Beta testing can be a bitch - especially when you're working with complex business technology that doesn't make sense for consumers. It can be incredibly difficult to find good test subjects with enough of a knowledge base to give you intelligent feedback on these kinds of sophisticated products.

That’s exactly the issue facing Pertino as it prepared to launch its cloud-based network launch last fall.

Where To Find Qualified Beta Testers?

Pertino’s concept was to build a cloud-based global network, requiring no specialized hardware or virtual private networks. The company envisioned a network affordable enough for small and midsize (SMB) companies with the security and performance of an enterprise network.

How the heck do you beta test a product like that?

Pertino CEO Craig Elliott turned to the Spiceworks.com community of more than 2.4 million IT professionals, centered around the company's free, ad-supported IT management tools for SMBs.

Elliott and many Pertino employees were already Spiceworks members, and they started with a 20-company private beta program that grew into “a community-exclusive public beta” involving 250 “Spiceheads.”

Spiceworks’ co-founder Jay Hallberg says three to four years ago the Spiceworks team was “dreaming big that someday we’d have a company launch within Spiceworks.” Pertino turned out to be that company.

Beta Testing Feedback Is Essential

While the usual point of beta testing is to find out if your product is good enough to launch, most initial offerings end up requiring signficant tweaks. “If you’re not thoroughly embarrassed by the first product you release," Elliott says, "you’ve overthought it, and you’ve come to market too late.”

Beta testing in Spiceworks enabled knowledgeable IT professionals to actually use the product and offer Pertino “incredible, first-hand feedback and insights,” says Elliott.

Todd Krautkremer, Pertino's VP of marketing, explains that, “Since so many members of the Spiceworks community work IT at small and mid-sized businesses, it was a way to treat SMBs as consumers… The Spiceheads provided feedback in real time [that] shaved months off what the normal development timeline would be.” Beta testing in Spiceworld gave Pertino “validation and the ability to go back to the drawing board based on the feedback,” Krautkremer adds. If you can’t make it in the Spiceworks community, how can you succeed in the broader market?

Speed Wins

Pertino didn't worry about launching its “private” beta to such a large community. ""In the world of open-source tech,” says Krautkremer, “to rest your laurels on defensible IP is not a recipe for success.” Patents can't protect you.

Instead, seizing the market as early as possible is the best way to become a dominant leader, says Krautkremer. It’s not necessarily being first to market,” Krautkremer continues, “MySpace was there before Facebook.” To win, your idea has to be novel and simple, and you have to pursue it aggressively.

So far, that approach is working for Pertino. The company publicly launched its product in February: "6,000 people downloaded it on day one,” Krautkremer says, and more than 300 Pertino networks were built.

Beta Test Tips

Sharing what he learned from the Spiceworks beta, Krautkremer offers tech companies 4 quick tips:

1. Use the freemium model: make it easy for potential customers to try your product.
2. Keep it simple: “Click, click, done wins. Click, click, click, done loses.”
3. Eat your own dogfood: use and test your own product.
4. Get to market first and then grow fast.

Oh, and find qualified beta testers to provide useful feedback before you make your product publicly available.

You know the feeling you get when your 2-year mobile contract is up and you start thinking about what kind of new smartphone or tablet you can justify buying? It’s almost like being a kid in November knowing Christmas is coming soon.

That was how I felt as the service contract for my Motorola Xoom tablet was set to expire in January. I thought I wanted an iPad this time, but the cost seemed too high. 

 Even though I am a long-time Verizon customer and I was “upgrading” at the end of my Verizon contract, there was no discount offered on the device. I didn't see a way to make it happen.

Until one came along.

Flush With Cash

Some unexpected checks came in to my business. A client that hadn’t paid in a while brought their payables up to date. A big project we’d just completed paid early. So we brought up the idea of buying an iPad for all three members of our team (we had done without a Holiday bonus last year).

But which iPad? A friend - and certified Apple fanatic - had recommended the 32GB iPad with retina display and 4G cellular service. He called it the gateway to Apple fandom. We had a spare 45 minutes before a lunch appointment, and being a spontaneous bunch, we decided to check out tablets for ourselves at a local store. We had no intention to buy so we headed to a the nearest one, which happened to be an AT&T store.

The minute we walked in the door a salesperson approached. I waved him off, saying we were just looking. He hovered anyway.

We compared the iPad mini to the full-size version and decided we needed the bigger tablet, just as my friend had suggested. But the cost - $729.99 - seemed too high. That just seemed unjustifiable.

But suddenly, good things started happening.

$100 Off Was An Unexpected Treat

The salesman, sensing my mix of desire and reluctance, offered to take $100 off the price!

That was not expected - especially after my Verizon conversation. I was tempted, but smelling the chance for a deal, I shifted into flea-market mode (I spent a lot of time in my teen years with my dad selling men’s shirts — he owned a men’s clothing store — at a Long Island flea market). I asked the salesman what he could do for us if we bought three iPads?

He offered $100 off each device. No better than for one.

My significant other says I’m a sucker for a bargain — even if it’s not really a good deal. So I decided that wasn’t good enough. “Is there anything else you can do?” I asked sweetly, expecting nothing.

Service Credits Count, Too

But he surprised us and offered an additional $300 credit on mobile service for the three devices. The $600 savings had me hooked, but then, I’m an easy mark.

I turned to my far more thrifty and level-headed partner for an opinion. (I felt like I was in an “of course we should buy the timeshare in Hawaii” mode.) She thought for about 30 seconds… and agreed. She reasoned that the $600 savings was nearly equivalent to a whole free iPad.

Of course we couldn't stop there. We also bought keyboard cases (we are writers after all) for all three iPads and their associated 2-year contracts. So the store made made back some of the discount before we walked out the door.

Lessons Learned Worth More Than The Savings

Is this the way responsible business owners should make purchasing decisions? Probably not.

But there are some worthwhile lessons for entrepreneurs here:

• Do your homework before you set foot in a store or go to a website to make a purchase. That way even if you do make an impulse buy, at least you’ll be making a more informed decision.
• Be open to doing business with vendors you haven’t worked with before.
• It's OK to play hard to get, and don’t be afraid to haggle.
• On the flip side, it's a good idea to empower your own salespeople to make quick decisions to close the deal. We never would have bought the iPads if the AT&T salesman hadn't offered the discounts.

After only three days of using my iPad, I love it. It’s intuitive, easy-to use, and could indeed be a gateway device turning me into a tablet junkie.

AT&T Store image courtesy of Jason Dunn.

If 2012 was a year of "wait and see," for small business technology, 2013 will be a year to "go for it."

One key reason is that small business optimism is already rising. According to the Fall 2012 Bank of America Small Business Owner Report, more than half of small business owners project sales will grow in the next year, and almost one-third plan to hire. Just 7% expect sales to drop and only 3% plan to lay off employees. And entrepreneurs typically believe they're local economies are doing better than the nation as a whole. (That can't be true for everyone, of course, but it still speaks to increasing optimism.)

That's not all. Some 45% of business owners in a recent Kauffman survey believe consumer demand will grow in 2013. Record sales over Black Friday weekend sales suggest consumers have "frugality fatigue" and are ready to spend again. Consumer debt is falling, the housing market is improving, and even the job market is showing signs of recovery-all of which could increase consumer spending by 3.5% by late 2013, according to Moody's Analytics. With pent-up demand for everything from housing to personal services to travel, there will be plenty of opportunity for small businesses who aren't afraid to seize it.

As always, though, technology trends will make a big difference in determining which businesses will be most successful. Here's what to look for:

1. Death of the desktop? Mobility will increasingly change how we do business. Already, according to The Mobility Edge: CDW's 2012 Small Business Mobility Report, 36% of small business IT managers say some of their employees have replaced a desktop or laptop computer with a smartphone or tablet. An additional 20% predict even more employees will do so by 2014. Adoption of tablets in the workplace is projected to grow a whopping 117% by then, while smartphone adoption at work will surge 33%. Smart entrepreneurs will tap into mobile's potential to work faster, more efficiently and more effectively.

2. Understanding your tech options will be critical. While small businesses recognize the opportunity technology presents, they're often confused about how best to implement it. In a Techaisle study, 54% of small and midsized businesses say their technology "pain points" have increased in the last three years, and that they're most mystified by cloud computing, virtualization, business intelligence, remote managed services and marketing automation.

3. Competition for talent will get tougher. It's never been easy for a small business to compete with big-company salaries, perks and bennies, and in 2013 it will become even more difficult, as employees are eager to search for those greener pastures. That's especially true for technology experts, so small businesses will have to find other ways to meet their tech needs.

