OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN | Ten Tiny Things Every Small Business Owner Should Do in 2009
http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/12/31/ten-tiny-things-every-small-business-owner-should-do-in-2009/

Need to pop these on my list

Down economy?  Perfect time to start it up. Chris Brogan posted a great post on if he started in social media today, what he would do. It got me

Andrew Hyde's tips for starting a company today.

This exercise taught me that even the trickiest situations can be handled better and resolved faster by plain, honest speaking.

Difference between Content and Process

career marketing

As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.

As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content. Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head. Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable. Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn. Unfortunately, it's usually overlooked by headhunters and HR folks, partly because it's hard to accredit or check off in a database.

the months I spent suffering that fool 12 years ago would have been better spent building my portfolio and hustling to find better clients. All the time you spend working for an asshole is time you’re not spending to find a gig that will, in the long run, pay you better, teach you more, and make you happier.

"Nine times out of ten, the first impression someone gives you is exactly who they are. We choose not to see it because we need the money, or we want the situation to be different. But if someone rubs you the wrong way at the first meeting, chances are, it’s only going to get worse."

It can be very intimidating to turn down work, especially in these uncertain economic times. But the months I spent suffering that fool 12 years ago would have been better spent building my portfolio and hustling to find better clients. All the time you spend working for an asshole is time you’re not spending to find a gig that will, in the long run, pay you better, teach you more, and make you happier.

Crude advice, but very salient. We take the stick because we need the money, but the rude client ends up hitting us over the head with it.

"But the biggest lesson I learned? Don’t work for assholes."

Gotta love these lists

Interesting presentation at SXSW from Michael Lopp, senior engineering manager at Apple, who tried to assess how Apple can ‘get’ design when so many other companies try and fail. After describing Apple’s process of delivering consumers with a succession of presents (“really good ideas wrapped up in other really good ideas” — in other words, great software in fabulous hardware in beautiful packaging), he asked the question many have asked in their time: “How the f*ck do you do that?”

100 business books.

999 free business ideas for possible brainstorming, journaling, etc. Possible crew activities?

Ideas are a dime a dozen. The money is in the execution. Need proof? For Seth Godin's Alternative MBA program, this week the nine of us came up with 111 business ideas each. But ideas are only valuable when someone (like you) makes something happen. What follows are our 999 business ideas, free for the taking. 1. Prepackaged school supplies based on the lists from the school districts 2. Incubator site providing office space, hosting, etc. for startups that are seed funded. 3. In-grocery store prep service (buy vegetables first and drop them off to be chopped to your specs - pick them up on the way to checkout) 4. A website that you can submit your design and work with vendors to manufacture your own clothes line. 5. Online discount brokerage that has no closing hours and provides access to all exchanges throughout the world and handles currency and legal issues automatically.

website

Stuck for ideas? Here's 999 new ones: http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html

iPhone story

Most guides on management are written for big bosses at big companies, not people starting something new who want their team to be as effective as possible. (Hi, startup founders!) So herewith, a guide to effective non-hierarchical management.

Vary responsibilities (not efficient, but unhappy = worse efficiency) * Delegate responsibility (develop the team... either manage or work, not both) * Competent people get things done anyway. Ineffective ones let the excuses pile up. * proactive as well. People tend to suffer quietly * Part of your job is helping people decide what to tackle first. * stop procrastination is to sit down with someone and come up with the next concrete step they have to take and then start doing it together. * people are much happier and more productive when they have control over the way they work. Never take that away. * And if people fight back, know when to step back and say “look, you’re the expert. I was just giving my two cents.” (Hint: It’s right after they start fighting back.) * not to dictate or micromanage, but to have a Socratic dialogue to help figure out what the best answer is. *

A better way to think of a manager is as a servant, like an editor or a personal assistant. Everyone wants to be effective; a manager’s job is to do everything they can to make that happen. The ideal manager is someone everyone would want to have.

One of the things I always tell startups is a principle I learned from Paul Buchheit: it's better to make a few people really happy than to make a lot of people semi-happy. I was saying recently to a reporter that if I could only tell startups 10 things, this would be one of them. Then I thought: what would the other 9 be?

A conversation with Marc Andreessen, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Best known as co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape. He is on the Board of Directors of Facebook and eBay

Fantastic interview -- gives a great overview of entrepreneurship, how Silicon Valley works, social networking, the current state of the economy, and where innovation is likely to come from in the future. Highly recommended.

Three things you need if you want more customers Seth Godin I går, 12:26 PM If you want to grow, you need new customers. And if you want new customers, you need three things: 1. A group of possible customers you can identify and reach. 2. A group with a problem they want to solve using your solution. 3. A group with the desire and ability to spend money to solve that problem.

You'd be amazed at how often new businesses or new ventures have none of these. The first one is critical, because if you don't have permission, or knowledge, or word of mouth, you're invisible.

Raising money is never easy, but in a recession it gets even harder. Here's a quick guide to raising money in a down economy.

Start a business

Lean startups - a lesson in bootstrapping.

Amazing javascript work. It's sure a heck lot of work unless there is a tool to make it really easily. Anyway here is an awesome javascript timing example.

watch Paul Graham type an essay

「Startups in 13 Sentences」の作成過程。文章の作成と推敲過程がよくわかる

I'm saving this for the next time I get that open-a-coffee-house/Mac-tech-shop urge.

"I opened a charming neighborhood coffee shop. Then it destroyed my life."

There is a golden rule, long cherished by restaurateurs, for determining whether a business is viable. Rent should take up no more than 25 percent of your revenue, another 25 percent should go toward payroll, and 35 percent should go toward the product. The remaining 15 percent is what you take home.

There are three types of amateur entrepreneurs out there, and in my young life, I’ve been every single one of them. By coming to terms with my failures, I’m more prepared to classify which type of amateur entrepreneur I am, and thus preventing myself from failing in the same way again.

Type 1 Amateur Entrepreneur: All ideas, no implementation. Type 2 Amateur Entrepreneur: Lots of ideas and half assed implementations.

great article here! Google, twitter, social networking, and of course my favorite topic- entrepreneurship

1. Launch a scaled-back version 2. Notice sluggish competitors 3. You don’t need virality if your product is good 4. Follow your passion 5. Sometimes you have to go off on your own

http://www.fastcompany.com/node/54763/print fastcompany fastcompanyfastcompany NotoWal-Mart

""As I look at the three years Snapper has been with you," he told the vice president, "every year the price has come down. Every year the content of the product has gone up. We're at a position where, first, it's still priced where it doesn't meet the needs of your clientele. For Wal-Mart, it's still too high-priced. I think you'd agree with that. Now, at the price I'm selling to you today, I'm not making any money on it. And if we do what you want next year, I'll lose money. I could do that and not go out of business. But we have this independent-dealer channel. And 80% of our business is over here with them. And I can't put them at a competitive disadvantage. If I do that, I lose everything. So this just isn't a compatible fit."" A repost of an article doing the rounds a few months ago. Not saying nothing about Kindle.

There are a lot of parallels to Web design here.

"Wier traveled to Bentonville with a firm grasp of the values of Snapper, the dynamics of the lawn-mower business, the needs of the dealers, the needs of the Snapper customer, and the needs of the Wal-Mart customer. He was not dazzled by the tens of millions of dollars' worth of lawn mowers Wal-Mart was already selling for Snapper; he was not deluded about his ability to beat Wal-Mart at its own game, to somehow resist the price pressure. He was not imagining that he could take the sales now and figure out the profits later."

Jim Wier, the CEO of Snapper Mowers, flies to Wal-mart headquarters to tell them he no longer wants to offer Snapper mowers in their stores.

Several weeks ago, we took a look at the founders’ pie. I noted that frequently the founding team divides 100% by the number of founders. I also cautioned that this is the WRONG WAY! I then went on to identify the factors that should be considered when making these decisions. Since then, I have had several people tell me that while what I wrote certainly made sense, it wasn’t very helpful. They said that when it came to “rug cutting time,” absent an alternative method, equal shares was the only method that seemed to be “fair.” As a public service, I have “invented” a Founders’ Pie Calculator. As you will soon see, this calculator is not particularly profound. In fact, I’m sure I haven’t “invented” it, but, at the same time, I have never seen it before. [Caution: perhaps there’s a fatal flaw that I haven’t considered.] Its primary benefits are that it provides a way to quantify the elements of the decision making process, and that it appears to be logical and fair.

Equity Calculation between founders

The problem is that trying to copy one company's model is a fool's errand. It's hard to figure out which part of the Starbucks formula made the business a smash hit while so many of its rivals failed. Starbucks's success is the product of a combination of factors that came together in precisely the right way at precisely the right time. It's nearly impossible to isolate which one was the most important. You would probably have to look at the hundreds of small coffee chains that didn't make it big before you stood a chance of seeing what really distinguished Starbucks.

probably

A start-up requires patience: As in tuning a shortwave radio, you have to make a number of adjustments to get it just right.

Here are the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Each helps entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with the guidance and resources to setup their company.

resources for entrepreneurs

save

"It seems like a fool-proof plan: start up with a close friend. You’ll get along (obviously), and you’ll get to share the exciting, fantastic, scary experience of starting up with someone you care about. It’s not a bad idea, but there are a few caveats that you should be aware of before you proceed..."

Good advice on the early stages. This is targeted at friends starting up but also good for anybody starting with somebody else.

Interesting article about how to found a startup with friends.

lmost cost us our friendship. We got through this thanks to the help and mediation of anot

Internet Business Search

When we sold our startup in 1998 I thought one day I'd do some angel investing. Seven years later I still hadn't started. I put it off because it seemed mysterious and complicated. It turns out to be easier than I expected, and also more interesting. The part I thought was hard, the mechanics of investing, really isn't. You give a startup money and they give you stock. You'll probably get either preferred stock, which means stock with extra rights like getting your money back first in a sale, or convertible debt, which means (on paper) you're lending the company money, and the debt converts to stock at the next sufficiently big funding round.

nor tactical advantages to using one or the other. The paperwork for convertible debt is simpler. But really it doesn't matter much which you use. Don't spend much time worrying about the details of deal terms, especially when you first start angel investing. That's not how you win at this game. When you hear people talking about a successful angel investor, they're not saying "He got a 4x liquidation preference." They're saying "He invested in Google."

How to Be an Angel Investor

Notes from Paul Graham on angel investing. Actually pretty interesting. The key, as he describes it, is to pick the right companies... the terms you get when investing don't matter much and can even hurt your chances of success if you're strict enough.

Here's a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? My answer is almost always the same: don't. First off, what does it mean to launch? Generally, we conflate two unrelated concepts into the term, which is important to clarify right up front. 1. Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. (Marketing launch) 2. Make a new product available to customers in the general public. (Product launch) In today's world, there is no reason you have to do these two things at the same time. In fact, in most situations it's a bad idea for startups to synchronize these events.

Seth Godin's Blog

Article about what OpenSource software generally lacks, and how to compete with them.

ever, users like know that there is someone who will be happy to help them out if they need it. That is the main purpose of offering customer support — decreasing the perceived risk of using your software by demonstrating that there is a safety net. (This is one reason you should write your support page with an eye to it being seen by someone who isn’t even using your software.)

2) Design OSS projects, particularly the 99% that are relevant to this discussion, routinely do not allocate resources to creating attractive designs. For whatever reason, opened source graphical work is still rather rare, most developers (myself included) have the artistic skill of inept mole rats, and the obvious pay-somebody-who-does-it-better solution runs into the problem that the typical OSS project has no budget and no patience to deal with “unfree” licenses, which are the only kind commercially available stock icons have.

" However, users like know that there is someone who will be happy to help them out if they need it. That is the main purpose of offering customer support — decreasing the perceived risk of using your software by demonstrating that there is a safety net."

Some good points, particularly on how OSS focuses on the software pitch too much (most folk don't think of their problem as a software issue)

1. Learn something. Become an expert. 2. Earn a following and reputation. Use social networking tools to connect to people for no good reason.

A lot of corporations have seen dramatic decreases in revenue and have cut back projects as well. In many cases, this is accompanied by layoffs, and so everyone is working far harder. But in other organizations, and for a lot...

1. Learn something. Become an expert. For free, using nothing but time, you can become a master of CSS or HTML or learn Python. You can hit the library and read the entire works of important authors, or you can borrow some books from a friend and master Analytics or discover case studies and corporate histories that will be invaluable in a year. You could learn to become fluent in Spanish...

What can you build over the next year that will take time now and pay off later? How can you invest the slack to build a marketing asset that you'll own forever?

Weil Papageien teure Geheimnisse haben.

So, my best advice is to say, "Today, right now, your contribution is worth 5% of the company and my creation of the company is worth 5%. The other 90% is based on what each of us does over the next 18 months. Here's a list of what has to get done, and what we agree it's worth..."

my best advice is to say, "Today, right now, your contribution is worth 5% of the company and my creation of the company is worth 5%. The other 90% is based on what each of us does over the next 18 months. Here's a list of what has to get done, and what we agree it's worth..."

Viral Marketing Guru

If you want it bad enough you'll make the time, regardless of your other obligations. Don't let yourself off the hook with excuses. It's entirely your responsibility to make your dreams come through.

“I’d love to start a company / become a great programmer / write an awesome blog, but there’s just not enough time in the day!” Bullshit. There’s always enough time, you’re just not spending it right.

