As speakers, advisers and trainers in the entrepreneurial space, we’ve been particularly excited by our December survey of the principles of 14 international accelerators. We wanted to know, from their point of view, what were the key factors in startup success … and failure. Although these folks are from all over the world, it’s amazing how much they agree when it comes to why startups fail. Read more>>
Monthly Archives: April 2018
Your Next Pilot Could Be Drone Software
Would you get on a plane that didn’t have a human pilot in the cockpit? Half of air travelers surveyed in 2017 said they would not, even if the ticket was cheaper. But stories of pilot drunkenness, rants, fights and distraction, however rare, are reminders that pilots are only human. A new generation of software pilots will soon have logged more flying hours than all humans have—ever. Read more>>
EarthNow promises real-time views of the whole planet from a new satellite constellation
A new space imaging startup called EarthNow aims to provide not just pictures of the planet on demand, but real-time video anywhere a client desires. You won’t have to wait for a satellite to come into range, or worry about leaving range; at least one will be able to view any area at any given time, so they can pass off the monitoring task to the next satellite over if necessary. Read more>>
Maximize Growth Potential by Building a Board of Advisors From the Start
Almost every bootstrapped (early-stage) startup is missing one crucial component: a board of directors. The good news? This is completely normal. But don’t be fooled into believing your company is too young or too small to start building a board. Founders often wait too long to set up their board. It can hinder a company’s growth from the start. Read more>>
Founder Mindset, Local Connectedness, Sub-Sector Growth: The 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report
Which startup ecosystems have the highest share of founders with an entrepreneurial mindset? Where will you find the strongest sense of community among startups? Which technology sub-sector should your ecosystem focus on to generate growth and jobs? Many cities, states, provinces, and countries continue to seek better ways to create a strong environment for startups. Read more>>
Technical Experts Need to Get Better at Telling Stories
“If only we could tell our stories better,” is a refrain I hear often from people I work with in the science and technology community. And I understand why. In my experience, startup and technical business leaders don’t tell their innovation stories well. This is a huge missed opportunity. When you’re doing good work, you want people to know about it. Read more>>
Women Entrepreneurs Are More Likely to Get Funding If They Emphasize Their Social Mission
Over the last decade, new ventures across industries have framed their businesses in terms of social impact. We observed that a disproportionately high number of ventures that emphasize social impact seem to be founded by women. This could be because female founders are more likely to care about social issues than men. But we also wondered if something else might be going on. Read more>>
MIT’s New Voiceless Interface Can Read the Words in Your Head
Engineers have been working on various types of brain-machine interfaces. Last week at the Association for Computing Machinery’s ACM Intelligent User Interface conference in Tokyo, a team from MIT Media Lab unveiled AlterEgo, a wearable interface that “reads” the words users are thinking—without the users having to say anything out loud. Read more>>
7 Steps to Defining Your Niche Market
You’ve come up with a great idea for a business, but you’re not ready to roll yet. Before you go any further, the next step is figuring out just who your market is. No business—particularly a small one—can be all things to all people. The more narrowly you can define your target market, the better. This process is known as creating a niche and is key to success for even the biggest companies. Read more>>
How Fear Helps (and Hurts) Entrepreneurs
Fear of failure stalks the world of the entrepreneur, from losing key clients to running out of money. For entrepreneurs, courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to persist in spite of it. These fears are well-founded: Studies suggest that roughly 75% of ventures fail within 10 years. Read more>>
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