V.i. Labs, a provider of software protection solutions, received $4 million in additional funding to accelerate its product development efforts and expand platform support for its CodeArmor software protection and intelligence solutions. Existing investors, Core Capital and Ascent Ventures, participated in the expansion round.
Learn more >> V.i. Labs Secures $4 Million in Additional Funding
Okay. I couldn’t resist digressing a bit today.
Paris might not be as famous as Obama, but she seems to have a better energy policy than he does. She makes fun of the “white haired dude” as well. This spoof is a classic.
Nicely done Paris. You’re “so hot!” 🙂
Also, while I have you here, please check out buySAFE’s new safe shopping tool, Shopping Advisor. This revolutionary application is something that my team has been working on for more than a year, and the industry reviews have been tremendous thus far. Of course, I would love to get your comments and feedback as well.
Here is the scoop… The buySAFE Shopping Advisor is a free browser plug-in that enables consumers to shop online safely and securely. The Shopping Advisor provides objective ratings on eCommerce websites (almost 400,000 as of this morning) so consumers have the information they need to make safe and informed online shopping decisions. More importantly, Shopping Advisor provides exclusive access to a unique safe shopping channel where every purchase is guaranteed with a bond up to $25,000 and identity theft protected – at no cost.
Have fun, and buy safe!
I just came across this video on YouTube about buySAFE, and I wanted to share with you. I believe it was produced by a new employee on our team, and to be honest, I am pretty impressed with his creativity. Clearly, it is an amateur video, but again, you have to love it when young folks take the initiative to use their skills in a creative manner. Nice work.
Your commentary on the video are welcomed so feel free to provide comments!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2yvp9eZXsM&w=425&h=344]
If you have ever raised venture capital, you know how important the post-funding relationship is with your venture capital investors. Your pre-money valuation and financing terms are all important needless to say, but to be candid, the post-funding relationship you have (or are likely to have based on a VC’s previous track record) is probably the most important issue for you to consider as an entrepreneur.
An experienced entrepreneur posted a great article on the subject on TheFunded.com, and here is an excerpt of the article…
There are a lot of postings here about getting the initial term sheet and getting the VC on board. However, just like marriages, many of these courting periods can be quite different from the month to month evolving operations and business that we face a year or two down the road. Remember that often these VCs will sit on your board, and direct your business in different ways and depending on your dilution can dictate how operational decisions should be made. Thus, it is important to get an early feel from your VC dialogue, especially how they would respond if the actual business is less than the wonderful picture we sometimes paint in our pitches.
If I can give you piece of advice that you need to follow religiously in your quest for venture capital, it is that you MUST speak to the entrepreneurs and CEOs that have previously taken money from and worked with the VC firm and the VC partner that you are considering. Do not limit your discussions to the entrepreneurs and CEOs of the successful deals, but rather, you should talk to the entrepreneurs and CEOs of the unsuccessful deals as well. In my experience, the VCs play a critical role in both outcomes, and you need to make sure you get the full, unedited scoop before you take money from a VC. This is absolutely critical to your success or failure as a startup.
Speaking of which, I am always happy to share my insights on this subject with folks that are interested, so don’t hesitate to email me with your questions.
You can read more of the original article here >> TheFunded.com: The post funding experience
According to eMarketer, email marketing is still a very effective means of driving e-commerce. The following is an excerpt from eMarketer’s article, "E-Mail Marketing Still Works"…
First, the good news: permission-based e-mail is great at getting consumers to buy.
Half of US adult e-mail users surveyed in April 2008 for Merkle‘s "View from the Inbox" study, conducted with Harris Interactive, said they had made an online purchase in the previous year as a result of permission-based marketing.
In addition, e-mail was second only to customer reviews on Web sites for influencing online purchases, according to DoubleClick Performics‘ "Green Marketing Study," conducted by Opinion Research Corporation in February 2008. E-mail was roughly equal to search results in terms of influencing online purchases.
SPAM emails are obviously a huge problem, but when consumers expect to receive an email from a merchant, they obviously open those emails and respond in a material manner. Our experience suggests that email marketing is here to stay and in fact, is going to grow in importance for online merchants because there are few, if any, more cost effective ways to drive a sale than to market to your current and past customers via email. Having said that, consumers are increasingly likely to stop doing business with a retailer if the retailer uses poor email practices. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity here for merchants, but if done incorrectly, it can be costly.
Make sure you understand email best practices. EmailLabs has produced nice list of email best practices that might be helpful for you.
Once you have acquired your customers via more expensive channels like Paid Search Advertising, eBay, or CSEs, make sure you keep them buying from you on a consistent basis by offering them interesting offers via email. This really is a no brainer.
Read more of the eMarketer article here >> E-Mail Marketing Still Works – eMarketer
Receive New Articles via Email
To receive new articles in your email inbox, enter your email address below and click the Submit button.
What is that Funny Icon?
The icon that looks like a volume button is actually a link to the page where you can subscribe to a blog’s ‘feed’ via an RSS Feed Reader or Email.
It was originally designed in orange, but as you will notice, some blogs get creative.
What is an RSS Feed?
Click To Watch The Video Below That Explains RSS Feeds in Plain English. The video is the masterful work of The Common Craft Show. Please visit their site for more DIY and Instruction in Plain English.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU&rel=1]
How Do I Subscribe To The Feed?
1. If you have a feed reader (see below if not) and you want to subscribe, just click the icon.
2. If you want to get the feed via email, just type your email address in the text box near the icon designated for email subscriptions.
What is Feedburner?
“Feedburner is best known for its Atom-to-RSS conversion: you give it an Atom feed URL (e.g. the one you have in a Blogger site), and you get a URL that contains the up-to-date RSS version of it. FeedBurner actually can convert from and to any version of RSS or Atom.” (Wikipedia)
In plain English: You tell Feedburner your blog’s web address (URL) and it creates a feed for you to advertise on your site. It also allows people to subscribe to your feed, and helps you manage the way that feed is received by your subscribers.
What RSS Feed Readers Do You Recommend?
iGoogle
MyYahoo
Bloglines
MyAOL
NewsGator
NetVibes
Wizz Reader for Firefox
And many, many more…
What Happens When I Subscribe via Email?
1. You will need to approve the subscription to the feed by responding to the email that was just sent to your inbox.
2. You will begin to receive either headlines, excerpts, or entire posts in the form of a standard email. Emails will arrive at a rate dependent on frequency of blog posts and frequency of RSS delivery (normally same day).
3. You always have the option to unsubscribe or change the subscription to a RSS News Reader so as to keep the articles out of your already cluttered inbox.
Why Is It On This Blog?By clicking on the icon and adding this blog as one of your blog feeds, you will be able to browse through our headlines, ensuring you never miss an article.
The following is a list of recent articles that I have read or websites that I have found interesting. I hope this linkroll is helpful for you as well.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén