How To Create A Website That Makes People Want To Buy Things

1. First, from the outset you must set the behavioral tone for your visitors on your homepage and offer compelling calls to action.

2. Every homepage should succinctly state what the business does.

3. Create credibility through relatable and visible contact information. 

4. Run A/B tests to see which homepage designs are most effective in converting visitors.

5. Don't be fooled by vanity. 

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-turn-online-visitors-into-paying-customers-2012-11

You Can't Be Half An Entrepreneur

I'm a big fan of the HBO show Boardwalk Empire.

One of the famous quotes from the show is "You can't be half a gangster."

That line was said by one character urging the other to start acting like a full gangster and use all the tools at his disposal (violence) to resolve issues in their illegal endeavors; otherwise they’ll both probably end up on the wrong side of a gun barrel, since their competitors will be acting like "full gangsters".

This quote and the reason for it reminds me of one simple truth in entrepreneurship. "You Can’t Be Half An Entrepreneur". In short, if you want to build your own start-up, you have to go all in. You cannot expect to be successful if you only have half your efforts focused on an endeavor as challenging as building a company. 

When I decided to do my first start-up, I quit Microsoft cold turkey, moved to Silicon Valley, and lived in my friend's pool room.  I had no funding, no health insurance, and dwindling savings. It didn't matter to me though.  I knew if I did not go all in now, I would never go for it.  Eventually, we raised $10 million in venture capital, hired over 30 top notch engineers, and sold Spock 3 years later.  None of this would have been possible if I took the advice of some people who told me to stay at Microsoft, slowly build out my idea, and only quit when I had funding lined up.  

In my travels, I have gotten to know many people who work at big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo who want to be entrepreneurs.  They ask me for advice and connections, yet many of them just cannot pull the trigger and quit their job to go for it. They keep moving their idea at a snail’s pace and hope that somehow, all the pieces will come together in the future and then they can comfortably leave their jobs.  

This group usually asks me for introductions to VCs. I always say no. I tell them that no VC will take them seriously if they are not already working on their concept full-time.  For every person slowly moving an idea along in a company, someone else has committed themselves full-time to the same idea. Plus, most VCs worry about non-competes or issues around IP if employees start a company while still employed by someone else in the same industry.

I get other people who want to be entrepreneurs yet complain about how they cannot afford to leave, given family obligations.  To this group, I just tell them to forget their start-up dreams. They will never leave given valid commitments to supporting a family. So why waste time dreaming of something you won’t do.  I tell this group to double down on their current job and try rising as high as they can in their company.  

If you look at really successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, you see that many of them went all in with regards to building their company.  In many cases, these entrepreneurs risked a lot by quitting something important.  

Both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard to start their companies. 

Both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg left Harvard to start their companies. 

They both knew they could never reach their full potential by balancing two commitments. Plus, both saw that their respective markets moved too fast for them to wait to graduate. 

When Jeff Bezos started Amazon, he left a very comfortable banking job in NYC, moved to Seattle and started Amazon out of a garage.  He committed himself so much that VCs like Kleiner Perkins could not resist funding him.  His ambition and commitment to making Amazon a success were just too big to ignore.

When AdMob's founder, Omar Hamoui, decided to leave Wharton's MBA program early to begin AdMob, I'm sure many people thought he was nuts.  Yet, only a few years later, AdMob sold to Google for over $700 million.  He knew that he could be an early leader in the new space of mobile advertising.   If he waited another year to graduate fromWharton, he would have missed the market.  

All of the examples above show the level of commitment necessary to be successful in building a company.  All the founders above risked a lot by making these moves.  Yet, the only reason they were able to succeed was that they went all in.  

If you’re someone who is working a corporate gig and thinking about starting your own company, I recommend that if you believe in your idea, believe in your abilities, and can afford to take the risk, then go for it. You only live once, and you want to look back at life and say that you gave 100% towards your dreams.  

Just remember, if you decide to stay half an entrepreneur, nothing good will happen. You'll waste time dreaming and probably do a really bad job in your current gig.  Not to mention, your competition will be working full-time to win in the same market. In short:  Don't Be Half An Entrepreneur. Either go all in the game, or stay out of the game. It's being half in that will get you in trouble.  

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-cant-be-half-an-entrepreneur-2012-9#ixzz277nvW9AO

The Only Two Ways To Build A $100 Million Startup Read more: http://versiononeventures.com/the-only-2-ways-to-build-a-100-million-business/#ixzz277nEUK68

With tens of thousands of new start-ups being created every year, the potential of a company to truly scale and become a large, stand-alone business is more crucial than ever before.

