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In the hope that sharing some of this learning will you to grow your startup, I’ve summarized some of the key things I believe have driven our success to date. Don’t Be Afraid To Pivot For those unfamiliar with LemonStand, it was first launched as licensed software back in 2010 by Danny Halarewich. LemonStand quickly built an early customer base and following especially among web freelancers and agencies. Early customers told us they liked the end-to-end design and development flexibility of the software’s templating and API approach, but many of them didn’t really want the overhead and responsibility for the web hosting infrastructure that went along with a licensed solution....

There’s a serious credibility gap that companies with a brand new technology face when starting out. While you may understand the value of your own product or service, you’re now faced with proving to the right people that you’re worth their money and time. At our startup, we’re always trying to connect with the internal champions at a given company in order to show our value. Thanks to game changers at brands such as Ritz Bits, Miller Lite and U....

That’s exactly what Mark Zuckerberg did back in 2004 when his associate and temporary roommate, Sean Parker, set up a meeting with Peter Thiel, a hedge fund manager and the co-founder of PayPal. Thiel heard Zuckerberg’s pitch about his social networking website and wanted in. That investment was put in motion by networking; since then, Facebook has grown into a multibillion-dollar company. Networking is the lifeblood of any business. Entrepreneurs with strong and vibrant professional networks can arrange valuable meetings and introductions, find investors, get help with recruitment, secure reliable product testers, uncover opportunities, and amplify their advertising....

However, the looming threat of content shock has stuck a fork in the content road. This term coined is defined as the emerging marketing epoch defined when exponentially increasing volumes of content intersect our limited human capacity to consume it. Authoritative sites like Buffer, Copyblogger, and Social Media Examiner have suffered a drop in traffic in recent years despite publishing quality posts on a regular basis. The Reasons Behind It Marketers and bloggers can only speculate on the reasons behind the drop in traffic....

Developing leadership in the young Whether you believe it or not, there are a number of things that can affect the development of leadership in younger people. It is not outside the realms of possibility to believe that youth organization play their part too. The only counter argument is that they squash as many leadership ambitions and opportunities as they start. Still, on the whole, youth groups seem more likely to have a positive effect on leadership development for the simple reason that it puts the younger person into a different situation in which they may shine....

Reykjavik: The New Tech Hub to Compete with Silicon Valley Iceland — and especially its capital, Reykjavik — has picked up more than its fair share of industry leaders and promising startups. Gaming is the biggest field, largely due to one company. CCP Games, founded in Reykjavik in 1997, reeled in $30 million last year thanks to Eve: Valkyrie, the virtual reality game it’s partnered with Facebook and Oculus to create....

For all the attention we give the shiny electronics we face at the desk, a lot less attention gets placed on where we’re sitting. Those of you with back problems or ergonomic concerns, however, know just how important an office chair can be for your health, productivity, and comfort. And while standing desks offer a solution, not everyone can stand all the time. So when the time comes to pick a new office chair, it’s definitely worth your time to investigate, find the best office chair options, and decide which works best for your office situation....

Attendees had the chance to learn about B2B focused lead acquisition, nurturing, and conversion in the digital age. The conference welcomed industry experts from companies including Facebook, eMarketing Strategy, freshly.com, and many more to share their valuable insights. It was a whirlwind of learning, networking, and strategizing, but there’s no doubt that all attendees left with some actionable takeaways to improve their lead generation strategies. If you’re in the world of B2B marketing and looking for ways to step up your strategy, drive more traffic and convert leads, then these tips are for you....

You’ve probably heard this adage more times than you can count. But in terms of your startup or small business, it likely hits home. At larger companies, there’s room for mediocre employees, but not at your startup. This is why recruiting is crucial to the success of your company — yes, even intern recruiting. When used correctly, your company’s intern program should act as a talent pipeline. Bringing in a strong crop of intern talent will not only set you ahead of your competition, it will also impact you for years to come in terms of hiring decisions....

