When we read about content marketing successes, we so often hear stories from glamorous industries with substantial budgets, but YNAB is not one of these stories. In fact, it couldn’t be farther from that reality. It is however, a success story of David vs Goliath proportions, building a thriving community of users in a highly
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Yeah, every startup I've ever met or worked on should be reading this post. Content marketing and content curation is so much more important than any startup team realizes and as this post proves. The first startup with a Chief Content Officer is something you should invest in.
Startups Must Read Remember building forts when you where a kid? We all do and thus the power of the universal metaphor my friend and Startup Factory founder Chris Heivly's new book. Chris organize the book around 5 things startup entrepreneurs must do to be successful:
1. Socialize their idea
2. Partner with good and trustworthy people
3. Gather assets close to you
4. Create a collective purpose
5. Build the fort
To say Chris' book is a must read is to be grossly inaccurate. If you are a startup or ever want to become an entrepreneur you must read Build The Fort.
Must Follower Startup Experts & Resourcs Are you an active user of Twitter? Great! If not - get there as fast as you can and follow these 15 startup influencers. Recommended by an online market...
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Great list by Alexandra. I added a bunch of "new to me" resources such as
@davidedelman (brilliant McKinsey partner who wrote me a nice note when I talked about his Branding In All The Wrong Places article for HBR)
@lizstrauss (and she followed me back, also #toogood)
@ChrisBrogan (he helped with Cure Cancer Starter and I met him at a show in SF...good, smart, menschy guy) @JoePulizzi (met Joe at one of his content marketing shows in Cleveland, father of content marketing is a good, smart guy too)
Sweeps Urberizing the Summer Job Yes and making finding and getting summer work done will benefit students and employers. Cool NC Startup Sweepsjobs.com is Uberizing the summer job and it's all good.
Starting a business has its fair share of ebbs and flows - it can be extremely challenging to get a new business off the blocks, and extremely rewarding when everything goes according to plan and y...
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Found this a fascinating read. We thought about hiring a "scrapper" at Curagami. We weren't sure 1. who was reputable (scraping can show up as an attack if you aren't careful) and 2. how to engage those who we could trust to help. This post answers both those questions though some additional research on vendors is probably called for as the post has a salesy point of view.
There are literally hundreds of new products released every day from every corner of the web. With that many ideas being marketed and released daily it is hard to keep up with everything. Even with great aggregators like Product Hunt, StartupLi.st, Gadget Hunt and Beta List it is easy to get
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Great Idea. You can never have too much aggregation in this world and UpStarted is right - too much cool stuff happening all over to keep track. Put some personal filtering (Digg like) on this bad boy and HUGE WINNER.
2. Be Flexible AGREE and don't let anyone tell you "startups do it this way" they are full of it. Startups do it every way.
3. Don’t imitate large companies. AGREE small is the new BIG. Better to be nimble and fast these days. Trying to be something you are not is a fool's errand since everyone knows everything all the time.
4. Differentiation & USP Beat Innovation. AGREE execution matters more than ideas no matter how sexy the idea.
5. No Org Chart Thinking. AGREE, everyone needs to do everything all the time. Some roles and responsibilities need to be defined, but loosely so. Better to step on each other than create "not my table" thinking.
6. No Glam or Funky Titles Agree, the Chief Party Hardy Man is dated and stupid. Don't go there and don't use big sounding titles. I prefer FOUNDER to CEO.
7. Don’t evangelize repeatedly your vision and strategy. DISAGREE STRONGLY This is strange advice. I wear my startups logo DAILY and will give our elevator pitch to strangers and it gets a little better each time. Once I can do our pitch in my sleep and see recognition instead of a thousand yard stare upon reception then I will slow down the pitching practice.
8. Don’t look for extra skilled or over qualified personnel. Agree there is no silver bullet and that includes people. If you get some massively talented guru level talent they will be too hard to work with in a startup environment. .