A great product is always the foundation but a clear distribution strategy becomes essential to cut through the noise.  

So most early-stage VCs have started to evaluate investment opportunities with an imaginary benchmark in mind: can this company become a $100 million opportunity?

Generally speaking, there are two ways (and only two ways) to scale a business to hit that $100 million threshold:

• Your business has a high Life Time Value (LTV) per user, giving you the freedom to spend a significant amount of money in customer acquisition. High LTV can usually be found in transactional or subscription businesses.
• Your business has a high viral co-efficient (or perhaps even a network effect) that lets you amass users cheaply without worrying too much about the monetization per user or spending money on paid acquisition.

Route One: High LTV per user

The exact definition of a “high” user LTV depends on the specific vertical, so it’s typically better to analyze the ratio between Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and the Life Time Value of the customer. In my experience, having an LTV that’s three to four times greater than CAC makes a business (and potential investment) interesting.

The biggest driver for high LTV is repeat purchase behavior (in an e-commerce business) respectively a low churn rate (in a SaaS company). Companies that score highest in this criteria are typically:  E-commerce businesses that fulfill regular needs and offer a differentiated experience or SaaS businesses that help businesses or individuals manage core activities.

As a VC, the biggest challenge in evaluating LTV models is that metrics can dramatically change at scale. For example, Customer Acquisition Costs often increase once the more efficient marketing channels are maxed out and the company needs to find new users through less efficient means. In addition, churn tends to rise as a company grows. Early users of a product are often strong advocates and company ambassadors, while those users acquired through paid marketing channels down the road show far less loyalty.

Route Two: The Viral Effect

The other way to scale a business is through a strong viral and/or network effects that lets businesses grow to tens of even hundreds of millions of users. With this model, user acquisition is generally close to free, and monetization per user is often low (advertising-based or freemium businesses).

Many businesses built in the early days of the Facebook platform (like Zynga) benefitted from a huge viral co-efficient and scaled very rapidly. (As we all know, this is no longer the case as Facebook has essentially removed most of the free viral channels and businesses must now pay for most of their user acquisition via Facebook.)

Even more interesting are businesses that create network effects like marketplaces or social networks. Not only do they acquire lots of users for free due to viral effects but also create important barriers to entry and lock-in effects as the network grows over time.

Startup Purgatory: No Man’s Land

Unfortunately, many consumer internet startups find themselves stuck in the middle of these two strategies: they have a low monetization per user and limited viral effects. That unfortunate combination makes it rather difficult to reach the $100M mark.

As the consumer Internet space becomes more and more crowded, every startup founder needs to be thinking about these two ways to scale a business. Too often I have seen entrepreneurs believe that customers will automatically flock to their cool new service, completely underestimating how tough it is to cut through the noise and build an audience.

To build a standalone company and capture the attention of investors, you need a viable way to scale your business. The earlier you figure this out the better, since it may require you to build your product differently. While the $100 million mark may seem far away in those early days, it’s important to begin thinking about paths to reach this threshold from the start.

Read more: http://versiononeventures.com/the-only-2-ways-to-build-a-100-million-business/#ixzz277n9a4Go

【创业者要像狼一样】

必须有：1、狼的欲望：因为欲望，而不甘心，而行动，而打破牢笼；2.狼的眼界：眼界多宽心胸多广，世界就有多大；3、狼的判断：啃透政策，咬对形势；4.狼的敏感：耳听眼看，心思考；------>>

The 7 Principles Of Successful Entrepreneurship

It’s fair to observe that many big, established organizations tend not to think or act in a very entrepreneurial way. Of course, those of you who manage large organizations (or hold their stock in your portfolio) are probably thinking, “Yes, and it’s a good thing that executives don’t behave like crazy entrepreneurs.” After all, managers of established enterprises are accountable to their shareholders, customers and employees first and foremost to successfully maintain and operate the going concern – and only secondarily to grow it and improve on it.

Indeed, Hippocrates’ famous dictum to physicians seems to apply equally well to big-company executives: “First, do no harm.”

But, fully accepting the corporation’s first priority of protecting and maintaining that which it already has, some useful wisdom is demonstrated by the behavior of entrepreneurs – wisdom that can be successfully applied to large organizations. Not only can such entrepreneurial thinking help executives run their mainstream lines of business, but also help to instill greater creativity when planning and launching new businesses or market initiatives from under the corporate umbrella.