4. Outsourcing will become an even better option. Freelancers and contractors, on the other hand, will be easier to find. MBO Partners' second annual State of Independence in America study projects the number of independent workers (contractors, consultants, freelancers or solo-preneurs) will grow from nearly 17 million to 23 million in the next five years. That will make it easier to hire the talent you need on a temporary basis.

5. SoLoMo goes shopping. Social/Local/Mobile is becoming the standard way to shop. People shopping on their mobile devices, "showroomg" (use their phones to compare in-store products with prices online), and use local search to find retailers and social media to find products. In a new study from the Advertising Research Foundation, nearly one-third of shoppers said social media affects their choice of brands; meanwhile, a survey by YP says 40% of consumers use local search daily. Making sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing and (if appropriate) developing a mobile app are the bare minimum of what you need to do in 2013.

6. Connected millennials - and their moms - matter more than ever. Much of the change in shopping behavior is driven by two key consumer groups: Millennials and moms. Both groups are constantly connected, rely on their friends' opinions (as well as those of social rating and recommendation sites) and aren't shy about sharing their own opinions of your business online (and in person). In 2013 it will be more crucial than ever to monitor and reply to what's being said about your business online.

7. Social means more than Facebook. Facebook and Twitter are still the big names in social media, most used by both consumers and businesses. But 2013 could see a shakeup from newer social sites as Pinterest, Tumblr and other visually oriented social media grab the attention of Millennial and younger consumers. And don't rule out Google+: The site's unique visitors grew by 80% in 2012, says a report by NM Incite.

What are we missing? What do you think will matter most in small business technology in 2013?

Even though 2012 was a tough year overall for small businesses - the stubbornly slow economy didn't help - technology improvements continued to offer hope of lowering costs, boosting efficiency, increasing sales and opening new markets. To the extent that they could find the cash, investing in technology remained a top priority for savvy smaller companies.

These half-dozen technologies are the ones small businesses were most involved with in 2012:

1. Social Media Surged

In a survey by VerticalResponse, more than one-third of small business owners wished they could spend less time on social media (nearly half spend 6+ hours per week). But they can’t, because that’s where the customers are. A recent report by NM Incite found Internet users spend more time on social networks than on any other type of website. 2012’s breakout star, Pinterest, showed a whopping 1,047% increase in unique visitors — so if you haven’t gone there yet, you might want to. However, Facebook is still the top site, used by 90% of entrepreneurs, according to VerticalResponse, and 152.2 million unique visitors, according to NM Incite.

2. Consumers Went All-In On Mobile

The rabid adoption of tablets over the 2011 holiday season gained even more momentum in 2012. Smart retailers took advantage of the tablet’s leisure-time nature to create customized mobile shopping experiences for couch-surfers. On Black Friday, IBM reports, mobile sales topped 16%, up from 9.8% last year, with the iPad dominating. Small businesses also took advantage of mobile marketing to reach customers on their smartphones. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports 56% of mobile users go online with their phones and 50% use them for email; both figures more than doubled compared to two years ago. Some 84% of small businesses that used mobile marketing found it increased new business, a Web.com and Lab42 study found.

3. Mobile Dominated Business

In 2012 savvy businesses of all sizes incorporated tablets into the workplace as presentation tools, payment devices or simply to entertain customers (for example, providing iPads for customers to place orders or entertain kids in restaurants). In The Mobility Edge: CDW’s 2012 Small Business Mobility Report, 75% of mobile users report mobile devices have become “critical” to their jobs, and 67% say without mobile devices, their businesses would be less competitive.

4. BYOD Arrived

Bring Your Own Device has long been business as usual for cash-strapped startups, but in 2012 the trend took hold at companies of all sizes. Since many job seekers consider being able to bring their own device a workplace perk, BYOD could even give your small small business an edge in competing with bigger companies whose IT managers don’t like BYOD.

5. Crowdsourcing Continued

Technological changes sped the growth of crowdsourcing, a boon to many small startups, this year, the Dell Evolving Workforce reports. Contractors and even customers increasingly contributed to small business solutions, doing everything from coding to innovating new product and service ideas.

6. The Clouds Rolled In

2012 was the year cloud services went from mysterious to mainstream—or as SMB Group put it, “as normal rather than cutting edge.” More and more, small businesses and startups turned to cloud storage and solutions to streamline operations and save money. At the same time, consumers’ increasing comfort level with the cloud opened up a whole new world of startup possibilities.

What mattered to your small business most in 2012?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Many of today's most successful businesses got their start without an apparent business model in mind (I'm looking at you, Facebook). But while drifting around for years as a free service without a clear path to profits might work for some businesses, it's not a road that's going to lead most startups to a good place.

That's the clear message from Dave Lavinsky advocates in his new book Start at the End: How Companies Can Grow Bigger and Faster by Reversing Their Business Plan.

A serial entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, both Web and product-focused, Lavinsky is now cofounder of Growthink, a consulting firm that claims to have helped more than 500,000 entrepreneurs identify opportunities and grow their businesses. His reverse engineering approach has useful lessons Whether your business is just getting off the ground or in the early years of startup evolution.

Essentially, Lavinsky told ReadWrite, smart entrepreneurs start by defining the goals they want to achieve and working their way backward to arrive at the steps necessary for success. You might think you've already defined your goals, but Lavinsky is looking for much more detail than the vague goals created when businesses are formed.

Stereo Vision Statements

Start by creating two vision statements:

1. One customer-focused (which most of us are familiar with)
2. One from a business perspective, which is what sets Lavinsky's ideas apart.

This vision includes not just your general business goal (Selling your company? Going public? Creating a business that spans three generations?), but also the financial metrics and business assets you'll need to achieve that goal. In other words, if you want to sell your business, how much do you want to sell it for? $40 million? Then what are the financial metrics (dollar revenues, percent market share, dollar EBITDA, financial health ratios, etc.) that will get you there?

Once you've determined these visions, Lavinsky shows you how to assess the opportunities available to you; set annual, quarterly and monthly goals and milestones; and track your progress.

Pivots Are Part Of The Process

Lavinsky is well aware that the road to success is rarely smooth, and you might need to pivot before you hit your goal. "There are several roads you can take to your destination," he says. "Pivoting is about choosing the best road for you and your company."

When you pivot, Lavinsky explains, you're changing your business model based on feedback from your customers and your market. "Because the new model is based on actual market data - as opposed to the "hunch" you had when you launched your company - it's more likely to resonate with customers and yield more success than your previous business model."

Sounds good, but how do you know when it's time to pivot? "If you've been 'spinning your wheels,' then it's time to pivot," says Lavinsky. "If you're continuing to work on your business and try new things, but without realizing the results you want, at some point, you need to come to the conclusion that either you're not executing properly, or your business model is flawed." In the former case, it's time to bring someone in to help you execute; in the latter, it's time to pivot.

Start at the End details several methods for identifying possible pivots and picking the best one for you, including:

SO Analysis: identifying your strengths and opportunities. "You're only going to build a great business if your business plays to your existing strengths, so make sure it does," explains Lavinsky.

Ansoff Matrix: the Ansoff Matrix helps determine the best new opportunities to pursue. Most important, it shows that any new opportunity targeting your current market (since you know and understand those customers) has a higher likelihood of succeeding.

Judge vs. Market Criteria: "When selecting a pivot, make sure the market is ripe for it," cautions Lavinsky.

Pivoting is not something to take lightly, and you can't do it every month, Lavinsky warns. "You need to pivot wisely and dedicate your company to pursuing it for a set period of time-perhaps six months or more."

If you decide pivoting is right for your business, you need to adjust your business plan accordingly. "Most importantly, in your plan, determine how you will execute on the pivot, such as who will be responsible for what tasks and goals." It's also crucial to establish weekly, monthly and quarterly goals and milestones, Lavinsky says, and to constantly gauge your performance against these milestones.

Good Stuff At The End

Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the most useful sections of Start at the End comes near the end. "Multiplier Tactics" offers real-life approaches to turbocharge your business. My favorite example? The woman who had never worked in her late husband's business until he left it to her, but then doubled its profits in a year by asking the managers to do more of the 5 things that worked best and less of the 5 things that worked least.

Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Last September, shortly after the attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, a company tweeted me that they were going to make our site, SmallBizDaily.com, their “small business resource of the day.” My joy was short-lived when the next morning they tweeted that my site had been hacked.