An overview of how to set up your accounts to allow automation to help you manage your money better. Also contains scripts for negotiating with companies about financial matters, e.g. waiving late fees.

Une banque de liens incroyables classés proprement au sujet de l'entreprenariat ... à garder sous le coude

** Posted using Viigo: Mobile RSS, Sports, Current Events and more **

Google Ventures seeks to discover and grow great companies - we believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things. We're studying a broad range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care. We invest anywhere from seed to mezzanine stage and embrace the challenge of helping young companies grow from the garage to global relevance.

Venture Capital - by Google. We seek to discover and grow great companies - we fundamentally believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things.

Blog post, 5 lessons learned from YouSendIt.com

Business tips on how to stop wasting time. Create efficiencies.

good tips by Seth Godin

start a business by finding ten people who are interested in what you're doing. They will find other people they can interest in your work

This, in two words, is the secret of the new marketing. Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you... Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it,...

I read all of these blogs. They all have incredibly useful archives. And they’re all written by people who teach and practice, so the advice is practical.

Here are one hundred characteristics and attributes of people who start companies—some born of experience, education or birth. Most can be learned by study and practice.

Surprise: there's never been a better moment to bootstrap your own Internet business. All you need is a laptop, a broadband connection and a great idea. Inside the new start-up boom

seneca

Each of these ideas is very simple to start, and most can be done as a sole proprietorship at first (meaning you don’t have to file any legal documents to get started, though you will want to do that if it starts to take off). Most of these can be done at home in your spare time in your spare space, too. Ready? See if there are any ideas below that fit you well. If you find an idea, seek out a guide on how to get started in that area.

Every freelancer needs clients. We rely on them, nurture our relationships with them, and provide a quality of service that keeps then coming back. And we can never have enough of them! The Monster List of Freelance Job Sites has one purpose: to massively increase your source of potential clients and potential jobs. This list, like Isaac Newton, stands on the shoulders of giants. The original Monster List of Freelance Job Sites has been valuable and much visited since April 2007. Your hundreds of comments have greatly added to its value. This list is a thorough update, removing dead links, adding new sites, and taking on board many of the suggestions from your comments.

Details of the different types of jobs.

for online business

The 10 Secrets of Selling Online

We're often asked, what is the secret of selling online? We're happy to tell you. We make tools that help you sell online. So we don't want these secrets to stay secret. We want you to succeed.

1. How will you reach a massive audience? - Every Net entrepreneur should answer these questions: How do we get to one million users? Then how do we get to 10 million users? Then how will you get deep engagement by your users. 2. What is your unique value proposition? 3. Will your business be capital efficient?

ages. How does a company rise above the noise to attract massive discovery and adoption? YouTube did it through existing channels like MySpace, which already reached millions. Yelp had strong SEO, which found them a mass audience searching for restaurants and nightlife. Facebook’s University-centric approach landed them 80% adoption across a campus within 60 days of launch. Every Net entrepreneur should answer these questions: How do we get to one million users? Then how do we get to 10 million users? Then how will you get deep engagement by your users.

Free term sheet generator from leading Silicon Valley law firm.

This tool will generate a venture financing term sheet based on your responses to an online questionnaire. It also has an informational component, with basic tutorials and annotations on financing terms. This term sheet generator is a modified version of a tool that we use internally, which comprises one part of a suite of document automation tools that we use to generate start-up and venture financing-related documents. Because it has been designed as a generic tool that takes into account a number of options, this version of the term sheet generator is fairly expansive and includes significantly more detail than would likely be found in a customized application.

This tool will generate a venture financing term sheet based on your responses to an online questionnaire. It also has an informational component, with basic tutorials and annotations on financing terms. This term sheet generator is a modified version of a tool that we use internally, which comprises one part of a suite of document automation tools that we use to generate start-up and venture financing-related documents. Because it has been designed as a generic tool that takes into account a number of options, this version of the term sheet generator is fairly expansive and includes significantly more detail than would likely be found in a customized application.

I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining this -- a term sheet generator from Wilson Sonsini? I love it. Makes them more accessible. There are also so many "viral term sheets" out there this will be useful. Another form of thought leadership marketing.

Online Term sheet generator from Website: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati -

"take as much risk as you can as early as you can"

+ excellent quote: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” —Jim Rohn.

Not sure I'm the target audience for this, but the article does mention *many* interesting companies that I should probably be checking out

Brilliant!

“Learn from the best, or die like the rest.” Sobering words for a freelancer! In this article we try to discover what separates the best from the rest. What are the world’s top freelancers doing that the rest of us aren’t? Some of the advice you read here might seem surprising or counter-intuitive. You may read hints you have never tried. The question is: Will you give them a go? 1. “End every prospect meeting or phone call with an agreed-upon next step.” - Ed Gandia Ed Gandia is a freelance copywriter with a lot of experience. Starting his business life as an entrepreneur at age eight, he spent eleven years as a sales professional and senior account executive before starting starting his copyrighting business which focuses on software and high-tech industries. This melding of sales experience and successful freelancing makes Ed a voice worth listening to. Ed’s advice could come straight from a David Allen “Getting Things Done” book. In his article “The Power of the Next Step“, Ed

Because I've been thinking about business models.

-

1) What compelling reason exists for people to give you money? (or votes or donations) 2) How do you acquire what you're selling for less than it costs to sell it? 3) What structural insulation do you have from relentless commoditization and a price war? 4) How will strangers find out about the business and decide to become customers?

Article from the Boston Globe.

Or: why setting the wrong goals fails. Or: why poor management fails.

Why setting goals can backfire

We “finished” and the launch came and went. We were not making as much money as we thought we would. We weren’t even getting as many signups as we anticipated. People demanded grandiose features we didn’t have the time to implement. Our cash reserves were running low and we soon needed to return to consulting. Which was always part of the plan, but I had hoped we’d be optimistic about FamSpam’s future when that time came. We were not.

keynote from Startup Riot 2009, about how to become successful - do what you want!

Text of Chris Wanstrath's from Github's keynote at Startup Riot 2009

the most amazing features imaginable would make us money. We had no data available on whether building features specifically to make money would work.

startupriot.textile

List of ways to change/think outside the box.

via @chaffey

Hi Lyle, this is a post you may have seen, but I want to suggest that you keep this note in the back of your mind for when you get stuck - and in business one often get's stuck. Cheers, Ian

The Entrepreneurs Handbook – 54 Resources For First Time Entrepreneurs

"tagged startup business tips"

Great video & slides from Davie McClure's talk at 'Presentation Camp SF' -

No time for pri-twos. In project parlance, a "pri-one" is a work item that is essential to the success of the project. Bootstrapped companies don't have any pri-twos. Once you determine that a task is a pri-two, forget about it forever. Sadly, this is why Urbanspoon still doesn't have "hours of operation" for our restaurants.

Brilliant Statistically proven ways that work.

Devil’s advocate example works with large organizations. Leaders who consistently seek out dissenting opinions earn more respect, and generally have better agreement with people in the room than those who rule by lying the law and persecuting dissenters.

A reminder to use to the good old A/B split testing with a control group to not be fooled so easily by numbers and variation.

"The only metrics that entrepreneurs should invest energy in collecting are those that help them make decisions."

Profitable boot strap Mock Up application

Regator.com

Startup Marketing Advice from Balsamiq Studio by Peldi Guilizzoni. August 5th, 2008 under Branding / Marketing, Company / Business — 12 Comments First off, the title of this post is a bit pretentious for my taste, but I wanted to pay homage to Mike Speiser’s excellent post on A/B testing using AdWords, and take advantage of his $10.87 investment while I was at it! ;). Mike is one of the brightest people I have ever met, and I highly encourage everyone to read his Laserlike blog. I say that the post is pretentious for my taste because I hardly feel like I am a marketing expert, in fact I consider myself a beginner at most things. Still, I can’t deny that Balsamiq has received a very good amount of coverage in the blogosphere: I am timing this post to coincide with the 100th review of Balsamiq Mockups (the full list is here), the website has received over 32,000 unique visitors and sales are exceeding all my expectations. For 6 weeks of operation, I can’t complain. ;)

Good advice and links for marketing a startup such as Balsamiq

) is Wired's editor in chief.

Get in-depth tech news coverage from Wired and read about how it is shaping culture, education, entertainment, communications and technology.

Article de Wired sur l'économie du 21ème sicèle

Interesting look at the different elements of a web startup.

Learn how to construct a lean startup that focuses on customers, markets, and speed of iteration. Through case studies, exercises, and discussions, instructor Eric Ries guides entrepreneurs of all stripes through the key areas of startup success: product, engineering, QA, marketing, and business strategy. You'll emerge with a clear plan to bring lean-startup thinking back to your company. Multiple Events: San Francisco, CA

Thirteen key characteristics of a great startup culture

Thirteen key characteristics of a great startup culture - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source

The place to find the hottest entrepreneurial work experience and full time roles.

"The place to find the hottest entrepreneurial work experience and full time roles."

could be a great place for Mindbox to find talent and cheap labor

one for Neil Moodley

I’ve been working at start-ups and small businesses since I was 14 years old. My father and his father before him owned and operated their own small businesses. There’s something about the fight for survival for a small team that’s coded in my DNA. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working at Undercurrent so much. We’re small and thus we’re nimble. We’re lean and thus we’re malleable. And our age and our medium demand both.

how to be happy in business - venn diagram

There is such a thing as “Social-Business Protocol.” Not all of us in the startup universe are born with it, we can all learn it. So, here are my 10 tips for founders en route to the power-party circuit.

So you’ve got your engineering degree, and your marquee MBA, and a business-plan. You’re on your way. But at some point you’re going to have to ‘grace’ your way through an important networking or social event. How you handle this matters—probably more than you care to admit.

Good list.

So, if concepts from books are easy, what’s hard? Doing it. Picking up the phone, making the plan, signing the deal. Pushing ‘publish.’ Announcing. Shipping. We spent a lot of time on this area. Every morning, each person came in prepared to push someone in the group to overcome the next hurdle. This is what growth looks like, and it was energizing to be part of. We didn’t do this at all at when I was at Stanford. We spent a lot of time reading irrelevant case studies and even more time building complex financial models. The thing is, you can now hire someone to build a complex financial model for you for $60 an hour. And a week’s worth of that is just about all the typical entrepreneur is going to need. The rest of the time, it’s about shipping, motivating, leading, connecting, envisioning and engaging. So that’s what we worked on. It amazes me that MBA students around the world aren’t up in arms. How can schools justify taking $100,000 in cash and teaching exactly the wrong stuff?

business innovation

AR Rahman ranked 47th !

cosas que puedes hacer después de la universidad

Larry Cheng: So, here’s a more difficult than expected attempt at pulling together a global directory of blogs written by current VCs. To help put the blogs in some context, they are ranked by their # of Google Reader subscribers. In addition, some blogs despite having subscribers have not posted in 3 months and they are denoted by an *. This directory will be updated quarterly highlighting any new blogs and the movers/shakers based on subscriber growth. If you don’t have the time to sort through all of the blogs, I will write a bi-weekly summary highlighting the “best VC blog posts” from the VCs in this directory.

List of top VC blogs. Look through and add to my reader.

t

Always ask what can go wrong (Porterfield);

very cool summary of important things you should learn in b-school but that people don't seem to anymore...

If you haven't seen the dancing guy, yet, watch it. You can also read Derek Sivers analysis of the dancing guy. Seth Godin even took a stab at it. If you are really curious, watch a longer version of the dancing guy and listen to the comments from the camera drivers. His revolution was a long time in the making. I think it may have had a lot to do with the song itself, which is Santigold's Unstoppable. I had never heard the song before, but I love it and have listened to it at least 30 times since seeing Derek Sivers's post a few days ago at Hacker News. It's a great and inspiring story, even just the unfolding of this sensation itself, but that's not my focus here. Unstoppable doesn't mean you create a huge following, that's a consequence. The Dancing Guy wasn't thinking, "I want to get a huge dance party going." He was thinking, "I want to dance!" With that in mind, here's...

yet another follow-up to the dancing guy phenomenon .. this one more complete and personalized :)

"Startup 101" is a serialized book about the thrills and spills of starting a Web technology venture. It will be a regular feature in our new channel ReadWriteStart, dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. Startup 101 is for first-time entrepreneurs who want to go through the whole startup life cycle - including raising money, building a valuable business, and making a lot of money by selling the venture or taking it public.

Matt Mullenweg, founder of Word Press and Automattic, manages a successful Internet business where everyone is working from home

The best blog post ever

Success and Motivation

"Should Print Out and Bound"

Excellent looking list of books to read

Stumbling on Happiness

Potential startup founders are always looking for ideas to implement, when they should be looking for problems to solve. I see startups who are on the road to implementing an idea, but haven’t figured out what problem it solves – the business plan waxes on about how great the product/tech is, but never gets around to defining the problem (investors call it the “solution looking for a problem” syndrome). A related red flag in a business plan is a missing competitive analysis section or “this product has no competition.” My reaction is, if there is no competition, then there is no market demand for your product, so why are you building it? Luckily, many startups are smart enough to keep morphing their idea until it finally fits a real-world problem, and they can move forward in the marketplace. Unfortunately they could have saved themselves much lost time, money, and heartache if they had just focused on identifying the problem before they built a solution.

