Posts Tagged ‘small biz’

Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Stack Exchange and Super User

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Got a technical, software or programming question like, “Is a function larger than an array [in Javascript]?” Or, do you just want to know when the first use of a secret identity in a comic book was? Either way, I’ve got your answer.

Well, I don’t, but Stack Exchange does. There’s a lot of user- generated question and answer sites out there, finding information you want isn’t necessarily difficult on the internet.  What struck me when I was browsing through Stack Exchange was that the quality of the questions was far better than your average Yahoo! Answers.  This is not a venue for “how du u kno wen ur in luv?” It’s smart people needing information from other smart people.  The homepage is an endless scroll of questions, most of them interesting enough I found myself browsing the site.  If you’re interested, the gent that founded Stack Exchange also founded Super User, a Q&A site that focuses only on technical questions.

Founder Jeff talks more below about creating a super exchange (see what I did there?):

How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?

If you have a technical question and type it in to Google, we want Stack Exchange (and Super User) be the page with the best answer!

What are some industry specific challenges you faced?  

There are a lot of sites and forums that already offer technical answers to computer questions. Getting heard above the din takes time and effort, but our focus on simple, clean presentation and a relentless dedication to quality pays off, particularly on new topics where there aren’t as many web pages out there.

If you could go back, would you do anything differently? If so, what and why?

We kind of screwed up by not having a special “meta” site for community members to discuss Super User until very recently. If we’ve learned anything, it is that “the place where you discuss the place” is an essential ingredient in any community. I wrote about this on my blog:http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/listen-to-your-community-but-dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-do.html but it finally exists now athttp://meta.superuser.com , although we should have had it from day one. (more…)

Twitter Link Roundup #120 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The video above shows Australian Magician James Galea performing an unbelievable magic trick with a deck of cards. How does he do that?

The Zappos Effect: 5 Great Customer Service Ideas – http://hub.am/yh0hLq

5 Ways to Use Social Media and Your Online Presence to Drive People Offline – http://bit.ly/wuUkMf

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Should I Get Married? – http://bit.ly/y3eS9q

Functions over Titles – http://awe.sm/5fI9Z

Agreeable Guys* Finish Last – http://bit.ly/zqA34S

10 Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Politicians – http://bit.ly/z68bxM

Ron Conway is a Silicon Valley startup’s best friend – http://bit.ly/xtt9L7

Zap your brain and get focused quickly. If it were only this easy – http://bit.ly/yl5kYS

The Three Things That Got Fab.com Two Million Users In Seven Months – http://read.bi/wdzAyR

Functions over Titles – http://awe.sm/5fI9Z

Does Startup Density Predict Success? – http://bit.ly/x8RfdY

Between failure and Facebook – http://bit.ly/wAE6BD

The Zappos Effect: 5 Great Customer Service Ideas – http://hub.am/yh0hLq

4 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned From Self-Publishing My First Book – http://bit.ly/AmJBHT

Agreeable Guys* Finish Last – http://bit.ly/zqA34S

Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool – http://bit.ly/yGFips

We assume that brainstorming works pretty well to solve most problems. But does it really work? – http://nyr.kr/AbiEmG

The mad dash to remove something before the deadline – http://bit.ly/A94VTR

The Three Things That Got Fab.com Two Million Users In Seven Months – http://read.bi/wdzAyR

Is Bitcoin, once the next shiny thing, on its last breaths? – http://bit.ly/wf8fBR

50 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts for Your Designs – http://bit.ly/wKvinq

20 Free Fonts Used In Iconic Movies – http://bit.ly/zQudPt

12 Things I Have Learned After 7 Years of Freelancing – http://bit.ly/xUtycT

50 Useful and Fresh Photoshop Tutorials – http://bit.ly/xhiFE2

(more…)

Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Should I Get Married?

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Valentine’s Day. Those words might send you into visions of long-stemmed roses and Michael Bolton or into a seizure of disgust and disillusion.  Or a shrug of absolute disinterest. But it’s today, the day after Valentine’s, that is the most interesting.  It’s the holiday I like to call: “WE’RE ENGAGED! NOW LOOK AT MY RING FROM EVERY POSSIBLE ANGLE AND ON EVERY POSSIBLE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM” Day.  (Clearly catchy names are kind of my thing.)

