Credit Card Statement Might Not Prove a Tax Deduction What if Your 1099 is Wrong? How Much Could You Save With a Home Office Deduction?
 
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    FairSoftware's Blog

  • Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders

    Alain Raynaud
    1 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am
    Do you wonder if your startup could benefit from having a co-founder? Some people are worried that adding a co-founder will slow them down, it will take too much time to discuss everything. They also think they can pretty much figure out everything on their own so why take the risk to add a co-founder? Statistics on the question are inconclusive. The answer is to apply the 90/50 rule for co-founders. If you tend to agree 90% of the time with your potential co-founder, form a team. If you tend to agree about 50% of the time, keep off, it would kill your startup. Why? You are smart. You can…

  • Opt-Out Policy Gone Wrong: The Google Way

    Alain Raynaud
    14 Jan 2010 | 3:38 am
    I hate spam. Opt-out is the minimum that I expect from all decent sites. Opt-in would be nicer. Imagine my surprise when I received the following card in the mail: When I opted-out, I thought I was sending a clear message to the company that I didn’t want them to contact me and send me adverts and other junk I don’t need. But it looks like smart lawyers found a loophole: apparently I only opted-out of receving e-mail communications. I didn’t opt-out of receiving regular mail, phone calls, personal visits at night, or being followed by car everywhere I go. Standing outside my…

  • Ask: I own a great domain name, how can I turn it into a business?

    Alain Raynaud
    5 Jan 2010 | 11:01 am
    Question: I own a valuable dot-com domain, but I’m not a programmer. I think it could sell for a million dollars someday, with the proper traffic. What sould I do? A: The basic idea here is to build a site to take advantage of the great domain name. By going on FairSoftware and listing your site, you should be able to find a technical co-founder who can program your site or develop content for what is currently a parked domain. Let’s assume it works out pretty well and the combination of the domain name plus the site content becomes successful. An acquirer comes along and offers…

  • Startup Advice Contradiction: “Iterate Quickly” or “Trust Your Guts”?

    Alain Raynaud
    18 Dec 2009 | 7:22 am
    If you have been reading startup advice long enough, you surely noticed two trends repeated ad nauseum. Iterate Quickly Also known as “kill ideas fast”, this advice is saying that your idea is probably not worth the pixels it’s displayed on. Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution matters. You’d be better off with a dumb idea in a large, expanding market! The advice goes on to recommend that you submit your idea to friends, advisors (maybe VCs). Find people who you trust and are honest enough to tell you that your idea is dumb. Don’t fall in love with your idea, move…

  • Want Major TV Coverage? Successful Entrepreneurs Seize Opportunities

    Alain Raynaud
    7 Dec 2009 | 3:32 pm
    Recently, I was contacted by a major TV show, looking to do a segment on what it looks like to be an entrepreneur building a startup from scratch. I am talking major TV show, with an audience in the millions, not some local news channel. So I e-mailed a few entrepreneurs I know to see who was interested and doing something remotely interesting for a camera: maybe a VC meeting, or attend some networking event. Believe it or not, but they all turned me down. They were too busy that week. Or at home coding stuff, no meetings scheduled that the TV crew could film. All turned me down except one.
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    IDDICTIVE.COM

  • Five Twitter Inspired Micro-Blogging Services for Events

    Mark Nagurski
    9 Feb 2010 | 1:16 am
    The huge growth of micro-blogging has inevitably led to a host of businesses based on similar ideas. Some, like Yammer (a private Twitter-like service for use within organisations) have tweaked the idea for niche audiences; while others like FourSquare and Gowalla, have moved towards mobile ‘check in’ applications that let people know what you’re up to and where. Live events too, have proven an inspiration for many micro-blogging based ideas. Here are a few favourites: Fantator – Twitter’s Sporty Cousin Recently launched London-based startup, Fantator, is a micro…

  • Creative Inspiration: Twirling Batteries for Mobile Phones

    Mark Nagurski
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:06 pm
    The more we depend on portable power – to run everything from our phones to our laptops to our iPods, iPhones and iPads – the more smart designers and entrepreneurs are working on ideas to make recharging on the go a little easier. Although just a concept at the moment, the idea for the twirling battery (pictured above) is that you can simply spin your phone’s battery around your finger for a few minutes and create enough charge to make a quick call or text. The designers, Song Teaho and Hyejin Leethe, are guesstimating that around 130 twirls will give you enough juice for…

  • Iddictive hits 200 posts, plans changes and needs your help

    Mark Nagurski
    5 Feb 2010 | 9:11 am
    Today we celebrate a birthday of sorts – this is Iddictive’s 200th post since launching back in January 2009. [Wait for applause] Anyway, for most of the last year or so, I’ve run Iddictive as a hobby. I love business, especially niche, funky, odd and passion-filled businesses so it’s been great fun bringing you some of my favourite new business finds. So much fun in fact, that in September 2009, I set up Own Brand Media – a tiny little publishing company which will focus on creating exciting content for entrepreneurs. I’ll be continuing to work on building…

  • London’s Unpackaged Grocery Store

    Mark Nagurski
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Simple question: how do you tackle the problem of excess packaging? Answer: get rid of it completely. A number of supermarkets, brands and even government agencies have been promoting their commitment to reducing excess packaging on their products but (as usual), niche businesses are leading the way. London-based grocer Unpackaged, for example, has done away with packaging completely. Customers bring along whatever containers they like to be filled with anything from veggies to coffee and household cleaners to eco-friendly toiletries. Prices are based on weight. From their site: How it works…

  • Bartering Knowledge at Our Goods’ Trade School

    Mark Nagurski
    4 Feb 2010 | 3:35 am
    Bartering has become big business with organisations like BarterCard building large communities and generating revenues by facilitating transactions. On a smaller scale, a New York based project is helping people barter their knowledge and expertise in return for, well, whatever they want. Trade School is a pop-up storefront from OurGoods, an organisation which facilities the bartering of ’skills, space, labor and art objects’ in artistic communities. The Trade School project runs from January 25th until the first of March, and provides a venue for bartering, co-working and…
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    Ops gone wild - rants and raves from the startup trenches

  • Beefing up your lean marketing

    Apolinaras Sinkevicius
    7 Feb 2010 | 9:36 pm
    Beefing up your lean marketing is a post from: Lean Startup Blog - rants and raves from the startup trenches. As the Lean Startups blog grows, I want to start bringing in other subject matter experts to help better serve my readers. Therefore, I am very excited to introduce Greg Strosaker as my first guest contributor. Greg, who previously worked for 13 years with General Electric as an engineer, has spent the past four years heading up marketing at several small- to mid-size material and industrial equipment firms.  Greg also runs the Constant Cogitation blog, where he discusses marketing,…

  • We don’t need marketing – we need customer anthropology

    Apolinaras Sinkevicius
    4 Feb 2010 | 8:34 pm
    We don’t need marketing – we need customer anthropology is a post from: Lean Startup Blog - rants and raves from the startup trenches. I wasn’t able to make it to LaunchCamp Boston today, but was still able to virtually participate via the live video and Twitter streams. During a discussion on Twitter with two great marketing folks, Bobbie Carlton and Rachel Levy, I made several remarks: Seasoned marketing pros should realize that “marketing” is becoming a dirty word (right behind PR) and evolve. Marketing pros should stop fighting the fact that branding, PR, communications,…

  • Customer service in the age of the social media

    Apolinaras Sinkevicius
    2 Feb 2010 | 12:22 am
    Customer service in the age of the social media is a post from: Lean Startup Blog - rants and raves from the startup trenches. I can’t claim I was early social media adopter, but I have been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for a while now and built a following.  I have met the majority of my followers in person. I am also not shy about reviewing businesses on Yelp and other sites, because I believe both positive and (especially) constructive negative feedback can improve businesses. We have seen some massive changes in the last decade as the impact of word of mouth has grown…

  • How to be an entrepreneur/intrapreneur and not ruin your marriage

    Apolinaras Sinkevicius
    19 Jan 2010 | 4:35 pm
    How to be an entrepreneur/intrapreneur and not ruin your marriage is a post from: Lean Startup Blog - rants and raves from the startup trenches. The associated risks of starting a company are hard enough when you are young and unattached (though lack of experience and naïveté keeps you brave and motivated). But being in a long-term relationship, married, or a parent adds a whole new level of complications, risks, and motivations. It is not surprising that VCs like investing in companies led by young, single, male entrepreneurs (some think this is because it is easier to control them and…

  • Why I LOVE critics and why you should too

    Apolinaras Sinkevicius
    5 Jan 2010 | 11:06 am
    Why I LOVE critics and why you should too is a post from: Lean Startup Blog - rants and raves from the startup trenches. Since I don’t allow anonymous comments on my blog*, sometimes I get e-mails with long diatribes on why I am wrong. Some are quite extensive and come from people who take my critiques to heart (sometimes taking things too personally). Not only do I love these e-mails, but if you send one, be ready to have a dialog! I am absolutely honored to hear comments in person or via social media. I enjoy knowing when my answers to a question on LinkedIn (or…
 
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    Xconomy

  • M/C Gains in NuVox Sale

    Wade Roush
    9 Feb 2010 | 12:21 pm
    IT, deals, VC Wade Roush wrote: Boston’s M/C Venture Partners is the big winner in the $647 million sale of NuVox, a Greenville, SC-based provider of business telecommunications services, to Windstream Corporation (NASDAQ: WIN), a deal announced yesterday. In a press release yesterday, M/C said that it became NuVox’s largest shareholder after NuVox absorbed M/C portfolio companies NewSouth in 2004 and Florida Digital Network in 2007. Little Rock, AR-based Windstream, which provides phone, Internet, and digital TV service to customers in 21 states, paid $280 million in cash and…

  • Sequenom Gets Rights to Genetic Test for Vision Disorder

    Bruce V. Bigelow
    9 Feb 2010 | 11:47 am
    Licensing Agreement, Genetic Testing, Macular Degeneration Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego-based Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM) says it has obtained rights to develop and commercialize a diagnostic test from New Haven, CT-based Optherion to predict a patient’s genetic predisposition to late-stage, age-related macular degeneration, a progressive eye disorder that can lead to a loss of central vision. Financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed. Once the test is developed, Sequenom says it plans to market the new test next year under its SensiGene brand for genetic tests.

  • Novatel Claims First LTE Data Call

    Bruce V. Bigelow
    9 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am
    Wireless Networks, Mobile, LTE Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: In what may be a pre-emptive announcement before next week’s GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, San Diego’s Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: NVTL) says it has successfully made a data transmission call using Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G technology. LTE is one of several next-generation wireless technology standards that promise increased capacity as cell phone users increasingly download data, photos, and video from the Internet. Novatel says LTE can provide data rates as high as 50 megabits per second on the uplink and 100…

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    9 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am

  • Battle of the Tech Bands 3: Boston vs. Seattle—A Video and Photo Extravaganza

    Wade Roush
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:15 am
    Xconomy, events, music Wade Roush wrote: It’s not every day you get to see three great East Coast rock bands on the same stage with two amazing West Coast bands—so we made a point of documenting our big fundraiser last Thursday, the Battle of the Tech Bands 3: Seattle vs. Boston. Today we want to share the amazing footage and images captured at the event by our volunteer videographer, Mark Woit, and our photographer Kevin Vogelsang. CLICK HERE FOR SLIDE SHOW (18 images) Our video is below. And for even more great photos, you can check out Boston24.com’s awesome coverage of…
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    Jim Kukral - Small Business Consultant

  • Three Keys to Your Software Project

    jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:52 am
    …for non-software people by Mark W. Schumann, Critical Results I’ve been making software projects not suck for something like two decades, and it finally occurred to me that it might be helpful to show people how to make their projects not suck before they have to come to me to have them unsuckified. Because that would totally be a public service and all. I’m working on a book deal, and there will be a feature film, and my people are talking to Jodie Foster’s people about it, but for right now… let me share with you, for absolutely free, the three top things you…

  • Tracking Your Mobile Marketing ROI

    jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)
    5 Feb 2010 | 10:36 am
    Cell phones have become extremely poplar over the last decade to the point where most people have one. Because of this, advertisers have slowly been toying with the idea of mobile marketing, and in the past few years it has been really taking off. Smart phones, especially, are making it easier for marketers to reach their target audience due to hand held Internet capabilities and email access. But are these efforts viable? And how can a company track their mobile marketing ROI? A new survey conducted by R2integrated states that, “more than half (52%) of respondents said their mobile…

  • Build Your Own iPhone App For Only $99 – Limited Time

    jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)
    4 Feb 2010 | 7:55 am
    I did it, and it’s great. You can download the Jim Kukral iPhone app from the iTunes store right now. Or just click on the link in the sidebar of my blog here to get it. Pretty swanky, right? Ok, it’s not the biggest, fanciest, most robust app on the planet… HOWEVER, it’s very cool to have my own app, and you could as well. The best part is, it’s only $99 to brew your own over at Ubuildapp. Ubuildapp is owned by my friend Brad Waller, a long-time affiliate marketing legend. So not only do I know you’re going to get a good deal, I can guarantee that if you…

  • Free Stuff

    jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)
    4 Feb 2010 | 3:38 am
    Everyone loves free stuff. I know this, and you know this. That’s why I’ve been working for years to create tons of free information to share with you. Why? Well, besides it being good karma, I feel it my responsibility to help people. I’m a teacher at heart really. I love help people. I love seeing people succeed. There’s no better feeling than having someone come up to me at a show or in the mall or at dinner and have them tell me that something I did or said or wrote or video’d or whatever, changed their success in some way or another. So here’s a…

  • Creating Passive Income Sharing What You Know With Susan Bratton

    jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)
    3 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am
    I had the pleasure of sitting down and doing a podcast with ultra-famous, fabulous, podcaster and new media mogul Susan Bratton at the last Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas. If you have never heard of Susan and DishyMix, shame on you! You need to be subscribed to her blog and the podcast and everything she does. Because not only does she have the best guests on her show, she is also a big-time player in the Internet marketing space. We talked about my upcoming book. We talked about my second upcoming book, and we talked about Prfessor.com as well. Plus a litany of other things. Great interview,…
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    This is going to be Big

  • Photo: First Round Capital's new NYC office under construction

    CEO
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:29 am
    Photo: First Round Capital's new NYC office under construction, originally uploaded by ceonyc.