Keeping up momentum in a tough market and tough times

I connected deeply with this blog post by Mark Cuban, very inspiring personally. Favorite line: "The cheaper you can live, the greater your options. Remember that."

He purchased a Mail Boxes, Etc. mail box and paid a little extra to have it not show a P.O. box number. By keeping one mailing address (and consistent phone numbers through Google Voice) Jagger doesn’t have to reprint company stationary every time they move.

article on managing a startup and growing rapidly adapting to what users want

Many founders believe that early stage startups are endeavors of execution. The customer is known, the product is known, and all we have to do is act. Eric takes a different approach. He believes that many early stage startups are labors of learning. The customer is unknown, the product is unknown, and startups must be built to learn.

Luknąć

risk management in business

Good reading material

The most common question entrepreneurs ask me, is “how can I improve my marketing with no or little money?” With this in mind, I asked for help from the TPE community and here is what I got… 115 ideas. Skim them or read them in detail, but whatever you do make sure you go through the list. Just one of these ideas may trigger a marketing opportunity that you never considered before. Just one of these ideas may take your business to a whole new level!

Video of Tim Ferriss of Four Hour Workweek fame discussing how he built tests and changes his blog to grow readership. 50 minutes

blogs, blogging

Marketing ideas

Most advice to entrepreneurs focuses on what they should do: build a great product, assemble a great team, provide great service. All are “duhisms.” Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t realize that there are things they should specifically avoid doing too. These are also duhisms, but somehow no one ever talks about them. Here is my list of the twelve most important things that entrepreneurs should not do.

HT: Chuck Smith

VC blogs

top venture capitalist blogs. One of which is Guy Kawasaki

The roles of leader

quality. Not over-celebrating a team’s heroic recovery when they could have avoided a problem altogether sends a message about prevention versus damage control. People take their cues about interpersonal values—trust, honesty, openness—from CEO’s actions as well. Capital allocation is the CEO’s #4 duty. The CEO sets budgets within the firm. She funds projects which support the strategy, and ramps down projects which lose money or don’t support the strategy. She considers carefully the company’s major expenditures, and manages the firm’s capital. If the company can’t use each dollar raised from investors to produce at least $1 of shareholder value, she decides when to return money to the investors. Some CEOs don’t consider themselves financial people, but at the end of the day, it is their decisions that determine the company’s financial fate.

This week we saw the release of Chris Anderson's book Free and reviews from the New Yorker (Malcolm Gladwell) and the Financial Times. I'd like to talk a bit about the firestorm that freeconomics (fed by Chris' book) has unleashed...

"Earlier this week, we spoke to several sources who each have some insight into Facebook's financials (none of them know precisely). Taking the sources' input together, we'd estimate the company's expected 2009 revenue this way: * $125 million from brand ads * $150 million from Facebook's ad deal with Microsoft * $75 million from virtual goods * $200 million from self-service ads. "

l

TO READ

amazing story

A very unique type of investment

In Bloomington, IN, the SproutBox team is taking four startups at a time and pumping around a quarter of a million dollars into each one over the course of ten months. In addition to all that mouth-watering lettuce, the 'Box is also investing teams and resources. Although they just launched this year, they plan to start a new cycle every three months. How They Invest: SproutBox gives funding and resources in exchange for equity. Startups They've Helped: DecideAlready, CheddarGetter

Among the tidbits offered, the article suggests networking in person. Though perhaps intuitive and inviting for the more gregarious worker, this is an especially important step for the shy employee who may prefer to limit the crux of his communications to emails and IM chats. While both are important to establishing and maintaining a relationship, meeting up in-person is vital. The NYT bluntly says to force yourself to do so. Making a bee line to the bar or buffet, if there is one, is a classic way to get the ball rolling. The article also claims that being an introvert can even help your networking efforts. Introverts are intuitive and analytical. Use that skill. After you have been networking for a while, ask, "What is working? What isn't? Where do you get the most bang for your buck?"

From NYTimes.com, Paul B Brown. Networking tips

Breaking News Online: How One 19-Year Old Is Shaking Up Online Media http://bit.ly/367qAP Det er mulig! [from http://twitter.com/MacGeeky/statuses/2637089289]

Michael van Poppel used to be like a lot of young people, trawling the internet for interesting news about the world. Just like many others have considered doing, ...

Michael van Poppel used to be like a lot of young people, trawling the internet for interesting news about the world. Just like many others have considered doing, he created a place where he could post the most interesting news he finds, as fast as he can. Today he's one of the most-watched movers and shakers in online news media - and he's not yet twenty years old.

negocios en internet

updated @breakingnews story w/ response from editor @RodrigoMx pointing out that they are paying newswire fees http://bit.ly/38XsXM cool! [from http://twitter.com/marshallk/statuses/2637227408]

Sigh. I think the mindless bookmarking of little lists masking at blog posts is pretty annoying, but I can't help doing it myself. Damnit. Here's one such article that contains some obvious, but practical advice for both start-ups and those seeking to work for them.

Good questions

Marketing Tips from a Six-Year Old’s Lemonade Stand | Webdesigner Depot

Don’t just offer lemonade. Put in that extra sprig of mint

By the end of the day, Sophia had made a whopping eight dollars at her “free” lemonade stand. When it was all said and done, I realized that although my original business lessons didn’t stick with my daughter, I learned a lot about marketing.

The other day my daughter, Sophia, announced that she wanted to set up a lemonade stand. Seeing as how I didn’t really want to spend the better part of my

Please do not take the term literally. Living on instant ramen would be very unhealthy. Rice and beans are a better source of food. Start by investing in a rice cooker, if you don't have one.

Ramen profitable means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders' living expenses. This is a different form of profitability than startups have traditionally aimed for. Traditional profitability means a big bet is finally paying off, whereas the main importance of ramen profitability is that it buys you time.

37 comments about having a business/startup

Using Twitter for Business

Twitter may not be the sole driving source (no pun intended) behind the growth of street food vendors. But a growing number of street vendors have been leveraging Twitter in innovative and interesting ways.

"So instead of being arrogant, take every opportunity you get to learn new things. Whether it is from an experienced entrepreneur who has been around the block, or a 16-year-old kid, everyone can teach you something. You just have to learn what to take away from a conversation because there are going to be some things that are going to benefit you and others that won’t."

what's not to like about a piece of advice that says you don't have to be perfect to succeed?

He's so on point, it's ridiculous.

Trent Reznor of NIN tells indie musicians what to do in the new world of music.

Tent's got it

trent reznor's advice for new artists. interesting read

Talks about employee retention, handling increasing complexity in the company, etc

Slide deck from Netflix outlines their employee strategy, how they do compensation, why they only aim for top performers, how their "vision statement" is different than Enron's, etc

Presentations, Keynotes, and Interviews with 37signals

Under no circumstances should you...Write A Long Business Plan

# Who are you? # What is the problem you are going to solve? # What is your solution? # Why will the market accept your solution? # What does the competition look like? # Who are your customers? # What are the details of your product? # How will you acquire customers? # What is your best approximation for the financials of the business? # What are the risks/challenges? # What’s the timeline? # Bonus: What’s The Exit Plan?

While business plans are important, writing a long one isn't such a good idea. It makes sense really, especially for new businesses there is so much uncertainty that big complex models of revenue and cost projections can be nothing but farcical.

Great presentation - great ideas

One of the best things I ever did was quit my day job and become self-employed. I’m so happy with it that I’m recommending it to everyone: my kids, my friends, my sisters.

entrepreneurs on twitter

11 Lessons I Learned Earning $119,725.45 from Amazon Associates Program

Phew! This article ended up being much longer than I expected (I banged it out in one sitting, as I do most articles). I’m still not sure I ans

ubstantial cost to you. This problem is made even more acute by the fact that in a fair numb

Excellent advice for startups for pricing their Enterprise Software!

** Posted using Viigo: Mobile RSS, Sports, Current Events and more **

good article on basic terms of a first round investment

My last 2 posts were about things to avoid, so I thought it might be helpful to follow up with something more positive. Having been part of or observed about 50 early stage deals, I have come to believe there is a clearly dominant set of deal terms. Here they are:

Great Twitter Applications for Small Business http://bit.ly/grAkS [from http://twitter.com/inti/statuses/3228223886]

Details the top ten Twitter applications for small business.

Okay, here’s a teaser for you. What kind of word can you come up with that incorporates some or all of the word “Twitter” to describe a useful business application, tool or service?

if your business is involved in affiliate marketing in any way, then you should check out Twist. See which trends are hot right now within a variety of searchable topics and niches.

Interesting points about demos, pricing infrastructure, release schedules etc

** Posted using Viigo: Mobile RSS, Sports, Current Events and more **

here are some terms included below that are needed in larger deals and which aren’t absurd for VCs to ask for. So both documents are highly relevant. Start with the Y Combinator docs for your first early angel round, an

If you're an entrepreneur thinking about getting funding, this is a must-read. It outlines very fair guidelines for a first-round term sheet. Often, first-time entrepreneurs only concentrate on the big terms of a term sheet (e.g. round size, valuation) and neglect the "smaller" but often equally important things like stock preferences and triggers.

Now, a lot of people, including prominent angel investors and venture capitalists, are starting to listen to him. Tomorrow Ressi will announce a new, basic term sheet for use by investors and founders. The goal is to protect founders and reduce legal fees, which average $50,000 or more per venture round. (This is an excellent idea. "Free" at work.)

A wealth of resources for business owners — videos, articles, blogs, and expert advice to boost your business, sponsored by American Express OPEN.

It's quite easy for small business owners to become distracted by their day-to-day responsibilities. But in this competitive economy you can't afford to miss out on the newest business innovations. That's why we asked 50 of the top small business bloggers to share their best tips for small business owners. Their response was incredible. While some shared nuggets of wisdom, others gave us actionable tips you can use right away. Here's your crib sheet to the best business advice the blogosphere has to offer.

Great roundup of tips for small business by successful bloggers.

In doing so we discovered Customer Development, a product development methodology formulated by veteran entrepreneur Steve Blank. Based on the premise that start-ups tend to fail through lack of customers rather than lack of technology or product features, customer development is a systematic way of identifying who the customer is, what it is they need and whether that need is sufficient to build a business on. One of my co-founders describes it as ‘an algorithm for building products users want and are willing to pay for’.

The crucial question in the survey is “How would you feel if you could no longer use [product]?” Sean has benchmarked the results of that survey and found that if less than 40% of respondents say “Very disappointed” then your product doesn’t yet have sufficient traction to scale.

A few months ago I was tipped off to world of Steve Blank and customer development. Simply put, if you’re an entrepreneur understanding these concepts will likely mean the difference between success and failure. Steve personally has taken five companies through this process to IPO. Not a bad track record. While there’s a ton of great stuff about customer development on the Web I wanted to gather up all of the resources and put them together in one place. I’ll update this post over time as I come across stuff (please add any additional resources you find in the comments so I can add them to the post) so bookmark it and check back from time to time (or just subscribe to the RSS feed).

Customer Development: The Definitive Resource w/tons of links

Even before I had a single customer, I "knew" it was important to look professional. My website would need to look and feel like a "real company." I need culture-neutral language complimenting culturally-diverse clip-art photos of frighteningly chipper co-workers huddled around a laptop, awash with the thrill and delight of configuring a JDBC connection to SQL Server 2008.

Why small companies should look and act like small companies instead of fluffing their feathers

ade $800,000 in their first year of operations, so don't tell me "big companies" need to hear garbage PR/marketing language. Balsamiq got 100 product reviews during their first six weeks of operation, so don't tell me "a couple of guys in a studio" isn't a good public persona.

- Blog - Startups + Marketing + Geekery

5. Respond. This is the single biggest advantage you have over the big guys. Not only are you in charge, you also answer the phone and read your email and man the desk and set the prices. So, don't pretend you have a policy. Just be human.

2 1. Go where your customers are. Jacquelyne runs a tiny juice company called Chakwave. I met her in Los An

"This pattern — “success” based on forecasted future success instead of current success — shows up all over the tech-business press. Instead of metrics like “they make more money than they spend” we see stuff like “user count growth” and “followers” and “impressions” and “friends” and “visits” qualify success. Whenever you see someone piling big numbers into made up metrics, it’s a diversion."

This pattern — “success” based on forecasted future success instead of current success — shows up all over the tech-business press. Instead of metrics like “they make more money than they spend” we see stuff like “user count growth” and “followers” and “impressions” and “friends” and “visits” qualify success. Whenever you see someone piling big numbers into made up metrics, it’s a diversion.

This pattern — “success” based on forecasted future success instead of current success — shows up all over the tech-business press. Instead of metrics like “they make more money than they spend” we see stuff like “user count growth” and “followers” and “impressions” and “friends” and “visits” qualify success.

Ambition makes determination, and then determination makes wealth.

This feels like it needs some more fleshing out.

good blog on determination. Indeed, if you want to create the most wealth, the way to do it is to focus more on their needs than your interests, and make up the difference with determination.

So with that caveat, here is my list of ten traits I see in great companies. This is aimed at web/tech companies but I believe it can and should be applicable to all companies.

Interesting take on what makes a great company

Yesterday I got to do one of my favorite things. Our portfolio company Etsy invited me out to their new offices in Dumbo to talk to the entire team. Since they didn't ask me to talk about anything in specific,...

