Closing the Deal Is as Easy as Smiling | Entrepreneur.com

July 14, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Many entrepreneurs are unaware of the sales power and influence that arise from conveying a genuine smile. Poet Emily Dickinson nailed it more than a century ago when she wrote, “They might not need me, yet they might. I’ll let my heart be just in sight. A smile so small as mine might be, precisely their necessity.”

Though she was a poet and not an entrepreneur, Dickinson understood the power of the smile. She may have not understood the science that makes smiling such a valuable business asset, but she no doubt observed good things when she expressed a genuine smile.

AT&T’s Hackathons Help Foster Digital Innovation | Adweek

July 11, 2014July 11, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The word hacker may have a negative connotation, but AT&T wants to show the world how it can lead to positive innovation.

“That’s the old connotation,” said Carlton Hill, VP of device operations and developer services for AT&T. “To hack on something doesn’t mean that. It’s to break it open, its to play with it and get a ton out of it.”

For the last three years, the telecommunications company has calling on developers, marketers, designers and innovators to work together to create tech solutions for common problems. The participants usually have 24 hours to come up with an idea and prototype for each project, and a winner is awarded at each event. Most of the stops are themed around an issue, including the upcoming Houston, Texas event on Friday which will focus on apps to help the disabled

4 Questions You Must Answer About Ditching Your 9 to 5 | Inc.com

July 11, 2014July 16, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I left the “security” of the 9-5 job world back in 2007. At that time, I was three years out of college and had a good job by other people’s standards, but found myself very unhappy. The people I worked with were fine. The work I was doing was fine. Everything was pretty much fine.

But I didn’t want fine.

In 2007, I took the leap from a normal job to co-found my first company. How I eventually talked myself into leaping came after answering a few questions:

If I stayed at the 9-5 job, what was the best case scenario?

I’d climb the fickle corporate ladder. I’d see incremental financial increases. Different words would be embossed on my business cards which only meant more responsibility and stress. I’d probably never be truly happy.

If I stayed at the 9-5 job, what was the worst case scenario?

I’d either work there for the next 30 years and be miserable or at some point I’d be let go, I’d have no income, I’d be scared, and I’d find some other mediocre 9-5 job. I’d definitely be unhappy.

4 Things Remarkable Startups Have In Common | Entrepreneur.com

July 11, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Why do some start-ups succeed and others don’t? Here’s a hint: It doesn’t have to do with if an idea is good or bad. Indeed, the successful entrepreneurs are able to run with amazing concepts and pivot other when needing. There are a few more tried and true principles that can contribute to the success of your new company. Among other things, these are four things remarkable start-ups have in common.

1. Founders are insanely passionate about the idea. Don’t start a business without passion. You won’t be able to see it through if you are not really into your idea. Founders of most successful start-ups started searching for solutions to a problem they cared about and made it their focus.

“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out,” Steve Jobs has said.

Founders with great passion tend to inspire others to greater success, and they look out for those traits in new hires. According to best-selling authors and workplace strategists Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, passion enables innovation and creativity and makes employees want to stay in their jobs and contribute, even when they’re not feeling their best.

The Next Big Thing You Missed: Startup’s Plan to Remake Banks and Replace Credit Cards Just Might Work | WIRED

July 10, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

“I don’t know if I want to own a bank. But I do want to lend money in a transparent way, and I want to create an institution people love,” says Max Levchin, between sips of coffee on a Friday morning at a New York City cafe. “I want to be the community bank equivalent for the 21st century, where people say: ‘I trust my banker. He’s a good guy who’s looking out for me.’”

Dressed in a bright green t-shirt with the name of his startup—Affirm—emblazoned across the chest, Levchin looks and sounds like just another idealistic Silicon Valley entrepreneur rehearsing for Demo Day. But he isn’t. As the co-founder and former CTO of PayPal, Levchin is also one of the Valley’s foremost experts on the payments industry. When he says he wants to overhaul banking, you should take him seriously.

GM fighting brake line recall | CnnMoney.com

July 10, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

General Motors, which has recalled nearly 29 million cars globally so far this year, is pushing back against critics clamoring that it should recall another 6 million pickups and SUVs for a problem with brake lines.

GM says the problem with the brake lines is due to normal wear-and-tear on vehicles that are all at least 10 years old, and that the problem only occurs in the so-called “Salt Belt” where corrosive salt is used on the roads during the winter.

7 Risk Insights You Don’t Know And That Could Save Your Business | Bloomberg

July 9, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Risks work together to threaten businesses in mysterious ways, and respect neither national boundaries nor past performance. To survive and thrive in such a world, organizations need to pay the subject its due. Three thought leaders from Zurich Insurance Group recently shared their ideas on seven critical keys to embracing the holistic risk management approach necessary to survive in the global spider web.

Analyzing risks individually can lead to seriously misleading conclusions.

“Take one thing at a time” might be good advice for children, but not for anyone trying to manage global risk. Our increasingly interconnected and complex world has made the domino effect commonplace—and increasingly global.

Examples of knock-on effects abound. A risk manager looking at Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza sees only the building’s inconsequential value … until it tragically collapses, with massive loss of life, as well as reputational damage to some of the world’s leading brands. Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami leads to a change in German nuclear policy—half a world away … and more fossil fuel usage, with a corresponding impact on climate change. A large Swiss bank sets limits for credit default swaps for its various business units … but doesn’t consider the aggregation of those limits.

US Military Developing Brain Implants to Restore Memory | Live Science

July 9, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The U.S. military has chosen two universities to lead a program to develop brain implants to restore memory to veterans who have suffered brain injuries, officials said at a news conference yesterday, July 8.

The Restoring Active Memory RAM program is a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA, the branch of the U.S. Department of Defense charged with developing next-generation technologies for the military. The initiative aims to develop wireless, fully implantable “neuroprosthetics” for service members suffering from traumatic brain injury or illness, DARPA Program Manager Justin Sanchez said at the news conference.

It’s Not Just Disruption: More Management Wisdom You Should Doubt | Businessweek

July 8, 2014July 7, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Some of what you learn in business school may be wrong!

We’re sorry to be such downers to those of you who just received your MBA congratulations, by the way, and those of you getting ready to start business school congrats to you, too. But the truth is, there are some “best practices” taken as gospel at many business schools that may actually do your company—and, by extension, your career—more harm than good. Here are some bits of management gospel you should question:

Structure follows strategy

This may be true up to a point, but like many B-school truisms, it breaks down in the face of complexity. If your organization has to meet many conflicting requirements, and you create many structures to address them—compliance departments, quality assurance departments, safety czars, logistics czars, units in charge of standardization, and units in charge of customization—then you wind up with burdensome rules, contradictory demands, and breakdowns in work processes.