  • Open Angel Forum and The Amazing Disappearing Funding Gap in New York City

    CEO
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:19 pm
    About a year and a half ago, I wrote that New York needed more dedicated early stage capital. Let’s look back at what has happened since the beginning of August ‘08… Betaworks raises more than $10 million in September ‘08. First Growth Venture Network formed to mentor high potential seed and early stage companies. First Round Capital makes 11 new investments in NYC, hires me to be here fulltime, and announces a new NYC office in Union Square. Founder Collective raises $40 million in September ‘09. Nate Westheimer hired by Flybridge as an advisor. Jon Steinberg joins Polaris and…

  • This Week in the New York Innovation Community February 1st, 2010

    CEO
    31 Jan 2010 | 9:02 pm
    Welcome to Social Media Week--the one week out of the year where we get to tweet and blog about social media! Hopefully, you can find a way in to some of these events as most are sold out.  Try the waitlists... I think you'll have a good shot at getting in.  If not, just try to slip the dude at the front door a few Twitter followers. Monday, February 1st 10:30AM Branding the Future with Social Engagement, sponsored by Pepsi Refresh The opening session of Social Media Week will focus on a top-level discussion of the increasing importance in utilizing social media to grow and develop…

  • Dear MBAs who want to work at startups

    CEO
    29 Jan 2010 | 4:56 am
    So you just finished up the year at Harvard/Wharton/Stanford/NYU, etc. and since your lifelong dream of being a banker doesn’t seem like a viable route anymore, you’re thinking that a startup might be the place for you.  (You’d much rather be a VC, but you’re smart enough to know that there are like 8 junior VC positions open a year, so you’re looking for a backup.) Well, let me break the news to you bluntly—most of you are going about this startup thing completely ass backwards and no early stage startup that I know of is really dying to hire an MBA.  What they want is a ninja,…

  • BREAKING: iTablet product warnings leaked

    CEO
    27 Jan 2010 | 1:35 pm
    I can’t tell you how I got this, but I hear that the iTablet user manual comes with a whole host of unexpected disclosures: Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to The Apple iTablet. Caution: The Apple iTablet may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. The Apple iTablet contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. Do not use The Apple iTablet on concrete. Discontinue use of The Apple iTablet if any of the following occurs: itching vertigo dizziness tingling in extremities loss…
 
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    Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

  • 10 Tactics To Make Your Blog Stand Out

    http://ReplytoYaro.com (Yaro Starak)
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:19 pm
    One of the things I enjoy the most about blogs, especially blogs that are run by one individual, is analyzing why the blog is successful. What is the magic ingredient that makes this blog succeed, when so many others fail? Based on my observations, here are some of the elements you can apply to make your blog something special. Note you don’t have to apply all these ingredients, one could be enough, though of course if you apply more than one you increase your chance of success. Enter a market early: Many of the top blogs are that way simply because they were one of the first, or the…

  • Video: How To Rapidly Grow Your Blog Traffic

    http://ReplytoYaro.com (Yaro Starak)
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:03 am
    Update: We just switched on the $1 Trial for Become A Blogger Premium, so you can create your account right at this page - www.becomeablogger.com/signup/ (Yaro’s Presentation On Impact Marketing Techniques.) Click here to download the text transcript [ PDF ] Press play to begin watching the video (this video is taken from directly inside the Become A Blogger Premium course). I’m giving you access to a special preview of one of the strategy video presentations I did for the Become A Blogger Premium course. Note this video I’m sharing with you today is hosted on Viddler,…

  • X-Factor Video: Gideon Reveals The $13,000 Webinar Formula

    http://ReplytoYaro.com (Yaro Starak)
    3 Feb 2010 | 4:50 am
    The “X-Factor” is a term Gideon and I applied to blogging, where you use multimedia and/or social media to enhance your blog’s growth. The idea is that “standard” blogging practices may not be enough to make your blog stand out, and since it’s so easy today to make use of multimedia and social media, why not leverage these technologies to increase your traffic and blog performance. The latest X-Factor training video was just released for free on the Become A Blogger blog, which you can go and watch right now here - X-Factor Video: How To Make Money With…

  • Become A Blogger Premium Opening This Week

    http://ReplytoYaro.com (Yaro Starak)
    1 Feb 2010 | 8:38 pm
    Gideon Shalwick and I are opening our very popular Become A Blogger Premium video training program this week. We’ve had over 2,000 people take this course during the past year, so it is by far the most successful program I run in terms of raw number of people who have joined. If you’ve not participated before, then as a special incentive for you to give it a go when we open it for the first time in 2010, we’re going to offer a $1 trial, but only if you join within the first six days. The doors will open for the $1 trial this Thursday at 10AM Eastern US time and the offer…

  • How To Profit Helping People Become Famous – Interview With Laura Roeder

    http://ReplytoYaro.com (Yaro Starak)
    1 Feb 2010 | 5:37 am
    Make sure you look out for Laura’s cat – she features in this interview too. Click here to download the audio-only MP3 [ 54 MB ] This interview is a great story, which for many online entrepreneurs will seem very familiar – as it was for me. Laura is young, but she’s not young in terms of how long she’s been running an online business. Like many people who got started online, her first “business” was freelance web design, however today she’s doing something a little more unique. Laura has various products, but one area she specializes in is…
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    Men With Pens

  • Can You Finish Your Projects?

    James
    7 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm
    I have a reputation for confidence. I am the one who knows what he wants and pursues it relentlessly until he achieves it. I will not rest until every single genius idea in my brain has come to life. Except… Well, no. Not really. I’ve achieved a lot of accomplishments, true. This business is one of them. But for every amazing venture you hear about me starting, I’d estimate that at least a dozen others get a stuttering start followed by a lot of frustration that boils up until I throw the project aside and declare I’ll never start another venture again. Until next week. This is a…

  • We’re Back – and Bolder than Ever

    James
    6 Feb 2010 | 6:19 am
    You may have noticed that Men with Pens looks a little different these days. This is the fourth – count ‘em, four – reincarnation of our design since we started this blog back in early 2007, and it’s likely nowhere near the last, despite the fact that I swore this is the absolute very last time ever. EVER. (I know. I said that last redesign too.) This change wasn’t because our readers didn’t like our last design. It’s not because we decided to change everything about the way we do business. Every business needs to shake things up now and then. It’s about finding ways…

  • Dating Rules for Courting Your Clients

    Agent X
    28 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm
    Today’s guest post comes to us from Susan Johnston, the Urban Muse Writer. Enjoy! Anyone who has ever sat through drinks or coffee in their search for love knows that first dates can be both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. Freelancing can be much the same. Courting clients isn’t that different from courting a potential mate. You’re nervous as hell, but you still want to make a good impression and hopefully seal the deal. Whether you’re on a first date or courting your first client, here are five dating rules that you can apply. Rule #1: Don’t give the milk away…

  • Are You Trying to Be Too Smart?

    Taylor
    26 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm
    As a professional writer, your vocabulary is literally your stock in trade. Other businesses have huge stockrooms full of whatever they sell – frozen food, Gucci shoes, leather satchels… You, you have words. If you’re anything like me, you’ve taken some pains to make sure your stock hasn’t been the same since 1997. You read good magazines and periodicals, and you take note of new words when they’re used. If a friend happens to use a word that is new to you in conversation, you may very well follow up on it just because it sounded especially delightful (thanks to my friend Tess…

  • Are You Selling Yourself Short?

    James
    24 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm
    If you make your living as a freelancer, you’re going to be asked – constantly – to prove your worth. Your clients want to know if you’re the best person for the job.Your blog readers want to know if you really have the smarts to give them advice. Your social media “friends” want you to prove that you’re interesting, funny, worth their time. With all those people constantly questioning your authority, it’s only natural that you’ll occasionally question your worth. Of course, most of the time, you’ll pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go right back to putting together…
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    OnStartups

  • 9 Quick Tips Learned While Raising $33 Million In Venture Capital

    Dharmesh Shah
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:48 pm
    As the market improves, my guess is that many of you will likely be thinking about raising funding for your company.  With my latest startup, I’m now a venture-backed startup founder (I’ve raised $33 million in three rounds of capital for my marketing software company).  So, I’ve got some direct experience with the process.  Several of the companies I’m an angel investor in or otherwise involved with have also been in the fund-raising process.  So, along the way, I’ve learned a few things, and I’d like to share them with you.  There’s…

  • Prehistoric Steve Jobs Introduces The New Apple iRock Tablet [cartoon]

    Dharmesh Shah
    27 Jan 2010 | 3:07 am
    Though it's easy to get caught up in Apple's new tablet announcement, let's not forget the original idea that sparked the whole thing.  It's the iRock -- it transformed how people chiseled. Looking for other startup fanatics?  Request access to the OnStartups LinkedIn Group.  100,000+ members and growing daily.Oh, and by the way, you should follow me on twitter here (that's @dharmesh).

  • A Geek's Guide To Hiring Marketing People

    Jason Cohen
    26 Jan 2010 | 2:02 am
    The following is a guest post by Jason Cohen. Interviewing developers is easy. OK, not easy. You have to generate resumes, you have to sift through the deluge of candidates, you have to pound your network continuously, you have to develop a phone-screen, you have to schedule interviews, you have to ask them questions and get them to write code and be fair. But still, you're a great developer and you've worked with enough other developers that you can tell pretty quickly whether someone else is also a great developer. Do they say the right things? Do they make reasonable mistakes? Do they…

  • Startup Advice In Exactly Three Words - #StartupTriplets

    Dharmesh Shah
    8 Jan 2010 | 5:35 am
    This article is a bit out of the ordinary.  But, it's a Friday so I'm hoping you'll cut me some slack.  For some reason, I like wordsmithing and trying to make phrases smaller (but still have some meaning).   So, late at night, I tried to come up with some of my best startup advice and see if I could reduce it down to exactly three words (which is why I call them "triplets").  One thing led to another, and I became obsessed with it. So, then I made 47 before I had to make myself stop.  And, to ensure that you didn't take this too seriously, I included a photo of some…

  • Releasing Early Is Not Always Good? Heresy!

    Jason Cohen
    21 Dec 2009 | 7:21 am
    The following is a guest post by Jason Cohen. Jason's got a knack for stirring pots and getting us thinking a bit.  And, thinking is a good thing.   Even when the thinking makes me awfully uncomfortable and goes against my strongly held beliefs.  I couldn't be a stronger advocate of "Release Early, Release Often", so it took a bit of effort to post this article "as is".  But, as I hope you'll see, Jason does make some pretty good points.  Well worth debating -Dharmesh[UPDATE: I originally stated that Eric Ries was a proponent of "Release Early," but I was…
 
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    Startup Meme

  • You Can Keep Yourself Out Of Apps And Games Dashboard On Facebook: Only If You Are Sherlock Holmes To Discover These

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am
    I have all the praise for Facebook, from being the leading social network that has mashed up every aspect of networking into one platform to being a tool for brands to keep consumers occupied. But there is one thing I seriously dislike about it: it is so very secret. Secret about the most important issue: User Privacy. How many of you have actually learnt about the social network introducing changes [be they good or ones that people retaliate to] on the site itself? I bet that number is confined to select few of the massive users it is swarmed with. And even that select group has come to know…

  • Say Your Prayers For Lexicon As Facebook Shuts Down The Tool

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am
    We are removing the product from Facebook, at least for now: says the page for Lexicon. No surprising at all as we had already reported the tool not seeing any updates on its page for quite some time. What’s surprising is the fact that the tool had been around for almost a year and a half and it was quite a useful one. However, I personally think that the move has been made to create the much needed and an improved analytics tool. There is definitely a need for a much powerful and reliable tool to monitor engagement on the countless pages on the social network and more importantly how…

  • Snowboard Your Time On Facebook With Go Big From HP, Best Buy Rossignol And Intel

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 12:11 pm
    Everyone will join Facebook, because everyone else is. You will because all your friends are there on the  social networking platform and brands will because the competitors are jumping in. However there is another way they are making use of the social network’s gaming to make it big. The latest move comes with major players namely; HP, Best Buy, Rossignol and Intel collaborating to bring Go Big a new gaming app for Facebook. The game is all about letting you make points while you go along performing snowboarding tricks. So what do you get spending time performing tricks? Lucky users…

  • Gaming On Facebook Will Get Even Better As EA Plans To Bring Madden NFL To It

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am
    It was only last week when we reported that Sid Meier’s Civilization, the famed strategy game on PCs was set to step onto the Facebook platform in June. Today, Peter Moore announced the coming of Madden NFL to Facebook. The reason to do so? Well everyone is jumping on the Facebook wagon, why not EA with a few games in its armory? Madden NFL has been big in the gaming market with over 60 million games sold globally. Now I am not sure as to what exactly did Peter mean when he stated that he wants to give gamers a simpler experience. I personally think by simpler experience he meant a much…

  • Talk With Facebook Friends MSN Way With Chit Chat

    Sardar Mohkim Khan
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am
    While Microsoft has really brought the Facebook experience to the desktop in the most complete manner with its Silverlight Client for Facebook, it did miss out one important aspect: Facebook Chat. To be honest that is one of the most wanted yet an equally problematic feature that drastically reduces browsing speed. I was quite surprised as to why Microsoft left this feature out its client. Enough bragging about features being missed or not, if you are really into having a Facebook chat client then try Chit Chat for Facebook. I will call it MSN messengers version of Facebook, though without…
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    Click to Client

  • Get Shama’s Book Before You Can Buy It

    Shama
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:19 pm
    Shama Kabani of The Marketing Zen Group, Rick Burnes of HubSpot, the notorious Couch Surfing Ori, as well as other Social Media pros will be speaking at the Aloft Hotel Thursday, March 4th, to a crowd of entrepreneurs, C-level execs, and marketing and sales professionals on social media topics and techniques that businesses are using to achieve real business results in 2010. Bring your laptop and join Shama for this intensive information-packed full day of professional speakers and workshops. This hands-on one-day conference will give you the inside scoop on emerging trends and ways savvy…

  • Can Entrepreneurship Change the World?

    Shama
    7 Feb 2010 | 6:48 pm
    There are plenty of opinions on where our economy is headed – not just in the US but globally. How do you save the world? Seth proposes being a linchpin (Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?). Umair Haque argues we don’t need to be great, but good. We should focus on socially responsible entrepreneurship. I recently got an invitation to speak at the honorable St. Gellan Symposium in Switzerland. The topic? Entrepreneurs – Agents of Change. Tomorrow, I leave for Indiana to go speak to the bright students at Culver. On what else? Entrepreneurship. What will I tell them? Yes,…

  • 10 Reasons NOT to do Social Media Marketing

    Shama
    2 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pm
    Everybody always talks about why social media marketing is so important. I agree. But, I also think there are reasons against social media marketing. Here are 10 reasons NOT to partake in social media marketing. 1) You don’t have the basics right. Your business model is non-existent. (Call Joe). You don’t have a tested product. You don’t have a goal. Your website hasn’t been updated since 2002. Social media marketing comes last. 2) Your boss isn’t on board. I’ve seen this happen, and it never ends well.  No matter how much you LOVE social media and think…

  • Time Spent on Social Media Sites is up 82% – Twitter and Facebook Lead the Pack

    Shama
    22 Jan 2010 | 2:31 pm
    According to a study by The Neilsen Company, consumers spent 5.5 hours on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009. Just three years ago, the average consumer spent 3. Key points from the study - - The most popular online categories, in order of popularity, are: Social networks, blogs, online games, instant messaging. - Growth from Facebook (200%) and Twitter (368%)  trumped overall social networking growth. - Time spent on social media sites by an average US consumer went up 143% in a year. - US has the largest population of social media users (142.1 million), followed…

  • Twitter was NEVER a Social Networking Site – proof!

    Shama
    31 Dec 2009 | 1:42 pm
    Ha! I love it when I am right. *Happy Dance!* For years, I have been explaining that Twitter was never in the social networking business. It was in the human search engine business. It isn’t Twitter vs. Facebook. It was – and will be – Twitter vs. Google. Do I also smell an IPO in 2010? Good buddy and reputation management expert, Andy Beal, picked up something very clever in Biz Stone’s OpEd piece. Biz Stone is one of the founders of Twitter, and I had the pleasure of sharing the speaking stage with him this past year.  Very down to earth guy, but, I digress. Here is…
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    Niall Kennedy's Weblog

  • HTML5 video markup, compatibility and playback

    Niall Kennedy
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:30 am
    The emerging HTML5 specification lifts video playback out of the generic <object> element and into specialized <video> handlers. Explicit markup for audio and video places elevates moving pictures to a similar native rendering capacity as <img> markup we are used to but with more fine-grained details about underlying formats and compression available before loading. In this post I will dive into implementation details of HTML5 video based on currently available consuming agents and outline some of the nuances of preparing media for playback. Inside the video element Browser…

  • Google search referer changes

    Niall Kennedy
    14 Apr 2009 | 5:30 pm
    Google will roll out a change to its search results pages later this week designed to better capture outbound clicks. Google search result pages will link to a gateway URL before delivering the visitor to his final destination. These gateway URLs will replace search result URLs exposed via the Referer HTTP header. Google announced the new gateway page on its Google Analytics blog, giving webmasters a few days to prepare for the change. What is changing? The Referer path for Google search results will change from /search to /url. It is still not clear which URL parameters from the search page…

  • Facebook's photo storage rewrite

    Niall Kennedy
    5 Apr 2009 | 12:30 pm
    This week Facebook will complete its roll-out of a new photo storage system designed to reduce the social network's reliance on expensive proprietary solutions from NetApp and Akamai. The new large blob storage system, named Haystack, is a custom-built file system solution for the over 850 million photos uploaded to the site each month (500 GB per day!). Jason Sobel, a former NetApp engineer, led Facebook's effort to design a more cost-effective and high-performance storage system for their unique needs. Robert Johnson, Facebook's Director of Engineering, mentioned the new storage system…

  • Facebook's growing infrastructure spend

    Niall Kennedy
    29 Mar 2009 | 4:30 pm
    On Thursday BusinessWeek reported Facebook is seeking new financing for its data center operation growth in 2009. Facebook continues to add new members and their associated content at an extremely fast pace, with most new growth coming from international markets. Facebook needs to expand its abilities to serve these markets by bolstering current infrastructure offerings and cutting latency to its members through new international points of presence. In this post I will take a deeper look at Facebook's current computing infrastructure and related expenses and examine likely new areas of…

  • Create enhanced results on Yahoo! and Facebook with Share markup

    Niall Kennedy
    16 Mar 2009 | 3:30 pm
    Yahoo! announced support for enhanced search results last week based on Facebook Share and RDFa markup. Website owners can add a few meta tags to their pages to boost click-throughs from a more visual Yahoo! Search result and ease the process of sharing a link on Facebook at the same time. In this post I will cover the major categories of enhanced share types -- audio, images, video, news, blogs, games, documents, and multimedia -- and walk through how site owners can stand out on shareable platforms. Yahoo! and Facebook are just the first two platforms to collaborate on this effort. Expect…
 
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    Blogtrepreneur | Entrepreneur Blog

  • 3 Common Challenges and Tips for Running a Home-Based Business

    Working from home sounds great. In fact it’s the dream of many nine-to-fivers and nearly every 7:00 a.m. commuter. That’s why a Yahoo! search for “work from home business” yields 2.5 BILLION page results. Who wouldn’t want the freedom to set your own hours, stay in your PJs all day, spend time with the kids, [...]

