Category: Uncategorized

Russell Beattie:

All these startups in my feeds lately are killing me! There are tons of them, but none seem to be doing anything particularly special. I mean, it’s nice that there’s a sort of rebirth of small startups, but there’s absolutely no sort of wow factor that I’ve seen. And no, this isn’t an anti-Web 2.0 style backlash: I really believe in the idea of the web as a platform. Amazon and eBay’s web services are perfect examples of platforms which have created huge value for both companies, as well as the developers using their APIs. That’s not the problem. It’s all these Flickr-wannabes, flip-it-quick companies that are bugging me.

Jon Burke:

While many startups still operate in “stealth” mode, a growing number instead bring out public “beta” versions of their software.

Patricia Schaefer (via Dane Carlson):

No matter how great a business is, an inappropriate or poorly-chosen name can have a negative impact on its success — especially when first starting out. On the other hand, a business name that is appealing and memorable can do wonders for a business’s bottom line.

Kathy Sierra:

How long do your users spend in the “I suck” (or “this product sucks”) zone? Once they’ve crossed the suck threshold, how long does it take before they start to feel like they kick ass? Both of those thresholds are key milestones on a users path to passion, and it’s often the case that he-who-gets-his-users-there-first wins.

Karen E. Klein (via Cobalt Paladin):

For nearly two decades, Jonathan Hirshon has nurtured startup entrepreneurs as a Silicon Valley marketing and communications consultant. Along the way, Hirshon has observed both sorry failures and stunning successes, and he became an entrepreneur himself — founding Horizon Communications, a Santa Clara (Calif.)-based consultancy, in 1995. Though it takes plenty of moxie to start a company, Hirshon says, it’s the outsized entrepreneurial ego that most often brings down startups.

Fred Gratzon:

When I tell someone the secret to success is to do what he or she feels passionately about, they frequently ask me how they can identify the passion that will bring them the greatest success.

Here is what I answer…

Patti Digh:

Watching his mom get her chemotherapy treatment one day, Brian Fies began drawing her and realized that her journey through metastatic lung cancer was to be documented, with her help, in the way he knew how—as a graphic novel. Mom’s Cancer, as one reviewer put it, leaves readers “shocked by the level of honesty that was put into the work. This is not a story that sugar-coats the emotions and thoughts of the storyteller, they’re all there for the reader to experience. This is brave, compelling storytelling…”

Fred Gratzon:

Several decades ago, before I got interested in starting businesses, I met a friend who went from being penniless to becoming quite wealthy in a breathtakingly short amount of time. I asked him what the secret of getting rich was.

Keith Robinson:

As an entrepreneur that’s right in the middle of bootstrapping my own business together, I’ve got a bit of experience and I’m learning more and more every day. I thought it might be interesting to share some tips and some of the lessons I’ve learned so far.

Scott Allen:

With more and more people jumping on the business blogging bandwagon, it’s getting to the point that there is far more out there than you could ever hope to read on a regular basis. To help you filter that infoglut down to a more manageable level, here is my list of the ten most practical blogs for entrepreneurs.

His picks are:

• Small Business Trends
• Just for Small Business
• WorkHappy.net
• Duct Tape Marketing
• Home Office Voice
• Sacred Cow Dung
• The Entrepreneurial Mind
• Escape Velocity
• BizzBangBuzz
• Business Opportunities Weblog

Congratulations all!

Now, back to the regular infoglut.