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When beginning a crowdfunding campaign, it’s important to evaluate your network and establish exactly who will make up your base of support. The success of your crowdfunding campaign will largely rest on how effectively you communicate your launch within your various networks. Once you’ve identified a group of potential backers, take into account what is most interesting to your group and structure your rewards tiers in the most compelling way possible.

Your network can be divided into five main groups: friends, family, customers, professional contacts, and audience.

Friends

Your friends include those you see on a regular basis. You can reach out to this group in a variety of ways. Try a combination of social media updates, emai...

Thelonious Monk was a fantastic jazz musician, and an amazing band leader. Did he run a tech startup? No. But he could have with all these words of wisdom.

It’s a no B.S. manifesto. Each gig, each song, and each band mate was mission critical to Monk. And our startups need to be treated the same way. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness. But as founders we have to gather, support, and grow great teams or risk losing the whole endeavor.

Below is Monk’s complete, original list of advice for band members. But let me break it down for you and swap a few musical references with the proper modern startup terminology.

JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT A [JOB TITLE], DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT.

So many of us founders debate ov...

Without a doubt, reading and learning is one of the most essential ingredients to becoming a stronger entrepreneur. As a learning enthusiast who travels everywhere with a paperback, I’ve recently joined the ranks of Blinkist downloaders. Unfamiliar with the name?

Blinkist allows you to quickly digest books by offering condensed versions of hot sellers in the form of voiceover narratives. It’s great for entrepreneurs who can’t seem to keep up with Bill Gates’ penchant for reading 50 books a year. I prefer the feel of a traditional book, but it’s a nice stopgap when I’m short on time.

When I do have a few hours over the weekend, I turn on my meditation app and block out some “chill” time. (Thank you to my loving wife who und...

In a world where business moves at the speed of the IOT, and where data and passwords are more readily available online, entrepreneurs have a new obstacle to address: the protection of their intellectual property.

While corporations have the resources to hire top cyber security teams and implement software solutions that protect their collateral, criminals are increasingly taking an interest in small and medium sized businesses. The new targets have equally marketable data, designs and digital information that have value for criminals, and for foreign governments.

The question to ask: Is your business at risk?

The technology industry and foreign policy

In 1986, China began a program that has been loosely referred to as “shadow innovation”...

Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy Duarte is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.

The below video is the ninth part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity and critical thinking. Find out what she has to say:

Nancy Duarte’s First 3 Clients

In 1987, after working and saving money for a whole summer, Nancy Duarte”s husband bought a Mac. He had a vision: he was going to get behind the technological movement and use his newly acqu...

Working with virtual assistants has become increasingly popular over the past several years, as small business owners, entrepreneurs, and busy people everywhere have acknowledged the need for additional help but wanted to avoid the cost and hassle of hiring in-house.

In his book The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss outlines the benefits of passing off the repetitive tasks that you don’t have time for- or simply don’t enjoy to a virtual assistant.

But, there are several factors to consider in order to find the virtual assistant that’s best for you.

1. Define Your Specific Needs

So, you know that you have too much on your plate and you need help. That’s great, but if you had an amazing assistant start today, what exactly would you delegate to th...

Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. Since we’ve already entered a new year, I hope that you’ve been making your goals in preparing for 2017. Sure, you may not finish or complete every goal but your goal will put you in a better position to handle any uncertainty that is thrown your way. But, what exactly are the type of goals you should start planning for this year?

HERE ARE 12 SMALL BUSINESS TREND PREDICTIONS THAT DESERVE YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION.

SMALL BUSINESSES WILL GO GLOBAL.

Globalization is a hot topic — especially following Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. While it may do damage to some industries and sectors, there’s no denying that it’s also going to prese...

Nancy Duarte is a pro when it comes to presentations. Not just giving presentations, but starting them, finishing them, and every step in between. Author and co-founder of Duarte Designs, Nancy Duarte is a seasoned veteran when it comes to incorporating storytelling into speaking and creating connections with an audience.

The below video is the third part in a series of 10 in which Nancy shares the key components to making a successful pitch using creativity and critical thinking. Find out what she has to say:

The importance of storytelling in business

When Nancy identified a gap between storytellers and presenters, she was determined to figure out what caused the disconnect.

Referring back to Step 2 of her talk, Nancy formulated her big i...

“Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” — Patrick Lencioni

One of the most under-appreciated and underrated attributions to a quickly growing company is this: business infrastructure.

For most entrepreneurs just entering the space, for any many naive executives, business infrastructure comes secondary before everything else.

Sure, your team is important. Your customers and users are critical. Your branding is key to having that lasting impression you want everyone to have.

I don’t want us ever to miscommunicate and state those aren’t important.

However, the real secret sauce to running a successful company comes down to the partnerships and trust you have, not ...

Entrepreneurs are classic risk-takers. They are continually assessing the world around them, seeking to identify problems in need of a solution. They work hard to address these problems, and transform them into opportunities to improve their world. However, in their haste to identify and seize those opportunities, many entrepreneurs rush into their businesses and forget to establish a long-term vision.

The history of the business world is littered with the empty shells of failed startups that burst onto the scene, but were unable to sustain their business model after their initial appeal wore off. Many of these businesses were started by well-intentioned entrepreneurs who were able to cast a compelling vision for the startup phase. But thos...