Flagship ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund has bought more than $400 million of high-growth stocks over the past two weeks.
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Article URL: https://angel.co/company/enzymecorp/jobs/603758-senior-full-stack-engineer Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21140296 Points: 1 # Comments: 0
Article URL: https://angel.co/company/enzymecorp/jobs/603758-senior-full-stack-engineer
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21140296
Points: 1
# Comments: 0
Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! You can start sparking business innovation right now.
Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.
And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!
Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about SMS Marketing. Opt In Monster says getting permission is vital, and so is providing clear instructions for how customers can opt out. This totally works for us. After all, if you can’t easily get rid of texts, they’re going to end up costing you in messaging and/or data.
Plus if you do any business at all in Europe, GDPR may very well require that you do both.
If nothing else, it’s good practice, particularly for avoiding annoying your customers and prospects.
Those are the last people you want to frustrate and annoy.
Oh God, my writer/editor brain can’t take it.
Please don’t do this to your customers and prospects, not even if they’re teens and tweens. For the younger set, you’ll probably look truly inauthentic. For the older (ahem) among us, you’ll look unprofessional.
And so much slang and abbreviating can easily backfire as abbreviations and language evolve over time. You definitely don’t want to look and sound like yesterday’s news.
The next awesome tip is about doing rebranding right. Word Stream notes you’ll even have to change and fix your online advertising campaigns. After all, let’s say Exxon changed its name from Esso this week, rather than in 1972.
They would need to update any ads. After all, it would be kind of embarrassing to have a great advertisement out there which touted the products sold by the old brand.
The article is great – so we suggest reading it in its entirety – and it gives detailed advice on how to fix things.
But then there’s another thing, not in the article.
We talk about it all the time here. Congruency.
Your business name needs to be the same everywhere. Yelp, your business licenses, your phone listings, your IRS records – you name it.
Why?
Because lenders are going to hunt for your information online. And if they can’t find something, they’ll assume it doesn’t exist – and are far, far more likely to deny your loan application. And they’re not going to stop to consider the myriad ways your business could be listed online.
So change things in all of those places, too.
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! From sparking business innovation to customer retention, this post has it all.
Our following life-changing tip concerns increasing online survey response rates. G2 lays it all out for us. We all know that responses to online surveys could be better. Even if yours are bona fide amazing, it never hurts to try to improve things.
So, how do you do that?
Our absolute fave tip was using what’s called ‘skip logic’ (no, that’s not some guy’s name).
Skip logic is when an online survey can skip certain questions based upon previous answers.
For example, let’s say your survey is about people’s pets. Maybe you sell pet food or toys or the like. Probably one of your first questions, after demographics, will be which type of animal people have.
Hence, based on learning that a person has a goldfish, you wouldn’t ask them about leashes and walks, because you can’t take a goldfish for a walk. This is a truly terrific concept, because it reduces frustration immediately. How many times have you had to type ‘not applicable’ in the middle of a survey? And how many times have you just abandoned one because it didn’t appeal to you?
With skip logic, those frustrations should diminish if not downright go away entirely.
A similar technique is branching, and it’s something many of us have seen in websites. That is, if you get a question with two or more answers and then if you click on one or the other, you get a different experience. There’s a similar vibe going on with branching for surveys.
The beauty of branching is you can lead your survey respondents down a progressive set of questions.
So let’s go back to our pets survey example for a moment. If the respondent says they have a dog, then the next logical question might be about the dog’s age or breed or level of training. If they say they have a cat, then questions could be about age or breed or whether this is an indoor or an outdoor cat.
For a big dog, the survey might go onto questions about how much of a chewer the dog is, or whether the dog is left outside for long time periods. For a smaller dog, the next set of questions might ask about how cold the dog gets at various temperatures (Italian greyhounds, for example, are really skinny and get cold a lot faster than Boston terriers generally do).
For an indoor cat, the next set of questions might be about how much scratching the cat does. Maybe for an outdoor cat, the next questions could be about if there are wild animals in the area that might steal cat food left out (raccoons do this a lot).
