BLOGSPOT atas

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

What are Some Mistakes that New Startup Founders Make


What are Some Mistakes that New Startup Founders Make

Never start a startup because you think it is cool or will make you a billionaire overnight.

The problem your trying to solve, or do you just want to be a startup founder? Is the first question you need to ask.

Patience is required while building a venture, as most startups start with limited resources, it takes time for the founders to wear every hat. It takes time for selling your service/ product to your first customer. It takes time for the market to know about your offerings, it takes even greater time for the market to trust your venture in buying your offering. Only then comes the scope of scaling, we have seen so many people starting out and shutting down as they could not find a VC after 2 months of ideation.

Having a mindset that the first task of an entrepreneur is to raise funds

I see so many so called 'entrepreneurs' prepare a business plan and chase funding without even having registered an actual company. They want somebody else to take all the risk for their idea. Raising money takes time, preparation, a solid business model and a great team behind the business. Stop kidding yourself that you have the next Facebook but need 10 Lakhs before you can start it. Start with what you have, do what you can and then go to raise investment. Investors will respect you far more if you've had the terrible diet and the overdraft account because they will see how passionate and committed you are to the success of the business.

Getting best friends/ family members as Co-Founders

As in a good relationship, a couple compliments each other. Co-Founders in a startup complement each other.Each person comes with his/her individual skillsets. It makes no meaning for a tech startup to have two non-tech founders and outsourcing the technical requirements. Moreover, there will be a lot many times when you disagree with each other do not let your valued relationship as a family member/ partner/ friend affect the growth of your venture. Look for a team that has an aligned vision and can take the startup from 0 to 1.

If you want to make everyone happy be an ice-cream seller

Founders try to be all things to all people. Founders need to understand their target audience and their hopes and dreams. The hopes and dreams of a young woman are vastly different than those of an old man. Who exactly are you trying to sell to? It's a question most founders avoid asking themselves.

Being stubborn about an idea

Founders aren't aggressive enough with experimentation. They have a good idea and they stop looking for a better one. What worked yesterday is not likely to work today any more, so you have to constantly be learning and looking for new angles...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318695

===

by Idham Azhari

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

5 Operational Bases Every Startup Should Have Covered If It Wants to Grow



5 Operational Bases Every Startup Should Have Covered If It Wants to Grow

Once a business gets up and running, it's time to reassess where the company's operational priorities are. It's tempting, at that point, to let "structure" remain on the back burner, when you're scrambling for growth. But having that singular factor in place early on is much more effective than backlogging it two years later, should you, for instance, need a clear picture of your financial history.

Related: The Basics of Business Structure

Having a strong operational foundation in place, in fact, is key for a business to efficiently scale and, ultimately, realize its full potential value. Follow these steps to ensure you place your own startup on a solid foundation footing:

Be sure to use accrual accounting.

Businesses typically follow one of two accounting methods: cash or accrual. Cash accounting is a straightforward measure of cash flow, where revenue is recorded only when money comes in. Accrual accounting is more complex. Entrepreneur has defined accrual accounting as:..

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318767

===

by Idham Azhari

Monday, August 27, 2018

Here is How Brands Can Improve their Twitter Followership


Here is How Brands Can Improve their Twitter Followership

n the last few years, the perception of social media has evolved. It is no more just a medium to connect with people or strike conversations, instead, these platforms are now used to drive opinions, campaigns and build brands.

Twitter is considered one of the most powerful social media platforms. If brands use the platform wisely, it can help brands to improve its presence across geographies and boost their customer base.

To achieve the above agenda, a company needs to build its followership. Entrepreneur India gives you tips on how brands can get more Twitter followers.

Content

Be it any platform, today content is the king. And hence, on Twitter, Ritika Malhotra, Group Head - Social Kinnect says, that your content should be relevant and topical as it is a popular news breaking platform.

Therefore, it is important to have a point of view on a given topic and should not something generic.

"You have to be mindful of the quality of tweets going out and ensure you are using the relevant hashtags to garner more reach for your brand. Have conversations with people who are relevant to build awareness which helps create a human persona which encourages more people to follow you," she added...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/319044

===

by Idham Azhari


Thursday, August 23, 2018

5 Reasons Why PR Is Important For Your Startup


5 Reasons Why PR Is Important For Your Startup

Setting up your own business is no small feat. There are several things that are on your mind, from managing your funds to knowing what your customers need. Marketing might not be at the forefront of what your business needs and you might not be considering Public Relations at all. However, if done right, PR can give your business the best result and only use a miniscule amount from your marketing budget.

