Month: September 2011 Page 1 of 2

“UKnow.com’s uKnowKids service is a parenting tool, really a parental intelligence system — kind of like business intelligence for the CEO of the household. We help parents keep their kids safe from online bullies and bad guys. We focus on social media and mobile technology and give parents the information they need about their kids’ online activities to take action if necessary.

“Kids receive an average of 100 text messages a day, and 80 percent say they sleep with their phone so they don’t miss a text.

“The uKnow.com portal allows parents to log in to a dashboard where they can see their child’s digital activities — everything from texts to Facebook posts. The child knows it’s there because he or she provides the appropriate passwords. The idea is to engage with the child. We datamine for changes in behavior or new information. Parents may not want, or have the time, to read every text, but they may want to know if their child’s interactions with a specific contact spike or decline suddenly or if there are risky activities occurring, such as sending a large amount of photos to a new contact. UKnow.com sends an e-mail alert, which they can use to intervene as necessary.

via www.washingtonpost.com

A nice article about my latest venture in the Washington Post.

Does college get entrepreneurs ready for success? Or, is starting a business straight away a viable alternative for those who don't want to slog through four years of higher education?

This question came to mind after recently perusing a small-business-focused infographic from the credit-card comparison site CreditDonkey. Among the fun facts about entrepreneurship in the graphic: Just over half of business owners have a college degree, according to recently released survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

This stat is particularly interesting because it would seem that entrepreneurs, on a whole, tend to have more education than the general public. Of the American labor force, fewer than half of workers don't have a degree — 25 percent have only a high school diploma while another 19 percent attended but didn't graduate from college, according to the Census Bureau.

It may be a chicken-and-egg question, but I'm betting that somewhere along the way the egg cracked and yoke got all over the place.

via www.entrepreneur.com

The correlation between entrepreneurial success and education has always interested me. As a young man, many folks told me that I was crazy to go get a MBA at Wharton if I was simply going to be an entrepreneur after graduation.

Going to Wharton was an amazing experience, for me, and I credit Wharton for much of what I have accomplished as an entrepreneur. I would not change my decisions here.

Having said that, many folks have benefited from just jumping in. I personally believe that having an education is an awesome safety net that allows you take entrepreneurial risks with the peace of mind that you won't be homeless if things don't work out as planned. That is important obviously.

What do you think?

Many professional athletes have incentive-laden contracts based on performance.

Last month, NFL quarterback Michael Vick signed a new $100 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, making him one of the highest paid athletes in football. When the contract amount was announced, it was not immediately apparent (unless you dug a little deeper) that only $40 million is actually guaranteed. This "base pay" is only 40% of the compensation package, leaving 60% at risk, based on performance. In even simpler terms: for every $1 of base pay Vick can earn an extra $1.50 based on results.

This ratio provides the proper risk versus reward for both parties. Vick will earn his whopping $100 million only if he stays healthy enough to lead the team for the next six years and only if he achieves certain on-field results. The variable amount in his contract must be "re-earned" each year. This demonstrates that organizations are willing to pay a high premium for great performance.

via www.fastcompany.com

I love it. Pay for performance models benefit from positive selection because only the best performers are willing to put their pay at risk in return for higher returns. This is signaling at its best!

Ever since the U.S. got a credit downgrade in August, the stock markets have been bouncing up and down like a pinball. At this point, the volatility has persisted long enough to raise concerns that this year's healthy crop of planned initial public offerings could go into a holding pattern or even fade away.

This would be bad news for companies seeking venture capital, too. No IPO paydays means less cash in venture capitalists's pockets to reinvest in your business.

Market uncertainty makes companies cancel or postpone IPOs, as investors don't want to end up with poor returns. The timing of the current market craziness is crummy, as 202 companies have filed to go public so far this year and are considered "in the pipeline," IPO analyst firm Renaissance Capital reports. That's the most companies waiting in the IPO wings in a decade.

So companies have finally gotten up the gumption to try the public markets again. And now this.

via www.entrepreneur.com

Crucial stuff. We need to keep an eye on how this IPO pipeline pans out over the next 6 months.

New businesses are getting off the ground with nearly half as many workers as they did a decade ago, as the spread of online tools and other resources enables start-ups to do more with less.

