Saturday, December 30 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
Roizen talks about the importance of bootstrapping, and maintaining control of the company in the early stages. Not only do entrepreneurs have to work for a living but they also have to make the money raised last for a longer time. When capital became easily available people stopped making the money the old fashion way, by working. If you create profit, shareholder value will definitely follow. If you make profits you don’t need other people to invest in your company. This is a great advantage.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Saturday, December 30 by David Askaripour in MP News | 3 Comments
2006 has been a wonderful year for young entrepreneurs. We have continued to penetrate sectors, disrupt preexisting business models, and launch innovative services that have solved problems and made lives easier and more entertaining.
One of the highlights of the year came from the acquisition offer from Yahoo to purchase the notorious facebook for 1 billion dollars. A company founded roughly 3 years ago by a freshman in college is now one of the most popular services on the entire internet.
facebook has revolutionized the way college students communicate with their friends and peers online. They have set the standard for the university-based social networking platform.
Young entrepreneur Kristopher Tate made big moves with his startup Zooomr this year. Zooomr, a direct competitor of flickr is on its way to changing the social photo-sharing presence on the net.
With their innovative geotagging and picture zooming features, Zooomr is truly becoming one of the most – if not the most – innovative photo-sharing sites on the net. Eighteen year-old Tate is making big moves and doesn’t seem to be slowing down whatsoever.
Our marketing presence hasn’t been unnoticed either. Twenty-four year old Darren Herman helped lead a $17 million investment for his in-game advertising company, IGA Worldwide.
IGA Worldwide, an in-game advertising network, is gaining momentum in this hot sector of advertising. Never before has our gaming technology been so powerful. Would you have ever thought that the gaming industry would be bigger than the movie industry?
With the release of the Nintento Wii, Playstation 3, and the latest XBOX, we have seen the gaming industry blowup with an army of avid gamers ready to purchase the latest games that hit the shelves. Any large company not thinking about in-game advertising is going to be dead in the water. IGA Worldwide will surely capitalize on the need for an in-game presence into 2007.
And let’s not forget 28 year-old Steve Chen and 29 year-old Chad Hurley, founders of You Tube. How many entrepreneurs can start a company and sell it for 1.65B 21 months later? Not many, and such a deal highlights the true potential of the young entrepreneur.
This sale of You Tube to Google marked a magnificent accomplishment for young entrepreneurs around the world. Something that helps put us young entrepreneurs on the map and reinforces our strength in the world of innovation and business strategy.
You Tube is the number on video-sharing site in the world and has changed the way that people share videos over the net forever. Google knew that they simply couldn’t attract the type of community that You Tube easily built up, so what did they do? They purchased them and acquired the minds of two brilliant young entrepreneurs who will continue to innovate and bring You Tube to new heights.
Their recent partnership with Verizon shows that You Tube isn’t slowing down by any means. Their scope is broadening and the video sector hasn’t even begun to show it’s true potential yet.
Don’t you see what’s happening? Young entrepreneurs are breaking through industries like never before seen. Our entry into the world of marketing, video, social network, photo-sharing, and beyond has been moving at a rate faster than any other demographic of entrepreneurs on this planet.
We are breaking barriers. We are continuing to defy the odds. We are innovating on a level that’s rendering older business models obsolete. We aren’t the little guys on the sidelines watching the 900 pound gorillas anymore – the roles are changing.
The young entrepreneur’s mind has become one of the most sought after assets in the entire business world. Top corporations are lining up to hire us, enticing us with $25,000 sign-on bonuses. Large internet companies are throwing millions of dollars in our faces to purchase our intellectual property. And prestigious entrepreneurship-focused universities are flaunting full scholarships for us to attend their schools.
The Young Entrepreneur is becoming more than a group of internet buddies in their dorm room hacking away. Young Entrepreneurship has become an ideal. An idea that transcends any stereotypes of our ages, our commitment levels, and our hunger to succeed in the world of business.
What we are doing now as young entrepreneurs will echo throughout society for ages to come. We are becoming the industry leaders, the movers and shakers, the ones who people are seeking advice from.
The students have become the teachers and we are no longer waiting around to get our MBAs to be considered “qualified” entrepreneurs. No longer are we waiting for our parents or professors to give us the green light to start our ventures – we have stopped thinking are started doing.
What’s the outlook for young entrepreneurship? The outlook is magnificent. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface and 2007 is going to be an even greater year for us.
Keep up the excellent work, fellow Young Entrepreneurs! Whatever you want out of this world, you can have it. As Napoleon Hill says: “Whatever the mind can believe it can conceive.”
To Our Success,
David Askaripour
Mind Petals
founder
Friday, December 29 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | Leave a Comment
Have you ever noticed the negative stigma that is sometimes associated with the title “Hustler” within our society?
Usually when most people hear this word their mind automatically thinks about a guy in the park after dark with 45 stolen Rolex watches underneath his jacket, or maybe even a drug dealer, booster, thief or at least something along these lines.
However a hustler in my opinion is everybody right here at this network! Sure entrepreneurship offers the opportunity for unlimited income, financial freedom, a lifestyle that one dreams of and possibly even fame equivalent to celebrity status!
However is this really the lifestyle of the average start-up entrepreneur who is young, fighting against the odds, working from a home office, trying to acquire financing, constantly pitching ideas to companies and investors, trying to overcome their constant discomforts and fears, fighting with friends and family who want them to pursue a different career path, up all night and back up early in morning.
Doesn’t sound like glamour and glitz to me! As a young and hungry entrepreneur you have to find that hustle from within and use it to propel you towards your goals. Everyday when you wake up out of bed, you have to constantly hustle and fight against the grain.
You have to hustle with your marketing campaigns, you have to hustle with your networking efforts, you have to hustle to make sales, hustle to make contacts, hustle to get your name out, hustle to fight against the big name companies, hustle to pay the bills, hustle, hustle, hustle and hustle some more.
Just remember that Trump wasn’t always a big timer, he had to hustle to earn the respect he receives when you mention his name. Bill Gates didn’t wake up with Billions under his pillow, and he had to hustle to make his “stupid little idea” into a world dominating company!
Going back to the great article that David wrote earlier this week on Wednesday entitled, “It’s So Easy to Give Up,” you better know that Chris Gardner was a hustler!
Anybody who sleeps on the streets at night and continues to fight his way up the ladder in the financial services industry, only to end up owning a multi-million dollar firm most definitely is a hustler!
Discover the hustler that lies within yourself and embrace it as a positive; it could be that extra link that will help your business eventually break through in a major way!
Friday, December 29 by David Askaripour in Operations | 3 Comments
As a young entrepreneur, what’s on your mind? Is it revenues? Is it market-share? Is it clients? Is it how to close a deal? Is it profits? Is it satisfying the needs of the market by providing a valuable service?
Well if your number one objective is “profits” and everything else falls behind that, then you’re on the road to failure my friends. So many entrepreneurs have it backwards nowadays. And I must admit, many young entrepreneurs are the ones who fall victim to this way of looking at entrepreneurship.
Let’s cut to the chase: entrepreneurship isn’t about making profits then satisfying the needs of the masses through offering helpful services and priceless solutions. It’s the complete opposite.
Entrepreneurship is about helping people, satisfying peoples’ needs, solving problems, motivating others to succeed, and changing the world. Then – and only then – can you being to think about profiting.
Thinking about profits first is like looking into the distance and squinting your eyes trying to read what it says on the sign. You can see the sign – you know it’s there – but you just can’t make out the words. But when you’re thinking about providing value and your sequence of objectives are clear, then you’re looking at the world through a finely calibrated lens that sees things more clearly. There’s no haze of profiting off of nothing in between your vision.
Okay so that wasn’t the best analogy but you get the idea, right?
