The Stupid Loop: Why Your Stupid Idea Could Become The Next Big Thing | Page19

April 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Next time a friend labels your idea as stupid, don’t be so quick to listen! Your “stupidest” idea might also be your most genius. If someone writes you off, remember these tips from Richie Norton’s new book.

Think back to that one time you had an amazing idea and couldn’t wait to spill the details to your friends. When you finally did it, their reactions were…not what you’d hoped for. Just as quickly as you formulated your brilliant plan, they shot it down and crushed it into a million tiny pieces.

Here’s the truth: you shouldn’t take their opinions to heart. Why? Because some of the world’s leading innovations and companies have begun from a seemingly stupid idea.

Co-Working Spaces: What Small Businesses Should Consider | Business News Daily

April 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For some startup founders, working from home or out of someone’s living room is fine when you’re first getting off the ground. Eventually, though, most companies graduate to an official headquarters where their employees can report every day.

When you’re ready to take this step, you may be intimidated by the prospect of finding and leasing office space. Good commercial real estate can be difficult to find, and it’s even harder to find something in an affordable price range if your business is strapped for cash. One alternative is a co-working space, a shared office where multiple businesses all work together under the same roof at a lower cost than that of a traditional office lease.

Co-working spaces aren’t right for everyone. If you value privacy for your business and would like the ability to design and change your own office layout at will, a traditional office-space lease might be a better choice. But if you don’t mind having neighbors and sharing resources like Wi-Fi, bathrooms and kitchens with other businesses, co-working can be a cost-effective, beneficial option for growing companies.

12 Industries to Keep An Eye On | Small Biz Trends

April 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As technology evolves and startups jump on these advancements, a few industries are fundamentally changing. And as these industries push forward, they create even greater advancements of their tech.

Curious what market sector is most likely to be disrupted in the next few years, we asked a group of startup founders the following question:

“What industry do you believe is going to have the biggest advancements in technology in the next five years, and why?”

Here’s what YEC community members had to say:

Is Your Small Business at Risk for a Cyber Attack? | All Business

April 7, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cybersecurity is in the news lately, with President Obama recently proposing legislation that would set federal standards for notifying consumers about data breaches. Consumers aren’t the only ones worried about a cyber attack: Small business owners, too, are concerned, says a recent report from the National Small Business Association (NSBA).

More than nine out of 10 small business owners in the study cited cybersecurity as a concern. This is not an unfounded fear: Half of them report they’ve already suffered a cyber attack, with 61 percent of those attacks taking place in the last 12 months.

What happened to these entrepreneurs as a result of the attack? A service interruption was the most common problem, followed by the business website going down. In addition, 19 percent had either their business credit cards or bank account hacked.

The cost of cyber attacks is also on the rise. In 2014 the average cyber attack cost a small business $20,752, a substantial increase from the average of $8,699 an attack cost businesses in 2013.

Why We Give Great Advice To Others But Can’t Take it Ourselves | Forbes

April 7, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We’ve all had friends in toxic relationships that came to us for advice. As a third-party observer, we generally have a decent perspective from which to give our thoughts. But many of us have also been that friend—the person in the toxic relationship. In those situations, it’s much harder to give ourselves good advice. At least, it’s much harder to do what we know we should. Why is that? Why are we capable of giving reasonable advice to others but struggle to apply good advice in our own lives?

My colleague Ethan Kross and I ran a series of studies using Qualtrics to answer that very question. Our research disproved long-standing philosophical claims that wisdom comes solely through age and experience. As it turns out, looking at our own situations from an outsider’s perspective can help us channel the wisdom we need to make good choices for ourselves.

The Rationale Behind Soaring App Development Prices | TechCrunch

April 6, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

During the last quarter of 2014, we were approached by a funded startup based in Boston to identify an app development company to build an app for their European launch. The skill sets were quite niche, and the yearly spend would cross $100K, so we had to approach platform evangelists to identify some development studios that they’d recommend based on first-hand experience.

We picked the Australia and Indonesia markets because we knew we had to provide some choice at both ends of the spectrum, and the startup had an Australian connection.

The platform company’s Australian and Singaporean offices recommended their preferred teams in the above markets, based on first-hand experience of launching some very popular apps. While we did expect price differences for comparable quality, we did not expect a 15x difference between geographically close markets with identical skills.

The Undiluted Genius of Dr. Bronner’s | Inc.com

April 6, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There’s a common narrative that unfolds the first time you buy Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. It starts in the store, where the bottles, with their brightly colored, text-heavy labels, line up like cure-alls from some deranged medicine man. You pick one up. Later, in the shower, there comes a curious tingling sensation after you’ve lathered up your nether regions. That’s when you reach for the bottle again to give it a closer read.

There are quotes from Mao, Jesus, Hillel, Einstein, and George Washington, among others. There’s something called the Moral ABC, which appears to be a philosophy for uniting all humans on Spaceship Earth. There’s a lot of religious ranting, a liberal dose of exclamation points, and instructions for cleansing your “mind-body-soul-spirit instantly.”

Now you’re more curious than ever. And if you read enough of the label and happen to Google Dr. Bronner after you’ve toweled off, you’ll discover the story of the late Emanuel Bronner, which reads like bizarro fiction. (We’ll get to it shortly.) That story is just the beginning.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Android apps | Business Insider

April 3, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Samsung’s newest phone, the Galaxy S6, is without question one of the best phones you can buy.

I’ve tested several Samsung phones over the years, and the Galaxy S6 is the company’s biggest leap forward in design and hardware. It has the best camera, the best screen, and it looks and feels nice thanks to its metal and glass construction.

But there’s still one thing holding me back from recommending the Galaxy S6 over the iPhone, and it’s not entirely Samsung’s fault.

The problem is Android.

4 Things You Need to Know to Market to Millennials | Adweek

April 3, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

If anyone understands the millennial mind (or that of Gen Z, coming up right behind it), it’s Kevin Lyman. Since founding the live music event and brand strategy firm 4Fini in 1995, Lyman hasn’t just immersed himself in youth culture—he has helped brands like Truth, Ernie Ball and Journeys stay connected to it. The Vans Warped Tour—his cornerstone event, which jams up to 100 bands into 10 hours of portable, mud-filled mayhem—is now the longest-running festival tour in North America. In his more than two decades as a marketer and promoter, Lyman has learned a thing or two about reaching teens and young adults. Here, he shares some of his best practices.

Is Education Technology Where Women Are Starting To Buck The Tech World’s Sexist Trends? | Co.Exist

April 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The landmark San Francisco trial between iconic venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and Ellen Pao, the woman who did not become partner, may be over. But its repercussions—and the quest to fix sexism in Silicon Valley and, by extension, the technology industry—are ongoing.

Venture capital may be one of the toughest areas to be either female or a minority—and at the technology high-fliers that are their favorite investments, it isn’t much better. Women made up only 11% of founders in the most recent class of lauded tech incubator Y Combinator.

But in the geeky boys’ club of tech, education tech may be one of the few slightly more bright spots where female founders and CEOs are showing up—and staying the course—in greater numbers.