Can I use Facebook’s TOS & Privacy Policy for my website?
Antone Johnson
by Antone Johnson at Bottom Line Law Group
QUESTION:
I’m creating a social networking site. Is it legal for me to basically copy off Facebook’s terms of service and privacy policies and just amend them for particulars of my own site? Or can Facebook file some sort of complaint against me for that?
ANTONE’S ANSWER:
What’s the best way to protect my innovation from being duplicated?
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo editor of Founders Space
QUESTION:
Is there a way to secure the rights to an innovative plastic card processing program (alternative to cash) targeting a specific target market? So that large banks and financial institutions (other than the one we potentially partner with) cannot duplicate?
ANSWER:
The first thing you can do is file a provisional patent. This is fairly easy to do and will cover you for one year. Within that year you will need to file one or more full patents based on the provisional patent. This is probably your best protection.
How Not to be Shortchanged
Fanny Tham
by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work
Ever feel like you are being shortchanged at work? How do you tell your clients who are taking advantage of you? Should you reject the job? What can you do? A Creative-Person-At-Work finds out.
Know your Value
Always know your rate card by heart. How much are you be charging? Based on what kind of units (time-based, percentage-based, project-based, skill-based, etc)? What kinds of discounts are you offering (Full-payment discount, extended project discount, returning client discount, referral discount, etc)? When a client asks you for a quote, you will be able to supply it to him/her immediately and not risk him/her coming back to you with an under-valued amount. Even if you decide to give the client a discount, always let him/her your usual rate and that you are extending a discount based on a specific reason. This gives you the option of reverting back to your usual rate for the next project.
How does a foreign company get help launching a product in the United States?
Soody Tronson
by Soody Tronson, Founder of Soody Tronson Law Group
QUESTION: I am based in Australia & have a business that I am passionate about. I want to find a VC that has experience in taking a product & selling it succesfully via infomercials throughout the U.S. It is difficult to find anyone in Australia that has this experience & not sure as to where to start looking in the U.S.? Your help is greatly appreciated! Glen Pattison
Gearing up for Rainy Days Ahead
Fanny Tham
by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work
Grab an umbrella. We are no economist or business people. But since the whole world is speculating and predicting gloomy days ahead, what we can do is to grab that umbrella, buckle our seatbelt and get ready for a wet and bumpy ride ahead. Here are some tips for you to weather the storms.
Diversify
Dr Scholl’s, a leading brand in footcare products has diversified into shoewear. Diversification for established companies like Dr Scholl is often met with more success due to brand spill-over effect. For some, a diversification strategy arises out of opportunities, others arises out of need. While focusing on a particularly product or service will have a stronger impact on brand awareness, in this economic climate, this may be time for you to diversify.
Our Changing Workplace
Fanny Tham
by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work
There is no better time to say that we are in an Era of Change. From the comeback of Apple in the 90s to the evolution of Internet led by Facebook, our World is rapidly transforming. Ever year we witness changes that make impacts on the way we live, play and work. Here are ways on how our work will change in the next couple of years. In fact, for some, it already has.
1) Information Technology is still King
What’s the Straight Scoop on Business Plans?
Adam Toren
by Adam Toren, cofounder of YoungEntrepreneur.com
Everyone knows that the first thing you have to do before you start a business is to create a business plan, right? At least that’s what one school of thought tells us. I’ve seen everything from comments on blogs to entire books dedicated to the belief that no business can succeed without a business plan. Some people even get a little heated over the mere suggestion that creating a business plan might not always be absolutely necessary. And these business plan purists do raise a valid point. Without any planning, your chances of success in anything are slim to none.
Publish your work in Digital-format
Fanny Tham
by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work
If you want to be a published writer, you don’t have to face rejection from publishers anymore. User-Generated Content is the key product of the internet age and you can join in the bandwagon by publishing your own work.
WHAT
Publish your own work. It doesn’t have to be an epic bestseller because the mode of self-publishing is best suited to limited, niche editions. You can write about anything. Truly anything.
WHERE
1) Createspace
Business Exit Planning
Sara LaForest
by Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica
Can Your Business Survive If You Could No Longer Manage It Tomorrow?
How much time do you spend thinking about business exit planning?
If you’re like many of the small business owners we meet – not much. That’s okay as long as you don’t care about supporting yourself and your family when you retire or leave the business, and if you are not attached to what happens to the business, your employees and your customers after you leave. But in truth, the business professionals and small business owners we meet do care.
Do you know where I can find low cost printer ink?
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo cofounder of Founders Space
Printing snazzy brochures, business plans, operating plans, marketing plans and all those other plans you need for your fund raising efforts chews up a lot of ink. And every time you visit a new potential investor, you have to print more! As a result, one of the biggest items on any entrepreneur’s credit card is printer ink.
Here’s how you can save some money…
It pays to compare prices. Anyone find any others that are cheaper?
Does Your LinkedIn Profile Summary Sound Like a Lame Author’s Bio At the Back of a Book?