I have no doubt in my mind that the entrepreneurs that are focusing on adding value and solving real problems before thinking about profiting are going to be the entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed in the end.
It’s all about how you go about building your foundation. A home with a weak foundation will last for many years, yes, but it’s bound to crumble at some point. A home a rock solid foundation will always outlast the weaker home.
That’s how you have to think about your business. If you build your business on a positive foundation of really wanting to help and really wanting to bring about change, then you are building a foundation for your venture that simply can’t be compromised.
But if you are building something solely based on profiteering and making cash from basically nothing that adds value, then good luck. Sure, I have no doubt that you’ll be able to make money in the short-term, but time will eventually catch up with you and your business will fall by the wayside if it lacks true value and substance.
You have no idea of how many young entrepreneurs (if I can even call them entrepreneurs) who are making a few dollars but simply have no concepts of giving back, trying to bring about change, or providing a real value to their market.
They are profiting off the ignorance of their clients and have no desire to educate them on how they can be getting more out of their money. It’s disgusting to watch this sort of business.
I think that we all need to find the social entrepreneur within. The type of entrepreneurship that not only thinks about profiting, but also thinks about adding real value. Only you can decide which one is more important and which one to concentrate on first. Add value, and everything you want (money, luxury, fame, power, yaddah…yaddah…yaddah…) will be sure to follow. I promise.
Friday, December 29 by David Askaripour in We're Talkin' | 3 Comments
Jay Phillips is a young entrepreneur who doesn’t wait for success to find him, he goes out and makes it happen. He saw an opportunity in the VoIP sector and developed Adhearsion, an open-source framework that’s on the verge of revolutionizing the entire telephony industry.
Tell me about Adhearsion. How did you get it started and why?
Necessity is the mother of invention. While working with an Internet telephony service provider in Houston, I found a lot of dismal repetition in our day-to-day jobs, and when our boss would get crazy new ideas to integrate the phone systems with something new, we just squirmed in our seats. This wasn’t just an issue facing our little spot on the map– this was an issue affecting the entire industry.
Adhearsion came about as an experimental solution that my roommate Mike and I wrote in our free time. When the going started getting extremely good, we offered to sell the program to our boss (we were just contractors at the time) and legal issues ensued. We left the company and Codemecca was formed.
What exactly does Adhearsion do? What problems does it solve?
Well, the best way for fellow geeks to understand it is to explain that Adhearsion is a new Application Programmer Interface layer to an entire business, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) included. The open-source PBX software Asterisk by the fantastic folks at Digium has really revolutionized the Telecom world and it’s this on which Adhearsion builds.
What makes Adhearsion special is that it employs the linguistic, very high-level Ruby programming language, allows refreshingly pain-free database integration, and most importantly I feel is its extension architecture.
Until now actually trading and merging sophisticated VoIP functionality has been a nightmare. Now one file gets put in your Adhearsion folder, Adhearsion finds that file, and suddenly the code in that file works across the entire framework.
This has provisioned the potential for some really awesome features that will come standard with Adhearsion, making a new (and free!) Adhearsion install more powerful than what most companies have spent tens of thousands on.
Despite the fact Adhearsion is in a private beta phase right now, these features to which I’m vaguely referring have already created quite a bit of industry interest.
The best way for our fellow ungeeky better halves to understand Adhearsion is to say that Adhearsion makes programmers and managers really, really happy.
Have you been able to get Adhearsion in the hands of any big players in the VoIP industry? How have you been promoting?
Promoting something that’s not even publicly spoken about has been extremely difficult, albeit absolutely necessary. The first real time that the VoIP industry heard the name Adhearsion was at Astricon 2006 in Dallas. I gave a couple of small demonstrations of the code I had at the time and spread the gospel by word of mouth. Luckily, I managed to bump into just the right individuals.
I came back with a stack of business cards and started pinging around. Most people didn’t want to cut their deck on potential vaporware, so in this way holding the code private until Christmas has been a thorn in my foot. But Mark Spencer, the CEO of Digium, creator of Asterisk and fellow young entrepreneur, was willing to listen.
I sent him the longest email I’ve ever written and caught him on an instant messenger. It was all uphill from there. Mark’s been my angel investor in a non-financial kind of way — he’s an angel investor of his thoughts and opinions.
When Mark speaks, everyone in the industry listens. One quick, tiny mention of something new from his mouth gets thousands of other mouths talking. I’m not sure how much my own mouth should be talking about my business arrangements, but here are a couple of things I have let out.
Some of the biggest open-source VoIP product makers, names which I shouldn’t mention just yet, have sunk their teeth into my work and will officially include Adhearsion in their product when Adhearsion is public. We’re talking thousands of downloads a day in the first week or so
Adhearsion makes it into the wild. I feel this alone will establish a lot of the much-needed respect projects like this need early on. Companies I’ve privately invited are already using Adhearsion and are reporting great success. This too is another necessity: having companies actually using it.
Adhearsion serves as the VoIP integrator for functions ranging from election-related Web 2.0 apps to in-house auto-attendants. O’Reilly Media, the biggest publisher of computer books, has invited me to speak at their Emerging Telephony 2007 conference in San Francisco.
I’ll be giving a ninety-minute workshop there showing how to transform your business with Adhearsion by example of a fictitious new Web 2.0 startup. This conference is one of the biggest events of the year in VoIP, attracting the real “who’s who” list.
Tickets alone range from $1,500 to $1,800, but luckily for me speakers get in for free. Like Astricon, this will be a pivotal point in Codemecca’s life to network and get people talking about Adhearsion.
But to tie this segue back, social networking has been the number one most important root of Adhearsion’s early success. I can’t stress this enough. Be yourself, show passion, be interesting. If you can establish friendships in your industry, life becomes incredibly rewarding both on a business and on a personal level.
What’s it like being a young entrepreneur doing such big things?
On a personal level, there’s been virtually no difference, ironically. When people ask me what my company does, their ears shut off as soon as I mention technology. If I say I’m a software developer, people associate my age with game programming.
If I say phones, they think it’s silly. If I mention I give my code away for free, people immediately doubt my business skills. I gave up a long time ago trying to find someone who cared.
On an academic level, it’s been rough. I’m constantly having to decide “Okay, should I be memorizing trigonometric identities right now or implementing that new feature that saves VoIP companies thousands of dollars.” Often I side with my entrepreneurial obligations and it does hurt.
On a professional level, being young has made all the difference in the world! When these geezers see this passionate youngster talking to them on an eye-to-eye level, it really portrays my sense of direction. In fact, nearly every good contact I have has started with “Wow, so how old are you, kid–”
Your youth is the best time of your life, and I can’t think of anything more fun than what I do now. What’s more, starting young gives you an advantage throughout the rest of your life. An IPO at twenty-one attracts entirely different responses than an IPO at thirty-one.
Any parting words for fellow young entrepreneur?
Constantly think of your own name and what people should think when it comes to their mind. For me, “Jay Phillips” is something I want the entire industry to know. I want the entire industry to know it thirty years from now. Or even a hundred and thirty years from now.
Set your ambitions high and follow through with them. Networking is the cheapest way of doing this and, truthfully, one of the most effective ways.
Take every networking opportunity that arises and don’t be shy. Our Achilles heel is lack of real-world experience and knowledge, so be a voracious reader to compensate. If you can show youth, knowledge, and passion, you’re destined for great things.
Keep in touch with Jay and follow him on his journey to success as a young entrepreneur — visit jicksta.
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Thursday, December 28 by David Askaripour in Communities | 4 Comments
I’m an internet guy, but the web has nothing on physical interaction. Doesn’t even come close (well… it comes close but not close enough). Last night I attended “darrenCamp” on the Upper East Side section of Manhattan.
Darren Herman, founder of IGA Worldwide, did an excellent job putting some of the smartest, innovative, and savviest marketing, internet, and finance people in one room. It was a great networking experience and I left with a handful of contacts.