  • Can StumbleUpon & Digg Drive Insane Amounts of Traffic to Your Website?

    StumbleUpon and Digg, two popular social media websites, both serve many valuable purposes.They provide insights into trending topics, stories, and news; they provide users an opportunity to discover what others are talking about; and they create an aggregation of new and popular websites.They are also fantastic for business owners, as they can drive insane amounts [...]

  • 5 Tips for Adding Affiliate Links without Trashing Your Site

    Whether you’re considering adding affiliate links to your site or are already reaping the benefits, it’s important to do it right.  Affiliate marketing programs offer an opportunity to add additional streams of revenue to your website, and can even become a significant income source when implemented properly.  In fact there are plenty of people who [...]

  • Becoming An Internet Entrepreneur; Your Dream, My Reality.

    A lot of people think that you need some significant capital investment in order to start something great. This could not be further from the truth. Richard Branson & Robert Herjavec are two prime examples of entrepreneurs who started with nothing and become giant successes. Check out http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/self-made-magazine/ for Richard’s story and http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1636/robert-herjavec-rags-to-riches/ for Robert’s. Two [...]Check it out: Payday advanceservices for fast cash needs.

  • Marketing Outside the Box

    Want to create a buzz and get people talking about what you’re doing? How about doing the opposite of what people expect. Many people call this thinking outside of the box and this is where your right brain can definitely come into play. This is where you should start saying “why not” instead of “don’t [...]
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    The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

  • Random Episode 8 – 2010 Resolutions with Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss

    Tim Ferriss
    17 Jan 2010 | 10:52 am
    This new, long overdue Random episode covers our personal resolutions–personal, business, physical, and otherwise–as well as favorite recent gifts (both given and received). The video is recorded on two cameras, including Glenn’s new experimental HD delight. Topics include: - Chocolate - Powerlifting - Filtering false friends - Funny hats - The art of the decline … and naked ladies. Best to give the video 10-20 minutes to buffer before watching. It’s a big ‘un. Please let us know in the comments what you’d like our next show topic to be! If you missed…

  • The First Time Online – Enjoy While You Can

    Tim Ferriss
    8 Jan 2010 | 2:00 am
    Most of you have never seen this. I really hope you enjoy it. To download, just sign into Vimeo and you’re set. If you Final Cut it up, please set to a Crystal Method or Sevendust soundtrack :) In other breaking news: I need only 120 more Amazon reviews to beat The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, a dream I’ve had since 2007! Not because I dislike him, but precisely the opposite — he’s one of my writing role models and I long viewed his book as untouchable. If you’ve read the 4HWW but haven’t left a short review on Amazon, please take 30 seconds and help…

  • Thank You, Facebook Bankruptcy, and Late Christmas Presents

    Tim Ferriss
    6 Jan 2010 | 3:08 am
    (Photo: source) Thank you… Thank you… Thank you! The last two blog posts have moved me more than any others, and the new expanded 4-Hour Workweek has hit #4 on The New York Times bestseller list and #3 on the USA Today Money list! In a future post, I will explain exactly what I did in PR and marketing (including recordings and screenshots) to help it happen, but the reality is: you made it happen. You all rock. For buying the book? No. For making this community what it is. For helping one another and sharing your stories and lessons learned. For teaching me more than I can ever…

  • Cold Remedy: 18 Real-World Lifestyle Design Case Studies (Now It’s Your Turn)

    Tim Ferriss
    31 Dec 2009 | 2:18 am
    If not in 2010, then when? (Photo: jphilipson) The video case studies that I asked for in the last post really caught me unprepared. I…am…so happy that it’s hard to put it into words. From Denmark to India, from college students to retirees, from yoga instructors to engineers, the stories poured in. Narrowing them down to finalists, even with several people, was excruciating, but below you will find 15 of our favorites. Many more are worth watching (I watched them all) and can be found here, or by searching “4hww success” on YouTube. There are also 150 comments…

  • Cold Remedy: Free Flights Anywhere in the World

    Tim Ferriss
    22 Dec 2009 | 8:38 am
    Where would you go if you had a free ticket anywhere? The island of Bohol in the Philippines? (source: WisDoc) Not long ago, I received the following comment — edited for length — from Ryan N.: I hate you Tim. I had a secure future ahead of me, and I left my job, my reasonably well paying professional career all because of your book. Best thing I’ve ever done!! I was wondering if you might be able to put up a blog post where people could post their ideas or muses as case studies. I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who would like to share their stories and listen to…
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    Caroline Middlebrook

  • Keeping Customer Relationships Alive

    Caroline Middlebrook
    8 Feb 2010 | 1:04 am
    Last week I implemented a major update to my software – one that drastically improves the way the submission engine works. This gave me an opportunity to talk to my members and thus strengthen the relationship with them. With my software, I’m busily working away behind the scenes and in these early stages a lot of the work is going into improving the underlying infrastructure, making sure data is logged correctly so I always know what’s going on, improving the engine and so on. With a lot of this work, the members don’t visibly see the results of the work so to them…

  • Become a Blogger $1 Trial & Get FREE Bloggers Bible Course!

    Caroline Middlebrook
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:15 am
    The excellent Become a Blogger coaching program was first opened up in December 2008 and it’s come along way since then. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Become a Blogger is a six month long video-based course that teaches you everything you need to know about becoming a blogger (obviously). The goal of the course is very much like my own offering, The Bloggers Bible but one massive difference is that my course is text-based and Yaro’s is all video instruction. The course is broken down in 8 major modules and contains almost 60 videos in all! The modules are: Module 1:…

  • Peugeot RCZ – The Car I Want

    Caroline Middlebrook
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:48 am
    I’ve had the same car for five years. I’ve always had fairly old, second hand cars and I really feel like it’s about time I got something better! For the last few months I couldn’t really see anything I liked that wasn’t ridiculously expensive but I have just heard about the new Peugeot RCZ that is due out in April. This has the looks of a sports car but the price tag of a family car, starting at just £20k. Here’s a pic… I won’t spend that kind of money until I am earning a lot more than I am now but hopefully one day this year I’ll be…

  • Stats & Analysis for January 2010 – $1,204 Earned

    Caroline Middlebrook
    1 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm
    Not much to say this month so I’ll get straight down to the numbers! Income Bluehost – $360 The Bloggers Bible – $228.12 Private Advertising – $200 Teaching Sells – $137 Twitter Rockstar – $63.72 SEO Book Training – $50 Unique Article Wizard – $53.60 Market Samurari – $46.56 Traffic Rush – $44.87 Mass Outsource Mastermind – $20.93 Total income earned during January 2010 – $1,204.80 It’s nice to start the New Year off by breaking back into 4 figures again! I had quite a mix of sales this month – it’s always…

  • Natalie Cook – a Star in the Making…

    Caroline Middlebrook
    30 Jan 2010 | 4:13 am
    Why have a blog if I can’t do something good with it? I have a friend, Natalie Cook (who we call Cookie) who is the most amazing singer but she hasn’t yet received the attention that she so rightly deserves. This year she entered for the X-Factor competition and didn’t get through. For anyone who watched the UK show and saw the abomination that was ‘Jedward’, I’m sure you’ll agree that the judges made a mistake! Here she is singing an acoustic cover of Daniel Merriweather’s Red – not many people can truly sing with just a guitar for…
 
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    TylerCruz.com: An Internet Entrepreneur's Journey

  • Joel Comm is Giving Away his eBooks for Free

    Tyler Cruz
    9 Feb 2010 | 12:39 am
    Joel Comm, the best-selling author, host and creator of The Next Internet Millionaire, and more recently of The Joel Comm Show is now giving away 4 of his eBooks away completely free. These are eBooks that used to cost money (he sold thousands of copies of his AdSense Secrets eBook at $97) so here’s your opportunity to get a lot of great content from one of the Internet’s earliest big marketers. There is absolutely no catch. You’ll be added to Joel’s mailing list, of course, but that’s hosted on AWeber meaning that you can easily opt-out at any time. Here’s a quick summary of the…

  • Our Experiences With Commission Junction

    WhatsGoodBlog
    6 Feb 2010 | 4:20 pm
    This article was written by Josh Bucher (Jay Booshay) and Ian Sherwin (The Sherwinator) of What’s Good Blog. What’s Good Blog is your one stop site for up to date reviews of technology, sporting events, TV shows, movies, electronics, cell phones and everything that is important to young adult professionals. A little over two weeks ago, we decided to finally move to our own host and domain. We spent about 8 months on BlogSpot but eventually decided it was time to move on from the free hosting days. As we expanded our website capabilities using Wordpress, we also decided to expand…

  • An Update on my Submit Campaigns: Day 10

    Tyler Cruz
    4 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am
    I’ve been continuing to focus on my e-mail submit campaigns during the past few days. It’s rather addicting actually. I’m really loving the change from promoting $30-$50 offers to promoting e-mail submits. I can find out if a campaign is working or not within hours, my risk is far less due to the low payout, there are countless submit offers out there to choose from, and I can direct link. Being able to direct link actually saves me countless hours. When I built landing sites for my $30-$50 offers, they’d take me between 7-12 hours to build. Now I can launch 10 e-mail submits within…

  • An Update on my Submit Campaigns

    Tyler Cruz
    1 Feb 2010 | 8:48 pm
    I haven’t done a post in 5 days because I’ve been preoccupied with working on my submit campaigns and playing Mass Effect 2. But, I’ve beaten Mass Effect 2 last night (that game is way too short; get Dragon’s Age: Origins, that’s an awesome game and very long) so I have more free time to put towards work again. I spent the majority of the past few days trying to scale my zip and e-mail campaigns. The traffic source I’m using is rather strange in how it works so it took a lot of trial and error with a lot of campaigns to finally realize how to scale them, as simple bid increases…

  • My First Attempt at E-mail/Zip Submits

    Tyler Cruz
    26 Jan 2010 | 10:10 pm
    A couple days I discovered a new traffic source that I decided to try. It offers both CPC and CPM bidding, but since I am most comfortable and experienced with CPC, I decided to run them on a CPC basis only. I’ve tried running e-mail and zip submits offers several times in the past, such as on Facebook, but any attempts were short lived and never taken seriously. I also never made any money on them. But this new traffic source, which I’m not going to name for obvious reasons (why give myself extra competition?) seems to be a fertile ground for submit offers. I started by running my bids…
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    Inventor Spot

  • 10 Heart Shaped Breakfast Gadgets That Make Every Day Valentine's Day

    Toby
    9 Feb 2010 | 9:59 am
    If there's a sad thing about Valentine's Day, it's that it's too short.  Yes, I know, Valentine's Day has approximately the same number of hours as any other day, but one day is not enough to celebrate love.  An incurable romantic, I think every day should be started with expressions of love.  Let's start with breakfast!   Here are some heart-shaped breakfast gadgets that will help you lucky lovers start your day remembering why you are together...

  • Learn About Wine: Pairing Wine With Fast Food Fare

    Beth Hodgson
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:12 pm
    Not everyone who likes the occasional glass of wine likes to indulge their senses with expensive cheese and aperitifs, so learning to taste wine with these foods on the palette just isn't practical. An educational wine tasting business in Los Angeles, with this in mind, has decided to do things a little bit differently.

  • Flying Panties Available In DIY Ornithopter Kits

    Steve Levenstein
    8 Feb 2010 | 7:48 pm
    Flying Panties - not just an anime video anymore! Coming this March you can get your very own Flying Panties ornithopter kit. You know you want one.

  • Michael Jackson Figurine Will Be A Thriller

    Steve Levenstein
    8 Feb 2010 | 1:03 pm
    Michael Jackson fans will have to wait a few months for a new polyvinyl figurine of the King of Pop that shows him at his best, in full-out Thriller mode.

  • Hair Washing Brush Provides Invigorating Massage

    Steve Levenstein
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:07 am
    The "Innovation refreshing pretend! Brute" from Alinco may have a stressful name but when put to work on your hair and muscles, all that tension (and dirt) just washes away.
 
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    Force of Good

  • Secret Cabal

    Lance Weatherby
    9 Feb 2010 | 6:44 am
    I can't tell you how ironic it was when someone create secretcabal on Twitter.  Ironic because there was one.  Some time ago the good folks at Noro-Moseley Partners had invited me to a dinner meeting at White Space Gallery.  The purpose of the dinner was an open discussion of what's happening in the Atlanta startup community.  There was a request not to mention it online, which I respected.  As did everyone else.  Intriguing.So last night the entire Noro team assembled along with about 16 people from the tech community.  We broke out via dinner tables and Mike Elliott and…

  • Advisor Advice

    Lance Weatherby
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:48 am
    I was recently copied on an email exchange that took place between an entrepreneur and an investor.It was brought to my attention that you have included my name and bio in your company materials as an advisor to your company. Both you and I know that I am not advisor to your company. We spoke at (event redacted) some months ago and that is the extent of it. Please immediately cease and desist from using my name and remove it from your business materials. Thanks. (name of angel investor redacted).The probability of this firm ever raising an angel round just took a serious hit.  At the very…

  • Taking My Own Advice

    Lance Weatherby
    6 Feb 2010 | 5:35 am
    I am killing the ATDC marketing circle and Internet circle.  These were small monthly gatherings of startup types that were interested in either topic.  I will continue to support Brandy Nagel who spearheaded the marketing circle effort.  If anyone wants to engage with me about either subject hit the BookNow button in the right side bar and make yourself an appointment.Update:  The marketing circle lives on.  Brandy has moved the event to Friday mornings from 8:30 - 10:30.  You can register here.

  • Instant Karma

    Lance Weatherby
    6 Feb 2010 | 5:04 am
    What in the world you thinking of Laughing in the face of love What on earth you tryin' to do It's up to you, yeah you  John Lennon Given the comment level and unique visitors at FoG the posts of the last two days have hit a nerve.  And it is amazing what people conjecture and say.Lance can't maintain his brand. Lance is being all controversial on his blog to drive traffic to better sell sponsorships. Lance please do get to know the value each event and it’s associated organization has to local startup execution and learn which events are startup-related and which are not.

  • Your Pitch Sucks

    Lance Weatherby
    5 Feb 2010 | 4:07 am
    It's 6:28 am.  I have not had coffee, and my wife is out of town so I am taking care of my 10 and 11 year olds.  But I am going to pop something out real quick like here.Yesterday I wrote a little piece about the inordinate amount of technology startup events in Atlanta and how a little thoughtful coordination might be of help.  Despite the fact the majority of actual practicing entrepreneurs appeared to agree with my assessment I was called harmful and ignorant.  I can assure you I am neither and the subject seems to be good for both conversation and traffic so I thought I would…
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    TargetStars

  • Test

  • Share your plans via Plancast

  • Real You Incorporated by Kaira Sturdivant Rouda

    Cover via Amazon Women decide to become entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. When they make the leap into becoming business owners, they quickly realize the struggle of finding the answers they need to effectively navigate their journey through entrepreneurship. In their quest, they frequently receive information that they already know or information that pressures them [...]