Silicon Alley Insider has partnered with leading technology law firm Cooley Godward Kronish to explain common legal issues facing start-ups and provide sample legal documents that you can review and download.

“In 18 months I’m going to start my own company,” the problem with that sentence is the 18 months. What you’re really saying is, “I’m afraid.”

Omia tuotteita konsultoinnin sijaan.

> We’ve had a lot of things not work, and that’s OK too. If it’s a good idea and it gets you excited, try it, and if it bursts into flames, that’s going to be exciting too. People always ask, “What is your greatest failure?” I always have the same answer – We’re working on it right now, it’s gonna be awesome!

Jim Coudal is a truly inspiring character. His company decided to shift from the standard model of selling their creative services to clients, to a model of creating products which they own and have full control over. And they’ve been very successful at it. Coudal Partners is proof that you can indeed create your own reality. (interview, article)

get out there.

Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes! Tactics are almost the cherry on top, but that's what people want: tips-'n'-tactics. Ugh. I can spot the ones who don't get it a mile away now that I've been speaking about marketing for a while. "TELL ME ABOUT TWITTER!!" Um, no. How about we talk about right behavior, and goals? And how about you get those squared away before I put you behind the controls of this howitzer. Which will be outdated, most likely, before you learn how to operate it properly.

The hierarchy of success I think it looks like this: Attitude Approach Goals Strategy Tactics Execution

"Most everyone has a style, and if you pick the wrong one, then all the strategy, tactics and execution in the world won't work nearly as well." "As far as I'm concerned, the most important of all, the top of the hierarchy is attitude. Why are you doing this at all? What's your bias in dealing with people and problems?"

Preguntás, usando Twitter, sobre algo que quieras comprar, como: ¿cuál es el GPS con mejor relación costo beneficio?. Te responden los expertos y/o la comunidad. No creo que sirva apra Arg aún :(

Shopping help is only a question away with IMshopping human assisted shopping. Ask questions, get unbiased answers and reviews from our shopping guides.

Orrick's Start-Up Tool Kit is a comprehensive set of resources designed to aid start-ups and their founders on the journey from the "garage" to the global marketplace. Use our Start-Up Tool Kit to memorialize agreements with co-founders or potential investors, understand the terms and terminology of key legal documents, and network and learn business strategy and the latest industry news.

Relevant for nonprofits too: use plugins, integrate social media, keep the design simple but professional, host it yourself, and have a prominent "about us" section

We want this wiki to reflect the collective wisdom of you, the start-up community, regarding business resources you found useful. As such we want to avoid companies promoting their own resources (albeit free ones) because it wouldn't be in line with the purpose of this wiki. However, if you have a few startups who have happily used your resources then encourage them to contribute to the wiki!

Business Resources for Startups As startups are notoriously short on time we thought what better way to maximise their productivity than by providing them with the most relevant business resources all in one place! Even better, why not ask the teams involved in the startups themselves to share their good experiences with resources they ACTUALLY used? Us folks at Seedcamp have included each resource with a list of start-ups that have found them useful. If a startup cannot back-up a resource it should not be included here. Companies that have contributed to this wiki include: Atomico Ventures, Entrip, HyperNumbers, Speedsell, Stupelix, TAG, Toksta, TV Pixie, uberVU, Yoose, Wasabi Ventures, Zoombu

This guest post was written by Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg. It is the first in a series of posts he's writing about the ...

From Nothing To Something. How To Get There.

experience Entrepreneurship from Meebo founder

Focus on your immediate resources to make something plausible working as fast as you can rather than waiting for something allegedly genial to grow by itself. It never happened and it will never happen.

Some of the most well known people I know never assume people they talk to know who they are. Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha, for example, introduces himself to me every time I see him, and asks if now is a good time to talk. I’ve known him since 2006, and it’s far from necessary. But I always appreciate how polite he is. Want to be like Roelof someday? A good start is basic business etiquette. Just because someone can’t register your face, name and workplace in less than the second it takes for you to say hello to them doesn’t mean they don’t want to help you out. Just help to avoid that awkward moment by giving them all the information they need. And then watch body language for your cue to wrap things up.

An article on business etiquette for conferences, etc.

Good advice from @arrington to startup CEOs everywhere http://bit.ly/VrM3e [from http://twitter.com/pkedrosky/statuses/4133209865]

It’s time for a quick primer on the proper way to interact at conferences and other business events. Since I just came back from one of those types of events, this is on top of mind for me. By Arrington

Best way to introduce yourself to a powerful person at an event or conference

Good practice on how to approach people politely during conferences, etc.

This is the future of journalism.

Kevin: Maria Schneider left mainstream publishing behind last year to start Editor Unleashed, a site covering writing, publishing and social media. She looks at five journalists and their start-up projects. She talks about costs, advertising and technology. It's a good brief overview.

Leaders retire with $, but then get bored, then have to do something else. Should have stuck with it

As a MINT user, the only real question I had was whether I trust my data in the hands of Intuit. I have decided to take that chance until I learn something differently.

"As more great new companies are absorbed into big old companies, a whole new generation of change is lost. They can issue press releases saying how excited they are to be able to bring their product to a whole new world of customers, and how their new suitor will bring enormous resources to bear, but we know that’s usually not really what happens. Development slows, products stall, the staff that built the great stuff leaves, and mediocrity creeps in. Not always, but usually."

stanford video

"The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset. The moment you earn your keep as a public speaker is when the room isn't just right or the plane is late or the projector doesn't work or the audience is tired or distracted. The best time to engage with an employee is when everything falls apart, not when you're hitting every milestone. And everyone now knows that the best time to start a project is when the economy is lousy."

Seth Godin: "it´s difficult to improve your performance in the downhills", lección aprendida andando en bicicleta. http://bit.ly/YL30f [from http://twitter.com/dariuus/statuses/2761368400]

Excellent article chock full of down-to-earth advice.

Despite the fact that the year isn't over yet, I have learned some valuable lessons that have helped me grow ...

Much more important than working hard is knowing how to find the right thing to work on. Paying attention to what is going on in the world. Seeing patterns. Seeing things as they are rather than how you want them to be. Being able to read what people want. Putting yourself in the right place where information is flowing freely and interesting new juxtapositions can be seen. But you can save yourself a lot of time by working on the right thing. Working hard, even, if that's what you like to do.

"Much more important than working hard is knowing how to find the right thing to work on"

When we were building Flickr, we worked very hard. We worked all waking hours, we didn't stop. My Hunch cofounder Chris Dixon and I were talking about how hard we worked on our first startups, his being Site Advisor, acquired by McAfee -- 14-18 hours a day. We agreed that a lot of what we then considered "working hard" was actually "freaking out". Freaking out included panicking, working on things just to be working on something, not knowing what we were doing, fearing failure, worrying about things we needn't have worried about, thinking about fund raising rather than product building, building too many features, getting distracted by competitors, being at the office since just being there seemed productive even if it wasn't -- and other time-consuming activities. This time around we have eliminated a lot of freaking out time. We seem to be working less hard this time, even making it home in time for dinner.

"Edison, of the "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" quote, tried thousands of materials looking for the right filament for the electric bulb. That might have been hard work, and the fact that he persisted through many failures is key to making something work, but he was also working on the right problem. So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard."

"So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard."

So true. I can think of a few people I think need to read this.

“Writing Wednesdays” Future “Writing Wednesdays” articles will be inspired by quotes from The War of Art.

Nobody wants to read your shit. There’s a phenomenon in advertising called Client’s Disease. Every client is in love with his own product. The mistake he makes is believing that, because he loves it, everyone else will too. What’s your answer to that? 1) Reduce your message to its simplest, clearest, easiest-to-understand form. 2) Make it fun. Or sexy or interesting or informative. 3) Apply that to all forms of writing or art or commerce. You acquire that skill which is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs: the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of your imagined reader/gallery-goer/customer.

Nobody wants to read your shit.

Some invaluable resources for anyone preparing to start their own business.

Is there such a thing as too founder friendly?

TheFunded.com: Complete Set of Founder Friendly Legal Docs

Mark Zuckerberg

Priscilla Chan

When you make the decision to go out on your own, you are faced with many choices. Should you work from home or rent a space? Bill hourly or by the job? What

50 Essential Web Apps for Freelancers – Web.AppStorm - http://web.appstorm.net/roundups/freelancing-tools/50-essential-web-apps-for-freelancers/

We’ve broken down the apps into larger categories, highlighted the best or most interesting in each category, and included the best of the rest. Click away — each image will take you to the app listed. Enjoy!

Photojojo

Photojojo has a great article exploring the pros and cons of starting your own photography business.

How much money to raise and what to do with it: using mint as a case study

In order to get that seed round, you'll need to understand your competition, and come up with projections. Everyone knows this will change...but you need to show your thinking around it anyway. As an example, MINT originally projected $30/user/year for lead-gen and CPA. (Aaron noted that the company is pretty close to this today. But this is the exception rather than the rule.) Know how the business model works. People do X behavior and it turns into $Y income, add up those $Ys and it's a $Z business. If you can walk people through these assumptions convincingly, you'll get that seed round.

The straight shot: Why should you raise money, and how much? * Step 1: When you're ready with an Idea: Raise $100K from friends and family, and use it to build a prototype. * Step 2: Once the prototype is done: Raise < $1M in seed capital, and get into market with an alpha launch. * Step 3: After that initial launch has traction: Raise $5-10M, and use it to prove/scale the model.

business

Last night I posted the video of Mint CEO Aaron Patzer’s 45 minute presentation on building startups from the ground up. If you are an aspiring startup entrepreneur, you’ll want to watch that more than a few times. The candid disclosures and advice he gives is rarely seen in Silicon Valley. Some readers requested to see the presentation deck as well, so here it is. Patzer shows how he raised and spent money, and generated revenue, throughout the lifecycle of Mint, from the very beginning to the $170 million acquisition. He also showed historical slides from early presentations to investors and compares those to the actual results.

Startups 101: The Complete Mint Presentation

Last night I posted the video of Mint CEO Aaron Patzer's 45 minute presentation on building startups from the ground up. If you ...

If you’re an entrepreneur who has been seduced by social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, you may ...

Useful information for business owners interested in using social media for their business

Summary: In Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steve Blank lays out a customer development process that complements a startup’s product development process. This post includes video and slides where Steve explains the ideas in his book.

via @neilperkin

Entrepreneurship video. Presentation by Digg founder, Kevin Rose on how to take your site from one to one million. Interesting strategies to attract traffic to youu website

Ten Teen Entrepreneurs To Watch

모든 기업가들이 꼭 읽어야 하는 열가지 책

@newsycombinator: "Chile Wants Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses, Your Tech Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/Jcm2n" (from http://twitter.com/newsycombinator/status/4762877839)

Looks like an awesome deal!

The world is rife with business opportunity, and nowhere more so than online. I often think of the web as something of a wild west frontier, awaiting anyone

shopping cart

The world is rife with business opportunity, and nowhere more so than online. I often think of the web as something of a wild west frontier, awaiting anyone intrepid enough to stake out a claim. But to start an online venture you first need to have an idea of what you want to do. For many would-be entrepreneurs ideas are many and easy to come by, but not everyone feels this way.

So let’s say I was setting out to start a new business tomorrow. I would sit down and think about what sorts of problems I have, both offline and on, and how I wish they could be fixed with an online solution. When thinking of solutions, I always ask myself whether I, myself would really use the solution if some other company magically brought it to market right now. It’s important to be honest and realistic with yourself because if you wouldn’t use the thing, chances are neither will others.

America's Best Young Entrepreneurs 2009--via Yahoo! Finance (Congrats to @Shama!!!) http://ow.ly/uad5 [from http://twitter.com/allenmireles/statuses/4844559545]

Reference Guide on ourFreedom &amp; Responsibility Culture <br />These slides are meant for reading,<br />rather than pr

What we find particularly intriguing is the section on hiring and firing. They want every manager to ask themselves: “Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving in two months for a similar job at a peer company, would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?” Anybody who doesn’t make that list should be offered a severance package right now so we can open a slot to find a star performer for that role. Another highlight: Netflix has no vacation policy! They don’t have a “rule” about 9 – 5 work - their rule is simpler: get your job done, and do it well. They realized if they didn’t track the hours employees worked, why would they track the hours they DON’T work? There is also no policy on clothing, but as of yet, no one has come to work naked (Patty McCord, 2004). The lesson: You don’t need detailed policies for everything. Here’s the part where they devalue training (you should probably stop reading here. . .)

This makes me want to work for Netfilx. No, wait. It makes me want to built the same values into meta4 so I never have to leave.

This post is a little different than what you might be used to. Instead of talking at you, I would like to talk with you. I would like to propose a blogging outline, not actually blog on the given subject (yet!). First, allow me to explain myself. I have been under-utilizing my blogging privileges the last three months and I would like to try to make this up to you. I have made the ...

Founder diagnoses why his startup failed. Good comments on traffic business models

Who are your users and are they really useful/real users?

.

An article on the difficulties and surprises in starting a startup.

Really good ideas and facts about starting a startup.

What I can do!

Here are 10 essential entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds to follow on Twitter.