Price comparison vs. frequent flyer miles Most airlines offer their customers a chance to sign up for frequent flyer programs. While every passenger should be a member of the frequent flier program, that should not be the determining factor when deciding which airline to fly with. If you compare the rates of your chosen airline through a website like Kayak, you may find that the savings are worth going with a different airline....

Cat, a computer science student at the University of Wyoming, took to her blog to write about her struggles as a computer science student. Surprisingly, she writes that her biggest strength has been embracing failure as a natural part of the process and rejecting the requirement of being a genius to be a computer scientist. A big part of this transformation for Cat came from becoming a member of the Laramie Robotics Club when she first made the transition from studying molecular biology....

Nextivity’s Cel-Fi will boost the signal to your mobile phone from one bar to five bars, thus increasing data speeds and extending battery life, since your phone won’t be constantly looking for a signal from the closest tower. In order for it to work, you must have at least 1 bar of 3G coverage available, but once you get Cel-Fi set up, you your phone signal bars will spike immediately....

In the case of Sandy Naidu, cofounder of WebileApps, he likens life as an entrepreneur to that of running a marathon. Naidu’s statement is particularly fitting, as he’s not just a young entrepreneur, but has also finished running a marathon in all the 50 states and 7 continents including Antarctica. In fact, Sandy is currently the youngest person in the world to do so. Like most entrepreneurs, Sandy didn’t follow any kind of structured path to leading his own companies....

MakeGamesWith.Us is a startup “school” that seeks to provide an alternative path to getting the education necessary to design, build, ship, and market mobile games. Co-founder Ashutosh Desai says he was motivated to start MakesGamesWith.Us with his co-founder, Jeremy Rossmann, back in 2009 after he spent about three weeks in his college dorm room making the iOS game Helicopter, which grossed over $50k. Not bad for three weeks of work, and zero birds....

Independent financial advice – for the last 50 years, only 15% of Americans had access to it. Even with arrival of personal financial software in the 1980’s and ‘90’s, the percentage didn’t change. Most Americans were on their own in regards to managing day to day finances and saving for retirement – and failing miserably. This realization is something that Matt Fellowes was acutely aware of through his work as a consumer finance scholar and fellow at the Brookings Institution....

ElectionGauge: provides real-time, hyper-localized data on social media response to electoral campaigns and politics. Veenome: a video enabling platform that translates video content into machine-readable data for superior organization, publishing, searching and monetization. RUNIN Out: your dining out concierge – tell them your favorite dishes, ingredients, or even your mood, and they will provide an interactive display of the top restaurant and dishes that will cater specifically to your needs....

It is here that 25 of the most diverse startups from around the world will showcase their latest technology and compete for prizes and a chance to be fast tracked as one of the Startup of the Year semifinalists at Innovate Celebrate 2018. What you’ll also find is that of the 25 companies, our founders represent an inclusive group with 40 percent female, 52 percent minority and 12 percent veteran founders from 14 states and 5 countries....

Since that announcement, a slew of companies have committed time and money to build virtual reality environments or invest in metaverse projects and initiatives, from Microsoft’s increasingly immersive video conferencing options to Adidas buying NFTs. Companies like Meta are predicting internet users will spend increasing amounts of their time in virtual spaces in the near future, but there are still major disagreements in the tech sector surrounding the demand for more metaverse-style spaces, and its popularity in general....

However, if you think about it for more than a few seconds, you’d realize something rather significant: Millennials aren’t killing anything. We’re just broke and all these outdated businesses are rightfully falling by the wayside. We’re Broke If you hadn’t heard this yet, your Millennial news alert must be broken. Other than our murderous ways when it comes to business, Millennials have been defined by our lack of sufficient funds....

As the clunky name suggests, this new Fire tablet comes with hands-free Alexa voice assistant functionality. Essentially, this means that you’ll be able to access Alexa with just your voice, even if the tablet is on standby. There are also updates to the cameras, including a new HD front camera. It’ll cost you $79.99 and is available to pre-order now. All told, this is a pretty light-touch upgrade to the previous HD 8 with Alexa (sans hands-free)....