entrepreneurs
150th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: An Inside View Into Mentoring 2.0
By Guest Post at November 30, 2012 | 8:23 am | 0 Comment
150th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: An Inside View Into Mentoring 2.0 It is hard to believe that we have been running FREE mentoring sessions for entrepreneurs since 2008, and just concluded our 150th roundtable on Nov 29. What started as an experiment four years back has really caught on, and blossomed into the foremost mentoring solution in the more...
Learning Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at November 28, 2012 | 8:40 am | 0 Comment
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. On the average, the entrepreneurs I know are living on Ramen noodles. But one thing they all seem to have in common is a love for learning and change. They rush in with a passion to better the world, and money is just an indication of their more...
5 Quick Help Tips For Entrepreneurs To Raise Funding
By Martin at November 26, 2012 | 8:38 am | 0 Comment
Don’t charge the hill until you are “ready.” This probably seems obvious to military types, but I see entrepreneurs violating this rule all the time. They approach key potential investors way too early, trying to talk their way up the hill, with no supporting business plan, and before they have a support team around them. Needless to say, they usually get shot down, more...
Five Leadership Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at November 21, 2012 | 8:46 am | 0 Comment
Many entrepreneurs forget that their success is more about helping other people than about personally becoming famous, or overcoming the odds and getting rich. A successful business has to satisfy customers with a strong team, by helping them solve problems, save money, or experience more pleasure. That means more focus on helping others achieve their goals. How and more...
148th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Never Too Old To Startup
By Guest Post at November 15, 2012 | 9:39 am | 0 Comment
148th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Never Too Old To Startup During this week’s roundtable, we worked with four entrepreneurs, two of whom are premium members of the 1M/1M program. One of them, John Lynch, is our oldest member. At 90, John is doing a startup company in the area of innovative story-telling and legacy preservation for seniors. I hope that all more...
Reality Check For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at November 1, 2012 | 8:38 am | 0 Comment
Most of the time, I’m all about providing encouragement and inspiration to entrepreneurs. They need it and they deserve it, because entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. But every so often, I try to give them a reality check, just to keep their feet on the ground and their nose to the grindstone. Many years ago, I enjoyed one of Guy Kawasaki’s first more...
Quick Help Tips For Entrepreneurs To Resolve Conflicts
By Martin at October 29, 2012 | 8:40 am | 0 Comment
Many entrepreneurs are not prepared for conflict, or actively avoid it. Their vision, passion, and focus are so strong that they can’t imagine someone disagreeing, much less fighting them to the death. But the reality is that startups are composed of smart people, with emotions as well as intellects, working in close proximity under much pressure, so conflicts will more...
Why Entrepreneurs Need To Be Disciplined While Running A Startup
By Martin at October 20, 2012 | 9:42 am | 0 Comment
I have met several young people in business recently who believe that they are natural born entrepreneurs, and actually seem to feel that traditional training and experience may be a detriment to their success in this new world. I concede that natural born components do exist, but more often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker, who said “It’s not magic, it’s not more...
7 Key Facts of Business Life For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at October 17, 2012 | 8:29 am | 0 Comment
When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” I find that the basics are actually the hardest to answer, just like your parents found out when they first tried to fill you in on the “facts of life” a long time more...
Why Entrepreneurs Should Avoid Keeping Their Startup In Stealth Mode
By Martin at October 16, 2012 | 8:36 am | 0 Comment
Every time I hear about a new startup that is in stealth mode, I wonder what problem they are hiding from whom. Of course they pretend that they are trying to avoid alerting competitors prior to launch, but too often it becomes an excuse to move slowly in a world that’s all about getting to market fast. I believe stealth makes sense for large companies who can be more...
How Entrepreneurs Can Deal With Fear Of Success
By Martin at October 15, 2012 | 8:12 am | 0 Comment
In working with entrepreneurs and other business people over the years, I often hear stories of entrepreneurs who were so close to success, but somehow let it slip through their fingers. They could always give a rational excuse, like the market changed, but somehow it seemed that they were actually afraid of success, so they subtly undermined their own efforts. I more...
144th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Don’t Wait For Someone To Fund Your Alpha
By Guest Post at October 13, 2012 | 9:40 am | 0 Comment
144th 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Don’t Wait For Someone To Fund Your Alpha During today’s roundtable, we worked with two entrepreneurs, both with interesting business ideas. Khummo First, Josep Ballestes from Barcelona, Spain, pitched Khummo, a SaaS solution for hotels to collect feedback from customers through a mobile app. Josep already has a more...
5 Great Startup Competition Platform For Entrepreneurs
By ajay at October 12, 2012 | 11:22 am | 0 Comment
5 Great Startup Competition Platform For Entrepreneurs 1. IBM Global Entrepreneur IBM Global Entrepreneur is part of the IBM PartnerWorld program for Business Partners. Participating in IBM Global Entrepreneur provides support and resources in the areas you need most: products, people, and promotion. IBM Global Entrepreneur is expanding the SmartCamp more...
8 Mistakes That Entrepreneurs Should Avoid Before Approaching For Seed Funding
By Martin at October 11, 2012 | 8:32 am | 0 Comment
A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. After exchanging a couple of notes, I concluded that she was more likely a victim of item #1 on my reject list below, rather than a drought on seed more...
Why Entrepreneurs Get Failed To Scale Up Their Early Stage Startup?
By Martin at October 10, 2012 | 8:19 am | 0 Comment
Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale. Investors often say that more...
How Much Money Should You Ask From Investors For Startup
By Martin at September 20, 2012 | 8:29 am | 0 Comment
Startups ask me “How much money should I ask for?” The simple answer is the absolute minimum amount you need to make your plan work. Some entrepreneurs try to start with a huge number, hoping they can negotiate and close on a smaller one, while others understate their requirements, in hopes of getting their foot in the door with an investor. Neither of these more...
Exceptional Leadership Tips For Entrepreneurs
By Martin at September 14, 2012 | 10:09 am | 0 Comment
Starting and building a company is all about leadership – formulating an idea, building a unique plan based on vision and experience, and forging a path over and through all obstacles. Yet the image of leadership in business is at an all-time low, according to national leadership experts, considering the political debacles, record business bankruptcies, and executive more...
142nd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Five 1M/1M Ambassadors Win Scholarships
By Guest Post at September 14, 2012 | 8:29 am | 0 Comment
142nd 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: Five 1M/1M Ambassadors Win Scholarships During today’s roundtable, we started the session by celebrating five of our high performing ambassadors: Danielle Faber from Ontario, Canada; Erin Frank from Madison, Wisconsin;Javier Hernández Pérez from Madrid, Spain; Shilpa Kolte from Singapore, Malaysia; and Saikat Sengupta from more...
Tips For Entrepreneurs To Balance Their Work & Health
By Martin at September 8, 2012 | 9:10 am | 0 Comment
One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Having too much on your plate can turn your dream into a nightmare. Some people will tell you to just get a bigger plate, meaning hire some more...
141st 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: OrangeScape Launches KiSSFLOW
By Guest Post at September 8, 2012 | 8:34 am | 0 Comment
141st 1M/1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs: OrangeScape Launches KiSSFLOW During today’s roundtable, we spent a large part of the session working with 1M/1M premium company OrangeScape’s CTO, Mani Doraisamy, and the strategy for the company's new product KiSSFLOW. OrangeScape, by the way, is based in Chennai, India, and has been part of the 1M/1M premium program more...
