10 Common Mistakes That Startup and Small Companies Make Young companies have small margins for error. Mistakes made early on can sink a company before its gets off the ground. Below is a list of 10 common mistakes made by young, small companies. In the list below, I use the generic term “product” to refer to either a product or a service. Over the next few posts, I will expound on these ideas; for now, here is the list : “Drinking Your Own Kool-Aid” – Overestimating the Enthusiasm for Your Product/Service – thinking your product is more special than your customers perceive. In the entrepreneurial spirit of “under-promise and over-deliver,” here are two more mistakes young companies make: Never Finishing the Product – the “never time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over” syndrome. Disclaimer – as the veteran of six startup companies (two that were successfully sold), these are mistakes I have seen time and again.
What do we want? Our Background We are a team of people with backgrounds in areas of IT, design and business administration with the same vision regarding the future of portable computers. We started to work on this concept in 2009 and finalized it after a few months of intensive work. Our Intentions Our very first steps were not directly related to a production of Rolltop. Objectives Our primary objective is to realize our vision and concept Rolltop and to bring it to the people in the next step. Partner Currently we are in the middle of the partner identification process and development of a final technical Rolltop design, including pre-selection of electronic sub-parts and hardware platform design. If are you interested, please contact us.
Sounds Like A Melody | Writing away with Blog.com The Anatomy of Determination September 2009 Like all investors, we spend a lot of time trying to learn how to predict which startups will succeed. We probably spend more time thinking about it than most, because we invest the earliest. We learned quickly that the most important predictor of success is determination. In most domains, talent is overrated compared to determination—partly because it makes a better story, partly because it gives onlookers an excuse for being lazy, and partly because after a while determination starts to look like talent. I can't think of any field in which determination is overrated, but the relative importance of determination and talent probably do vary somewhat. I don't mean to suggest by this comparison that types of work that depend more on talent are always more admirable. Perhaps one reason people believe startup founders win by being smarter is that intelligence does matter more in technology startups than it used to in earlier types of companies. Notes [1] Loosely speaking.
Four Things Businesses Need to Learn From Recent Discoveries in Evolutionary Theory Evolution in nature has long been a metaphor for business. You know, survival of the fittest, might make right, only the selfish thrive, etc. These analogies are clearly oversimplifications and they are based upon a superficial understanding of the biological underpinnings, but they are nonetheless quite pervasive in the business world. So it only make sense that new research in evolutionary theory be applied to the business metaphor as well. Evolutionary theory looks at how organisms respond to environmental changes. 1. Nature: It was once thought that nature changes slowly, through many small incremental steps. Business: Fear and uncertainty drive businesses to knee-jerk reactions. Case in point: a competitor comes out with a new product that is eating away at your market share. 2. Nature: It was once thought that the more complex an organism (think elephant vs. slug), the more changes would be needed to respond positively to environmental changes. 3. 4.
Cell Size and Scale Some cells are visible to the unaided eye The smallest objects that the unaided human eye can see are about 0.1 mm long. That means that under the right conditions, you might be able to see an ameoba proteus, a human egg, and a paramecium without using magnification. A magnifying glass can help you to see them more clearly, but they will still look tiny. Smaller cells are easily visible under a light microscope. To see anything smaller than 500 nm, you will need an electron microscope. Adenine The label on the nucleotide is not quite accurate. How can an X chromosome be nearly as big as the head of the sperm cell? No, this isn't a mistake. The X chromosome is shown here in a condensed state, as it would appear in a cell that's going through mitosis. A chromosome is made up of genetic material (one long piece of DNA) wrapped around structural support proteins (histones). Carbon The size of the carbon atom is based on its van der Waals radius.
30 Challenges for 30 Days Did you know that it takes 30 days to form a new habit? The first few days are similar as to how you would imagine the birth of a new river. Full of enthusiasm it gushes forth, only to be met by strong obstacles. The path is not clear yet, and your surroundings don’t agree. So, take a moment to reflect on the question ‘Who do I want to be in 5 years?’ Check out this short TED talk first to get inspired: Now pick one or more challenges and stick with them! However, be cautioned, picking too many challenges at the same time can easily result in a failure of all of them. #1 Write a I-Like-This-About-You note/text/email each day for someone (Easy) This is the perfect way to let someone else know you care. #2 Talk to one stranger each day (Hard) This is a great one to cure approaching anxiety. #3 Take one picture each day (Hard) This one gets harder nearing the end of the challenge because at one point you will run out of the easy shots. #5 Take a 30 minute walk each day (Easy) We recommend:
Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up. | JonBischke.com There are two kinds of “quit” in this world. There’s the smart quit. The one where you know you’re not doing the right thing with your life. The kind of one David Allen did. And then there’s the other type of quit. The quit where a huge part of you wants to give up. So what do you do when feel that kind of quit coming on? #1 – You’re going to read Evan Williams’ story in Founders At Work. #2 – You’re going to read Paul Graham’s essay The Anatomy of Determination. We learned quickly that the most important predictor of success is determination. Got that? #3 – You’re going to listen to Joe Liemandt’s story of the starting of Trilogy. #4 – You’re going to read the story of Steve Genter in Friday Night Lights. #5 – You’re going to watch Jimmy Valvano’s (the former basketball coach at NC State) speech at the 1993 ESPYs. #6 – You’re going to read the Three Feet from Gold story in Think and Grow Rich. All sorts of bad things happened. That’s what you’re going to feel when you don’t give up.
