StartupNation Blogs

I wonder if products have the same experience people do, that when they meet their match, they feel like they are “home?” I’ll bet the product manager of this doosey has earned his bonus:
Hillshire Farm ham and turkey + reusable Gladware
= Green, Money Saving, The-Big-Corporation-Proves-It-Can-Still-Listen-To-Customers

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What partnerships could you consider in your business?
Example: B&B could supply guests with brunch [...]

When you consider your business model (which includes your marketing efforts), you generally concentrate on these core components:

Why will people pay you? (money, votes, donations)
What does it cost you to sell your item…margins?
What protects you from competition, price-feature battles?
How will you turn an agnostic audience into loyal customers?

Early on when transactions had no costs, doing [...]

Recently, I was contacted by a PR firm (Attention) and asked if I would profile Blake Mycoskie on my blog(s). I’m ashamed to say how long it’s taken me to turn this piece around, however seeing the latest ATT commercial featuring Blake after a long day of meetings (at my day job) shamed me into finishing. My [...]

The love affair started about ten years ago. I was flipping through the channels on late night television and stumbled across one of Felix Trinidad’s early fights. He was an amazing athlete full of unwavering determination, brute physicality, and an innate ability for overcoming obstacles. It was no secret that he would often get knocked [...]

Obviously John Wooden is not on my advisory board, but he is in my Pantheon-of-Wonderful-People.
Quote to consider
No written word, no spoken plea Can teach our youth what they should be; Nor all the books on all the shelves It’s what the teachers are themselves. Given to John Wooden by his Father upon Graduation And now [...]

Let’s face it. The first step is always the hardest. Whether you’re trying to quit smoking, start graduate school, or learn how to play guitar. It’s that first step that leaves us feeling awkward, inadequate, and questioning our conviction. Taking that first step toward entrepreneurship is no different. We question our business skills, product performance, [...]

My prediction? Some of the most exciting businesses of the next few years are going to be born in 2009 and grown from 2008 toil. It’s my strong view that the economic duress we’re all under as entrepreneurs is going to make us smarter, scrappier, more effective and ultimately far more successful.
To help you along [...]

Late last year (as if it was so long ago) I attended a keynote presentation featuring Larry Brilliant of Google.org and Malcolm Gladwell author of The Tipping Point. Larry Brilliant shared his inspirational story of leading the first organization of doctors to rid the world of smallpox and how it eventually lead him to his [...]

As an example of systems-thinking, and at the risk of an awful pun, reaching for a piece of toilet paper is the bottom line. Â
Toilet paper is a mandatory accessory. It may be the one thing that all of us have used daily for all our lives. As an illustration of a system that is ubiquitous, [...]

Have you ever been frustrated by employee’s who love to spread rumors and create “noise”?  In a fast growth business where you learn things everyday you need to make changes quickly.Â
The noise can really get in your way if you don’t get in front of it.  We have been trying to execute on this every [...]