Darren said something that really struck a cord with me last night: “The web really isn’t that social.” He went on to explain that you can view a person’s IP address and see how they got to your site, but you can only go so far in getting to really know that person.
He sees the rise of avatars as something that is going to break the social barriers on the net. You know, like actually seeing someone’s face on your blog or perhaps their Second Life profile on their website/blog.
To a larger degree, I agree with Darren and I think that we have a long way to go before the net truly does become social. Sure, we have communities such as facebook, MySpace, flickr, blog networks, etc…etc… but all of them have barriers that don’t allow people to make intimate connections with others besides reading their content, viewing their profiles, commenting, and tracking their IP addresses.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that blog commenting, profiles, and reading peoples’ content are excellent ways to get to know someone online – those are the best tools that we currently have online right now and through them we are reaching out to millions of people everyday.
However, like everything else in the world, there’s room for improvement.
Here are some thoughts:
- What about sharing voice profiles with people. Imagine being able to listen to a mini voice introduction of your facebook or MySpace buddies, that would be great.
- As Darren suggested, it would be cool for Second Life to build wikis for people to share their avatars across their sites/blogs.
- Or, what about online scrapbooks that we could share with people. A digital book of videos, recording, images, sites that I visited, favorite music, etc… I think that if someone was able to build a service that organized these eclectic elements of someone’s life in an easy to view (and cross-social network) way, then it would go a long way in penetrating the social barriers online.
But as I stated in the beginning of this article, real world interaction will always trump online interaction. Just like how print publication will never die because people love the feeling of holding a book and reading it. Just can’t beat that!
There’s something magical about sitting alongside of someone and holding an intelligent, engaging, and insightful conversation with that person. Being able to share your ideas, brainstorm, and think about the future with someone is an experience that humans will never get tired of.
As young entrepreneurs we should constantly be seeking interaction with people in our sector and related sectors. As a founder of a company, you should always strive to put a bunch of smart and insightful people in one room.
As the organizer, you’ll benefit from getting to know virtually everyone attending the event – people that can become great assets to your organization. As someone attending the gathering, you’ll be able to network like a madman and get to know a panoply of people from various sectors – people that can offer you priceless information that can help your company grow in new directions.
Here are some pics from last night’s gathering at darrenCamp:
What do you think: is the net really that social? Do you attend events and gathering to network?
Thursday, December 28 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 2 Comments
Wait one second and don’t freak out thinking that you’ve accidentally stumbled upon an X-Rated website when you hear the title of this writing piece. The size that I’m actually referring to is the size of the city or town that you live and conduct business in.
There are many different types of entrepreneurs that are apart of the MP community and we all come from different regions and areas throughout the United States. Having said that, some of us come from extremely large cities like New York City which has millions of people, many businesses and a ton of large corporations.
Then there may be some entrepreneurs who are starting businesses in very small towns that don’t have many people at all. Then there are the cities and regions that kind of fall in the middle between a large city and a small town.
So does starting a business in a very small town hinder your growth possibilities? I say no, simply because of the strides that have been made in technological areas.
With the continued growth of the internet you can take a seemingly small enterprise that would have had trouble succeeding years ago and turn it into an international operation. Also using the telephone to connect with individuals all over the U.S. can also help expand your business outside the confines of your own community.
I think it’s imperative to keep these technological ideas in mind when operating a business from a fairly small town or city. Since you may be in a situation where your client and customer base is fairly limited, it’s a must that you stretch your networking and business dealings into other states for continued growth.
Also on the flip side of the equation, coming along in very large cities also makes the competition extremely harsh and it’s that much harder for your business to succeed. I had a friend who went to Atlanta a couple of years ago and also took his Sports Agency business with him thinking that it would prosper much more quickly in this large metropolitan area.
However he was quickly overwhelmed by the large organizations that had a strong presence in Atlanta, and he was also very surprised to find out just how quickly he became nothing more than a small fish in a HUGE pond.
When an entrepreneur is faced with increased and intense competition like this in a very large city, I think this is also when they should seek outside clients and business relationships in other regions as well.
By stepping outside the jungle of so many large businesses that are ultimately your competition, and going into areas where you have more opportunities to grow, your business may stand a better chance of flourishing instead of suffocating under the big giants.
So in closing, since entrepreneurs have access to technological equipment like the internet, email, phone, and fax machines;
I guess size really DOESN’T matter, huh!
I’m curious to know what you guys here at MP think.
Do you think the size of your city has a direct effect on your business’s success? What city do you conduct business in and how large is it?
Thursday, December 28 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
What are the numbers that VCs look for when they invest? In the VC business most things fail therefore the successes have to be BIG. Often you hear 10X, i.e. you should see 10 times your capital coming back. It is also dollars in, dollars out, IRR. Mobius fund today has an IRR of 90%. The more time you can play with the money and the bigger it grows, as a GP you get back the money and the LP can invest the money somewhere else. You will almost never hear a VC use IRR.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Wednesday, December 27 by David Askaripour in Life | 5 Comments
Last night I went to see the widely acclaimed movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. Staring Will Smith as Chris Gardner, the movie showed one man’s determination and devotion to succeed by any means necessary.
I won’t go into a detailed explanation of the movie, let’s save that for when you go and see the movie. But one thing that I really learned from the movie was that “it’s so easy to give up.”
It’s easy for you to give up and stop trying to pursue your dreams, we see that happening everyday with our friends who talk about business but never start one, we see it with our business partners who quit after 2 months into the venture, and we see it with ourselves when we give up on our ideas and return to a 9 to 5 job for “safety and comfort.”
But you want to know what’s hard? It’s hard to push through the obstacles. It’s hard to stay focused and determined when it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s hard investing so much time and energy into a venture when you aren’t being financially compensated, especially when you have bills to pay.
The Pursuit of Happyness underscores the fundamental difference between the entrepreneur who has what it takes to make it and the one who simply can’t cut it. That difference is called: Determination.
If there’s one thing that I learned about entrepreneurship is that if you aren’t hungry enough, then you better pack up and go home. You guys know what I’m talking about when I say hunger, right? You know, that type of hunger that makes you want to succeed no matter what, the type of hunger that makes you go on even when the world below you seems to be falling apart, and the type of hunger that allows you to dismiss all of the naysayers who try hold you back and keep you a part of the status-quo.
Chris Gardner used that sort of hunger to propel him out of a life of poverty and hardship. He never gave up. He did what he had to do to keep going and to keep the wheels rolling on his plans to become a successful entrepreneur. His unwavering motivation and determination paid off in dividends that changed the life of his family forever.
As young entrepreneurs, we each have to find the Chris Gardner within. There are going to be times when we’ll want to pack up and call it a day. Those will be the days that will define you as an entrepreneur. If you surrender to those obstacles, then you may not have the strength to pursue a life of entrepreneurship, but if you transcend over and over again in the face of stress, problems, and disarray, then you’re heading in the right direction to becoming a successful entrepreneur – someone who can change the world one day.
Fellow entrepreneurs, stay hungry, stay motivated, and keep your mind focused on your goals. Don’t let the obstacles slow you down, just jump over them.
Wednesday, December 27 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 2 Comments
Following the path of business and entrepreneurship can sometimes resemble a rollercoaster ride! One second you get that big account, close an awesome deal, acquire a new client or create a new business partnership that seems to be going great!
Then as soon as you’re up, a huge drop in the tracks appears out of nowhere, and then you find yourself quickly sinking into the dumps.
Rollercoaster’s are fun to ride, I’ll admit that, but riding them throughout life can sometimes prove devastating and cause extreme hardship.
However when things do get bumpy in the road of enterprise and your mountains quickly sink to valley lows, it’s imperative to keep your head and remain calm. When you’re able to be calm during turbulent times, I promise the outcome will be much more pleasant compared to overreacting and panicking.