This post provides some thoughts as to how executives can work smarter and more effectively by emulating entrepreneurs. I call these “The Seven Principles of Entrepreneurship”:

• Ski with your knees bent.
• Refine the skill of falling down.
• Get comfortable with “close enough.”
• Be happy with a “conditional yes.”
• Remember that business model innovation is often as important as tech innovation.
• Think small.
• Strive to understand and mitigate risk.

Let’s examine these principles in detail:  

Ski with your knees bent

Those of you who enjoy downhill skiing know that one of the first principles of survival is to keep your knees bent and flexible and your center of gravity low. This style enables you to adjust to change – on the slope, in surface conditions or with obstacles or other skiers – and still achieve your goal of gracefully traversing the hill. Conversely, skiing with locked knees, a rigid posture and a fixed gaze is a formula for disaster.

It’s too easy, when working in an established organization, to develop a certain rigidity in how one approaches decision-making and day-to-day operations. Most times, you can get away with it, standing upright, knees locked, eyes trained straight ahead. Why? Because established businesses necessarily develop standard operating procedures, and oftentimes little changes day-to-day. The rigidity can creep up on you. Sameness and predictability are comforting, and it’s human nature to embrace and standardize behavior that succeeded in the past.

By contrast, entrepreneurship is, metaphorically, a bit like skiing moguls (big, scary, unpredictable bumps) ... blindfolded. If you’re an entrepreneur, you have to keep your knees bent. You have to stay loose. You know full well that things will change, probably dramatically, and that you’ll experience dramatic shocks; you just don’t know exactly what those shocks will be, where they’ll come from or when they’ll occur.

Keeping loose and with a low center of gravity helps business managers absorb change and keep the business on its feet. Entrepreneurs have always operated this way as a matter of course. And this sort of flexibility and adjustability can be a crucial advantage for corporate executives as well, whether in accommodating change in existing markets or tackling new business initiatives.

Refine the skill of falling down.

To continue the skiing metaphor, one of the first things a ski instructor teaches novices is how to fall. Why? Because it’s an inevitable part of the sport, and it’s the primary way of getting hurt, but good skiers fall gracefully and bounce back quickly.

Similarly, successful entrepreneurship requires getting comfortable with the idea of falling down repeatedly and springing back up each time. Startup business is all about expecting, gracefully accommodating and learning from failure. After all, even with the best-thought-through venture, it’s reasonable to expect that 50 percent of the original business plan will prove to be wrong. Worse yet, you won’t know which 50 percent until you get into it – until you point your skis down the hill and go.

Understanding this phenomenon is why venture investors often prefer to invest in entrepreneurs who’ve experienced failure. It’s also why many startups prefer to hire, as key managers, individuals who have experienced the good and the bad of a previous startup or two. A previous fall or two is not considered a scarlet letter of failure on a person’s career, but rather an indication of maturity and a willingness to take calculated risks.

For established organizations to successfully grow through innovation, they must delve into less certain and more ambiguous environments. Therefore, they need to take more calculated risks without being paralyzed by fear of failure. They need to refine the skill of falling down.

Get comfortable with “close enough.”

The vast majority of corporate innovations never see the light of day because they’re “killed in committee.” Why do so many die that way? Because innovative ventures and business initiatives almost always have too many unknowns for many people’s comfort, and the powers that be in established companies – often groups or committees – possess the power to say “No” based on that uncertainty. Just as, in the old days, IT executives knew they’d never get fired by buying IBM, with corporate innovation it’s nearly always a safer bet to say “No” to something new.

Meanwhile, successful entrepreneurship – or corporate venturing and new-business-development – requires operating in a highly uncertain, ambiguous environment. It’s a bit like trying to solve an algebraic equation with seven variables and six unknowns. Technically, it can’t be done, so the “correct” answer is, “We can’t do it.” The equation can’t be solved without taking intelligent guesses and trying out different combinations based on inadequate information, approximations and instinct.

But the perfect is often the enemy of the good. Remember, in entrepreneurship: The best decision is the perfect decision (which you’ll never have sufficient information or time to divine). The next best decision is “close enough” and get moving – you can always adjust course as you go (i.e., ski with your knees bent). And the worst decision of all is to continue to study, or form a committee (which so often translates to the “safe no,” and therefore doing nothing).

The entrepreneurial approach accepts “close enough”: Roll up your sleeves and work with customers from the start. Get something in customers’ hands, even if it’s not finished. Experiment, and don’t be afraid to adjust, occasionally fall down and get back up. Do it, try it, fix it ... and repeat.