 

Helps You Build Thought Leadership

Most founders have trouble understanding how PR works. PR in short acts like a bridge between the brand and the audience. The media coverage helps communicate with the audience and influence them in a positive way. There are several stakeholders involved in this process like the company spokespersons, stock analysts, investors, influencers, industry experts, customers, employees, and even the competition. As a business having control over all stakeholders may not be possible, however PR will help you make your voice heard and build thought leadership for your brand in the industry.  

 

Helps Strengthen Relations And Build Brand Credibility

Unlike in advertising, where you can have control over the graphics and the placement of the ad, whereas through PR, the brand communication depends in a small way on the relationship that you share with the journalist. And to authenticate it you need validation from industry experts. When the audience reads the news it must consider your products and services worth their time, unlike an ad that they just glance through

 

Helps You Personally Connect With The Audience

PR is personal in nature, the communication is direct from the horse's mouth. The audience gets to know about the business and personal side of you as a founder and is able to relate directly with you. You'll communicate with them  directly and build a circle that shares common interests. Great brands are built by strengthening relationships with the audience and influencers. What you need to keep in mind that these relations can make or break your client, hence building trust is of utmost importance.

 

Great Tool To Build Brand Advocacy

Public relations plays an important role in strengthening an organization's credibility. Numerous trusted intermediaries through their opinion in the media act as brand advocates and strengthen brand image . The consumers are bombarded with messages and hence the message through PR helps filter out and de clutter the messages that they receive. As a tool, PR should be used to share important message points and reiterate messages through company stakeholders. This helps knowing your needs and aligning them with audience's needs so that  your business and its messages fitin.

 

Do PR Beyond Business

Your relation with various stakeholders need not always be about your business. PR helps you have an inside out approach about your business and solve issues with the help of your product and services. You need to be seen doing good as once the stakeholders lose interest they will shift to your competition in a jiffy  Thinking and evaluating 'what is newsworthy' will help you stay relevant and if your business is able to do this, then PR will help your brand reach new heights.

 

While PR is neither is advertising, nor is free, it can cost you your brand if not used it well. As they say a pen is mightier than a sword...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318849

===

by Idham Azhari

Thursday, August 16, 2018

New to Ecommerce? Save Yourself Thousands Yearly With These 5 Frugal Hacks


New to Ecommerce? Save Yourself Thousands Yearly With These 5 Frugal Hacks

Starting your own ecommerce platform is an exciting endeavor -- but turning a profit can prove more challenging than you might expect. From fine-tuning your digital marketing strategy to finding quality fulfillment partners, there are several investments you'll need to make to consistently draw customers to your store.

If you're not careful, the costs associated with these essential activities can add up rather quickly -- yes, even if you sell your products through Amazon. The last thing you need is to run out of cash before you can make your first sale!

In reality, many of the expenses that sink new ecommerce stores can be reduced or eliminated entirely if you know what to do. Here's a closer look at some surprisingly simple ways you can reduce your operating expenses by thousands of dollars each year.

1. Streamline your company's inventory.

As Will Caldwell, co-founder and CEO of Dizzle, explained in an Entrepreneur article, "One of the most important parts of starting any ecommerce store is connecting with the right customers. To make better advertisements and have higher conversion rates, you need to understand what niche your ecommerce store is targeting. So, think about where you're from, what your products stand for, how your products are made."

To truly carve out your own niche, you shouldn't try to be all things to all people -- and this means carefully curating your product lineup. Many of the most successful ecommerce stores find it much easier to limit the types of products they sell online...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/316759

===

by Idham Azhari

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Why I Wish Artificial Intelligence Was Around When I Started My Business


Why I Wish Artificial Intelligence Was Around When I Started My Business

A day doesn't go by that I don't think about how I could have done a better job of running my business, which until my partners and I sold it, was an American restaurant called Molly's Lone Star, located in the French town of La Rochelle.

So, every time I walk into a restaurant, which is almost every day, I look at how other people are running their business. I look at how the waiters do their side work, how the traffic flow of clean and dirty dishes is organized, and I peer at the latest point-of-sale technology. I daydream about how much easier our work would have been, and how much more profitable we could have become.

Labor is by far the hardest thing to manage in a restaurant -- you constantly have to think about having enough people during rushes, scheduling time off for your full time staff, making sure your employees are presenting your restaurant in the right light, and making sure your best staff aren't poached by a competitor...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318232

===

by Idham Azhari

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

How SEO Can Help a Brand Create a Success Story


How SEO Can Help a Brand Create a Success Story

For any brand to prosper, visibility is key. Founders, therefore, give social media prime importance when trying to establish their brand. Search engine optimization is usually an afterthought for many. Why not push for both simultaneously from the beginning? A February report by US-based social discovery and sharing platform Shareaholic says in 2017 Google outshined Facebook as the top traffic referral driver, with search driving 34.8 per cent of site visits compared to 25.6 percent from social.

