WorkHappy.net: killer resources for entrep How To Build a Web Startup – Lean LaunchPad Edition If you’re an experienced coder and user interface designer you think nothing is easier than diving into Ruby on Rails, Node.js and Balsamiq and throwing together a web site. (Heck, in Silicon Valley even the waiters can do it.) But for the rest of us mortals whose eyes glaze over at the buzzwords, the questions are, “How do I get my great idea on the web? My first attempt at helping students answer these questions was by putting together the Startup Tools Page - a compilation of available web development tools. So today, I offer my next attempt. How To Build a Web Startup – The Lean LaunchPad Edition Here’s the step-by-step process we suggest our students use in our Lean LaunchPad classes. (Use the Startup Tools Page as the resource for tool choices) Step 1: Set Up Team Logistics Step 2. Write down your 9-business model canvas hypothesisList key features/Minimal Viable product planSize the market opportunity. Step 3: Write a value proposition statement that other people understand
How To Get Your First 1,000 Users Vinicius Vacanti is co-founder and CEO of Yipit. Next posts on how to acquire users for free and how to raise a Series A. Don’t miss them by subscribing via email or via twitter. The good news is that it’s easier than you think to get 1,000 people to try your site. The bad news is that it’s really hard to get those people to turn into users, users that create an account, users that come back repeatedly and users that tell their friends about your site. This post is about how to get 1,000 people to try your site so you can find out what isn’t working, iterate and keep trying to build a site that people, other than your mom, actually come back to. Get Yourself a Domain Name and a Splash Page You should set up your splash page today. Once you get your domain name, you should use a service like unbounce to create a simple splash page. The goal of the splash page is to collect email addresses from visitors. Those email addresses become your early test users. Add Link to Your Email Signature.
What Business Can Learn from Open Source August 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at Oscon 2005.) Lately companies have been paying more attention to open source. Ten years ago there seemed a real danger Microsoft would extend its monopoly to servers. It seems safe to say now that open source has prevented that. A recent survey found 52% of companies are replacing Windows servers with Linux servers. [1] More significant, I think, is which 52% they are. But the biggest thing business has to learn from open source is not about Linux or Firefox, but about the forces that produced them. We may be able to get a fix on these underlying forces by triangulating from open source and blogging. Like open source, blogging is something people do themselves, for free, because they enjoy it. Another thing blogging and open source have in common is the Web. Amateurs I think the most important of the new principles business has to learn is that people work a lot harder on stuff they like. It's not that Microsoft isn't trying. Workplaces
Startup Tools Startup Tools 1. Startup Tools Click Here 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Startup Tools Getting Started Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything – Harvard Business ReviewThe Lean LaunchPad Online Class – FREEHow to Build a Web Startup – Lean Launchpad EditionHow to Create a $1M Web Business – Noah KaganWeb Fundamentals – Google developersQuickMVP – test your ideasFoundersSuite – Startup Mgmt SoftwareThe U.S. Lists of Tools from Others Groups Startup Weekend – Launch a Startup in 54 hoursThe Lean Startup Machine – Launch a Startup in 48 hoursStartup Monthly – Launch a Startup in a monthStartup Grind – community looking to be educated, and network with the smartest startup mindsLean Startup Circle – Google Group for startup adviceWomen 2.0 – Launch a startup for womenMeetup – Meet people you’re interested inTop Startup Conferences (North America) Find a Co-Founder Developer Bootcamps Programing Bootcamp Finder – Thinkful Tools from Steve: Lean Startup/Business Model Canvas/Customer Development Tools Surveys Reddit
Is Your Social Venture Really Worth Scaling? - Paul Bloom by Paul Bloom | 9:17 AM August 13, 2012 Although scaling is the holy grail for most social entrepreneurs, not everyone should attempt it. In a previous post, I outlined the key capabilities I’ve found to be present in the social ventures that are able to reach sizeable impact (which can be remembered with the acronym SCALERS—they are Staffing, Communicating, Alliance-Building, Lobbying, Earnings-Generation, Replicating, and Stimulating Market Forces). Before a social entrepreneur gets to work building those capabilities, however, it makes sense to ask the question: Is this venture really ready to scale? Readiness for scaling first means having a program or idea that succeeds logically. In the language of social innovation, it must have a well-thought-out “theory of change” (or “logic model”). Readiness also depends, however, on being able to point to success in practice. How do you gather hard evidence of effectiveness?