For every heart-felt congratulations, there’s always that one couple that causes a Scooby-Doo “Errrwaahh?” And for the next year or however long their engagement is, you’re stuck wondering if you should say something or if you just have to forever hold your peace.  Or, maybe you’re in the other boat: you want to get married, but you’re worried about being the couple that causes everyone a Scooby-Doo “Errrwaahh?”

Either way, Should I Get Married is here for you.  What it does is allow potential fiances (or any long-term, committed couple– even if you can’t legally get married) to collect anonymous feedback from their friends and family.  If you want the cold, hard truths about what those closest think about your relationship, all you have to do is go to the site and fill out an “Invite For Insight.”  Proceed with this knowledge carefully.

Below, Travis talks more about creating Should I Get Married:

How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?

Our website offers a very unique tool to assist folks that are considering marriage to be sure they are truly making the best decision for themselves and their future.  We hope to help our customers make sure this marriage will be their last.  We want to help them ensure they are part of the 50% of people that will stay married and live happily ever after.  So, with the help of tools from the digital age, we have created an “Invite for Insight” or IFI.

An IFI is completed by our customers on the website and allows them to gain specific insight about their relationship, from folks in their life whom they trust most for good advice.  The IFI, allows them to learn the real unspoken perspective’s of these trusted folks, on a variety of topics concerning their relationship and their partner.

Shouldigetmarried.net sends and receives the IFI’s to keep the responses anonymous  so folks are more likely to answer honestly without fear of hurting their personal relationship.  When we compile the responses of the IFI the results are often very powerful.  The IFI reveals the true positives and negatives of the relationship as it is perceived by people who  have different relationships with the couple.  One thing is for sure, the Invite for Insight offers truth, like never before.  Essentially we are the virtual version, of speak now or forever hold your peace, less the drama.  Truth that we believe can add strength and confidence in what ever decision they ultimately decide on.  So if you know someone considering marriage, you can Gift them an IFI and we will send it on your behalf or anonymously.

What are some industry specific challenges you faced?  

The biggest industry specific challenge we encountered was setting ourselves apart from what’s currently out there.  We needed to make it clear that we are striving to differentiate ourselves in a sea of marriage sites that pretty much all look and feel the same; that we are not just offering the same-old, recycled advice that is not specific to any one’s particular relationship.  We take into account all of the variables that someone may not even be aware of themselves, and help folks find the truth that’s relevant to them. (more…)

10 Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Politicians

Monday, February 13th, 2012

‘Tis the season. Not for giving gifts or reflecting on peace on earth. This is the silly season where we have to opportunity to elect our next President of the United States. Every four years, our country engages in a ritual which will impact the course of our economy, our social policy, and our governmental priorities. More importantly, this quadrennial exercise will determine the content of our newspapers, blogs, TV newscasts, and radio editorials. Writers will fulminate, pundits will issue declarations, and talking heads will revel in the traditional aspects of the sport known as Presidential Politics.

What can entrepreneurs learn from politicians? Historically, the political industry has pioneered strategies for marketing, partnering, business development, social media use, and audience engagement. Brand-building is key to successful political campaigns as it is for businesses, and politicians build their own personal brands using tactics that all of us use everyday. In short, small businesses and startups can draw many valuable lessons from politics, politicians, and political campaigns. In previous posts i have written about how we can learn from kidsdogsmusicians, chefs, and athletes.

As we speak there are still four candidates actively competing for the Republican Party nomination for President, and while we find ourselves by turns, laughing at them, swearing back at them on television, or nodding in agreement with their ideas, we do have to admire them for their passion, their dedication, and their persistence as they each create a distinct brand and pursue their share of the elector market. So, let’s take a look at the politicians and see what they have to teach us!

1. Politicians compete. Politics is a cut-throat industry, rife with cheating, back-stabbing, and intrigue. Not that those are necessarily ‘bad’ things, right? While i do not espouse the use of dirty tricks or underhanded strategies to gain advantage in business, we do stand to learn from successful politicians and their ability to put themselves forward in the best possible light, while painting the most unflattering picture possible of their opponents. In politics at its best, this competition takes the form of a debate about ideas and convictions and, at its worst, it can get viciously personal and destructive. While rejecting the negative approach we see so often in politics, entrepreneurs can and should learn from those politicians who compete by emphasizing the values they represent, the superiority of their ideas, and the benefits that come with their service.