I quickly checked (it was still early morning on the West Coast, where we’re located) and sure enough, instead of the usual array of small-business content I was greeted by an unfamiliar image of a Middle Eastern-looking man, Arabic lettering and a video about the glories of Allah. I blinked, gulped more caffeine and reloaded the page. No luck — the image was still there. “We’ve been hacked,” I muttered, still not believing what I was seeing.

Weeks Of Agony - Months Of Work

Then followed two weeks of agony and struggle as our Web-hosting company worked to deal with the situation, while also helping their many other small-business clients who had been hacked as well.

It seems someone had placed malicious code on our site that lay dormant for months -- and only popped up that morning. “It was like cancer,” recalls my business partner, who dealt with the situation. “To make sure [the code] was really gone, we had to clean out all of the files we had loaded since the initial hack.”

Months of work was wiped out — and every time we thought it was fixed, the hack popped up again. I was repeatedly embarrassed; it seemed every time I would tell someone (including the company that originally told me about the hack) the site was fine, within minutes the hack would reappear. We then had to delete and reload more files, more times than I care to remember.

We Were Lucky!

Believe it or not, my company was one of the lucky ones. David Maman, founder and CTO of database security company GreenSQL, said our hack was the “old-fashioned” kind.

“Five or 10 years ago, the purpose of hacking was defacement,” explained Maman, an international expert in computer security who has founded seven tech companies. “It was very obvious when you were hacked — a friend would call and say ‘Hey, what’s going on with your website?’ Today, with a successful SQL injection hack, there will be no sign that someone has retrieved your entire database.”

How can you be hacked without knowing it? If it can happen to Sony and LinkedIn, he said, it can certainly happen to your small business.

Tech Startups Especially Vulnerable

Ironically, tech startups — with their low budgets, long hours and cocky techies coding day and night on their personal laptops and mobile devices — may actually be more vulnerable to hacks than less tech-oriented businesses.

Changes in the nature of business have affected how hackers operate, said Maman, “Everything is about online today, and almost every [business] is providing some type of online service or app. As a result, the line between internal and external data is blurred, and all of your information is exposed.”

You might think you have nothing to worry about if you aren’t selling products or collecting card data online. Think again, he says, who explains that most hack attacks today are completely automated. “They don’t even know who you are — they just check websites for vulnerabilities, and if they find them, they will attack.”

In fact, ecommerce companies or other businesses that collect customer credit and payment data may be less at risk of hacking because they must be PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. “These regulations are actually beneficial,” said Maman.

What if, like so many small business owners, you simply provide a free app or service? All you’re collecting from customers is their registration information, which could be as simple as their name and email — so what do you care if it’s compromised?

“Data is the new currency,” he warned — and that includes any type of data, not just financial information.

Maman explained that hackers may manipulate customer data to inject malicious code that serves up competitors’ information instead of your own, penetrates the customer’s computer, or worse.

“It’s not about losing information — which may not be worth that much — but about harming your customers, hurting your brand and destroying your reputation.”

If a customer’s computer gets infected after using your service, are they likely to return? Worst of all, you won’t even know your business has been hacked until it slowly withers and dies as customers fade away.

What To Do If It Happens To You?

“If in the past it was a big taboo to let customers know that you’ve been hacked, today it’s not,” he said, citing LinkedIn as an example. “Letting your customers know won’t hurt you — it will show that you’re being responsible.”

Ask them to change their passwords on your site and on any other sites where they use the same password. Apologize; then explain what measures you will take to make sure the hack won’t happen again.

Beef Up Your Defense

Those measures should include three key steps:

1. Secure your coding. “Most of the basic attacks, and even some of the more advanced ones, are due to unprofessional coding,” said Maman. “There’s a lot of information online about how to secure coding.” Educate yourself and take the steps.

2. Harden your computers at the operating-system level, applications level, server level, network-access level and even the individual customer level. Hardening essentially means eliminating unnecessary software, restricting access and otherwise blocking everything that is not essential. “Hardening documentation can be found online,” he said.

3. Use free and open-source software. Security doesn’t have to cost a lot for a small business. “ModSecurity is a free, open-source Web application firewall,” said Maman. “GreenSQL Express is our free database firewall.”

Most of all, pay attention to security. Without the money for a dedicated IT security staffer, your team needs to be even more responsible than big-company employees about what’s running on their devices.

Don't worry; security doesn't have to be a business killer.

“People think of IT security as a hassle, a lot of work and a waste of time,” he said. “That’s not the case. Just one day’s work can increase your security level 100%.”

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Many startups are dedicated to disrupting the businesses of established enterprises by leveraging innovative ideas, processes and strategies. Big businesses, in turn, either ignore pesky startups or consider them possible competitors to be squashed - or, best case, acquired - as quickly and efficiently as possible.

But with competition keener than ever, those insular views are changing. A few far-sighted big businesses are starting to reach out to startups to fund, partner, mentor, exchange ideas and share expertise in areas such as marketing and brand awareness — especially in the field of technology. And that offers new opportunities for savvy startups willing to be frenemies with giant enterprises. These three companies - Mondelēz International, Volkswagen and SAP - are helping lead the way.

Mondelēz International

“We feel strongly that startup entrepreneurs are some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the mobile space,” says Ed Kaczmarek, Director of Innovation and Emerging Technology at Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods). “We want to leverage their solutions to re-imagine the way we engage consumers to bring greater value to our brands.”

Mondelēz International officially unveiled its Mobile Futures program in October to challenge the market to think differently about the ways companies can use mobile to engage with consumers. “It’s part of our broader goal of continuing to drive an internal culture with innovation and entrepreneurship at its core, which means working closely with startups, who we feel are the source of the freshest, most disruptive thinking in mobile right now,” says Kaczmarek.

Mobile Futures participants get direct access to brands such as OREO, Wheat Thins and Chips Ahoy to get in-depth, valuable consumer insights and marketing expertise, and will partner with the brands to accelerate pilots to market within 90 days.

Volkswagen

In a similar vein, Volkswagen’s Plug and Play Acceleration Program is a three-month program designed to provide startups a structured way to access the resources of Silicon Valley.

Why is Volkswagen reaching out to startups? “This is a way for Volkswagen to find innovative technology and partners to create the next generation of VW Group vehicles,” explains Plug and Play Tech Center vice president of Strategic Partnerships, Candace Denton. “[We] are looking within, but also beyond the automotive sector to find interesting technology to bring within the automotive domain.” Volkswagen is working with startups in digital media, gaming and information-related technology.

SAP

Software giant SAP recently created a Startup Focus Program dedicated to helping startups with a mix of education, mentoring, go-to-market support and funding from a $155 million fund. Designed to highlight its SAP HANA database platform, the program reaches out to innovative young companies to accelerate their growth by leveraging the power of SAP HANA’s ability to harness massive amounts of data.

SAP is looking for startups in the big data/real-time analytics space. Interested companies can apply by completing the SAP Startup application form — there are no limits for how many startups will be accepted into the program.

How It Works

Mondelēz International is looking for ambitious and collaborative participants that are less than four years old, with working technology that can be immediately deployed into the U.S. marketplace. You also have to have either received outside funding of more than $1 million or participated or been accepted in an incubator program. Mondelēz is looking for businesses operating in one of three mobile consumer engagement/path-to-purchase categories: Mobile at Retail, Social TV or SoLoMo (social/local/mobile).

Once Mobile Futures applicants have been narrowed down to finalists (based on originality, proven technology and ability to solve an immediate brand marketing challenge), startups are invited to pitch the Mondelēz International brands. Then a short “speed-dating” interaction between startup candidates and brands takes place, and the final startups will be chosen and paired with a brand.

Volkswagen Plug and Play Tech Startups begin by participating in a three-day workshop that provides an overview of Silicon Valley and cover topics including Funding Process, Pitching Workshops, Startup Case Studies and Legal, Tax and Accounting Implications. For the next three months, participants gain structured access to the strategic resources of Plug and Play, including fund-raising opportunities through direct introductions to venture capitalists and other investors, business development opportunities through VW’s corporate and technology partners, and coaching and mentoring opportunities through VW’s network of advisors.

The fact that big businesses are looking to startups for innovation points to a future of collaboration and mutually beneficial alliances for American business. Says Mondelēz International’s Kaczmarek: “We chose to work with startups because we believe that they are the lifeblood of innovation. Startups comprise some of the brightest and most innovative minds, particularly in mobile, because in order to thrive in a hypercompetitive market, they have learned to take smart risks, move nimbly and with urgency, be collaborative in ways that larger companies often cannot match.”

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Not every tech startup enjoys the luxury of launching in Silicon Valley — or Silicon Alley, or Austin, Texas, or another high-tech hotspot.