Be happy with a “conditional yes.”

The tendency in big organizations is to seek budget approval for an entire multiyear project upfront. After all, nobody wants to launch into building, say, a $275-million plant when they only have corporate funding approved for the first $30 million for planning and site prep.

The problem is when we see corporate new-business-development folks trying to apply this upfront approval formula to venturing.

In the entrepreneurial world, nobody expects to receive 100 percent funding upfront; it just doesn’t work that way. With independent ventures, investors believe in “milestone investing,” progressively meting out capital sufficient to fund the next 9 to 18 months of activity and the achievement of the next crucial value-building milestones. For instance, it’s not uncommon for a venture requiring a total of $15 million in investment capital in order to reach self-sustaining profitability to seek seed funding of only a million dollars or less to build a prototype and do some preliminary testing. A subsequent “A” round may be for just a few million dollars to enable the venture to build a team, productize the technology and sign up the first few customers. And so on. Typically, early-stage investors are keenly interested in continuing to participate in subsequent rounds; they just like to see incremental progress along the way.

Internal corporate ventures – and here we’re referring to risky ones entailing new technologies, new business models and/or new markets, not capacity-expansion projects and the like – should approach funding with the same venture-funding mentality. Remember the principle we mentioned in our last issue: that 50 percent of a new venture’s business plan will inevitably prove to be wrong, you just don’t know which 50. If that holds true, it only makes sense for the parent company (playing the role of venture capitalist) and the internal startup team to agree on funding increments and associated milestones rather than the all-in approach. Less capital is committed, inevitable mistakes or discoveries are less costly and more easily accommodated, and the new business remains nimble.

Remember that business model innovation is often as important as tech innovation.

We’ve never seen any statistics or studies in this regard, but it sure seems that the majority of shareholder value created over the last half century had a lot more to do with companies innovating around their business model than around technology. Think of eBay with online auctions. Store brands and generic drugs. Amazon cutting out the retail middleman. Manufacturers asking suppliers to co-locate. Dell building PCs to order. Social networking typified by sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The way HMOs and PPOs fused insurance and healthcare delivery. Sure, in many cases, technology was involved, but technology was not the strategic driver that created shareholder value. Instead, it was creativity applied to the business model (product/service mix, value proposition, channels, pricing) that made the difference. This kind of thinking needs to be applied not only by entrepreneurs but by corporate new-business professionals as well.

Think small.

An executive in a tech startup, recently hired away from a Fortune 500 company, unfortunately brought his big-company thinking with him. Inheriting management responsibility for a professional services operation of about 50 people growing at over 50 percent annually, he saw a crying need for more coherent project management. His solution? Call in the vendor who’d provided similar software and services to his last employer, and get a quote. The result? A half-million-dollar expense where cloud- or PC-based project management software and rigorous management communication would have sufficed nicely; worse yet, the expensive “solution” never worked. The manager was fired and the system scrapped for a simpler approach.

Too often, we see established organizations trying to innovate and getting caught in this big-company, go-big-or-go-home mentality. I observed one internal corporate venture of a multinational tech company spend millions on PR – because “That’s how we do things at XYZ Corp.” – before they’d even fully defined their product, value proposition, positioning and go-to-market strategy. Bizarre. Entrepreneurship, even if it’s taking place under the corporate umbrella, calls for small, inexpensive, rapid-turnaround experiments and trials. “Thinking small” doesn’t mean that you don’t have big aspirations for your new venture. (Indeed, I tend not to think of startup ventures as small businesses; we think of them as global enterprises that happen to be young.) But by iteratively discovering what works and what doesn’t, you’d be surprised how far you can get on how little capital.

Strive to understand and mitigate risk.

Contrary to popular belief, entrepreneurs and venture investors are not risk-seeking nuts, the business equivalent of helmet-free bungee jumpers. In fact, the best ones are remarkably risk-averse, skilled at identifying and mitigating venture risk. Whether they do it intuitively or explicitly, A-list venture folks are constantly working to wring risk – whether it’s product risk or risk of a market, financial or management nature – out of their startups. There’s a method to their madness that corporate startups need to apply.

“The Seven Principles of Entrepreneurship” are enumerated here to stimulate and challenge the thinking of corporate managers. In many cases, entrepreneurial behaviors that may, on the surface, seem to be inappropriately risky turn out, on closer examination, to be worth emulating if done in a thoughtful manner. And emulating certain entrepreneurial behavior can help corporate executives excel, particularly when it comes to launching new initiatives or product lines, trying out new business models or entering new markets. 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-corporations-should-act-like-startups-2012-7#ixzz21HOIbqLY

Cold Calling Script: Make a Call That Works

Here's the script, with explanations of each element:

Hi, John.  Jim here from Acme Cost Control.