"The majority of Web traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo!. Although social media and other types of traffic can generate visits to your website, search engines are the primary method of navigation for most Internet users. This is true whether your site provides content, services, products, information or just about anything else," says international speaker and social media expert Linda Coles in her new book, Social Media For Business—Foolproof Tips To Help You Promote Your Business Or Your Brand (Wiley; $21)...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318381

===

by Idham Azhari

Monday, August 13, 2018

This Fintech Company is Turning its Rivals Into Partners Globally


This Fintech Company is Turning its Rivals Into Partners Globally

Payoneer, a global digital payment company, is steering a steady growth by targeting small businesses globally. The company's strategy has seen the company register triple-digit growth in payment volume in Asia since 2012, according to a data released by Payoneer.

The New York-headquartered Payoneer is making cross border payment easier globally. It helps small and medium business owners in solving the pain points related to digital payments. It processes around 150 currencies across 200 countries. The company has the four-million strong clientele that includes the likes of large corporations like Airbnb, Google, Amazon, Getty Images and Upwork.

Globally, the company's payment transaction volume in 2016 grew 86.2 percent to $7.82 billion, whereas Asia saw a massive 153 percent increase on-year. The company is targeting to increase its presence in more Asian countries after making inroads into China, Japan, South Korea and India...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317478

===

by Idham Azhari

Friday, August 10, 2018

How to Become Investable in 13 Steps


How to Become Investable in 13 Steps

Time kills all deals. For startups, speed to market has never been more critical. When we're investing in a company at BCG Digital Ventures, we look at how well the company will scale. We're focused on idea to Series A. Our startups must go from paper to market within 12 months and to scale within 36, or we fail them.

We've developed 13 questions to help achieve the speed to market and scalability required in today's rapidly accelerating landscape.

1. Purpose

What's the purpose of your company? Does it satisfy a strong market demand? Purpose-driven companies attract (and retain) the right talent, maintain customer loyalty and drive profits, outperforming the stock market by 206 percent over the last decade, according to Havas Group.

At TOMS, the purpose is purpose. By providing one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased, TOMS was able to tap into what motivates its customers -- social change.

2. Friction

What market friction are you solving? There are three types of frictions that can turn into an investment opportunity for us:

  1. Market friction: We look to uncover (not create) our market through a social, economic, tech or regulatory change.
  2. Expected friction (access): Once we uncover a market, we then need access to it by looking for inefficiencies and pain points through ethnographic research.
  3. Latent friction: Once we find a pain point, we then need to make money. We do this by designing experiences people didn't know they wanted until we showed them (i.e. the Steve Jobs theory).

The rise of dockless scooter sharing points to an expected friction well-solved. E-scooter sharing platforms like Bird and the DV-incubated Coup have solved this by allowing users to simply unlock the scooter with their phone and leave it at their destination for the next rider.

3. Why now?

Is your idea too early/late to be in-market right now? A beautifully designed product with an incredible user interface won't cut it if either the technology or the market wasn't ready for it.

Before Bitcoin, there was Flooz. Launched in the late '90s, this digital currency managed to raise $35 million, but shut down shortly after the dot-com bust as the market widely denounced "internet money." Today, there are more than 1,900 cryptocurrencies in the market. It's not always what you build, but also when you build it.

4. Corporate alignment

What corporate assets can you leverage? At DV, nearly everything we invest in has a corporate partner. At the beginning of a venture, we look across our partner's value chain to find a way to leverage a piece of the existing business. In doing so, we create new market value and an unfair advantage. If someone wanted to replicate what we've built, they would need to re-create not only the startup, but the conditions of the corporate partner.

Unilever's acquisition of Dollar Shave Club is a great example. By joining Unilever, Dollar Shave Club instantly gained access to millions of customers, legacy relationships with retailers and other resources it would have never had as a startup alone. In turn, Unilever was able to add a fresh, sexy brand to its portfolio, keeping younger consumers buying for years to come.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317863

===

by Idham Azhari

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Skills You Need to Get Your Dream Job


Skills You Need to Get Your Dream Job

Have you been appearing for a lot of interviews and failing each time?

Have you been editing and re-editing your resume to be hired soon?

Have you just been wondering what's keeping you away from being on board?

If the answer to any of the above is yes, you need to understand the current and future nebulous market needs. Various researches are being conducted which signify that the dynamics of job market has evolved tremendously in the last decade.

