Congratulations on your new job! Now, how do you make sure that you keep it? 46% of newly-hired employees will fail within 18 months, while only 19% will achieve unequivocal success, according to a study by Leadership IQ. Of those that fail, only 11% lacked the necessary technical skills. The overwhelming majority (89%) have other...
[Continue Reading]How To Create Buzz Around Your Company
Are you trying to build buzz, but don’t have the cash to launch a full-fledged PR campaign? Hack it. I emphasize that the best PR you can build is through satisfied customers with high Net Promoter scores. In other words, you should focus first on a great product/service, and only after you’ve achieved that worry about...
[Continue Reading]Build Your Startup on a Vacant Domain Name
This is part 2 of a 2-part series on domain names and startups; part 1 was “Should a Startup Spend VC Funding on a Domain Name?”. I’ve written in the past about how to identify a great startup opportunity. Let me propose a path few take: find an under-monetized domain name and start a business...
[Continue Reading]Should a Company Spend VC Funding on a Domain Name?
This is part 1 of a 2-part series on domain names and startups; part 2 will be “Build Your Startup on a Vacant Domain Name”. It is no coincidence that companies with the best domain names often tend to rise to the top of their space. Foursquare won vs. Gowalla, Loopt, and others. Wesabe lost...
[Continue Reading]Parkour and Entrepreneurs
Parkour is to entrepreneurs as golf is to (some) corporate executives. (Previously posted at Forbes.) In the past few years, I’ve taught myself some of the basics of parkour, which is effectively skateboarding without the skateboard. The goal is to navigate your environment as quickly and efficiently as possible. The New York Times describes it outdoor...
[Continue Reading]Helping Startups Hit a Home Run, VC Style
Lots of venture capitalists claim to add value to the companies in which they invest. But how do they do it? And does it really produce better returns for their investors? My coauthors and I just published in the Journal of Private Equity the first-ever research study on best practices of venture capitalists...
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