OK, here’s my first ever list of new tools that nearly every startup entrepreneur will use, including using your Mac. My intention for this page is to highlight some of the tools that might be of benefit to others, not just Mac specific, but startup entrepreneur using a Mac specific.
So here goes my first three solutions for startups:
Startup entrepreneurs have to learn that one of the first things that needs to be learned is market research and marketing. As Jack Canfield said, “10 percent of your efforts is in writing a book, the other 90 percent is marketing it.”
That’s the same for ANY startup business.
So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
Here’s a great infographic about online marketing. Enjoy learning the basics, or returning to the basics, as we all need once in a while.
Image via CrunchBase
Any startup entrepreneur needs to make connections with others, primarily because they can’t do it all themselves, but it’s best they don’t do it all themselves.
Startup Weekend Denver occurred this past weekend at WorkBrite’s Coworking location. I’ll go into what happened and what I saw.
Purchasing a ticket to attend pays for food and drinks for the weekend. Great for those that “need to get things done” in starting up a business.
Friday Night’s agenda:
Saturday’s Agenda:
Sunday’s Agenda:
Overall Friday night is the most hectic as you’re determining the idea to follow and how you can contribute to it. On Saturday it came down to doing the work so it was gelling time, finding out where you fit into the team that you have selected to help out and then getting productive.
Clothes of choice were varied. Short, especially cargo shorts and flipflops were abundant, though, so you’d say it was Saturday casual wear, a notch below casual Friday. Coders usually had laptops and earbuds or headsets to keep focused on their tasks. Of course, laptops where all around.
As a Mac entrepreneur the one thing that I did see was about a 2 to 1 use of Macs over PCs for those attending. Startups know the right hardware/software combinations. So if you want to start a business, Macs are the computer of choice. Smart people use them.
Overall if you have any reason to start a business and have a weekend to learn, Startup Weekend is the place to be to get your feet wet learning about startups. Nothing like getting a baptism of fire for the newbies.
Image via Wikipedia
When it comes to startup entrepreneurs, one of the key factors of getting started is the key word: Focus. What should they focus on to get them going?
Have you heard of the comment, “What you focus on is what you get!” It’s true. The same thing goes for seeing a glass half empty or half full. If all you see is obstacles and not your vision of accomplishing something it is demotivating. But even if you focus on the positive, what do you focus on?
I once was working a job at a small retail company and the Regional Director was visiting and “motivating” us by stating, “Focus, focus, focus!” But of course, most of the people took that and ran “fast” with what they saw, but each in their own direction with activities that, while helpful to the business, were actually NOT the right priorities for the business. Her leadership skills were fear based and while they were “detailed,” her motivation did not embrace what the priority of the organization’s goals were. It was a scattered view of “getting it all done and fast,” it intentionally “blurred” everyone’s focus costing the company time, money and resources.
So, as any startup entrepreneur, here’s a short list of what to focus on:
So, what do you think a startup should focus on?
Here’s the wrong answers:
These are the correct answers in the correct order of priority:
A focused priority will keep you moving ahead in the right direction.
Image via CrunchBase
Hey potential Startups and Entrepreneurs, step right up and buy tickets to the 2011 Denver Startup Weekend on June 3-5th at WorkBrite, 4120 Brighton Blvd, A-40, Denver, Co 80216. Get your tickets now.
StartupWeekend Denver is a community building startup event. Participants get together with local developers, marketers, designers, enthusiasts and start companies in just 54 hours.
Denver Startup Weekend is part of a larger movement of others cities that are doing the same thing. Startup Weekend is a global network of passionate leaders and entrepreneurs on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, teams and communities. Come share ideas, form teams, and launch startups. You can learn more about it here.
When startup entrepreneurs go for “funding” of their business, product, or service, there’s a general idea that founder-led companies might not be “up to the task” as “professional CEOs.”
Well, the data is in and the answer is: Founder-led CEOs WIN!
Check out this article Why startup founders can make solid CEOs at CNN Money. Here’s the significant quote from a 2005 study:
Founder-led companies had a market-adjusted return of 12% over the course of three years and a survival rate of 73%, compared with a return of -26% and a survival rate of 60% for firms that hired a new CEO…
What are your thoughts?
Image via Wikipedia
Is this the new economy reality? Read this article post from Impact Labs entitled Jobs of the Future Will Not Support Basic Standard of Living in U.S., it’ll make you think.
As the economy limps along and long term prospects of finding a job gets slimmer, people are being pressed into entrepreneurship. The Kauffman Foundation has a post that outlines the numbers, ‘Jobless Entrepreneurship’ Tarnishes Steady Rate of U.S. Startup Activity, Kauffman Study Shows. Here’s a quote:
According to the “Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity,” a leading indicator of new business creation in the United States, 0.34 percent of American adults created a business per month in 2010, or 565,000 new businesses, a rate that remained consistent with 2009 and represents the highest level of entrepreneurship over the past decade and a half.
