By Daylin Mantyka 
We’re startup-heavy this week for Friday’s roundup and have selected some great content from Forbes, Entrepreneur, ZDNet, the Globe and Mail and The Kernel.
We’ve got two great articles on raising capital and growing your business. We found an interesting post about dealing with non-performers in your company and another about finding that perfect investor for your startup. Finally, we’ve selected an interesting post on marketing: Was it a stealthy marketing stunt or was it a spy’s wallet that was found on a London train?
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By Leo Valiquette
There are times when I just can’t bear it anymore and must out the egregious examples of advertising I see on the Boob Tube. While the culprits are often not selling B2B technology products or services, I still believe there are cautionary tales that are relevant for this blog. (Maybe it’s because I am a writer of fantasy genre fiction in my spare time, where metaphor is often used as a vehicle for social and political commentary.)
Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy as much as anyone, clever and amusing commercials that deliberately redefine “absurd” and couldn’t possibly be taken seriously.
But for this installment, I will aim both barrels at the habit some big brands have of taking their consumers for unsophisticated idiots. Granted, a certain percentage likely are, but that doesn’t mean you should base an entire marketing or advertising campaign on that premise. The likely result, is that you will annoy and alienate a substantial portion of your target audience.
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By Bob Bailly
Over the last several months, I’ve been heartened to see that my obsession with how the human brain functions is becoming part of mainstream thinking. I’m referring to the incredible amount of media attention this organ has received recently from TV, newspapers, magazines and blog articles that extol the virtues of applying neuroscience knowledge – running the gamut from Jason Silva’s National Geographic Channel’s Brain Games, to the Globe and Mail’s or New York Times’ series on the way digital culture affects the way we think, learn and live.
If that were not evidence enough, one need only to look at the incredible array of brain games available through a Google search to realize that the educational industry has learned how to positively apply neuroplasticity – or the ability of the brain to be molded by our thoughts and actions.
I believe a great part of this educational interest in exercising our mind stems from an aging population’s obsession to keep our brains healthy into old age, as well as a new generation of parents and teachers looking to improve their students’ academic success. Increasingly, however, neuro-practitioners are popping up in fields such as sports and business as sports trainers or sales, marketing and communications practitioners see the merit of applying findings from the field of neuroscience into their athletic or business practices.
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By Daylin Mantyka
Last month’s contents were newsworthy and informative. Leading the pack was David French’s post on confidentiality agreements followed by Francis Moran’s timely piece on angel investing in Ontario. As always, we had some great contributions from our guest bloggers on customer service, forecasting culture in startups, PR agency etiquette and the value of testimonials, among others.
In case you missed any of it, here is a handy recap of our posts, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
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By Daylin Mantyka
It’s time for Friday’s weekly roundup. Throughout the week, we’ve read some great content written by the creative folks at StartupCFO, Marketo, Velocity Partners and Tech In Asia.
On deck we’ve got an article that talks about the importance of defining and sticking to your values as your startup grows, followed by an interesting read on using behavioral targeting to get your customers opening emails. Third, we’ve got a slide presentation on one of the secrets to content marketing. In our fourth pick, one writer explores the reasons why some Asian startups no longer care about saving face. Enjoy! Read More