When hard times hit and you start to run around like a chicken with your head cut off, many times you will start to make stupid decisions out of fear that will result in digging yourself deeper into a whole.
If you have a business where you are actually leading others or working in a partnership role on a specific project, then it is an absolute MUST that you always keep your cool, especially in front of those that you’re leading.
When a leader starts to react timidly or with fear, then their followers will also become nervous and begin to feel like they aren’t in good hands; so now instead of having just one person running around having a nervous breakdown, your whole team will be doing the exact same thing!
Calm Down!
Take a deep breathe, go to the drawing board, make strong, assertive, quick, but intelligent and smart decisions. Always keep your composure, don’t let your clients, customers, or associates see you sweat! If you do, then you’ve already lost the battle.
Believe it or not, individuals are very capable of reading your body language, your demeanor, or figuring out what your current situation is. How you react could be the difference between losing ground with your venture and taking steps backwards, or fighting through the temporary hard spot on towards success!
Tuesday, December 26 by David Askaripour in Operations | 3 Comments
There’s nothing more I love than a company with great — I mean super — customer service. It’s a great feeling knowing that you can depend on a company to go above and beyond what’s expected to help you out with your needs and to do it as fast as possible.
A company with great customer service is one that is going to retain clients and grow beyond belief. Companies that skimp on excellent customer service are going to suffer – it’s not rocket science.
Is it just me, or are there a ton of companies out there with horrific customer service? Just today I visited the post office and I experienced some horrible customer service. The workers seemed to be taking their sweet time, chatting, and simply doing more relaxing than tending to the customers.
How can any company expect to grow and survive when they aren’t taking care of their clients as best as they can? Just won’t happen.
As young entrepreneurs we need to do everything in our powers to provide insanely excellent customer service. Many of us are just starting out and we don’t have ton of experience providing superb service to customers, so it’s important to take the time to plan out how to go the extra yard for our clients.
When I think of great customer service, I think of companies such as (mt) Media Temple hosting. Whenever I have an issue – no matter how big or small it is – they are always there for me.
24/7/365, Media Temple is there for me when I need them – period. They’ve spent countless hours troubleshooting problems, making recommendations, and even brainstorming with me on various server/programming issues.
Furthermore, they aren’t scared to admit when they make a mistake. If something goes wrong on their end and interrupts my service, they quickly address the issue and even offer generous credits to your account.
So when it comes to customer service, make sure that you are proving quality service. People won’t forget you when you help them out, especially if they know that they can depend on you no matter what.
Customer service, just like anything else for your business, is an investment — an investment that can determine the life or death of your business. If you want to stay alive, then keep a smile on your customers’ faces.
Here are some little things that go a long way in great customer service:
- Reply to emails right away or as soon as possible.
- Send thank you cards to customers.
- Send holiday cards/gifts to customers – let them know you appreciate them.
- Allow your customers to be able to call you when they need to hear an actual voice, not just email.
- Help your customers with other, non-related, issues whenever you can.
- Smile. Let your customers know that you’re happy.
What do you do to stay on top of quality customer service? Add to my list 
Tuesday, December 26 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 2 Comments
We have just come off what is known as the most joyous part of the year in America. The Holiday season brings family together for dinners, gift exchanging, happiness and fun.
This isn’t the best time of year to conduct business, because usually your mind is focused on fun and relaxation rather than the hustle and bustle of entrepreneurship.
I’ve heard reports that claim corporations don’t receive a good days worth of work at full production from mid November all the way until approximately the second week of the New Year in January.
The reasoning behind this reports research and partial speculation is that around mid November, employees and business professionals are focusing on the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.
As soon as Thanksgiving passes, then everybody shifts into Christmas mode and starts purchasing items, decorating their homes and getting into the Holiday spirits. Then after the Christmas holiday passes, there are still the New Year’s celebrations to look forward to.
So after all the partying, holiday cheers, family and friends gatherings, dinners and time away from the office, it takes a couple of weeks into the new year to really get back into the full swing of things and let all the “Egg Nog” wear off.
It’s important for you to enjoy time with your family and to receive plenty of rest during the holiday season, however don’t get so far out of whack that it takes you weeks into the New Year to gather your composure and get back to work again.
Try to stay up-to-date on what is going on with your business ventures, and don’t be completely opposed to putting in a couple of hours a day at your home office to stay caught up on work.
Now that you’re an entrepreneur, there is a certain level of responsibility that comes along with the territory. Unfortunately that could mean putting in work time throughout the season to ensure that your business venture is excelling to its full potential.
Monday, December 25 by David Askaripour in MP News | 6 Comments
Wow, can you believe that it’s been six months since we launch Mind Petals, now here we are and it’s Christmas!
Over the past few months we have all come so far. We have started businesses, met more young entrepreneurs, developed new services, grew our clients, and have contributed a bit more to the world.
It’s been my absolute pleasure to have founded Mind Petals and to be connected to all of the great, smart, entrepreneurial, and motivating people who make Mind Petals what it is – YOU!
This is only the beginning for Mind Petals and the young entrepreneurs of the world. In 2007, things are only going to get better!
Thank you all for being a part of the Mind Petals Community; without you, Mind Petals could not exist. Stick around, we have a lot of great things in store for the community in the upcoming weeks.
Merry Christmas and I wish you and your family happy holidays and a great New Year.
To Our Success,
David Askaripour
Founder
Sunday, December 24 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
Tips for the pitch: focus on getting to the next step. The day you come in for an hour-long meeting, plan on a 20 min. presentation (no more); get to the value proposition in 5 minutes; be articulate; manage the meeting; show experience and establish credibility.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Friday, December 22 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 3 Comments
Don’t you just love the feeling of being able to sleep in later than usual, on those nice warm pillows with the extra thick blankets, slobbering all over everything, snoring so loud that your neighbors may wake! Ahh, I love it.
However sleeping in too much can become conflicting for an entrepreneur in my own opinion. When you’re snoring and enjoying those Z’s, your competitors are out looking for deals to put together early in the morning.
I’ve found when I get an early start on my day, I feel much better, (After a couple of cups of coffee of course) because it allows me to tackle many more task and I get a head start on my morning.
Also I’ve found that rising early in the morning, eating a healthy breakfast and getting twenty minutes of cardio and twenty minutes of resistant weight training helps get my body tuned up and ready to go.
Then for my mental exercise I may watch the morning news both local and national, and then I try to either view the “Bloomberg Report” or “CNBC’s Squawk Box” or at least have the programs playing in the background while I’m working on my computer.
This helps my mind focus in on business matters more and it also helps me learn about important enterprising matters taking place around the globe.
Everybody’s schedule is quite different and one of the joys that comes along with pursuing entrepreneurship is that you get to make and keep a schedule that is fitting to you. So there is no right or wrong schedule, whatever works best for you is what you obviously should use.
Just keep in mind that competition is fierce and getting that extra edge on your competitors could mean rising early, eating healthy and getting plenty of physical and mental exercise so you can successfully tackle your day.
Friday, December 22 by David Askaripour in Video | 1 Comment
Joe talks about why entrepreneurship is something everyone needs to do in their career. You will go from the highest highs to the lowest lows in a matter of minutes but it is the time that is the best and the worst of your life. He advices starting a business when you are an undergraduate student because you do not have a whole lot to lose.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Friday, December 22 by David Askaripour in Life | 2 Comments
Entrepreneurs are inspired to create brilliant work from various sources. Maybe it’s your mother, your girlfriend, or even a professor; we are all inspired to create from different people in our lives.
It’s important to realize what inspire you and to hold onto that special someone or something throughout your life. For me, my greatest inspiration is spending time every single day and staring out the window, thinking about all the great things that I can accomplish in this world.