Identify yourself immediately, or the contact will hang up on you.

Did I catch you at an OK time?

This question demonstrates respect for their time and an understanding that your phone call is not the only thing on their plate for the day. You may feel that asking this question sets you up to hear a "no," but don't worry: Whether they say, "Yes," "No," or "No, but go ahead," the next statement makes the response entirely moot.

John, I'm sure you're busy and I want to respect your time, so I'll be brief.

This statement still allows you to continue regardless of how they initially responded to you, rather than rescheduling another time to call. This is a good thing, because you've finally got a prospect on the phone, so the last thing you want to do is hang up and attempt to catch them at another time.

The reason for my call is this. We just saved Universal Transport an additional $12 million in shipping costs, so I thought it was important enough to let you know, since every company has an obligation to their customers and shareholders to reduce expenses.

The purpose of these sentences is to create a compelling reason for the person on the other end to continue the conversation.  Note that you've said nothing abouthow the benefit was achieved.  At this point, the customer doesn't care about your specific product; the customer only wants to know what to expect if the conversation continues.

Now, you may be wondering if we can do this for you, too. Well, depending on what you're currently doing, I don't know if you have a need for our services.

This eliminates a potentially adversarial posture, lowers their resistance, and brings down their guard. It lets customers know you're not trying to force down their throat something they may not need or may not be ready for.

But with your permission, lets talk for a few minutes to determine if there is anything we're doing that you could benefit from.

Explanation: This statement opens up a dialogue so that you can get permission from the prospect to have a preliminary conversation.

Would you be comfortable spending just a few minutes with me on the phone now, if I stick to this timetable?

This establishes a timeline, letting the prospect know that you're taking accountability for the length of the call, that you're respecting their time, and that you're not going to keep them on the phone.  This tells the prospect not to assume that the call will drag on for eternity.

Once you have gotten permission to continue, you now have a prospective customer engaged in a conversation with you--and you can then determine whether there's a good fit.

Source: http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/cold-calling-script-make-a-call-that-works.html?nav=pop

How the Rich Got Rich

Where it gets interesting is how the top 400 made their money:

• Wages and salaries:  8.6%
• Interest: 6.6%
• Dividends: 13%
• Partnerships and corporations:  19.9%
• Capital gains: 45.8%

Obvious conclusions:

• Working for a salary won't make you rich.
• Neither will making only safe "income" investments.
• Neither will investing only in large companies.
• Owning a business or businesses, whether in part or partnership, could not only build a solid wealth foundation but could someday...
• Generate a huge financial windfall.

Source: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-the-rich-got-rich.html?nav=pop

How Chipotle Became A Multi-Billion Dollar Business And Changed Fast Food Forever

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-ells-and-the-rise-of-chipotle-2012-6#

Startup Owner's Manual: How to 'Get' Customers

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223770?cm_mmc=Carousel-_-223770-_-10-_-fpf

Airlines Have An Insanely Small Profit Margin

Airlines only make $164 for every $16,400 they spend on the typical domestic flight, according to an analysis by Oliver Wyman at the Wall Street Journal.

That's a ridiculously low 1% profit margin.

The rest of the money goes to fuel (29%), salaries (20%), ownership costs (16%), government fees and taxes (14%), maintenance (11%) and other (9%).

The biggest thing eating away at profit is fuel, which has grown steadily more expensive. You can figure what will happens if it keeps rising.

Here's a look at profit margin over time, from a presentation by World Bank oil expert Charles Schlumberger on the death of the airline industry:

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/airlines-have-a-small-profit-margin-2012-6#ixzz1xuxCa4MQ

Why Seamless Uses 'One-Liners' To Get People To Order Food Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-seamless-uses-one-liners-to-get-people-to-order-food-2012-6#ixzz1xndmveNK

Seamless marketing VP Ryan Scott spoke on a panel at Business Insider's Mobile Advertising Conference in New York City today. He talked a bit about how Seamless keeps its brand in the mind of consumers.

"We really have to think about the full media mix," said Scott. "We make sure that we're top of mind, and speaking to customers differently — from a customer's perspective."

Scott and his team use multiple channels to reach the consumer. Seamless is a low margin business, he explained, so it's fundamentally important that it manages to drive as much traffic as possible.

