Interview – Amir Banifatemi | Peter Mehit

January 8, 2013January 22, 2015 ~ CBPS ~ 2 Comments

Amir Banifatemi is founder of K5 Accelerator, which is based at ChapmanCollege’s e-Village. He has extensive experience developing start up and growth companies in many different markets but focuses primarily on healthcare, internet and media technologies. While he is focused keenly on developing value, he also has an eye toward projects that have significant technological breakthroughs and significant social and economic impact.

Mehit: You’ve been quoted that the center of gravity in OrangeCounty has been around real estate and finance resulting in a very careful and staid culture. What would you like to see changed?

Amir: I would try to improve a certain number of things, one of those would be more collaboration. I think the history of OrangeCounty and how people are disbursed does not promote synergies. Unfortunately, distance makes it difficult for people to meet and collaborate on projects, except on big projects.

Further if you look historically, at San Francisco or other places, when people get out of college, where do they go? They go to Hewlett Packard or the Fairchild or Intel but what do they do here? They go to a real estate company or title company. The appropriate employment environment is lacking.

Finally, people are focused on cash today instead of cash tomorrow. Your attitude, your investment of time and resource in collaboration and how you view society and community are different if you looking at cash tomorrow.

Continue reading “Interview – Amir Banifatemi | Peter Mehit” →

Time Tracking and Management Software | BusinessNewsDaily.com

January 8, 2013January 8, 2013 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

As a business owner, you know one of the keys to keeping employees productive is ensuring they aren’t wasting time. Time tracking and management software prevents wasted time, cuts down on projects slipping through the cracks and helps make sure deadlines are being met. Many of the software options include features that help track and coordinate projects, monitor employee hours and manage sick leave, vacation time, overtime and holidays. Time tracking software can also track other activities, such as presentations and meetings. In addition, some packages can produce invoices and integrate with accounting software.

Our sister site, TopTenREVIEWS, does extensive in-depth reviews of time tracking and management software. Here are the Top 3 recommendations for time tracking and management software:

Read Recommendations.

7 Big Money Problems and How to Solve Them | genxfinance.com

December 17, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Building wealth is a part of the American Dream. We’re told that through hard work and seizing opportunities we can lead successful, healthy, and wealthy lives. But building wealth isn’t important just for the sake of having money. In fact, it’s almost a requirement these days if you want to fully retire at some point. Social Security won’t provide much of a retirement. Your kids may not be able to afford college on their own, and there’s a good chance that health care costs can wipe out even a decent nest egg during your golden years.

Since building wealth is so important for our future why is it that most people still find themselves under a mountain of debt or end up retiring broke and unhappy? It isn’t just luck. Sure, in the game of life luck does play a part, but most of the outcomes in life are directly attributable to the choices you make and financial decisions are no different. If you make smart decisions with your money your odds of success lean in your favor. Make poor decisions and you put yourself behind the 8-ball. Here are seven of the biggest money problems and mistakes most people make and if you can avoid making these mistakes you’re on the fast track toward building wealth.

How to Know If You’re Involved in The Petraeus Scandal | Andy Borowitz

November 14, 2012January 22, 2015 ~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In response to a high volume of panicked phone calls from the general public, the C.I.A. has published a new informational brochure entitled “How to Tell if You’re Involved in the Petraeus Scandal.”

The C.I.A. rushed to produce the brochure after it became clear that as many as one in three Americans may have some involvement in the Petraeus affair.

And with the scandal widening every day, “a lot of average folks out there are worried that they might somehow be involved in it without knowing,” says Carol Foyler, director of the C.I.A.’s public-information office. “This booklet should clear up a lot misunderstandings.”

The booklet includes a “simple, user-friendly checklist” that should help people determine whether they are at risk for being implicated in the scandal, she says.