I think about the great movers and shakers who have made immense contributions to society. Gates, Buffet, Oprah, Branson, Gandhi, King, Einstein, and the list goes on.
Just thinking about greatness on a daily basis helps to inspire me, helps me to think on that extraordinary level.
There are going to be times as an entrepreneur when you feel absolutely drained, both intellectually and creatively. It’s not easy keeping those ideas flowing. Entrepreneurs are constantly focusing on coming up with the next best thing and, as we all know, that takes an enormous amount of mental energy.
That’s why it’s crucial to surround yourself with positive people who are going to offer you the support that you need to keep at it, to stay in the game.
Something as simple as visiting your grandma and talking about your childhood or calling up an old friend who you haven’t spoken to in years, can go a long way with sparking creativity and re-energizing your mind to tackle those goals of yours.
We’re entrepreneurs, not superheroes. We can’t change the world by ourselves and it’s important to understand and accept that. We’re going to need people to help inspire us, to help motivate us, to lend a hand when we fall, and to push us along when we slowdown.
Whoever those people are in your life, lock onto them and hold on tightly – their influence in your life is priceless. As an individual entrepreneur you can do great things in life, but with the cooperation and help from others, you can do extraordinary things.
Who’s your muse? What inspires you?
Thursday, December 21 by David Askaripour in Member's Stuff | 3 Comments
Twenty-four year-old Darren Herman comes on board as the latest Mind Petals member. For the past decade, Darren has been innovating and creating businesses left and right. He’s been involved in a number of projects that has given him the experience and know how to found and run one of the hottest in-game advertising firms in the country – IGA Wordlwide.
Recently named by BusinessWeek as one of the top 25 most successful entrepreneurs under the age of 25, Darren has proven himself as a successful young entrepreneur on the road to big things.
Darren also joins the Advisory Board of Mind Petals; his insight into the world of media and marketing will give Mind Petals a fresh outlook on our marketing strategies and plans to increase awareness throughout the community of young entrepreneurs.
Keep up to date with Darren’s blog and stay in tune with latest technology, marketing, in-game advertising, startups, venture capital, and much more.
Welcome, Darren!
Thursday, December 21 by David Askaripour in MP News | 2 Comments
I’m sick and tired of people telling young entrepreneurs that they “aren’t in any position to teach because they haven’t done anything yet.”
Blah..Blah..Rah..Rah..
Who are these people who preach this nonsense? From my experiences, they are usually in their late thirties to early fifties. They are currently working 9 to 5 jobs at companies they have been at for many years, and they are very curious about entrepreneurship but they always seem to get mad when they see a young entrepreneur actually running a business.
I’ve been exposed to these sorts of people every since becoming an entrepreneur. I tell them the same thing every time they try to proselytize me with their upside-down views on entrepreneurship.
I say “Sure, many of us aren’t millionaires and we certainly don’t have all the clients it the world, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about learning as we go along. It’s about embracing the unknown and not being scared to take risks. It’s about sharing our insights, experiences, failures, and successes with others in an effort to educate and motivate them to push forward with their business. So what if we don’t have MBAs. So what if we haven’t been running companies for three decades. That’s not what it’s all about.”
I hate to say it, but I think that a lot of the older generation’s animosity and skepticism towards us young entrepreneurs stems from the uncanny advances that we have been making throughout the business world. We have been moving at a rate faster than ever before.
For many, the rise of the young entrepreneur may be an uncomfortable experience. I guess it can be a hard thing to swallow for some when they see a 21 year-old kid who quits college and is offered 1 billion dollars for a company he started two years ago. Or when they see another 18 year-old create a photo-sharing company that disrupts the entire online photo industry.
Well, my friends, we are experiencing a new shift in the way business is done. The young entrepreneur is at the forefront of this new paradigm. No longer is the “young” person only looked upon as a student who is fed information. The roles are changing.
Time and time again students are entering “entrepreneurship” courses in college where they are being taught theoretical bullshit from adjunct professors who have never even started a business in their lifetime. And guess what? The young entrepreneurs sitting in that class who have been running their startups for the past three years are sitting with smirks on their faces because they know that the professor doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.
All joking aside, I am confident that at the rate young entrepreneurship is growing and the experiences we young entrepreneurs are gaining through starting companies, there will be more students in this country who are more qualified to speak about entrepreneurship than there are professors.
Look at what’s happening right now: colleges are in a rat race attempting to create entrepreneurship programs. Most colleges in the country don’t even have entrepreneurship programs, let alone qualified professors with real experiences who can properly educate the students.
The bottom line is this: we aren’t living in a time (was there ever a time?) where entrepreneurship can be taught by keeping our heads glued in books and studying for exams. That teaches little to nothing. Entrepreneurship is learned by actually experiencing it, by actually starting a company and working at it every single day. Practice will always trump theory.
So for all older and purportedly “more experienced” people out there who continue to feel that young entrepreneurs have no right talking about entrepreneurship and/or teaching others about it, you need to snap out of it. You’re in for a rude awakening. To underestimate power and potential of us young entrepreneurs, you are doing yourself a disservice.
And if you still aren’t convinced that us young entrepreneurs are changing the course of business and disrupting sectors left and right, then sit back, relax, and take a nap. When you awake in a few years, I promise, you won’t know what to do with yourself.
Thursday, December 21 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 2 Comments
I can remember when I was growing up as a teenager in high school I use to be absolutely terrified of numbers.
I hated any type of math, anything that involved using any type of equations or numbers no matter what it was; I didn’t want anything to do with it.
This phobia concerning numbers continued on into my early years of college until I started to realize just how important mathematics was, especially when I changed majors and started attending business school.
Numbers are imperative for any entrepreneur to understand, even if it’s just the mere basics. One of the biggest issues that young entrepreneurs struggle with I believe is financial matters and it’s not just young people who get into to trouble when it comes to finance but older individuals do as well.
No longer can the entrepreneur just turn all of their materials over to a C.P.A. and let them handle everything and take their word for it. You must understand financial statements, learn how to interpret and read them, and make imperative decisions once you figure out what your financial situation is.
This is the same action that will take place when you go to acquire financing from banks, venture capital firms/angel investors and any other types of traditional/contemporary funding that’s available today.
Lending institutions are usually less concerned with your fantastic idea and more interested in reviewing your numbers or the numbers that your company can project.
If understanding financial equations or reading financial statements is something that you feel you don’t completely understand, try reading up on the topic just to grasp the general information and basic necessities of this area.
You don’t need to be an investment banker or anything, but just being able to know what you’re looking at and knowing the “lingo” when attempting to put deals together can be enough to help you grow as an entrepreneur and widen your abilities and skill sets.
Thursday, December 21 by Gina Laverde in Life | 5 Comments
My brothers and I were raised very Catholic. We said grace before every meal, went to church every Sunday. And ALWAYS prayed for forgiveness of our sins. Even at eight years old – I knew I must have sins Nothing was overly explained to us. Everything just WAS.
As early as eight years old –I feared Hell and knew I didn’t want to go there. I hated church with its music and statues and smelly old ladies, and feared that God knew I hated it and would send me to hell anyway.
That’s pretty deep for a kid – but I was no ordinary kid.
In college I met this really awesome guy of the Bahai faith. We became pretty good friends and I introduced him to my parents. My father always told us that God only judges you based on your own knowledge and actions. In other words, my friends would not be punished for his un- Catholicism. Because my friend was never introduced to the faith, he couldn’t possibly know the truth.
Our religion was the basis for fear in my life. I remember my little bro coming from high school one afternoon in his sophomore year, crying. He never cried. But he came to me very distressed. “I did something bad!” he said. And, he wanted me to fix it.
