March, 2021

article thumbnail

A Weird and Wacky Approach To Angel Investing

OnStartups

An Odd Start To My Angel Investing. I started my first company at around the age of 24. It was called Pyramid Digital Solutions and it was a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) company in the financial services vertical. I bootstrapped it, ran it for about 10 years and then sold it to a large software company in an all cash, no attachments deal. Now, I had something I’d never had before -- liquidity.

article thumbnail

Best practices to building an inclusive business

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

By Jewelle Saunders. Having an inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplace has many benefits. Some of the common best practices to keep in mind when building an inclusive workplace, according to Ideal , include fair treatment and equal access to opportunities; a focus on teamwork and collaboration; representation at all levels; diversity, equity and inclusion training, and education; and effective and consistent communication.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

One Year Later: 10 Steps to Effective Coronavirus Crisis Leadership

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Contributed by Winnie Hart, an EO Houston member who serves on EO’s Board of Directors. Hart is an author, brand strategist and the CEO of TwinEngine and Brand in the Box. In March 2020 as the global pandemic began—long before work-from-home and Zoom fatigue were issues—we asked Hart about her experience leading her business through crisis. The article, which originally appeared on EO’s Inc.com channel in March 2020, has garnered nearly 38,000 page views and is posted here in its entirety: We

article thumbnail

SBA Announces Community Navigator Model and Funding Opportunity

Source Link

The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the creation of a new Community Navigator Pilot Program to place significant financial resources into organizations that wish to be hubs of entrepreneurship support and ecosystem-building efforts in their communities—particularly those organizations with deep roots in targeting underserved business communities.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

These undergraduates left university to build Flux, a payments startup now in YC

TechCrunch

In the 170 years since Western Union was founded, no company has managed to solve two basic problems that continue to bedevil the remittance business — exorbitant fees and slow deposit times. For instance, it takes days or weeks for money sent from an immigrant in the U.S. to reach a relative in Nigeria. Ben Eluan and Osezele Orukpe , two software engineers based in Nigeria, faced this problem in 2019.

More Trending

article thumbnail

4 Ways to Start Selling Online Today

StartupNation

If you think you’ve missed out on the e-commerce boom and should have started an online business long ago, here is some reassuring news: the industry’s rapid growth isn’t slowing down any time soon, and selling your products online has never been easier. Online sales were increasing steadily before the pandemic, but 2020 saw incredible growth. E-commerce sales grew more than 30% year-over-year in Q4 of last year, with U.S. sales reaching nearly $250 billion by Q4 of 2020.

media 116
article thumbnail

Creating agents of change in El Salvador with sustainable wearable art

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

By Jewelle Saunders. “Everyone deserves to have equal opportunities, rights, and benefits,” says Marí?a Suriano, 2018 YLAI Fellow. “It is time for everyone to fight for what is right and fair.”. María, who was born and raised in El Salvador, is the founder of Masshii. She dedicates herself to creating wearable art and ethical jewelry using unconventional materials and creating fair employment opportunities for at-risk groups in El Salvador.

article thumbnail

How entrepreneurs benefit from ‘Alien Thinking’

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Entrepreneurial success hinges on generating breakthrough ideas. But we have cognitive biases that keep us stuck in well-worn patterns of thinking. In the book Alien Thinking , three innovation professors at IMD Business School argue that people who generate truly breakthrough ideas look at their world like aliens–outsiders unburdened by the assumptions, biases and conventional thinking that constrain imagination.

article thumbnail

Can You Be a Successful Entrepreneur? (And What It Takes to Be the One)

Smart Hustle Magazine

I like Twitter more than any other social media platform. Why? This ever-popular microblogging platform has allowed me to witness many stimulating online discussions. Recently, I observed interesting conversations on ‘can everyone be a successful entrepreneur’ initiated by Smart Hustle Founder Ramon Ray and Shopify President Harley Finkelstein.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Nigerian founders-turn-investors are now running syndicate funds

TechCrunch

The Future Africa Fund kicked off in 2015 when Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Nadayar Enegesi , co-founders of US-based and African-focused talent company Andela, wrote checks to African startups as angel investors. This continued even as Aboyeji joined and left Flutterwave, the fintech company he co-founded. In January 2020, the pair made the fund official, with Aboyeji as general partner and Enegesi as limited partner.

founder 144
article thumbnail

The World Benchmark Study Begins Spring 2022

UBI Global

What you need to know about the next World Benchmark Study Since 2013, UBI Global has conducted the World Benchmark Study, an analysis of the impact and performance of hundreds of business incubators and accelerators from around the world. Our members consist of over 1,200 business incubators, business accelerators, and corporate open innovation teams, who […].

article thumbnail

How Startup Leaders Can Choose to Challenge the Status Quo, Build an Equitable Future

StartupNation

Today is International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. This year’s theme is #ChooseToChallenge. The official website for International Women’s Day explains the campaign, stating: “A challenged world is an alert world.

