How to Make Wealth
May 2004 (This essay was originally published in Hackers & Painters.) If you wanted to get rich, how would you do it? I think your best bet would be to start or join a startup. That's been a reliable way to get rich for hundreds of years. The word "startup" dates from the 1960s, but what happens in one is very similar to the venture-backed trading voyages of the Middle Ages.
Why 2013 Is the Year of Responsive Web Design
You may have noticed that Mashable got a new look recently. The design seems wider than usual, and when you shrink your browser, the content resizes to fit. The aim here isn't merely prettiness or technical trickery, however: Media companies like ours are seeing a major shift in the consumption habits of their audiences. Those organizations that don't act may find themselves behind the curve.
Startups Don’t Die, They Commit Suicide
Justin Kan is the founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam. You can follow him on Twitter here and read his blog here. Startups die in many ways, but in the past couple of years I’ve noticed that the most common cause of death is what I call “Startup Suicide”, a phenomenon in which a startup’s founders and its management kill the company while it’s still very much breathing. Long before startups get to the point of delinquent electricity bills or serious payroll cuts, they implode.
BOOM Goes The Dynamite! 500 Startups Explodes With 2 New Periodic Elements, 12 Sensational Startups, and 1 Awesome Accelerator Program
500 Startups announces today they have discovered the newest periodic elements – Upandtotherightium (Ur) and Viralium (Vi). In addition to this amazing new discovery which is awaiting official recognition by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, they are also proud to announce they are in the early stages of developing 12 remarkable new startups in their just-launched 500 Startups Accelerator program at their headquarters in Mountain View. The buzz among the science community is the 500 Startups Accelerator will soon eclipse the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, which has long held the title of the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator.
Loyal Customers vs. Groupon Customers
A loyal customer is the best customer a business can hope for. The more loyal customers your business has, the more likely it is to succeed. To build customer loyalty takes skill, time and patience. Many books have been written about customer loyalty and ways to build it, so I will not talk about that (see reference to two excellent books below). Instead, I will describe the worst customer for a business.
The fall of THQ
THQ's staff saw the stock price falling. It was 2008 and the global financial crisis hit the video game industry hard. "As a stockholder, it was shocking to me that the stock went through relatively quick decline," says one former employee who asked to not be named.
What If Your Smartphone Could Read Your Mind? Kimera Is Working On It
Today's smartphones are pretty darned smart. Yet we are only scratching the surface of what these devices might do. What if our smartphones were actually intelligent? Able to perceive our actions and intentions and act upon them on our behalf? That's the goal of a startup called Kimera.
Designing for the Non-Designer – Part I The Basics
This post is for those who get thrown into graphic design without any formal knowledge of what makes a good design, or, what causes unforgettable disasters. Once able to recognize the basics of designing principles you will be more in control of your work and marketing materials. This can range from printed articles to website design. This three-part series will help you understand basic design principles, tips and tricks, typography, and how each can help you.
Why startups fail, according to their founders - Fortune
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An Entrepreneur's Guide to Relationship Management: Who To Keep in Touch With, and How Often
Editor’s Note: This blog post has been excerpted from an article that was originally published by Zvi Band on the Contactually blog. When running my previous company, staying in touch was crucial to my business. We were one of dozens, maybe hundreds, of web development firms in the DC region, but we kept really busy (sometimes overwhelmingly so) thanks to a continual flow of referrals from past clients and our network. Come to think of it, I never accepted a client that came via anonymous websites (read: my own website). So relationship management was a core aspect of my role as founder. I’ve now transitioned to co-founder and CEO of Contactually, an early-stage, venture-backed startup.