Well, Little Bro had been invited to attend a Born Again Christian church with a friend’s family. And he went. Apparently, at the service my brother accepted Jesus and the Born Again faith. His friend’s mom told him that he was no longer Catholic, and Little Bro freaked out.
He cried to me and I told him that God couldn’t possibly care what religion he was and that you can’t change religions without personal knowledge of it. But he did not care about God. He cared about our dad. So we kept it a secret for a long while – we can laugh about it now.
I really don’t knock religion. But I knock fear. When my friend spoke about his faith he spoke about the beauty of life, respect for women, kindness unto others – and get this… He didn’t believe in Hell.
I find that many of the decisions that my peers make are based around preventing negativity rather than promoting positivity. Go to church so that you can be considered a good person, go to a big university and get a popular degree and job so that you always have security, make ultra safe investments – and never live on the edge, never live out their real dreams, never forget about what has to be done tomorrow.
What is your greatest fear? Do you find that it clouds many of your decisions?
Wednesday, December 20 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
What are examples of other companies that are good examples with strong customer service, organizational culture and business models? I often wonder what the people in Troy, Michigan thought when they first heard about WalMart.
Sam figured out that knowledge in distribution, price points, and that little human touch would revolutionize retail. Dell Computer is another example–computers are a really bad industry right now, but Dell manages to offer low prices, and offers great customer service and personalization. Nucor steel has been successful in the steel industry. JetBlue aspires to model the successes of these companies.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Wednesday, December 20 by David Askaripour in MP News | Leave a Comment
Is it just me or do the years seem to speed up as we get older? I’m only 22 but I feel that every since I started a company when I was 19, the subsequent years seemed to have flown by as if it was all blur.
Young entrepreneurs, guess what, we’re not always going to be young. Every year that passes by is extremely crucial. There is no time to waste. Being young and being an entrepreneur is amazing. The combination of the two creates a strong foundation for success.
But in order for that success to come about, we have to go hard! There are a few advantages of being a young entrepreneur, but one of the best is the ability to take more risks at this age.
When you don’t have families, mortgage payments, and all the major responsibilities that come with marriage, you can afford to take more risks than anyone else in the world.
The number one asset for any entrepreneurs is “time.” You have to choose wisely what you do with your time. Don’t let the years pass you by without accomplishing anything, without pushing forward with your plans to become a successful entrepreneur.
When we were younger, a year felt like 10 years. Now that we are a bit older, running a business, or planning to start a business, time isn’t what it used to feel like. The new year now feels like 6 months.
We are living in an age where action and speed is rewarded with success. People aren’t just going to wait around for you to build your service. If you fail to act, there’s going to be that person who does act and that person will be the one with the successful business while you sit on the sidelines with a bag full of ideas. Don’t be that person.
The reality of the matter is: we don’t have all the time in the world. Time is of the essence. Don’t let another year pass you by without pushing forward and acting upon your ideas. Stop considering. Stop thinking. Stop wondering. And start NOW. Jump into 2007 with a plan to act.
Wednesday, December 20 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | Leave a Comment
I can remember when I was coming along in high school guys use to always quote a saying, “You’re setting yourself up for failure.”
That saying is pretty self-explanatory but mainly it is just describing a person who does something really stupid that makes absolutely no sense or maybe even somebody who is trying to make a situation work that will most definitely turn out bad in the long run.
Many times entrepreneurs put themselves into scenarios where they are setting themselves up for failure. I’ve seen it over and over again, a person trying to force an outcome that just isn’t likely.
For instance I’ve seen other business dealers consistently trying to make a professional relationship work with another firm or possibly a business partner that wasn’t worth a red cent; however they would consistently work at it hoping that these individuals would transform or make some astounding turn-around.
These people are “setting themselves up for failure.”
Then I’ve also seen somebody take on a business partner who really sucks as an entrepreneur and doesn’t really have anything to bring to the table other than a warm body, but these individuals will accept these people for mainly personal reasons like they are a friend or family member, so they feel obligated to conduct business with them.
This my friend is definitely “setting yourself up for failure.”
Try to avoid making bad and blatantly stupid decisions that are going to result in nothing productive and ultimately lead to multiple issues and problems.
The stakes are already too high and it’s hard enough to make a business venture operate without making decisions that will more than likely lead to your business’s downfall.
So the next time you’re making an important decision please make certain that it is an intelligent one that at least has a chance at succeeding and not one that is almost definitely going to end up biting you in the rear end.
Tuesday, December 19 by Gina Laverde in Life | Leave a Comment
Are New Year’s resolutions still being made and broken each year? I’m not too sure if the trend has been forgotten amongst the cool people—I know I never really much got into it myself.
I did however make two failed resolutions in the passed two years. The experience has lead me to resolve not to resolve this year – probably. Unless I can figure out where I went wrong and fix it.
Where do so many of us go wrong in our promises to ourselves? And how come many of us forget about our resolutions until 364 ½ days later?
One of my own problems was that one of my failed resolutions had too many layers. There wasn’t enough focus on what I actually intended on getting out of it. And, if I was going to be realistic – I’d need more than a year to accomplish the goal.
So I set out on January 2nd thinking that I was going to do (insert embarrassing failed resolution), but I had no plan of attack. Since it was something that I was completely unfamiliar with – I didn’t know where to begin. I tried starting (embarrassing failed resolution) on my own, and realized that I needed professional instruction. And when my watch and my wallet revealed that I could not afford that professional instruction – I quit.
Another failed attempt included mending a broken relationship with some family members. I did try. I did want to mend that relationship. And I would still love to. Unfortunately, the other parties involved did not share my wish. I did not have complete control over my success in fulfilling this resolution. And, I let go of the effort.
If I make a New Year’s resolution this year it will be one that I actually see though to the end.
If you plan on making a resolution this year – make it one that you will see through to the end as well. Choose something that you actually want and need to accomplish – not something you think you should do.
Be sure that your goal has a clear focus – something very basic. And, try to stick to one or two resolutions at the most. Maybe one business and one personal promise to your self – remember you already have tons of goals to work on with your start-up.
If you are choosing something that may require professional assistance, like learning yoga or Spanish or creating a better diet – make sure you have the monetary means to cover the expenses.
Choose resolutions in which you have complete control over your own success. If you want to mend fences with estranged loved ones – resolve to open the lines of communication and be patient with the progress. In this case, do not set a goal date for when you and your long lost Uncle Bernie will be riding bikes at the beach again. Relationships take time. Every relationship is different. But, if you tell yourself that you are going to fix things alone – you will be sorry. If you are the only one making an effort, then the relationship won’t be very fruitful for you.
Lastly, tell a friend about your resolution. Sometimes vocalizing our goals to a trusted person makes them more of a reality to us. It also gives us the sense that someone supports our efforts. If you tend to be a very giving person, and your new goal is about self-improvement – I highly recommend letting your best friend in on your intentions. They can keep you on track when you argue that you may be more useful volunteering at the community garden (or something charity-like) AGAIN.
Goals are wonderful, but I really don’t like to say I’m going to do something that I don’t do. Make 2007 the year you accomplish something wonderful for yourself.
Tuesday, December 19 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
In 2002, we received negative feedback from employees regarding the leadership within the company. We realized that there was not a leadership training program–we weren’t training the managers to be the conduit for the company culture as we brought on new people. So we implemented a leadership program, with 5 principles of leadership.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Tuesday, December 19 by David Askaripour in MP News | 5 Comments
If you’re like me you’ve probably studied a second language in high school and college. For many years you had your head stuck in a language book memorizing verbs, taking tests, and learning structure. But let me ask you this: Do you now know how to speak that language? I bet the answer is no.
Now, more than ever, it has become quite an asset to know more than one language. It’s time to step it up a notch and actually learn another language. You’ve already studied a bit in school – probably just for a grade – but now it’s time to really dive in and learn it once and for all.
