The Age of Unicorns

The billion-dollar tech startup was supposed to be the stuff of myth. Now they seem to be … everywhere.

Stewart Butterfield had one objective when he set out to raise money for his startup last fall: a billion dollars or nothing. If he couldn’t reach a $1 billion valuation for Slack, his San Francisco business software company, he wouldn’t bother. Slack was hardly starving for cash. It was a rocket ship, with thousands of people signing up for its workplace collaboration tools each week. What Slack needed, Butterfield believed, was the cachet of the billion-dollar mark. Continue reading

These 15 “Soft Skills” Define the A-Team

In the 1980s and 1990s I placed hundreds of people in management positions. A few dozen got quickly promoted multiple times. I met up with one of them last week who’s now an EVP with an F250 company. Many of the hiring managers who hired these people had similar track records of success. Coincidently, I was at a business conference with a number of them last month. These two events got me thinking about all of these people – the hundreds and the dozens – and what they had in common. Continue reading

3 Top Strategies for Attracting Visitors to Your Website

With millions of websites out there, getting visitors to your site is often the biggest challenge for business owners. Your strategies for doing so may include search engines, paid search services, and affiliates. Let’s consider them one at a time. Continue reading

20 Great Small Business Ideas for 2015

New year, new business. If you’re like most people who dream about starting their own business, finally taking that leap is likely one of your New Year’s resolutions. For many would-be entrepreneurs, however, not knowing what kind of business to start is holding them back. Having the entrepreneurial spirit running through your veins is rarely enough — entrepreneurs also need a great business idea to make their dreams come true.

Here are plenty of great small business ideas to get you started. Continue reading

‘No Copy Plugin’ for Websites to Prevent Copycats

Recently I have created a Plugin for Websites which prevents unwanted copycats from doing:

Right Click
Cut
Copy
Paste
Select
Drag
Key-down

‘SMS Plugin’ for OpenCart that Notifies Store Admin and Customer

Recently I have created an SMS Plugin for OpenCart through which an online shop can be able to send SMS notification to:

Store Admin
Additional Store side people
Customer

In the event of:

When an Order is placed
When an Order status is changed

10 Reasons You Have To Quit Your Job In 2015

This was going to end badly.

My boss screamed at me in front of my colleagues. I had done something wrong of course. I had sent a product to the client without debugging it thoroughly. It was my fault. But I don’t like being yelled at.

And fortunately I was sitting on a job offer that I decided to take that moment. So the next day I said the magic words, “I quit”.

Distracted? 11 Hacks That Will Help You Focus

Sound familiar? If procrastination and a lack of focus are problems for you, check out the infographic below by Anna Vital, information designer at Funders and Founders. These 11 tricks to help you get your focus on, if you can pay attention long enough to remember them. Some Cliff’s notes: Classical music and pets are helpful, a cluttered desk and an uncomfortable chair are not.

Check out the rest of the advice and get to work.

4 Reasons Why an Online Business is the Best Investment You Will Ever Make

Entrepreneurs are a rare breed of individuals who are constantly exploring new business opportunities. Some seek out new opportunities on their own while others are constantly being pitched new ideas.

The majority of opportunities, no matter how good they might sound, end up being a complete money-sucking nightmare due to expensive overhead, slow scalability and low margins. Online businesses, however, can be very appealing because they don’t have the traditional hurdles that most new ventures face. The following are four reasons why online businesses are the best investment entrepreneurs can make. Continue reading

Running Lean Canvas

Running Lean Canvas from Ash Maurya

Getting On The Right Line Of Thinking – Think Like an Entrepreneur

How does one learn to think? If you get lost, here is a line of thinking map.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Business Plan

Writing a business plan may sound difficult and dull — and by “may,” we mean “definitely” — but it doesn’t have to be. Yes, we know you’re eager to dive right in on that world-changing business idea, but having your strategy on paper is critical.

The Four Vs of Big Data

Shu-Ha-Ri: Measuring Agile Adoption Maturity

http://www.slideshare.net/cognizant/shuhari-measuring-agile-adoption-maturity

5 Reasons Business Use the Cloud

Cucumber Diet: Lose 15 Pounds In 14 Days!

This diet is based on cucumber salad which you can eat as much as you want whenever you feel hunger. It is ideal for everybody who doesn’t really want to think about what they are going to eat while dieting because the diet plan is really simple. Continue reading

Product Owner or Product Manager?

Can one person be both a Product Owner and a Product Manager? After spending nearly three years combining the role, I have now come to the conclusion that the answer is no. It is an “or” – you are either a Product Owner OR a Product Manager. Now, that is not to say that one cannot grow from one role to the other, but trying to perform both functions at the same time can be counter-productive. Here are the reasons that have led me to this conclusion.

The Politics of Agile

In the world of agile software development, it seems like Marketing and Development are in a race for control of ‘the product.’ Who will win? The flakes in Marketing or the geeks in Development?

95 Sartup Advice by Sam Altman

In honor of the new YC batch starting tomorrow, here is some of the best start-up advice I’ve heard or given (mostly heard):

8 Signs and Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Do you have RA?

by Tammy Worth

Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious autoimmune disease that attacks the joints and other body parts.

But RA can be tough to diagnose. Symptoms can mimic other illnesses, or they may flare, then fade, only to flare again somewhere else. Lab tests aren’t perfect—you can test negative for RA factors and still have it. And X-rays don’t show signs until later on.

Here are some tricky rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and hints that they’re due to RA and not some other condition.

Who are these ‘mini-CEOs’ and what do they do?

In the world of technology, it’s often the engineers and designers that are among the most celebrated. They are the people who literally build amazing products that we enjoy, such as Instagram, Gmail, Twitter, Android, iOS, and other software, hardware, and services.

Elon Musk Interviewed On 60 Minutes

10 Calculated Risks That Lead To Startup Success

There is an old saying that good lawyers run away from risk, while good businessmen run towards risk. Entrepreneurs see “no risk” as meaning “no reward.” In reality, all risks are not the same. Many risks can be managed or calculated to improve growth or provide a competitive edge, while others, like skipping quality checks to save money, are recipes for failure.