9. Don’t set numerous, unclear or unrealistic objectives. Agree - see point #1 about becoming a NOWIST.
10. Don’t ignore the strength of the team. Agree ad would add BECOME a team. You must be one for all and all for one with each member realizing and acting on the "sum of the parts is greater than the whole" idea. No I in team and that means sacrifice ego at the door of any startup. No one can do that 100% but TRY.
Warren Buffet's Haiku Deck Lesson One of the hardest web marketing lessons my former Direct Marketing bosses taught was to think Darwinian thoughts. I wanted to improve laggards.
Don't waste your time, came the advice and important digital marketing lesson, double down on winners. This wise lesson was just taught again by Warren Buffett.
Warren's Tips For Startups Haiku Deck has been on top of the 36 decks I've created. I started watching views by deck several months ago and my DM bosses lesson holds true.
Social Media: It's A Conversation Stupid (http://shar.es/10AHlZ ) Gains: 1,915 Total Views: 6,297 % Gain: 44%
Once again Buffett proves the rich get richer.
This truth doesn't mean Social Media: Its A Conversation is unimportant. Knowing what is trending is a CSF (Critical Success Factor) for any web marketing team, but Buffett does prove Darwin was a web marketing pro long before there was a web. Double down on winners and leave laggards stands as one of the most important "laws" of our web marketing ecosystem :). M
Marty Note Love this Jody Porowski post since she shares directly and doesn't lay claim to expertise she doesn't have (rare). I also love here reasons for why content marketing matters beyond pure traffic generation such as:
1. Drive Traffic.
2. Increase Awareness.
3. Create new Connections. 4. Produce Warm Fuzzies.
Great list. I would add:
5. Creates online community (net effect of 1 - 4).
6. Voice is authority, authority is reputation, reputation is all.
7. Provides grappling hooks out to social media to accomplish #2. 8. Shares values and nonverbals communication such as WE LISTEN (especially when you curate or incorporate content from users). 9. Promotes User Generated Content (they won't share if you don't). 10. Define your USP and UCA (Unique Selling Proposition and Unique Customer Aspiration).
YES, we live in a post content-shock world, but construct a website without a voice and see how it performs (it won't). Stories, shared intimacy and risk form the basis of any successful online community. Remember 1:9:90 Rule says 1% of a site's visitors will advocate and share valuable UGC (User Generated Content), 9% will vote and share especially content from the highly trusted 1%ers and 90% read and visit (important to traffic numbers but hard to engage).
We used to think content and voice was the ante for an Ambassador Program or the creation of valuable brand advocates and Sheraps. Team Curagami changed our mind recently and now advise customers such as Moon-Audio.com (manufacturers amazing audio cables and sells high-end headphones and earphones) to ASK for help NOW.
Continue to develop content and voice since the more trusted you are the greater chance you have at the gold at the end of the web marketing rainbow - sustainable online community. BUT ASK FOR HELP immediately, specifically and often.
Such a great post by Jody I couldn't help adding a riff from my experience as a content marketer, content curator and former Ecommerce Director. Added to Startups Revolution because content marketing is one of the rocks many startups get hung upon. Don't over think content marketing and create something daily.
Can’t get enough of that animated GIF where Oprah unleashes a swarm of bees on her studio audience? Or the one where some guy gets hit in the face by a trashcan? You’re in luck. Soon, a new startup called Gifbook will sell you some flip books that recreate your favorite animated GIFs, so that…
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
Levels is cool. I added Durham, NC to his Nomad List of great places to be work "in the wild". Love the idea of FAST and then FASTER startup creation. Reminds me of a lesson Alton Pickens taught before we realized what a bad painter I am (lol). }
In college Pickens had me line up 50 sheets of paper and create with a timer. Fast became faster. He was trying to destroy THINKING TOO MUCH. Levels is doing the same by floating like a startup butterfly and stinging like a bee.
For entrepreneurs, time is especially precious. Every wasted minute is a lost opportunity for networking, growing the business, and of course making money.
Mark Twain noted few souls are saved after the first 10 minutes of the sermon. Your pitch has, maybe, half that time.
