Startups

Financial institutions and entrepreneurs have a historically complicated relationship. Entrepreneurs need ways to fund their companies and keep business moving, meaning they lean on banks for everything from business loans to checking accounts. And banks need entrepreneurs, too — without small businesses fueling the economy, there isn’t much banks can do. This (sometimes reluctant) co-dependent […]

Much has been written about the tech industry’s sexist undertones. In 2017, Silicon Valley faced a “reckoning” for its gender-driven decision-making and tolerance of sexual harassment. From marginalizing women’s ability to contribute to the field because of their biological makeup to holding them to higher standards in order to earn leadership roles, the business world […]

To expand your wealth and achieve specific financial goals, you’re going to have to make some investments. However, those investments come with the significant risk of potential loss. Fortunately, the investment world has grown to offer more investment options and ways to assess those options. This includes more opportunities for individuals and companies to get […]

Bevy, an enterprise community event platform, announced today it has raised $6.4 Million Dollars from investors: Upfront Ventures, renowned author and Stanford Professor Steve Blank, Ryan Smith and Jared Smith, co-founders of Qualtrics, and Aaron Skonnard, SEO of Pluralsight. Bevy raised funds to increase their growth rate and expand the team. The Bevy Platform was […]

“I didn’t even know who Mark Zuckerberg was back in October 2015. Eighteen months later, I’m keynoting at conferences and serving clients in London, Sydney, Singapore, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Vancouver, and 50 other cities,” says Logan Young, the co-founder of BlitzMetrics, a Facebook dashboard and advertising company. Learn, Do, Teach: Build Your Expertise First New […]

Let’s talk about values. Not family values or stock values, but company values: the bedrock of an organization. A company’s core values define it in a way nothing else can. They support the vision and shape the culture. They are the principles and beliefs that define the work. They are what drive the company. Some […]

If you’ve ever toured the offices of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., you might notice a few commonalities. There’s the ubiquitous ping pong table, productivity-enhancing tunes wafting through the air, and an open, flexible workspace designed to support collaboration across teams. But the biggest commonality of them all? Their cupboards are almost invariably stocked […]

Economic bubbles aren’t new. From the tulip bubble of the 1630s, to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, to the big-tech mania we’re seeing today, overvaluations happen — but not all bubbles pose the same risks or offer the same rewards. Every few years, it seems we’re warned of another looming “bubble” about to burst. Most […]

Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic across the board. Everyone from developers, to data scientists, journalists, and general user-bases of all profiles are talking about it on a global scale. Entrepreneurs have taken notice of the benefits of AI in most areas of everyday life, whether assistants, mobile, entertainment and even healthcare or insurance. In […]

Savvy business owners understand the importance of intellectual property (IP) to their business’ success and most can name patents, trademarks, and copyrights as some of the various forms that IP can take. But the distinctions between copyrights, patents, and trademarks is often confusing and misunderstood, even by business people that regularly deal with IP. But not […]

Meural, the digital art platform we love and have in our office displaying beautiful art was just acquired by NETGEAR. This was just announced at NETGEAR’s Analyst Day. Meural started in 2014 by Jerry Hu and Vladimir Vukicevic. They has since raised $9.4 million over four rounds of funding from NETGEAR, Corigin Ventures, Bolt, Bryan […]

At first all I wanted was to be able to purchase something wonderful and uplifting for my bedroom wall. Then the goal was — if we could just find a piece that was inspirational above the desk in the den — that would be enough. Soon, we realized that we spent much more time in […]

What do Pied Piper and blockchain tools have in common? Both are always “coming soon.” By now most of us are familiar with blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Outside of cryptocurrency, blockchain has many purported use cases in scenarios that require an immutable ledger. Rhetoric has elevated blockchain to godly status, […]

Every time you’ve installed a piece of commercial software, you’ve invariably been presented with what must have appeared to be legal gibberish- a seeming difficult to read, needlessly long, solid block of text that was almost impossible to understand. Most people never bother to read the information presented- quickly scrolling to the bottom of the […]

Over the past couple years, the machine learning niche has exploded into the mainstream. Startups have popped up left and right to show off their innovative new tools, and Google — the tech giant above all tech giants — now claims to be a machine learning company. This sudden spike in AI interest is not as […]

“Make a spinner and spin the wheel”. – Seth Godin That’s what influencers always mean, start what you like doing and stick to it. Don’t give up in the middle. However, you can only continue doing something when you start something in the first place. Most of us today are tired of living a 9-to-5 […]

As a startup one of your most important assets is your brand and that brand is usually embodied in your company name and logo. The valuable time that you invested in coming up with just the right creative name and developing the branding and marketing around that company name is impossible to measure. After creating […]

Freelancing has been dubbed the on-demand economy, where businesses hire independent contractors to perform tasks for the company instead of regular employees. Contractors are generally less expensive to hire because you only pay for what you need. This can make them more appealing for smaller or shorter term projects, but some Silicon Valley startups are […]

The Start-Up Chile accelerator was arguably the spark that ignited Chile’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Chilean government, through the development agency CORFO, founded Start-Up Chile in 2010 as a way to bring in foreign entrepreneurs who would galvanize Chile’s transition into an economy built on technology and innovation. Since then, Start-Up Chile has accelerated over 1,500 […]

