Last week I wrote an explainer defining angel investors and their role in start-ups. The subject has been a hot topic in the world of entrepreneurs, as many aren’t qualified or looking to avoid the venture capital road.
Angel investors may becoming too hot of a topic in the start-up world, as both the president of Facebook, Sean Parker, and venture capitalist Mark Suster claim the angel investor bubble is about to pop. (more…)
The second annual Small Business Saturday, a program sponsored by American Express, is hoping to continue to drum up sales for local businesses.
The promotion provided customers a $25 credit on their card, if they spent the same amount at a participating local merchant. American Express bumped up the cap from 200,000 to 300,000 and it has been a social media success.
As of 11:00 pm EST., (more…)
While our economy is in the dumps, consumer confidence remains glum, and jobs are still hard to come by, I believe the silver lining lies in innovation and entrepreneurs.
During this time of hardship, it may not seem like the ideal time to fork over a huge chunk of change to begin your dream endeavor of being your own boss. Mashable reported on a site called AngelList that provides a smoother transaction for small business hopefuls looking to connect with moneybags.
The site provides a meet-up place where start-ups can upload their business plan, network with investors, and hopefully land a little dough. I checked it out. The idea is great but because it is relatively new there is room for improvement in user experience.
As someone who wants to run their own business, having an angel investor may not seem like the most ideal scenario. Isn’t one of the perks of starting your own company is you are your own boss? Regardless of this fantasy world some may want to live it, reality sets in for many and investors are their only option.
Technology is making it easier than ever to connect with investors who may helped cash-strapped entrepreneurs live their dream for a stake in the business.
Even though, the online world is making it easier to find angel investors don’t expect to raise capital with the snap of your finger.
AngelList has approximately 50 to 100 new start-ups a day, and only 1% actually achieve their goal.
If you are thinking about using AngelList as a way to get investors chomping at the bit to fork over their hard earned money for “the next Facebook,” you may want to follow Mashable’s guidelines to ensure you fall into the 1% success rate. (more…)
A recent article on Entrepreneur.com listed poor shipping options as one of the main reasons to abandon a shopping cart and delved into how to fix this issue.
The three tips for improving your shipping options are:
Predictably Irrational Experiment
The Goal:
To disprove the findings found by Pew Internet Research about the correlation between Facebook users and trust. The study found users who frequented Facebook multiple times a day tended to be more trusting.
The Reason:
After I reviewed the findings, I wondered if that really holds true in everyday life and more importantly on social network sites. By examining the findings, it would seem people who often use Facebook would be more likely to have their guard down. I didn’t buy it. In order to disprove this theory, I took a look at the frequency of people checking into Facebook and their account protection level. I wanted to see if people trusted the social network site and the overall internet.
The Experiment:
For the experiment I surveyed 32 people in person and online. I wanted to see if people who use Facebook more would have a lower account protection level, because they were among the group considered more trusting. (more…)
Last week, Facebook announced an incentive plan for small businesses by offering a $50 credit to 200,000 small business for use on their advertising plan.
COO Sheryl Sandberg, former vice president of global online sales and operations for Google, is hoping to pump up revenue from ads offered on Facebook by targeting small businesses.
Sandberg estimates of the 30 million small businesses, 9 million are using Facebook to promote their business through page creations. She is hoping the credit will spark businesses to spend money on Facebook in the form of ads. (more…)