Most Founders get rich without ever exiting their business. Yes, you read that right. We don't have to build a rocket ship that takes on gobs of funding for an IPO in order to have everything we want.
We just need to keep making money (and not even that much!)
While to most people this may sound obvious, in the startup world we tend to forget how this simple fact works. We keep thinking in terms of this big liquidity event where we get handed a giant check like we just won the Powerball. We picture ringing the bell on NASDAQ wearing the only nice outfit we own shaking hands with bankers and smiling for the camera.
And in the end, we picture having enough money to just do whatever the eff we want.
I spend a ridiculous amo...
The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
While you may be an excellent programmer, what are some other areas of programming where you can improve your skills? Being good in a few core areas doesn’t mean there isn’t additional learning to do.
— Nicole Munoz
Start Ranking Now
Core competency is a ...
Imagine arriving home from school and realizing you’ve left your iPad behind–it’s sitting in the middle of the cafeteria. You drive back, anxiety-ridden, hoping it’s still there.
Now, there’s a product line that will put your mind at ease if something like this ever happens again. Meet Dynotag, a property GPS tag that holds user information.
The company makes tags for lots of different scenarios. Fasten a tag to your car keys, your passport, or even your family pet. Dynotag ensures that lost items get back to their rightful owner.
The information associated with each tag is stored on Dynotag’s cloud and each tag is linked back to its own private website. When someone finds the tag, they can use it to access the owner’s conta...
In a world where business moves at the speed of the IOT, and where data and passwords are more readily available online, entrepreneurs have a new obstacle to address: the protection of their intellectual property.
While corporations have the resources to hire top cyber security teams and implement software solutions that protect their collateral, criminals are increasingly taking an interest in small and medium sized businesses. The new targets have equally marketable data, designs and digital information that have value for criminals, and for foreign governments.
The question to ask: Is your business at risk?
In 1986, China began a program that has been loosely referred to as “shadow innovation”...
Here’s a question that sometimes confounds supervisors and HR departments alike: Is there a difference between a high-potential employee and a high-performance employee?
The answer is yes, and confusing one with the other is apt to lead to some some poor promotion decisions down the road. It also could deny a business the full benefit of having truly high-potential workers on its staff.
A high performer is easy to spot, clearly excelling at whatever job he or she currently fills. But as the Peter Principle observed several decades ago, there is a tendency in business to serially promote competent people until they reach their level of incompetence. Thus, an asset can become a liability.
High-potential employees are not simply good at what ...
Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.
The below video is the first part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity and critical thinking. Find out what she has to say:
Before you make a few modifications to your same, old, boring presentation and click “Save As” thinking you’re ready to go…think again. Take a step back and take an empathetic approach to your delivery of information. When creating a prese...
In my last blog post, I spoke about siloed content caused by silos within an enterprise. Moreover, about the guy who is on the hook to drive the business, generate leads and protect the brand. In most organizations they call him the Chief Marketing Officer or CMO. He is focused on the connected, consistent customer journey.
Yeah, this feels like herding cats — an attempt to control or organize a class of entities which are uncontrollable or chaotic.
Because in a larger organizations, everyone creates content. Sometimes people do not even know that this content ends up being customer facing. Some folks in Support writing some messages in support systems — but is it necessarily on brand and on target?
Let’s break down the customer journey — ...
This is a bit of a different piece of content for me. In his brilliant book “The Tipping Point” Malcolm Gladwell defines 3 archetypes of people – Salesmen, Connectors and Mavens.
Though I see a bit of all 3 in me, relentless Maven. According to Gladwell, Mavens are “information specialists”, or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information.” He goes on to say: “Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know.”
When I discover great things it’s hard for me not to share it with others. I simply can’t help myself. When a company has done such great work developing a product that it becomes an integral part of my work life (or personal life) they deserve to have others know about it.
We all lead busy lives, ...
Continuing in Phase One of a four-part Funding Series:
Phase One - Structuring a Fundraise
Part 1 - Startup Bootstrapping
Part 2 - Debt as Startup Capital ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)
Part 3 - Equity Funding for Startups
Part 4 - Convertible Debt
Phase Two - Investor Selection
Phase Three - The Pitch
Phase Four - Investor Outreach
Let's dive in!
Debt is the most common form of outside capital for new small business owners. While angel investors and venture capitalists get all the big headlines for funding exciting companies, it’s the debt providers that are behind most of the investment dollars that go into the 99% of companies that aren’t splashed across magazine covers and business websites. SBA Loans, Personal Loans to the business owner, merchant cash ad...
There are no classes in life for beginners; right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. — Rainer Maria Rilke
In 1929 a collection of ten letters was published under the title “Letters to a Young Poet”, written by Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke to Franz Xaver Kappus, a 19-year-old officer cadet. The young officer had written Rilke a letter asking for guidance and they corresponded — the two never met in person. In this piece are “double-quoted” extracts from Rilke’s letters.
When the great business thinker Peter Drucker wrote that the “CEO” title was “an American invention”, he was referring to this label in the organizational charts of large corporations. What’s odd about this title in start...