7 Shortcuts That Can Kill a Startup Business

Starting a new business is not an informal process, and should never be treated like a hobby between friends. Unfortunately, as a startup advisor and angel investor, I’ve seen too many ventures with great potential get destroyed or set back by legal and other shortcuts that should never have been allowed to happen. The path…

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How to Avoid Basic Small Biz Pitfalls

Opening a small business is an alluring enterprise for countless Americans with ambition and a dream. Successfully running your own startup, however, requires extensive research, adequate resources, and a combination of street smarts and business savvy. Nearly 50% of small business owners fail within the first five years, due to some avoidable mistakes. This infographic examines some…

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5 Things That Kill Small Businesses

A small business is like a baby; it must be nurtured with utmost care and precision to grow. One wrong decision can adversely affect the business, causing irreversible damage. Therefore, while running a small business with a vision to scale it further, it’s necessary to take certain precautions. There are five crucial touch points which…

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How to Develop a Mindset for Success: Part 1

Quality marketing attracts customers and results in revenue growth—everyone knows that. Everyone also knows that successful marketing requires an adequate set of skills and resources. However, what many people fail to acknowledge is that it also requires the right mindset. For some people, their mindset prevents them from achieving success. Despite the fact that unlimited…

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Why Startups Fail, and How You Can Avoid the Same Fate

Founding a startup can be risky, and even some of the most successful entrepreneurs have a few failures under their belt. Let’s learn from their mistakes. The figure that’s often bandied about the web is that nine out of ten startups fail. Although there’s some contention on the accuracy of that statistic (some have placed…

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Why This Successful Hall-of-Famer Embraces Failure

Personally, I’ve never enjoyed failure. I don’t think many people do. However, there is a big difference between not enjoying failure…and learning from failure. And, that’s the major lesson in Hall of Fame Quarterback—now longtime superstar entrepreneur—Fran Tarkenton’s terrific new book, The POWER of FAILURE: Succeeding in The Age of Innovation. Fran has had more victories, both in sports…

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Turning Out the Lights is a Type of Exit

In my life as an early stage investor, I’ve been closely involved with so many businesses, there were bound to be numerous stories of failures, hopefully from which to learn lessons for all of us as we go forward. Several times in my investing life, as the final board member making the arrangements to dispose…

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Why Western Companies Fail in China

Western companies have a track record of trying to crack China and failing. Many of them have issues understanding the Chinese market, and as a result some of the biggest companies in the world have failed there. It’s strange that massive companies like Google and eBay, even after putting millions in to their marketing efforts…

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Deal with Setbacks in a Positive Way

Losing doesn’t eat at me the way it used to. I just get ready for the next play, the next game, the next season. -Troy Aikman Being a manager has its up and downs. There is no question about that. However, when you have a setback, you need to turn it around quickly. No one…

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