  • Let go and grow

    I am huge fan of to do lists. However, I have always found it ironic that I fail to make the king of all lists—New Year’s Resolutions. I do not participate in making New Year’s Resolutions because I feel like it is setting myself up for failure. Mainly, because this is a list that contains tasks that I will never be able to cross off because I realize I am a never ending project.

  • What is your favorite blog post?

    I cannot believe we are getting ready to celebrate a new year! I remember sitting here a year ago contemplating whether I should start this blog. I cannot tell you how happy I am with my decision to do so because it has taught me many invaluable lessons, enabled me to meet amazing people (online and offline) from the various blogs that I frequent and I was able to garner some attention a long the way.
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    The Next Women

  • Entrepreneurial Technology Women in Italy

    At the end of 2009 more than 1500 people attended and viewed online, the second ‘Women and Technologies 2008-2015′ conference, hosted by the Milano Chamber of Commerce.  Men and women, all who work and live with a focus on skills, merit and diversity, came together as ‘bringers of a vision’ to make original contributions to [...]

  • What are Guys Doing to Get More Girls into Tech?

    Many tech fields have a low percentage of women. If you are a guy do you wonder what you can do about it? At the upcoming SXSW event in the US, a panel of predominantly men will discuss the lack of women in IT from a male prespective. The aim of the panel: “To learn [...]

  • There are 100 Sexy Roles a Woman Can Take in Tech: Eileen Brown of Amastrada

    This is a guest post by Rebecca Thomson, Reporter at Computer Weekly and WITsend. The NextWomen are running a series of stories on women in tech, explaining what inspired them to work in the industry. The baton has been passed to Eileen Brown, CEO of Amastra Ltd and a former Microsoft Evangelist, who started the ‘Connecting [...]

  • Report: Women-owned or Led Firms are Becoming a Leading Entrepreneurial force in Technology

    “New research shows what many have long suspected:  women entrepreneurs are poised to lead the next wave of growth in global technology ventures.” This is conclusion from the very thorough research on entrepreneurial women in tech, performed by a team led by founder and CEO Cindy Padnos of Illuminate Ventures, a venture fund that focuses on [...]

  • The USA Debate a Visa For Start-up Entrepreneurs

    The BBC last month announced that officials in the US would welcome in the new year by looking at an overhaul of their immigration system with a particular focus on the retention of foreign entrepreneurs within the country. According to the article and statistics from Duke University research, almost half of all people founding tech companies [...]
 
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    Active Garage

  • Change Management #3 – Technology: Too Good To Be True…Two Deadly Misconceptions and Their Remedies

    Gary Monti
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:05 pm
    Executives leading change are in a situation much like Moses’ when leading the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land. There is the desire for relief from the constant complaining. The loss of resolve or simply being tired can create a yearning for a quick fix or a simple solution. One of the most common forms of giving in to this temptation is clinging to misconceptions regarding technology and its benefits. Two of the deadliest misconceptions are the belief technology by itself solves problems and the belief human nature changes with new technology. Sales agents can play upon…

  • Is using Social Media an impediment to your Organization?

    Himanshu Jhamb
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:05 pm
    Au Contraire, it can lead to improved productivity and branding. First and foremost, let’s get one thing clear about Social Media. It is not just a tool, or a tactic or even a strategy. It is simply a channel for having online conversations. Depending on if you know and intend to use it purposefully or not, it can increase productivity… or not. There are two kinds of stances organizations that do not believe in the power of Social Media take when it comes to using Facebook or Twitter, at work. Employees will be distracted. They’ll spend too much time on these sites and it will be an…

  • Week In Review – Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2010

    Magesh Tarala
    7 Feb 2010 | 9:20 am
    Social Media ROCKSTARS! by Deepika Bajaj, Feb 1, 2010 Social media ROCKSTARS are no different from traditional ROCKSTARS. They possess the same characteristics – Talent par excellence, Performance and Energy. They continuously produce new material, perform brilliantly that crowds love them and energize their audience. People like Kevin Rose, Matt Inman and bloggers like Chris Brogan or Marshall Kirkpatrick are the genuine social media rockstars! more… BLOGTASTIC!: Make more friends in the blogosphere fast! by Rajesh Setty, Feb 1, 2010 Face to face conversations are valuable…

  • BLOGTASTIC!: More help than you will ever need

    Rajesh Setty
    5 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am
    This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page: See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project Previous article: Blogging stats can be addictive. BLOGTASTIC!: More help than you will ever need When you are starting out, you will need help with your blog. In fact, you will need help throughout your entire journey. The more you know, the more you will realize that you don’t know very much. The good part is there is always help available. And you can find many…

  • Author’s Journey #7 – Who can help you write your book?

    Roger Parker
    4 Feb 2010 | 11:05 pm
    There are many ways others can help you write your book. You don’t have to write every single word that appears in your brand-building, nonfiction book! Many of the leading author brands in business and publishing involve authors who have shared their writing responsibilities with others. There are a lot of reasons for this, and the idea of involving others in writing you book shouldn’t be viewed as a “cop out” or lessening of your responsibility to produce the best possible book. Advantages of involving others Although there are many advantages to working with other, the two most…
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    VC Ready Law Blog

  • Price-based antidilution protection

    ben
    25 Jan 2010 | 10:36 am
    Price-based antidilution protection reduces the dilutive effect on an investor of a later financing at a lower valuation (a “down-round” financing). Price-based antidilution protection of some sort is a characteristic of most preferred stock and operates by increasing the number of shares of common stock into which a share of preferred stock converts (i.e. it increases the “conversion ratio”). There are two types of antidilution protection often found in angel and VC financings: full ratchet and weighted average. Full ratchet antidilution adjusts the conversion price of outstanding…

  • Why founders should assign IP to their company

    ben
    15 Jan 2010 | 6:52 am
    A problem we encounter with startling regularity is a team of founders where some or all of them have not assigned the relevant intellectual property they’ve developed to their company. This may not seem like a big deal when the value of unassigned IP is hard to determine, but it can become one if the IP turns out to be critical to the company’s business. A founder can use unassigned IP to extract a high price from the company (and his fellow founders) at a critical time, such as when the company is seeking financing and the potential investors insist (as they will) that the company…

  • Introducing VC Ready’s Daily Tidbit

    ben
    15 Jan 2010 | 6:46 am
    After a long winter’s nap, the VC Ready Blog is back! To kick off the new year, we’re introducing a daily Twitter/Facebook supplement to our blog: the VC Ready Law Group Daily Tidbit. Each week (Monday through Friday) the Daily Tidbit will offer a Twitter-sized (max. 140 characters) piece of information or advice on a topic relevant to entrepreneurs. To receive the Daily Tidbit, you can follow us on Twitter (@vcready) or become a fan of VC Ready Law Group on Facebook. If you’d like to suggest a topic for the Daily Tidbit or for our blog, contact us!

  • How to determine the right equity structure for your startup

    ben
    14 Dec 2009 | 12:31 pm
    When you’re ready to incorporate, you’ll need to give some thought to the proper equity structure for your business. Because equity is a currency startups can trade for money or services, your company’s initial equity structure should take into account your plans for near-term growth. There are no hard-and-fast rules on the proper equity structure for a company, but here are a few things you’ll want to think about. How many shares should be authorized? The number of shares “authorized” in the corporation’s charter is the maximum number the company can issue without amending its…

  • Employees v. Independent Contractors – What Startups Need to Know

    ben
    2 Dec 2009 | 9:14 am
    Even if you’ve never run a business before, you can probably imagine that there are many more laws governing the relationship between a company and its employees than between a company and its independent contractors, so you might rightly conclude that it is generally less costly to hire independent contractors instead of employees. What you may not know, however, is that federal and state laws closely regulate when workers may be categorized as independent contractors and when they must be treated as employees. Various federal and state laws apply different tests to determine if a worker…
 
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    The Wright Place TV

  • Brian Tracy on the Set

    Dr. Letitia Wright
    9 Feb 2010 | 3:50 am
    It was an amazing day! The minister in the movie is a real Pastor. Pastor Edwards from Pasadena Community Church. Someone wanted to know if he was an actor or a real Pastor. He is a real Pastor! Top pictures: Brian Tracy ( yes THE Brian Tracy- someone asked me that) Will post more pictures from the set later!

  • Why I am Not Busy, Busy, Busy

    Dr. Letitia Wright
    7 Feb 2010 | 6:14 pm
    The new year has started and lots of people are busy, busy , busy. However , as Seth Godin says: Busy does not equal important and measured does not mean mattered. How much money did you make from Twitter or Facebook last year? I tracked it and it was zero- yes zero. They are fun, but do not [...]

  • Poll: Which Workshop?

    Dr. Letitia Wright
    6 Feb 2010 | 6:59 am
    Which LIVE workshop would you rather take? How to Find Your Perfect Customers? or How to Get Sponsors for your Podcast ( or online radio show)? Take a vote and post a comment and WIN The Complete Idiot’s Guide for Starting a Web Based Business! Winners are picked by Random drawing on FEB 13, 2010 Winner will be notified [...]

  • Review: How to Build a Successful Virtual Assistant Business

    Dr. Letitia Wright
    5 Feb 2010 | 2:41 am
    How to Build a Successful Virtual Assistant Business By Janice Byer and Elayne Whitfied- Parr Virtual Assistants are new to the business world. One of the professions made possible by the web, they are a growing segment of resources for the small and solo business owner. This book gives anyone who thinks they want to be a [...]

  • Sorry

    Dr. Letitia Wright
    3 Feb 2010 | 8:14 am
    I am sorry. These Audios are sold out. If you would like to know when the next ones are available, sign up on the email list on the right.
 
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    Everyone's Blog Posts - Under30CEO

  • Critical Success Factors for a Web Startup

    Charanjit
    Last week, the entire Creately Team (except Graham - we missed you mate) gathered in our new office in Colombo for a week long strategy and planning session. We reflected on the past year, our successes and learnings, evaluated the market and primed ourselves for an exciting year ahead in 2010. We talked a bit and drew quite a lot during the week. We’re firm believers of visual thinking and communication and ended up capturing most of our thoughts and findings in mind-maps, concept diagrams and the like. Over the coming weeks, we’ll share some of these diagrams that we feel can help other…

  • Got Chinese Drywall? AbShield Chinese Drywall Solution

    Alfred N. Miller III
    www.abshield.net Chinese Drywall Solution-We offer a 15 year warranty and proven testing results from an approved third party. Alfred Miller AbShield/AbCoat Operations alfredm-abshield@hotmail.com (772)263-0443

  • Generate More Leads, More Cash And Build Your Business on Autopilot

    Hazura Hakim Jasman
    I am going to assume that you are here because you are SERIOUS about building a thriving and wildly profitable online empire. This is all about to teach struggling network marketers how the top earners REALLY build their businesses , so congratulations because you have finally reveal the hidden truth about M*L*M.). I know that the 2 MAIN PROBLEMS facing most network marketers are: 1. Lack of leads 2. Running out of money These 2 obstacles are actually VERY EASY to overcome...IF you apply the training and tactics; CLICK HERE The old idea of how you think you should build a network marketing…

  • This is the answer to all your problems...

    Hazura Hakim Jasman
    *** The MAIN Reason Most People FAIL *** LACK OF MARKETING TRAINING & SUPPORT. It is ridiculous to think that bugging your friends and family could be a solid foundation for ANY business. Why? Reason #1: They are Unqualified & Not Targeted Most of your Warm Market is NOT interested in starting a home bus!ness online and NONE of them came to you...you were the hunter...THIS IS KEY! Reason #2 : Quantity I don't care how many people you know, you will never be able to run enough numbers with your warm market. Think about this... Before we move forward there is one major theme behind…

  • Happy Holidays and the Rise of Quality on the Web

    Jared O'Toole
    A quick happy holidays and then the reason why you should care about the quality you produce online.
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    OPEN Forum Articles

  • Where to Shop Your Goods: Survey of Online Marketplaces

    9 Feb 2010 | 11:22 am
    From Gregory Go: Selling online is the same as brick and mortar sales in that where you showcase your products is as important as how much you price them, how you deal with customers, and other parts of your retail operations. Here are the top online marketplaces to shop your goods. eBay Offline equivalent: swap meet, public auction. Cost: per-item listing fees + up to 15% of sale price in transaction fees. eBay is as close to an unfettered global size bazaar as you can get. Individuals selling stuff from their attics co-mingle with big small retailers moving hundreds of units a day. With…

  • Five Ways To Start Your Business Day Right

    9 Feb 2010 | 10:25 am
    From Gillian Reagan: We take mornings for granted. They are a new beginning-- a gift given to us each day; yet we grumble and moan as we roll out of bed and stumble through our daily routines. That kind of foggy, blase attitude can negatively influence the rest of the day. A frustrated, cranky or indifferent attitude can plague everyone around you. Your team needs to feel inspired and invigorated, so make sure you feel the same way! Just a few small tweaks to your morning routine can set you in the right direction towards success. Consider these five ways to start the day: 1) Exercise. Even a…

  • Take Steps to Minimize the Pain of Small Business Taxes

    9 Feb 2010 | 9:28 am
    From Denise O'Berry: As we turned the corner into the New Year, that meant the start of the clock for tax filing season. Small business owners complain a lot about taxes. But the issue is typically about all of the filing requirements – all the things you have to do that give you major heartburn. There are so many tax related activities required for small business that the IRS publishes a small business tax calendar every year. It’s a really useful tool that is normally released during the fourth quarter of the year. It’s out of stock now, but you can still view a handy…

  • Put an End to Lost Marketing Opportunities

    9 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am
    From Mark Stevens: The marketing myth holds that it's better to do something, even if it produces mediocre results, than to do nothing at all. Nonsense. Engaging in marketing initiatives that don't produce a high return on investment waste your money and, equally important, keep the money from being invested in far more productive uses. This raises an important but often overlooked point: The highest costs any business faces are not those traditionally accounted for--labor, materials, rent, etc.--but opportunity. What the company fails to capitalize on takes the highest toll. How does this…

  • 8 Financial Considerations of Ecommerce

    8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm
    From Gregory Go: Selling products online uses the same basic principles and strategies as offline (or "brick & mortar") retailing. Provide a good product, at a reasonable price, with some exceptional customer service. Buy low, sell high. Repeat and profit. Online retailing involves the same principles, but the tactics and mechanics are different. Here's a look at 8 facets of ecommerce that will affect your retail business' finances and processes. 1. Lower prices When you’re the only widget seller within 10 miles, you can charge list prices. When you’re competing online in a…
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    The OBJourney

  • Finds

    B
    15 Jan 2010 | 8:41 pm
    1.6 Tips for Improving Your Cash Flow 2.How to Succeed By Building Your Body of Evidence 3.Employer to Employee: Managing a Small Business While Working Elsewhere 4.Building a Network of Gen Y Entrepreneurs: A Story of Optimism 5.How to Promote Your Business When Your Website Stinks 6.4 Myths About Social Media and Business 7.Chugging Along on the Innovation Train 8.A Hiring Hitch for Small Business 9.Outlook for General Business Conditions 10.2010: The Year of Spontaneous Innovation Social Bookmarking

  • Wednesday Weapons – Help Haiti

    J
    13 Jan 2010 | 1:31 pm
    Before this blog begins join me in texting YELE to 501501 and Donate $5 to Wyclef’s Haiti Earthquake Relief …Tonight I saw disturbing, depressing, and heart wrenching footage of the earthquake in Haiti. As the tears came down my eyes and my heart went out to the citizens of the island, I began to pray. I prayed because this was all I could envision doing. Earlier in the day I donated to Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti Foundation and comforted a friend with family in Haiti…but still felt as ...

  • Tuesday Twist- Email Madness

    B
    12 Jan 2010 | 3:22 pm
    I feel like I have written a million emails today. I am starting to see why people say that email can be a productivity killer. Luckily all the emails I sent were very important and lead to some important feedback. I emailed a former manager of mine. I gave her details about what we are building and asked how she would want to interact with the site. I did this because part of our revenue plan is to target HR Managers and managers that hire interns ...
 