The economy is an evolving phase where apart from digital transformation, business models are constantly unfolding, giving birth to an unknown genre of jobs. The existing skill sets need to be modified in the light of shifting business modules...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318116

===

by Idham Azhari

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Millennials are Less Concerned About Data Security Risk


Millennials are Less Concerned About Data Security Risk

Despite being the mobile-first generation, millennials don't care much about data security risks, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region.

A recent study has found that less than half (44 per cent) of those aged 18-34 in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore prioritize functionality of an app over its security features. Gen X (those aged 35-54; 53 per cent) and baby boomers (those aged 55 and above; 69 per cent), on the other hand, choose security over the convenience and functionality of an app.

The study, "The Curve of Convenience: The Trade-off Between Security And Convenience", which was conducted by US-based technology company F5 Networks in collaboration with UK's market research firm YouGov, surveyed over 3,700 respondents across the seven Asia-Pacific countries...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317988

===

by Idham Azhari

Monday, August 6, 2018

10 useful Gmail settings you'll wish you knew sooner


10 useful Gmail settings you'll wish you knew sooner

More than a billion people use Gmail. That's about one in seven people on Earth, actively using this free email platform in 74 different languages.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported some third-party developers were collecting data on Gmail users. If you are worried about this practice, I've got your back. Tap or click here to stop it and disconnect third-party apps from your Gmail account.

That's not all the bad news for Gmail users.

Google recently added a new feature to its Gmail redesign. The function is called "Confidential Mode," and the Department of Homeland says it could present a significant security threat to users. Tap or click here to learn how this feature can be used against you.

Many default Gmail settings may not appeal to you; you may wish that specific options were switched on or off if you only knew they existed. Gmail is full of shortcuts, but they can't expedite your work when you don't know what they are.

Here are 10 settings that will improve your Gmail experience. Like anything, the best way to learn Gmail is to practice and experiment, but these options will help you hit the ground running.

1. Let Gmail type your emails for you

A newer feature, Smart Compose will try and save time by predicting what you are going to write before you even start writing. It's similar to auto-complete in text messages, but for your inbox...

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/08/04/10-useful-gmail-settings-youll-wish-knew-sooner.html

===

by Idham Azhari

Friday, August 3, 2018

The Homeless Man Who Went Viral for Handing Out His Résumé on a Highway Had Quit His Job to Become an Entrepreneur -- and Even Though He Failed, He Plans to Try Again


The Homeless Man Who Went Viral for Handing Out His Résumé on a Highway Had Quit His Job to Become an Entrepreneur -- and Even Though He Failed, He Plans to Try Again

David Casarez quit his job as a web developer at General Motors just months shy of his 26th birthday.

Years earlier, he'd made a pact with himself, that by the time he turned 26, he'd start his own business.

So Casarez cashed out his 401(k) and packed his bags for the San Francisco Bay Area, where he planned to launch a tech startup. He described it to me as a multi-sided platform covering the food industry, picking up where services like Blue Apron had left off.

Casarez's family thought he was crazy to leave a stable gig, especially since he wouldn't have money to cover the cost of rent in California and would have to live out of his van...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317767

===

by Idham Azhari

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Why Authenticity Is the Key Ingredient for Career Success


Why Authenticity Is the Key Ingredient for Career Success

Leaving the world of finance to pursue an entrepreneurial path was a pivotal, exciting and scary moment in my life. Finance was mostly what I knew; however, while working as a finance professional, I felt that something was missing. There is no doubt that crunching numbers, analyzing financial statements and developing financial models honed my quantitative skillset, but over time, these key aspects of my role became monotonous. Moreover, while finance was monetarily rewarding, it was not personally rewarding -- was I really impacting people's lives? As I did some soul searching, I realized that working in finance wasn't enabling me to tap into my creative side and directly help others, which were both authentic aspects of who I am. Therefore, I knew that something had to change...


===

by Idham Azhari

Japan's SBI Holdings Bets Big On Singapore-based AI Startup AntWorks


Japan's SBI Holdings Bets Big On Singapore-based AI Startup AntWorks

Investors are ready to bet big on artificial intelligence startups because the technology brings a great future. AI has already been implemented in a number of repetitive tasks and mundane functions in a company which surely means that startups looking to try their hands on this technology surely hold a promising future.

Singapore-based AI startup AntWorks was, recently,  in news for announcing Series A funding from SBI Investment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SBI Holdings. The Japanese investment firm invested  $15 million in AntWorks, a global company that is creating new possibilities with data. In addition to funding, a joint venture between SBI and AntWorks was also announced to tap the opportunities in the emerging AI space in South East Asia.

The company which was co-founded by Asheesh Mehra and Govind Sandhu in 2015, provides the only integrated intelligent automation enterprise-level product, powered by Fractal Science.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317731

===

by Idham Azhari