Infotrade

In a long-awaited follow up to an earlier post, entitled, " 10 Common Mistakes That Startup and Small Companies Make ," here are 10 suggestions to improve the chances of your startup's success: 1.  Test your ideas constantly and be hyper-critical about why you might be wrong --many young entrepreneurs will prepare the requisite SWOT slide for investors, but don't really do the analysis. Validate your ideas with people who will really buy your product/service. If you can't get them to work with you early on, your idea is probably not that compelling ... or they "don't get it." Either way, you have got your work cut out and it's better to know early on. 2.  Keep an eye on the market  -- If you had a good idea, it is reasonable to assume someone else out there also thought of it as well. Ignoring the competition is a big mistake. 3.  Keep an eye on the finances --you will need more money than you think. Much has been written about this, but...

Click here to watch the video “In the Studio” turns the corner into the winter months by welcoming a career finance journalist with a widely-read and often-cited daily email newsletter and, in my opinion, is the single best writer covering venture capital and private equity today. Fortune’s   Dan Primack  has been covering the world of private equity and venture capital for over a decade . His work speaks for itself, with his daily “Term Sheet” email that reaches nearly everyone in both industries, and his willingness to share his opinions freely and dig and dig to get to the bottom of a story. Primack has a sort of “gumshoe leather” journalistic work ethic, and while he can certainly ruffle feathers  (even the feathers of very powerful people) with his work, he has built a loyal following, over many years, that just continues to grow. In this video, Primack joins me “In the Studio” on one of his recent trips to San Francisco. Because of his deep knowledge coverin...

The  future of work is changing , and only those who adapt will survive. The trends that define this new era of work are entrepreneurialism, flexibility and innovation. Kyle Westaway , a Harvard lecturer, attorney and thought leader, outlined these ideas succinctly  in a PowerPoint presentation , which he shared in Las Vegas at  Tony Hsieh's inaugural Speakers' Series . (Hsieh, who is CEO of  Zappos , is  investing $350 million to transform Vegas ; a cornerstone of his initiative is bringing in creative minds from around the country to share their ideas.) In his presentation, Westaway included a chart inspired by  Google's 70-20-10 model  for innovation. He says  everyone should   use this chart as a career roadmap, devoting 70 percent of their time to their core competency, 20 percent on related projects, and 10 percent to learning new skills and working on side projects . "Kill your core career competency," says Westaway, who launc...

Taking a team from ordinary to extraordinary means understanding and embracing the difference between management and leadership. According to writer and consultant Peter Drucker, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."  Manager  and  leader  are two completely different roles, although we often use the terms interchangeably. Managers are facilitators of their team members’ success. They ensure that their people have everything they need to be productive and successful; that they’re well trained, happy and have minimal roadblocks in their path; that they’re being groomed for the next level; that they are recognized for great performance and coached through their challenges. Conversely, a leader can be anyone on the team who has a particular talent, who is creatively thinking out of the box and has a great idea, who has experience in a certain aspect of the business or project that can prove useful to the manager and the team. A...