Kristina Jaramillo
Many LinkedIn professionals simply copy their bios from their website or the back of their book. And believe me you can tell. For example, I recently spoke to Ted Gee about changing his LinkedIn profile. I told him that his summary read like a back flap of a hard cover book. His exact response was, “You nailed it! That is exactly what I did”.
Why Your LinkedIn Profile Should Not Sound Like an Author’s Biography…
Is niche positioning considered a sustainable competitive advantage?
QUESTION:
I’m wondering if niche positioning is considered a sustainable competitive advantage by the investment community?
ANSWER:
Larry Chaityn
by Larry Chaityn, President, Keiretsu Forum NY
Great question and way to be thinking! The short answer is yes.
When determining the type of product/service there are 4 basic strategic options to consider:
1. Enter an existing market
2. Create a totally new market
3. Resegment an existing market as a low cost entrant
4. Resegment an existing market as a niche player
There are specific strategies with each.
Showing Growth Metrics for Silicon Valley
Chris Maresca
Last December, I was in an interesting meeting where the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) presented a bunch of interesting stats several days before they were due to be released.
The most interesting statistic, however, was one that was generated specifically for this particular meeting and is not part of the regular dataset. It was statistics about company growth in Silicon Valley, and it revealed the lack of companies growing to significant size. For me, it just reinforced my gut feeling that the VC model was broken and that the real target should be lower exits, not monster hits.
Lessons from the Adult Industry
Fanny Tham
by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work
The Adult Industry is a big industry. David Klatell, associate dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism notes, “This is an industry where they exaggerate the size of everything.” In a report published by TopTenReviews Jerry Ropelato on 3rd June 2010, the Adult Industry pulls in USD $4.9 billion worldwide revenue. And that’s online alone. The industry also reaches out to consumers on other platforms such as publishing, photography, DVDs, VODs, satellite television and video games. Exaggeration or not, for an industry that has survived from the Victorian era, there is much we can learn from it.
Lessons the we can learn from the Adult Industry:
Handy Sales Tools For Startups
Here’s a handy little list of sales tools, seasoned with some personal opinions, that I’ve assembled over my sales career. With a bow to all those who have contributed, knowingly or not, to my little body of knowledge.
Elevator Pitch: Much has been written on this topic, by me and others, but I’ll say again: everyone in the company should be able to give a 30 second description of the company’s essential value proposition.
Web Site: It’s an essential tool, but it’s an evolving one. Make it interactive. Make it serve your customer’s needs, not your own. Make sure it can be read, and navigated, on a phone’s browser.
What’s the easiest way to create a logo for my startup?
Nicholas de Wolff
by Nicholas de Wolff, founder of deW Process
1. Recognize first that a logo is a reflective representation of a brand identity. (Say what?) – designing and creating a visually appealing or arresting graphic element will not, in and of itself, do anything for your company, except spend some of your valuable upfront assets, and waste time. Before you even think about developing a logo, be sure that you are firmly clear and codified on what the enterprise plans to become down the road (you do not want to have to change your logo unnecessarily), equally clear on how you wish to present this venture for now, and uniformly in agreement across the whole team as to the language you have set in stone to express the aforementioned vision and position.
Themes of the Future
Chris Maresca
As part of some brainstorming I was doing with a friend raising a new fund, the concept of future trend themes came up. It’s not new, Brad Feld has a whole blog post about this. However, it got me thinking about the way I look at the future and what themes I see.
So, without further ado, here are my themes:
1. Open is the New Black
7 lessons I learned in the first 12 months of running an Internet startup
Igor Royzis
by Igor Royzis of PE-Nexus
It’s a great feeling to be able to say that my startup has been in business for 1 year. We launched PE-Nexus on July 7, 2010. It took a lot of hard work, dedication, planning and agility to get to what we are today – a well known M&A platform and professional network.
I have learned a number of lessons along the way, 7 of which I would like to share here.
- Don’t get attached to your original business strategy. Be flexible and adjust quickly or you won’t celebrate your 1st anniversary.
My startup has deals in the pipeline, but we’re having trouble getting any to close. What can I do?
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo
This is one of the hardest problems startups face. How do you close deals when you’re a young company without a proven track record.
Here’s some advice from my experience:
1) Set a deadline – you’d be surprised at how well this works. Create a deadline (real or artificial), and tell the customer that they need to give you an answer by this time. Without a deadline, many potential customers will just sit on the fence. By simply saying, “I need to know by Thursday what your decision is,” you will get results. You don’t even have to explain why you picked Thursday. It’s just part of the process you establish.
What´s the best way to form strategic partnerships with US universities?
QUESTION:
I´m working with an educational institute in India. We currently offer courses in IT, software QA and other subjects. We have a stratetic relationship with the IEEE for a few of our programs. We are planning to expand by offering joint programs with reputed universities in the United States in the areas of IT, management programs, and software engineering certifications. What´s the best way to go about forming these relationships and offering joint courses between our univesity and US universities?
ANSWER:
Soody Tronson
by Soody Tronson, Founder of Soody Tronson Law Group
What’s the best way to reach entrepreneurs around the country without a sales force?