Either way, your survey respondent is bound to feel you’re asking about what matters the most to them.
For our next sensational tip, we looked at customer retention. Small Business Bonfire says that retaining customers is vital for a number of reasons, not the least of which that it costs a lot less than drumming up new business.
Consider this – your current customers already know and trust you. And you already know they love and need your product and service, and they see the need for it. So why wouldn’t you want to make and keep them happy?
Our favorite tip was about responsiveness. Seriously. When a customer has a question for you, do you respond as soon as possible? And if you don’t know the answer, do you at least say you’re working on it? Yes, even with difficult customers.
Neglected customers won’t be your customers for very long.
This tip is so cool, and it works! Freelancers Union tells us all about turning your blog into a lead generator. Now, keep in mind, the article is written from the perspective of a freelancer. But the same principles still apply.
There’s great information on both SEO and user experience. We suggest you read the whole thing to get the full experience, as it were.
But the point to highlight is all about the essential pages. They make sense – your home and about pages are vital! Plus your services page, otherwise no one has any idea of what you do and offer. Similar idea for any business, even if your ‘services page’ is several pages, and it’s for sales of goods rather than services.
Make it painfully clear what you do, what it costs, and what it includes. Don’t make prospects hunt for this information. They’ll just go to a competitor who doesn’t make them jump through those sorts of hoops.
Ouch.
Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!
And by hot, we mean you’ve got the tinder and the match – it’s time to start sparking business innovation in your company.
Small Biz Trends says when it comes to sparking business innovation and getting your employees to start creating, it all depends on the stage the business is in.
Not surprisingly, startups need cash. Yesterday. And so this tip focuses on getting the funds to light that creativity fire and start sparking business innovation.
Their two ideas where crowdfunding and government funding, like from the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). We particularly love the idea of crowdfunding. If Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and other similar campaigns reward anything, it’s usually creativity.
So toss some of your startup’s ideas against GoFundMe’s wall, and see if they stick.
For companies which are past the startup stage, money is less of an urgent need. Hence for them, the way to be creative is to bake it into the company’s culture and structure. This will help not only now, but for years to come.
Knock wood – your business is around for a super-long time – you’ll need some long-term plans. It can be harder to get unstuck if your company is entrenched and set in its ways. Better to make those set ways into something that pushes creativity.
How? One idea is to empower employees with decision-making capabilities. And another is to reward innovation, maybe through perks or recognition plaques or whatever strikes your fancy.
Engineers get patents. Music makers get gold records. Writers get published works. What do your employees get when they’re creative?
Uh, what?
One tip which made a lot of sense was to create what are essentially creativity incubators within a company. These are places (not necessarily physical) where employees are free to express their ideas.
The other bit is actually kind of basic – change your physical assets to digital ones.
True story. Long before joining Credit Suite, your intrepid blog writer audited law firms for a major insurance company. Now, a part of this was to check for billing discrepancies. But another angle was to suggest innovation. And one firm had – no lie – about an entire office floor dedicated to file storage space. This was the late 1990s. Scanners already existed as a thing.
And the head of this firm complained about all of the rent it was costing him to keep all of the documentation that we required. To which I countered – why not buy a scanner or two and have clerical staff scan most of the documents and then shred the physical? You could have a college student do this, or a summer intern.
Oh no, we need to be able to make copies.
Well, but with digital, you can make infinite copies, and it doesn’t cost you a dime.
They had no idea.
But these days, we all know better. And one of the beauties of digital, beyond saving physical space, is it makes it far easier to change, manipulate, add to, and subtract from, your assets.
Talk about sparking business innovation.
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! From sparking business innovation to customer retention, this post has it all.
Check out this spectacular tip, all about managing your business finances. Succeed As Your Own Boss notes that the first sensible thing to do is no great shocker – hire an accountant. But we loved some other grand ideas.
Consider the idea of opening a profit account. What’s a profit account? The idea is to skim off some of the payments to your business (say, 1 – 10%) for you. This isn’t an emergency account for the business (which is another excellent idea). It’s to make sure you, the big cheese, are actually getting paid.