The change, which began before the recession, may be permanent, according to some analysts.

via online.wsj.com

With my first venture in 2000, buySAFE, we raised millions of dollars of financing before writing our first line of code. With my most recent venture, uKnow.com, we built our product, acquired bunches of customers, and earned hundreds of thousands in revenue well before we ever started our Series A fundraise.

Why? Because you can do more with less these days. Good stuff.

If you’re married and thinking about going into business for yourself, the very first thing you should sell is your spouse. No, I don’t mean auctioning your beloved to the highest bidder. I mean before you put it all on the line, pitch the idea to your husband or wife.

via www.bnet.com

A great article about the most important stakeholder in your entrepreneurial venture… your spouse.

My wife has often suggested (or threatened) to write a book about what it is like to be the spouse of an entrepreneur. Why? Because it is very hard.

We entrepreneurs often get so focused on our businesses and our goals that we forget to think about how our focus and drive affects the folks around us.

As the actual entrepreneurs, we have the latest and greatest info on how things are going with the business, and as you probably already know, the entrepreneur's life is a roller coaster.

Imagine if you didn't have the latest and greatest data. You would feel helpless to control a crucial part of your family's future. The roller coaster would be magnified big time.

There is no more important stakeholder in your venture than your spouse, and you need to recognize that. In fact, if you are an investor in a startup, you need to recognize this fact too. When negotiating with an entrepreneur, you are often negotiating with someone not at the table… the entrepreneur's spouse.

Great article.

There is an old parable about the concept of commitment when it comes to breakfast. The story goes that when looking at a plate of the traditional fare of ham and eggs, it's obvious that the chicken is an interested party, but the pig is truly committed.

via bostonvcblog.typepad.com

A thoughtful article regarding what investors like to see in their entrepreneurs. I completely agree. Well done.

Business models are developed
by visualizing all of the "working parts" that make up a business.  A traditional business plan, on the other
hand, is most often a formal, written document that provides details about how
an entrepreneur intends the business to operate. 

Learning to develop a sound
business model helps ensure that everything that is critical to the success of
the business is in place and working in harmony. 

Developing the business model
depends fundamentally on engaging real customers very early in the creation of
the business so we have a better chance of offering what the market really
wants. 

One of the biggest benefits I
have seen from using business modeling over writing a traditional business plan
is that it allows for adaptation.  We use
what we learn from the very beginning of the start-up to make changes in our
business model as we uncover who our customers really are, what they really
want, and how best to put everything in place to ensure that we deliver what we
promise to them.

This process is known as
"pivoting" the business model. 

via www.drjeffcornwall.com

At some point, every young business comes to a crossroad. Perhaps the entrepreneur lacks the funding to take their idea any further. Or, maybe the business owner is good at certain aspects of running the business—such as wooing new clients and identifying areas of potential growth—but needs some assistance with budgeting and setting priorities if they want to expand.

How does a business owner know when is it time to bring in an investor?

For Paul Mann, the founder and CEO of Fetch! Pet Care, a national dog walking and pet services franchise based in Walnut Creek, Calif., the moment was when he realized his "teenager" of a business would need help in becoming an "adult" as the number of franchised units grew from 33 from 200 from 2006 to 2008.

"The business, like many in our situation, had come to a point where it had hit a wall," he said.  "We needed help in getting over the hurdle to take it to the next stage."

"It really is a smart business owner who can recognize that they need a partner to help them take advantage of a new opportunity for growth," said Harry Loyle, managing director for Cybeck Capital Partners, a Dayton, Ohio-based private equity investment

via www.businessnewsdaily.com

Imagine trying to convince a Yankees star pitcher to join a new, unproven Major League Baseball franchise. An impossible task? Not necessarily. Corey Reese, co-founder and CEO of Ness Computing, took on the tech-world equivalent of the challenge–and succeeded.

Reese wanted Apple engineer Scott Goodson, a member of the team that developed the iOS platform for the iPhone and the iPad, to decamp from Apple and join Ness as director of engineering. It was 11 months before Reese got a yes out of Goodson. What did it take?

via www.entrepreneur.com

Terrific article about one of the most important aspects of building a great startup… recruiting superstars to the team!