To do that, Seamless has found that direct, succinct statements work very well in its marketing. By keeping it simple, customers don't have to think about it. They get the value proposition immediately, and it's just good customer relationship management, said Scott.

Here are a few one liners that have been "very very successful" for Seamless, according to Scott:

• "Buy now"
• "Download now"
• "Get app"
• "Order from your favorite restaurants"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-seamless-uses-one-liners-to-get-people-to-order-food-2012-6#ixzz1xndqiS5a

Removing Potential Points of Failure in Your Startup Idea

The rise of startup communities all over the world is a great thing. It’s a beautiful sight to see startups blossoming the world over in exotic cities like Santiago Chile, our lovely neighbors Singapore, Taiwan and not forgetting our lovely home Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This means that the next economic wave of the internet is upon us and you guys, my friends are the front runners to ride this wave.

However, there are still a couple of barriers we need to overcome for the startup communities in these areas to be bustling with awesome startups and potential investors. And in my super duper humble opinion, one of the most crucial is the ability of entrepreneurs, and potential entrepreneurs to identify, understand and REMOVE “potential points of failure” in their startups.

Photo Credit By chrisscott under Creative Commons

So, what are “Potential Points of Failure” (PPoF)?

PPoFs represent to TOP HURDLES that your particular startup idea needs to overcome for it to have a chance of success. And it’s the job of the CEO/Founder of the company to channel ALL his startup’s resources to solve these hurdles in the fastest possible way.

Let’s have a look at the types of Consumer Internet ideas and the PPoF for each of them. I learnt this the hard way with AtticTV and I will share my story at a later point in this article…

For most consumer internet ideas, the top PPoF is customer acquisition and adoption. The challenge here is that competition for customer attention is so high, that it takes an awesome product and unique marketing ideas coupled with excellent execution of these ideas for it to have a chance to succeed. AtticTV, which aims to be your personal MTV, falls within this category. Where all product and marketing effort is channeled towards 2 main metrics — Customer Acquisition and Customer Retention. So it is pretty clear cut and those represent the core PPoFs of the idea. The initial target market has to be global from the get-go with these startups.

For marketplace related startups, the PPoF is represented by the challenge of fulfilling 2 sides of the equation, i.e. the Supply Side, (for example the apartments up for rent inAirBnB’s case) and Demand Side, (the people who are finding for short-term vacation rentals). The challenge here is to solve the problem of the chicken and egg issue. AirBNB found a great way to do by hacking Craigslist. The bad news for these startups is that it might take longer to be able to reach critical mass for their business to be valuable to users. However, the good news is that if you’re able to achieve it, it would represent a huge barrier to entry to potential competitors. With this model, you have a choice of either going global immediately (possible as seen in the case of AirBnB) or do a city by city roll-out like eBay.

Lastly, the worst possible idea in terms of the number of PPoF will be consumer internet ideas with a huge Business Development element to it (BD). The key will be to assess (honestly) the ability of the team to overcome these hurdles. And if you’re able to, you will build a huge, huge barrier to entry to potential competitors. Examples of these kinds of businesses include Square – where they had to deal with merchants and credit card companies (which is a huge pain), Uber – which had to have all the cabs in NYC have an iPhone for it to work + the customer acquisition problem which they solved rather nicely. My humble opinion would be, unless you are a seasoned veteran with strong existing connections to reduce the PPoF of the business development deals, it would be best to tweak your idea to be able to utilize existing public APIs to be able to get to traction first, then expand into Business Development deals as it goes further along.

Now, back to the story I promised..

Now, before AtticTV, we were working on a startup called Tickade. It aims to be premier non-cash prize casual gaming tournament site on the net. The idea is that people can go on the site, play casual games competitively and create So let us dissect the idea into PPoFs.

1. it needed the best casual games to be on the platform (which we grossly underestimated) to ensure user retention

2. we needed a worldwide physical prize distribution platform

3. we needed a killer customer acquisition strategy as we were competing in a highly competitive space

So, we solved PPoF number 2 pretty quickly by hacking the eBay API to be our global prize distribution platform (which took us a good number of months in itself), but we stumbled on 1 almost immediately when we couldn’t get any of the big boys like Popcap or Wooga to come on board with their games as the BD process was just too huge. So, basically we wasted a good 6 months of our lives chugging away to nothing.

That was when we took a step back to evaluate the opportunity and we decided that as content was the problem, we made the decision to choose a different content medium — videos. And that was how AtticTV was born.