Being able to speak another language as a young entrepreneur can be a very powerful thing. Being able to speak the same language as the person you are doing business with automatically puts you in good standings with that person. People will be impressed that you actually took the time to learn their language, which will reflect highly upon your business.
I recently decided to learn Spanish. After studying it in school for years I never really got to the point of fluency. The problem with learning it in school is that they don’t really teach you how to actually speak the language.
Yeah it doesn’t make sense, I know. From my experiences, school focuses on memorizing words, reading out of a book, and conjugating verbs – they rarely focus on actually teaching you how to speak conversationally which is pretty sad. Think about it, when was the last time you took a language course and was able to speak fluently?
Nowadays, I have taken a new approach to learning the language and it’s a simple approach called: “just speak it.” Yup, that’s right, the best way to learn a language is to constantly speak it with your friends or associates who know the language.
And let’s not forget about recordings. I have been listening to various Spanish speaking lessons that I downloaded online. Every day I spend around half an hour practicing and practicing. And what really seals the deal is when I put what I have learned into practice with my Spanish speaking friends who gladly converse with me and also correct me when I slip up.
The synergy of immersing yourself in the language by speaking in regularly and taking the time to practice on your own with recordings and books, will truly speed up the learning process and get you speaking faster than any professor could ever teach you.
As entrepreneurs we are constantly investing time learning new things to help our businesses and that’s great. But we shouldn’t forget about the advantages of learning a second language. The time you spend now learning a language will pay off in hefty dividends in the future as your business grows.
For those of you not sure what language that you’d like to explore, I’d recommend Spanish as your first. The Latin American influence throughout the world is becoming extremely wide in scope. At this current rate of immigration, there will be more Spanish speaking people in America than English speakers before we know it.
The savvy entrepreneur won’t wait to learn Spanish when that happens, he’ll start learning now. From California, to Texas, to New York City, Spanish speaking people are increasing and Spanish companies are forming at a rate never before seen. And as economic growth continues to flourish in South and Central America, knowing Spanish becomes even a greater asset.
Let’s hear it….
- So tell me, did you actually learn a language solely from school?
- Are you planning/currently learning a language? If so, what language and why?
- Have any learning tips?
Tuesday, December 19 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | Leave a Comment
As the young entrepreneur continues to progress through their business career, it’s almost a guarantee that they will encounter either brokers and/or finders along the way.
Knowing the difference between the two could really help you during your decision making process and allow you the opportunity to know what type of deals you may be entering into.
For starters a broker typically acts as an agent on the behalf of a larger entity while a finder is truly representing themselves.
Brokers are much more involved in the deal making process or the sale of a product or service compared to finders. Brokers are usually responsible for gathering documents, negotiating terms of the agreement and ultimately closing the deal.
Brokers act as middlemen during the deal making process, going back and forth between the two parties. This is what makes brokers fairly scary, because you never know whose interest they truly have at heart.
Unfortunately a lot of brokers have their own interest in mind over yours and the company your negotiating with, and if this isn’t the case, then they are more concerned with the larger entity than you; simply because they will be able to make future profits and earning with this company and the company is the one who ultimately signs their check!
Now a finder typically will create a relationship with a large entity to find particular deals for them. These finders go out and market a product or service, find interested customers or clients and simply introduce them to this company.
Once finders have put the potential client into contact with the company, then their work is done and they simply sit back and pray that the deal ultimately closes. If and when the deal closes the finder is paid a pre-determined fee from the company’s earnings and that’s the end of the transaction.
This is a very important difference to understand between finders and brokers, many brokers are paid according to a fee that they are able to work and negotiate into the deal. This means that the broker tries to inflate fees in order to get paid off the “left over” amount.
For instance say a cash flow purchaser wants to buy $100,000 of your company’s receivables for a large lump sum of $75,000. The company will tell the broker the amount that they plan to purchase your receivables for, then the broker will come to you and try to negotiate a purchase for say $60,000.
Keep in mind the company is having no direct contact with you, so you don’t know they are willing to actually pay you $75,000, so the broker will walk away with a $15,000 commission from this deal if it closes, $15,000 which could have been in your pocket!
However not all brokers are paid in this manner, in fact many are paid a percentage of the brokerage amount by the firm they represent, say for instance 1% of the mortgage funding amount.
At any rate there is nothing wrong with working with brokers or finders, I’ve worked as and continue to broker and find deals for companies until this day, so I’ve experienced many aspects within this area of business personally.
However it is imperative to understand what type of deals you are entering into and who you’re dealing with at all times.
Try to understand the contract as much as possible and always at the least attempt to make direct contact with firms when trying to negotiate a deal, simply because the fewer individuals that are in the equation, the less opportunities there are for conflicts and screw-ups.
Monday, December 18 by Gina Laverde in Life | 1 Comment
Got good news to share with the fam this Christmas? Like, maybe you’ve finally made enough to quit your day job, or you’ve partnered with a great marketing guru who is going to help you take your biz to the next level.
I had some good news to share with my relatives on Thanksgiving and it all kind of went down the tubes, got flushed, disregarded and melted into the murky turkey gravy. So, I’m a bit sensitive when sharing my career accomplishments and excitement with the kin-folk.
It seems that my folks are a bit more accustomed to dealing with negative news. They deal better with hearing stuff like: “Poor Nancy’s neighbor’s not doing so well with the chemo” or “Yeah, Johnny got two flat tires on the way to the store to pick up the egg nog.” Negative news brings about conversation and concern in my family. I rarely share negative news with them, because I prefer to focus on what I believe to be positive.
Do you ever feel that your non-entrepreneur friends and family just don’t care about your business and your good news? Or, maybe that they even consider your good news to bad news?
So, you’re home for the holidays and can’t wait to see cousins Mikey and Mickey, kiss babies who’ve grown so much since last year, and get your laundry done. Not to mention eat mom’s cooking and open presents. And you’re quite revved up by your recent entrepreneurial successes. Wouldn’t it be great to share the news with the ones you love the most?
The Christmas table is set, and brothers and sisters are passing around lumps of mashed potatoes. Everyone’s smiling, chattering and drinking wine. Even great gramps is drinking wine. You think maybe this is the right time to spring it on them.
You clear your throat. “Mom, Dad” you say “I’m um, I decided…. I mean I am… I’m an ENTREPRENEUR.” “He’s what?” cries your hard of hearing granny. “He’s an en-trap-en-er,” gramps shouts in her ear. “What? What’s wrong with Tommy”? sighs Auntie Stella. “I decided to start my own business after graduation. My own internet business.” “You need a computer, Tommy”? shreaks your mom. “Yeah Tommy, you don’t have a computer,” chimes dad. “I’ve got a lap-top, guys. What are you talking about?”
There’s a big hub bub at the table. You hear: “Tommy’s gay?” “When are they getting married?” “I heard Lisa tried to start her own business a couple years back – yeah, best of luck to you my boy.” Maybe not exactly the best responses in the world. But, do not let it get you down. We are not completely normal to them. And they are certainly not normal to us. So, it’s harder to relate.
My family relates better to tragedy. Don’t ask why. I haven’t figured that out myself. I try to keep my good news short and sweet and only talk to them about important issues when they can give me their total focus. The worst thing is to blurt out news of your new book deal and have someone shout “whaaaaaat?”
Always talk to them on their level – never in your business lingo. Find something that they like or relate to (in my case, death, Cancer or horse racing would do). Tell them you have “good” news. This allows them to get prepared to hear about something that makes you happy. They will react better this way.
You need to share your important and positive news – it makes you feel all that more successful and happy. That’s what entrepreneur friends are for. Your family will always love you and be proud of you - they just may not express it in the best ways.
Monday, December 18 by David Askaripour in Video | Leave a Comment
David Neeleman shares an experience he received by asking for feedback about of the Airlines business from a class of business students. He emphasizes the importance of a customer’s experience.