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    Steve Blank

  • Emulating Empathy

    steveblank
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am
    One of the hardest problems for engineers in founding roles in a startup is interacting with customers up close and personal. Over the years I’ve found the best way to learn to do this is by emulating empathy. The Problem I was having dinner in Palo Alto with some of my Stanford engineering students and one of the subjects they were most interested in talking about was “how do you really get out of the building and talk to customers.”  Listening to them reminded me how terribly painful it had been for me. Data Driven I was always curious about technology and how things worked, but…

  • Memo From the Monastery

    steveblank
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am
    Filed under: Technology

  • Incentives and Legends

    steveblank
    1 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am
    Entrepreneurs and the early startup team all need to be motivated by a shared vision, passion and desire to build a large company.  Yet it’s the company legends that live on. Fund Raising Our little startup was less than a year-old.  We had been busy assembling our team and had just hired the last member of our exec staff.  We had also just closed our Series B financing with a major overseas partner.  The financing felt like a real validation of our strategy. In truth, it was only proof that our reality distortion field worked in Asia as well. My Wife Thinks I Deserve a Bonus One of the…

  • Balloon Wars

    steveblank
    28 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am
    In the 1950’s the U.S. Military and the CIA enlisted balloons (some as tall as a 40-story building) as weapons systems targeting the Soviet Union. Throughout the decade they launched a series of Top Secret/codeword balloon projects and thousands of balloons, to gather intelligence about the Soviet Union.  The stories of these programs are interesting but the unexpected consequences of their secrecy created a mythology that outlasted the missions. Why Balloons? Balloons had attributes that airplanes couldn’t match – they could stay aloft for a long time (days or even weeks,) they could…

  • What’s A Startup? First Principles.

    steveblank
    25 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am
    Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill Everyone knows what a startup is for – don’t they? In this post we’re going to offer a new definition of why startups exist: a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. A Business Model Ok, but what is a business model? A business model describes how your company creates, delivers and captures value. Or in English: A business model describes how your company makes money. (Or depending on your metrics for success, get users, grow traffic, etc.)…
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    Startupstudent.com

  • Good news!

    admin
    7 Feb 2010 | 1:38 pm
    Hello faithful readers: First off I wanted to thank you the readers. You all have be a blast to learn from and really engage with.  I know that over the past couple of months there has been a lacking of consist content on the site and for that I do apologize. But we hope to have that fixed in the coming weeks! Couple of house keeping notes. 1. I have found a University to partner with in this blog! That means over this next semester they will be taking over it.  I trust this University and the people that will be managing it.  We are in talks now about how to move everything over etc. I am…

  • Wisdoms from a Student Entrepreneur

    admin
    11 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am
    It’s really tough to be everything at one time. A good student, a good Student Body President, and a good entrepreneur. The honest truth is (and not enough people truly believe this) you can’t be great at everything. But another truth is, you ARE destined for greatness, but as a student, it’s very likely you’re involved in too many things. One thing about college is having the opportunity to ‘get a taste for everything.’ But would you rather taste a little of everything or have a whole pie? You’ll have to consider the opportunity costs. As a student, I still manage an ecommcerce…

  • bootstrapping: a real life example

    admin
    3 Dec 2009 | 11:00 am
    I have been ‘attempting’ to build a web application for a long time now … roughly 9 months. I have been bootstrapping most of the operation.  I have either A. built what I can myself or B. outsourced it to someone who can do it better than I can.  It has been an awesome time of learning and growth but its time to face the music. The money for outsourcing has run out and I am not at the level that I can program the rest of the application. I have been reading a bunch of Guy Kawasaki stuff lately and I am encouraged by him.  Specifically this article about bootstrapping. He…

  • Generation X: The Confused Generation

    Jason Blumer
    30 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am
    I’ve heard it in podcasts many times and read about it – but now I’m seeing it so often in my clients and contacts: Generation X is the Confused Generation.  I’m Gen X, so I don’t mind busting on my own kind. Run down of the generations (from my Managing the Next Generation CPA Firm post on my THRIVEal.com blog): Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, about 78 to 80 million folks, currently running our country, most getting ready to retire, Generation X, born between 1965 and 1977, about 40 to 41 million strong, currently in management of our companies and in…

  • You’re Invited to join eCornell’s Entrepreneur Online Video Contest

    admin
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am
    eCornell is celebrating the growth of the entrepreneurial community by challenging all entrepreneurs to share their unique take on meeting consumer needs. Now through November 30, eCornell is inviting all entrepreneurs who are developing (or have already developed) a new product or service to submit a quick video (5 minutes or less) that explains or demonstrates their process for understanding what customers want and satisfying their needs. The first-place winner will receive a full scholarship (a $3,500 value) for Cornell’s newest online certificate program, A Systems Approach to…
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    First Class Fashionista

  • Miley Cyrus’ Grammy Awards Dress Designer

    First Class Fashionista
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:53 pm
    Miley Cyrus on the Red Carpet of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Miley Cyrus’ red carpet hairstyle and dress at the 52nd Annual “Grammy Awards” held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010 . Who is Miley Cyrus’ 2010 Grammy Awards Dress Designer? Miley Cyrus is wearing a Hervé Léger by Max Azria dress accessorized with Ofira jewelry on the red carpet of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010. Note: I love this dress. Miley Cyrus is one of the 2010 Grammy Awards best dressed. The look is…

  • Fergie’s Grammy Awards Dress Designer

    First Class Fashionista
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:34 pm
    Fergie on the Red Carpet of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Fergie’s red carpet hairstyle and dress at the 52nd Annual “Grammy Awards” held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010 . Who is Fergie’s 2010 Grammy Awards Dress Designer? Fergie is wearing a dress by Emilio Pucci accessorized with Jessica Robinson jewelry and Le Silla strappy sandals on the red carpet of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010. Noted Tidbit: Fergie’s real name is Stacy Ferguson. Here is where you can tell…

  • Pink’s Grammy Awards Dress Designer

    First Class Fashionista
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:10 pm
    Pink on the Red Carpet of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Pink’s red carpet hairstyle and dress at the 52nd Annual “Grammy Awards” held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010 . Who is Pink’s 2010 Grammy Awards Dress Designer? Pink is wearing a Tony Ward gown accessorized with Neil Lane jewelry on the red carpet of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010. Noted Tidbit: Neil Lane diamonds worth $2.5 million. Here is where you can tell thousands of people what you think. Share a comment with…

  • Lea Michele’s Grammy Awards Dress Designer

    First Class Fashionista
    3 Feb 2010 | 2:37 pm
    Lea Michele on the Red Carpet of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Lea Michele’s red carpet hairstyle and dress at the 52nd Annual “Grammy Awards” held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010 . Who is Lea Michele’s 2010 Grammy Awards Dress Designer? Lea Michele is wearing a dress by Romona Keveza accessorized with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry and Brian Atwood pumps on the red carpet of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010. Here is where you can tell thousands of people what you think. Share a…

  • Katy Perry’s Grammy Awards Dress Designer

    First Class Fashionista
    3 Feb 2010 | 2:11 pm
    Katy Perry on the Red Carpet of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Katy Perry’s red carpet hairstyle and dress at the 52nd Annual “Grammy Awards” held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010 . Who is Katy Perry’s 2010 Grammy Awards Dress Designer? Katy Perry is wearing a Zac Posen gown on the red carpet of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2010. Tidbit: Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s Engagement Story: “We were on an elephant just before in India at midnight,” says Russell…
 
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    Jeff Hilimire

  • Harvard Business Review, I’m calling you out

    jeffhilimire
    8 Feb 2010 | 11:09 am
    Love some insight into whether or not I’m overreacting to this… First, I typically really enjoy HBR. They usually have great articles and I learn something every time I pick up their publication or hit the website. But this article by Tom Davenport is sloppy and almost irresponsible. You can read the article and see for yourself, but basically he’s making the point that Twitter isn’t a useful medium because he personally doesn’t think the conversations are “important”. It’s an absurd point, as if the only reason to have a way to communicate with…

  • 6 Things You Might Have Missed Last Week

    jeffhilimire
    8 Feb 2010 | 5:50 am
    This is a recap of some of the more important things that happened last week plus some things that I happened to find out about (cool sites or products I wasn’t aware of). I find it helpful when blogs do this as sometimes I miss things when traveling. Jan 31 – Feb 6: This particular week was pretty light except for Facebook’s redesign. Facebook went through a pretty major redesign. Status:THIS launched with a comic that found its way to mashable among other places. Brilliant first comic by @atlantajones. The Internet was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I am not making…

  • 6 Reasons I’m down on Foursquare

    jeffhilimire
    5 Feb 2010 | 5:43 am
    I’ve been using foursquare for around six months (I think) and honestly, I’m starting to get a little tired of it. Or rather, the shiny newness of “checking in” has started to wear off. Why? 1. I just simply don’t go out enough. I have 3 kids at home 5 and under. Which means on nights and weekends I’m not going to many places so I’m restricted to what I do during the work day, which isn’t much. So it gets kind of boring checking in to the same places every day, for basically no reason. 2. I don’t care about the points system. Mayorship is…

  • My Tools

    jeffhilimire
    1 Feb 2010 | 1:53 pm
    I use a lot of digital tools to get stuff done and often blog about them in one-offs, but I thought I’d compile them in one place. Hope to keep this current. Would be cool if I had tool to do that. Full disclosure, I’ve seen this type of thing done on several blogs, most recently on @stammy’s blog (who does it much better than I and has much cooler stuff). I just finally found the motivation to get this off my to-do list. Stuff I run on my Macbook Air (and within browsers) Firefox. Browser still getting my love until the kinks are worked out with Google Chrome on mac.

  • Best video of iPad I’ve seen

    jeffhilimire
    30 Jan 2010 | 5:39 am
    If you’re thinking of getting the iPad (or thinking of continuing to mock it), this is a pretty indepth video on it. I still have my doubts and wishes (camera, GPS) but its a compelling device no doubt.
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    Making Money Online With Young Entrepreneur Michael Dunlop

  • Cheni Yerushalmi Interview, Support For Start-up Companies & Entrepreneurs

    Michael
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    Don’t Believe in a Downturn, Believe in Opportunity Hi Everyone, Today we have a wonderful interview with Cheni Yerushalmi, the founder of Sunshineny.com, a truly unique business that rents out office space to entrepreneurs in New York City. Cheni’s clients include Gary Vaynerchuk. Indeed it was at Cheni’s Lafayette Street location that I met Gary Vaynerchuk last year. What an amazing location – what a BUZZ and what a Great Place to do business. Gary Vaynerchuk puts it best: I am unable to wrap my head around the fact as to why any entrepreneur in NYC would not be in this…

  • Young Entrepreneurs Scholarship – Apply Now

    Michael
    21 Jan 2010 | 2:58 am
    Are you a Young Entrepreneur aged 13 – 23 or do you know a Young Entrepreneur aged 13 – 21? Hi Everyone I am very pleased to announce that RetireAt21.com has partnered with my good friend and Top Online Marketer, Yanik Silver to offer: Scholarship Attendance To The 2010 Underground Online Seminar A Scholarship includes Free admission to Yanik Silver’s Underground Online Seminar® 6 to be held at a top-secret location in Washington, DC on March 12-14, 2010. ($3,495 value) plus a host of other benefits – see below…. You can find full details of the Young Entrepreneurs…

  • Erik Groset and Robin Defay Interview | Livespeakr.com Founders Share Their Start-up Experience

    Michael
    19 Jan 2010 | 2:51 am
    Nothing worth having comes easy Hi Everyone, Today we have an interview (Podcast and Transcript) with two remarkable Young Entrepreneurs – Erik Groset and Robin Defay from Digital Group Audio (DGA) and LiveSpeakr.com Livespeakr is an amazing new speaker system that features a set of speakers that fold-up and store conveniently behind the iPhone when they are not in use allowing for maximum portability. When the unit is stored (or hidden) it piggy-backs on the iPhone or iPod Touch making it portable enough to fit in your pocket for on-the-go portability. (Visit Erik and Robin’s…

  • Meet These Young Underground Business Moguls

    Michael
    15 Jan 2010 | 6:29 am
    You’ve got to meet these young moguls… Hi Everyone, There’s an old Amish saying that goes, “We get too soon old and too late smart.” Well it seems that doesn’t apply here… Yanik Silver has just announced a special pre-day before the main Underground® 6 event (March 11th, 2010) where you can learn from some of the smartest (and youngest) online talent. This Young Moguls Day is something that Yanik and I are organising the day prior to the Underground Seminar. You’ll hear from a young breed of upstarts who are completely and totally crushing it…

  • Jason Dorsey Interview, The Gen Y Guy Explains How to Save Money and Grow your Business

    Michael
    6 Jan 2010 | 12:32 am
    How to Save Money and Grow your Business Hi Everyone, Today at RetireAt21.com we are delighted to interview Jason Ryan Dorsey – AKA “The Gen Y Guy and author Y-Size Your Business: How Gen Y Employees Can Save You Money and Grow Your Business Generation Y—sometimes called Millennials — are the fastest growing segment in America’s workforce. Almost 80 million strong, they already comprise the entire 18-to-32 demographic. Along with their ever-present cell phones and new definition of “business casual,” they bring tremendous potential to the workplace (just ask,…
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    Finding Benjamin

  • BENJAMANIA 2/6/10

    ChrisH
    6 Feb 2010 | 2:45 pm
    Watch to see the winner!

  • Official Launch of BENJAMANIA

    meganH
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:46 pm
    Our new contest, BENJAMANIA, has completed its beta testing phase and we’re now looking for you to help us with our official launch! BENJAMANIA is free and requires no obligation from you, other than submitting a lucky 5-digit number and tuning in to watch and see if you’ve won money. Each contest will feature a video of our hosts as they scratch off lottery tickets until they find a winning ticket. Then they randomly draw a 5-digit number. Whoever submits the lucky number closest to the number drawn by our hosts will receive the lottery ticket winnings. It could be $2 or it could…

  • Upcoming Business Plan Competitions – added last week

    meganH
    25 Jan 2010 | 8:59 am
    We’re continually adding to our Business Plan Competitions Map to keep you current on all the opportunities out there. Each week we’ll be posting an update of what competitions we have added – as you can see, there’s something for everyone, and there is still some time before the registration period ends! Stay tuned for some more new features in this section of our website. Bucknell University Venture Plan Competition – Open to teams of undergraduate university students, this contest offers prizes of up to $5,000 for the most promising new ventures. Great Lakes…

  • The Best of Halfbakery – January Ideas

    meganH
    21 Jan 2010 | 12:42 pm
    We’re off and running in 2010 with a brand new selection of partially thought-out ideas and inventions from Halfbakery.com. If you’re new here, make sure to check out the other posts in this series to see what its all about! Our list this month features some pretty interesting ideas, in no particular order. If you’ve got some time, click through on each of the ideas, because the comments other members leave are often just as outrageous as the ideas themselves. Anycolor Pen with ColorPick “Most paint programs allow you to do two things that are sadly missing from the…

  • Favorite Posts From 2009!

    ChrisH
    31 Dec 2009 | 12:10 pm
    With New Years approaching, we have decided to wrap up 2009 with several of our favorite posts we have written since the beginning of the Finding Benjamin project. We have learned so much and come so far from those first days back in July when we launched the site. But with a new year comes new ideas, and boy do we have plenty of them, so stay tuned!! Here are the top five favorite posts from 2009… Finding Benjamin Crib Notes – House Tour A great video with Dave showing everyone around the infamous House Of Pain. The house was a lot cleaner back then… From Barista To Blogger…
 
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    START-UP BIZTALK

  • Who wants to know a "Nobody?" Everybody!

