Startup
10 Myths vs. Reality on Business Plans and Startup Investment
I gather from a stream of emails I’ve received that there are a lot of misconceptions on the relationship between a business plan and getting seed money and/or angel investment. So here’s a list of…
Bootstrapping Your Business: A Reality Check
Philip Soriano has trouble fitting into dress shirts. This, along with his fashion and business experience, informs his role as co-founder of Hugh & Crye, a menswear company. For the dreamers, starting a small business might…
What We Learned After Taking Our Online Store Offline
Andy Dunn, co-founder of men’s clothing brand Bonobos, deserves a lot of credit for making a bold statement seven years ago when he identified the opportunity for an online-only direct-to-consumer clothing brand that would disrupt the…
The Right Way to Get Funding from Family and Friends
Most entrepreneurs I know are so passionate about their new idea that they are surprised when family and friends don’t line up to invest in their new venture. Yet they tend to ignore this problem,…
5 Tips for Starting a Small Business in College
Starting a business while still enrolled in college isn’t an option for everyone. College is stressful enough, and running a business is a whole new ball game. If you’re especially ambitious and bursting at the…
How a Paintball Career Paved the Way for a High-Quality Business Model
Retiring from a successful career in any sport can be a difficult adjustment, and people often struggle to find the same success in new ventures. Tommy ‘Gun’ Pemberton enjoyed a very successful career in professional…
Elevator Speech Part 4: Delivery
So in my last three posts, I’ve written about a simple one-minute business description that every business owner should know, which I’m calling “the elevator speech” because that’s what they call it in a formal…
Small Biz Interviews: Cannonball Productions
As the adage goes: when one door closes, another opens. Kate Levenstien was laid off from her job at LivingSocial and was thinking on offers from various other companies. It turned out to be an…
Be a Winner of “The Waiting Game”
A recent family illness sent me to a place where I haven’t been in a while—a doctor’s office waiting room. There I was grouped with many people sitting and patiently waiting their turn to be…
How Traveling Can Help You Become a Better Entrepreneur
If you are an entrepreneur, the chances are you are also confident, creative, independent and a risk-taker. So it isn’t a stretch to assume you also like to travel, expand your horizons, meet new people…