startup company
How To Maximize The Value Of Your Startup Company’s Stock
By Martin at May 19, 2015 | 11:18 am | 0 Comment
When an entrepreneur first incorporates his or her business, he or she may find him or herself the proud owner of 10 million shares of common stock, commonly called founder’s shares. It’s disconcerting for most to realize that these shares are initially worth nothing, and the challenge is to get that value up as quickly as possible, without losing it just as quickly more...
How To Make Your Startup Company More Profitable
By Martin at January 19, 2015 | 11:06 am | 0 Comment
Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. Too many entrepreneur “wannabes” never get past the idea stage, or strike out randomly in many directions, hoping that their passion will convince people to follow them and more...
How Lack Of Focus Can Kill Your Startup Company
By Martin at December 18, 2014 | 11:28 am | 0 Comment
Many passionate entrepreneurs fight to add more features into their new products and services, assuming that more function will make the solution more appealing to more customers. In reality, more features will more likely make the product confusing and less usable to all. Focus is the art of limiting your scope to the key function that really matters for the majority of more...
7 Survival Tips For Top Executives Who Wants To Run Startup Company
By Martin at October 15, 2014 | 1:22 pm | 0 Comment
Mid-level or even top executives who “grew up” in large companies often look with envy at startups, and dream of how easy it must be running a small organization, where you can see the whole picture and it appears you have total control. In reality, very few executives or professional stars from large corporations survive in the early-stage startup more...
How To Take Calculated Risk For Your Startup Company Success
By Martin at August 28, 2014 | 11:48 am | 0 Comment
There is old saying that good lawyers run away from risk, while good businessmen run towards risk. Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” In reality, all risks are not the same. Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for more...
How Entrepreneurs Should Focus On Their Startup Company
By Martin at August 25, 2014 | 1:47 pm | 0 Comment
One of the most common failures I see in startups is lack of focus. Unfocused entrepreneurs boast that their new technology will generate multiple disruptive products for consumers as well as enterprises around the world. Investors hear this as trying to do too many things with limited resources, meaning the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the more...
How To Avoid Hiring Mistakes In Your Startup Company
By Martin at June 3, 2014 | 8:32 am | 0 Comment
Every startup with any traction quickly reaches a point where they need to hire employees to grow the business. Unfortunately, this always happens when pressures are the highest, and business processes are ill-defined. At this point you need superstars and versatile future executives, yet your in-house hiring processes and focus are at their weakest. The result is a more...
How To Find Ideal Partner For Your Startup Company
By Martin at December 13, 2013 | 8:26 am | 0 Comment
Most entrepreneurs who start a company alone soon come to the conclusion that two heads are better than one – someone to share the workload, the hard decisions, and the costs. In a moment of crisis, you may be tempted to take on the first person expressing interest as a co-founder. This would be a mistake, and could easily cost you your startup. If you think about more...
Should Startup Company Approach Investment Banks For Funding?
By Martin at September 11, 2013 | 8:27 am | 0 Comment
The name “investment bank” somehow always sounded like a place where I could deposit my investments, and maybe even earn a little interest. Then I learned that these banks really negotiate investments and collect fees on the transactions, sort of like commercial banks do with loans to businesses. None normally work for or provide funds for early-stage more...
How To Run A New Startup Company
By Martin at September 7, 2013 | 8:50 am | 0 Comment
Everyone knows that that startups are risky, but they also expect that the job will be exciting and potentially very lucrative (think early employees at Facebook and Google). Yet we have all heard stories about the high turnover, unstructured work environment, lower base pay, and unpredictable expectations from the top. Assuming you are lucky enough to get hired, what more...
How To Do Financial Projection For Your Startup Company?
By Martin at May 29, 2013 | 8:32 am | 0 Comment
Most entrepreneurs struggle with financial projections, not wanting to commit to numbers they can’t deliver, and having no clue what investors might consider reasonable. However, making no projections, or non-credible projections will get your startup marked as unfundable. I recommend a simple set of guidelines, which work for at least 80% of the business plans I more...
Why Startup Company Need To Create A Blog?
By Martin at April 22, 2013 | 8:03 am | 0 Comment
With the an estimated 150,000 new websites and 7.3 million new pages added to the Internet every day, the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your offering, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and more...
How To Choose Right Business Partner For Your Startup Company?
By Martin at February 9, 2013 | 9:43 am | 0 Comment
A while back I talked about how and where to find a co-founder in “For a Startup, Two Heads are Always Better Than One.” The feedback was good, but some readers asked me to be a bit more specific on attributes that might indicate an ideal startup partner. Even if you are looking in all the right places, it helps to know what you are looking for. In this context, more...
How Startup Company Should Approach Media Company
By Martin at December 18, 2012 | 8:41 am | 0 Comment
Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still more...
Social Media Tips For Your Startup Company
By Martin at December 7, 2012 | 10:31 am | 0 Comment
As I visit the websites of many startups, as well as more mature businesses, I still too often see a “contact” page offering nothing but a sterile form for customers to submit, never to be heard from again. Social media connections, if they exist, are buried elsewhere or reserved for monitoring purposes only. Social media is here, and is the preferred mode of more...
Startup Success Tips For Your Startup Company
By Martin at December 6, 2012 | 8:35 am | 0 Comment
When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. The result is that half or more of startups fail in the first two years. I more...
How To Build Socially Responsible Startup Company
By Martin at October 25, 2012 | 10:34 am | 0 Comment
More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. In the short run, there are real costs associated with the “triple bottom line” of maximizing profit, people (social), and planet (environment). But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and more...
How To: Use Social Media For Your Startup Company
By Martin at September 29, 2012 | 8:53 am | 0 Comment
How To: Use Social Media For Your Startup Company When my friend’s small business was struggling a while back, I suggested he add some social media marketing initiatives, and his answer was that he was “too busy.” His business has since closed, but his mindset is still out there. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, only 60% of companies today more...
Smart Social Media Tips For Your Startup Company
By Martin at August 23, 2012 | 8:39 am | 0 Comment
Smart Social Media Tips For Your Startup Company If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. But, contrary to what most people preach, it isn’t entirely free. Most social media outlets don’t require a subscription charge, but they certainly require an investment – in people, in more...
7 Brilliant Tools To Use While Launching A New Startup Company
By ajay at July 31, 2012 | 11:37 am | 0 Comment
7 Brilliant Tools To Use While Launching A New Startup Company 1. LivePlan LivePlan is the first online business plan software that you can use to make a business plan from any computer or device with Internet access. LivePlan automatically backs up your data every few seconds, and every time you click “I’m Done” for a particular task. All your plan more...