    5 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am
    So here's some real talk for you: stop trying to be a know-it-all-smarter-than-everyone-else-local-celebrity-too-full-of-myself-talk-a-lot-without-doing-you're-beneath-me-acting somebody. I could go on with this list but I'll stop here.People really don't care about status. And the ones that care only about your "celebrity" status, are called groupies. That's right, I think entrepreneurs can have

  • Dress Up Your Startup

    30 Jan 2010 | 6:40 am
    When you're new in business, it's hard to be taken seriously so don't make it even harder on yourself by not projecting the right image. Do a few things to get your start-up noticed:If you don't have an address, get one. Lot of start-ups start from home. You're literally starting from scratch. Your potential clients don't need to know this though. Get a virtual office or a co-op work space

  • Think Inside the Box; Grow Your Business with what you already have

    24 Jan 2010 | 10:02 am
    A client asked me the other day, "as a banker, what was the key advice you would give your small business clients who wanted to grow?" I replied, "Cross sell, cross sell, cross sell..."Cross selling is my version of thinking "inside your box." What do you already have that you're not taking advantage of? Cross-selling is simply looking at the people you've already built a relationship with (sold

  • Listen to your Clients

    21 Jan 2010 | 6:02 pm
    Today I hosted a One-Day Institute for our business and legal small business clients. I heard the questions and comments from workshop participants and thought to myself, this is it! This sense of community with other service-based small business owners is what my clients need and yearn for. A year ago, I submitted a survey to clients and the response was that they wanted events that would offer

  • Isaac Business Services Small Business Institute Presents: One Day Institute; "Find Your Mojo in 2010"

    10 Jan 2010 | 1:17 pm
    So I've just realized that this is my first post of the New Year. Usually, I post once a week but the holidays took a few days away from me. Well, as you get adjusted to the New Year, I wish you much success and hope you're taking steps to be all that you can be.One thing that I find very essential for start-ups and small businesses is the need for education. James Dale writes in his book, The
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    Feint

  • A Value Proposition

    Anthony
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:58 pm
    Want to know the easiest way to be successful?  No its no a crappy get rich quick scheme, and it doesn’t involve closing your eyes and hoping that something will magical appear.  Instead its a very simple, tried and tested technique that’s been used since the dawn of mankind. So what’s the secret?  Well its as simple as: Build something of value Look at the most successful companies in our space.  Google, Apple, Microsoft.  Why are they doing so well.  Its not because of fancy marketing (Microsoft’s horrible marketing is proof of that).  They have built products…

  • Cool Tools for the Location Independent

    Anthony
    5 Feb 2010 | 5:08 pm
    Working for yourself, from anywhere in the world, sounds like an amazing concept. But without the right tools this dream will never become reality. Talking with a number of location independents (digital nomads, lifestyle designers etc), it soon became clear that the software and web apps they used varied greatly. So therefore it would be nigh on impossible to make a definitive list of tools of the location independent individual. Instead, I decided to merely offer some of my favourite tools. I use all of these, and couldn’t live without them.  Here is part one of a series of posts on…

  • The Simple Art of Being Persuasive Online

    Anthony
    30 Jan 2010 | 5:39 am
    One of my favorite books is Yes: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.  If you’re an entrepreneur or just interested in selling (whether its a product or even your words) then you need to read this book. Its a fascinating study of human behaviour. Here is a brief run down of just some (of the 50) concepts applied to an online business. Create an Impression of Product Scarcity I’ve seen many bloggers selling info products do just this.  They offer the product at an “introductory” rate or offer bonus items to the first few buyers.    Other bloggers setup…

  • Yeah About that Twitter Widget

    Anthony
    28 Jan 2010 | 5:42 am
    So about that Twitter widget I recommended (reluctantly) a while back…..it doesn’t work. You know the one I’m talking about – the blue floating badge that is common place on many a blog and is known as WpFollowMe Now Im not saying it doesn’t work on all blogs (it quite possibly performs really well on yours), and I can only really offer data from mine, but its worth taking a look at the results, only if its for the sense of glee you’ll feel knowing I was wrong. Here is a heatmap which shows the clicks on the badge.  For a valuable piece of real-estate, it…

  • The 2 Minute Trick

    Anthony
    27 Jan 2010 | 6:28 am
    Here’s a very simple productivity concept for you. The 2 minute concept, which I will explain in a sec, forms the cornerstone of GTD (getting things done) and many other productivity systems.   You don’t need to be into productivity or GTD to make use of this though.  Its a very lightweight method that you can implement right now. If a task will take less than 2 minutes to complete, do it now. Thats it.  You can stop reading now… How many 2 minute tasks do you put off in one day?  If you haven’t made a mental note of these tasks before now, you probably…
 
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    TheFunded Founder Institute News

  • The Founder Institute Goes International

    20 Jan 2010 | 10:50 pm
    The Founder Institute is announcing a big expansion today, with new Spring 2010 Semesters in Singapore, Paris, Los Angeles and Denver. The deadline for early admissions is February 15th, with all applications due by February 28th, 2010.  Apply to the Singapore Program Apply to the Paris Program Apply to the Los Angeles Program  Apply to the Denver Program Apply to the San Diego/Orange County Program   The Institute is run by founders for founders, providing a framework for successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences and to help. We've already lined up an impressive…

  • Happy New Year!

    5 Jan 2010 | 5:00 pm
    The Founder Institute wishes all of the participating entrepreneurs, Mentors, sponsors, and partners a Happy New Year and a successful 2010! This will be an exciting year for hundreds of enrolled Founders, who will incorporate a new technology business during the semester as part of their graduation process. After incorporating on April 16th, 2009, the Institute had three goals: launch a successful first semester that proves the model, implement a founder selection process that efficiently identifies strong talent, and, assuming success, expand the model into six operating locations. The…

  • Two Grads Launch in TechCrunch

    22 Dec 2009 | 10:00 am
    Two graduates of the Founder Institute Summer 2009 Bay Area semester have launched within three days of each other with articles in TechCrunch. The Summer 2009 Graduates are starting to gain traction with their ideas, which range from consumer electronics to video games. The first graduate, Got Clues, is an educational entertainment company. Got Clues announced the launch of iRewardChart, an interactive iPhone application to help parents track and reward children activities, such as cleaning their room. You can read more below: RewardChart Gets Your Kids To Shoot For The Stars… And…

  • 195 Founders Enrolled in Winter 2009 Semesters

    9 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm
    The Founder Institute has enrolled 195 Founders in the Bay Area, New York, Seattle, Washington DC, and San Diego for Winter 2009 semesters that run through ealry April, 2010. After tonight, all five locations will have launched first sessions. Congratulations to the incoming Founders! We hope to help make your startups successful in 2009 and 2010!

  • 41 Accepted from DC and New York

    28 Nov 2009 | 10:03 pm
    The Institute accepted 41 Founders into the New York and Washington DC Area semesters Saturday evening, filling both locations with excellent candidates. The final admissions process occurs quickly by design. If you receive an acceptance letter, act on it sooner rather than later. Accepted Founders have less than 48 hours to enroll. If an invited applicant does not respond, two people from the waiting list are invited to fill any single vacancy. The moment a location has the desired number of Founders committed, enrollment is closed and everyone is sent notice. The Institute will start…
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    A Smart Bear

  • Guest post round-up

    Jason
    8 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am
    I guest-post on other blogs fairly regularly, but it was pointed out to me by rising blogging star Ash Maurya that I don't usually share these with you! So here's a selection of articles I've published elsewhere. Four ways to get automatically rejected by an Angel investor (VentureBeat) Advice on pitching Angel investors who often have different criteria than the typical VC. Also see my follow-up article: Four more ways. I've been pitched a lot, especially as a Capital Factory mentor, so this comes not only from my own experience but in discussing pitches with dozens of other angel…

  • Rude Q&A

    Jason
    1 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am
    Nothing clarifies things quite like a hyperactive, all-knowing, all-seeing, real asshole of a devil's advocate beating the living crap out of you. (Cartoon by Andertoons) Baseball players swing heavy bats before going up to the plate; acclimating to difficult working conditions makes it easier to hit the ball out of the park. What's the equivalent of the heavy bat for honing your skills at pitching your product and raising money for your company? For years I've been a fan of Scott Berkun's concept of Rude Q&A: What would the meanest, nastiest, but smartest people in the world grill you on…

  • A Tradeshow Checklist, born of experience

    Jason
    25 Jan 2010 | 6:30 am
    Eric Sink says that tradeshows are like sex: When it's good it's really really good, but when it's bad...  it's still pretty good. A lot of tradeshows have been cancelled due to low attendance (which in turn is probably due to slashed travel budgets), but those which remain are that much more interesting. It's easy to waste time and money at tradeshows. It's not just the booth ($2k-$20k) and travel expenses ($1000/day including airline, hotel, rent car, shipping, and buying an extension cable at an outrageously overpriced convention center office supply center), it's the week of time spent…

  • Why I feel like a fraud

    Jason
    18 Jan 2010 | 6:30 am
    "I feel like a fraud. I've been at this for 16 years and I still feel like a fraud. I'm just waiting for the day they see through the façade, but they keep coming back every year."   --Jason Young Ah yes, the awe-inspiring words of confidence from the seasoned entrepreneur. My friend Jason intended this as soothing words of solace during (one of my) periods of personal freak-out while Smart Bear was in its infancy. I felt like a fraud every day. Here I was, selling a wobbly, buggy tool and pawning myself off as an expert in a field that didn't exist. (My software was the first commercial…

  • A tour of my Wordpress plugins

    Jason
    15 Jan 2010 | 6:30 am
    I don't write many meta-posts, but I was just asked for the forty-seventh time which Wordpress plugin I use for this or that. I know I recently said your blogging platform doesn't matter, but it's not that it doesn't matter at all, just that it's not the primary driver of success and shouldn't be the first thing you spend time on. But still I take pride in my work, and that means attention to detail, and that means customizing the blog for both appearances and utility. So here are the Wordpress plugins I use, and why. Can't live without these: Akismet Free comment-spam protection from…
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    Venture Bin

  • Dealtattle – Coupons and deals in one place

    admin
    9 Feb 2010 | 3:04 am
    Dealtattle is a site that provides coupons and discounts from different shops and merchants. You can share and tweet deals to connect merchants and customers. Venture Slogan: When it comes to deals, its pays to tell. Dealtattle´s own description: “…DealTattle.com provides coupon codes and discounts for millions of ready-to-buy deal-minded shoppers. Coupon, promo and deal codes can [...] Related posts:Couponmom – The coupon search engine Vooch – The free coupons base Nethaggler – The buying tool

  • Refrigeratorartist – Upload your children´s artwork

    admin
    8 Feb 2010 | 3:29 am
    Refrigeratorartist is a simple service to save and store your children’s artwork on line. Don´t care about your refrigerator space, with Refrigeratorartist you can upload all your children´s drawings and share them with your family. Venture Slogan: Helping Parents Celebrate Children’s Artwork. Refrigeratorartist´s own description: “…RefrigeratorArtist.com is a place for parents who want to celebrate and save [...] No related posts.

  • Wantz – Create and share your personal wishlist

    admin
    5 Feb 2010 | 3:39 am
    Wantz is a service that helps you create and share your personal wishlists. Share it with your friends through different social networks, blogs and e-mail. Venture Slogan: Turn the entire web into your wishlist. Wantz´s own description: “…Wanzit is a free service that lets you create a wishlist and then share it with your friends via [...] Related posts:Toobla – Collect and share your favorite web stuff Plancast – Share your plans with your friends Rummble – Discover and share interest near you

  • Snapixel – Sharing and selling your photos

    admin
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:43 am
    Snapixel is a photo sharing community and stock photography marketplace. You can upload, store, organize, share and sell your photos with the community. Snapixel gives you the possibility to sell your photos. Venture Slogan: Sharing photos just got smarter. Snapixel´s own description: “…Snapixel is a photo sharing community and stock photography marketplace, providing all levels of photographers [...] Related posts:Friendsell – The social buying and selling site Photoswarm – Your own photo seller site Trefis – Predicting the stock prices

  • Scripts4Twitter – The Twitter scripts site

    admin
    3 Feb 2010 | 1:48 am
    Scripts4Twitter is a unique solution for webmaster to get ready-to-deploy twitter based apps & websites like Twitter Background Generator, Twitter Button Scripts, Find Twitter Anniversary, Scripts for Who to Follow on twitter and more. Venture Slogan: Ready-to-go Twitter Apps. Scripts4Twitter’s own description: “…Twitter is one of the fastest growing websites ever. This makes way [...] Related posts:Listiti – The Twitter lists alert Geomeme – Real time local Twitter trends Photoswarm – Your own photo seller site
 
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    Finding Benjamin

  • BENJAMANIA 2/6/10

    ChrisH
    6 Feb 2010 | 2:45 pm
    Watch to see the winner!

  • Official Launch of BENJAMANIA

    meganH
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:46 pm
    Our new contest, BENJAMANIA, has completed its beta testing phase and we’re now looking for you to help us with our official launch! BENJAMANIA is free and requires no obligation from you, other than submitting a lucky 5-digit number and tuning in to watch and see if you’ve won money. Each contest will feature a video of our hosts as they scratch off lottery tickets until they find a winning ticket. Then they randomly draw a 5-digit number. Whoever submits the lucky number closest to the number drawn by our hosts will receive the lottery ticket winnings. It could be $2 or it could…

  • Upcoming Business Plan Competitions – added last week

    meganH
    25 Jan 2010 | 8:59 am
    We’re continually adding to our Business Plan Competitions Map to keep you current on all the opportunities out there. Each week we’ll be posting an update of what competitions we have added – as you can see, there’s something for everyone, and there is still some time before the registration period ends! Stay tuned for some more new features in this section of our website. Bucknell University Venture Plan Competition – Open to teams of undergraduate university students, this contest offers prizes of up to $5,000 for the most promising new ventures. Great Lakes…

  • The Best of Halfbakery – January Ideas

    meganH
    21 Jan 2010 | 12:42 pm
    We’re off and running in 2010 with a brand new selection of partially thought-out ideas and inventions from Halfbakery.com. If you’re new here, make sure to check out the other posts in this series to see what its all about! Our list this month features some pretty interesting ideas, in no particular order. If you’ve got some time, click through on each of the ideas, because the comments other members leave are often just as outrageous as the ideas themselves. Anycolor Pen with ColorPick “Most paint programs allow you to do two things that are sadly missing from the…

  • Favorite Posts From 2009!

    ChrisH
    31 Dec 2009 | 12:10 pm
    With New Years approaching, we have decided to wrap up 2009 with several of our favorite posts we have written since the beginning of the Finding Benjamin project. We have learned so much and come so far from those first days back in July when we launched the site. But with a new year comes new ideas, and boy do we have plenty of them, so stay tuned!! Here are the top five favorite posts from 2009… Finding Benjamin Crib Notes – House Tour A great video with Dave showing everyone around the infamous House Of Pain. The house was a lot cleaner back then… From Barista To Blogger…
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    Sentiment of Success

  • Living Life on Purpose

    my1ambition
    18 Jan 2010 | 7:44 pm
    The following is the re-edited pre-2 AM version I wonder if people feel their lives as a pursuit of but a necessary happiness. A race back to the original finish line. A never-ending loop that seems to go on ad infinitum. Or a maze that seems to have neither a finish or an exit. What is [...]

  • Why 2010 May Be Quite Similar to 2009

    my1ambition
    8 Jan 2010 | 11:58 am
    If you did well this past year, I guess that’s a good thing! Friday is my market day and it seems that with the new year some realignment of the big picture is in order. Note of optimism: When you know what’s going on you can properly position yourself to benefit from its leverage. No condition [...]

  • Simple Things to Make You Safer Online

    my1ambition
    7 Jan 2010 | 10:19 pm
    By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, “The Daily Wealth“ “You guys really know everything about me…” Maria Bartiromo told Eric Schmidt – the head of Google – on a new CNBC special about Google. Maria’s basically right… She said, “If I’m a Google user, you have years of my search terms [saved] – stuff that may contain all kinds of [...]

  • Recent Tweets #6

    my1ambition
    4 Jan 2010 | 9:56 pm
    “Never be afraid to try something new; remember amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.” Visit the “10 Days to Personal Fulfillment” project Facebook Page here: http://bit.ly/4UJspd ”The greatest thing about Twitter, is that you can quote something and totally make up the source.” – George Washington Imagine if you didn’t care what anyone thought, or if [...]

  • 6 Steps to Writing Effective Affirmations

    my1ambition
    4 Jan 2010 | 3:35 pm
    Special Thanks to Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul – Living Your Dreams) and Colin VanderMeulen (www.positive-attitude-tips.com) What Are Your Dreams? If you want to accomplish anything in life, you’ve got to commit to wanting that success in your life. The fascinating power of the subconscious enables you to get there much faster once you [...]
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    Current Mom

  • Cabin Fever

    Julie Bindeman, Psy-D
    9 Feb 2010 | 3:43 am
    Therapy Tuesdays Growing up, one of my favorite phrases in the wintertime was uttered by a local morning disc jokey duo. "Bread, milk, and toilet paper" they would say, which was code for the forecast calling for snow. The joke...