1. Do some research.
2. Connect with your audience on a human level.
3. Tell a story they can relate to.
4. Share facts.
5. Be subtle -- don't give it all away.
6. Make them laugh.
7. Create a sense of urgency.
8. Make a bold statement.
9. Make your final words count.
Marty Note Great post I would change the order and add a few. Here are my 10 Tips To Win Investor Hearts & Minds:
1. Slow DOWN, SMILE and be IN THE MOMENT. 2. Open with a BOLD statement.
3. Note any connection no matter how remote (based on research).
4. Tease with cliffhangers & Speak In Sound Bites. 5. Tell A Story relevant to them based on your research. Don't say "I want to tell a story" as that sounds like it will take too much time. 6. Do Research To Know What Is Relevant. 7. Use P&G Presentation Summary (see below). 8. Find URGENCY in your story and highlight it. 9. Weave facts INTO your story. 10. Close with a question that ties your story to their context and ask if they are in. Whatever they say check it back with them by summarizing and asking if you understand.
Want to emphasis 3 things: NOW, P&G & Closing.
NOW This is YOUR meeting. The first thing they are going to want to do is be IN CONTROL and be the ALPHA dogs. Money needs ideas and ideas need money. YOU are an EQUAL even if you are sitting in Kleiner Perkins Caufield (which I would imagine is fairly intimidating).
Powerful RICH people respect people who don't need them. Whoops, let me amend that. "Appear" to not need them. Think of SnapChat turning down billions. Why? Because they KNOW they have something and its THEIRS. When someone makes the right offer for collaboration they will do the deal.
Go hat in hand to an investor meeting and you are dead before you start. THINK about anything OTHER than what is happening in that room in that time and you are dead. If the meeting feels unequal or uncomfortable check-in, ask a question and channel the moment.
NEVER project. Don't meet thinking the partnership and the money will magically complete you. It doesn't and can't, so release any thought of yesterday or tomorrow and be simply and completely in that room listening with every atom in your body.
P&G P&G taught a helpful way to organize a sales presentation:
* Summarize The Situation (discuss the market, macro trends & threads that led you to start a company). * State The Idea. * Explain How It Works. * Discuss Benefits.
Done right this format becomes a seamless story with threads and hooks. Hooks are cliffhanger you pay off in the next section. If you are meeting with sailors frame some of your analogies with sailing references. Careful NOT to presume too much. Stay TOPICAL with your relevant analogies so you don't appear to be challenging their expertise (in golf, sailing, cycling, cancer survival, ivy league schools, prep schools or whatever).
Closing "Close early and often," is how P&G taught me to sell soap. You aren't selling soap, but respect buying signals. My boss said, "Marty learn to take YES for an answer". You should too.
Don't win by talking. You win MONEY and HEARTS by LISTENING more than you talk. Treat every question as if there is a hidden subtext - something they want to share. Don't NOT answer a question, but always check-in after you do. "Did I answer your question," is a simple check-in.
If you are speaking in short "sound bites" not Hamlet-like speeches your answers won't delay the subtext they want to share. The people across do deals daily, so they will be FAST. Fast is fine as long as you don't feel pressured or ill-at-ease.
If you feel EITHER fast or ill-at-east RUN don't walk away from the deal. Whatever feeling you have in the "invest in you meeting" only gets magnified once you take their money. SO if you aren't in love with them too RUN AWAY.
One thing the Big C taught me is DO WHAT YOU LOVE with THOSE YOU LOVE and no amount of money is worth losing the company you love. Make no mistake. There are many ways to lose your company. One way is if it feels like a JOB. You don't work for them. You are collaborating with them.
Money isn't as hard to find as them make it feel. Great partners you can love are RARE and very hard to find. Focus on the PEOPLE not the money and you may win VC hearts and minds.
MS&E 71SI: Entrepreneurship through the Lens of Venture Capital: Disruption in Venture Capital The course explores disruption in venture capital and how successful startups navigate funding,...
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
This is a class at Stanford so it takes a bit for this video to get going, but stick with it as late stage investor Jules' thoughts on customer retention and his 5 Things are worth listening to. Great thoughts on "creating retention".
