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MenuWhat specific topics are entrepreneurs wanting to learn about the most?
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Social Marketing - I know it goes without saying that social marketing will be talked about. But I think its important to stress what exactly they should be doing with it. So many people think social marketing means having a facebook page, a twitter page or pinterest and have no idea how to actually use these services to grow their brand and build a community around their product.
1. How to do integrated planning, per existing resource & capability, with monetization (Sales) as the hub?
2. Bootstrapping- How long is too long and what are the semaphores signalling slow death and bootstrapping?
3. How to execute any plan/strategy and measure the result?
4. How to identify the core strength of each and every team members? Avoiding self-proclamation syndrome.
5. How to work smart and stay focused than doing anything and everything?
I've built two funded software companies, and served as Interim CEO to several others. The answer to your question depends partly on whether you mean "established business owners" or "aspiring entrepreneurs".
Here are a few practical topics people often miss:
• Intellectual Property (difference between copyright / trademark / patent, and when to file) can be interesting to the 'aspiring' set, but established folks will know that.
• How to pitch investors (has been covered heavily by many other folks, but if your audience is young they may still be interested)
• How to structure equity compensation for key employees and co-founder partnerships (can be important to everyone)
• When to engage a PR firm and what to expect
• How to buy and manage advertising on digital media
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Of course feel free to contact me directly, and I'm happy to answer more in a follow-up call.
Related Questions
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What time of year is best to host a technology conference for entrepreneurs?
Hello! i help organize and run several events here in Arizona and attend many more. In my opinion this is a loaded question and the best answer I can think of is that it depends in where you live and the agenda of the event. Here in Arizona there are a quite a few right at the end of summer and many more travel from out of town to the events and more as the weather begins to cool. in general you don't want to compete with other events relating to technology even if they seem to be "non-compete" because you force your potential audience to decide which can reduce your attendance..and you will also lose the opportunity of having that other host attend your event. I hope this helps a bit. Please submit more questions :)HV
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Who were the early mentors of the current generation of ultra successful entrepreneurs? Zuckerberg, Page, Brin, Dorsey, Hoffman, Thiel, etc.
- Peter Thiel was crucial for Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) - Ray Chambers for Jack Dorsey (Twitter) - Ken Allard and investors Ben Horowitz for Dennis Crowley (Foursquare) - Paul Graham and Partovi Brothersfor Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox founders) - Adam D'Angelo for Kevin Systrom (Instagram) See more of who mentored whom at http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-mentors-behind-the-visionaries-of-tech-2012-7?op=1HH
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How do I become a mentor at 500 Startups?
As a 500 Startup mentor I would suggest the following 1) Blog about distribution, design and data. Those are the things that 500 values most and usually the fastest way to get on their radar. 2) Interact with @davemcclure (and all other partners) on Twitter 3) Attend geeks on a plane or other events they host. It's all about relationships and perception, so create opportunities to increase the probability of showing them that you have skills that are relevant to the companies they invest in. Hope that helps.DM
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Should we pay for an SaaS Business Coach or seek Mentors to minimize mistakes?
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How can I be a good startup advisor/mentor?
I was born a maker, and I've been an Entrepreneur for six years now (and a wannabe for much longer before that) and I think the worst advice I've got was from people who had never taken a step of the journey. People with academic (or other) credentials who advise you based on theory and completely miss the point of entrepreneurship. They know about the theory of sales funnels and marketing strategies and much more but they've never made a cold call. Or a sale for that matter. The best advice I received was from my godfather, who is an entrepreneur and salesman. That advice was simple, brutal and actionable: "If you can't sell it to a customer, how do you expect to sell it to a salesman ?". That made me realize that you don't stand a chance at success if you can't convince anyone. A good startup advisor understands all of the field he's advising about and knows what a startup is. He knows how to apply his knowledge to the constraints a startup faces and how to deliver that wisdom in regular words to support the startup's decision process.LU
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