Please visit the Stanford Technology Venture Program’s Educator’s Corner for more clips.
Monday, December 18 by David Askaripour in Marketing | 2 Comments
Do you have a sexual fantasy? I bet you do. Actually, studies show that most people have sexual fantasies on daily basis – actually, a few times per day. What are you thinking about right now?
My sexual fantasy starts out in a dark room with…. Just kidding, you won’t be hearing about my sexual fantasies in this article, but I’d like to talk about making members/clients fantasize about your business. What makes sexy services sexy.
When you think about your startup, do you think sexy? If you don’t, then you better think again. Sex is everywhere. Sex sells. Sex is on our minds. So sex should be incorporated in your startup.
When I wake up every morning I go through a list of various sites that I check. First, of course, I check my own sites. I then proceed to checking my facebook account, myspace account, then I begin running through various important blogs that keep me in the know of technology, “web2.0,” venture capital, and new startups around the world.
Ever wonder why you check the same blogs, sites, and services every single day? I’ll tell you. You check them because they are sexy to you.
- facebook is sexy because it updates me on what’s going on with my friends. If I want to know who is in a relationship with who, facebook never lets me down. If I want to know which one of my friends just came out of the closet, then facebook notifies me when they suddenly become interested in men or women(yikes!). If I want to know who that person was in the picture taken with me when I was too intoxicated to remember that night, then facebook tells me. All of these things contribute to the sex appeal of facebook.
- Techcrunch is sexy because it keeps me well informed about new startups are the world. When I want to know the name of the 18 year-old CEO who just started that new photo-sharing site, then techcrunch can tell me. When I want to know which web2.0 company just received 10M in funding, then I jump on over to techcrunch. And when I want to find out the latest gossip on what’s happening in the valley with so-and-so, guess what, I check techcrunh.
- MySpace is sexy because I get to listen to the music that my friends are in to. MySpace allows me to connect to other people who share the same interest as me. When I want to promote my business, MySpace never let’s me down. When I want to talk about the latest episode of “HOUSE” or “Lost”, I sign onto MySpace and start commenting on my friends’ profiles. These things make MySpace super sexy.
When I wake up in the morning, I check these sites because they bring me joy. Think of it like this, if you have sex with someone and enjoy it, then you are going to have a positive connection with that person in your mind. You are going to want more of that person. That person will always be on your mind.
The same concept applies for a great service. You are going to always want that service. You have a positive connection with that service. And you don’t expect for that service to ever let you down. So what do you do? You use that service every single day and you even tell your close friends about that service to share the joy with them.
Now about the sharing… it may not be advisable to share your sexual partners with people, but please feel free to share the services that you love with them. Hehe…
So ask yourself these question: Is my service sexy? What will it take to pleasure my members/clients? Am I giving them enough? Are they coming back for more? Do I make them happy?
Coming to terms with these questions will allow you to build your service into something very sexy and appealing. Now don’t expect people to outright tell you that your service is sexy, that usually isn’t the case. Just like how people don’t share their sexual fantasies with people — they keep it to themselves. Think about it, how many people would actually take the time to write raving reviews about facebook or MySpace?
You think that college students are actually going to email you and tell you how great your service is? Yeah right! They don’t have the time or even desire for that. But feedback isn’t always necessary to know how sexy your business is becoming.
You can gauge sexiness by other things:
- Traffic » You can begin to see an snowball effect of traffic coming into your site.
- Clients » More potential clients may be reaching out to you to learn more about your business and possibly begin work with you.
- Media » Popular blogs, newspapers, magazines, and even television may begin to talk about your service. You’ll know that your business has become sexy when you read about it in Business 2.0.
- Street Buzz » These are the type of conversations that you can hear on the street when someone is talking about your service. Here’s an example of two girls: “Hey…Oh! My! God! Did you see that picture of Sarah last night on her facebook account? It! Was! Horrible!….” “ Yeah… I saw it. She needs to take care of those split ends. Like, Oh! My! God! What was she thinking…. So not cool!”
These are they types of measurement that you’ll use to determine the sexiness of your business. Keep a close eye and ear out for them, because they are the pulse of your business. A business that lacks sex appeal is the business that people will always pass on. You know, like the kid who’s always sitting alone in the corner of the room that doesn’t seem to take showers or brush his teeth. Don’t let your business be that kid.
Be flirty. Show your stuff. Walk around like you’re the hottest person in your room. And do things out of the ordinary. Make people enjoy spending with your business everyday. And, before you know it, they’ll be coming back for more of that good stuff.
Monday, December 18 by William Quisenberry in Innovation | 2 Comments
When an entrepreneur is first setting out to accomplish their dreams of starting a business, many times the key aspects and contacts that are needed may not be available.
So sometimes many entrepreneurs find it easy to turn to friends and family for assistance with their business or accept them as their business partners or investors.
However is doing business with friends and family such a good idea? It has its benefits and it also has many negative aspects that cause a lot of entrepreneurs to avoid entering into business dealings with family.
Some would say that “business is business, friends are friends, and don’t ever mention them both in the same sentence!”
The reason that some individuals choose to never conduct business with friends or family is because when things turn ugly and professional disagreements or conflicts arise, it begins to indirectly deteriorate the personal relationship as well.
I will be very frank, many individuals refuse to conduct business with friends or family because they are flat out crooks and they don’t want their loved ones to become the latest victims of their evil business tactics.
It has been my experience that conducting business with trustworthy family members or close friends that are also savvy and experienced in their respected areas of business, is a very good idea! For one I know the individual personally, so I know how they think, react, what type of character they have and so on.
The shear fact alone that I’m directly acquainted with this person and have an established relationship with them is a positive factor in my eyes. Many of the richest people in the world conduct business with friends and family, this is how they “keep it all in the family” so to say.
Sure many relationships have business to blame for their ultimate death and demise.
However there are tons of successful stories out there from entrepreneurs who created a venture with a childhood friend or sibling, or even yet many young entrepreneurs who eventually went on to experience great success, received their initial start-up capital from their parents as angel, silent or even partnering investors.
If you are thinking of entering into a business relationship with a friend or family I think it is a good idea to understand how this person may react when faced with business investing and partnering conditions.
Many people always say keep personal matters separate from business. However I don’t necessarily think there is any clear cut and dry way to conduct business with family. It all depends on the combination, the family member or friend.
One thing that I would recommend however is to go through all the proper steps of creating contracts, agreements, business partnerships, entities and everything else.
Just because you are doing business with a friend or family member doesn’t mean that it’s an excuse to cut corners! You will want to make certain that you cross your T’s and dot your I’s, otherwise this can leave an opportunity for unnecessary disagreements and conflicts down the road.
So the next time you’re hanging out on a limb and are having a hard time finding that key partner or investor to propel your business into its next stage, maybe you’re missing an awesome addition by forgetting to consider those talents and resources that lie within your own family tree.
Saturday, December 16 by David Askaripour in Operations | 6 Comments
As an entrepreneur email is a huge part of our lives. Many of us spend, I’d say, 5+ hours writing and reading emails every single day. That’s pretty normal. And it makes sense for us young entrepreneur to be using email like we do.
As founders of startups, it’s our responsibility to be constantly reaching out to people. Whether it’s explaining our business, talking to clients, seeking new clients, helping people out, or even approving comments on our blogs, emailing has become an important – needed – tool for the entrepreneur.
I’d be interested to know what other young entrepreneurs are doing with their time spent reading and writing emails. Personally, I find myself mostly using email for promoting my business and reaching out to other young entrepreneurs around the world.
Sure, the world wide web is great, but what really makes it amazing is the networking potential. By emailing someone you are instantly reaching out to them and making a direct connection.
This isn’t new to you — you know the imp