Category: Featured Stories (Page 8 of 43)

Make Elephants Fly just made the Shortlist for the CMI Management Book of the Year Awards!

Make Elephants Fly will help you implement the same methodologies and processes as the most innovative startups in Silicon Valley. It will show you how startups come up with breakthrough products and services; how to structure innovation teams; the best ways to identify and vet new ideas; what it takes to foster a culture of innovation and how to establish a process of innovation throughout your organization.

I’ve done a lot of research on this and talked to numerous AI experts. There is no consensus on when Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will arrive or how fast it will evolve. I can tell you that we’re still a ways off from developing true human-like AI. It’s not coming tomorrow.

What everyone can agree upon is that we keep raising the bar for AGI. It’s no longer a simple Turning Test using a chatbot. That goal for AGI is here already–or nearly so.

It really depends on how you define AGI. Human beings are quite complex and we have many facets to our intelligence. We’re still figuring out how the human brain actually works. It’s hard to capture everything when we don’t even understand our own intelligence. Read More...

No one can predict the future. No one can control the events in their life. But everyone can make choices, and those choices add up to who we are and what we will become.

I hope you think carefully about each choice, even the small ones. Ten years from now, I hope you will be proud of your decisions. The sum of the decisions you make along the way, not the final results they produce, will define your character and the respect you deserve.

The world is changing in unpredictable ways. We are unleashing powerful, new technologies that hold great promise and even greater perils. Over the next decade, we will be approaching the point where humanity is taking evolution into its own hands. We now have the power to change our DNA and redesign the human species. We will eventually be creating smart machines that have the potential to think and act without us. They may even possess their own consciousness. And the world itself is faced with existential threats, from climate change to catastrophic war. Read More...

Listen to the Awesomers Podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud.

In today’s episode, Captain Hoff tells his story and more… Read More...

Review: Machine, Platform, Crowd by Erik Brynjolfsson & Andrew McAfee‎ is a solid book focused on the digital-powered shift.

There’s no single big idea. Instead, it covers the integration of people, products and platforms, and ties this into the core and the crowd. It’s a good overview of what’s happening and why the changes are taking place. Read More...

Did you hear the latest Elon Musk interview with Joe Rogan? Listen to the tone of his voice. There’s wistful sadness. It’s almost like he’s crying inside.

I feel sorry for the guy. He’s clearly losing it.

It’s not that he smoked pot and broadcast it to the world. It’s the timing–right when everyone is questioning his competency. Read More...

Beyond Meat – The Startup that Grossed Me Out!

I just tried the Beyond Meat Burger, which looks and tastes like real meat, but it’s not. It’s vegetarian, and people are raving about it.

I thought I’d love it. I’m looking to eat less meat for both environmental and ethical reasons, and I really wanted to support this startup. But I couldn’t! Read More...

I have one rule that is true for every type of sales is never chase losers. If someone is unwilling or unable to commit to deal, cut your losses and move on. The sooner you do this the better. Every day you spend chasing a deal that is unlikely to close is one day you could spend finding the right buyer, partner, investor, or client. Closing deals isn’t about spending time with the prospect; it’s about find the right prospect.

I can’t emphasize this enough. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to close a deal; if you’re not talking to right person, it will never happen. The smartest sales people in the world spend 90% of their time figuring out who will buy and why, and 10% of their time closing. If you’re doing the opposite, you’re being ineffective.

– Engage the prospective customer.
– Show the prospect the value being offered.
– Find out what the prospect wants. Listen carefully. Ask questions.
– Does what the prospect wants match with the value being offered?
– If not, kill the deal.
– If it matches, present the benefits and terms without talking price.
– Push for a verbal commitment.
– Set a deadline for closing.
– If the prospect doesn’t respond positively, find out why.
– If it’s not a good fit, kill the deal.
– If it’s a good fit, negotiate terms.
– If the customer won’t close, find out why and overcome the obstacles.
– If the obstacles are too large, kill the deal.
– If the obstacles can be surmounted, address issues and reset deadline.
– Close the deal.

Here are the winners from Founders Space’s Startup Pitch at the Technology of Tomorrow Event: Read More...

Steve Hoffman explains why competition is the worst way to generate new ideas for your organization. Listen to him explain what works and doesn’t work when you want to take your organization or team to the next level.

Listen to the Podcast Read More...