Forums Search

Social Media is a great way to create buzz and connect with your users in a personal way. Since it’s free and open to everyone, instead of investing money as you would with traditional advertising, you need to invest time in building connections. This is easiest to do if you grow your social media presence along with your startup.

Friends become Fans

Beginning musicians fill their shows with friends and many entrepreneur’s first customers are there parents. The same is true with your start-up’s online presence. Invite every Facebook friend and every friend of friend to like your page. Many people are willing to do a little free press for someone they know personally. All you have to do is ask. By recruiting your inner circle to act as a fo...

What is a minority-owned business?

In order to be considered a "minority" in the world of small business, you must be at least 25%...

• African-American
• Hispanic-American
• Asian-American
• Pacific Islander
• Alaskan Native
• American Indian

Women-owned businesses, on the other hand, are another category.

In order for a business to qualify as minority-owned, it needs to be at least 51% owned by a person or persons from one of those groups.

Additionally, you’ll often need to be certified as a minority business enterprise (MBE) or a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) in order to qualify for certain loans or grants.

That’s not the case for all loans and grants, however, so make sure it’s a requirement before going through the process of gettin...

1. What is seed capital?

The very first money that many enterprises raise — whether they go on to raise more money or not — is seed funding. (Some startups may raise pre-seed funding in order to get them to the point where they can raise a traditional seed round, but not every company does that.)

The name is pretty self explanatory: This is the seed that will (hopefully) grow the company. Seed capital is used to move past the first steps (product development, for example) and to start exploring what the next stages will be (like growth or a pivot).

Seed capital may be raised from family and friends, angel investors, incubators, and venture capital firms that focus on early-stage startups. Angel investors are perhaps the most common type of ...

It’s all about finding “the one”. We have hired hundreds of people in the last 7 years and I will attest that ironically, the HR positions were by far the most challenging to hire for.

My “golden” question when interviewing for HR: “How have you handled a situation in the past where an employee asks to “speak with you in confidence” about a problem they are having with their manager?”

“I tell them absolutely, come on in”. Wrong.

“I take notes and launch an investigation”. Wrong.

“I ask them to tell me more details and I will handle the situation for them”. Wrong.

“I remind the employee that I am there to listen to them and advocate for them”. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

Correct Answer: “I redirect them back to their manager and then to help coach...

So, you’re launching a startup. Big goals obviously aren’t an issue. You want 10x customers! You want to 4x your retention rate! You want to be the next Facebook or the Airbnb of X!

The big stuff is what entrepreneurs are good at. But it’s in breaking those big steps down into smaller, actionable ones where we tend to trip up. I’d even go as far as to say that the inability to break big goals down into smaller business goals and then into short-term objectives is one of the main reasons that the majority of startups fail.

Sound familiar?

So, how do you go from big goal to smaller goal to actionable steps you can start taking right now? The process is going to be different for every startup, of course, but here’s how to start.

Name the big g...

What is company culture?

Despite how obsessed the startup world is with company culture, there’s no singular definition we can all turn to. But while it’s difficult to put a dictionary definition on company culture, there are really two parts to it: Philosophical and practical.

On a philosophical level, company culture is the intangible atmosphere of your company. Some people call it the “personality” or the “glue that holds everyone together” or even the “soul.” It’s as much a feeling — of belonging, of shared purpose, even of similar ways of dress — as it is an aspiration for the entire company to contribute to.

“The truth is that culture – on its own – is not the thing that will bring you success in whatever way you may define it for you...

Here’s a basic truth about founding a startup: You don’t know everything you need to know. In fact, you probably only know a fraction of what you need to know to be successful. But don’t worry — you don’t have to go it alone. This is where a startup mentor comes in.

“For a really early stage company, mentors are a great source of industry advice and expertise, particularly if you don’t have direct expertise in that particular area,” Sapna Shah, Principal at Red Giraffe Advisors and startup mentor for XRC Labs, The Monarq Incubator, and TrendSeeder, tells Startups.co. “As well as executive coaching advice — perhaps you’ve never been a CEO before, and you’ve never had to manage people in this way.

Knowledge is one of the greatest things a sta...

In the early days of my career, my definition of success was pretty run-of-the-mill. It was all based in corporate metrics while I managed to build three profitable startups. But then my middle child, Teddy, was born with a life-threatening congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and everything changed.

My wife and I started the Incredible Teddy Foundation to help raise awareness about CDH and give financial assistance to families. After a difficult period, our son is doing well now. But his struggle brought me to completely redefine what success meant to me. No longer is it set just by business achievements, but by giving back — the classic “doing good while doing well.”

A New Foundation, a New Chapter

The experience of building a charitable fou...

Recently Elon Musk had to do what every Founder dreads — tell his staff that they have limited funds, and if things don't improve, that it's game over.

Elon's doing it with $2.7 billion, but his problems are the same as if we had to do it with $2.7 hundred.

Letting our staff know we're running out of money while trying to rally them at the same time to succeed is a brutal game that requires extreme tact in messaging.

When should we tell our staff that we're about to run out of money?

Now, and then later.

Right now let's be honest about where the company stands and what our challenges are going forward, no matter how significant.

Elon said "We're in code red" and that all expenses are being considered. He's pointing out that shit's gett...

Today’s society glorifies startup life. Most see startup culture as acquiring VC funding, getting a fancy office, and rapidly scaling. The problem is that no one wants to talk about the grueling path every startup must endure before acquiring funding— this is the side hustle stage. This means you are still working your full-time job and starting a business on the side which will eventually become large enough to be your new full-time priority.

Marc Andreessen stated that the life of a startup could be divided into two phases: before product/market fit, and after. The latter is the fun part – when VCs and scaling the business come into the equation. This article is about the former, less glamorous part of building a business. The part that ...