I've met many #startups and most have a single issue on their mind - how to scale, win and be heroes. Drew, Nichole, and the team at Moon-Audio.com demonstrate what it takes to succeed daily:
* Love what you do * Do what you love no matter what * Express your inner artist in product and treatment of people * Share, Share and Share some more * Be more generous than deserved * Rinse and Repeat
We live in a strange time, a time where it is easy to forget what really matters. I had to battle #cancer to discover the single word answer to what matters - people. Life is always about relationships you create, experiences you value, and the journey you and we are all on.
Sirens sing a seductive and misleading chorus. I like +Amazon.com's low prices, but I LOVE +Moon-Audio.com because Drew and Nichole are a light in the tunnel, a light for all garage bands, growth hackers and dreamers. Do what you love, love what you are doing and who you are doing it with and life is good, scale happens and you hear guitars and trumpets you've never heard before.
Yunmake, a Hangzhou-based smart bike maker, has raised a Series A led by Shunwei Capital, the investment firm led by Xiaomi chief executive officer Lei Jun...
Martin (Marty) Smith's insight:
X + Smartphone = Cool If you read this quick notice about Yunmake's series A funding you will see a common thread. We've noticed how the Internet of Things means everything from our wifi speakers to home security becomes less than DULL when appified.
Strange bicycle + Smartphone = Cool in this case. Any company doing anything would be advised to find ways to create the same kind of digital, software, hardware, virtual, hard goods and human interaction Yunmake's series A promises.
Startup Lessons From A Wolf & A Record Company Peanut Butter Wolf knows what and supports what he loves - aspiring music and musicians. His startup, Stones Throw Records (https://www.stonesthrow.com ), is the subject of an amazing documentary with many #startups lessons including:
* Be in "it" (business and life) for the right reasons (i.e. LOVE not money). * Walk your talk. * Have courage. * Do the right thing.
The record biz is in turmoil. How anyone can make enough money to survive is the issue and the issue isn't resolved. The web is an amazing thing, but it is a wrecking ball too.
The music biz is one of those buildings he wrecking ball hit hard and we aren't sure what is going to be left. Peanut Butter Wolf and Stones Throw Records don't care about any of that. They care about finding, helping and sharing music they love. And they are going to do that come hell or high water.
PayPal's Peter Thiel's book is a #mustread for startups. We love Peter's advice to NOT be BORG and follow but to imagine, think and go BIG. Life is too short to do anything else. Book's tone is as valuable as the writing. It is honest, true and cuts through the BS of some things people love (Lean Startup, MVP). Great read, great advice.
3 Books for Startups This is the order we would read these books in AND we would read them all since each speaks to a different aspect of a startup's journey.
Bold: Go Big or Go Home We are starting this list of 3 books for startups with Bold: How To Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the world because it has the best crowdfunding summary we've ever read.
Since finding money is usually the #1 issue most startups face and many have questions about crowdfunding read Diamandis & Kotter's book first. Chances are, if you are a startup, you are already "thinking exponentially", but this is a great and inspirational read.
The section on preparing your psyche for the exponential startup journey is another standout mustread for startup entrepreneurs.
Tilt: Shifting Your Business From Products To Customers Tilt is another great startup read. Niraj Dawar has the shift from products to customers SO RIGHT. He even knows why its so hard to change our thinking from How Much More Can We Sell to What Else Do Our Customers Need. If Bold has the best crowdfunding summary we've read Tilt describes marketing's hard to change muscle memory. Go downstream if you want to win.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action Every business starts with a passionate why. Some like Tom's shoes, Zappos and Amazon know and don't lose their why. Some companies such as Walmart, Kodak and Xerox lose or have their why get fuzzy. A bad rain falls when your lose your WHY or your why doesn't evolve, respond to feedback and grow. Just as important as the Lean Startup by Ries Start with Why should be a compulsory read for any startup.
The common elements to all three of these books are:
* Share your honest passion and be all in. * Think BIG and DIFFERENT and prepare yourself for pain such thinking brings. * Focus on customers and LISTEN and don't get too attached to anything.