startup 111
article thumbnail

Dapper Labs, Flow, and NBA Top Shot

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

I have written about all of these things here at AVC before. But I am writing again as there is likely to be a bunch of chatter about Dapper, Flow, and NBA Top Shot as the news of a financing round comes out today. Financings don’t really interest me but companies do. And this is a fascinating company. Dapper Labs came out of an incubator called Axiom Zen back in 2017.

article thumbnail

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?

article thumbnail

4 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid

Entrepreneurs' Organization

An excerpt from the book Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur , by Charlene Walters , MBA, PhD. Charlene is an entrepreneurship coach, branding mentor and speaker. . Becoming a successful entrepreneur is all about working on and developing an entrepreneurial attitude by making certain shifts in the way that you think. A mindset shift related to taking action will be central to your success in terms of not only having the confidence to get your business off the ground, but also in regard to what you’ll

article thumbnail

What entrepreneurs need to know about unconscious bias

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

By Jewelle Saunders. Prioritizing an equitable workforce is one of the critical factors that grow an organization to be more successful. Businesses have a healthier workforce, higher productivity and greater profitability when focusing on equity, diversity and inclusion. Factors such as unconscious bias can be a prominent barrier to this growth. Unconscious, or implicit, bias refers to the underlying attitudes or beliefs about other individuals or groups, based on identity traits, outside our ow

article thumbnail

Regenerative agriculture is the next great ally in fight against climate change

TechCrunch

Nancy Pfund. Contributor. Share on Twitter. Nancy Pfund is founder and managing partner of DBL Partners , a venture capital firm whose goal is to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, environmental and economic returns in the regions and sectors in which it invests. It seems that every week a new agribusiness, consumer packaged goods company, bank, technology corporation, celebrity or Facebook friend announces support for regenerative agriculture.

article thumbnail

Vail Horton of Keen Healthcare: rejecting the limits of disability

Venture Well

For Vail Horton of Keen Mobility, innovation and entrepreneurship changed the trajectory of his professional and personal life. The post Vail Horton of Keen Healthcare: rejecting the limits of disability appeared first on VentureWell.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Why Taking a Customer-Centric Approach Significantly Reduces Risks and Increases Your Chance of Success

StartupNation

To build successful businesses, entrepreneurs must fall in love with solving customer problems more than their own ideas. Entrepreneurs often rush to build and test their ideas using the lean startup methodology. They are taught and believe that they should “fail fast.” Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs do a great job failing. Harvard reports that 95% of new products fail.

article thumbnail

The Feedback Loops in Data that Will Change SaaS Architecture

Tomasz Tunguz

About a year ago, I wrote a post on the hub and spoke data model. The idea is that in the future SaaS applications would be built on a single database, instead of each SaaS application writing to its own proprietary database. I was wrong about the catalyst for this hub-and-spoke model. I thought it would be cloud-prem and customers driving SaaS products to use a single database.

SaaS 145
article thumbnail

4 in 6 Encore Entrepreneurs Earn More Than Their Expectations, Reports a Survey

Smart Hustle Magazine

Are you thinking about starting your own business but putting off the idea because you just crossed fifty? If yes, then you’re making a big mistake. According to the latest Hiscox report, 68% of encore entrepreneurs (who start at fifty) earn more than what they used to do in their previous job. ‘When to leap in the business world’ always attract different opinions.

article thumbnail

Five Easy Investing Tips from an Actual Financial Analyst

Entrepreneur's Handbook

How to make money on markets without resorting to nonsense. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

investing 105
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Address cybersecurity challenges before rolling out robotic process automation

TechCrunch

Alan Radford. Contributor. Alan Radford is regional CTO of One Identity and has a passion for helping organizations solve unique challenges in the identity and access management space. Robotic process automation (RPA) is making a major impact across every industry. But many don’t know how common the technology is and may not realize that they are interacting with it regularly.

coworking 133
article thumbnail

7 Hints for Entrepreneurial Success from Hint Water Founder Kara Goldin

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Kalika Yap , an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Los Angeles, California, is founder and CEO of both Citrus Studios , a branding and design agency, and Orange & Bergamot , a creative agency for female founders. As the host of EO’s Wonder podcast , Kalika interviewed Kara Goldin , author of Undaunted and founder and CEO of Hint , which creates nutritious products that help people live healthier lives.

founder 300
article thumbnail

COVID-19 Exposed the Digital Divide: Here’s How We Can Close it with 5G

StartupNation

The pandemic has recast our view of internet connectivity for all as a critical component to an equitable society. Yet many rural and low-income communities around the world, including those in large urban areas, lack reliable, affordable internet access. Learn what needs to be done now to close this digital divide. In 2020, the world embraced digital transformation at an expedited pace, reimagining technology’s critical role in how we work, learn and live.

article thumbnail

5 ways to be an ally to marginalized groups

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

Who lives on the periphery of your community and why? Marginalized groups exist nearly everywhere. They are people who are denied involvement or face limited involvement in social, economic, educational, political and/or cultural life. Targeting or ignoring one group can ultimately affect the whole society. Leslie Lefkow, deputy director for Africa at the organization Human Rights Watch , said: “The problem of discriminating against or marginalizing minorities is one where you’re setting the pre

education 299
article thumbnail

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.