What’s the solution?

Instead of waiting for someone to offer a helping hand, or packing up the U-Haul and moving across the counryy, try taking the entrepreneurial approach and turning your home town into a high-tech startup community.

Brad Feld author of Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, says it can be done.

Feld, who has over 20 years of experience as both an entrepreneur and an early-stage investor, is a co-founder of tech accelerator TechStars and knows whereof he speaks. He bases his book on the lessons he’s learned from 20 years in the vibrant startup community of Boulder, Colorado.

Too often, though, cities trying to build high-tech startup communities make one or more key mistakes that keep their plans from reaching fruition. According to Feld, here are the six common problems that afflict — but don’t have to squelch — startup communities:

1. The Patriarch Problem: Is your city’s startup infrastructure ruled by “old white guys”? If your ability to get funding depends on who you know, where you went to school and where you’ve worked, your city might be suffering from the Patriarch Problem. If funding is based solely on what you do, congratulations - you’re in a vibrant startup community. Getting beyond the patriarch problem is tough (in the worst case, you’ve got to wait for people to die), but can be done if enough leaders of the startup community decide they’re going to ignore the patriarchs and just keep doing what they’re doing.

2. Capital Shortage: If you’re complaining about the shortage of local capital in your city, Feld’s got news for you: Entrepreneurs everywhere — yes, even in Silicon Valley — are complaining just as loudly about the same thing. “Let it go,” advises Feld. Instead, just keep doing what you’re doing, and if you do it well enough, you’ll attract capital from around the country.

3. We’re From The Government, We’re Here To Help: While Feld acknowledges that government can provide some help in constructing and supporting startup communities, entrepreneurs who rely too heavily on government will go nowhere fast. “Government moves at a much slower pace than entrepreneurs,” Feld warns. Just keep doing what you’re doing — don’t wait for Uncle Sam.

4. Do I Know You? A startup community that’s suspicious of newcomers is likely to die on the vine. “In Boulder, when someone new shows up in town, the entrepreneurs swarm them… to make the person feel welcome,” Feld writes. In contrast, if your city makes newbies “earn their way into the hierarchy,” you’re basically creating your own Patriarch Problem.

5. Feeders Trying To Be Leaders: Feld identifies government, universities and venture capitalists as “feeders” who can help support an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The problem occurs when feeders try to be “leaders” and take charge of entrepreneurial growth. A successful entrepreneurial ecosystem must be led by entrepreneurs themselves, says Feld, who cautions that when feeders try to take charge of entrepreneurial growth, they typically slow it down with committees, initiatives and other photo ops that create a lot of noise but do nothing — essentially the antithesis of entrepreneurial behavior.

6. Risk Aversion: Are you afraid of putting your time and effort into growing your own startup community — especially when you’re busy creating your own startup, too? You can’t create a startup environment without taking risks, says Feld. His advice: Jump right in and try stuff, but always set a time limit. If your effort doesn’t work out in that time frame, try something else. Trying — and even failing — without fear is a hallmark of a vibrant startup community.

See a common thread here? “Just start doing stuff and keep doing it” is Feld's entrepreneurial mantra. Startup Communities clearly conveys the contagious sense of energy, enthusiasm and possibility that’s at the heart of the most successful startup communities.

It’s like a harmonic convergence. Startups need workers, and the largest generation ever born in America — the Millennials — is desperately searching for work. But as every startup knows, it's never as easy as all that.

According to a new research study from PayScale, the world’s leading provider of on-demand compensation data and software, and Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and management consulting company, Millennials (ages 18 to 29) are underemployed. According to Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of Me 2.0, their unemployment rate is a whopping 14%.

Not only does that mean there are millions of Millennials looking for work, but the survey shows they prefer to work for smaller companies that “allow for more flexibility, an opportunity to embrace their entrepreneurial ambitions, and the opportunity to use social networks at work without strict corporate guidelines.”

Does that sound like your startup? Just be aware, though, that some studies have indicated that new graduates are not interested in startups. (See College Grads Shun Startup Jobs - And How To Hire Them Anyway.)

Tech Employers Get The Most Interest

Most of the Millennials surveyed even say their “best” employers would be technology companies. And they’re preparing for employment by “arming themselves with skills and educational training focused in technology and social media.” Schawbel says they’re more likely to major in neuroscience and bioengineering — “the degrees that are in demand today.”

But there are other skill sets Millennials can bring to your startup, too. Schawbel’s study reports some of the most common job skills for Gen Y workers include blogging, social media optimization and writing press releases.

Obviously coming of “career” age when they did, Millennials’ job hunt has been hampered by the economy. This quickly put an end, Schawbel says, to the labeling of this generation as “entitled.” Millennials now realize, says Schawbel, that “nothing is guaranteed.”

How To Keep Gen Y Workers From Leaving

One rap against Millennial staffers is that they don’t stay on the job, often leaving after less than two years. Comparatively, according to Schawbel, Gen X workers stick around for five years, and Baby Boomers are loyal for seven years.

That may not be an issue for many fast-moving startups (see Why Job-Hopping Is Essential For Startups, but there are ways to change that equation by giving Gen Y more reasons to stay. Schawbel says the number-one reason Millennials leave a job is due to “lack of career opportunity.” If given more chances to advance, Millennials would stay on the job for nearly five years.

This is particularly important when competing against bigger companies (particularly in technology) that want to hire some of this young talent. In fact, Schawbel notes that some big companies are buying startups just to get their hands on the young talent. (See "Will Work For $1 Billion.")

Can Startups Cope With Acqui-hires?

Schawbel says you can win the talent war by “guaranteeing” Millennials a promotion within the first year. But I’m not sure a guarantee is your best option. After all, do you really want to promise an untested employee more money and more responsibility? Schawbel suggests that startups create internal procedures that help pave the way for new young hires.

So where can you find Millennials eager to work for your startup? Online, according to another study, "The Multi-Generational Job Search” Millennial Branding conducted, this time with job site Beyond.com. In fact all generations spend between 5 and 20 hours a week searching for jobs, and almost all say job boards are their top go-to resource, followed by company websites and classified ads.

What about social networks? We’ve all heard how valuable LinkedIn is in looking for employees, but that seems to hold true mostly for Baby Boomers, for whom it's the top social platform. If you want to hire Millennials, though, you’re more likely to find them (35%) using Google and Google+ (also the first choice of Gen X job seekers). Job-seeking Millennials do use other services, including LinkedIn (23%), Facebook (21%), and lastly, Twitter (only 8%). (Actually no generation found Twitter particularly useful for job seeking.)

Hire Millennials. Or Compete Against Them

If you don’t hire Millennials, you’ll likely find yourself competing with them. The third most popular major for the Millennials in the PayScale survey was “entrepreneurial studies.” Schawbel says Gen Y workers realize they “need to do their own thing and be proactive” about pursuing that goal.

Personally, I believe Millennials are the most entrepreneurial generation this country has ever seen, so consider yourself warned.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Adam and Eve. Sonny and Cher. Jobs and Wozniak. Legendary partners all. Sometimes even the most dedicated, uber-competent entrepreneur doesn’t have everything it takes to ensure startup success. That’s when you need that “perfect partner.” But how do you find the right one?

Finding that ideal startup partner can be as elusive as finding a compatible mate. And just like millions of people have put their love lives in the hands of technology, you can now find your business soul mate online. 

Kaviani co-founded CoFoundersLab less than two years ago with the aim of bringing entrepreneurs together to launch startups. CoFoundersLab makes matches (for free) via its online platform or through in-person Meetups. The company is currently in six markets, but expects to at least double that number by year end. It has also teamed up with TechStars in Boulder, Colo., Harvard i-Labs in Boston, and with New York University’s Stern School of Business.

To find out more about how co-founders can help startups succeed,and how founders can find the right partners, I talked with Kaviani and Julie Edge, Ph.D., who is the founder of Inside Edge Solutions, on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis, and has worked with Kaviani.

RIEVA LESONSKY: CoFoundersLab has been described as “eHarmony for entrepreneurs.” Is looking for a co-founder like looking for a mate?

DR. JULIE EDGE: Ironically it is a bit like looking for a marriage partner.You need to have great trust, be able to engage in healthy conflict, and hold the other person accountable. You need the right personality match to get through the dark days together. In business you need to know if this person has the right skill set for you.

But don’t look for someone who is “most closely aligned” with how you think. The Hogan Personality Inventory (a personality assessment tool) shows that the best teams are the ones that are the most different on all [measurement] scales.