2. Politicians market actively. Politics requires constant and active marketing. During campaign season, this is obvious – just ask anyone in Florida about the recent inundation f television commercials, mailers, robo-calls, door hangers, yard signage, and wall-to-wall billboards. But between elections good politicians continue to energetically market their ideas, their legislative priorities, and their brands. This usually takes the form of public relations – news conferences, press releases, public appearances are leveraged to keep the person or the issue in the public eye and push the priorities and ideas of the politician into the public conscience. Entrepreneurs can draw clear connections to their own businesses, products, and services and can leverage many of the same techniques politicians use to increase awareness, build brand loyalty, and keep themselves top-of-mind with their own audience.

3. Politicians differentiate. One of the keys to a strong political campaign is the candidate’s ability to draw a strong distinction between herself and her opponent. Voters take a risk when electing a candidate – after all, we don’t really know what a candidate will do once they become an incumbent – so it is critical for a politician to show how they are different and to give voters a clear choice. Small business can take a similar approach in the marketplace: by communicating how our offering differs from the competition, our customer can better understand the choices they have and the benefits they can derive by choosing us over the competition.

4. Politicians build audiences. In social media one measure of results is the size of our audience: followers, likes, re-tweets are ways we determine our success. In politics audiences are not just important, they are critical in determining whether an incumbent keeps his job or whether his opponent takes it over. So, needless to say, a politicians ability to build a faithful audience can make or break a career and determine whether their ideas and programs prevail. Our ventures, too, thrive with the support of a loyal audience; ensuring customer satisfaction, creating great word of mouth, and building a fanatical fan base can allow our own businesses to prevail in the marketplace.

(more…)

Twitter Link Roundup #119 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image to the left is a fun look at what a movie poster for an Oscar-nominated film would be like if it literally wanted to communicate what the movie was about. More fun posters in the Other section below.

8 Legal Steps for Starting Your Business – http://on.mash.to/AdW6Rn

Could Your Business Survive Without You? – http://bit.ly/ApHXux

Good tips on what to say when you fire someone (all biz owners must be comfortable doing this) – http://bit.ly/z1wLNw

Small Biz and Startup Tips: 5 Ideas to Prepare for an Economic Recovery – http://bit.ly/x64Zme

The Power of the Rule of Three in Marketing Your Small Business – http://bit.ly/wqmtu5

The Perpetually Vexing Problem of Hiring Programmers – http://bit.ly/w5QTm2

5 Reasons The Windy City is a Great Place for Startups – http://j.mp/zh4Zw8

How to build your startup without learning code – http://bit.ly/yPw6Vq

The Chicago FireStarter Venture Capital Fund – http://bit.ly/ytkmoa

The Perpetually Vexing Problem of Hiring Programmers – http://bit.ly/w5QTm2

SaaS: Change starts easy and then gets really hard – http://bit.ly/wZqTSt

Could Your Business Survive Without You? – http://bit.ly/ApHXux

8 Legal Steps for Starting Your Business – http://on.mash.to/AdW6Rn

This was the right response from Path – http://bit.ly/zNiKIi

Small Biz and Startup Tips: 5 Ideas to Prepare for an Economic Recovery – http://bit.ly/x64Zme

The Power of the Rule of Three in Marketing Your Small Business – http://bit.ly/wqmtu5

Good tips on what to say when you fire someone (all biz owners must be comfortable doing this) – http://bit.ly/z1wLNw

Pinterest is quietly generating revenue by modifying user submitted pins – http://bit.ly/xa9Aj5

When did advertising get so small? – http://bit.ly/xd0S8c

Good to see companies focus on real advertising metrics – http://bit.ly/xoHbOU

Silly to reach conclusions based on results of a study surveying 200 people (about twitter addiction) – http://bit.ly/yx4ssE

Is traffic from StumbleUpon just “noise”? – http://bit.ly/x6Sa9W

This was the right response from Path – http://bit.ly/zNiKIi

Yelp advertising is a rip-off for small advertisers – http://bit.ly/yraI9X

Only 1 “Top Brand” Has Created A Google+ Page In The Past Two Months, Report Says – http://bit.ly/yugLbG

Crowdsourcing has a longer-term payoff than originally thought: study – http://smrt.io/xCfZSm