Being in Malaysia or any of the other new startup communities in the world is a challenge in itself. So, we have to do all we can to reduce chances of failure in other parts of our startups that are not within our control. I know that these advice will very well fall on deaf ears for the most of you, but hopefully, it could increase the chances of success for the few that would take it in their stride.

Source: http://www.entrepreneurs.my/removing-potential-points-of-failure-in-your-startup-idea/

5 Market Insights an Entrepreneur Must Understand to Succeed

On 27^th April 2012, Kevin and I officially launched our company and entrepreneurial initiative, AwesomePenang.com, through these last 3 weeks since our launching, we have had a generous amount of time to test as well as learn and understand the market’s mentality and also behaviour through our campaigns and marketing strategies. We still have much to learn, but here’s sharing with all the readers out there the important insights we have learnt so far.

• The Market doesn’t care about your Product

This is the very first lesson we learnt. The market just doesn’t have the attention span nor time to put any effort into picking up something new or product. With all the competition in information in our internet right now, having to compete with Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and many other big players is not an easy hurdle. No matter how useful or beneficial your product, if you do not market it creatively or aggressively while constantly pivoting to suit the market’s demands and needs, you’ll find the going to be very tough.

• The Market rides Bandwagons and Trends

This is one of the most crucial lessons that we picked up, we realised that everyone in the market is constantly on the lookout for the next bandwagon or trend to jump on. And when they do, it is very crucial that you pivot your marketing strategies to match the trend. Take for example, The Avengers, the movie that is breaking Hollywood’s records as we speak. No matter where you go, businesses have adapted themselves to ride this trend; producing merchandises, marketing tools and marketing campaigns surround this hype. This is crucial to be able to reach out to the Market.

• The Market is Emotional

Understanding this lesson was an inspiration to Kevin and I. One crucial aspect of the Market is that it is a sentient entity, having both life and emotions of its own. When you market your product or service, you have to reach out to these emotions, be it anger, sentimentality, excitement, anxiety, pride etc. Interest is a fleeting notion but emotion is a lasting one. With all the info in the market, a customer will always be attracted to the ones that appeal to his or her emotions the most, they must feel some way about something, and then only will they care.

• A Little Bit of Lame is not a Bad Thing

For a long time now, lameness has been considered something un-cool. From a young age, peer- pressure dictates that we must strive to be cool and stray away from being lame. However, we realised that sometimes being cool all the time is not appealing. Take for example, 9gag.com, it’s a website where people share all kinds of jokes, from the ones that make fun of people to the ones that make fun of ourselves. And all throughout most social networks, you will see people sharing them constantly. The reason for this is because people love sharing funny things about themselves, things that resonate with their lives, no matter how lame it might be. So, sometimes being a little lame can make you go viral faster than what you might expect.

• Never Fight the Market

This is a universal law for all businesses, it’s something that everyone knows but not easily understood. Even though you might have a beneficial and useful idea, it does not necessarily mean that it will succeed. There are many a time that the Market will find no reason to try your idea, finding more solace in their comfort zone. This is when you have to remember, do not fight them, but instead learn to bend your idea to suit them. As the saying goes “The customer is always right”, always innovate and pivot your idea to suit their demands because once you do, the Market will come to you, all you need to do is persevere and embrace change as it comes.

Source: http://www.entrepreneurs.my/5-market-insights-an-entrepreneur-must-understand-to-succeed/

Never Give Up

Source: http://www.entrepreneurs.my/never-give-up/

Gift App

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-karma-gift-app-2012-5#weve-got-an-iphone-so-we-looked-for-the-app-in-the-app-store-1

Everyone Wins On The Auction Site YouNeverLose.Com

Now there's an auction website where everyone wins.
YouNeverLose.com provides an incentive to people who want to get major discounts at some of their favorite retailers without fearing losing something in the process.
Here's how it works:
1. Purchase rewards points in $25 dollar increments. Each dollar = one point.
2. Choose from a list of gift cards and use your rewards points as bids.
3. If you win, you can score a $25 card for a super low price (in P. Mungi's case below: $1.77).
4. But if you lose, you can redeem the $25 you spent on bids for a gift card to any retailer of your choice.
As of today, here's what's on offer:


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/auction-site-youneverlosecom-guarantees-every-bidder-walks-away-with-a-gift-card-2012-3#ixzz1q325NEph

At Grubwithus You Never Have to Dine Alone

Why It's Worth Watching: In a Groupon world in which many customers have come to expect discounts or other deals, Grubwithus presents restaurants with a different business model. Like Groupon-type promotions, Grubwithus drives traffic to restaurants, but instead of savings, it offers people a new way to socialize. "We're building sustainable relationships" with the restaurants, Lu says.

