Online Business Startup Blog, Tips and Resources for Tech Startups

Common Startup Dilemmas

Ranu — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:22:40 +0000

photo credit: Marco Bellucci There are a few ‘best’ questions related to startups which pop up in our mind now and then. Questions such as - when is the best time to startup? Which sector is the best to startup in? Which is best - funding through revenues or investors? In this post we attempt [...]

Startup Tip: Avoid Being a Crocodile Salesman

Ranu — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:46:25 +0000

photo credit: striatic I will first start by explaining what a ‘Crocodile Salesman’ exactly means – a person who doesn’t listen, only talks (sells). Big mouth and no ears, they’re people who are always (mostly) talking. Perhaps they have the best product/service to offer, but only pitching without listening won’t do them any good. Mark [...]

Startup Advice: Term Sheets Are Not Legally Binding

Ranu — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:18:11 +0000

photo credit: billaday The Wikipedia definition of a Term sheet – a bullet-point document outlining the material terms and conditions of a business agreement It can be described as a non- binding document (like a Letter of Intent) which records two or more parties’ intentions to enter into a future agreement. Venture Capitalists (VCs) backing out [...]

Hiring Marketers for a Startup

Ranu — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:41:11 +0000

photo credit: lumaxart Interviewing developers is much easier than interviewing marketers But still, you do need a marketing team (and a good one of course) and above all you want to be fair in deciding whom to hire. Questions/conditions for hiring developers are quite straightforward. They either know or they don’t – do they solve problems [...]

Lessons from Chinese Startups

Ranu — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:21:40 +0000

photo credit: Jakob Montrasio Considering the recent world scenario, we think of China either when Copenhagen Climatic issues come up or its recent tiff with Google regarding hacking and censorship. And rightly I believe. Keeping all the issues behind, China still recorded a magnificent growth recently. An American Entrepreneur in China (Calvin Chin) wrote a [...]

The Concept of Capital Discipline and Slow Capital for Startups

Ranu — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:21:01 +0000

photo credit: Jeff Belmonte A startup’s model/product usually undergoes a significant change from the point of founding to the point of funding. How the capital flows into a startup is very critical and quite difficult to manage. Startups can either have too much capital, too little capital, or poorly applied capital – and execution of the [...]

Advice for Startup Entrepreneurs: Block your Lizard Brain

Ranu — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:11:37 +0000

photo credit: Pardesi* A very common similarity that I have noticed in human behavior is that ‘we want to do something, but we don’t end up doing it’. I want to have a successful career but I disrupt my interview. I want to be thin but I over eat. I want to excel in my [...]

Apple iPad IS for Startups

Ranu — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:28:38 +0000

photo credit: Naj ( Desired Hopes © ) The world was closely watching and everyone in the media was fanatical about the launch of Apple’s new touchscreen tablet technology – the iPad. The outstanding feature that impressed everyone was the price (just $499). A lot has been written about the iPad but what we are [...]

Human Resource Issues: Mergers, Acquisitions and Startups

Ranu — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:44:44 +0000

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos All startups, at some point have to confront certain questions relating to their existence – about their current situation and the future. “Is our startup heading in the right direction? Will we reach where we wanted to, in the given time? Should we be acquired? Or shall we acquire and [...]

Do Not Mismanage Startup Funding

Ranu — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:01:10 +0000

photo credit: alice_c The concept of lean startups is gaining prominence in today’s economic scenario. The term lean startup stems from the term ‘lean thinking’ which means spending money wisely by identifying differences between value-added activities and waste. Many startup owners commit the blunder of spending extravagantly as soon as they receive some funding. An [...]