Pinterest continues to impress with referral traffic – http://bit.ly/zHheNr

Those Millions on Facebook? Some May Not Actually Visit – http://nyti.ms/Af9DAG

Those Millions On Facebook? They Actually Visit, And It’s Not A Huge Deal Anyway. – http://tcrn.ch/yDQUPv

Rice University And OpenStax Announce First Open-Source Textbooks – http://tcrn.ch/ytEUYk

AT&T, Google Among The Biggest Online Advertisers — comScore – http://tcrn.ch/A2fKGT

70 Excellent Adobe Illustrator Tutorials – http://bit.ly/yZimmK

50 Illustrator Tutorials To Create High Quality Icons – http://bit.ly/wNiIP1

How to Stop Yourself from Stealing from Your Design Gurus – http://bit.ly/yhUJ8j

(more…)

Small Biz and Startup Tips: 5 Ideas to Prepare for an Economic Recovery

Monday, February 6th, 2012

While economists (as usual) refuse to agree on the specifics, there is a general consensus that the recovery may (finally) be underway. Last week the Labor Department announced that in January over 240,000 new jobs were created and that the unemployment rate was at its lowest level in three years. In addition, tax revenues are increasing as is consumer spending, and exports have grown across many industries.

For small business this is great news. Not just because it means that other companies are hiring, but it means that other companies are spending. One of the most corrosive effects of the weak economy has been the impact on how, when, and where businesses have spent; small business in particular took a hit because of reduced spending. When customers choose to defer spending on services and goods which might not be 100% necessary to their business, many other businesses are impacted. And when companies can be confident enough to start spending again, the trickle effect can have a positive impact on many other companies, too.

Small businesses can and should plan for an improving economy, just as they have for a downturn. In a bad economy we plan and execute tactics to cut back on discretionary spending, reduce labor costs, postpone expansion, defer marketing efforts, reduce inventories, and minimize all extras and perks. In an improving economy, small business in particular can look for ways to leverage the upswing and to strategically benefit from some of the opportunities created when bad times start to get better. Here then are 5 thoughts on ways small business and startups can get a jump on the growth!

1. Look for new talent. In the last few years, layoffs have taken a toll – hundreds of thousands of workers are still on the search for that new job and the pool of available talent is probably the richest it has been in decades. Consider filling any positions you might have left vacant during the downturn, or even creating new ones to take advantage of an uptick. Many positions require training and many new employees can take months to get fully up to speed, so start planning ahead for the growth that may be in store.

2. Invest in equipment. Capital expenditures were among the most commonly deferred costs for many businesses over the past few years, and manufacturers felt the sting. But now factories are gearing up again, with job growth in the manufacturing sector among the strongest last month. Inventories are also on the increase and together these act as a leading indicator and a strong sign of recovery. While credit remains tight, interest rates are at a historical low and government incentives are available making investment in equipment, furniture, and fixtures an attractive proposition. (more…)

Twitter Link Roundup #118 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The video above is a new Super Bowl commercial from Honda, featuring Matthew Broderick and reminding us how much we loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

What Zappos Can Teach You About Becoming Irresistible to Customers – http://t.co/3UxbuL0b

Gamification: The buzzword that can ruin your apps and business – http://t.co/bdsJOO6q

Fail Your Way to Success – http://t.co/NZIGRSUA

Got Early Startup Competition? Here’s Why I Think You’re Fine – http://t.co/VvfDsrZP

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Geben Communication - http://t.co/8OpJiC5o

Fail Your Way to Success – http://t.co/NZIGRSUA

Hiring for Lean Startups: The First Few Hires – http://t.co/1T5hVqFh

Outsourcing, crowdsourcing and crowdSPRING – http://t.co/DOAMW5nc

Ignore TechCrunch, Don’t skip your MVP, and be Data-Driven – http://t.co/mqOnDbs5

Solid advice for entrepreneurs – Startups are not a chess game – http://t.co/L8RI5z4y

Got Early Startup Competition? Here’s Why I Think You’re Fine – http://t.co/VvfDsrZP

What Zappos Can Teach You About Becoming Irresistible to Customers – http://t.co/3UxbuL0b

When has a consumer startup hit product/market fit? – http://t.co/Qb5Z5nXX

…Because Most SEOs Don’t Know What Strategy Means – http://t.co/50xVysi2

Gamification: The buzzword that can ruin your apps and business – http://t.co/bdsJOO6q