SHAHAB KAVIANI: You also need an equal-level appreciation of the co-founder’s “art” and what they do. The level of complexity for tech roles is highly valued today; the subtle skills of sales and marketing not as highly. But there needs to be mutual appreciation.

LESONSKY: If tech skills are more highly valued, how do the co-founders strike the right balance?

EDGE: First, you need to make sure you need a co-founder, and not an employee. Co-founders = co-owners, both parties have skin in the game.

KAVIANI: Ask yourself, “Am I ready for a co-founder? Can I give up the sole decision making, or am I really just looking for [help]?”

LESONSKY: Then why not go it alone and hire the skills you need?

EDGE: Not everyone needs a co-founder. If the business doesn’t have to scale quickly, going it alone might be the way to go. Technology is a highly competitive industry with a race to market. To get up and running is often too much work for one person. You need a co-founder so you can divide and conquer and get a leap ahead.

KAVIANI: Industries with high partnership rates include clean energy, green businesses, biotech and health. They’re also growing the fastest.

EDGE: The biotech and health fields [are ideal for partners] since science and tech come together. Science doesn’t know business. Two to three skill sets are needed to make a company viable. Many accelerators are only looking at co-founder teams. There’s a 12-14 week period to build a company very quickly.

LESONSKY: Shahab, you’re a veteran of co-founding. What do you look for?

KAVIANI: Here at CoFoundersLab we meaure “teamability.” Are they ready for commitment, and compatible with the team? They need to be empathetic, level-headed, and have ability to look at issues from different points of view.

LESONSKY: So in this age of technology, can co-founders have a long-distance relationship? Or do they have to “live” together?

KAVIANI: Co-founders don’t need to necessarily spend all their time together, but partners should be within 150 miles of one another and get together at least two to three times a month. [Co-founders] need to build trust. That happens in person. The more distance, the higher the likelihood of failing.

LESONSKY: But why would someone need a “matchmaking” service? Isn’t it riskier to partner with a stranger?

KAVIANI: Almost half the people who team up now do it with family or old college roommates. But you have to think with your head and not your heart. The new aspect [of our business] is getting people who don’t know one another to team up.

EDGE: Trust is the primary reason people turn to people they already know. It’s more comfortable to team up with someone from college. There’s a tradeoff using a service like CoFoundersLab. You get a better fit, but you don’t have trust at the beginning.

LESONSKY: How do you establish trust with a stranger?

KAVIANI: You have to make sure the innate characteristics of the size of play is the same — that you share a common goal. Do you [each] want to build a lifestyle business or a VC-backed business? These have different tempos and you have to be on the same page. You both have to be willing to do whatever it takes.

EDGE: The hard part is people don’t know that at the beginning. And don’t divide the equity too early. One co-founder might not do as much as the other. Don’t worry about defining equity until you understand what each co-founder does.

LESONSKY: How does CoFoundersLab help?

KAVIANI: We look at a range of skills.  What does each person bring? It could be money, sweat equity, connections or industry experience. Very soon you'll be able to filter by personality, values and goals.

EDGE: The science of personality has been around a long time, but there’s no magic formula. There’s a better chance of success if you’re paired using personality theory. We’re talking about fit, not just for a job, but with another person. Tools, if used properly, pull emotion out of the decision. They make co-founders see how they behave vs. how they think they do.

LESONSKY: You both feel strongly about the benefits of a co-founder?

EDGE: Yes. Entrepreneurship is a hard road. It’s easier to grow a business if you have someone to share the journey with.

KAVIANI: Emotional support is not talked about a lot. But that, and camaraderie are valuable contributors to a startup’s success.

Sonny & Cher image courtesy of Shutterstock.

By necessity, running a startup is like flying by the seat of your pants. Because the company is new, founders often have to make up things as they go along - with little opportunity to check and see how they're doing. That's starting to change, though, as new startup benchmarking services promise insight on how well your startup stacks up against peers and competitors. But are these benchmarks relevant to all tech startups, and do they really help new companies succeed?

We're about to find out. According The Wall Street Journal, several new companies are providing benchmarking measurements, based on various algorithms, for startups. The Journal claimed that thousands of startup entrepreneurs have turned to companies such as Startup Compass, G-Score, and BOSI, to "assess their young companies, based on an analysis of comparable data from their peers." (In May, ReadWriteWeb's Tim Devaney and Tom Stein wrote about Startup Compass in Stop Flying Blind: Use Big Data To Benchmark Your Startup.)

Several entrepreneurs told The Journal they thought the services were helpful by pointing out potential danger spots. But the Journal also quoted Patricia Greene, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College(which often ranks as the nation's top entrepreneurial college) warning that benchmarking could actually discourage companies from using innovative business models. "You could go into analysis paralysis," she explained.

Good Points, Bad Points Of Startup Benchmarking

Gail Goodman, the Chairman, president and CEO of Constant Contactsees both advantages and disadvantages to benchmarking your startup. "Tools and models are helpful because they can force you to step back, especially when it's easy to get lost in the weeds of the day to day [operations. But] no two companies are the same," she warns, "and benchmarking is no substitute for building a great mentor team to advise you." The number one thing startups need to do, Goodman says, is "to build a team, and not necessarily a paid one." Goodman believes startups particularly need people they can count on, whether it's an informal board of advisors, peers, a formal board or a mentor.

Don't Benchmark In A Vacuum

Ken Yancey, the CEO of SCORE, a nonprofit organization that provides mentors and counseling to startups and business owners, believes business algorithms can "potentially be a good tool, but shouldn't be used in a vacuum. You need other metrics about what drives your business to make smart decisions." Yancey adds that it's always a good idea to seek as much data as possible: "Entrepreneurs who seek knowledge will always outperform those that don't."

But sometimes all that knowledge can be overwhelming - there's just so much data to keep track of. One tool that might help early-stage entrepreneurs stay on top of all this information is this startup dashboard from InfoCaptor. It's simple, and best of all it's free.

Don't Be A Slave To The Benchmarks

Are there dangers in benchmarking? Yancey and Goodman both warn that startups shouldn't be a "slave to benchmarking." Information is useful, but success is about taking action. Business consultant Brian Moran, CEO of Brian Moran & Associates, says that while it makes sense to incorporate the "critical data" a benchmarking service can provide into your strategic plan, "there is a time for planning and a time for execution." Too many startups fail," Moran says, "because they constantly look at their plan, but don't execute it."

Everyone agrees you can't factor "gut reactions" out of the process. "Benchmarking," says Yancey, "can take the guess work out, but it can't take away the 'gut work.' By itself benchmarking is not as valuable as your knowledge and your gut feelings. But if the benchmarking doesn't support your gut, you need to ask more questions, and possibly amend your startup plans."

Anti-Entrepreneurial?

To me, though, relying on algorithms is almost anti-entrepreneurial. Babson's Greene warned that "Abnormality might be [a startup's] competitive advantage." But a benchmarking tool might not see it that way.

Goodman agrees. "Constant Contact overinvests in customer care. But it's my differentiator. Of course I'm not going to match the benchmarks, but I do it on purpose."

The decision of how much to rely on benchmarks and algorithms is obviously up to every startup. Yancey says benchmarking can be "immensely valuable for fast-growth" startups, looking to avoid big mistakes as they scale up. On the other hand, some entrepreneurs succeed precisely because they follow the path less traveled.

Combine their penchant for creating social change with their innate entrepreneurial inclinations, and it you might expect a wave of Gen Y-owned non-profits to launch in the next few years. That might still happen, but the latest research suggests that non-profits may not actually be the best way to drive social change.

Much has been made of Gen Y’s dedication to social change. A study from Walden University and Harris Interactive, released last year showed an astounding 81% of Millennials had “donated money, goods or services” to promote positive social change. The “Social Change Impact Report” also indicated that “70% of Gen Y adults have educated others about a cause or issue, and 68% have participated in volunteer work or service.”

This apparent desire to change the world has carried over into Gen Y’s career plans as well. Steve King and Carolyn Ockels of Emergent Research make the preliminary argument citing among other studies a Pew Research report that says 22% of Gen Yers believe “having a job/career that benefits society is ‘one of the most important things in their lives.’” Just 14% of adults over age 35 believe that.

So bring on the non-profits, right?

Not so fast

For Profits Can Do More Good

It turns out that starting a non-profit might not be the best way to change the world. Geri Stengel, the founder and president of Ventureneer, a company that helps educate socially-responsible small business owners and social entrepreneurs, says there are several options startup entrepreneurs should consider before launching an organization dedicated to social change.

She suggests your “first choice when starting a company to create a social impact should be a for-profit business,” because she says, the “revenue streams are more reliable, and there are more dollars available (both debt and equity) for starting and growing.”

