Posts tagged Small Business
Small biz acquisition as a tech talent raid strategy
Feb 7th
by Nestor E. Arellano
There’s usually a lot of media hoopla, happy dances and high fives following announcements of a big biz acquisition of a promising tech industry startup.
The general perception is that a company that has struggled to develop its product and get it to market is finally getting the recognition, backing and mega bucks it deserves to get its game to the next level. In many cases, the reality is a business to which an entrepreneur had poured his heart and soul to, is most likely being closed down.
For many large conglomerates acquisition is not so much about getting its hands on technology as it is about a tech talent grab.
Nestor Arellano
Take the case of Summify, the Vancouver-based social summarizing tool purchased by Twitter last month. Summify is cool. It connected all your social networking feeds such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Then it automatically summarizes which content and updates are most relevant to you.
When Twitter bought the company they actually bought the team behind it. Co-founders Mircea Pasoi and Christian Strat and three engineers were reported to be on their way to San Franciscoto work at Twitter’s head office. Read the rest of this entry »
Legal issues to think about for 2012
Jan 19th
by Monica Goyal
The beginning of the year is great time to do a legal check up. Consider the following as you go into the New Year.
Monica Goyal
1. Refresh your will – Revisiting your will, living will and power of attorney on an annual basis could save you or your family heartache down the road. Consider whether there has been any of the following changes in your life this past year: significant changes to the business, birth of a child, death in the family, a divorce, or you bought that something new that is worth bequeathing to someone. Something you may also wasn’t to consider, if you haven’t done so already, is access to electronic assets. Having your passwords to your computer, email, photos, or Facebook account in a document that is accessible to your heirs can save lots of time for them and can be extremely valuable. For example, if there are communications that have to be addressed, bills that are only received electronically that need attending to, or photos on flickr that you want your family to have access to, you should consider including information on how to access these accounts. If you are interested in learning more on how companies will treat your electronic assets on death, take a look at the Terms of Use of Apple, Google, or Yahoo. Read the rest of this entry »
Why aren’t there more women in the tech startup scene?
Jan 12th
by Christine Wong
I’ve asked myself the exact same question while departing various startup events here in Toronto over the past few months.
Where are all the women?
Christine Wong
At one such event this past fall, only a handful of the hundred or so participants were female. At another, I spied one smartly dressed young woman near the front of the room and assumed she was one of the dozen startups there making pitches to a gathering of VCs and angels. When I introduced myself and asked which startup she was with, she smiled and said, “Oh no, I’m just here to watch my husband’s pitch.”
She was the only woman in the entire room besides me. Read the rest of this entry »
Countering artificial commoditization and poor pricing
Dec 20th
by Stewart Crawford
I stumbled upon awesome white paper from my friend Larry Walsh and the teams from N-Able and Netenrich.
As an experienced MSP consultant or MSP Coachwho has built a very successful IT Support firm, I often stop and think about how my MSP coaching clients are pricing themselves in the marketplace today.
Stewart Crawford
There is a pricing challenge in our industry. It starts with how we see our value as an IT Professional” or “IT Consultant” versus just the regular “joe computer fix it guy”. Read the rest of this entry »
There are more losers than winners with software patents
Dec 8th
by Monica Goyal
Today, it seems to be common rhetoric that if you are a successful software startup, you will eventually be sued. If you have conducted business in this industry for any length of time, you likely know of a company that has become the target of a software patent suit.
Monica Goyal
At times, the persons who come knocking on the door are those, whose only business assets are patents, where they don’t actually make any products. They usually seek some form of royalty from a legitimate business enterprise. Intellectual Ventures, for example, is reported to own 35,000 patents and earned $700M in revenue in royalties in 2010.
Another example can be seen with interactive television programme guides. Gemstar, acquired by Macrovision (now Rovi Corporation), holds the intellectual property rights for numerous interactive television programme guides, effectively controlling how millions of people find their favourite television shows. Read the rest of this entry »
Sorting out which equipment to keep and which ones to dump
Oct 20th
by Clare Kumar
Pretend you are visiting your office for the first time. Take a look around with fresh eyes.
