By Leo Valiquette
During my years as a full-time journo, I crossed paths with many a startup technology venture that claimed to be operating in so-called stealth mode. It was the early 2000s, before the process of getting technology to market was as socially enabled as it is now, and startup CEOs seemed to consider it hip and trendy to apply the S word to their businesses.
Where, I wonder, are many of those startups now?
We wrote many moons ago about the inherent foolishness of trying to build a business by somehow staying under the radar. You can’t define a market need, develop a product to meet that need, secure the funding necessary for operations or build the team that can pull it all off without telling the world who you are and what you are trying to do.
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By Daylin Mantyka
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are memeburn, ReadWriteWeb, TopRank Blog and Fast Company.
Meaningful social measurement: A lesson from the underpants gnomes
Sam Beckbessinger looks at why measuring follower counts on social media is a meaningless metric that’s quickly falling out of favour. Instead, she proposes four more meaningful metrics that offer greater insight into the community you’ve created around your brand.
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By Leo Valiquette
Last month’s lineup featured great posts on how established companies should innovate, a startup CEO’s tips for wooing investors, the risks of discounting your product and the need for philanthropy to be a natural part of doing business. And of course, there was plenty of sage advice on what it takes to make marketing work.
In case you missed any of it, here is a handy recap of our posts, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
April 18: In search of that Entrepreneurial Spark, by Maurice Smith
April 23: What have you done for someone else lately?, by Leo Valiquette
April 11: Want more business from your website? Here are 6 things your customers need to see, by Tim Peter
April 24: A startup CEO’s tips for wooing investors, by John Hill and Leo Valiquette
April 25: The folly (or possibly the wisdom) of discounting, by Francis Moran
April 10: Best of: The saddest marketing story I’ve ever heard, by Francis Moran
April 17: My top travel tips, by Francis Moran
April 8: When is it time to say, ‘Our CEO’s got to go?’by Denzil Doyle
April 16: The imperatives of leaders, leadership and leading, by Bob Bailly
April 29: In it until everyone crosses the finish line, by Leo Valiquette
April 15: What an entrepreneur can learn from a literary conference: Part III, by Leo Valiquette
April 4: Trademark hygiene: A cautionary tale, by David French
April 30:Patent harvesting versus mandated innovation, by David French
April 3: ‘You can’t cross a canyon in two leaps’, by Francis Moran
April 2: Best of: Just the facts … no, these facts, by Leo Valiquette
April 9: What an entrepreneur can learn from a literary conference: Part II, by Leo Valiquette
Image: April 2013 Calendar Printable
By Daylin Mantyka
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are ReadWriteWeb, Ventureburn, Techvibes, Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That and Velocity.
Smarter marketing: How minority report got it all wrong
In her article, Sarah Rotman Epps talks about the Smart Body, Smart World paradigm — how sensor-laden devices like wearables give us access to new domains of information. When speaking with marketing executives, Sarah finds a consistent comparison to the 2002 movie, Minority Report. She argues that the Minority Report-style marketing is a “dumb vision of the smart future” and provides some intelligent advice on implementing innovative tactics that rightly embrace the future of marketing.
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By Leo Valiquette
March break aside, we kept up the pace last month with a great lineup of content that featured some excellent posts from our guest bloggers. Hot topics included opportunities in the global smart TV market, criteria for hiring a worthy writer and the risks and rewards of having a product that is truly unique in the marketplace.
In case you missed any of it, here is a handy recap of our posts, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
March 20: Calling Canada’s startups: There’s a $200B TV market ripe for the taking, by Jason Flick
March 19: Is that writer worth the cost of the ink?, by Leo Valiquette
March 26: The ballad of the undifferentiated product, by Francis Moran
March 27: The ‘Accelerator Bubble’ will pop, but not for the reason you think it will, by Jesse Rodgers
March 25: Three (not so) simple strategies to avoid ‘losing the plot’ in marketing, by Rob Woyzbun
March 07: Oracles, shamans and storytellers, by Bob Bailly
March 13: It’s still rock and roll to me, by Francis Moran
March 21: Best of: My three buckets of customer segmentation, by Francis Moran
March 06: You can’t rely on the channel to grow sales in new markets, by Jeff Campbell
March 11: Drafting your own patent disclosure document, by David French
March 12: Don’t give your customers reasons to ask for apologies, by Leo Valiquette
March 18: Some dos and don’ts of governance, by Denzil Doyle
March 14: Before you jump on the content-marketing bandwagon …, by Leo Valiquette
March 05: From courting Hollywood’s A-list to navigating the Chinese New Year, by Leo Valiquette and John Hill
Image: March2013CalendarPrintable.com
