May, 2022

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Should You Take Money from Investors Who Don't Share Your Values?

This is going to be BIG.

For most founders, fundraising is a struggle. Only a small minority of people are born into the kinds of connections and life paths to provide them instant access to capital. The rest have to work super hard to create access for themselves, build trust and win investors over. That may come with the headwinds of bias working against you—conscious or otherwise.

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5 steps to avoid cybersecurity complacency

Entrepreneurs' Organization

While you’re likely aware of the dangers of an unprotected IT system, it’s easy to think that a cyberattack or data theft won’t ever happen to you. But that level of complacency puts businesses at increased risk of falling victim to criminal activity, which could be devastating from both a financial and reputation perspective. . Whether you work alone, in a startup or as part of a large organization, it’s essential to stay on top of your cybersecurity game and protect any areas of your business

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Norebase raises $1M to allow companies start, scale, and operate in any African country

TechCrunch

Startup pitches with promises to provide various services to Africans — across different sectors — are commonplace now. And in trying to sweet-talk investors, what’s not taken into context or often disregarded is that Africa is a fragmented $3 trillion market. The continent is also home to more than 1.2 billion people with below-average disposable income, most living in landlocked nations.

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A KPI for Corporate Innovation: The Valuation Index

Paul G. Silva

Leaders of global corporations are under intense pressure to grow their valuation by hitting aggressive revenue, margin, and EBITDA targets. Acquirers pay a valuation premium on recurring, high-margin, and high-growth product revenue. However, the metrics most companies use (ROI) fail to capture the impact on valuation, causing leaders to make choices that slow their valuation growth.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Building Rural Communities Through Entrepreneurship

Source Link

On Thursday, April 21, SourceLink hosted Building Rural Communities Through Entrepreneurship , a webinar on strategies for growing rural communities through entrepreneurship-led economic development. The session was moderated by SourceLink’s director of strategic partnerships, Dara Macan, and panelists included: Nathan Ohle – President and CEO, International Economic Development Council.

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How Founders Can Win Media Coverage for Zero Cost

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Top 3 DIY tactics, according to a former BBC journalist turned media relations troubleshooter Image by author I sifted at least 100,000 story pitches when I worked on the main planning desks for BBC News (radio, tv, and online) and its investigative show Panorama. Since 2010, I’ve worked as a media relations troubleshooter for some of the world’s leading organizations (NHS, HERE Technologies, Virgin).

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Can You Create Culture In A Remote Work World?

Smart Hustle Magazine

Company culture isn’t just about ping pong tables and happy hours. It’s the set of values, behaviors, and beliefs that shape how your employees work together and how they interact with customers. Creating a strong company culture is essential for any business, but it can be especially challenging for small businesses. If you have remote teams or have restructured your business to allow employees to work from home after the pandemic , it can be difficult to maintain your company cul

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Europe’s deep tech depends on university spinouts

TechCrunch

Welcome to The TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Deep tech has become a hot topic in Europe, with hopes that the region can have an edge over the rest of the world for innovation rooted in fundamental research.

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FIND OUT WHO WILL WIN THIS YEARS’ $50,000 PA WILDS BIG IDEA CONTEST!

Ben Franklin Technology Partners

DuBois, PA – In partnership with the PA WILDS Center for Entrepreneurship, Ben Franklin Technology Partners recently sponsored a BIG IDEA contest targeting innovators working in the maker economy, forest products, outdoors and recreation, and even tech-manufacturing. The winner will receive a prize package that includes: Up to $50,000 in cash.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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How This Ends

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

Back in February of last year, I wrote a blog post with the same title and said this about the asset price bubble we were living in and investing in over the last few years: The big question is how does this end? I believe it ends when the Covid 19 pandemic is over and the global economy recovers. Those two things won’t necessarily happen at the same time.

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The Future of the Workplace is Flexible

Revolution

Convening with CEO and co-founder Ryan Simonetti By Steve Murray and Patrick Conroy , Partners at Revolution Growth Convene’s London location at 22 Bishopsgate In 2018, Revolution Growth led an investment in Convene , an emerging leader in flexible work, meetings and events, and premium venues. When we backed the company, we were betting on a reimagined future of work.

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Every Founder that Hates "Personal Branding" Should Write a Book

This is going to be BIG.

“Personal Branding” The term is fingernails on a chalkboard-level cringe for many of the best founders—mostly because it feels most of the people who spend time building their personal brand don’t actually have much there there behind it. At best it’s boasting and at worst, it’s blowing smoke. Which means that most of the people who actually do have the most interesting and useful experience to add to the public conversation aren’t doing so.

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7 EO members share how to mitigate rising transportation costs and shipping delays

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Global supply chain issues, increased transportation costs and shipping delays are an ongoing post-pandemic problem. How is that impacting businesses when failure is not an option? We asked EO members from various industries about the solutions and strategies they have implemented in response to these significant challenges. Here’s what they shared: Take creative actions.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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Ayoken raises $1.4M to grow its NFT marketplace for creatives

TechCrunch

Ayoken, an NFT marketplace for creatives, has raised $1.4 million pre-seed funding to enable users grow their revenue streams through digital collectibles. The startup’s marketplace, Ayokenlabs , will feature digital collectibles from musicians, sports brands and influencers from all over the world. Ayoken founder and CEO, Joshua King , told TechCrunch that the marketplace is a bridge between fans and artists, and gives supporters a sense of ownership in the success of their idols.