  • Thai Curry Made Simple: An Irresistible Weeknight Recipe

    Emily Rodman
    8 Feb 2010 | 2:14 am
    Meal Monday Spicy, sweet, salty, complex. Yes, these words describe me (ha!), but they're also what makes the cuisine of Thailand so utterly irresistible. I don't know what combination of ecological and cultural factors came together over the milennia to...

  • The White House Message to Small Business

    Katherine Lewis
    6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    Startup Sunday Photo © 2010 Katherine Lewis President Barack Obama last week unveiled a host of initiatives aimed at encouraging job growth in the sector most responsive to economic recovery, small business. In speeches and Congressional testimony about the package,...

  • My Kids, Technology and Me

    TNH Guy
    5 Feb 2010 | 3:07 am
    Fatherhood Friday Did you see the study on kids and technology showing that children ages 8 to 18 spend, on average, 7.5 hours each day in front of electronic devices. Seven and a half hours! And that doesn't even include...

  • Jogging Tech

    Lyn Millett
    4 Feb 2010 | 6:53 am
    Image by Lyn Millett via FlickrTechnology Thursday We all look for motivation to exercise wherever we can find it. I wrote a long post over at my blog the other day about my recent foray into the Couch to 5K...
 
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    Sramana Mitra on Strategy

  • Blogosphere on Positioning: David Meerman Scott

    Sramana Mitra
    9 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am
    David, in his post, Persona-focused Web site leads to 4x conversions for RightNow Technologies offers a case study that addresses a core issue that I have often dealt with in positioning exercises: In a complex sales cycle with multiple players involved, how do you position your product with one message? I have come to the conclusion that you don’t. You use a messaging matrix, and you deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. David talks about a Web site design exercise that uses buyer personas to customize and personalize this process of delivering the right…

  • Paychex Faces Threat From Intuit; ADP Continues SaaS Roll-up

    Sramana_Mitra
    9 Feb 2010 | 2:35 am
    Payroll giant ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) started off the year with a SaaS acquisition, DO2. This is its second SaaS acquisition within three months, the previous one being HRinterax. Its rival Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX), on the other hand, has yet to make any acquisition. In fact, Paychex announced the sale of Stromberg to Kronos in October. Paychex had acquired Stromberg and its product Time in a Box in 2003 to accelerate its entry in the time and labor management space. Paychex says Time in a Box will continue to be a part of its portfolio while Stromberg will be paired with Kronos, a leader in workforce…

  • MediaTek (Part 2): The Shan Zhai Effect

    nalinimuppala
    9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    By guest author Nalini Kumar Muppala Shan zhai refers to businesses based on producing fake or pirated versions of established brands. These businesses often start from close to nothing and can evolve at a breakneck speed to serve local markets by leveraging their understanding of the local culture and local market needs. Most of the time, shan zhai refers to cheap imitations of established brands, but in some cases shan zhai firms have built on their initial success to go on to create successful IP and product portfolios. The most successful of these defy conventional wisdom and innovate…

  • Deal Radar 2010: Layer 7 Technologies

    melanie
    9 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am
    In the past year, adoption of Web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) has accelerated with the advent of cloud computing, which uses these technologies to programmatically connect applications and infrastructures between the cloud and the enterprise. Layer 7 Technologies provides security and networking solutions for connecting applications across the extended enterprise and cloud. Its products address SOA and cloud governance, XML firewalling, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and two-way authentication, among others. The company is based in Washington, DC, and was founded in 2002 by…

  • Online Tutoring Still In Its Infancy: Sylvan Learning CEO Jeff Cohen (Part 6)

    Jared
    8 Feb 2010 | 10:59 pm
    SM: How many students have you worked with online? JC: Thousands. What is really important is that we have created an online experience built on best practices we learned from our in-person tutoring sessions. From our standpoint, and from all the years we have studied students, teaching, and learning, we believe that the interaction between students and teachers is important. It can be supplemented with asynchronous material. Certainly students can benefit from spending time on the computer by themselves in self-paced environments, but that is not a substitute for real teacher-led…
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    rosskimbarovsky.com

  • Focus On Conversions, Not Just On Site Traffic

    Ross
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:12 pm
    Many companies, especially small business and startups, obsess about the amount of traffic to their site.  Site traffic is important – it brings attention and the opportunity to convert visitors into users or paying customers. But traffic alone isn’t enough. In the following video, I offer three reasons why you should [...]

  • Are You Marketing You or Your Message?

    Ross
    4 Feb 2010 | 10:22 am
    There’s a common misconception, especially among those interested in social media, about content and self-promotion. Some argue that people shouldn’t worry about self-promotion and shouldn’t attempt to promote their commercial activities. This attitude has prompted some of the thoughtleaders of social media – those who share outstanding content day after day – to constantly defend their [...]

  • Be Better Than You Ever Thought You Could Be

    Ross
    2 Feb 2010 | 9:30 pm
    Don Dodge, a Developer Advocate at Google (and before Google, a startup evangelist at Microsoft), wrote a fascinating post a few days ago about ways that Google measures success. In his post, Don talked about Google’s impossible goals: Google sets impossible bodacious goals…and then achieves them. The engineering mindset of solving the impossible problem is part [...]

  • Startup Tip: Challenge Your Customer’s Assumptions

    Ross
    1 Feb 2010 | 9:51 pm
    Green initiatives are all around us – green building, agriculture, computing, design. But while more companies and people are doing more things, the needle is hardly moving. This is not surprising. The last several centuries – particularly the 20th – have promoted consumption as a key to a better life. One reason [...]

  • Apply Agile Thinking To Everything You Do

    Ross
    1 Feb 2010 | 10:19 am
    Some of you have heard the term “agile software development”, which refers to a process of software development based on frequent, iterative development. crowdSPRING has been applying the principles of agile development to our own software development efforts for the past year. We were bogged down throughout much of 2009 launching new [...]
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    The Underdog Entrepreneur of the Silicon Valley. It's 'ruff'.

  • The Silent Entrepreneur Speech

    Michelle Lee
    5 Feb 2010 | 1:48 am
    When I was in elementary school, I was chosen to recite the MLK 'I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Santa Clara County school board. I believed it. When i was in jr. high, I was chosen to recite a graduation speech I wrote called 'Believe in Yourself'. I did. In high school, I recited a baccalaureate speech about our hopeful future. I was hopeful. As college class president and Senator, I

  • Something My Husband Would Say

    Michelle Lee
    30 Jan 2010 | 2:34 pm
    You know your wife works in online media when she tells me to make my arguments shorter preferably 140 characters or less. (True. I said that to him.)

  • Moving Fast AND Slow

    Michelle Lee
    5 Jan 2010 | 6:50 pm
    Instant gratification does not come to those who are starting something new. And it doesn't feel so right all the time. Patience and tenacity is what's needed. But when you're alone on an island how much more patience and tenacity does one need - isn't it already a requirement? Once you have given all of your patience, you are required to give more. I move, think, and act fast. Yet, things move

  • First Public Mention

    Michelle Lee
    28 Dec 2009 | 12:32 pm
    Mamabread featured in the Mercury News today. Very sweet!Read the feature here.Cheers!

  • One White Hair: 30 & Getting Older

    Michelle Lee
    17 Dec 2009 | 11:08 pm
    (originally posted on Mamabread.com)I remember the time when my dad started to get white hair. He was in his mid to late thirties and had a magnificent mane of thick black hair. When he first noticed his hair was turning white, he would ask me to pluck the ones he couldn't see off the back of his head. It seemed odd to me that a grown man could be so concerned over one or two strands of hair. But
 
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    The Startupist

  • Book Review: Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

    ethan
    7 Feb 2010 | 8:39 am
    Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk is the latest in the line of books designed to equip readers with the knowledge and tools to start their own home-based business on the internet.  Tim Ferriss captured this market roughly 3 years ago, with case studies and data to back up his studies on creating a virtually automated, metrics driven, “muse”.  Ferriss also advocated  social engineering techniques as a way to maximize impact with less effort.  Crush It, on the other hand, advocates finding the subject that you are most passionate about and working as much as possible to create…

  • Entrepreneurs: Here is your Chance to get Featured in a Book.

    ethan
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:11 pm
    I received an email today from Scott Gerber, CEO of Gerber Enterprises and columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine, announcing his new project AskGerber.com.  AskGerber will be officially launched this coming spring in the form of a daily web-show offering up-front answers, advice, for entrepreneurs and businesses.  Scott will also feature resources and tools which will help you and your business avoid mistakes and takes steps closer to success. In addition to this, Scott is also in the midst of writing a book called Never Get a Real Job (look for it in Dec. 2010).  As he writes the book , he…

  • Ideation vs. Implementation

    ethan
    3 Feb 2010 | 5:34 pm
    There has been a sort of discussion going on for a while in entrepreneurial circles around whether coming up with ideas is more important or valuable than being able to implement the idea, and vice versa.  For example, If I had the idea for Twitter but had no idea about how to program the site to make it work and therefore hired you, a code wizard, to put the site together for me - which of the two of us had a more valuable role? The idea people, without the personal ability to implement their idea, often assume an ultra-protective role and act secretively.  Some even require potential…

  • Startup Communities Outside of the Valley

    ethan
    28 Jan 2010 | 11:06 pm
    The Silicon Valley in sunny California is, without a doubt, the technology and internet capitol of the world.  Many startups have venture out to the valley in hopes of becoming the next great success story, and many have succeeded in at least achieving a launch and a user base.  Others have been less lucky and have found that the valley is not a magical launchpad for any and all startups. The hacker culture in the Silicon Valley has long made it startup mecca.  However, over the last few years tech communities have managed to spring up in some expected and other, rather unexpected, cities…

  • What’s New at TheStartupist in January (and beyond).

    ethan
    27 Jan 2010 | 9:27 pm
    It has been a fun and exciting few months since TheStartupist was launched.  Over that span of time, TheStartupist has managed to turn out a few fun interviews with other like-minded entrepreneurs and business founders.  We have also had the privilege to put together a collection of articles which are meant to provide help, advice, and perhaps a different perspective on entrepreneurship and running a new or small business. What’s New in January In January a few changes and new features, albeit small ones, were added and implemented on TheStartupist.  The first addition worth noting…
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    thriveal.com

  • Tuesday Tax Time: The Home Buyer Credit (Again) Edition

    thriveal
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    Image via Wikipedia This has come up before, but there are some rules you need to know about the Home Buyer Credit: 1.  We can’t efile your return if you are claiming the Home Buyer’s Credit because the IRS is making us attach the settlement statement to your return.  Dang.  *there goes all those fraudsters that would [...]

  • Monday Morning Message

    thriveal
    8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” Lily Tomlin Tweet This (and such) Hide Sites $$('div.d2592').each( function(e) { e.visualEffect('slide_up',{duration:1.5}) });

  • GoSee: Thriveal’s Three on Thursday

    thriveal
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    1.  Now Google Docs will let you store all of your files online (not just your Google Doc files) – GoSee 2.  Deciding NOT to grow your business… you have that choice – GoSee 3.  5 Things that save you time – GoSee Thanks, Jason M. Blumer Tweet This (and such) Hide Sites $$('div.d2578').each( function(e) { e.visualEffect('slide_up',{duration:1.5}) });

  • GoSee: Thriveal’s Three on Thursday

    thriveal
    4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    1.  Some jobs won’t return after the recovery – GoSee 2.  Carbonite… “because your life is on your computer” (online computer backup) – GoSee 3.  LeapFile… “easy secure file transfer” – GoSee Thanks, Jason M. Blumer Tweet This (and such) Hide Sites $$('div.d2570').each( function(e) { e.visualEffect('slide_up',{duration:1.5}) });

  • Guest Post: How to Exit Your Business With Style

    thriveal
    3 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am
    Okay class! Eyes forward. That includes you Mr. Blumer. Today’s lesson – How an entrepreneur can leave the business on his/her own terms, and in style. No, Mr. Blumer! That does NOT mean sneaking out in the middle of the night and heading to some place in Belize you saw on House Hunters International! Now pay attention!  Think [...]
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    My Road to 20k per Month

  • How should I prepare my taxes

    Mark Masterson
    29 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am
    In today’s world there are many options for submitting your US-based tax return. I wanted to give you my ideas on what I think is the best way to file a tax return. First of all, if you are following this website is an individual who has taken on the challenge to earn $20,000 a month, or is interested in seeing how people come to earn $20,000 a month, chances are your taxes are too complex to make paper based tax filing worth your time. In my opinion, for people like me, there are really two options to preparing your taxes. First, purchased tax preparation software such as TurboTax or…

  • Tools to Track your Finances

    Mark Masterson
    23 Nov 2009 | 9:03 pm
    In my mind, there are three ways to track your personal finances on your road to success. I have debated this issue with many people and I found out that people have their own way of doing things. I just wanted to share my personal observations of tools that track your finances in an easy manner. First, there is the trusty old spreadsheet method. You can find some spreadsheet templates for tracking finances on the Internet. If you are a spreadsheet guru, you will probably create your own spreadsheet. You’ll even be able to create tabs in the spreadsheet that contained graphs and charts…

  • How long do I keep Tax Documents?

    Mark Masterson
    13 Nov 2009 | 6:25 am
    Okay, tax time has come and gone and you have properly filed your taxes for your business, home, or other investments. The question now looms, what do I do with this pile of paperwork? What do I have to keep? How long do I have to keep it? None of us want to be stuck with an IRS audit and not have the documentation to support the claims that we have made for a prior year. Most people recommend that you only need to keep your tax related documents (and thus always includes your supportive documentation) for about three years. You only need these documents longer if you’re ever suspected…

  • Automating Photoshop

    Mark Masterson
    5 Nov 2009 | 10:38 pm
    Amazon.com Widgets Today I spent some time doing a little SEO work, but then I turned my attention to posting a bunch of “coloring book” pictures on one of my popular websites. I am not an artist, but I found a way to take photographs and use a series of steps in Photoshop to morph them into coloring book pages. I then learned how to automate photoshop actions to generate coloring book pages with the press of one button. It worked out pretty well. I spent some time posting the coloring book items to certain pages, but it is tedious and I think I am going to call it a night.

  • Kids on the Fast Track

    Mark Masterson
    4 Nov 2009 | 5:43 am
    Getting on the Fast Track Ever since I read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, I have been fascinated by many of its principles and have wanted to teach them to my children. Of course, one of the end goals of the black is to get yourself on what is known as “the fast track”. When you are at this stage in your life, your money is generating your income for you — instead of you working to generate that money. Of course, part of my end goal on my road to $20,000 per month just to have that money coming in from my investments. I don’t want to be…
 
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    Brent Britton

  • A nation adrift

    bcjb
    3 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am
    Ever paused to reflect on the odd nature of jurisdiction? The rules that govern your behavior change as you move to different sections of the earth’s crust. Don’t like the rules here? Go stand on another rock. Land-centric provincialism seems increasingly archaic in the age of the internet, a truly global village where the rock you’re standing on is neither obvious nor relevant to your participation. But I’d wager it’s not going away on anything less than a truly tectonic timescale, however. Turns out, as discussed in this discovery.com article, if you actually…

  • Top Ten Legal Issues for Startups

    bcjb
    19 Jan 2010 | 7:35 pm
    The (rather spartan) slides from my recent talk, TOp Ten Legal Issues for Startups, are here: http://www.slideshare.net/bcjb/top-ten-legal-issues-for-startups Video coming soon.

