Throughout history, tenuous economic situations and growing fears of change and collapse have always sparked innovation. Dating as far back as the Roman Empire we can see examples of great innovation that paved the way to create society as we know it today. Just as their global empire made extraordinary inventions immediately prior to their downfall (including modern sanitation systems, roadways, and even the first surgical tools), modern economic crises have also lead to incredible innovations and the founding of …
Category: Business
The US is heading full speed ahead into a future run by a fully open-data economy. Data has traditionally been siloed away in vaults that are inaccessible to customers and other businesses – but this is no longer the case. More and more businesses are letting down the veil of secrecy in place of more open pools of data and infrastructure sharing. Big Data + Banking = Open Banking One of the industries being heavily impacted by this new trend …
Technology continues to evolve every day and transform the way that all businesses operate. There is rapid innovation happening across nearly every market sector relating to data, fintech, and even organization. This hectic pace has created a new wave of rising stars out of select startups that are beginning to challenge and intimidate the larger Fortune 500 companies. With massive amounts of resources and funding at their disposal, these Fortune 500 players have shown us that they will not go …
As the fintech market continues to gain steam and digitize money management, banks have begun to shift their organizational structure and focus on technological innovation. The world is starting to explore new ways of handling and exchanging money with the help of technology – and banks are not planning on being left behind. It’s now safe to safe Banks are betting on Fintech’s for survival. The banks are getting involved in fintech startups for a couple main reasons including the potential …
The founding team is the heartbeat of every company. Their decisions, attitudes, and dynamics can make or break the ultimate success of any business. If you think you can do it all alone and still make it, you will be in for a rude awakening. Here are some important things to consider when building the right founding team: The Power of A Great Team As they say, two heads are always better than one. Building your founding team should be based …
Product development in today’s cluttered market has never felt like a more daunting task. However, if you look a little closer, you may be surprised to learn that it has actually never been easier. You’ll be surprised to find that most of the successful products launching today have been working backwards for success. Getting Started You have probably heard the same talk all before while embarking on a new product development process – there is just too much competition, it costs …
The big question these days in the early-stage startup world is what’s better for you? To be bootstrapped or Unicorn? When all is said and done, the success of a company will always rely on the vision and plan of its founders. Venture capital has always been a taboo option for financially-savvy business owners. The prospect of starting a business and becoming completely self-reliant is the proverbial entrepreneurial dream. It removes the stress of paying off debt and satisfying a …
Building the Right Team To Scale: 4 Ways to Succeed If you follow Silicon Valley leaders on Twitter you’ve definitely heard in some form or another that building the right team for your company is the most important thing. Too often do startups fail or never scale because of poor management and hiring decisions. In fact, 23% of startup employees believe that this is the top reason why startups fail. If you are solid on your personal vision and value …
Historically, scaling your startup has always been a measured and calculated process. Modern silicon valley SaaS companies have been shattering stereotypes and setting new trends for how a company can scale at lightning speed. While some of these ideas may seem blasphemous according to classical startup wisdom, there is no denying the success and ingenuity that these businesses have achieved. Let’s get right into it: Establish Your Value Before you can start to scale and reach the exit velocity necessary …
I had a call today with a potential new (very exciting) client. Typically, we deal with the CEO’s, Management Team, Investors, etc. In this case, I was talking with the Chairman. This was one of the most enlightening discussions I’ve had making me recall my tech start-up CEO experience and the many mistakes I made. First off, I could tell tension existed amongst the management and board and I wanted to understand this more. I could see that the CEO’s …
Going through due diligence for an early stage start-up is at times daunting and mostly a complete time suck. However, people are trading money for opportunity and return on an investment so this work is expected and completely reasonable. This past weekend I read a post from VC Mark Suster Both Sides of the Table blog — which I think is a must read for those seeking capital in the pro-VC market. He somewhat emphatically points out that a data room is …
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