Why It Matters: In a world of virtual relationships, Grubwithus represents a return to old-fashioned conversations over a meal, which some people crave. "These days, we interact virtually with almost everyone," Lu says. "I think our company brings people back to their roots."
Grubwithus targets its face-to-face social networking to people in the 24-to-38-year-old set--the "after-college pre-parenting" group. But Lu and Sugano have found that people of all ages are attracted to their dining events. Users browse the site to find a meal in their area and make their reservation. Attendees can read in advance fellow diners' profiles, which include information on where they work and where they went to school. Groups are limited to 10 to keep the meal cozy, and people who reserve early pay less--a reward to those willing to sign up before seeing whom they'll be sharing a table with.
"The first time someone tries it, he or she may bring a friend, but they usually discover that it's more fun to go alone," Lu says. "That way you get to talk to everyone." During a recent Grubwithus meal, the participants had so much fun they ended up going out for a movie afterward, Lu says. Some of the diners who met during the launch meal are still in close touch. "One girl in Chicago wrote us a three-page testimonial about how she met her best friend at that meal," Lu says.

Looking Ahead: Grubwithus has just launched an iPhone App so customers can book meals on the go, browse through profiles of fellow diners and even chat with other diners before and after the meals. In addition, the partners recently devised a "create your own meal" feature so customers can use Grubwithus to set up a booking--only this time you eat with people you know. This option will enable the company to expand beyond the seven current cities.
"Anyone can now use our site to host a dinner in any neighborhood or even the smallest of towns," Lu says. "We're becoming the platform to host these social gatherings." The partners also plan to use social media marketing. "We haven't yet done any advertising, but we'll certainly start that relatively soon, whether on Facebook or Google," Lu says. "We'll branch out from there." So far, Lu says, he isn't aware of any direct competition.

Tip to Stay Ahead of the Curve: During the startup's first year, Lu has become convinced that it's most important to be in sync with what the Grubwithus customer wants. "We used to curate all the meals, and we'd get emails saying, 'Can we do a birthday party at this or that restaurant?'" he says. "So we're doing this. We've also gotten emails asking if we can do more meals in one area or another or at specific restaurants in a particular city. I've learned that if you listen to your customers' feedback, you can stay ahead of the curve and cater to what they want."

Source : http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222689
Website : http://www.grubwithus.com/

The Secret To Pinterest's Astounding Success: A Brilliant Sign-Up Process You Should Copy

1. Taking a cue from Gilt Groupe, Pinterest makes new users request an invitation to join. You have to ask to belong.

2. A couple days later, you get this brilliant email – an invitation. What's smart about it? 

3. …"our little community"…

4. …the section on "Pinterest Etiquette"…

5. …and the suggestion to join using Facebook.

6. Leveraging Facebook Connect means new users won't get bogged down in filling out tons of forms

7. The Facebook screens also give Pinterest another chance to tell you what you're signing up for
8. It also means Pinterest can use the user's photo right away. Why this is smart: It made me feel like I already belong. There's me!
9. Next Pinterest asks new users to ID their favorite topics.

10. With those categories in mind, Pinterest automatically sets the new users up with a bunch of accounts to follow. This is smart because too many social sites start users with a blank page.

11. Next Pinterest asks you to describe how you'll be contributing to the site. It provides suggestions.
12. Pinterest uses the sign-up process to teach new users 1) how to use the site 2) what kind of users they should be

13. The training continues on Pinterest's final screen where there's a helpful video showing you how to use the screen you are looking at.

14. Finally, Pinterest sends all its users another email after they sign up. The "tips" are brilliant

15. The big lessons…
Pinterest makes the actual sign-up process very easy by encouraging users to click on the big blue Facebook button.
Pinterest teaches its users not only how to use the site, but how to be good, productive users that other users will enjoy.
Even though it's been done by millions of others, Pinterest makes signing-up feel like a special privilege.
Users finish the sign-up process as active members who already following others. No one starts with a blank page.
It also gets the new users thinking about what kind of content he or she will pin to the site.


Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-secret-to-pinterests-astounding-success-a-brilliant-sign-up-process-you-should-copy-2012-1#taking-a-cue-from-gilt-groupe-pinterest-makes-new-users-request-an-invitation-to-join-you-have-to-ask-to-belong-1