So, as your company starts to grow, how can you retain that startup culture it began with while still keeping up with the continued call for new business, people, and products? Taking heed of these five tips can keep your company focused on not only successfully growing but also maintaining the culture that made you, you. How to Effectively Handle the Change It might at first seem daunting when faced with a situation of necessary change....

Convincing people to invest their money in someone else’s project is no easy task. In many ways akin to running a political campaign, crowdfunding efforts require a high degree of persuasion and creativity to be successful. Serial entrepreneur and technologist John Sosoka spoke to members of the Idaho Technology Council and shared five tips about crowdfunding based on his experience raising capital for SymbeeStars. Set realistic funding goals. After choosing funding goals, keep in mind that different crowdfunding sites use different models for raising capital....

As entrepreneurs, there is undoubtedly a wealth of information to be learned from her. Here are five valuable takeaways from Oprah’s life and success: Listen to Your Own Voice Your uniqueness is something competitors can’t imitate. Oprah didn’t dominate as a talk show host by imitating Phil Donahue — she did so by doing it her way. In business, success has many different paths. By copying where others are excelling, you’re bringing little value to the market and providing no reason for people to choose to do business with you as opposed to someone else....

Cloud-based software or SaaS continues to permeate enterprises across all industries, resulting in a blurry line between personal and company devices. The more apps are on the cloud, the more our devices simply become the hardware from which to access information residing on external hardware (servers). If that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter from which device you access the information. The more secure the cloud becomes, the less resistance to bringing in any type of device....

The concept of a drone came into light in 1850’s as unmanned aerial vehicle when it was first used by Austria. The basic target was to reach those areas which were hard for humans to reach. Two world wars are the proof of the success of drones in military operations. Everywhere you read about drones, you will get to know that its past is somehow linked with war. Drones in Commercial Businesses The perception of drones only used for war changed when carrying capabilities of drones were enlightened....

But how do you create a company culture of honesty? It’s up to the founders, and it’s best to start early. Screen for honesty If you hire dishonest people, your company culture will be dishonest by default. So place a high value on honesty in your job candidates. To figure out if someone is honest, use your observation skills. Do any of their resume items seem exaggerated? Ask about them, and watch their response....

Implementing change in the workplace is necessary for any company, regardless of its size. Whether it’s your goal to increase sales or improve employee relations, one of the most challenging tasks for managers is implementing a new direction for the startup and encouraging employees to get involved with the change. Since many startups are small in size, the transition for change can definitely be influenced by your company’s culture, employees, and environment....

If you’re constantly on the lookout for ways to reduce stress at work, on the go, or around the house, there are several wearables and apps that can help! Here’s a list of five tech tools to unwind after a long day. Tech-Guided Acupressure Acupressure is a homeopathic remedy that uses targeted pressure to clear blockages that could be causing pain, tension, or stress in the body. Although the concept is questioned by some, there are studies that have proven the tactic’s ability to manage minor pains and mood changes....

For those introverts that aren’t a fan of mixers, Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, said introverts aren’t afraid to meet people, but they need solitary time to regroup. People confuse introversion with shyness. A controlled situation, such as a speech or a one-to-one meeting, is less stimulating than a room full of chattering people. The secret to successful networking for introverts, is not to force yourself into life-of-the-party mode, but rather to think strategically about who you need to meet, and play to your own social strengths....

Online career management company, Paysa, recently utilized the massive computing power of IBM’s Watson to establish the top six personality traits in successful leaders in eight different industries. And the common thread across all of them is that intellect plays the largest role in facilitating success. Well, all of them except politics, in which altruism was the most important personality trait. Other than intellect, however, the kinds of personality traits varies significantly from industry to industry....

That is, unless they have help. Advaion is an independent consulting firm that remains dedicated to helping their clients go through significant growth, update their systems, and prepare for an IPO. In effect they’re giving a competitive edge in an ever-changing economic and technological landscape. Throughout 2014 we saw a host of companies go public and reap the benefits of having a streamlined, agile business: It raises an important question though, which Advaion wants to help their clients answer: how do you know when you’re ready to take your own company public?...

Catering to Society’s Demands and Needs The way that society eats is changing. More consumers are purchasing more fresh ingredients and less-processed foods. Major food industry names are noticing this and have started making investments into food startups. More than just the food brands you see in your local grocery store changing ingredients, fast food chains are following suit to offer healthier options and healthier preparation tactics. Chemical-Free Foods Society is rather unhappy about the chemicals placed in foods for preservation and color purposes....

As a result, we are seeing a significant reluctance in seed investing. There are fewer angel investors, and those who do invest take much longer and invest much less. Similarly, micro VCs are more cautious and take a lot longer to make decisions. What used to be two or three meetings to a check, now is five or six meetings to a maybe. This market is not likely to improve quickly....

Making Money Needs to be Secondary If you look at the statistics, you already know that a huge number of indie game developers are not making money hand-over-fist. They are into game development because they have a passion for an idea. Making money comes from marketing, and that comes after the game is developed and published. If you don’t have a passion for your idea, then you will not have passions for marketing it either....

Nowadays, startups are everywhere – look down on your phone, and you’ll find apps designed by startups from around the country (or even from across the globe); look up, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by people wearing shirts with catchy and almost-too-hip company titles. In an age where technology has become one of the most pronounced aspects of our lives, startups have become influential mainstays of our time, leading the way into a generation of innovation using our incessantly-developing technology and digital tools....

We’d all like a spot during the Super Bowl, but as a bootstrapped startup, the marketing budget is likely little more than a few hundred t-shirts with your logo. The most effective use of money is to hire those who are crafty enough to acquire customers without using much, if any. That’s why we’ve asked our friends at the YEC for their most cost-effective, marketing tactics. Below are their responses....

We asked nine entrepreneurs what their number one tip for getting the most out of Slack was. Take a look at their answers below and turn your team into a productivity machine: Download the Mobile App Having access to Slack on your phone gives you the ability to quickly respond and drive your business forward. It is faster than email and an easy way to stay in touch. – Thomas Cullen of LaunchPad Lab...

Who should read this: People who are interested in forward-thinking company culture, particularly a culture that gives employees freedom and independence but remains productive. That might include founders or executives trying to create such a culture, or managers trying to implement it. Elevator pitch: Berkun, a business writer with expertise in management, decided to put his theories to the test by working at Automattic (the company behind WordPress) for almost two years....

All vendors that are used as part of the initiative must be certified by FEDRAMP, which initially caused the process to take longer than usual, however, as the initiate matures, the process has streamlined. In the summer of 2014, the CIA announced that they were putting the final touches on its private cloud, which was based upon AWS architecture. This $600 million dollar cloud project is now in use, and CIA CIO Douglas Wolfe is quoted as saying, “I am determined that they will not only have the innovation on how do we spin up the servers and spin up the IT … but to start to bring the innovation from the commercial sector in terms of applications to the mission space....

According to Derrick Johns and his teenage daughter, Erynn, had it not been for a selfie stick, they probably would have drowned in a riptide at a Nantucket beach. Armed with a GoPro attached to a selfie stick, the two can be found below seen struggling in the water. Erynn said that had it not been for the selfie stick, they probably would’ve drowned under the surf. You can watch their entire experience, recorded below from ABC News:...