Emerging Web Conglomerates Affect Buying Strategies

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Tech Giants

With a steady stream of head-shaking acquisitions, Google, Facebook, and other Internet Giants are speedily transforming themselves into web conglomerates. While this is unquestionably making fortunes for the venture capital industry, it does beg the question whether is can be good news for everybody else.

The giants’ buying sprees have not only created a handful of powerful young millionaires; it has revolutionized the venture capital business model. Outside the tech-bubble, it used to be that someone struggled for years to build a company before it went public. Now the idea is to move into the social media hot-spot by developing a product that the new web conglomerates buy at prices never before seen in private deals.

Consider the following transactions:

  • WhatsApp sold to Facebook for $16 Billion;
  • Instagram sold to Facebook for $1 Billion; and
  • Beats Electronics sold to Apple for $3 Billion.

Would you like a piece of that pie? If you answered in the affirmative (let’s assume that you did), the goal is no longer building a business to compete with these tech giants, but work to be established within their orbit and share in their success.

It will be interesting to observe how this strategy morphs and develops in the years ahead. Click here to view the related article by Steven Davidoff Solomon in the New York Times.

Can You Really Handle the Entrepreneurial Life? Check These 5 Signs.

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So you’re thinking of starting your own company or small business? Before you dive into creating a business plan, you need to assess an important question: Are you ready for the entrepreneurial life? Here’s a checklist to help you answer that question:

1) It’s all you think about;

2) You’re beyond determined;

3) You turn criticism into motivation;

4) You have some money in the bank; and

5) You have healthy coping mechanisms for stress.

Click here to view the entire related article in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Always Take The Time To Listen

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Listening

Listening is an important, and often poorly practiced, skill. It is so important that many top employers provide listening skills training for their employees. Seem surprising? Not really when you consider that good listening skills can lead to:

  • Better customer satisfaction;
  • Greater productivity;
  • Fewer mistakes; and
  • Increased sharing of information which can lead to more creative and innovative work.

Many successful entrepreneurs and leaders credit their success to their strong and effective listening skills. Richard Branson, for example, frequently quotes listening as one of the main factors behind his success with the Virgin brand. Bob Farrell, CEO of software development company “Kewill,” also stresses the importance of listening:

“I am just amazed at how often people don’t take the time to listen. All the technology we have has facilitated our ability to know about things and to be productive, but it does sometimes decrease our ability to listen and to be effective.”

Click here to view the New York Times article in full.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how lucky are YOU?”

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Are Traasdahl, the chief executive of the advertising firm "Tapad."

Are Traasdahl, the chief executive of the advertising firm “Tapad.”

When it comes to conducting job interviews, we’re all familiar with the typical questioning dialogue. A recent article in the New York Times, however, alerted me to a very creative approach to questioning prospective employees. Are Traasdahl, Chief Executive of the advertising firm Tapad, likes to ask how lucky a candidate feels they’ve been in life on a scale from one to ten.

Traasdahl argues that: “[s]even is the right answer. If you say 10, you’ve just been the golden child. Everything in your life has just been fabulous, and everything breaks in your direction. You are not able to read the situation around you at that point, I think. If the answer is 2, then you are in a misunderstood-genius category.” Click here to view the article in full.

What creative interview questions do you ask your prospective employees?

When Titles Get in the Way

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RYAN CARSON | Chief Executive of "Treehouse" an online education platform.

RYAN CARSON | Chief Executive of “Treehouse” – an online education platform.

 

I have often thought that titles get in the way when growing a small business.

What do you think?

Click here to view the entire article from the New York Times.

The Startup Mass Extinction

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Startup

Is “The Startup” in danger of becoming extinct?

The fact that most new businesses fail is hardly a secret. So why are so many people gambling on ventures that are likely to end badly?

This article from James Surowiecki at The New Yorker Financial Page helps answer some tricky questions in the contemporary climate of entrepreneurial business: click here to view the article.

7 Popular Pieces Of Business Advice You Should (Politely) Ignore

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giving-advice-4

 

Ever heard the phrases ” think big” and “the customer is always right?”

While this advice may be applicable to some businesses, such comments may be dangerous when applied to all scenarios.

Here are some suggestions from the Business Insider on which pieces of advice to (politely) ignore when it comes to your small business: click here to view the article.

Does Your Small Business Need a Digital Health-Check?

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Website Freshness

As the online face of your business, your website should accurately represent your company and be one of your biggest selling tools. If it’s looking dated, or if online traffic has tailed off, it’s worth taking a fresh, honest look.

Give your site an honest appraisal by asking these seven questions: click here to view the article

18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently

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Colleagues talking in office hallway

While there’s no “typical” creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. Here are 18 things they do differently. Full article via the Huffington Post: The Third Metric.

Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.

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Warren Buffett Gets Away With Paying His Employees Less By Using This One Weird Trick

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Discover how Warren Buffet gets away with paying his employees less, in this article via Business Insider. The answer, is actually quite simple.

“Buffett never skips a chance to emphasize that he treats people humanely, and that Berkshire is a family. This has allowed him to buy companies at lower prices, and get top talent for cheaper than the levels he considers obscene.”

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