And put it in an account that’s hard for you to tap into. Let it be a happy financial surprise, rather than a well you’re constantly dipping into.
#3. Productivity – To The Max!It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you maximize employee productivity. Young Upstarts tells us there are great ways to up your employees’ productivity.
The first tip we really loved was about minimizing distractions. As a writer in particular, this speaks directly to me. Cutting cell phone use is helpful. But it’s also helpful to create what are almost office hours. Giving clear signals about when you’re available for meetings and impromptu discussions – and when you aren’t – can set reasonable expectations. And people will stop bugging you when you’re on a tight deadline.
And that just might start sparking business innovation, too!
Our other fave tip was to offer some incentives. These don’t have to be too costly, either. Consider what we did here at Credit Suite – we had a department video competition. The winners got movie tickets. And, ahem, Marketing won.
Then again, it’s easy (well, easier) when you’ve got so many talented folks who can create pretty graphics, smooth out any sound issues, and write a decent script. So we kinda had a few ringers in our department.
So far, we don’t know if Sales has vowed revenge….
Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on staying competitive. Under 30 CEO reveals all about maintaining your competitive edge.
Turns out it’s a group effort (who knew?).
The best tip (according to us) was the one about maintaining a network of people who will be honest with you and challenge you. That makes a great deal of sense.
Consider this. Let’s say you’re new to the business world. You have a great idea, people support it, and maybe you’re the recipient of enough crowdfunding cash or venture capital money infusions or angel investments.
But you have no idea how to do your books.
Would you wing it, or hire an expert?
Of course, you might not be able to afford an expert. But you’re flush with cash. So add it as a budget line item and hire one. Unless, of course, you think audits and possible lawsuits cost less.
Pro tip: they don’t.
So why should you hesitate in any other area where you aren’t quite sure of how to handle things?
Being the CEO doesn’t mean you also have to be the Lone Ranger.
We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on upping your ecommerce SEO results. Fundera says you can improve your SEO in all aspects of ecommerce.
First off, for SEO in this area, as in every other, research is your first step! Consider every single way your product (or service, for that matter) can be described. Let’s say you’re a long haul trucker. The term ‘long distance trucker’ is the same thing, yes? So when you are putting together your website, you’re going to want to use both phrases throughout your content.
But do your research, and determine which is more popular. Of course, you want to concentrate on that one!
The idea of using keywords in the product pages and their URLs was terrific! Again, this is an article which is best appreciated in its entirety.
So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! From sparking business innovation to customer retention, this post has it all.
The post Start Sparking Business Innovation –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.
Innovation is what keeps things moving. It keeps industries from growing stagnant and encourages our economy to continue thriving. In hard economic times, innovation is what pulls us out. Consequently, we need innovation to keep moving along. Finding new and better ways to get things done is essential to our economy and our livelihood. It cannot happen without business venture capital however.
If innovation is the fire that raises the hot air balloon of the economy, then business venture capital is the spark that lights the fire. Of course you can always get corporate credit, and that is important. However, there must be people with funds that are willing to support the innovation for it to do what it needs to do. Name most any industry, and if innovation stops the industry will stall. As a result, growth will cease.
Consequently, online ad firms are starting to see this in their industry. It seems strange that, with the internet not going anywhere and continuing to grow, anything online should be in danger of stalling. In the face of Goliath’s like Facebook and Google however, it appears that is exactly what is happening.
It isn’t really hard to define venture capital. At its core, it is an investment. Generally, these investment funds come from venture capital firms. These venture capital funds are used by the business owner to get the business up and running, and then the venture capital firm earns a percentage of the profit.
What does business venture capital have to do with innovation, or what does a lack business venture capital have to do with a lack of innovation? Consider the previously mentioned ad tech firm example. For a few years there was a ton of venture capital flowing into this particular industry, but there has been a steep decline in more recent years. What is happening with venture capital firms?