What do you see? Does every piece of furniture serve the purpose it was intended for? Are there pieces simply attracting piles of paper?
Clare Kumar
Often when we spend a lot of time in a place, be it work or home, we stop really seeing what’s there. We just accept that it’s supposed to be there, whether it’s working or not.
To make sure that everything in your office ought to be there, take the following steps:
Marketing lessons from my shoes
Sep 27th
By Andrew Berthoff
I recently purchased new shoes online. I like to support local companies, and I always look for things distinct, so I returned to shop at John Fluevog. I don’t often buy shoes, but always enjoy checking out the unique styles – flamboyant or relatively conservative – that this Canadian shoemaker offers.
Shopping online is generally an anonymous experience – call it soulless (as my late fatherused to say, “No pun intended”? Why not?!). With most online shopping sites, the transaction comprises a pre-formatted e-mail confirmation of the purchase and, then, maybe a week later, the arrival of the goods in a plain box with no personalization, no comment, and no thanks for your business.
Andrew Berthoff
Not so with the Fluevians. Even online, they understand that their customer service needs to fit with the style and spirit of the brand – personalized, appreciative and just a shade irreverent. After choosing and purchasing my shoes, I received an e-mail confirmation:
Thank you for placing your web order with John Fluevog Shoes!
We will contact you again within 5 business days to confirm which of our fine locations will be fulfilling your order, and then again when it is shipped. Read the rest of this entry »
Five SEO facts hidden in your domain name
Sep 21st
by Krista LaRiviere
When Google crawls your web site to index and rank your content it has to start somewhere. That somewhere is the front door to your site – your domain name. It’s time to take inventory of your domain name and make sure the welcome mat is out for those Google robots.
Krista LaRiviere
Don’t overlook these five important SEO signals that could make a difference between a Page One and a Page Two ranking.
1. Expiration Date – Do you know when your domain name will expire? If your domain expires two weeks from now and you haven’t renewed it yet Google, might get the sense that you’re not committed to the domain and therefore the web site.
Domain names are relatively inexpensive compared to a decade ago. A dot com domain costs a couple hundred dollars for a 10-year term. If you want to signal to Google that you’re serious about your business and domain, it is a good idea to register it for a longer period of time. Read the rest of this entry »
Co-working gaining ground with tech entrepreneurs
Sep 2nd
By Nestor E. Arellano
Despite all the good stuff you hear about it, working from home can be a drag some days.
There will always be those moments when you can’t get any work done. Playing with the kids seem much more enjoyable, your wife’s to-do list get’s in the way or for those with no family, working in their jammies sends slumber signals to the brain that no amount of caffeine can jam.
Nestor Arellano
It’s almost like you’d rather work in an office. The trouble for many solo entrepreneurs and small business operations is that renting an office can be very expensive, especially if your start-up is pretty much just that and hasn’t quite begun showing any profit.
Typically office space rentals start at around $1,000/month for a tiny space in an urban downtown location. That’s a big chunk off the budget of many fledgeling businesses.
However in the last three year, thousands of freelancers, solo business owners, artists and small business operators in Canada have been turning to a practice called co-working to help bring down the cost of maintaining a working space. Aside from rent that could be thousands of dollars cheaper, co-workers also benefit from something many business owners stuck on a traditional lease arrangement find hard to get – camaraderie and community. Read the rest of this entry »
Lync the hidden gem in Office 365
Jun 29th
By Robert Dutt
After more than eight months of hype from Microsoft, Microsoft’s cloud-based productivity suite, Office 365, formally goes live Tuesday with Microsoft launch events from New York and around the world.
As usual, opinions are varied on whether Microsoft’s second take at a cloud-based productivity suite meets the mark or is doomed to total failure. Some have lambasted it as too expensive when compared to competitor Google Docs, others have proclaimed it virtually cost-free.
