entrepreneurs
How Entrepreneurs Can Lead By Example
By Martin at August 31, 2013 | 8:53 am | 0 Comment
Everyone recognizes a great entrepreneur when they work with one, but most entrepreneurs don’t know what to look for in themselves that will drive that perception by others. In my experience, there is no magic gene involved, just simple good habits executed consistently and convincingly until everyone around you in a startup wants to follow your example. This leading more...
185th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs
By Guest Post at August 30, 2013 | 10:41 am | 0 Comment
185th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs Today’s roundtable gave us a unique opportunity to peek into Pakistan’s entrepreneurial eco-system. Due to the efforts of Sennen Desouza with the Institute for Business Administration (IBA), we got to interact with entrepreneurs from Pakistan, and some of them will be pitching at the next roundtable session as well. If you more...
Tips For Those Entrepreneurs Who Work Alone
By Martin at August 30, 2013 | 8:29 am | 0 Comment
You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. You need to have business relationships with team members, investors, customers, and a myriad of other support people. That doesn’t mean you have to be a social butterfly to succeed, or introverts need not apply. It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network more...
10 General Productivity Principles For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at August 28, 2013 | 8:06 am | 0 Comment
Every startup founder feels the pressure of the thousands of things that need to get done, all seemingly at the same time. There is just not enough time! The real solution is better productivity and less procrastination, to put you back in control of your business. You need to spend time on important things, as well as the urgent. Many entrepreneurs waste too much time more...
The Power Of Frequency For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at August 23, 2013 | 8:09 am | 0 Comment
Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. They become frustrated when they are unable to build their startup in a weekend, and give up way too soon when the path to real success seems to be interminable. Both more...
Startup Presentation Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at July 31, 2013 | 8:26 am | 0 Comment
The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten minutes. Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor more...
Business Networking Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at July 29, 2013 | 8:05 am | 0 Comment
I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? The answer is still the same, but I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is more...
183rd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Equity Financing From Customers
By Guest Post at July 26, 2013 | 8:16 am | 0 Comment
183rd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Equity Financing From Customers Today’s roundtable started with an interesting discussion on equity financing from customers. B2Be First, Balaji Abbabatulla from London, England, a 1M/1M premium member, pitched B2Be. The company is working with accounting firms in London to validate its concept of a mobile invoicing more...
Why Entrepreneurs Need To Brand Themselves First Before Branding Their Startup
By Martin at July 19, 2013 | 10:10 am | 0 Comment
Why Entrepreneurs Need To Brand Themselves First Before Branding Their Startup Starting a business is usually the result of a personal dream or need. Investors tell me that they invest in people, more than the idea. Customers buy from people, not from a company, at least at the startup stages. That’s why it’s important to build a personal brand, in parallel more...
182nd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Awake In Australia
By Guest Post at July 19, 2013 | 8:03 am | 0 Comment
182nd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Awake In Australia Our first presenter at today’s roundtable was awake at 1 AM, dialing in from Sydney. Through the rest of the call, we traversed the globe, spanning India, Israel, Boston and Virginia. SydneySlice First, Andrew Blake from Sydney, Australia, pitched SydneySlice, a buy-side real-estate company that wants more...
181st 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs
By Guest Post at July 16, 2013 | 7:52 am | 0 Comment
181st 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: A Romp Through Some Global Entrepreneurship Hubs This week's roundtable gave us a taste of entrepreneurial activity in Chile, Canada and India. GapJumpers First up was Kedar Iyer and Petar Vujosevic from Santiago, Chile, pitching GapJumpers, a neat idea to get hiring managers to ask questions from potential talent, thus more...
How Entrepreneurs Can Break Communication Barriers
By Martin at July 10, 2013 | 8:05 am | 0 Comment
Most startup mentors tell me that the single biggest problem they have to deal with in small companies is the lack of open, honest, and effective communication, both from the top down and from the bottom up. Some entrepreneurs forget that talking is not communicating. Fortunately these skills can be learned, and the barriers to communication can be overcome one by more...
10 Trust Building Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at July 6, 2013 | 9:01 am | 0 Comment
One of the first harsh realities that every entrepreneur has to learn is that most of the things that are critical to startup success are outside of their direct control. Just because you dream it and build it, doesn’t mean they will come – that encompasses not only customers, but also investors, partners, team members, and even your own family. They won’t come if more...
Why Entrepreneurs Should Not Depend On Venture Capital Funding Only?
By Martin at June 29, 2013 | 8:37 am | 0 Comment
I’ve always wondered who started the urban myth that the best way to start a company is to come up with a great idea, and then find some professional investors to give you a pot of money to build a company. In my experience, that’s actually the worst way to start, for reasons I will outline here, and also the least common way, according to a recent survey of new more...
179th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Three Indians
By Guest Post at June 22, 2013 | 8:31 am | 0 Comment
179th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Three Indians Today’s roundtable had three Indian entrepreneurs pitching their businesses from all over the country. Revolution Next Technologies First up was Rahul Sharma from Ludhiana, India, pitching Revolution Next Technologies, an integrated educational institution management solution. Rahul has several more...
178th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Sharpen Your Concepts Before You Commit
By Guest Post at June 14, 2013 | 8:01 am | 0 Comment
178th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Sharpen Your Concepts Before You Commit Today’s roundtable had a higher percentage of concept-stage entrepreneurs than usual. Query First up was Salil Agrawal from Bangalore, India, pitching Query, a Q&A forum concept, supposedly for solving problems. Now the Q&A market is cluttered as hell, and I see absolutely no more...
Entrepreneurs Have To Know When & How To Say ‘No’
By Martin at June 8, 2013 | 9:17 am | 0 Comment
Entrepreneurs have to know when and how to say ‘no,’ and be good at delivering the message. All startup leaders are besieged with requests for their time, attention, talent, money, or influence, and sometimes even good requests won’t fit into the time and energy you have available. Startups require focus, so you need to say ‘no’ to some things, in order to do more...
177th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Fashion Apps
By Guest Post at June 7, 2013 | 8:11 am | 0 Comment
177th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Fashion Apps Today’s roundtable included a lengthy discussion on a mobile app for fashion consumers. It made me reflect back on the days when I was running one of the first fashion e-commerce companies back in 1999-2000. At the time, I was new to the fashion business, and did not know the dynamics of the industry. Well, more...
Do Entrepreneurs Need An Alternative Form Of Capitalism ?
By Martin at May 31, 2013 | 10:47 am | 0 Comment
In my view, entrepreneurship has always been the ultimate embodiment of capitalism, and quite synonymous with free enterprise. Yet I find that more and more young entrepreneurs are uncomfortable with the term “capitalism”, somehow thinking that it prioritizes “making money” above all else. They are looking for a business model that makes the world a better place more...
176th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs
By Guest Post at May 31, 2013 | 8:21 am | 0 Comment
176th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Rackspace Cloud – 1M/1M Startup Challenge Finals Today’s roundtable was specifically designed to host the finals of the Rackspace Cloud – 1M/1m Startup Challenge. B2Be First, Balaji Abbabatulla from London pitched B2Be, a mobile ERP solution for small businesses in the UK. Balaji presented an excellent overview of more...