Why Startups Condense in America May 2006 (This essay is derived from a keynote at Xtech.) Startups happen in clusters. There are a lot of them in Silicon Valley and Boston, and few in Chicago or Miami. A country that wants startups will probably also have to reproduce whatever makes these clusters form. I've claimed that the recipe is a great university near a town smart people like. It is by no means a lost cause to try to create a silicon valley in another country. 1. For example, I doubt it would be possible to reproduce Silicon Valley in Japan, because one of Silicon Valley's most distinctive features is immigration. A silicon valley has to be a mecca for the smart and the ambitious, and you can't have a mecca if you don't let people into it. Of course, it's not saying much that America is more open to immigration than Japan. 2. I could see India one day producing a rival to Silicon Valley. In poor countries, things we take for granted are missing. The US has never been so poor as some countries are now. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Entreprendre à plusieurs : créer une SCOP (Société Coopérative de Production) La SCOP (Société Coopérative de Production) et ses particularités juridiques La SCOP est une société sous forme de SARL (Société à Responsabilité Limitée) ou SA (Société Anonyme) au sein de laquelle 51% du capital et 65% des droits de vote sont détenus par les salariés. Ces derniers sont tous égaux en termes de droits de vote puisqu’ils possèdent une voix chacun et ceci quel que soit le montant du capital détenu. Si la Société Coopérative de Production est créée au travers d’une SARL, le capital social ne peut être inférieur à 30 euros, avec un minimum de 2 associés-salariés. Contrairement à une société classique le dirigeant est élu par les salariés-associés en fonction de ses compétences. Les avantages d’une Société Coopérative de Production (SCOP) Créer une SCOP, c’est avant tout se lancer dans un projet collectif. Au-delà de ses avantages, la SCOP apparaît comme une bonne solution pour un entrepreneur qui sans descendance souhaite transmettre sa société à ses salariés.
How To Interview Your Users And Get Useful Feedback 1.1K Flares20018481161513--×1.1K Flares x Access to videos, talks, and worksheetsInvitation to private Google Plus CommunityJoin in on live Q&A webinars and fireside chats The Venture Capital Aptitude Test (VCAT If you want additional proof that we’re in a bubble, here it is: young people are trying to get into the venture capital business again. I get several emails a week along these lines: I’m about to graduate from college where I majored in economics. They see a wonderful job: going to cocktail parties and networking events, flying in private jets, and getting sucked up to by entrepreneurs while pulling down a base salary of $500,000/year plus a piece of the upside of selling a YouTube for $1.6 billion. First, a rare moment of Guy-Kawasaki humility: I am by no means “proven” as a venture capitalist. Regardless, here’s my advice to all the Biffs, Sebastians, Brooks, and Tiffanys who want to be kingmakers: Venture capital is something to do at the end of your career, not the beginning. My theory is that when you’re young, you should work eighty hours a week to create a product or service that changes the world. Part I: Work Background What is your background? Part II: First-Hand Experiences
Developer Network: LinkedIn API Resource Map A quick-start guide to the resources available via the LinkedIn API Member Profile Connections The Connections resource allows you to see information about the member's network. People Search The People Search resource searches for people matching your search criteria. Companies The Companies resource allows you to see information about companies. Company Search The Companies Search resource searches for companies matching your search criteria. Company Follow and Suggestions Follow and unfollow companies and get suggestions for companies to follow. Company Products and Recommendations The Company Products resource gets information on a company's products. Jobs The Jobs resource allows you to see information about jobs. Job Search The Jobs Search resource searches for jobs matching your search criteria. Job Bookmark and Suggestions The Bookmark jobs and get suggestions for jobs. Messaging Allows the member to send Messages to their connections, or send Invitations to connect. Network Updates Getting updates
LARGE x RARE == DIFFERENT: Why scaling companies is harder than it looks by Something interesting happens when you run more than 1,000 servers, as we do at WP Engine. Suppose I told you that on average our servers experience one fatal failure every three years. The kernel panics (the Linux equivalent of the Blue Screen of Death), or both the main and redundant power supply fails, or some other rare event that causes outage. Think about the laptops and desktops you’ve owned. So, even if our servers are more hardy than your MacBook Pro, they’re taking 100x the beating, so one failure every three years seems pretty reasonable. Windows NT crashed. But remember, we have 1,000 servers. Not to mention 10 minor incidents with degraded performance, or a DDoS attack somewhere in the data center affecting our network traffic, or some other thing that sets pagers a-buzzing in our Tech Ops team and mobilizes our Customer Support team to notify and help customers. “Well sure,” you say, “that’s normal as you grow. Things as rare as, well, you know…
Starting a business - SmallBusiness.com It may be inconceivable to you that your home-based consulting service or handknit sweater business would have to comply with any of the numerous local, state and federal regulations, but in all likelihood it will. Avoid the temptation to ignore regulatory details. Doing so may avert some red tape in the short term, but could be an obstacle as your business grows. Taking the time to research the applicable regulations is as important as knowing your market. Below is a list of the most common requirements that affect small businesses, but it is by no means exhaustive. Bear in mind that regulations vary by industry. Business Licenses There are many types of licenses. Certificate of Occupancy If you are planning on occupying a new or used building for a new business, you may have to apply for a Certificate of Occupancy from a city or county zoning department. Fictitious Business Name Immigration Act Health and Safety Workers' Compensation Bar Coding
Pitch Perfect - Keep it Simple, Stupid After talking about how to get ready to start raising money for your startup, and the importance of story telling and the demo, now its time to wrap that into the big scary pitch deck. Before you start to build your deck, ask yourself (and be honest): Are you a successful sales person? Do you rely on your words? How do you know which you are? Next time you are eating in a busy restaurant, stop your server and pitch your company. Regardless, here is a great exercise: Using 6 sides and no more than 15 words per slide, tell your story. We learned to simplify our story and we learned how to create six killer slides. What should those six slides contain: Here is my formula, but remember your mileage my vary depending on how you want to tell your story: Show that there is a problem “In the US, the number of comic books purchased at comic book stores has dropped. Some think that you should have the team slide earlier in the deck. A couple of more rules: Like this: Like Loading...