Hal Shelton, a small business mentor who sits on the board of directors of The SCORE Association, agrees that starting a nonprofit is not your best choice. “True, one of the few advantages of starting a nonprofit,” he says, “is that you’re eligible to receive grant money. And contributions to your nonprofit are tax-deductible for donors.” But non-profit founders still have to aggressively raise those funds.

Non-Profits Are Harder To Start, Sustain

Shelton adds that it’s a bit more cumbersome to start a non-profit. You have to establish a formal board. Paid employees (including founders) are generally not eligible to sit on that board, which could limiting your independence. In addition, he says, every state has different not-for-profit regulations, so entrepreneurs need to check with their state regulators before they even get started.

Stengel says there are better options that allow you to launch a for-profit business, yet still enable you to effect social change. One way is to create a B Corporation (an option I wrote about several months ago in ReadWriteweb). Or you could become a L3C, or “low-profit” corporation. The state of Vermont, the first state to enact this type of company, explains that an L3C is “a cross between a non-profit organization and a for-profit corporation. The entity is designated as low-profit with charitable or educational goals.” So far only a handful of states have passed L3C legislation, though other states are considering introducing it.

4 Good Ideas

Both Shelton and Stengel suggest starting a for-profit company, and then use the profits to establish a foundation to do your good works. Or, Stengel suggests, you can implement these ideas:

• Give a percentage of profits [or revenues]to an existing non-profit that supports causes important to you.

• Match employee donations to non-profits of their choice.

• Source ethical suppliers.

• Minimize harm to the environment.

If you still insist on starting a non-profit, Stengel says “make sure you know where your long-term reliable revenue streams are going to come from.” She advises founders to “Look at comparable non-profits to determine how they generate money. Does the government pay them fees for service? Does their money come from foundations or individuals? If individuals, are they small donors or major donors? Or do they generate revenue from cause marketing or licensing?”

The key is that entrepreneurs can still effect social change whether they operate a for-profit or non-profit business. As Stengel says, your company can “make a social impact by using an innovative approach to solving a social or environmental problem, and using business discipline to ensure your business thrives, so you can develop sustainable solutions for the problem.”

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Several months ago General Motors and its $10 million marketing budget walked away from Facebook, announcing that advertising on the largest social media platform in the world had “no value.” (As I write this, however, GM is considering returning to Facebook, and the man who made the decision to pull the ads was just fired.)

You won’t get many arguments that having a social media presence indeed builds awareness. But just because someone “Likes” your business on Facebook, checks in on Foursquare, gives you a rave review on Yelp or tweets nice things about your company doesn’t necessarily result in a sale or more revenue to your bottom line.

Measuring the Impact of Social Media

In fact, it’s not easy to actually measure the return on investment (ROI) of these activities. But analytics software provider Alteryx says it has the solution. Paul Ross, Alteryx’s vice president of product and industry marketing, says the company’s strategic analytics program has found a way to “capture core social media activity and marry it with what actually happens in a business” to measure if a “customer who likes your company on Facebook is more likely to purchase your products.”

The data indicates, according to Ross, that 1,000 check-ins on Foursquare equals a 1% to 2% impact on a company’s sales. For Facebook, it’s a little more complicated, with results dependent on specific demographic breakdowns. For instance, the research shows that people who “Like” your business on Facebook are more likely to purchase “high-value items.” Armed with that knowledge, you can more intelligently target your prospects.

Ross says that the more “big data” you have, the better prepared you are to make strategic decisions. But the key for startups is the ability to easily understand what the data is telling you. As Alteryx President and COO George Mathew notes, most entrepreneurs aren’t armed with Ph.D.s in data science and statistics. But they “know [their] business, know and understand the data that surrounds their business and are smart about what they need to get done.”

Mix Social Media With Metrics and Traditional Marketing

Ross believes “data adds deeper context to [a company’s] social media engagement.” The bigger trend is the continued convergence of social media and traditional marketing, with information being central to it all. Ross says there are some other emerging trends startup entrepreneurs should pay attention to:

• It’s important not to get enamored of social media analytics all by themselves. You need to tie them into business performance.

• Find the connections between your virtual world and your actual customers.

• There’s a shift underway from investing in social media for building awareness to driving behavior.

• For many businesses, there’s a new emphasis on location-based actions. Will your customers in Washington act the same as those in Wyoming? (This is important whether your business is in a physical location or online.)

The more business intelligence you have at your disposal, the more successful you are likely to be.

Staying on top of trends is key to any startup’s success. Spotting trends early makes it possible tocome up with smart startup ideas - or modify your startup plans to jump on a new trend just as it takes off. Just as most important, you can avoid the risk of starting a business based on a trend that’s just about to fizzle out. Fortunately, tracking trends isn’t as hard as it used to be.

Here are my tips and sources to help you stay on top of the latest business and consumer trends:

Read industry news. Set up a system that works for you to regularly read the websites, blogs and Twitter feeds that matter in your industry. Stay active in industry conferences, events and associations: they can help you keep up on what’s new and what matters.

Get out of the office. Your ecommerce business may be online, but trends happen in the real world. Make it a point to get out and mingle where your customers are - offline. If you sell teen apparel, hang out at the local mall or movie theater. If you sell surf gear, hit the waves.

Listen in. Keep your ear to what your friends, family and connections are talking about. Are all the moms buzzing about some new deal-of-the-day website? Is your uncle nuts about a new online investing app? Listen, ask questions and you’re likely to spot trends in unexpected places.

Think global. The Internet has made it even easier for trends that catch on in one country to spread to others. Look to big cities, where trends are often born, and keep up to date with news and trends in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.

Watch for countertrends. For every consumer craving one thing (simple, streamlined investing apps) there’s another craving the opposite (personalized, one-on-one investing advice). Can you create a business based on a countertrend? If there are lots of competitors in your niche, how can your business deliver something totally opposite?

Watch demographic changes. Modifying products or services for different generations is a great way to capitalize on trends. A website catering to baby boomers will need to be very different than one for Millennial consumers. Keep up on demographic trends and be aware how your target customers’ needs may vary (or shift) based on their ages and life stages.

Need more? Here are three websites to help you keep up with trends.

Cassandra: Formerly TrendCentral, this site gathers trends in lifestyle, entertainment, technology, food and more, spotlighting breaking trends from all over the world while they’re still burgeoning. Sign up for the daily enewsletter to get more ideas than you can handle.

Trendwatching.com: This globally oriented site takes a big-picture view; it’s particularly strong on analysis. Its monthly trend newsletter is comprehensive in scope, garnered from trendspotters in hundreds of countries worldwide.

Springwise.com: If Trendwatching.com is big-picture, its sister site Springwise.com is snapshot-oriented. Sign up for the e-newsletter to get quick snippets of business ideas from around the world that will give you lots of fodder for fine-tuning your own startup.

And pardon the self-promotion, but you can sign up for TrendCast, my weekly free trends e-newsletter.

Lead image from TrendWatching.com.

For startup entrepreneurs, it’s crucial to find the apps that actually make a difference to you and your business. Plenty of startup founders are already experts in this area. Heck, apps are the business of many startups these days. But startups in other fields may not be so savvy.

You don’t necessarily need a startup app — most business apps are probably appropriate — but your main concern should be apps that provide enterprise-like power on a smaller scale.

Here are some of my favorite apps that are particularly apt for startups. You may already know and use most of them, but probably not all of them:

The popular Square allows startups and entrepreneurs to accept credit cards from their phones, and is simple to set up. Essentially, the Square Card Reader turns your smartphone into a mobile cash register, which makes it especially useful for consultants, food-truck operators (a booming startup field) and even some traditional retailers. You pay 2.75% per swipe, and the reader accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. Perhaps most importantly, you don’t need to set up a merchant account (which is virtually impossible for startups to do), and there are no additional monthly fees or set-up costs.

If you and your customers use PayPal, check out Bump Pay which easily transfers money between PayPal accounts.

At one point or another, every startup worker has been caught flat-footed needing access to a file on their computer, but that computer is nowhere in sight. DropBox, the hugely popular, simple-to-use cloud-based storage and sharing service, remains the best way to get around this issue. (Both Google and Microsoft have recently introduced similar services.) Once DropBox is installed on your computer, you simply drag and “drop” small or large files, videos or pictures into the Dropbox folder, and they can then be retrieved from any computer or your smartphone. Start with the free version; you can later upgrade to a paid plan if you need additional storage space.