Tony Hsieh’s new $350 million startup – http://t.co/UbKfBVm0

To-Do Lists Don’t Work – http://t.co/huDb4pCd

Google+ demographics are predictable – http://t.co/4SuDAL0M

Study: Only 1% of Facebook ‘Fans’ Engage With Brands - http://t.co/C0dCY2UH

Not surprising to see ad agencies shedding employees - http://t.co/kGx6Jo2q

Why Necessity Will Soon Make Facebook The World’s Largest Mobile Ad Network – http://t.co/U7pHhIR9

Klout means nothing, because attention is not influence – http://t.co/7KclyNws

Aging in Adland: The Gray-Hair Phobia That’s Hindering Older Execs – http://t.co/btNQGAZJ

Facebook Pads Its Lead Over Yahoo in Online Display Ads With 28% of Market – http://t.co/oseZI92P

Pinterest Rivals Twitter in Referral Traffic – http://t.co/7bEJrlQU

Seven observations on the 2012 Super Bowl ads – http://t.co/AA9QA2ie

…Because Most SEOs Don’t Know What Strategy Means – http://t.co/50xVysi2

A very handy guide to mobile advertising – http://t.co/ffWgOvWb

Report: Search Ad Spend To Rise 27% In 2012 – http://t.co/AyQeTPKA

Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers [INFOGRAPHIC] – http://t.co/2I1tXTMc

41 New and Fresh Fonts for Your Design Projects – http://t.co/954Anu7O

55 Fresh And Free Texture Packs To Spice Up Your Designs – http://t.co/sU2LXkZb

Free High Quality Leather Textures for your Design – http://t.co/yeyb7Ftp

(more…)

Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Geben Communication

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Sometimes it seems like the world of entrepreneurs is approximately 5,000% male. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to turn into a lecture about institutionalized sexism (though, largely male tech community: don’t tempt me!).  Instead, I want this to be a celebration of women who go out, start their own businesses, and get exactly what they want.

Today’s spotlight is Geben Communication, a PR and communications firm located in Columbus, Ohio.  Don’t let their “fly-over” status fool you: these guys are pros and handle clients from across the globe. President Heather Whaling has truly taken the world by storm.  She’s been listed as one of the Top 30 PR Professionals to follow on Twitter and writes a monthly column on digital PR trends for American Express OpenForum.  If that’s not enough (seriously, I’m exhausted listing all this!), she co-moderates a Twitter chat every week called PR 2.0 Chat (#pr20chat).  There’s only one word for this woman: kick ass.

Heather talks more about taking over the PR business:

How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?

It seems like a new tool is being added to the communication toolbox every day. That can be
overwhelming for businesses who are trying to navigate this fast-paced, “always on, always
connected” world we live in. At Geben Communication, we help companies achieve their
business goals by incorporating the right mix of online and offline communication.

We deliver a wide range of services, depending on the client’s specific needs – anything from
media/blogger relations, online community building, and content marketing … to securing
speaking engagements, promoting events or managing crisis communication.

By combining traditional and digital PR, businesses can shape perceptions and influence
behaviors among key audiences – including customers, prospects, referral sources, industry
analysts, investors, and so on.

What are some industry specific challenges you faced?

Because social media gets so much attention, some companies think they can just launch a
Facebook page or a Twitter account, and the rest will take care of itself. It’s not quite that
simple. This isn’t Field of Dreams. If you build it, they won’t necessary come. Instead, truly
effective social media requires strategy, creativity and an investment of time and resources.
Plus, companies can amplify their message by using traditional PR and marketing to support
their online efforts. But, that requires planning and coordination. People see these free online
tools and sometimes don’t realize all the work and resources required to build a successful
online presence.

This isn’t an “either, or” situation. Instead of trying to choose between traditional PR or social media, figure out how they can work together. (more…)

DIY Branding, Self-published Fame, and Romantic Trolls

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Amanda Hocking is a star of the publishing world. Last year she signed a 4-book, $2 million dollar deal with St. Martin’s Press, one of the largest publishing houses in the world. While in itself, this is not unusual – authors become best-sellers every day, and publishing houses announce contracts with authors just as often, what is unusual is the road Hocking chose for her journey from high school-loner and Star Wars geek to group home worker to self-publishing royalty. Less than a year after she uploaded her first novel to Amazon, Hocking had uploaded 8 more of her novels and collectively they had sold more then a million copies and earned over $2 million in royalties. Hocking’s story is a classic tale of identifying a market need, strategically occupying a niche, and quickly building a strong brand field by a rapidly growing base of fans and word-of-mouth marketing.