  • What is Facebook?

    bcjb
    28 Dec 2009 | 10:53 am
    I’ve gotten a little play lately for saying, “Linkedin is your resume; Twitter is your personality.” (Borges, Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing, 2009.) Now I’m being asked, in so many words, “OK bub, you think you’re so full of pith and vinegar… Let’s have a metaphor for Facebook, and make it apt.” Alright, here goes. Facebook is your life as a cocktail party. And everyone’s coming. Everyone. Remember how your peeps used to be stratified into groups based on how and when you met…

  • A New Theory of Business: From Idea to Happy

    bcjb
    8 Dec 2009 | 8:26 am
    For 15 years or so I have been pursuing an agenda dubbed “ideas2money,” a slightly tongue-in-cheek abstraction of the premise that all business is about monetizing good ideas, in turn premised on the relatively venerable notion that the sole role of any business is maximizing profit and, thus, shareholder wealth. After observing progressive companies such as Zappos (and, to some extent, Google), however, I propose a new theory of business = ideas2happy, whereby profits are maximized in any business whose primary goal is to maximize customer happiness. According to Zappos CEO Tony…

  • Three Reasons Why It’s the Dawn of the Entrepreneurial Age

    bcjb
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:27 pm
    Three Reasons Why It’s the Dawn of the Entrepreneurial Age. Opening Keynote, TechVenture2009 Conference, 16 Nov 2009, Tampa Some moments matter more than others. Humanity is at an inflexion point in history that makes this moment the Entrepreneur’s moment. When the history of this time is written, they will call it the true dawn of the Entrepreneurial Age. If entrepreneurship is where technology and business come together, then historians will call this the time when technology and business truly got down to… business. They will point to the dot com boom of the late 90’s as a trifling…
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    Unsolicited Business Advice from Carol Roth

  • Thinking Big: Carol Roth Interviews Michael Port

    admin
    9 Feb 2010 | 7:44 am
    From The CarolRoth.com Entrepreneurship Interview Series Marketing guru Michael Port delivers so many valuable insights in this 30-minute interview, you will probably want to listen to it twice.  One of the Top 5 most popular business coaches in the world, Michael is a New York Times Bestselling author of four books including Book Yourself Solid, Beyond [...]

  • Guest Blog: Don’t Let Your Fear Make You Act Stupid by Chip Bell and John R. Patterson

    admin
    2 Feb 2010 | 7:10 am
    Customers are your most important asset. Make sure that you let them know they are valued and perhaps try to upsell them on a related product or service. And definitely don’t slap them in the face with a general solicitation that proves you have no grasp over who your customer is!

  • What Your Business Can Learn From the Grammys

    admin
    1 Feb 2010 | 7:43 am
    Mercedes' AMG engineers hand-sign each engine and Longaberger Basket Company's artisans hand-sign each basket they create. This creates a sense of pride from the employee, a factor of recognition and a special connection with the customer who realizes that there is a real person who made their product with care, not just some faceless "corporation".

  • What is the Most Successful Small Business in the World? Carol Roth Interviews Michael E. Gerber

    admin
    26 Jan 2010 | 11:30 am
    ...I am kicking off my CarolRoth.com Entrepreneurship Interview Series with today’s best known and up-and-coming thought leaders on topics pertaining to business and entrepreneurship. This first interview is with none other than Michael E. Gerber, America’s #1 Small Business Guru and author of over a dozen books including the E-Myth Revisited.

  • Unsolicited Business Advice: Is Domino’s New Core Pizza Recipe Change the New “New Coke”?

    admin
    19 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am
    Re: Domino's Pizza...If you have loyal customers, don’t just take away their core offering, especially if you have a strong fan base...that accounts for a large percent of your sales. Supplement it, upgrade, freshen it up, but don’t tell your customers they are idiots for buying your crappy product.
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    Lessons Learned

  • Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Review)

    Eric
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:55 am
    The next article in my series on entrepreneurship for Harvard Business Review is live today. Once again, we revisit the topic of Actionable metrics and their nemesis: Vanity metrics. Any entrepreneur with a decent reality distortion field can find metrics that make it look like they're being successful. This "success theater" is occasionally useful for PR or getting through a tough board meeting. But it's lethal when we start to run the company using vanity metrics as a guide. But how do we know which metrics to look at? How do we know how much energy to invest in analytics vs. doing real…

  • Tell your Startup Visa story

    Eric
    7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am
    I've been promising big Startup Visa-related news on Twitter for a few weeks. There is news, it's very exciting, and I still can't share it. Soon, I promise. But in order for this idea to progress into legislation,  we need your help. Whether you're a US citizen or an immigrant, entrepreneur or investor, founder or employee, there's something you can do. This is especially true if you live outside the echo chamber of Silicon Valley. There are four ways to get involved below. Even if none apply to you, see if you know someone who could help. Thanks! If you are an immigrant founder who has…

  • Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0, and more

    Eric
    6 Feb 2010 | 1:48 pm
    I've been trying hard to cut back on travel in 2010 so as to have more time for writing. I started to feel like my blog became too much of a travel diary last year - and I still have many videos and presentations from last fall that I haven't shared yet. If you'd like to see me speak this year, there are only a few opportunities scheduled. Next week, I'll be in New Zealand for Webstock 2010. I'll be giving a day-long workshop as well as a keynote address.They've got a great programme; my workshop will be on Monday, February 15 and my keynote will be Friday, February 19. I'll also be stopping…

  • Lo, my 18891 subscribers, who are you?

    Eric
    24 Jan 2010 | 11:29 pm
    Way back when I first started blogging, I was amazed to have any subscribers at all. In fact, when I crossed the five subscriber threshold, I was moved to write about my excitement and about the advantages of having a pathetically small number of customers. And, in the survey that was attached, I learned a lot of useful information about how to make this blog better. Since then, I've tried to make it a regular habit to collect real data about what you think. Welcome to the latest installment. Since the last time, your support has been overwhelming: your ranks have grown almost a full order of…

  • Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases non-events

    Eric
    18 Jan 2010 | 12:34 am
    The following is a case study of one entrepreneur's transition from a traditional development cycle to continuous deployment. Many people still find this idea challenging, even for companies that operate solely on the web. This case presents a further complication: desktop software. Without being able transparently modify the software in situ, is it still possible to deploy on a continuous basis? Read on to find out. Ash Maurya is the founder of WiredReach, a bootstrapped startup that he has been running for seven years. Recently, he was bitten by the lean startup bug and has started writing…
 
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    Master of 500 Hats

  • Geek Meets Chic; Feet Meet Floor. Just Dance (GaGa)

    Dave
    6 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am
    I ain't Chic, i'm just a Geek.  But i can Dance ok. congrats Carol on a great ChicMeetsGeek event

  • With Apologies to Kathy Sierra & Paul Graham: Make Something Users Care About... Enough to F**K or KILL.

    Dave
    4 Feb 2010 | 5:11 pm
    A brief excerpt from my talk at Twiistup in LA last week (thanks Danielle): (apologies to Kathy Sierra & Paul Graham for stealing their most excellent content)  

  • Subscriptions are the New BLACK. (+ why Facebook, Google, & Apple will own your wallet by 2015)

    Dave
    1 Feb 2010 | 4:02 am
    I'm on a redeye to NYC, supposed to be working on a presentation i'm giving in a few hours... but fuck it, i can't get this outta my head, so here we go. (note: extremely raw, uneven, long, 1st draft publish & shoot; will revise l8r)  ASSERTION #1: The default startup business model from 2000-2009 was based on growth (aka acquisition) and CPM- or CPC-advertising  Over the past 10 years, we have seen a massive shift in advertising from CPM to CPC-based advertising.  This basically started happening when the 2000-2001 dotcom implosion blew the…

  • Startup Metrics for Pirates (Lean Startup Circle, Jan 2010)

    Dave
    25 Jan 2010 | 6:22 pm
    Latest & Greatest re-arranging of deck chairs on the Lean Startup Titanic: Startup Metrics for Pirates (SF, Jan 2010)View more presentations from Dave McClure.

  • Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own Consumer Internet Dogfood

    Dave
    10 Jan 2010 | 8:17 am
    Haven't really gotten on a rant in awhile... guess i've been doing a lot of travel lately, but now that i'm back in California for awhile, there's something i've been meaning to bring up that bothers me.  It's kind of a dirty little secret of the startup industry, but there are very few good product, design, and marketing people in tech.  And hardly any of them that are good seem to make it into the venture capital profession. (case in point: how come there are no graphic designer VCs?)Now i say this knowing full well that i'm certainly not a genius on…
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    Big Red Tomato Company

  • Charity benefits from 4 Hour Work Week

    Matthew Needham
    8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    We recently asked our readers to explain why they would benefit from having a 4 Hour Work Week and offered the prize was a copy of Tim Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” to the most worthy answer. I’m pleased to announce that Eleanor from Give A Brick is now the proud owner of her own personal copy which I hope benefits her charity Give a Brick which help children, young people the elderly and those experiencing financial hardship. Pictured here is a very surprised Eleanor on reciept of her book: As Eleanor says: I love to read and I’m very excited about this book because, as I said…

  • Tom beat Blue Monday

    Matthew Needham
    7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    We recently ran a promotion here on bigredtomatocompany to counter what psychologists refer to as the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday, January 18th. Anyone signing up to our newsletter between 18th-31st January was automatically entered into a draw to win a copy of Tim Ferriss’ new and expanded The 4 Hour Work Week. We have long been fans of Tim’s book and much of this site and content have been inspired around principles described in the book. We recently featured a review of the The 4 Hour Work Week which was a very popular post, so when we had our thinking caps on…

  • Stickier than glue

    Matthew Needham
    3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm
    photo credit: timsnell My wife called me the other day and told me that someone she worked with was telling her that a family out shopping in an Asda store in Thurmaston, Leicester had lost their little girl whilst out shopping. Apparently it is Asda’s policy that they have a complete lock down in such circumstances (ie no one can get in or out). After a thorough search of the store, the child was found in the toilets with a Romanian couple shaving it’s head in the attempt to smuggle the child out as a boy. Unbeknown to my wife however, this story is completely untrue. It is an…

  • Become a Fan

    Matthew Needham
    31 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm
    I’m  trying to build a community here on www.bigredtomatocompany.co.uk for those who want to be a better leader or lead a better life.   Whether you are the owner of a one person business, website owner, department manager or the chief executive of a multinational there’s something here for you. We feature articles on leadership, lifestyle and entrepeneurship. Covering topics from creating a vision to how to bake peanut butter cookies.  We will show you how to make more money as well as how to hang on to it and make the best use of it when you’ve earn’t it, or even…

  • Aliens have landed

    Matthew Needham
    28 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm
    photo credit: roolrool Many of you will have read the excellent guest post by Ben Lumley writer at 6aliens.com last week. It was fantastic and got a great response. Thank you Ben for taking the time to do this. How to make a difference whilst making your fortune is one of the most popular posts we’ve ever put up and very much at the heart of the ethos of The Big Red Tomato Company – it’s all about putting something back and making a difference. I’m delighted to announce that Ben has kindly agreed to do a regular guest slot here on the last Friday of each month. He will…
 
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    David Cancel

  • Lean Startups in Boston

    David Cancel
    1 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am
    Next month I’ll be speaking at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge Lean Startups Event. The event will take place on the campus of MIT at the Stata Center on February 24 at 6:30pm. More details can be found here. I’ll be talking about our experiences running an agile product, customer and engineering process at Performable. The Boston Lean Startup Circle are having their monthly meetup later that same night if you’re feeling up for two startup events in one night.

  • Customer Development Lunch with Dan Martell

    David Cancel
    23 Jan 2010 | 6:25 pm
    If you’re a startuper or marketer in Boston I’d like to invite you to join us this week at Performable’s 3rd Customer Development Lunch, this Tuesday (January 26th, 2010) at 12:30pm. We’ll be welcoming serial entrepreneur and fellow marketing metrics geek Dan Martell to Boston. Dan is a canadian entrepreneur now residing in Silicon Valley; he is the co-founder of FlowTown a social email discovery platform. Our first Customer Development Lunch featured our Advisor, Sean Ellis, and was graciously hosted and sponsored by Spark Capital. Our second lunch featured Jonathan…

  • The Future of Ghostery

    David Cancel
    19 Jan 2010 | 6:01 am
    To the Ghostery Community, Since starting Ghostery last year my goal has been to provide my fellow consumers with a free service built on the principles of transparency and consumer control. I am proud of the overwhelming response to Ghostery; over the past year, over 2 million people have installed Ghostery and joined our community. Over the past months, as my focus switched to my new company, Performable, I made the decision that Ghostery should be in the hands of those who can give it the resources it needs to grow. I am happy to announce the sale of Ghostery to Better Advertising. Better…

  • Customer Development Lunch with Jonathan Mendez

    David Cancel
    5 Jan 2010 | 6:05 am
    If you’re a startuper or marketer in Boston I’d like to invite you to join us this week at our 2nd Customer Development Lunch, this Thursday (January 7th, 2010) at 12:30pm. Our first Customer Development Lunch featured our Advisor, Sean Ellis, and was graciously hosted by Spark Capital. Our second lunch will feature Jonathan Mendez and will be hosted by our friends at Compete. I’d also like to take this opportunity to announce that Jonathan Mendez has joined our Advisory Board at Performable. Jonathan was Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of the marketing services…

  • Closed Loop Marketing with Performable

    David Cancel
    4 Jan 2010 | 1:03 am
    We’ve been so heads-down in the early days of my new startup, Performable, that we may have given the appearance of being in stealth mode. The truth is, we’ve actually been working closely with early customers, behind the scenes. I do not like stealth mode. It usually means that a startup is off working in a bubble, receiving no customer feedback on their new product or service. This almost always ends poorly, with the startup finding out (too late) that no one cares about the product they’ve been spending (wasting) lots of time and money on. What I’ve learned: If…
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    The Entreprenette Gazette

  • How to Find a Manufacturer

    Sarah Shaw
    9 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am
    Struggling to find a manufacturer and bring your idea to life?  Trying to figure this out on your own can be a frustrating process…..and you are not alone.  Thanks to the amazing Entreprenette Experts, here are 44 tips on how to find a manufacturer.  Be sure to have a pen and paper ready because there are awesome resources in here. 1. Leverage B2B resources How To Find A Manufacturer? The best way to find a good manufacturer is to leverage the online B2B and Supply chain systems. We recommend setting up accounts on multiple systems including alibaba.com, thomasnet.com, and…

  • Pros and cons of manufacturing in the USA vs. Overseas

    Sarah Shaw
    3 Feb 2010 | 9:07 pm
    Adimpact.com Dear Sarah,What are the pros and cons of manufacturing in the USA vs. Overseas and vice versa? Thanks, Robin Humphrey  http://www.robincharlotte.com Hey Robin, Thanks for this great question.  This can be complicated so I am going to give you the short answer…..even thought it’s not that short! Pros of manufacturing in the USA: You can see/meet them face to face. You don’t have to give a 30% deposit to start. You can monitor the progress yourself. You save on fed-x charges for samples and stuff. You can usually make smaller quantities. You might get faster…

  • What are the best-kept secrets to finding new wholesale accounts?

    Sarah Shaw
    3 Feb 2010 | 3:08 pm
    Adimpact.comOkay I hear you!  You want to know creative ways you can find new wholesale accounts while doing it all yourself!   This is still exciting for me because when I started my first handbag line 13 years ago…..there was no social media, no google and barely anyone had a website and stores were not on email yet.  We had to snail mail all our catalogs – no zip it and email back then…….and this was not that long ago. In my company we are always looking for new stores.  It is something we (well my sales staff to be honest) do every day. Even if it’s only for an hour, we…

  • How Do I Get More PR Exposure for Myself?

    Sarah Shaw
    14 Jan 2010 | 7:52 am
    Adimpact.comI asked my friend Lisa Elia of Lisa Elia PR to respond to this inquiry as she has recently written a great article on what to include in your virtual media room. Dear Sarah, I own a company called youareonthelist.com. We provide access to exclusive events and experiences in nyc and beyond. We work with individuals and brands. My burning is question is how do I increase brand awareness other than traditional advertising as well as how do I get more editorial/pr on myself and my business. I have a great brand and a great story to tell about myself and my brand that I created. Best,…

  • How to Recognize your Wholesale Sweet Spot

    Sarah Shaw
    13 Jan 2010 | 8:00 pm
    Adimpact.comSo many people ask me how to determine their minimums, if they should have one, and what the point of it is anyhow.  Since there are many answers, and you are the only one (perhaps with my help) who can determine this for yourself, I will give you some scenarios and options to help you make the choice wisely. NOTE: Minimums are what you require a store to purchase each time they order.  You may decide to have a larger opening order (meaning the first time they buy from you) and a smaller re-order amount, or keep it the same all the time. There is no right and wrong – just what…
 
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