Growing a startup is a bit like moving on from flying a tiny turbo-prop to a gigantic jumbo jet. In the beginning it’s just you, a co-pilot, and your sole passenger who hates flying, sitting there screaming in the back of your little Cessna. But at some point you raise funding and you realize that…
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There’s nothing more annoying than sleep-depriving thoughts about things you’ve been putting off during the day. Now imagine what happens when you’re building a business and you know that it’s all on you! That’s right, brace for impact. You’re about to have a few sleepless nights…. I’ve had my share of sleepless “project nights,” and…
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Startups use free advertising channels like social media to get the word out about their company, and their employees tend to be active and avid Twitter users. So do the standard intellectual property rules apply to Twitter? After all, how much trouble can you get into with 140 characters? Answer: A lot. You can even…
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Editor’s Note: This blog post has been excerpted from an article that was originally published by Lori McNee on her blog. We’d like to celebrate Mother’s Day by offering some lessons for the busy “mompreneurs” out there. Busy, creative mompreneurs never seem to have enough hours in the day. I can speak on this subject…
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Last month we kicked off our new speaker series, Sessions, in Washington, DC with a crowd of about 250 people. Speakers Shane Green, Co-founder and CEO of Personal, and Timothy Chi, Co-founder of Blackboard and Founder & CEO of WeddingWire, shared how they moved from ideas to action and answered a number of more tactical…
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In every startup’s tale there’s a plot twist: the critical point at which you figure out that while you may have hit on the right problem, it’s for the wrong customer. For instance, Groupon CEO Andrew Mason is often quoted as having tried to bring crowdsourcing to nonprofits before he offered it to businesses. My journey through…
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Early-stage financing is the lifeblood of every startup, but raising funds is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. According to Rick Ritter, the CEO of IdahoTechConnect, an articulate finance pitch can be the difference between receiving $10,000 or $1,000,000 in funding. IdahoTechConnect is a statewide entity that helps entrepreneurs attract investment dollars and commercialize their ideas….
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Fact of Reality #1: The current unemployment rate in the United States hovers around 8.3% according to the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This rate does not factor in those who have given up on looking for a job or those fresh out of school who haven’t yet been able to find one. So…
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After the initial exhilaration of take-off, turbulence sets in and passengers can sometimes get a little queasy. It turns out the journey through a startup accelerator is no different. On completing weeks 3-4 of Women Innovate Mobile (WIM), my mobile startup Appguppy has encountered its own form of turbulence: the first call for financials and…
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The last time we featured Banjo and their founder and CEO Damien Patton, social discovery was the next big thing. Earlier this week, the Redwood City-based startup passed the one million user mark – in nine months. Social discovery is mainstream, and it looks as if Banjo is leading the charge. Among a highly competitive…
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Your idea for a startup has been streamlined, the team is assembled, and everything is moving forward. Talk starts to turn to S-Corps versus LLCs, and you quickly realize that you need an attorney. Finding a lawyer to incorporate your business or register a trademark can become a job in itself. Ever wonder whether you…
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Editor’s Note: This blog post has been excerpted from an article that was originally published by Zvi Band on the Contactually blog. When running my previous company, staying in touch was crucial to my business. We were one of dozens, maybe hundreds, of web development firms in the DC region, but we kept really busy…
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When you’re launching a brand new e-commerce site, how do you get noticed when giant online retailers like Amazon, Zappos, and Overstock – not to mention the online stores from well-established bricks-and-mortar mega-chains – are casting such long shadows? We all know e-commerce is big business – according the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly $965M was…
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The Love Language Concept Gary Chapman’s book “The Five Love Languages” is a must read book for couples seeking a healthy, sustainable relationship. Recently I realized that this book is applicable to an employer’s relationship with an employee – especially if you keep the romantic part out of it. Here’s the main concept: We humans…
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Your startup is taking off. You put a lot of work into developing clever brand names and nifty logos that reflect your products or services. Your brands start to get name recognition, and business starts to pick up. Then one day, you get back from your coffee break to find a citation-filled e-mail from too-many-names…
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Last week, I attended the 2012 Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas and had an amazing time (thank you Time Warner Cable Business Class). Surprisingly, I met numerous successful entrepreneurs who were making over $1M per year with their companies. I never really thought about how many similarities the average web tech startup…
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Tech Cocktail is headed back to DC. Why? Because we're a fan of good... Read More
Locating quality startups in San Francisco is like spotting bees in a hive.... Read More
Today, we’re excited to announce that Tech Cocktail has taken a $2.5M... Read More
Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said... Read More
This post is part of Tech Cocktail’s “Healthy Entrepreneur” series,... Read More