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For example, there were 260 deals between ad tech companies and venture capital firms in 2014. In 2017 there were only 122. The decline is ongoing. Many of the smaller ad techs were not profitable, so they are consolidating or disappearing all together. Without the business venture capital helping them out, there will not be many more making a go at it either.
The problem is, those smaller companies are needed when it comes to innovation. If there is no one trying to beat Google and Facebook, or at least compete, then there is no one trying to find a better way to do things. With no venture capital flowing into the industry, the smaller companies aren’t going to be able to innovate, meaning they can’t compete.
In the ad tech world, the best solution is likely a third large competitor. A third player in the big game could up the competition just enough to inspire the big three to start looking for ways to beat each other at their own game. Competition is where innovation thrives.
What about other industries? It’s kind of a two-way street. Venture capitalists like to see innovation, and startups need to find innovative ways to do what they do so that they can compete. To do that, they need funding. In this way, innovation attracts business venture capital, and the more venture capital a business can get its hands on, the more innovative it can be.
You know you have to play hard or go home. If you aren’t innovating, then you aren’t going to get the funds. If you aren’t getting the funds, your innovation will never become a reality. So, first thing’s first. Get those creative juices flowing and find a better way to do what you do than your competitors.
Now that you understand how venture capital and innovation are related through the ad tech vs. Google and Facebook example, you need to know how to get venture capital for your own business. Keeping with the theme of sparks and fire, you will need to spark your own fire, a campfire of sorts, to attract potential investors. Here is how to get the fire started, and what to do once you have them sitting around said fire.
Don’t just pick a random firm to approach about investing in your business. You have to do a little research first. Venture capitalists do not make a habit of investing in companies that haven’t proven themselves. Most want to see some proof of profitability.
Look for those that have historically offered funding to companies in the same industry as you that were in a similar stage. If they typically go for businesses in health care and you are a tech company, they are probably not the right fit for you.
Similarly, if they generally lend to those that have been in business for a minimum of 2 years and profit of at least $50,000 a year, and you fit that description, they may be worth talking to. Be intentional with the firms you approach to cut down on wasted time and effort.
Do not blast every venture capitalist you can find on line with a cookie cutter email. That is a huge no no. Not only will it not work, but they likely will never even read your email. Back in the 80s there was an idea that venture capitalists would read unsolicited proposals, and they pretended that they did. There is no pretending now. It doesn’t happen, and there is no reason to think it does. Email blasting is not a way to find investors. Keep your search concentrated and contained to those that are interested in your industry and companies in the same stage as yours.
How do you find someone then? In addition to concentrated research, work through your network. Talk to friends, families, and associates. Pick their brains to see who they know that may be a good fit for your business. Ask them to introduce you.
Don’t have a network? Better get to work! Starting from scratch to build a business network is hard, but it isn’t impossible. Start by joining the local chamber of commerce. Next, take a look at any other professional organizations that may be a good fit for your business.
Then, attend events. Take business cards, go mingle, and make connections. Events may include business after hours, lunch and learns, conferences, and workshops. All of these offer excellent opportunities for network building, and you may even learn something along the way.
If you are building a campfire, a few well-placed chairs or benches can make others want to join. In the same way, a quick video or memo that will catch the attention of investors. This is what you use when you get that introduction from friends, family, or someone else in your network. It needs to be quick and to the point, just enough to make them want to know more.
A spectacular one-liner never hurts. This can be on your business cards, all over your social media, and anywhere else it may be appropriate to include it. It should get across what you do in one look. Use familiarity and popularity to help with this. For example, one toy company touts itself as “The Netflix of Toys.” There is no doubt what the business does, due to the fact that everyone knows what Netflix is, and of course, what toys are.
If your one liner and memo or video work, you will be in further contact. Spend some time developing a relationship. Don’t rush them. Let them get to know you and your business. Business venture capital is not a form of quick funding. It takes time to build trust.
Okay, so say you are at an event and someone you already know introduces you to a potential investor. You visit a little and hand them your business card. Maybe there is a one-liner on it that really catches their eye. They may ask you a few questions and you answer, then as you part ways he or she says “Very interesting. I’d love to know more sometime.”