Though she had been writing stories from the time she was 9 years old, and had already written full-length novels, Hocking tells of seeing a YouTube video of Mark Hoppus from Blink-182  talking with Pete Wentz of Fallout Boy. In the video, Hoppus encourages kids to follow their dreams and make them come true. It spurred her to take a passion for writing and approach it as a job instead of a hobby and to devote herself full time to the pursuit. Over the next year she made a serious study of the literary landscape, focusing on the teen paranormal-romance genre, and the market opportunity for series like the Twilight Saga and The Vampire Diaries series. Hocking settled down to work and within a year she had written 5 more novels all of which she started selling on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other e-book platforms.

(more…)

Twitter Link Roundup #117 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image above is a fun look at bottled water from Apple – if Apple made bottled water. That post, and other interesting posts are in the “Other” section below.

Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on leveraging crowdsourcing) - http://bit.ly/wxqtb5

Starting a new biz with a friend? Good interview with @mike_samson about biz w/ friends – http://bit.ly/wBFfBv

Women Small Business Owners – America’s New job Creators [infographic] – http://t.co/74nUB76D

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Studyers -http://bit.ly/wy7Qty

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Twittapolls – http://t.co/aFHWJTmq

The One “Process” Every Startup Should Have - http://perfor.ms/jJ3Bzz

Love this post and agree 100% about need to promote intense debate among teams - http://bit.ly/zNbohI

Starting a new biz with a friend? Good interview with @mike_samson about biz w/ friends - http://bit.ly/wBFfBv

ExcelerateLabs ranked in the top Startup Incubators by Forbes – http://t.co/loB7YTes

Silicon Valley’s New Secret Weapon: Designers Who Found Startups – http://t.co/i8Vq3xl3

“If Willy Wonka built a financial institution, instead of a chocolate factory, it would look something like Square.” – http://t.co/icQhWPI3

You’re Mentoring the Wrong Way – http://t.co/2wWUC2ZQ

These Guys Launched A Startup For Entrepreneurs And Then Got Turned Away By Entrepreneurs – http://t.co/YWoM6gI0

When has a consumer startup hit product/market fit? -http://perfor.ms/vWhc5w

How to Develop Your Fund Raising Strategy – http://t.co/l4dOckDn

The best definition of entrepreneurship, in 25 words – http://t.co/lUKmQO0d

Venture capital investing hits 10-year peak, sparking bubble talk – http://t.co/IAI1IJKk

To Find Happiness, Forget About Passion – http://t.co/IAXq064F

Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on leveraging crowdsourcing) - http://bit.ly/wxqtb5

Online Ad Spending to Surpass Print for First Time in 2012 -http://on.mash.to/w4dv2J

Mobile-Ad Spending Projected to Reach $2.61B in 2012 - http://bit.ly/wFv8KO

Pinterest Demographic Data: The Marketers Guide to People Who Pin - http://bit.ly/x7xkYS

Facebook Now Earns 23% More Per Impression Than In Q1 2011 – http://t.co/czMMI45P

Why Startups Shouldn’t Hire PR Firms – http://t.co/D8kFztzL

Big Firms Try Crowdsourcing – http://t.co/M5XFnBF0

Study: Why Do People Use Facebook? – http://t.co/QEoLTL66

I don’t agree w/ @benkunz – obscure price increases that trick customers are not brilliant – http://t.co/hakIhSHK

Why You Ought to Throw Away Your Vanity Metrics for These 5 Customer Metrics – http://t.co/Tzd95hKL

Google+ demographics are predictable - http://bit.ly/AAjf43

Interesting post from @bbhlabs about the digital revolution & whether we’ve overstated its impact - http://bit.ly/w4bFSJ

Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on leveraging crowdsourcing) - http://bit.ly/wxqtb5

50 Hilarious Printed Ads Guaranteed To Make You Laugh -http://bit.ly/ABMoaJ

25 New Fonts for Graphic & Web Designers – Download Now -http://bit.ly/zBy2Ou

40 Superb Free Fonts for Your Next Typographic Project – http://bit.ly/zA5WGJ

50 Great Adobe Photoshop Tutorials That Every Designer Should Know About – http://t.co/IB2ngprh

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