In Silicon Valley, where it costs next to nothing to build a company based on just software and a clever business model, some people still make hardware. Physical goods. Things that have to be manufactured, boxed up, shipped, plugged in. Things that break.
It might seem that the economics of making hardware are at odds with the cycle of easy money and fast startups, but there are still people who think that hardware is a good business because it is so difficult.
One of those people is Nick Weaver, the 28-year-old founder of eero, a company that has turned the un-sexy world of WiFi routers on its head. Before he started his company, he was the guy at his family house who kept the network equipment up and running. Often this meant nerdy netw...
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If a pizza shop shares photos of their business (and their pizza) on Facebook, Google+ and other large platforms. What are the legal ramifications of aggregating all of these photos onto a ‘master’ platform (external website).
Is this legal? (Attribution will be given).
Does anyone have experience (specifically the terms of Facebook and G+?)
Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, Small Business Attorney & Entrepreneur, answered:
(I’m an intellectual property law attorney.) If you use the embedding features of Twitter/Facebook/G+, you can embed a post on an external website an...
Let’s pause – just for a moment – to bask in the revolution that is Creation Crate. For too long, postal delivery box services have been the reserve of fancy fruit and vegetables, small batch wine and beer, and other edible nonsense that we don’t really need. Seriously, how many types of quinoa and kale do you actually want, people? And why must it be delivered, in cardboard and twine, to your houses? Is it to inspire jealousy in your neighbors? Disgusting. Now, thanks to Creation Crate, artisanal products’ tyrannical domination of postal delivery boxes is over.
Creation Crate is a simple enough concept. Aimed at a target audience aged 12 and over (yes, even adults can get in on the action), Creation Crate works on a subscri...
It’s a crazy, multi-device world.
According to one report from Facebook, 60% of online adults in the U.S. and U.K. use at least two devices each day, meaning that mobile is at the epicenter of many brands’ marketing, sales, and product strategies.
This trend creates a window of opportunity for companies that are looking to reach audiences at multiple points in their buyer journeys. The challenge, however, is that mass-market tools and analytics technologies haven’t caught up—basic reports in Google Analytics only provide aggregate-level traffic data, for instance. It’s tough to dissect the steps that your audiences are taking to become customers and repeat customers.
Despite this lack of transparency, one concept holds tried and true: you’r...
The answers below are provided by members of FounderSociety, an invitation-only organization comprised of ambitious startup founders and business owners.
You should have a written marketing plan in place before starting your business. This is the most overlooked puzzle piece in modern business. You outsource your accounting and your legal, but most companies think they can do their own marketing without experience. While your business will evolve, why not get there quicker with a strategic marketing plan by a professional?
— Steven Newlon
SYN3RGY Creative Group
Make sure your business concept can stand out in the crowd. If ...
We all understand the "startup struggle" part of the process, but how does that other part, where we make a bunch of money work?
Doesn't it seem to be the case that there's endless lore about the early startup days and then the end where the company gets big, but not much clarity about what happens in between?
It's kind of like one of those "comeuppance" montage scenes (Wall Street's Bud Fox come-up is my personal favorite) that shows the time-lapse of the Founder struggling, and then all of a sudden on top with all the fancy things.
I've interviewed countless Founders of every possible industry who have "made it" and I always ask them the same question: "When did you realize you were about to be successful?"
They alwa...
When you’re launching a travel business, there are many “what ifs” and “what nows” — especially if you’re a rookie. It’s almost too easy to get caught up in the excitement. Whether you’re trying to build out too many related products before perfecting your core business, struggling to gauge the strength of a potential partnership, or micromanaging your staff, it might be a good idea to take a step back and gain a little perspective from the pros.
After all, those pros started out where you are now, and many are willing and eager to help others get on their feet. So don’t be afraid to reach out within the tight-knit entrepreneurial community to seek advice because almost nothing is more valuable than help from someone who has been in the tre...
How many startups launched last year? How many of them succeeded? While some of them fail simply because they didn’t create something people want. A bigger chunk vanished due to the wrong execution of their growth and marketing.
Growth is key, yet growing a startup is really hard.
Many founders struggle to figure it out. What makes it even harder is the overwhelming amount of tactics and the “one size fits all” hacks that dictate how we should be running our own growth & marketing efforts.
While these pieces of advice are supposed to be an inspiration, a lot of founders take them as a prescription and apply them them regardless of the context of their product or customers.
I think this happens because many founders love “short-cuts” and fan...
When I’m listening to Naveen Jain describing his plan to create big business on the moon, it’s hard for me to grasp that he was once a poor child in India.
Today, Naveen is a billionaire and a very successful entrepreneur. His own recipe for success is, among other things, not knowing much and not being very good at anything. To me, that sounds like the opposite of what business life normally requires, yet Naveen isn’t joking, and his track record proves that he is not wrong either. After all, the young boy that grew up in poverty in India is today changing the world as we know it and has Sir Richard Branson and Google founder Larry Page as two of his good personal friends.
Jonathan: Naveen, I find it so inspiring that you have used entrepr...
Welcome to Phase Three of a four-part Splitting Equity Series. If you missed it, start your journey here: Introduction - Early Startup Equity — Getting it Right before continuing on if you haven’t already, and go in order from there.
Phase One - Startup Equity - Avoiding Early Mistakes
Phase Two - How Startup Equity Works
Phase Three - Part 1 - How to Split Equity
Part 2 - Splitting Equity Today
Part 3 - Splitting Equity in the Future ( ←YOU ARE HERE 😀)
Phase Four - Equity Management
Let's continue!
Founder equity splits rarely turn out to be what we hoped they would be after Year 1. The co-founders at startup companies start off with the best intentions, but as the business venture turns into lon...