One dish is served free -- with gratitude -- at Cafe Gratitude | Daily Dish... There’s one dish at Café Gratitude, the new vegan restaurant on North Larchmont Boulevard in Los Angeles, that stands out from the others. It’s called the I Am Grateful bowl. Piled high with shredded kale, quinoa, black beans and garlic-tahini sauce, it's filling, flavorful, healthful and free. That's right. $0. The cafe says it’s the "community supported grain bowl" and lists the dish's suggested value ($7) but doesn't require payment. One customer, Daudi McLean, a vegan chef himself, made his way to the cafe when it first opened. Recently, McLean’s family found themselves without the money they once had. “My son and I used to feed the homeless,” McLean said. It is an idea that the San Francisco-based restaurant chain's co-founder, Matthew Engelhart, and his son, Ryland, one of the general managers in L.A., thought of one Christmas morning about 3 1/2 years ago after seeing how people were being affected by the changing economy. Before every shift, servers are asked two questions.
Fibonacci Extensions | How to Calculate Fibonacci Extensions For Stocks Most traders know what Fibonacci retracements are but you don't hear very many of them talking about Fibonacci extensions (at least I don't). If you have never heard of them, then get out a pen and some paper. What is a Fibonacci extension? Well, we know that a retracement is a move in a stock that "retraces" a portion of the previous move. Usually a stock will retrace at one of 3 common Fibonacci levels - 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8%. But what happens when a stock retraces more than 100% of the prior move? Take a look at this chart... In the first example, AIR pulls back from $25.92 (1) to $23.11 (2). Could we have known that this stock might run into resistance at $26.68 (3)? Take the difference in price between 1 and 2. In the second example... $28.75 - $25.00 = $3.75 x 1.272 = $4.77 + $25.00 = $29.77. So, if you buy pullbacks and you are wanting to take partial profits on a stock, you can calculate this ahead of time. 2.07 x 1.618 = $3.35 Microsoft actually reversed at $26.76 (3).
40 Photo-Illustrated Questions to Refocus Your Mind Asking the right questions is the answer… It’s not the answers you get from others that will help you, but the questions you ask of yourself. Here are 40 thought-provoking questions to help you refresh and refocus your thinking: Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. Also, check out our sister site, Thought Questions, for more photo-illustrated questions like these; and check out The Book of Questions if you’re interested in reading even more inspiring, thought-provoking questions.Title photo by: Helga Weber For all other photo credits please refer to ThoughtQuestions.com Related 40 Questions Everyone is Afraid to Ask Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. April 13, 2012 In "Aspirations" 40 Questions that Will Quiet Your Mind Judge a person by their questions, rather than their answers … because asking the right questions is the answer. August 5, 2015 In "Happiness" 25 Photo-Illustrated Reminders to Help You Find Happiness
Do State Business Taxes Really Matter? These days talk about taxes of any kind, unless cuts are being proposed, is the third rail of American politics. Many business people and of course doctrinaire conservatives insist that lower tax rates create more incentives for investment, business formation and economic growth. Tax cuts, they continue, are thus a key mechanism for spurring economic growth. Though we haven’t seen much of the Laffer Curve since the heyday of Reaganism, a new generation of supply-siders is arguing for more tax cuts despite our already-staggering deficits. A new study gives us a new tool with which to measure the effects of state taxes on economic development. The map above by Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute maps the index across the 50 states. But to what extent are the tax burdens that states impose on new investment associated with the differences in their economic performances?
Future computers to its next level! Future technology Rene Lee has come up with an exciting device called Bento. It is a single modular device that integrates a tablet, notebook, smartphone, hard drive and battery. The device can be used independently or as a processing network. The basic laptop structure touts a 15″ OLED screen which serves as its structural base. The tablet can display a keyboard and the screen of the notebook can do visualization. Mini Computer!