QuickOffice is a suite of apps that let you handle Microsoft Office documents on the Android, iPad, iPhone and Symbian platforms. It will be interesting to see how their recent acquisition by Google will affect the product, although most experts agree the partnership gives both companies an edge in the mobile app market. Check out the site for the plan options, and then you can create and edit documents anywhere you and your phone happen to be.

If you are in need of a mobile sales app, FatStax 2.0 for iPad is a presentation app that lets users browse and present files, including PDFs, PowerPoint slides and video. The app works offline as well, so you don’t need to worry about finding a wireless connection during your sales meeting.

Most techies know (and likely use) Skype, but have you loaded the mobile Skype app? Great for conference calls on the go - just don’t leave it running when you’re not using it (its a battery and bandwidth hog).

If you want to check your website stats, check out Ego, which allows you to quickly view daily, monthly or even hourly visits to your site. You can also see how many people are following you on Twitter and more, all in one place.

What are some of your favorite apps for startups and entrepreneurs? Please share your choices in the comments.

Every online startup has a global presence, whether that’s its goal or not. For e-commerce startups the question then becomes, “Do you really want to turn down a sale just because the order comes from overseas?”

To Laurel Delaney, founder and president of Chicago-based GlobeTrade.com and creator of The Global Small Business Blog that’s like asking, “Are you really going to turn down the opportunity to go skydiving because you don’t know what precautions to take when diving out of a plane?”

Know Before You Leap

Either way, the key is to know what you’re getting yourself into. Learn what to do so you minimize your risks and enjoy the experience, advises Delaney. “Do your homework and take action when you are confident you know what you are doing.”

Recruiterbox founders Raj Sheth, Raghuveer Kancherla and Girish Redekar never considered any other alternative when they started their company, which provides Web-based job applicant tracking software, in 2010. With headquarters in both San Francisco and Bangalore, India, Sheth says the decision to go global was a no-brainer: “Since there is no physical product shipping, we decided to be open to the world. [Our product] is a software subscription which anyone can buy with an international credit card.”

That didn’t mean being a worldwide company was smooth sailing from the outset. “We had folks not able to pay online, or wanting local country invoices in certain cases,” says Sheth. “Also, we had language support requests that we could not fulfill.”

What Language Barrier?

Language barriers may seem the most obvious obstacle to navigate around, but they’re not a complete roadblock. Fiverr, which founders Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger describe as “the next eBay for the services economy,” also launched in 2010. Fiverr is a social space where buyers and sellers from more than 200 countries network and establish business relationships. Although headquarters is in Tel Aviv, the site is in English, but online translation services such as Google Translate have made multilingual communication easy. “From what we’ve seen, our users are able to overcome any language barriers. We are planning to provide more language support in the near future,” says Kaufman.

Paul Gollash, Founder and CEO of Voxy, knew his target market could come from all over the world. Recognizing that self-study language learning was a huge and underserved global market, Gollash saw local branding as the key for his business. “We learned very quickly that localization is incredibly important. It’s crucial to localize your brand, have perfect language translations, and be culturally aware and sensitive,” explains Gollash. For example, Voxy delivers a different product to Brazil than to other South American nations.

8 Common Mistakes

That’s not to say it’s simple to establish a world-wide startup. Fiverr’s Kaufman identifies eight common mistakes new businesses make when going global:

1. Moving too soon instead of executing on a well-thought-out global strategy
2. Diverting attention to the overseas market at the detriment of domestic business
3. Being too understaffed to adequately serve the overseas market
4. Starting in a complex market (a country with a lot of red tape or few English speakers)
5. Negotiating with the wrong party (e.g., untrustworthy individuals or a bad fit
6. Too quick to execute on a sale without securing payment
7. Providing online banking information only to have a bank account cyber-attacked
8. Not clearly stating on the website if you accept international orders. If your site does accept international orders, specifically list which countries you serve.

Delaney of GlobeTrade.com says research and planning can greatly reduce these errors. “Find out everything you can about the country where you wish to conduct business,” she advises. “Don’t jump in blindly... only to discover later on that you have taken your eye off the [local] business directly in front of you. Create a history of success that proves your business model works. Once that happens, you can transfer the knowledge and skill set to just about any place in the world provided there is a demand for your product or service.”

Brands vs. Retailers

For some companies, however, going overseas from the start can work. “There is a difference between selling overseas as the owner of a product brand and as a retailer of other brands,” says Nate Gilmore, vice president of Shipwire, an ecommerce order fulfillment company. “Retailers have a wider variety of products, so they need to focus on their top sellers and be more margin-conscious. This doesn’t mean they shouldn’t enter overseas markets, just that they need to look at the market differently.

“Brands, on the other hand, can likely go overseas much faster to support direct sales [or] and distributors,” Gilmore explains. “They have fewer products and typically higher margins than a retailer. With a marketing plan and a fulfillment partner, there are few reasons why a brand shouldn’t look overseas right away.”

The Hottest Markets?

So where do you start? “It depends what you are selling,” answers Delaney. “If you’re selling luxury items with international prestige, developing Asian countries, such as China and India, are the go-to-markets. If you’re selling automotive parts, China, Japan and South Korea are good bets.”

Gilmore believes the most exciting markets right now are Asia-Pacific. “With a GDP of $16 trillion and some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, it’s a really exciting place for new brands to grow,” he says. “China alone will have 650 million Internet users in just a few short years, with consumers set to spend $37 billion online by 2015.”

Gilmore also points to Australia as a superpower where consumers spent $12 billion online in 2010. Last, don’t ignore Japan as a leader in ecommerce sales; online sales there are expected to hit $98 billion by 2016.

Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Nope. We’re talking about bloggers.

Sure, investors and customers are vital to the success of a startup business, but few things can turn your tech startup into the “it” company on everyone’s lips (and tweets) as quickly as getting mentioned by a prominent blog or blogger.

As a journalist and blogger myself, I know a thing or two about what captures the attention of the media, about what makes a founder or company interesting. Here are some tips to get you started on your attention-getting campaign - from bloggers or mainstream journalists. (While I’m concentrating on bloggers here, many of these tips could also help you get the attention of a relevant newspaper or magazine writer or columnist.)

Selecting Your Target

First, choose your target. You probably already know what blogs and bloggers matter most to your industry. Competition is fierce to get mentioned by prominent tech blogs. To make it a little easier, try also targeting blogs that aren’t tech-specific but focus on your industry.

For example, if you’ve started a website that helps people with personal finance, target financial bloggers. If your blog sells beauty products or apparel, go after beauty or fashion bloggers. You get the picture.

If you want to expand your list of blogs and bloggers beyond those you know, check out Alltop and Technorati to find the most respected and influential blogs in a wide range of fields. Ask friends and colleagues what they read, too.

Once you build a target list of blogs and bloggers, get familiar with what they cover. Bloggers can instantly recognize pitches from people who have no idea what they write about (trust me on this). Read the blog to get a sense of what aspect of your story might be most appealing.

Making the Connection

You can get in touch with bloggers in a couple of ways. One is to post comments on their blogs. Make sure they’re relevant to the topic and don’t come off too self-promotional. You want to show the blogger that you’re knowledgeable about the topic, the industry and technology.

You can also contact bloggers directly. Many will list their contact info right on their blog. If they don't, look them up on Twitter and contact them that way. (I am starting to get a lot more pitches over Twitter.) Once you get in touch, use these tips to ensure your message isn’t ignored:

• Make sure your pitch is relevant to what the blogger writes about. Someone who covers industry gossip isn’t going to do a product review. And someone who writes product reviews won’t write about how your company just got funded.

• Piggyback on recent posts. If a recent post got lots of comments and attention, is there a related but new angle you can take that makes your business newsworthy? Maybe someone just blogged about why there aren’t enough women in tech. If you’re a woman with a tech business and you have a difference of opinion, tell the blogger why and share examples from your business of why you feel that way.

• Be controversial. Speaking of women in tech, controversial issues get bloggers going (because they get readers clicking and commenting). Taking an unpopular or devil’s advocate stand on one side of an issue can get bloggers’ attention - just don’t do so unless you truly feel that way.

• Easy does it. Bloggers are insatiable beasts - they’re constantly looking for new ideas to feed the Internet’s gaping maw, and they’re always in a hurry. Make it easy for them to find the information they need to write about your business by including a Media or Press section on your website that features your press releases and any news about your business; an About section with your startup story, mission and bios of you and your team; and a Contact section with plenty of ways to reach you quickly (email, phone, Twitter, etc.).

• By the numbers. It’s sad but true: bloggers do love numbers, lists and catchy titles that get people to click on their blog posts. So pitching yourself with a “5 reasons” or “3 things” or “10 best” angle can help grab their attention.

