Startup/Entrepreneur
Will Small Business Save the Economy?
You must have a strategy. An entrepreneur’s dreams for a successful business venture require strategic planning to turn them into reality. If you don’t have a strategic plan, create one before you make another mission-critical decision.
Yes, All Hell Will Break Loose: But Still “Startup”
Enter our friend Saras Sarasvathy, author of Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise. Saras made a fascinating discovery, one that ran counter to conventional wisdom. She studied serial entrepreneurs, but instead of looking at their behavior—which is indeed unique—she focused on how they think. There she found amazing similarities in how they reasoned, approached obstacles, and took advantage of opportunities.
Embracing the “Risk” of Entreprenurship
Entrepreneurship is a deviation, an occupation for heroes, heroic for the reasons it can’t be recommended: it’s just too unsafe. But the conventional position is nonsense; building new companies is far more sensible than the practical will admit.
The Challenge of Young CEO’s: A Lot of Creativity or Too Little Experience
Only four executives under the age of 40 took command of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies between 2004 and 2008, according to a study by recruiters Spencer Stuart. In 2010, the average age of incoming CEOs at S&P 500 companies was 52.9, down from 54.7 in 2006, the Conference Board, a business-research group, says.
Sage Insights to the Next Entrepreneurs and Investors from The “Oracle of Omaha”
Several Fridays a year, Mr. Buffett entertains business students from all over the country who descend on Omaha, Neb., to pick the billionaire investor’s brain.
Financing Your Dream “Startup”
Despite significant funding challenges, including depressed home prices and a tight overall credit market, entrepreneurship rates have risen from 2006 through 2010.
Facebook IPO: Too Much Hype?
Facebook brings in only one 10th the revenues that Google does. So how can it possibly be worth half as much as Google? That is a question that any other company might have to answer as it tries to sell stock to the public.
Managing the Risks and Fear of Entrepreneurship
Since risk is a non-negotiable when it comes to entrepreneurship, your task is to identify your baseline—the level of risk that you are comfortable with—then learn how to manage it. Over time, you’ll want to up the ante, take on more risk and move higher up the continuum. You’ve heard the old adage, “the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.”
“Startup America:” Deepening National Imprint
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Startup America Partnership, a national initiative created by President Obama and chaired by former AOL chief executive Steve Case that aims to promote private-sector investment in entrepreneurship.
Presentation Lessons for Entrepreneurs Pt. 3
Design is a trick area in presentations, because it’s a thin line between sparse and overkill. Schultink has offered some tips on how to find the right balance.
Some Startups Need an “Angel” on Their Shoulders
With banks reining in all but the safest loans, and venture capital firms now targeting less risky late-stage startups, angel investors are nearly alone in backing young, fast-growth companies.
Presentation Lessons for Entrepreneurs Pt. 2
We learn that content is king. Many presenters get consumed in aesthetics, as opposed to value creation. Think, Steve Jobs; simplicity – taking out the unnecessary is where the magic is.
Presentation Lessons for Entrepreneurs Pt. 1
The views are both prosaic and esoteric, yet effective. They help you determine what’s necessary to deliver a great message and influence whatever stakeholders you are trying to convince.
Think Different — About Marketing
Apple didn’t invent music and stick it in an iPod. It just made it easier to access and carry around the tunes you love. Apple didn’t have to convince anybody that it’s better to carry one device than several.
Do Something: “Startup”
Recessions speed up the process of “creative Destruction,” killing businesses, leaving boarded-up windows on the high street as their gravestones. But it may also spur the creation of new businesses.
Your First “Hire:” Could Be Make or Break
In every entrepreneur’s business life when it’s time to hire a sales rep. If you follow these seven simple rules, you’re more likely to end up hiring somebody who can help your company increase its sales.
Move Over Page and Bryn: The New “Dynamic Duo”
Free iPhone and Android apps give users the mobility to broadcast live from almost anywhere and Kondoot’s games can be played online, or downloaded on to smartphones.
“Cash Mob:” Cash Cow
Similar cash mobs have materialized in more than 20 cities, most arranged by individuals who establish followings on Facebook and Twitter. The cash-mob organizers don’t get any benefit in return.
Your “Team” is Your Business
When a team changes, the CEO may temporarily pick up slack. The inherent volatility of running a new company will also inevitably bring unexpected challenges that sit on the rocky banks of the CEO’s river of duties.
“Push Through:” No Matter What
Lieutenant General Gaskin says, that there is an expectation that any candidate looking to join the organization—be it a company or otherwise—has a working knowledge of what they intend to do for that organization, which will be evaluated over specific periods of time.