Jason Fried hates lame meetings, tech companies that don't generate revenue, and companies that treat their employees like children. A peek inside his typical workday

37 Signals CEO/President writes about how he works

you end up dying with your customer base, because the software is too complicated for a newcomer. We keep our products simple. I'd rather have people grow out of our products, as long as more people are growing into them. We also get thousands of suggestions. The default answer is always no. We rarely have meetings. I hate them. They're a huge waste of time, and they're costly. Creative people need unstructured time to get in the zone. You can't do that in 20 minutes. Very rarely is a question important enough to stop people from doing what they're doing. Everything can wait a couple of hours, unless it is a true emergency. We want to get rid of interruption as much as we possibly can, because that's the real enemy of productivity. Everyone should read stuff on the Web that's goofy or discover something new. I

pretty darn fascinating

@venturedig

Four Primary Business Models in the social networking space that I’ve experienced–they primarily are concerned with Facebook Applications.

As I was looking for bloggers to contact, I found some posts/articles that were extremely relevant to what I was doing. In other words, these are posts that people looking for a tool like mine would find and read.

Some useful stuff about blogger outreach

take it for what it is, a description of what I have done so far. Implement at your own risk! ;)

Startup Marketing Advice from Balsamiq Studio

Great marketing tips from Balsamiq, made much greater by the fact that his micro-startup has been awesomely successful.

There’s a classroom exercise that’s a part of the Stanford technology venture program hits its students with each year: If you had five dollars and two hours, what would you do to make as much money as possible?

Selling presentation time is clutch. Lesson Learned: Think outside the box. No, actually, there is no fucking box.

Bicycle tires pump up

Six minute video of Stanford professor describing her 'make as much money as you can with $5 and 2 hours' assignment.

Interesting

I always thought that expanding my business at a steady pace was a smart move. Now I worry that it could potentially kill us

By Joel Spolsky

Interessante discussies in comments... But we do have to work closer to the limits of our abilities, we have to invest more of our profits in hiring more salespeople and software developers, and we have to focus relentlessly on winning more enterprise sales. We have to do that, because otherwise, we're going to end up being the company you've never heard of.

mit keynote-cartoon kombinieren

Stop wasting your time trying to find the right answer for your business questions. You’re not alone. We know you have business questions that need to be answered right now. That’s why we’ve put together a great team of Hosts composed of successful entrepreneurs, seasoned businesspeople, academics, advisors, and many more willing to give you a hand. Not only that, our community of users will be available to give you their best answer to any question you might have. With all these people ready to answer all your questions, it would be difficult to not find the answer to the business question that’s eating your brain. Don’t forget to give those that need help an answer, there’re plenty to go around, and more than likely you know the answer to a couple. At Startups.com you’ll find your business question answered within minutes. Useful answers, fast and free.

the

Advanced game theory is exceptionally useful. Basic game theory is dangerous — because it assumes that you’re dealing with a bunch of rational “players”. It’s like trying to design a real car that’s going to be driven on a theoretically frictionless surface, with no air resistance and no idiots on the road.

ory is exceptionally useful. Basic game theory is dangerous — because it assumes that you’re dealing with a bunch of rational “players”. It’s like trying to design a real car that’s going to be driven on a theoretically frictionless surface, with no air resistance and no idiots on the road.

"No amount of strategic planning will ever substitute for managing your cash flow" - "There are always more things to do than there is time to do them" - "It helps not to call people “human resources”. They’re people. And, as it turns out, people like to be treated like people. Go figure" - "There’s a lot of value to being likable" - "Advanced game theory is exceptionally useful. Basic game theory is dangerous — because it assumes that you’re dealing with a bunch of rational “players”.

Every startup needs to pick a major among three drivers of growth. It's simply too hard to focus on more ...

Your challenge is to find o

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It’s hard to express just how much settling those questions has galvanized Redfin to attack the monsters under our bed. Sure, we were dimly aware of those problems before, but we existed in a state of seething, unacknowledged tentativeness. Weeks of contemplating what it will take for us to win prepared Redfin to swallow the red pill, stuff the TaunTaun, hack the Kobayashi Maru. At very few moments in a company’s history does it makes its way so deliberately. Like the recovered patient who saw while sick everything she had always meant to do, we want to make the most of our new lease on life.

For me, the most important point is that whatever questions others ask about your business are worth recording, cataloguing and quantifying

" the questions VCs asked Redfin that changed how we think about our business."

Listening to Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon, is like going to startup school where you learn that failure is part of entrepreneurial growth. Whenever I have talked to Bezos in the past, the things that have stuck in my head have been his willingness to be wrong and his unflinching abhorrence of the status quo. At the Wired Business Conference in New York City, Bezos reiterated some of those points in a conversation with writer Steven Levy.

Innovation is hard for large companies because you need to be long-term oriented. And since the innovative projects are such a tiny part of a large company, there is tendency to be dismissive of the innovation. “You need a culture that high-fives small and innovative ideas and senior executives [that] encourage ideas,” he said. In order for innovative ideas to bear fruit, companies need to be willing to “wait for 5-7 years, and most companies don’t take that time horizon.”

So here's my rule: The rule of 80%. For anyone selling on an incremental basis, set your break points that the per-unit costs of the new tier are 80% of the per-unit cost for the previous tier.

In just the last week, two different people have come to me to get feedback on their pricing. One was a startup selling a very sophisticated product to corporate enterprises. The other was selling consulting services to individuals, small businesses, and trade associations. In both cases, however, the questions were the same: how should I price this on a per-head basis? When should I charge a flat fee? How do I make sure I'm not leaving money on the table? How do I make sure I'm not losing customers?

Whenever we have to put in or feel that we have to put in a preference in our software, we pretty much consider that a defeat. We were not good enough. We were not good enough at coming up with a reasonable choice that most people would like most of the time.

For me a good user interface is a simple user interface. It's a user interface that doesn't try to expose or reveal too many features or preferences.

"What the innovators have in common is that they can put together ideas and information in unique combinations that nobody else has quite put together before."

After a six-year study, researchers say they've found the five traits shared by all great innovators. Brilliant blue-sky thinking, they say, springs from acute observation and the active pursuit of new experiences -- and that's something anyone can learn to do. "Studies have shown that creativity is close to 80% learned and acquired," says one researcher. "We found that it's like exercising your muscles -- if you engage in the actions you build the skills."

"In an article published in December's Harvard Business Review the researchers identified five skills that separate the blue-sky innovators from the rest -- skills they labeled associating, questioning, observing, experimenting and discovering."

"The way they act is to observe actively, like an anthropologist, and they talk to incredibly diverse people with different world views, who can challenge their assumptions,"

Summary on a HBR December 2009 Article- 5 Keys to innovation, based on research HBS & Bringham Young 6 year study of 3K executives and 500 entrepreneurs: 1) Associating: The ability to connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas from different fields; 2) Questioning: Innovators constantly ask questions that challenge the common wisdom. They ask "why?", "why not?" and "what if?"; 3) Observing: Discovery-driven executives scrutinize common phenomena, particularly the behavior of potential customers; 4) Experimenting: Innovative entrepreneurs actively try out new ideas by creating prototypes and launching pilots; 5) Networking: innovators go out of their way to meet people with different ideas and perspectives

to read

A recession-induced need for cash, and an ever-growing infrastructure enabling individuals to act as (part-time) entrepreneurs, are fueling concepts that help ordinary consumers make money instead of just spending it.

Ads | While Google AdWords still brings in the money for bloggers, Magpie now inserts adverts into SELLSUMERS' Twitter feeds.

Whether you're a student, teacher, or parent, I think you'll appreciate this story of how one teacher can completely and permanently change someone's life in only a few lessons.

ed, just that it's something that you should be willing to experiment with on an ongoing basis with the knowledge that it's going to take a long time to get it exactly right.

Interesting blog abour freemium strategies

Alan was co-founder of Fast Company magazine and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review. More specifically related to this post, Alan developed a very interesting habit more than 20 years ago, when he began to carry a supply of 3 x 5 index cards wherever life took him. He wrote down and collected the lessons and insights he gleaned from his experiences travelling the world and in his interactions with people ranging from CEOs and spiritual leaders to basketball coaches, novelists, and stars from dozens of other worlds… His new book, Rules of Thumb, is a collection of 52 truths he’s culled from these notes specifically related to winning in business. I asked him if I could have an exclusive excerpt, and he graciously agreed.

Think outside the box. Do it different than its being done.

Start-up Strategy

RULE #24 – If you want to change the game, change the economics of how the game is played.

Information on starting a Freelance company. Found on the sixrevisions website.

Starting your own company is wonderful, scary, and exciting! I’ve recently gone through the process and started up my own freelance company, Snoack Studios, and I’d like to share my personal insight on how to get your own company off the ground, using my own story as an example. How to Start a Freelance Company Step 1: Find a Business Name First things first, you need a name. As a freelancer, you will probably want to be a Sole Proprietor and you can certainly use your own name. I wanted to plan for expandability and flexibility: I may have employees, I may subcontract some work to other freelancers, or maybe even sell my business one day, so I went with a company name of Snoack Studios. Whatever you choose, make sure it works for you and fits the service you provide. Perform some basic research Do your homework as well, search Google to make sure that your company name is unique, and mostly importantly, search trade names at the Secretary of State office in the state you live in (

Free is not a business model, it’s a marketing and distribution tactic. Don’t forget this, and don’t get distracted into thinking otherwise. Free is not an excuse to make a lesser product, in fact it forces you to make a better product or no one will ever pay. Free will expand your market size and scope instantly

Most advice to entrepreneurs focuses on what they should do: build a great product, assemble a great team, provide great service. All are “duhis

A wealth of resources for business owners — videos, articles, blogs, and expert advice to boost your business, sponsored by American Express OPEN.

Good article!

So you just built the next great web app, the launch day has finally come and .... silence. Crickets chirping. You anxiously check your Google Analytics stats

Early Adopters: 5 Ways To Get Users To Your New Website

The number one question you all asked after reading my last blog post about starting a business from scratch was how do I ...

interesting article on following through with your goals

Whether you plan to cure cancer, lose weight or be the world's best parent, results of a new study suggest you'd do well to keep your mouth shut about it. And not just to avoid annoying other people. Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal.

"Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal." You have to pay to read the journal article but the abstract is here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122306810/abstract

"(Take) a mother who talks about all the great things she's going to do for her kids — help them do better in school, get better test scores, give them extra training — while all the other mothers nod in approval," says Gollwitzer. "The chances are high that she won't do as much as she could to achieve those goals because she's already viewed as an ideal mother just by sharing her wonderful intentions." He explains the intentions function as a symbol of possessing the desired identity. This is evident in the statement of a "high-order goal," such as losing weight to become a healthier person, but not in planning to drop three pounds to fit into a dress.

Whether you plan to cure cancer, lose weight or be the world's best parent, results of a new study suggest you'd do well to keep your mouth shut about it. And not just to avoid annoying other people. Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal.

Therapists don't tell you what to do. Rather, they ask probing questions that get you to discover for yourself what is true for you, your situation, and what you want. Similarly, these ten questions will force you to make the important decisions about your business. Ask them of yourself every month instead of writing a useless business plan.

My partner Ben Horowitz and I are delighted to announce the formation of our new venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, and our first fund -- $300 million in size -- aimed purely at investing in the best new entrepreneurs, products,...

Marc Andreessen's blog

My partner Ben Horowitz and I are delighted to announce the formation of our new venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, and our first fund -- $300 million in size -- aimed purely at investing in the best new entrepreneurs, products, and companies in the technology industry.

Here are the some of the rules that evolved that seemed to work for our family.

"This life isn’t practice for the next one" "What will your epitaph say?"

STARTUP

There are three ways to get a great URL. The first is with magical inspiration: that perfect and available name comes to you in the shower. The second is with a ton of money, by buying an existing domain. The third (if inspiration and money are lacking) is with the process outlined below, which may yield a workable name. These days, you start with the URL and then check that some variation of the company name is available (for registration purposes). That part is relatively easy.

Naming your business: how to do it.

uspto.gov

Compare the recent sale of Friendster for a reported $26.4 million with Facebook’s projected 2010 revenues, of $1 billion, and we have a stark reminder of how the inability to scale can kill a startup. “All they had to do was keep the damned servers up and running,” Matt Cohler, a former Facebook executive and general partner at Benchmark Capital, says in Adam L. Peneberg’s book “Viral Loop,” but Friendster failed to scale and the cost was enormous.

Top 10 Internet Startup Scalability Killers – GigaOM

In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key

e lead

If you’re selling anything and use PayPal as your only payment option, I urge you to reconsider. They can cut your oxygen supply right at peak of your success, of course “for your own protection”.

Despite a worsening economy, some bootstrapped startups are witnessing tremendous growth, both in user participation and back-end development. Case in point, Tip'd, a four month old financial news ...

Despite a worsening economy, some bootstrapped startups are witnessing tremendous growth, both in user participation and back-end development. Case in point, Tip'd, a four month old financial news site which has seen its monthly traffic double, submissions almost triple, and its user base increase by an average of 60 new members every day. But what is it about this niche vertical site that has in such a short period of time grown to become one of the leading financial news sites on the Web? According to Muhammad Saleem, Tip'd's community director, there is no secret ingredient to success. Instead, it's about maintaining focus on community and continuously delivering tools to help them sort through the noise that has become an unfortunate side effect of today's information age.

Community Building 101 for the Bootstrapped Startup - ReadWriteWeb

Outside of building companies, reading has been one of my daily passions since I was a young child. Each year, I attempt to read more books than the previous year. This year I read 146. The following books were the five that made the most impact and immediate improvement on my performance as an entrepreneur.