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How Mentorship Gives Entrepreneurs a Competitive Edge

Smart Hustle Magazine

With many companies today struggling to attract and retain talent, a culture of mentorship will put your company ahead of the competition. Nearly 50 million workers resigned in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including a record-breaking 4.5 million quitting last November. Even before The Great Resignation, an estimated 33 percent of new hires quit within the first three months, costing businesses one-half to two times each employee’s annual salary to replace them.

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Gotham Gives

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

Gotham Gives is a public charity that the Gotham Gal and I started one year ago to complement the family foundation that we have been using to make philanthropic gifts for over two decades. A public charity allows us to raise capital from others in addition to our family’s philanthropic gifts. We use this public charity to put together syndicates of donors and raise more capital for our projects than would be possible on our own.

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Revolution Growth Invests in Team Liquid Parent Company, aXiomatic

Revolution

The esports and gaming startup partners with industry leaders to create best-in-class shared digital experiences for fans and players alike. Meet aXiomatic ?—?the leading esports and gaming enabler and latest addition to Revolution Growth’s portfolio. Who They Are: aXiomatic was founded by a group of iconic entrepreneurs with a mission to build a dynamic esports and gaming portfolio.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Can Your Portfolio Company Cut Your Bad Cholesterol by More Than Half? It Can When It's Culina Health.

This is going to be BIG.

The pandemic and parenthood hasn’t been great for either my eating habits or my activity level—not to mention the two month grandparent visit when we brought Mirren home. Here’s my approach to my snacks: “I finished off this candy too fast. I can’t ever buy it again.” Here’s my father-in-law’s approach to my snacks: “I saw that you finished off the candy so I ran out and bought you some more.

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Printing on Shirts Doesn’t Sound Exciting?—?Yet, My Friend Started in 2021 With $600K Annual Sales

Entrepreneur's Handbook

He never needed a pitch deck or a business plan Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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Can Andreessen Horowitz prevent the next crypto winter?

TechCrunch

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Chain Reaction. Last week, we talked about the rough road ahead for Coinbase. This week, we’re talking a bit about Andreessen Horowitz’s multibillion-dollar bet on web3’s continued viability. Read on to check out the latest episode of the Chain Reaction podcast as well. To get this in your inbox every Thursday afternoon, you can subscribe on TechCrunch’s newsletter page. $4,500,000,000.

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How Can Small Biz Connect with Big Brands?

Smart Hustle Magazine

Do you dream about partnering your small business with a multi-million dollar brand? Exposure to industry giants can bring entrepreneurs new opportunities to create and sell to different markets. And with the right gumption, anything is possible. Today, 57% of companies use partnerships to further their brand. Not only is it beneficial for companies to work together, but it is also a wonderfully innovative way to bring something new to consumers. .

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Your Fractional Finance and Accounting Team

Mighty Financial specializes in supporting the financial aspirations of small businesses and entrepreneurs. With our comprehensive bookkeeping and precise accounting expertise with decades of experience across diverse financial roles, our team offers tailor-made services ranging from essential bookkeeping to strategic fractional CFO support, catered specifically to the unique challenges of technology companies, startups, and SMEs.

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Investing in Metatheory

Andreessen Horowitz

From Shakespeare to the Beatles, and Star Wars to Fortnite, every generation has a set of entertainment properties that define its culture and shared universe of stories. As we look to the coming decade, we believe the next major creative … The post Investing in Metatheory appeared first on Andreessen Horowitz.

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Welcome S22 Visiting Group Partners

Y Combinator

Every batch, we invite founders and executives to advise YC companies as Visiting Group Partners. These advisors bring valuable insights and recent operational experience to YC’s early-stage companies. Throughout the batch, they take on a variety of responsibilities, including application reading, interviews, group office hours, individual office hours, demo day prep, and more.

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Lesson #344: The Lucky 7 Steps to Channel Sales Success

Red Rocket

More often than not, most growing business typically use sales and marketing efforts to drive their revenues. Marketing basically uses advertising and other techniques to bring leads into the business. And, your sales team either closes the leads handed to them by the marketing department (inbound sales), or they actively hunt new end-clients down with prospecting efforts (outbound sales).

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How Caribbean entrepreneurs are tackling climate change with their businesses?

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

How Caribbean entrepreneurs are tackling climate change with their businesses. By Shannon Courtney. To preserve and protect the Earth for our communities, we must make a collective investment to ensure that generations of global citizens have access to clean and healthy environments. Entrepreneurs from all over the world are leading the way and demonstrating that the time to care and act is now. .

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Digitalization: 5 Tech Updates That Will Help You Survive The Recession & Thrive

Lack of digitalization decreases business competitiveness. To thrive, embracing modern solutions becomes essential. The approach to digitalization often aligns with a company's business model. This shift not only boosts productivity but also automates processes and improves security. The tech market offers a wealth of technologies tailored for management, planning, and forecasting, replacing outdated pen-and-paper methods.