January 12, 2010
If you have 9 minutes to chillax, don’t miss this creative video.
If you like reading about the most important tweets in 2009, you’ll also enjoy this cartoon artist’s creation.
April 24, 2009
The very first New York City Entrepreneur Week (NYC ENT) was full of energy and ideas, as more than 2,000 entrepreneurs came together to share experiences, spark conversations, and strengthen relationships within the local start-up community.
I only made it to one panel discussion, but jotted down the most practical and inspirational words of wisdom below
Research first, Research again
Market Research may seem like an overwhelming task, especially to those “original thinkers.” Nevertheless, research is a MUST before jumping into any conclusions. Market Research not only links the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers, it also bring you closer to the like-minded people who might have paved the road ahead of you. In today’s connected world, don’t forget to leverage technology to find out the unknowns! Scrutinize the first 10 pages of Google results; look for relevant links through Del.icio.us bookmarks; collect user-generated mentions in Social Mention; discover similar content in Digg; gather computational knowledge via Wolfram/Alpha, etc. The technology and information are mostly free, but it does take TIME and EFFORT to conduct a thorough research.
Know your market, Test the market
Once you’ve got enough information on the market trends, target audience behaviors, market size & market variables, then it’s time to TEST the market! It helps remove some of the uncertainties and largely reduce investment risks. Sometimes, testing the market could simply mean running a sanity check with your friends and family. Other times, it helps to build a prototype and see how far it takes you. Venture capitalists always welcome prototypes, because it also helps them to better determine the product’s potential growth value.
Have a plan, Build a budget
Just like planning a wedding or buying a house, translating ideas into reality requires a concrete plan and a reasonable budget. This is supposed to be common sense, but VCs have seen far too many entrepreneurs walking in with a 10-page sloppy power point presentation and asking for 5 to 10 million investment money. Although it is not advisable to develop a 150-page word document illustrating every single step of the implementation, a well through-out, well-researched presentation is absolutely necessary. Also, the budget proposal needs to be data-driven and research oriented, not according to so and so’s imagination or past experience.
Minimize the fixed cost, Track the variable cost
While this project is the love of your life and you desire the best of the best to work for you and make it perfect, reduce the fixed costs as much as possible! For example, if you need to build a website, give the developers shares of your equity instead of promising cold hard cash. Introduce new businesses to the designer instead of paying $1000 for the layout. Hire a webmaster who is interested in your business idea instead of someone who just wants to make $50 an hour. Develop long-term friendships and partnerships, but keep your cash abundant. Of course, there will be those one-off costs that can not be avoided, closely track them and make sure you are staying on top of your financial status at all times.
Gather all metrics, Run A/B test
Project development involves a great deal of trail-and-error, so please ACCESS, MEASURE, TEST! Aside from statistical numbers, look for qualitative feedback as well. Systematic assessment during the development phase should be and will be your best friend during the development.
Find sponsorship, Find affiliated markets
This is the “Age of Collaboration.” The more hands you hold, the stronger you will become in the market.
Hire slowly, Fire quickly
Again, CASH IS KING. Don’t let labor resources quickly drain your financial resources. Find the talented versatile who is willing to wear multiple hats, fire those who are not contributing effectively as soon as possible. One important side note, every organization needs at least one Super Star Salesman! (1 out of 1500 ratio)
Build traffic, build SEO strategies
Search Engine Optimization has been a widespread marketing practice for years because it shows a measurable ROI and revenue growth. Although those prestigious marketing agencies and consultants might break your bank, basic SEO/SEM tips and guidelines can be easily sefl-taught. However, be cautious, as it is not hard to be barking up the wrong tree when it comes to getting search engine traffic because there is so much out of date information being circulated. For a beginner, spending 20 hours on Google’s Starter Guide and AdWords Guide is worth the time investment =)
Do you have anything else to add on the list? A powerpoint presentation might do a better job presenting these key takeaways, stay tuned ^^