Aggression and innovation wins. Period.

Why Yahoo gave up the ship and how Microsoft values different product lines

"The lesson for all startups–and BDC’s (big dumb companies)–is that innovation is all you have. Once you stop innovating you lose your talent and you lose the race. Never. Stop. Innovating. Never. Never. Never."

2read

i wish i knew ;) - added by harper reed's google reader

Defer renting space

. But one independent developer still managed to rake in $600,000 in a single month with a single iPhone game.

Good business ideas cross over into good businesses with the following factors in place: Natural Passion and Interest + Skill and competence + Business model that delivers the life you want to live + Solid business planning with well-defined market

You have to package your knowledge into something that clients can recognize as valuable. How to develop a product/ make your freelance skills valuable to others

Part of a series of posts by Ramit

very good site

50 Free Sources for Business Plans, Templates and Models

For fifteen years, I was a book packager. It has nothing to do with packaging and a bit more to do with books, but it's a great gig and there are useful lessons, because there are dozens of industries just waiting for you to do something like this. Let me explain:

Fantastic!

Mostly, crappy opportunities come along, and in the meantime, you make the best of them. But that skill and habit, of making the best of your situation, is essential training. Because one day, a good opportunity will come along. And if you make the best of it -- if you're good at making the best of things -- you will turn it into a great situation

Choosing online applications for your productivity workflow is a great way to check in from any location or device. Here are some of the best tools available on the web.

oud-based note-taking without mentioning Evernote (Evernote). You can get notes into Evernote in any number of ways, from email to browser bookmarklet to desktop or mobile app, as well as via the web-based interface and even via Twitter.

An excellent piece of writing.

Struggling with this article...

A reminder why I don't always feel guilty about coming off as a little bit arrogant

8 Excellent Web Resources for Startups - Stepcase Lifehack - http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/8-excellent-web-resources-for-startups.html

great article on how and why to be a lean startup

Discussion of the principals of Lean Startups with many useful hints.

How I manage my most valuable asset – Time

"Here's what I realized: 1. My perfect is not their perfect. 2. They don't have a perfect. In fact, there is no they. There are 2000 individuals, each of whom wants something a little different. 3. The more perfect I think it is, the less willing I'll be to let anyone change it. 4. The only way to make it useful to everyone is to allow each person to change it to suit him or herself. 5. The only way people will use it is if they do change it in some way. 6. The only way I will encourage them to change it and make it their own is if I make it imperfect.

Unfinished, Half-finished, half-baked is sometimes best.

"Why won't this work for you?" -- a powerful question to ask, at the right moment. Really thought-provoking article exploring why perfection is so hard, and hinting at why projects fail.

David Heineimeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails and partner at 37signals in Chicago, says that planning is guessing, and for a start-up, the focus must be on today and not on tomorrow. He argues that constraints--fiscal, temporal, or otherwise--drive innovation and effective problem-solving. The most important thing, Hansson believes, is to make a dent in the universe with your company.

A possibly useful resource flagged up on the LRUG list.

Excellent article on using a merchant / gateway combination. Can be cheaper than paypal al told

Seth Godin's Pearls of Wisdom. We love lists and Seth's list is impossibly insightful. It must be read and spread.

A great, short list of useful thoughts and tips for anyone who wants to grow a business or gain momentum for their new idea.

Random rules for ideas worth spreading

Don't plan on appearing on a reality show as the best way to launch your idea

Blog article by Peter Bregman - July 2009 HarvardBusiness.org

Why we need to fail

Google factura 210k$ por personal. listado de ranking de facturación por empleado

Doing this study could totally open any company's mind

Google had $209,624 in profit per employee in 2008, which beats all the other large tech companies we looked at, including big hitters like Microsoft, Apple, Intel and IBM.

In that sense Microsoft is doing a very good job considering that they are close to matching Google in spite of having 4.5 times as many employees. And of course, looking at overall profit for the company, Microsoft is way ahead of every other company on this list.

I completely agree here with Steve's comments on what matters when measuring startups, and it's not balance sheets and income statements

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success.

to read

SEO for Startups: Top 7 Lessons + A Trip to YCombinator http://bit.ly/c4onTX

Next, since it's hard to do any slide deck justice with just the slides, a list of top advice and recommendations, not just from the slide deck, but from many years of interactions, consulting and Q+A help for startups:

Excelente curso para starup 3.0

Inc: How Hard Could It Be? By Joel Spolsky

Good article on using blogs for marketing

Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inc.com%2Fmagazine%2F20100301%2Flets-take-this-offline.html

Joel on Software explains what makes a good blog (and why he's quitting)

OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN | |

Something is elegant if it is two things at once: unusually simple and surprisingly powerful. One without the other leaves you short of elegant. And sometimes the “unusual simplicity” isn’t about what’s there, it’s about what isn’t. At first glance, elegant things seem to be missing something.

I believe this "more features = better" mindset is at the root of the misjudgment, and is also the reason why so many otherwise smart people are bad at product design (e.g. most open source projects).

Pick three key attributes or features, get those things very, very right, and then forget about everything else.

What's the right approach to new products? Pick three key attributes or features, get those things very, very right, and then forget about everything else. Those three attributes define the fundamental essence and value of the product -- the rest is noise. For example, the original iPod was: 1) small enough to fit in your pocket, 2) had enough storage to hold many hours of music and 3) easy to sync with your Mac (most hardware companies can't make software, so I bet the others got this wrong). That's it -- no wireless, no ability to edit playlists on the device, no support for Ogg -- nothing but the essentials, well executed. ...By focusing on only a few core features in the first version, you are forced to find the true essence and value of the product.

Being intelligent is like having a knife. If you train every day in using the knife, you will be invincible. If you think that just having a knife will make you win any battle you fight, then you will fail. This believe in your own inherent ability is what will kill your startup. Success comes from the work and ability you put in becoming better than the others, and not from some brilliance you feel you may have within you.

Bloggers Bible

Naomi of IttyBiz is in the middle of a great series about how her blog made $176,000 so far this year through six different types of income streams. Start with the post at the bottom of the page and move to the top… great stuff.

At least half of these resources would definitely be stuff that you guys might be interested in. Whether you’re deep into social media or just getting started, there’s a resource for you in Brian’s post.

http://www.torstensson.com/weblog/2009/08/overnight-successes-rarely-are.html

title says it all

Il fondatore di Friendfeed parla delle prospettive del suo prodotto e della ricetta per un'applicazione di successo.

My expectation is that big success takes years, and there aren't many counter-examples (other than YouTube, and they didn't actually get to the point of making piles of money just yet). Facebook grew very fast, but it's almost 5 years old at this point. Larry and Sergey started working on Google in 1996 -- when I started there in 1999, few people had heard of it yet.

Good advice.

The Startup Lawyer gives some advice

Issue list for launching a startup company

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1206649

interview with linked founding ceo

Full text transcript plus link to video.

RT @jonathanfields: LinkedIn founder says, "every individual is now an entrepreneur, whether they recognize it or not" http://bit.ly/i3MKd [from http://twitter.com/r1tz/statuses/1305251212]

Reid Hoffman is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. He worked at Paypal, founded LinkedIn, and invested in dozens more. Last night, he appeared on Charlie Rose (full interview embedded above, full transcript below), where he talks about the rise of social networking in general, and LinkedIn’s success in particular (it is adding one million professionals every 17 days and is emerging as a “low cost provider of really good hiring services”).

Case Studies in Freemium: Pandora, Dropbox, Evernote, Automattic and MailChimp

great read RT @nickdemey @lizgannes - Case Studies in Freemium: Pandora, Dropbox, Evernote, Automattic and MailChimp - http://bit.ly/9w7ofE

Viral isn't everything after all... interesting. http://bit.ly/bkXehM - How Mint.com Acquired 1.5M+ Users

Bra beskrivning av hur Mint lyckades locka 1,5 miljoner användare

Michael practices proximity management. Every month he meets informally with each employee group. No agenda. No speeches. Just conversation. That helps him solve problems: for example, the time guest check-in was being mysteriously delayed.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1229038

Brainstorming / Mindmaps, Checking Domain Names, Prototyping user interfaces, Screen sharing, conferencing, feedback, Project Planning and Story/Task tracking, Usability testing, Cross-browser,email testing, Build and keep in contact with your following, Price-scalable hosting, Gathering feedback / market research.

It’s true that building a business requires plenty of time and effort. But the idea that you need to quit your job to do it right is misguided.

I don't believe in evolution.

Hanging on to your day job gives you a longer period of time to build your idea. It lets you give a sustained effort over time. There’s no get rich quick option. You build it slowly, one day at a time.

"Some have doubted our advice that you should hold on to your day job and start something on the side. They argue building a business requires such persistent effort that you need to devote all your time to it to do it right. And it’s true that building a business requires plenty of time and effort. But the idea that you need to quit your job to do it right is misguided. If you quit your job, you shift everything. You don’t gain time, you lose it. You put a shot clock on your business. You box yourself into a position where you have to profit immediately or the whole thing goes under. You’ve got to make it work now or give up forever."

Some have doubted our advice that you should hold on to your day job and start something on the side. They argue building a business requires such persistent effort that you need to devote all your time to it to do it right.

How Tim Ferriss, author of the 4 Hour Work Week, used Google Ad Words to decide on a title.

Tim and Kevin meet up/hang out & talk their talk, take 1. Interesting stuff - let's push em to do more!

Fascinating talk by the two funniest and most adventurous millionaires out there about the "behind the scenes" of some of their stories :)

Tim and Kevin talk about naming products/companies. Great story about how Tim tested how many people picked up books placed in different locations in Borders. Also talk about advising/etc. "remove dominant stuff from the front page, have one big image drive people to one signup button" that resulted in a 19% increase

Tim and Kevin meet up/hang out & talk their talk, take 1. Interesting stuff - let's push em to do more! Think the show is now temporarily being called Randomness.

Talk about startups

for my non-profit idea...

expanding your biz model --- vertical & horizontal integration

"Think hard about what you do. Look closely at everything you do. There are probably by-product opportunities everywhere. Hell, even your office space could be a by-product. You rent it to work, but what about after hours? Could you rent it out for events? Maybe you could hold stand-up comedy shows like Maryʼs Futons in San Rafael, California does. Sometimes customers return to buy the futon they were sitting on during the show. That’s extra sweet."

Reality Check #1: Do one thing well If your startup tries to do too much, you’ll lose. Guy told me, “I meet companies every day who say, ‘well we’re software services, and we’re also consulting. And we are a social networking site, but we also do white labeling in case you want to use our technology to do your own social network.’ And you know what, it’s hard to do any one of those things, try doing four.”

You could be more gracious than if you'd won the work. You could send a thank you note for the time invested, you could sing the praises of the vendor chosen in your stead and you could congratulate the buyer, "based on the criteria you set out, it's clear that you made exactly the right choice for your organization right now." That doesn't mean the criteria were right, it just means that you're not attacking the person for being an impulsive lunatic. You could even outline what you learned from the process and what you'll be changing in the future. And you can make it clear that you're in it for more than just a sale, and you'll be around if they ever need you.

失敗する時

Joost, a much-vaunted online video startup, today announced that it will offer a white-label video hosting platform, thus entering a crowded market littered with the carcasses of other failed video hosts. The company is also losing its famous chief executive, Mike Volpi, whom it’s replacing with Matt Zelesko, the current vice president of engineering. And it plans to cut a portion of its workforce — between about 70 of its remaining 90 employees, according to Advertising Age. It also shut down its office in the Netherlands.

Joost had an early mover advantage and then stumbled, in the end, it mostlyl boiled down to a lack of content.

Why did not Joost deliver?

Last night, I attended an inspiring talk by Nick Hanauer of Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners. The venue was Seattle University, and the topic was

—If everyone thinks it’s a great idea, it probably sucks. —If people understand it, you’re too late. —If people don’t like it and don’t understand it, it probably still sucks.

How to spot breakthrough ideas

As for social disruption, Hanauer gave a quick summary of what he meant: —If everyone thinks it’s a great idea, it probably sucks. —If people understand it, you’re too late. —If people don’t like it and don’t understand it, it probably still sucks. So entrepreneurship is a dangerous field, he said. “The difference between being an idiot and being a genius is very, very thin.” And keep in mind, he pointed out, “you can be very successful without being socially disruptive. Great fortunes have been made doing incremental things. Burger King, which came after McDonald’s, was not transformational, despite what they tell you…But they made a great fortune.”

Notes from a great presentation by Nick Hanauer, early investor in founder of aQuantitve, Amazon, Insitu (AUV) ... lots of insightful thoughts on quantifying disruptive technology, entrepreneurship, etc.

The key elements of a breakthrough idea, Hanauer said, are value creation and social disruption. “Value is difficult but possible to quantify—it’s the ratio of benefits to cost, divided by those of the alternatives,” he said. Benefits are things like a product’s durability, speed, and appeal

A collection of high-level tips for startup investor pitches, including Guy Kawasaki's 10 slides / in 20 minutes / with 30pt font rule.

How to Pitch to a VC or Angel

I hate the pansies who whine that “it takes money to make money.” No it doesn’t! It takes a sense of mission. If you’re on a mission, you’ll find a way. When I didn’t have money to start my company, I called up J.Crew and asked if they’d take back the clothes I bought from them over the years and give me a refund. Believe it or not, they said, “sure.” That J.Crew refund check helped put me in business.