QUESTION:
I run a local business directory in The South Jersey area, started in 2005. We’re profitable, and now we’d like to expand by offering a franchise to entrepreneurs across the country. We envision offering the local rights county by county, so each franchise would encompass one county. Each franchise would be a one person or family operation. The only problem is that if you hire salespeople, they want benefits and a salary, so it’s been slow recruiting. The business can be very profitable if someone wants to work at it. What’s the best way to reach entrepreneurs around the country without a sales force? – Bob
Can you point me to a few examples of eco-social startups & their company formation?
QUESTION:
I wish to start up an organization with the mission of eco-social benefit.
I want to make sure that most of the proceeds go towards the mission. As founder, I want to dedicate the proceeds from my speaking and consulting work into this organization, which, in return, will fund my future engagements to help those who cannot pay for my services. I do not want personal income for the next few years. I just want to donate my services and be funded (travel, office expenses, etc) for my pro-bono work.
Does anyone have a template for compensating new advisors?
QUESTION:
I´m looking for a tempate to formalize compensation for a Scientific Advisor for a project I´m working on — Harvard Med School Prof.
ANSWER:
Eric Ferraro
Conversations with Today’s Movers and Shakers (part 3)
Alan Toman
by Alan Toman, author of The WOOF Factor
It should be no surprise that Social—Social Networks, Social Marketing and Social Media—is on everyone’s mind. But is Social a fad or a revolution?
According to two well-connected web 2.0 pros:
“Social media confuses the crap out of me. There’s so much noise.”
“Social networks have limited value if they are not doing something that has real social relevance.”
If you really want to know where Social is today and don’t read any further, just spend 4-1/2 minutes to check out:
Conversations with Today’s Movers and Shakers (part 2)
Alan Toman
by Alan Toman, author of The WOOF Factor
Clearly the greatest interest and the most activity are in all things mobile; it crosses all sectors. Here are just a few facts about mobile today:
- Amazon sold $1 billion worth of product through mobile in the last 12 months.
- Mobile ticketing is predicted to more than double by 2012 (from 2010 figures) to exceed $100 billion (based on gross transaction value). Mobile devices are being used for ticket purchases for all kinds of travel, entertainment and sports. Mobile ticketing is one of the main factors driving the growth of mobile commerce.
Who needs experts?
Nicholas de Wolff
by Nicholas de Wolff, founder of deW Process
As professional reviewers and taste-makers find themselves increasingly marginalized by the aggregate insights and observations of “the crowd”, one wonders whether the demise of printed news may actually be beaten to the punch by the obsolescence of the once-all-powerful critic.
It used to be that we relied on Patricia Wells or Brad A. Johnson to guide us from one fine dining experience to the other. Indeed, reading their restaurant reviews in the Herald Tribune or Angeleno (respectively) represented something of a tasty appetizer, prior to the main experience of visiting an emerging “hot spot” discovered by their renowned palates.
Top 4 things to Achieve Business Agility for Technology Startups
Igor Royzis
by Igor Royzis of PE-Nexus
From Wikipedia: “Business agility is the ability of a business to adapt rapidly and cost efficiently in response to changes in the business environment.”
So, now that we all know what business agility means, I’d like to share the top 4 things a technology startup must possess in order to be agile (based on my personal experiences with several startups).
1. Executives that jell well and are open to new ideas
How do I convert a California LLC to a Delaware corporation?
Ethan Stone
by Ethan Stone, Stone Business Law
I have a California LLC, and I’m planning on converting to a Delaware C Corporation in anticipation of funding. What should I consider when making this type of conversion? And what do I need to do to get it done?
ANSWER:
First, a quick but important clarification: I’m not your lawyer and this answer doesn’t establish a lawyer-client relationship. I’m giving a generic answer to a generic question to educate the users of this site. The information below is general in nature and should not be understood as a substitute for personal legal advice.
What are good sources for finding niche markets for products & services?
QUESTION:
What are some good websites, magazines and other sources for finding niche markets for products and services?
ANSWSER¨:
Naomi Kokubo
by Naomi Kokubo
Here are 8 ideas you can try…
- Look for underserved sectors where a technological breakthrough can transform the business.
- Industry trade magazines and journals are a good starting place.
- Industry trade shows are also an excellent way to tap into niche markets. There´s a trade show for practically everything.
What’s the best way to find manufacturers who want to export their products?
QUESTION:
I recently started an import/export company. I’m now seeking out manufacturers within the US, who do not export their products but would like to do so. What’s the best way to find these manufacturers? – Kanastaal
ANSWER:
Ella Zalkind
by Ella Zalkind
One thought that comes to mind is for you to join a network on LinkedIn for example. You can search by keyword/subject and then join a group. From there you can make a general posting or you can research individual members and contact them individually if someone’s company/product appeals to you. Following the advice below, you should try to narrow your product. Once you do that you can start attending industry conferences and events as well as reading the same journals as your target industry and networking.