Remember Ferris Beuller's words:
Ferris: Not that I condone fascism, or any -ism for that matter. -Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off people.
Stay OPEN and read, read and read some more. Good luck. Marty and team http://www.curagami.com
Free Genius Lunches in Columbus Ohio I'm living in Columbus, Ohio at the Blackwell Inn on the Ohio State University's campus from now until December 3rd (being treated by Dr. Byrd at the James Cancer Center). I love meeting, discussing and learning from fellow startups, entrepreneurs, artists and cool smart people.
I'm stealing @Phil Buckley Genius Lunch idea to see what is happening in Columbus. Team Curagami stands ready to answer Internet marketing questions and learn new tips, tricks and ideas. If you would like to have a Genius Lunch in Columbus check the calendar and email when you would like to meet.
Print The Legend Fascinating film about the beginning of a BIG THING (3D Printing) this film accurately describes what its like to be a startup in a hot space. Frustrating, magical and crazy all at once the movie will ring true for anyone whose started anything with OPM (Other People's Money).
Couple of cool trends in the movie include:
* Open source MakerBot becomes closed and gets bought. * Closed and highly proprietary Avi Reichental does a RETHINK on his company's IP strategy and becomes more open. * 3D printing remains in search of its "killer app".
That last bullet is also interesting. There is speculation that a printed plastic gun could become the "killer app" until the government steps in. In reality the killer app is problem going to be medical or healthcare related and is three to five years off.
Shyp is the easiest way to ship anything. The mobile app provides an easy on demand shipping experience. Shyp is transforming how you send items by replacing the traditional hassles with a delightful experience.
Marty Note Imagine a "Shipping Hero" coming to your place and handling your holiday shipping FOR YOU. What would that be worth? Shyp is betting its worth a lot and I agree.
I used to run a distribution business with Janet McKean called Found Objects. This time of year we were hunkered down shipping wholesale orders for the holidays. I've probably packed and shippped over 10,000 packages and it SUCKED.
Shipping is also a GAME played by giants on a field you can hardly understand or imagine. Shyp packs your package and secure the most secure and cheapest way to ship. DONE, where do I sign? Shyp launched in NYC and it may be a bit before they head to Raleigh / Durham. When they are here I'm there since the "joy" of shipping wore off long ago.
The Curagami Story Curagami was launched by Martin Smith and co-founder Phil Buckley when they found a need in the marketplace they felt was not being served and a window of opportunity.
Curagami helps ecommerce merchants discover the "new ecom" where commerce and content live harmoniously together. This is their story.
Marty Note Great write up by @Lori Wilk about our #startup Curagami.
Thinking Like A Startup Startups have to be innovative and nimble. This post from FoxBusiness suggests continuing to "think like a startup" is a good idea no matter what stage of Biz Dev you are in.
The tendency, the post explains, is to bring in a "professional management" layer too early. That layer is used to the big budgets of the Fortune 1000 and can't thrive in startup land.
I have an interesting perspective since I left a Fortune 1000 company to start FoundObjects.com. Here is what was difficult about that transitions:
* Was used to legitimacy being granted automatically. * Had to train & develop new muscles because we had NO MONEY. * Had to solve problems differently because we had NO MONEY.
* Planning cycle shortened and became more about MONEY today instead of market domination tomorrow. * Tactics changed because low hanging less expensive to develop fruit had to come to the top. * Partnerships changed because we had to trade things other than money and that usually meant looking for partners in similar stages of development.
That last bullet is a key. Don't try and pitch a Fortune 1000 when you are a startup unless you are trying to sell them something and only do that when invited. You can't crack those vaults, tempting as it may seem, unless they are already interested.
This means you have to create alliances with companies in similar stages of development or maybe one or two steps up the ladder. Hit singles to learn how to hit homers.
QUANTITY in startups is often more important than quality and it RARELY is when working for a giant. Giants can afford to be snobs, startups can't. Why I like startups :).M
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Yeah, every startup I've ever met or worked on should be reading this post. Content marketing and content curation is so much more important than any startup team realizes and as this post proves. The first startup with a Chief Content Officer is something you should invest in.