• Be trendy. For the same reason, tying your pitches into current events - whether it's the new crowdfunding regulations under the JOBS Act or TomKat’s divorce proceedings - is also a good way to go. Watch Twitter or Google for trending topics and relate your pitches to them.

Maximizing Success

OK, so you found the Holy Grail - a mention in a hot blog. What now?

Maximize the potential by tweeting it, Facebooking it, linking to it on your website and spreading the news any way you can think of.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to thank the blogger. They’ll appreciate the recognition and it just might be the start of a beautiful friendship.

1. Set an example. An innovative company needs to start with the founders and top execs. While even the most creative founders can’t drive innovation all by themselves, someone has to lead the way. Show your employees (don’t just tell them) that you value innovation by making it part of your daily life.

2. Clarify goals. Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Every person on the team should be clear on the startup’s business goals and what you are trying to achieve at each stage of development. This helps them know what’s important and what areas might benefit from new ideas.

3. Offer rewards. Yes, you’re a startup and don’t have a lot of cash on hand, but there are plenty of other ways to reward your team for innovations. Public recognition, a bonus, paid time off or promotions are all great rewards for successful innovation. And make sure you show public appreciation for employees’ efforts to come up with new ideas, even if they don’t pan out.

4. Build it in. Make innovation part of employees’ job descriptions - not just something that’s “nice to do if you have time.” Build it into the review process - reward it when it happens and ask for it when it doesn’t. This goes for every employee — from customer service to your head of engineering. Not every employee can rethink your business model, true, but they can rethink their own jobs and offer valuable ideas.

5. Have a hack day. Consider following the example of Google, which famously has employees devote 20% of their time to activities unrelated to their jobs. Set a day or a morning each week aside for a “hack day” where employees can explore things outside their responsibilities.

6. Take ideas seriously. Employees won’t innovate for long if their ideas are dismissed without a second thought or, worse, made fun of. Even if you’re all friends, feelings can get hurt. Develop a system to capture ideas so they don’t disappear into a black hole. Give each idea a respectful hearing and make sure all other employees do, too.

7. Implement ideas. This one may sound obvious, but too many innovation programs are all talk and no action (remember that forlorn suggestion box, anyone?). If you never implement any of your employees’ ideas, you’ll soon find the well of inspiration drying up. Don’t have any ideas that are ready for prime time? Pick two or three that are almost there and have your team focus on fine-tuning them until at least one is worth testing.

Successful businesses often have one thing in common: The management team has carefully designated roles. These aren’t jobs like CEO, CFO or CIO. They are roles like “the logical one,” “the idea person” or “the touchy-feely guy.”

The 3 Types of Intelligence

John B. Montgomery explores this concept in depth in his new book, Great From the Start: How Conscious Corporations Attract Success. As a Silicon Valley attorney and founder of technology incubator StartWorks, Montgomery has participated in many tech startups and has a natural interest in what makes them succeed. Drawing on the work of organizational development consultant Ward Ashman, Montgomery explains that there are three aspects of human intelligence: logic, emotion and intuition.

Logic is left-brain and process-oriented; intuition is right-brain and systems-oriented; and emotion is feelings-oriented. While every person has logic, intuition and emotion, Ashman’s theory holds that each individual tends to rely primarily on one of those types of intelligence. Understanding which of the three “human intelligences” predominates in your life can give you new insights into why other people respond to you the way they do.

For instance, realizing that logic is your dominant intelligence should help you understand why you sometimes come off as maddening as Star Trek’s Mr. Spock to members of your team. Or knowing that you’re primarily emotional can remind you to display facts and logic when presenting to potential investors. Once you know what type of intelligence you tend to rely on, you can also make a conscious effort to tap into the other aspects of intelligence.

Building a Balanced Leadership Team

Of course, no one is perfectly balanced, no matter how self aware they may be. That’s why creating a team with a balance of human intelligences is so important, Montgomery says. When your management team balances each other, they function as a whole brain, creating a system of checks and balances and to the founder’s preferred mode of intelligence.

Similarly, understanding what modes of intelligence are dominant in your management team can make it easier to work with them. For instance, you’ll realize that the logical person who takes longer to make decisions just wants to know all the facts, so they can think through every option. And that the intuitive person who seems to make snap judgments may be able to grasp the “big picture” faster than most.

Montgomery calls this “whole-brain leadership,” and his attention to the inner workings of the startup founder’s psyche is one of his book’s most valuable aspects. You might not expect a lawyer to talk about topics like mindfulness and meditation, but Montgomery’s experience has taught him the importance of “conscious leadership" in today’s transparent business environment. This requires a clear understanding of your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you come across to others.

Expert Voices

Montgomery’s thoughtful book also pulls in a variety of expert voices to speak on various aspects of building successful companies. His writing mirrors his advice to tech startups: Don’t try to nail everything down from the get-go, be flexible, stay in the present and call in the people with the skills to handle new priorities as they arise.

Great From the Start does present a concise, well-rounded guide to all the basic elements of a successful startup, such as creating a business model, business plan, a strong brand, a good board of directors and a firm legal foundation.

But like the ideal startups he envisions, Montgomery has a larger purpose. Citing research showing that when we work in supportive workplaces, our brains produce neuro-chemicals that make us happy, he claims that “Great From the Start is a preliminary blueprint to design humane corporations that will enable the ultimate paradigm shift: a sustainable global economic system designed for humanity that runs on trust succeeds the prevailing economic system that alternates between hope and fear.”

Techies aren’t known for their emotional intelligence, but startup success depends on engaging others, including investors, employees and customers. That makes Great From the Start’s focus on the human side of business more than just fluff.

While some might question the sanity of an individual who decides to make Greek startups a cornerstone of a plan to spread entrepreneurship around the world, Gary Whitehill says the young, entrepreneurial tech startup economy taking hold there offers lessons for startups everywhere.

Inspired by Riots

Whitehill is founder of Entrepreneur Week, the Greek version of which was inspired by riots protesting the country’s austerity moves. Whitehill “saw a real resurgence of people in Greece who realize entrepreneurship is the way out of the [economic] challenges they were having.” He teamed up with a number of Greek organizations, associations and institutions, including CoLab Athens (Greece’s first co-working space), which offers workshops and accelerator programs to startups.

The Entrepreneur Week European kickoff was originally slated to be held in Belgium, but Whitehill was “intrigued that something so unstable [could present] the right time, right place and right opportunity to make entrepreneurship a pillar of solving the problem.”

Entrepreneurs as Outcasts

According to Whitehill, entrepreneurs are “viewed as outcasts in Greece.” Many nations “are light years behind” the U.S., he says, when it comes to supporting startups. In Greece, “Entrepreneurs don’t have a place to go - so many have left the country.”

These attitudes are widespread. At the recent DWEN (Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Conference) in Delhi, India, I talked to women entrepreneurs from around the world, hearing how they not only have to surmount the usual challenges of starting a business, but must often fight cultural norms as well.

I’ve had similar conversations about bringing entrepreneurship to Egypt, where starting a company is considered a low-class occupation.

Given those kinds of attitudes, it’s hard to argue with Whitehill’s contention that “it’s relatively easy in America to start a business.”

I’m not belittling the challenges American startups face. But it’s easy for Silicon Valley startup founders pitching venture capitalists to forget all the advantages we have in the United States.

Check the P-List

When times get tough, startup founders might want to check what I call the “P-List” that Whitehill and Stavros Messinis, the co-founder of CoLab Athens, put together of lessons American startups can learn from their Greek counterparts:

• Persevere. Ignore the odds; be a survivor. Stop being risk-averse; instead, embrace the risk. Remember, they can’t eat you.
• Proactiveness. Be agile. Try to know what’s to come, and address it beforehand.
• Partnerships. Think about gaining access to global markets, and how to build bridges internationally.
• Proficiency. Be humble. Seek the best team, skill sets or mentors.
• Possibilities. Fail fast, fail often, fail cheap.

The Democratization of Entrepreneurship

Hoping to “democratize entrepreneurship globally,” Whitehill plans to take Entrepreneur Week to countries where there’s the “opportunity to make the most impact.” Currently he’s thinking Chile, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Portugal and Brazil.

At DWEN, the words of Lakshmi Pratury, the founder of Ixoraa Media, really struck me: “To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.”

That’s what Gary Whitehill was to the 600 Greek startup entrepreneurs who came to Entrepreneur Week in Athens earlier this year. And that’s the message he has for startups around the world. “It’s about helping create the future,” he says, “the right future.”

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.