May 2009
5 posts
The $300 Million Button →
How Changing a Button Increased a Site’s Annual Revenues by $300 Million
“My life has been a series of well-orchestrated accidents; I’ve always suffered...”
– Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter
10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Site →
10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Site
By Azadeh Ensha
Ethnicity and the Internet →
The Biggest Successes are Often bred from Failures... →
Randy Komisar from VC Big Shots - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers talks on how failures breed success.
April 2009
13 posts
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life....”
– Steve Jobs
Entrepreneur Corner →
Stanford University’s free podcasts and video clips of entrepreneurial thought leaders and innovators from Silicon Valley.
Work Happy →
Work Happy is a great blog for entrepreneurs that I happened upon recently, be sure to give it a look.
8 Excellent Web Resources For Startups →
Finally, this article from one of the editors of Freelance Switch takes a different approach. It looks at some “online” resources for startups. These are the blogs and other web-only sources where you can get niche information from a variety of angles.
Best Resources for Startups →
This article from Entrepreneur magazine focuses on some “classic” resources for small business owners. Everything from SBA on downward is covered here. This is a good article to check against to make sure you’ve covered all of your bases.
Top 10 Social Networks For Entrepreneurs →
Let’s start looking at some useful resources for Entrepreneurs. To begin, Resource Nation has a list of 10 Social Networks where people who wish to start a business can get the advice they need to succeed.
A For Profit Approach To World News →
“Overseas reporters have been a casualty of budget-chopping news organizations, leaving an opening for the online start-up GlobalPost. But at a time when many news executives are exploring nonprofit business models to keep specialized reporting flowing, GlobalPost, which made its debut on Jan. 12, is intended to be a moneymaking venture.”
“I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn’t really interested in...”
– Richard Branson
The New Art Of Starting Up →
Small Business Tax Strategies →
Some helpful resources from INC magazine for last minute, small business tax planning.
Join Us On Twitter →
If you haven’t a chance yet to join us on Twitter, you should. There you can learn more about Cultura and the projects we find fascinating.
Small Business Insurance →
One of the hardest jobs for small business owners is finding affordable health insurance. This guide will point you in the right direction. The real trick is just to shop around, there are plenty of good plans available if you don’t jump on the first one you see.
March 2009
34 posts
Don't Waste Your Time Planning An Exit Strategy →
Here is a contrarian viewpoint on exits from TechVibes. This article is on how thinking of exits can distract you from the business of doing business.
“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s...”
– Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s
Exit Strategies For Startups →
One of the most important things to think about when you are stepping into a venture is how you would want to leave it. Are you planning on taking your company public (likely not), vying for an acquisition, or maybe looking to raise more funding and build it as large as it will go.
Entrepreneur Magazine has a good article on startup exit strategies, that’s worth reading if you have ever...
WatchClarissa Desjardins on Startup Success Factors.
WatchCharles Plant is an entrepreneur who has been on all sides of the funding equation, from banker, to technology entrepreneur to angel, investment banker and now on the Investment Accelerator Fund Management Committee. He takes you through the steamy underside of VC deals, what some call “The Art of the Deal” — he’ll show you “The Art of the Steal.”
[Said differently, this is a really...
MetaASO →
RWW profiles MetaASO, another case of “smart” self-funding. Some interesting tidbits for anyone interested in starting a business with the money in their piggy-bank.
Slidesix: A Self-Funded Startup →
Here is one of two case studies I came across from a self-funded startup. Slidesix is an opensource, self-funded project with a single developer in a competitive market. This post gives you an interesting perspective on how its developer has dealt with the challenges of running it.
Self Funding Your Startup →
Startup Nation goes over some of the ways that you can self fund your next venture. They explore the forms of capital (from loans to retirement accounts) available to get you the cash you will need to start out.
“Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What sets the...”
– Lisa M. Amos
WatchThis is a really great segment on CNBC on how some companies are using this economic downturn to fuel innovation. This is really the key to the entire puzzle, while a slowing economy will take a bite out of your ability to raise funds and grow along “traditional” lines — tighter belts also spurs innovation — forcing us to work smarter and harder to make certain we have...
Surviving A Down Economy →
This is a strangely prophetic article from March 2008 brought to us by Entrepreneur Magazine. It gives some really great tips about surviving as an entrepreneur in a down economy. The core belief is one we share here, as an entrepreneur your job is two-fold:
1. To generate more resources for growth.
2. To use the resources that are available to you more effectively.
When one isn’t...
“If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you...”
– Walter D. Wintle
SBA Financial Assistance →
There is a lot of stuff that the SBA (Small Business Association) could do better to help entrepreneurs, but I will say that they can be great and connection you with loans and financing. Here is a link to their primer, if nothing else read through it and learn a little more about your options.
Business Incubation FAQ →
NBIA gives some information on business incubators. If you have ever wondered what an incubator like Y Combinator does and how you can get involved in one (or whether you should), then this is a good place to start to pick up some background information.
13 Seed Funding Options For Startups →
RWW does a really good job of pointing people in some interesting directions for their seed funding needs. Sometimes just having a few more options in front of you is all you really need.
Grants.gov →
Speaking of Grants, if you were considering buying one of those expensive books that purports to teach you all about finding grants for your business — don’t. Almost all of the information found in those books can be collected for free. Before spending the dollars, search around at Grants.gov, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Small Business Grants →
If you are looking for an alternative way to fund your business you may want to look into grant. Here is a list of grants sorted by state that you might be eligible to receive.
5 Steps To Bootstrapping →
This is an oldie but a goodie, Entrepreneur magazine gives 5 steps to bootstrapping. I love this article if for no other reason than it mentions Pets.com.
WatchSustainable Education - Dave Eggers presented his organization 826 Valencia at the Ted Conference.
Alternative Business Models For Newspapers →
Speaking of “sustainable” business models, one of the big things I’ve been looking into recently is the fate of newspapers. With the advertising firehose drying up, it looks like the old brick and mortar newspaper business is having a hard time standing up on two legs.
Everyone is looking for how newspapers can survive the emerging digital economy, but I think a bigger...
Entrepreneur's Vs. VCs →
Brad Feld (TechStars) on the relationship between entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists.
He hits the mark when he’s talking about positioning. Venture Capital is an input, it has the same place in the entrepreneurial ecosystem as does getting a good PR firm to disseminate your content. That being said, just like a good PR firm, it’s only necessary when it is really necessary.
...
WatchA part of the Tech Trek to India, an interesting portion of a documentary on Venture Capital in India.
The Art Of Bootstrapping →
Here at Cultura we will be spending this month looking at an issue close to many an entrepreneurs heart, especially in the current economic climate. How do you sustain entrepreneurship when the VC well has run dry? How do you build great products and make an impact from the ground up. What needs to change? What principles do you hold to?
Join us for the next month as we explore this topic. To...
WatchA great video on human perception and the power of visual awareness.
“It doesn’t work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.”
– Unknown American Proverb
“The Forer effect (also called personal validation fallacy or the Barnum Effect...”
– Wikipedia - Forer Effect
Whose Watching The Watchmen? →
I have a strong feeling that I will love this movie for exactly the same reason that some of the critics hate it.