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The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
If you're building a company for growth, don't ignore public relations but don't overdo it. The author says PR is much more than press releases-it's also about building relationships with investors, industry experts, and reporters to educate them about your product and industry.
After coaching others in spin control for years, a cash-strapped entrepreneur had to face the music-and the media-himself. He drew on long-cultivated relationships to tell his story accurately and bring his business out of receivership. Being both proactive and honest, he says, is essential in a crisis situation.
PIPES-or Private Investment in Public Equity-as a vehicle for companies to raise capital reverses the order of public filings from IPO or secondary offering. PIPES are a worthy alternative for raising public money but should be used selectively.
Entrepreneurs who outsource assignments must choose contractors who know their industry and specify what they expect from them, says the founder of a consultancy.
When opportunity costs are figured into the cost-benefit mix, outsourcing even non-core functions can become strategic. How much faster could you grow your company if you spent more time leveraging your strengths? This article explores the cost effectiveness of the practice and offers valuable tips for getting started. Key: Choosing the right tasks and the right partners.
This entrepreneur and her partner outsourced its contact list to save time and money in designing and sending out an electronic newsletter. She cites three service features that made the cost affordable, the process easy, and the impact on their business remarkable.
Disaster planning is one task entrepreneurs may not undertake when their businesses are going smoothly. A well thought-out, well-rehearsed disaster plan can be an invaluable tool that allows a company to recover more quickly.
Candace Fleming’s résumé boasts a double major in industrial engineering and English from Stanford, an M.B.A. from Harvard, a management position at Hewlett-Packard and experience as president of a small software company.
But when she was raising money for Crimson Hexagon, a start-up company she co-founded in 2007, she recalls one venture capitalist telling her that it didn’t matter that she didn’t have business cards, because all they would say was “Mom.”
Another potential backer, reports Claire Cain Miller in The New York Times, invited her for a weekend yachting excursion by showing her a picture of himself on the boat — without clothes. When a third financier discovered that her husband was also a biking enthusiast, she says, he spent more time asking if riding affected her husband’s reproductive capabilities than he did focusing on her business plan. Ultimately, none of the 30 venture firms she pitched financed her company. She finally raised $1.8 million in March 2008 from angel investors including Golden Seeds, a fund that emphasizes investing in start-ups led by women.
For Terry Gold, preparing for pitching angels is more about demonstrating how your good idea is going to result in a great business than it is about developing documents and presentations.
One plus one equals millions when you combine two business models that work into a wildly popular Web site. It also helps to have high-powered investors and a built-in formula for building customer loyalty. As these business-school buddies discovered, advertisers love an affluent audience, so you can actually make money by giving it away.
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