The chances are, you probably haven't heard of the name Andrew Warner. And if you have, all you will see ...

"Felix Dennis, publishing tycoon, has written a guide to becoming a multi-millionaire. All you need is thick skin, cunning - and a work ethic"

Good quote: "If you are unwilling to fail, sometimes publicly, and even catastrophically, you stand little chance of ever getting rich." Reminds me of this quote from Lazarus Long: "People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy a half slug who must tighten his belt." As a bit of a pod who sometimes finds it all too easy to "turn off" my human concerns, and an on-again-off-again workaholic who was literally ridiculed by my friends for my study and work habits, I am very inspired by what he has to say.

excerpt from publishing tycoon Felix Dennis's book about how to get rich

f you move into a new space, the market normally takes as long as you do to mature enough to become really profitable. Keep your team focused, be patient, create value, test, test, test, and you'll get there. If your instincts are as good as you think they are, then it will come... if you can stick around long enough. Invest today.

"There is a fallacy that startups need to be super-secretive and then, when they launch, move very fast to capture the market. This is rarely true. Most startups would do well to study compound interest rather than market share."

Compound interest is about gains that are reinvested back into the asset base so that the next gain will be higher. The interest earns interest. The table below shows a new Web business at the very beginning, with only 100 wisdom points (a made-up term). The business is learning at a reasonable rate, with 10% growth in its useful knowledge each month. And, as you can see, its monthly growth in real units is growing; this is the compound interest. You get the idea.

First-Mover Advantage Is About Compound Interest, Not Market Share

Interesting: Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned; http://bit.ly/9mh00x

Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned http://slidesha.re/cToICU

Viewing: Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned http://bit.ly/duFZXu - a great presentation by founder/CEO @drewhouston

“Busy does not equal important. Measured doesn't mean mattered.” – Seth Godin There’s a hidden message in this post – it’s your free prize inside. Whether you find the free prize or not, this post will make you think. About your life. About work. About just about everything. Why? Because it’s a distillation of lessons from a man named Seth. Seth Godin is an author, an agent of change, a meaning maker, and an Idea Merchant.

“Busy does not equal important. Measured doesn’t mean mattered.” – Seth Godin

Seth condensed into 25 essential lessons/insights

industrial zone is not a pretty place. You can’t rent a car, even if you wanted to. There is no public transportation. Pick-ups and drop-offs are pre-arranged with factories. The good news is that the factories love when I visit or, for that matter, when any Westerner visits. There’s a certain hospitality that can be found doing business in China that doesn’t exist to such a great extent in th

4hww

success sethgodin inspiration strategy business ; The five pillars of success:See (really see) what's possibleKnow specifically what you want to achieveMake good decisionsUnderstand the tactics to get things done and to change mindsEarn the trust and respect of the people around youIt sure seems like we spend all our time on #4.

Basics from Seth Godin. The five pillars of success 1. See (really see) what's possible 2. Know specifically what you want to achieve 3. Make good decisions 4. Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds 5. Earn the trust and respect of the people around you It sure seems like we spend all our time on #4.

1. See (really see) what's possible 2. Know specifically what you want to achieve 3. Make good decisions 4. Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds 5. Earn the trust and respect of the people around you

See (really see) what's possible Know specifically what you want to achieve Make good decisions Understand the tactics to get things done and to change minds Earn the trust and respect of the people around you It sure seems like we spend all our time on #4.

fun stuff

In this new landscape, people who would never think to call themselves “entrepreneurs” are out there starting businesses, selling products, and turning profits.

It’s time to get over the idea that risk and reward are so intertwined in business. And maybe we need to come up with a better term than entrepreneur to describe this new group of people out there building businesses. Any suggestions?

My approach now is simple: take a look at the rules of the new ecosystem. Do they make sense? Is it possible they'll come to pass? If they do, what happens to you?

And that's where we get stuck. We get stuck because we believe that the rules of our ecosystem are permanent and transferable. In fact, they are almost always temporary and rarely transferable. My approach now is simple: take a look at the rules of the new ecosystem. Do they make sense? Is it possible they'll come to pass? If they do, what happens to you?

I just finished a talk at Web 2.0 Expo titled From Zero to a Million Users with Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox. It's about what we wish we had known years ago when it comes to growing your user base from 1 to 1M users. We had a lot of fun with it. The slides are below! From Zero to a Million Users - Dropbox and Xobni lessons learned View more presentations from Adam Smith.

Great stuff RT @SeanEllis @drewhouston & @asmith share keys to the kingdom for getting 1st 1m users for Dropbox & Xobni http://bit.ly/aPjMRi

scaling lessons?

web 2.0 start up challenges, dropbox and xobni

Un VC et son explication : être un orchestrateur pour les utilisateurs avec une interface bien pensée et l'apport régulier d'innovations (et non toutes à la fois.

Union Square Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City. The partners invest in young companies that use information technology in innovative ways to create high growth business opportunities in the Media, Marketing, Financial Services, Telecommunications, and Healthcare industries.

From the consumer to the enterpise... This is spot on assesment of where change is occuring. We used to hold not only the data, but the only workable tool to parse the data. that simply isnt the case now. Our current market and the end user market are simply TWO DIFFERENT CHURCHES and in waiting for our current users to get to grip with things, our actual users are leaving us behind. End users aren't smarter, more adept or engaged in info discovery (quite the opposite) it's the that the tools that are out there flatter their abilities to an ubelievable extent. Social engineering solutions (eg Google) are hated by librarians for one simple reason - a succesful soc eng solution removes them from the equation. In going for the end users, do we have to leave the libraians behind?

Today, no one tells you to use Facebook. There are no employer sponsored training sessions on the use of del.icio.us. The burden is on the designer of the system to meet a need, entertain, or inform their users. They also have to seduce those users, hiding complexity, revealing one layer at time, always enticing, never intimidating, until the user one day finds they are intimately familiar with power and the pleasures of the service.

Designing a system that does that is not an electrical engineering problem. It is a social engineering problem. The best social engineers are working today on consumer facing web services. They understand that there is enormous potential leverage in those services. The creators of these services recognize that services like theirs will ultimately disrupt the economics of many, if not most, parts of the global economy in much the same way that Craigslist collapsed the multi-billion dollar classified industry into a fabulously profitable multi-million dollar web service.

The lower the CEO salary, the more likely it is to succeed. The CEO’s salary sets a cap for everyone else. If it is set at a high level, you end up burning a whole lot more money. It aligns his interest with the equity holders. But [beyond that], it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks. In practice we have found that if you only ask one question, ask that.

In a long-ranging discussion today at TechCrunch50, investor Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook, Slide) gave his thoughts on what is the best predictor of startup success. At the Founder’s Fund, one of the most important factors he likes to look at before deciding to invest in a startup is how much the CEO is paying himself. (This is also a factor that one of his investments, YouNoodle, looks at to value private startups). Says Thiel: The lower the CEO salary, the more likely it is to succeed. The CEO’s salary sets a cap for everyone else. If it is set at a high level, you end up burning a whole lot more money. It aligns his interest with the equity holders. But [beyond that], it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks. In practice we have found that if you only ask one question, ask that.

see title

Couldn't Agree More!

Nearly every company relies on the written word to woo customers. So why is most business writing so numbingly banal?

One of my favorite phrases in the business world is full-service solutions provider. A quick search on Google finds at least 47,000 companies using that one. That's full-service generic. There's more. Cost effective end-to-end solutions brings you about 95,000 results. Provider of value-added services nets you more than 600,000 matches. Exactly which services are sold as not adding value? Who writes this stuff? Worse, who reads it and approves it? What does it say when tens of thousands of companies are saying the same things about themselves?

Tweet Tweet Boom Boom A new generation of tech entrepreneurs in the city is trying to overthrow old media and build a better New York—with the help of their iPhones. Are they dreaming? Definitely. But in a good way

Dina Kaplan '93 mentioned in later part of the article

Mentions Dina Kaplan '93

looks like it's worth a skim

Go to a party for an “old” media company, and there can often seem to be a cloud of doom hanging over the proceedings. It can seem like half the guests have been laid off and the other half fear they still could be. The talk is of cutbacks and making do with less and paradigm shifts whose conclusions are, inevitably, the death of the industry.

Don't bother me, because I'm in the middle of my most important task as CEO -- hanging window blinds.

Our company was built on the idea of hiring smart and productive people and then clearing the decks.

I still remember that person... http://tinyurl.com/c67zl6 [from http://twitter.com/mrdoubleb/statuses/1380242864]

Yeah, but he really knows his stuff... /Seth's Blog/ - Every organization worth its salt has at least one ... http://tinyurl.com/d3x8pl [from http://twitter.com/jorgefsb/statuses/1365156152]

Deep technical competency is overrated compared with the ability to make excellent decisions and to create a culture where forward motion is valued and personal initiative is rewarded. The good news is that the bully knows this, and the only reason he gets away with being a bully is that he thinks he's got you bluffed. Call his bluff and odds are you'll have a much more cooperative team, top to bottom.

Deep technical competency is overrated compared with the ability to make excellent decisions and to create a culture where forward motion is valued and personal initiative is rewarded.

Every organization worth its salt has at least one guy like this. Someone who knows every technical detail, or has vast expertise in the parliamentary procedure. Perhaps he's the coot who knows every verse of the Bible or is the...

Compared to finding the perfect business name, a business plan can almost seem easy. How do you pin down a name that sticks in minds, doesn't tread in copycat realms, and yet sounds respectable? ReadWriteWeb has a few suggestions.

Description des étapes du lancement de Mahalo Answers

Terrific post by Jason Calacanis on launching product

100 business tools to make your iphone more productive

This is one post/chapter in a serialized book called Startup 101. For the introduction and table of contents, please click here. Google the phrase

Do you have a unique service or product? Most entrepreneurs have a pocketful of ideas, many of them viable. But they suffer from the "kid in a candy store" dilemma, not knowing which to choose. The trick is choosing the one that really is a winner and having the discipline (see item #9) to ignore all the others.

good bullet points on the common challenges facing the freemium model.

YouSendIt

RT @igrigorik great read on freemium models / patterns for startups: http://tinyurl.com/d5a5xs [from http://twitter.com/nealrichter/statuses/1575106507]

Starting a business isn't as crazy and risky as they say - Blog -

Startups, small business, marketing, and useful geekery from someone who's been there: Jason Cohen, founder of Smart Bear Software

A great blog post advocating results and 'amount of energy expended' rather than hours put into, work.

10 Types of Bad Clients and How To Avoid Them

An aspiring entrepreneur recently asked, “I want to start a startup, but have no ideas. What should I do?” Here are 12 suggestions based on my interviews with entrepreneurs here on Mixergy. What are your suggestions?

We've co-evolved with our tools for thousands of years," he says, explaining how ease of Kindle buying changes behavior. "Reading is an important enough activity that it deserves a purpose-built device....It's a myth that multi-purpose devices are always better.... I like my phone... I like my swiss army knife too, but I'm also happy to have a set of steak knives." "I get grumpy now when I have to read a physical book....The physical book has had a great 500 year run, but it's time to change." "If you're an incumbent in any industry, and rapid change is underway, you're uncomfortable, even if long term it's going to be good." "We've made many errors. People over-focus on errors of commission. Companies over-emphasize how expensive failure's going to be. Failure's not that expensive....The big cost that most companies incur are much harder to notice, and those are errors of Omission."

"At the end of the day, you don't end your strategy because other people don't understand it. Not if you have conviction." This and other quotes from Jeff Bezos, collected by Tim O'Reilly at Wired's 2009 Disruptive by Design conference.

Business wisdom from Jeff Bezos.

Jeff Bezos is very quotable. Listeing to Steve Levy interview him at the Wired Disruptive by Design event in New York, I was furiously taking notes. Here are the quotes I managed to capture.

"There are a few prerequisites to inventing.... You have to be willing to fail. You have to be willing to think long term. You have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time. If you can't do those three things, you need to limit yourself to sustaining innovation.... You typically don't get misunderstood for sustaining innovation."

notes on innovation and entrpreneurs

"There are a few prerequisites to inventing.... You have to be willing to fail. You have to be willing to think long term. You have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time. If you can't do those three things, you need to limit yourself to sustaining innovation.... You typically don't get misunderstood for sustaining innovation." "At the end of the day, you don't end your strategy because other people don't understand it. Not if you have conviction." [via: http://snarkmarket.com/blog/snarkives/briefly_noted/how_to_invent/]

Bezos: "One of the differences between founder/entrepreneurs and financial managers is that founder/entrepreneurs are stubborn about the vision of the business, and keep working the details. The trick to being an entrepreneur is to know when to be stubborn and when to be flexible. The trick for me is to be stubborn about the big things."

"We can make a market or we can take share from a market."

That's the choice most of us make when we launch a product or service. We can make a market or we can take share from a market. "This is just like the Gillette razor, but cheaper." "This has a touch screen, too, but you can get it from Verizon." "I'm a shiatsu massage therapist, the only one on this block." Those are 'taking' statements. They break a larger market into smaller bits. Compare to: "This is a sugared cereal for adults." "Our software enables you to find data and trends that no one else can find." "By combining protein and chocolate, we've developed a new food that's both dessert and dinner." These are 'making' statements. Riskier, sure, but they stand for something, they don't just steal share. The Dummies guides made a market, the Idiot's guides took from that market. You need to be clear with yourself and your team about which one you're after, because they bring different costs, different benefits and different time frames.