Over the last few years, Canada’s technology sector has been experiencing a renaissance. Increased venture funding has been helping to develop a robust tech ecosystem with major hubs in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto. Here’s how public venture funding can help build Canada’s tech talent. Despite this noticeable growth, however, Canadian tech companies still face […]

This article is the third part of my extended series on boundaryless teams, remote-first companies, and the future of work. In my two previous installments, I talked about the changing dynamics in many tech-centric cities. I explained why authorities like Sam Altman of Y-Combinator, Angel List’s Naval Ravikant, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, and Bill Gurley, […]

When new, typically young entrepreneurs start thinking about how they’re going to launch a startup, their mind instantly begins sorting through potential ideas. And most of those entrepreneurs end up discouraged. Why? Because they can’t come up with some revolutionary, game-changing, never-before-considered idea to serve as the foundation for their business. Obviously, if you have […]

My first job out of college was preventing a nuclear power station from melting down. It was summer 1986, the fall-out from Chernobyl was blowing over Europe and, after graduating in engineering science, I undertook a software development project for the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Here is why a tech startup is like a nuclear […]

On the topic of ecommerce, one wonders to what extent this business model is applicable, and where is it likely to end? This is the prime question that goes through most online retailers, entrepreneurs today. It’s the extent of this phenomenon that has resulted in soaring businesses across the world. Some of the many ecommerce […]

We all love a good story, especially those that involve rags-to-riches path. We love the zero-to-unicorn stories of Microsoft, Facebook and Uber. We often tie this type of success to proof of the American experiment–an ever-present reminder to some that if they put in the time and eventually get funded, they too can scale a […]

Being relatively a new service trend in today’s tech-driven world, CTO-as-a-Service (CaaS) is notably gaining its momentum. Though CTO as a traditional full-time position exists for decades, some companies do not feel they need a technology executive. Still, in some crucial stages of company growth, the CTO engagement turns out to be inevitable. CTO engagement […]

In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk to Will Decker, the VP of Brand and Retail for Plug and Play. The company is known as the most active investor in Silicon Valley. It’s also the “ultimate innovation platform” because it connects the best technology startups with the world’s largest corporations. Will Decker has […]

Into the realm of visual merchandising, we are going to see how this vital and exciting marketing technique can propel sales in the fashion business. Retail stores have long been using visual merchandising as an effective way to provide customers with a unique experience of purchasing products. Here is why online startups cannot afford to […]

Marketing tactics change constantly. Each year new tactics become more impactful, and old ones fade into obscurity. Sticking to the same tactics is stale for your current customers and potential customers, too. Instead of just running the same growth tactics for years on end, it’s time to make a switch in 2020. Here are four unique growth tactics […]

I’m excited to speak with Pavel Cherkashin in today’s episode of the How To CEO podcast!. Pavel is a co-founder and managing partner at Mindrock Capital. Pavel is also a managing partner at GVA Capital. I spoke with him about what founders and CEOs need to know about raising early checks. When Should Founders Try […]

Today, the explosion of development in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology has created a market for which it appears there’s no limit. No matter the industry, if you name a reasonably-sized (or larger) company, there’s a good chance that they’re investing in AI and ML technology as a cornerstone of their strategic […]

Some big corporations have grown a conscience. At least, that’s the message from the Business Roundtable, which a few months ago announced that from now on, its members will focus not solely on lining their shareholders’ pockets. They have also said that they will work on investing in employees, dealing fairly with suppliers, and working […]

Blockchain-startups are not left out when it comes to SEO. It’s one of the strategic methods of connecting with your target audience. As a blockchain startup, you’ll need customers to visit your company site, but this doesn’t just happen overnight. Here is blockchain marketing with six effective ways to boost your SEO in 2020. Effective […]

Everyone is excited about starting their own business. Countless people try their luck every year, but most of the business failed due to a lack of proper planning. Approximately 45% of startups struggle because they didn’t reach their target market. To run a startup successfully, you need to validate your idea systematically for making your […]

Silicon Valley gets significant attention for its role in producing tech startups that often go on to see massive, international success. However, it’s far from the only startup hub in the world, and it’s not even the only startup hub in the United States. While Silicon Valley has the advantages of a self-sustaining entrepreneurial reputation […]

Any business owner will tell you there is a massive chasm between “concept” and “execution.” More than half of the time, business owners and entrepreneurs will come up with amazing concepts — foolproof plans. And more than half of the time, it’s the execution phase that kills them. Here’s how OKR’s completely transformed our culture. […]

Between the United States and China, who’s more successful in the creation of life-changing artificial intelligence? This question can’t be answered in a single sentence and tied up with a bow because, truthfully, both sides have their own unique advantages and challenges. But that hasn’t stopped each side from publicizing its plans for world domination. In […]

Launching a startup seems like the most promising business opportunity for creative individuals who don’t want to drive down traditional career roads. This is exactly why startups are flourishing worldwide, flooding every niche from home services to online retail. Here is what nobody teaches you about getting your startup off the ground. Every Startup Isn’t […]

Are you an ambitious entrepreneur from the west seeking to expand to China? Or are you interested in opening a new business in China? If yes, this article is for you. Here is how to get started in China and have success. We will explain the five most viable business openings in China today and […]