The next business day, when you get to work, send a quick email. It should say something like “It was a pleasure to meet you at (insert event here.) You mentioned you would like to know more about our company. I have attached some information.” Then attach your memo or video.
If they reply, you can work from there building the relationship.
This is a big question. They may ask for a pitch as soon as they see your one liner. They may ask for it after they are wowed by your memo or video. It is more than a little likely they will want to develop some kind of a relationship before they decide they want to hear a whole pitch deck.
Here’s the thing. Regardless of when they want it, you need to have it ready before they ask.
A pitch deck is a power point presentation that serves up detailed information about your venture on a series of slides. Following are some tips as to what slides you should include and what should be on them, as well as a few dress-ups that will really fan the flames.
This can be just a quick, four or five bullet point slide that gives a summary of the rest of the pitch. Consider it a sample designed to make them want to know more.
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Create a clear vision and purpose for your company and sum it up in one statement.
Introduce your team. Use pictures. They need to put a face with the people they are investing in.
Present the “problem” that your business will solve. Show the need your product or service will fill.
Make the case for why your business is the ultimate “solution” to the problem previously mentioned. Spend some time explaining how it will work and what makes your business different from other solutions, if there are others.
Introduce the product or service you will be selling. Bring a prototype or drawings of the product, or if it is a service bring testimonies from those who have used it.
This is where you define your market. Who is going to use your product or service, how they will benefit from it, and what they can and will pay. This is also where you explain exactly how you will reach your market.
If you already have a customer base, like people already buying what you are selling, let potential investors know that in this section. Try using logos investors may recognize where possible. They make a more lasting impression.
If you have some proprietary technology, be sure to include that. Include any patents or copyrights.
You can’t write a pitch deck and ignore the competition. Acknowledge them and lay out your plans for beating them. Note who they are, how you are different, and what gives you the advantage over them.
Also, make sure you research the competition. You will need to be able to answer questions knowledgeably.
This many include things such as web traffic, downloads of any apps you already have available, early sales, partnerships, and testimonials.
Tell them how the business will make money, how a customer will retain value long-term, or not, and what you pricing plan looks like.
Explain your marketing plan. Those considering providing you with business venture capital will want to know which marketing platforms and channels you intend to use and what the marketing campaign will look like.
It boils down to more than just an income statement and a balance sheet. They need to know what you have, how much you are making, and how you intend to use what they give you.
Tell them exactly what you want from them. Lay out the amount along with what they will get in return.
There is more to a pitch deck than content. That’s the important part, but if they fall asleep it won’t do you any good. They cannot absorb what you are telling them if they are bored to tears. You need to make it pop.
A mixture of crisp, clean design and eye-catching fonts won’t win it for you. Certainly a lack thereof probably means they won’t make it far enough to even see the important stuff. In fact, while content is crucial, design is just as necessary for the content to ever get through. It should be interesting, but not cluttered.
Don’t use DropBox or something similar. Stay away from crazy file formats. Rather, attach the pitch deck directly to an email. Just make it easy.
A good pitch deck shouldn’t be more than 15 or 20 slides. It seems like after that, most start to lose interest.
It’s too easy to misunderstand what you are talking about. As a result, it is better to just say it the long way.
Discover our business credit and finance guide, jam-packed with new ways to finance your business without emptying your wallet.
It is no secret venture capital in the ad tech industry is declining. It is because giants like Facebook and Google are snuffing the fire. The verdict is still out on how this will affect the industry in the long-term, but it isn’t hard to envision how it is likely to play out if something doesn’t change.
Business venture capital sparks innovation, and a lack of it can for sure stifle it. Understanding that through the phenomenon that is happening in the ad tech world right now is vital. Above all, keep innovation alive in your industry by going after the venture capital you need to start and grow your business to its full potential.
The post How Business Venture Capital Sparks Innovation, And How Google and Facebook are Throwing Water on the Fire When it Comes to Online Ad Firms appeared first on Credit Suite.