That's the choice most of us make when we launch a product or service. We can make a market or we can take share from a market. "This is just like the Gillette razor, but cheaper." "This has a touch screen, too, but you can get it from Verizon." "I'm a shiatsu massage therapist, the only one on this block." Those are 'taking' statements. They break a larger market into smaller bits. Compare to: "This is a sugared cereal for adults." "Our software enables you to find data and trends that no one else can find." "By combining protein and chocolate, we've developed a new food that's both dessert and dinner." These are 'making' statements. Riskier, sure, but they stand for something, they don't just steal share. The Dummies guides made a market, the Idiot's guides took from that market. You need to be clear with yourself and your team about which one you're after, because they bring different costs, different benefits and different time frames.

making markets v. taking markets

Seth's Blog:

These are 'making' statements. Riskier, sure, but they stand for something, they don't just steal share. The Dummies guides made a market, the Idiot's guides took from that market.

Choosing a designer can seem like a daunting task. You need to know if you can trust this person with the reputation of your company, because what they produce will, in many cases, give a potential customer their first impression of your business.

This is a subject near and dear to entrepreneurs, maybe the dearest subject of them all. Founders start out with 100% of the company and every time they raise capital and/or issue stock and options to their management team, that number goes down.

o the problems your leads have and tell

Questions about freelance web developer practices.

Freelance Web Developer Best Practices? -- article related to Index, Businesses, Developers, and Ask Slashdot.

Concelhos

great advice on freelancing

A common refrain for people thinking up business ideas is that all the good ideas have already been done. Finding an established competitor is not necessarily cause to quit on the spot. Here are six potential strategies on how you might go about taking on an entrenched competitor.

"Now, I understand the use of students from elite business schools as a proxy for "talent" in the business world. But as the economy experiences the most deep-seated changes in decades, maybe it's time to change our minds about what kinds of people are best-equipped to become business leaders. Is our fascination with the comings and goings of MBAs as obsolete as our lionization of investment bankers and hedge-fund managers? Is it time to look elsewhere for the "best and the brightest" of what business has to offer?"

Good article on entrepreneurship

Brings out a great distinction between focusing on the 'cause' vs. the 'effect' -- the latter being more akin to Design Thinking. Note also in the explanation of the latter -- the message in effect is 'embrace the heuristics'.

The more Sarasvathy explains the differences in the two styles of thinking, the more obvious it becomes which style matches the times. Causal reasoning is about how much you expect to gain; effectual reasoning is about how much you can afford to lose. Causal reasoning revolves around competitive analysis and zero-sum logic; effectual reasoning embraces networks and partnerships. Causal reasoning "urges the exploitation of pre-existing knowledge"; effectual reasoning stresses the inevitability of surprises and the leveraging of options.

"Her work revolves around one big question: What makes entrepreneurs "entrepreneurial?" Specifically, is there such as thing as "entrepreneurial thinking" — and does it differ in important ways from, say, how MBAs think about problems and seize opportunities?"

Thought-provoking.

"As the cost of starting a Web company decreases, thanks to cloud computing services and technology that entrepreneurs can rent instead of buy, many founders can finance a new company without the help of venture capitalists, using their savings, money from family and friends and credit card debt, Mr. Hendershott writes. More often, they are choosing to sell small, immature companies instead of taking the longer, riskier path of developing a business that could one day go public. That makes venture capital less relevant."

Interesting read for startups

Do Web Entrepreneurs Still Need Venture Capitalists? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com http://bit.ly/cvc1i [from http://twitter.com/robinklein/statuses/1825392377]

experienced tech entrepreneurs looking to support and invest in Europe’s most passionate geeks

We're experienced tech entrepreneurs looking to support and invest in Europe’s most passionate geeks. We’re a pre-seed investment company designed to enable great people to launch great ideas. Our start-up and support process accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success.

check this out. Cool infographic thing pdf.

"We're experienced tech entrepreneurs looking to support and invest in Europe’s most passionate geeks. We’re a pre-seed investment company designed to enable great people to launch great ideas. Our start-up and support process accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success."

"We're experienced tech entrepreneurs looking to support and invest in Europe’s most passionate geeks. We’re a pre-seed investment company designed to enable great people to launch great ideas. Our start-up and support process accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success.

“We're experienced tech entrepreneurs looking to support and invest in Europe’s most passionate geeks. We’re a pre-seed investment company designed to enable great people to launch great ideas. Our start-up and support process accelerates the route to beta, profitability, and success.”

Lessons learned from 13 failed software products

Software entrepreneur culture is full of stories of the products that succeeded. But what about the products that failed? We rarely hear much about them.

Lessons learned from 13 failed software products http://bit.ly/aUboh8 - (via Instapaper) http://tumblr.com/xgib2bvir

ＷＥＢで入力していくと起業アイデアを絞りこめるサービス

Visual worksheet for startups. Document and communicate your business model #startdo

This is the heart of the modern business plan. The only reason to launch a project is to change something, and I want to know what you're going to do and what impact it's going to have.

Seth makes a great case for a better, straight-forward business plan

divide the modern business plan into five sections: Truth Assertions Alternatives People Money

Business plan in bare essentials

An american venture capitalist's blog with information on technology business start ups

Need to read these again once a week.

Sie com artigos sobre empreendedorismo

Varios Artículos con conceptos interesantes sobre empresa

zappos culture

"social experiments"

Tony Hsieh built his online shoe retailer into an e-commerce powerhouse. But with credit tightening and investors eyeing the exits, Hsieh was forced to ask: Was selling Zappos really the only way to save it?

Why I Sold Zappos Tony Hsieh built his online shoe retailer into an e-commerce powerhouse. But with credit tightening and investors eyeing the exits, Hsieh was forced to ask: Was selling Zappos really the only way to save it?

Helpful.

Long post, but good read (headline says it all).

RT @lisawilliams: How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen: http://bit.ly/9oaK1Y

Do you have an idea for a website, online business, or application, but need a programmer to turn that idea into reality? Many of my friends have been in the same position, so here's my best advice, below.

RT @sivers: How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen: http://sivers.org/how2hire

** Posted using Viigo: Mobile RSS, Sports, Current Events and more ** Editor's note: This is a guest post by Karol Gajda of RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com and How To Live Anywhere. If your goal is

How To Become a Millionaire In Three Years | Jason L. Baptiste http://bit.ly/apxllI

forget about the headline - these advices are simple and clever

A list of strategies an entrepreneur should employ. Some of them seem to contradict each other but worthy of occasional review.

1. Does the CEO know what to do? One should interpret this question as broadly as possible. Does the CEO know what to do in all matters all of the time? This includes matters of personnel, matters of financing, matters of product strategy, matters of goal sizing, matters of marketing. At a macro level, does the CEO set the right strategy for the company and know its implications in every detail of the company? I evaluate two distinct facets of knowing what to do: Strategy—At Andreessen Horowitz, we like to say that in good companies, the story and the strategy are the same thing. As a result, the proper output of all the strategic work is the story. Decision making—At the detailed level, the output of knowing what to do is the speed and quality of the CEO’s decisions.

The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. The 99% conference is aimed at creative professionals and is focused on Edison's "99% perspiration." And in the spirit of how...

You probably should watch @avc talk about 10 ways to be your own boss: http://bit.ly/aEz2jV and follow him.

2) Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you don’t actually control.

product

Earlier this year, I had a chance to attend SxSW. One of the highlights of my trip was a startup dinner which included Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37signals. At the time, they had just come out with their new book "Rework". I had downloaded a copy to my Kindle, but hadn't had a chance to read it yet. Now I have. Twice. It's a great book. Lots of practical advice for entrepreneurs. I highly recommend it. My second time through, I decided to pull out some of my favorite parts. onstartups rework You're encouraged to share your favorite insight by using the convenient "tweet" links next to each one. 37 "Signals" From 37 Signals

Very, very smart way to get retweets back to a particular page. He excerpted chunks from "Rework" and added pre-made "Tweet" links next to it. Need to add some CTA on the page and you have a winner

RT @openofficespace: RT @JasonSpector: Why did so many successful entrepreneurs & start-ups come out of PayPal? Answered by Insiders - h ...

RT @hackernewsbot: Why did so many successful startups come out of PayPal? Answered by Insiders... http://bit.ly/9uRk73

@haikalis Cameron Herold: "Let's raise kids to be entrepreneurs" - Video on TED.com http://ow.ly/24GZP

Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults.

First comment is the best.

Job interviews are meant to be conversations. The interviewer asks some questions and the interviewee does the same. It’s never a good sign when an interviewee doesn’t have any questions. It shows a lack of interest. This is particularly true when interviewing for a startup job because there tend to be so many more unknowns at startups compared to more established, bigger organizations.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1442546

«What are the startup’s plans for the next 6-12 months? What are the key metrics for success in the next 6-12 months? What’s the competition like?»

Millionaires

9 Essential Books For Bloggers and Freedom

This post was originally part of my “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of the most popular websites for entrepreneurs). Below is a longer, more comprehensive version — with ten mistakes, instead of six. Question My buddy and I are coding up a new site and we will be ready to launch the beta in about a month. We have a couple of angel investors who are interested, and we don’t want to screw anything up. What are the biggest mistakes that you’ve seen guys like us make? Answer

This post was originally part of my “Ask the Attorney” series which I am writing for VentureBeat (one of the most popular websites for entrepreneurs).  Below is a longer, more comprehensive version — with ten mistakes, instead of six.

3. Solving the wrong problem. Location-based social networks have been around for years. Foursquare came along just a year ago and has seemingly surpassed its predecessors. The other companies built elaborate infrastructures: e.g they partnered with wireless carriers so that users’ locations could be tracked in the background without having to “check-in”. Foursquare built a relatively simple app that added some entertaining features like badges and mayorships. It turned out that requiring users to manually check in was not only easier to build but also appealing as users got more control over their privacy. Foursquare’s competitors were solving the wrong problem.

Many products can be built much more quickly and cheaply by settling for good technology plus a bunch of hacks – human editing, partnerships, using 3rd party software – versus creating a perfect technology from scratch. At my last company, SiteAdvisor, we made the decision up front to build a non-perfect system that did 99% of what a much more expensive, “perfect” technological solution would have done. The software wasn’t always pretty – to the annoyance of some of our engineers – but it worked.

Foursquare built a relatively simple app that added some entertaining features like badges and mayorships. It turned out that requiring users to manually check in was not only easier to build but also appealing as users got more control over their privacy. Foursquare’s competitors were solving the wrong problem.

Ask yourself: if you started over today, would you build the same product?  If not, consider significant changes to what you are building.

Pivoting cdixon.org – chris dixon's blog http://bit.ly/cRARcT

3. Solving the wrong problem. Location-based social networks have been around for years. Foursquare came along just a year ago and has seemingly surpassed its predecessors. The other companies built elaborate infrastructures: e.g they partnered with wireless carriers so that users’ locations could be tracked in the background without having to “check-in”. Foursquare built a relatively simple app that added some entertaining features like badges and mayorships. It turned out that requiring users to manually check in was not only easier to build but also appealing as users got more control over their privacy. Foursquare’s competitors were solving the wrong problem.

Many products can be built much more quickly and cheaply by settling for good technology plus a bunch of hacks – human editing, partnerships, using 3rd party software – versus creating a perfect technology from scratch. At my last company, SiteAdvisor, we made the decision up front to build a non-perfect system that did 99% of what a much more expensive, “perfect” technological solution would have done. The software wasn’t always pretty – to the annoyance of some of our engineers – but it worked.

Foursquare built a relatively simple app that added some entertaining features like badges and mayorships. It turned out that requiring users to manually check in was not only easier to build but also appealing as users got more control over their privacy. Foursquare’s competitors were solving the wrong problem.

Ask yourself: if you started over today, would you build the same product?  If not, consider significant changes to what you are building.

Pivoting cdixon.org – chris dixon's blog http://bit.ly/cRARcT

the instructional appliance

Сервис для создания пошаговых инструкций

Un excelente conjunto de consejos para los emprendedores

"10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups" ( http://bit.ly/bdCLet )

10 Inspiring TED Talks for Startups @ http://bit.ly/9nFvgo | via @karmona – zohar urian (zoharu) http://twitter.com/zoharu/statuses/18522921522

I've written up the following directions to help you get there efficiently. Don't do it all in one sitting because you want your mind to digest the concepts over time. I suggest doing it over the course one week, setting aside a half an hour each day to go through this stuff.

Great walk-through of term sheets for startups

Great resource page for all founders interested in dealterms

I've written up the following directions to help you get there efficiently. Don't do it all in one sitting because you want your mind to digest the concepts over time. I suggest doing it over the course one week, setting aside a half an hour each day to go through this stuff.

Great walk-through of term sheets for startups

Great resource page for all founders interested in dealterms

"Newspaper reporters are taught to write fractal articles ... We should approach programming projects in the same way."

J'ai déjà reconnu la valeur de commencer par la fin. Voici qu'un gourou des startups, à l'instar des méthodes dites agiles, suggère de commencer par le milieu !

vc suster