Laws of Simplicity - Filed under 'laws' Organization makes a system of many appear fewer. The home is usually the first battleground that comes to mind when facing the daily challenge of managing complexity. Stuff just seems to multiply. There are three consistent strategies for achieving simplicity in the living realm: 1) buy a bigger house, 2) put everything you don’t really need into storage, or 3) organize your existing assets in a systematic fashion. These typical solutions have mixed results. Concealing the magnitude of clutter, either through spreading it out or hiding it, is an unnuanced approach that is guaranteed to work by the first Law of reduce. However, in the long term an effective scheme for organization is necessary to achieve definitive success in taming complexity.
Startup Advice: How Entrepeneurs Gain Credibility While talking with young founders in Europe and the US over the last couple months, I have been asked the same question repeatedly -- how can an entrepreneur just starting out gain the necessary credibility to attract capital? It is an important question because, at its heart, a startup investment is an investment in the entrepreneur. And the earlier stage the investment, the more so this is true. We all know the allure of the elusive "serial entrepreneur" -- the rare breed who has done it before (successfully) and will not fall victim to the same business pitfalls (he'll have to discover new ones). So how does an entrepreneur with little or no track record gain credibility? When it comes to borrowed credibility, there is perhaps no more important act than the initial introduction you are given to an investor. The other way first time entrepreneurs gain credibility is to earn it. The best way to earn credibility with investors is to have good answers to the questions you are asked.
how it works Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing. Signing up is simple — you just enter your name, email, and a password. If you are a published author, take a look at the Goodreads Author Program. sign up » How to Start To start using Goodreads you should select books that you have read, that you are reading, or that you want to read and add them to "your books". Shelves You start with three default shelves (read, currently-reading, and to-read), but you can also create your own bookshelves. Add Your Books To add books to your shelves, search by author name or book title. Sort Your Books Book Editions Personalize Your Profile Widgets
11 Best Innovation and Design Books of 2010 (An Entirely Unscientific List) It's always interesting to take a look back at a year's worth of books, particularly from an industry still reeling from assaults to its very existence. This year, certain clear themes emerged from writers looking at the worlds of innovation and design. Most clearly, we have entered the age of the individual. Emphasizing every person's ability to have an effect or make a difference was a theme touched on by many. The importance of cross-disciplinary innovation was another, with many outlining the powerful idea that innovation simply won't emerge from staring into a world you already know inside and out. And even while many admitted that there are no easy answers to our time of global turmoil, there was an overarching sense of optimism too. Finally, this year's award for the Innovation Author's Preferred Hero of Choice goes to.... Here then, in no particular order, are eleven books that made me stop and think this year. "There's a new paradigm in town, and it's called pull."
Eight Questions To Ask Before You Start A Business ~ PPC Blog - StumbleUpon Are you thinking of starting a web business? Starting a PPC Management agency? Setting up your own site and selling things, or building a web publishing empire? Before you start, ask yourself the following eight questions. The advantage of this Q&A is that you can quickly see if the idea you’re going to throw your money and soul into is likely to work. 1 . Define what service the business provides. Try to focus. McDonalds could, no doubt, provide up-market meals, but they focus on selling quick, cheap food. That is what they do. 2. Who are your customers? Create a mental image of your typical customer. 3. What is your unique selling proposition? If your customers can buy the same services for less elsewhere, or more easily, they will. There is a tendency to model yourself on others. This is not to say doing something wildly new or different is any guarantee of success. 4. This point is so important, it really should be number one. Businesses may have great ideas. Then the bank manager calls.
lovereading - make the most of lovereading About Lovereading Lovereading was founded for book lovers by book lovers in 2005. These days, it is harder than ever to find the book you want to read next - particularly because of the sheer volume and choice of books you can find on the net. So at Lovereading, we only feature books we have read and believe are great reads in their category. We have developed some unique online tools to help you choose your next read, including free 10-15 page Opening Extracts of every one of our Featured Books. And our readers particularly appreciate the regular magazines we send them recommending books they like might love to read in their categories of choice these are completely free and come with no commitment to buy. Since we started Lovereading, we have added more and more books, ( we now have over 12,000 Opening Extracts) more and more unique features (you will love Author Like for Like) and more and more readers all of whom we would like to thank for their ongoing help and support.
Best of What's New 2010 Our December issue is more than just an exhaustive guide to the greatest creations of the year. It’s a forecast. For 23 years, the Best of What’s New awards have gone to the 100 innovations that indicate where technology is headed in the future. Some are audaciously beautiful, like the 562 horsepower, $230,000 Ferrari 458 Italia. Dive in to our 11 categories to see what revolution looks like.
Starting a Business: Advice from the Trenches - StumbleUpon If you’re like thousands of other designers, programmers and other creative professionals out there, at one point in time you’ve considered starting your own business. Unlike most, you’ve gone against common sense and decided to open shop for yourself. And not just freelance full-time, mind you, but file for the company name, get some stationery, and wade through the legal mumbo-jumbo. Maybe even get a real office with a water cooler. This article offers real-world advice from the trenches of a small start-up, and is applicable to designers, web developers, copywriters, usability experts and all manner of service providers. Write a Business Plan#section1 The most important thing you can do to prepare for starting and operating your own business. Beyond the mental exercises, a good business plan will give you a much better chance of getting a small business loan from a bank than walking in and saying, “I like Photoshop and maybe a can do some websites or something. Funding#section3 Good:
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