Here Are 4 Things I Would Have Done Differently as a Founder
Birthdays are a great time for reflection. The startup that I co-founded in 2012 turns 4 this month, and I’ve decided to look back on the past four years and ask…
How To Achieve Entrepreneurial Success — With No Friends, No Money, No Real Expertise
As host of the Success Hackers podcast, I interviewed Leonard Kim, who’s managing partner of a company called Influence Tree. Kim’s team teaches you how to build your personal brand, get…
How to Boost Customer Loyalty Using Analytics and Actionable Insights
As ecommerce grows, so do return rates: About one in three online purchases is returned. For online apparel purchases, the rate is closer to 40 percent. That has triggered the growth…
The 3 Ways You Can be Certain Your Customers Feel Appreciated
To help your business grow, you should always start with a simple question: “How can I get better?” Customer feedback is incredibly important: It will help you understand and answer that…
This Buying and Selling Mobile App Just Raised $119 Million
We all have odds and ends sitting around that we wish we could sell, and the solutions in the past two decades have been either Craigslist or eBay. OfferUp, with…
How Complaining Rewires Your Brain for Negativity
Research shows that most people complain once a minute during a typical conversation. Complaining is tempting because it feels good, but like many other things that are enjoyable — such as…
Pleasant Surprises Are the Best Customer Service
On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, I received an email from a customer asking if we could ship out a monogrammed writing portfolio for a last minute thank you…
The Importance of a Positive Work Environment
Aside from the job scope itself, one factor that significantly influences how employees feel about work is the environment. By work environment, I mean everything that forms part of employees’…
Why Entrepreneurs Should Embrace Hillary Clinton’s Tech and Innovation Agenda
Hillary Clinton announced her tech and innovation plan in June. In it, she outlined an idea to defer student debt payments for entrepreneurs and even forgive some of their loans, if entrepreneurs…
The Entrepreneur’s Tactical Guide to Building a Billion-Dollar Network
Relationships can change your game and your life, literally overnight. The benefits of a thriving network are truly countless. At the outset, building valuable relationships with successful individuals shifts your…
How ‘Digital Winners’ Become Market Leaders
In an epoch when IT transformations heed marketplace leaders, usually 16% of today’s companies can be described as “digital winners,” according to a new consult from SAP. The ensuing “Leaders…
Why APIs Are Worth The Time And Attention Of IT Professionals
IT professionals who have yet to be convinced that API management could be useful need look no further than Google’s plan to acquire Apigee, an API management platform. It’s the…
Yamaha CIO Talks Cloud, Mobile: Podcast
Vimal Thomas (Image: Yamaha Corporation of America)
5 Ways IT Leaders Can Lure Top Tech Talent
Attracting top tech talent can be a challenge, especially at a time when competition is fierce for a limited supply of qualified applicants. Here are five tactics that can…
Why No One Is Seeing Your Facebook Ad
In a piece written earlier this year Inc.com contributor Larry Kim laid out a bunch of great reasons why your business should be advertising on Facebook and why it’s the…
3 Ways to Stop Making Dumb Decisions
3 Ways to Stop Making Dumb Decisions The quality of your decisions determines the quality of your career success. Outdated inherited thinking lies just below conscious awareness and can…
Snapchat Poised To Rake In $1 Billion In Annual Revenue By 2017, Report Forecasts
Snapchat’s messages may disappear, but the company’s advertising dollars are starting to pile up. The Los Angeles startup is nearly on pace to cross $1 billion in annual revenue by…
Women Entrepreneurs Want to Put Purpose Into Profit. Here’s How.
How many times have you been at a conference and heard the debate of profit versus altruistic goals of a business? I am tired of this debate–I strongly believe you…
How to Run a Successful Innovation Challenge
Nothing is more intriguing, inspiring, and engaging than a good old-fashioned challenge. Whether you want to build a culture of innovation, reach employees in a meaningful way, or search…
Four Things You Should Know About Platforms
Steve Jobs didn’t want to build an app store. As Walter Isaacson describes in his biography of Apple’s founder, the famously controlling Jobs was wary of the “bandwidth” needed to police…