“Have you ever met David Petraeus? Have you ever received and/or sent shirtless photos of an F.B.I. agent? Have you ever exchanged e-mails with Jill Kelley? Under five thousand pages of e-mails and you’re probably O.K., but anywhere between ten thousand and fifteen thousand pages of e-mails could potentially mean you’re involved in some way,” she says.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today that he expected the Petraeus scandal to wind down by early 2015 but would not commit to an official timetable.

Read Original Article

9 People to Remove From Your Inner Circle | Inc.com

November 13, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

When you’re trying to get a business off the ground, the people you surround yourself with matter. Keep these nine types at a distance.

You are what you eat, and you definitely are whom you associate with. The people closest to you make all the difference–in a good and a bad way.

Of course, it can be tough to find great new connections and friends to add to your inner circle; people who will support you, help you, and encourage, motivate, and inspire you.

It’s a lot easier to spot the people in your inner circle who are holding you back.

If you have people like these in your inner circle, remove them:

C7 Chromebook; How Low They Can Go? | TechCrunch.com

November 12, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Google and Samsung recently unveiled a $249 Chromebook, which seemed like a new pricing floor for a capable, light computer that’s designed for users who spend most of their computing time on the web. Today, Google announced the new Acer C7 Chromebook on its website, which ups the ante (while lowering some specs) with a $50 cheaper Chrome OS notebook which also features an 11.6-inch display, but also boasts an Intel Core processor and a 320 GB hard drive.

Don’t Buy Any Item in the Checkout Aisle | thesimpledollar.com

November 12, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Grocery store designers are smart people.

They know that when you check out with a cart load of groceries, you’re going to be standing in that spot for a while. They also know that sometimes you’re unfortunate enough to have children with you.

Thus, they stock the checkout aisle with things that are perfectly selected for you to just toss on the conveyor without a second thought.

Magazines. Beverages. Gum. Candy. Car fresheners. The list goes on and on.

All of these items have a relatively low price point. All of these items are things with very attractive packaging. All of these items are things that you can quickly enjoy without much effort at all. All of these items are also priced so that the store makes a nice profit.

All of these items are meant for you to buy them without skipping a beat. Many people do it, too. (If that wasn’t true, the checout aisle wouldn’t be designed this way in virtually every grocery store.)

4 Tips for Pitching Your Business in 2 Minutes | Inc.com

November 12, 2012November 13, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Doing a two-minute investor pitch can be incredibly daunting. Here are tips to hone your pitch and get the next meeting.

Two minutes. You probably wait longer for your coffee at your local shop. Two minutes can seem like a very short time, unless you’re on in the hot seat, facing four investors and an entire audience, asking for funding. At that moment, time goes by like lightning. Last month at a local pitch contest, I saw two presenters lose precious time when they lost their train of thought in the middle of their two minute pitch.

Read Article.

What Is Daylight-Saving Time? | Wired.com

November 3, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Let me start with the sun. Suppose you were to watch the sun (but not look directly at it; that is a bad thing) over the course of a day. Also suppose you were to observe the sun’s motion on different days of the year. Oh, I get it. You’re too busy and too impatient to do this. Well, there is a simple solution. Download and install some type of astronomy software. I recommend Stellarium. It’s free and it works on all the major operating systems. With Stellarium, you can enter a location and a time and it will show you the sky. This way you can play around with the views on different days without having to wait half a year. Instant sky gratification.

Let me show you the sun at different times of the day for my location on both Dec. 21 and June 21. This image might look crazy, but I tried to show all the locations at the same time.

View Image – Read More.

How to Find Core Keywords For Effective Online Marketing|searchengineguide.com

November 3, 2012 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

There are many angles and avenues for researching keywords for your online marketing efforts. Some people focus on numbers such as search volume or keyword competition. Others might focus on the tools you use to dig up obscure keywords to target. While these may be good keyword metrics to consider, focusing on the keywords themselves should be the most important focus.

You can optimize difficult or easy keywords and high or low search volume phrases, and each will help you reach different levels of success. But choose the wrong keywords and you’ll see your marketing campaigns go a whopping nowhere!

Read Article.