Sunday, September 28, 2014

12 Ways To Calm The Overactive Mind

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Have you ever laid in bed trying to sleep while a constant stream of thoughts flow through your mind? Do you perpetually think about random thoughts throughout the day?

5 Things You Must Do to Successfully Launch a Business

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

From the October 2014 issue of Entrepreneur

The effort required to launch a new venture can seem daunting. Of course, specifics vary based on the type of business you're establishing; manufacturers face unique challenges, as do retailers and consulting firms. But once you have your concept and your finances in line, there are some basics that are universal.

We talked with business owners, consultants and professors to boil down the bare necessities of getting a startup off the ground into a handful of manageable steps. Apply these fundamentals to your own industry, and you'll be ready to tackle the specifics of creating your successful business.

Shark Tank's 'Mr. Wonderful' on Teaching Kids About Money: 'Put Their Noses In It, Like You're Training a Puppy'

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, best known as “Mr. Wonderful,” told his kids early and often the cold, hard truth about money: It doesn’t grow on trees and it isn't free. He’s also not leaving them any in his will.

“I put their nose in [money],” he told Entrepreneur.com. “It’s like training a puppy.”

The mutual funds magnate began teaching his son, Trevor, and his daughter, Savannah, the importance of respecting money at the tender age of 5, just as his mom did. (His mother also gave him a $10,000 seed investment to kickstart SoftKey International from his Toronto basement back in 1983. The firm, which eventually became The Learning Company, was bought by Mattel in 1998 for $3.6 billion, though itquickly proved to be a bad move for the toy maker.)

How businesses can solve the quality freelance problem

BY CATE KUSTANCZY

Companies spend vast amounts of time and considerable resources in attempting to locate the best person for the job, only to be met with frequent disappointment and less-than-stellar results. A platform called Toptal aims to overcome those challenges by connecting carefully-screened freelance tech workers and engineers with clients who are struggling to find the perfect candidate.

The problem isn’t so much the quantity as it is quality. While numerous reports have indicated that qualified workers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (“STEM”) fields are not in short supply, there are varying degrees of competency and expertise within the respective fields, making the hiring of employees for short or long-term projects daunting at best, and overwhelming at worst. A 2012 Microsoft study stated that the U.S. needed “more engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, healthcare professionals, STEM teachers and other highly skilled workers.” This alarm has been echoed at high business levels, with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg helping to organize a $50 million fund in 2013 that lobbied for legislation to included steep increases in the number of "STEM" visas, the coveted H1-B that enables foreign workers to stay and work in the U.S.

WHO IS GOING TO MAKE GHANA BETTER: Individuals OR Politicians

So lets do some bit of calculations before we get on. The population of Ghana is around Twenty Five Million and How many active politicians do we have in Ghana? five hundred thousand, one million, two million or even five million? So why do we allow these few people to take us to a ransom while we stand aside and look? I don't think it should be that way.

My people, I am just so exhausted to hear and see people complaining about their country. Indeed, complains started long time ago when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah thought that Ghana and for that matter Africa could manage its own affairs. Even now, some people still entertain the thought that we could have been better under the colonialist. Well, that is their opinion but I will never agree to that. A better life under a colonialist can never be better than a worse life under freedom. Unless you are the kind who does not care about the means so far as you get the results.

Anyway, my beef is that it is very common to wake up every morning to watch and listen to various Tv and radio stations discuss a myriad of complains from different quarters all around the country. For me as an upcoming entrepreneur, it reminds me of one thing that Pastor Otabil once said in one of his preaching programmes. He said a country with so many problems like Ghana, has so many opportunities.

So I ask myself then, who is creating all these problems that Ghanaian people are whining about so much?

Ten Startups In Ghana To Watch Closely

Norwegian Software entrepreneur Jorn Lyseggen was in Ghana on Saturday for the 2013 Graduation ceremony of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), the entrepreneurial school he founded in 2007 to help train young, intelligent Ghanaians to become software entrepreneurs. Since founding the school, 139 students have graduated and 13 companies have been founded by these people. Collectively, these companies now employ over 70 people.

MEST is a tech entrepreneurial school and incubator with an interesting model.

Great Idea for a Business, But No Experience? These Founders Prove It Can Be Done.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Sometimes when you're starting a new company, your confidence wavers and you need a sign you're heading in the right direction. Hard work and a sign that came in the form of a trip to the barber shop helped propel Ariel Nelson and Lane Gerson toward the launch of Jack Erwin, a year-old men's footwear company that just raised $9 million in new funding.

The lesson that Jack Erwin's founders learned is one that aspiring entrepreneurs should never forget: Don't let your great idea be stalled by your own lack of experience.

Nelson and Gerson's story starts like this: One afternoon in May 2012, the longtime friends found themselves wandering around Manhattan. Nelson, 31, needed a decent pair of shoes for a wedding, but kept coming across choices that were too trendy, overly styled and or just way out of his price range. His frustration got them talking, and spurred an idea: what if they made a classic, simple, and high-quality shoe for $100, and sold it for $200?

The pair, tired of feeling priced out of everything, knew that they would buy them and thought other guys might too -- but first they had to figure out how to make shoes.

Gerson, 32, worked in accounting and finance and Nelson's background was in food and beverage distribution. In other words, when it came to shoes, they knew what they would pay for and what they liked, but not much else.

After a summer of industry research and a few leads, they thought they might be onto something, but were still entrenched in their day jobs. Nelson says his work days had him in the office as early as 5 a.m. and were leaving him exhausted and strapped for time. "I loved the concept and I wanted to push the needle forward, but I was pushing it all onto [Gerson]," he says.

One day, Nelson went to get a haircut. But instead of going to his regular place, he decided to pop into a two-seat, $10 shop on his block.

That decision would change everything.

"There's a French guy sitting in the chair next to me, talking to his barber like he's his therapist," he recalls. "He was saying how he's been in the shoe industry for 20 some odd years, he's built collections for billion-dollar brands, but he's never felt any ownership of his own. He always passed it on to someone else and it never felt like it was his. And I was like, I'm pretty sure this is the moment where I'm supposed to say something."

Nelson interjected, explaining his business idea and asking if they could meet for dinner or drinks. "He said yes, and he's actually sitting over there now," Nelson says, gesturing to the office space portion of the company's Lower Manhattan headquarters, an airy third floor space that doubles as the showroom and the founders' living space.

Nelson's fellow barbershop patron was Bertrand Guillaume, now the company's VP of product. Guillaume was previously a head buyer for Ralph Lauren's luxury Purple Label and Saks Fifth Avenue's senior director of merchandising.

With a mentor to guide them, Gerson and Nelson continued to learn about their business, exploring everything from how to source factories and tanneries to how to raise money. Most of their learning came through doing.

"All the research in the world will lead you in one direction, but until you start making decisions and seeing the ramifications of those decisions, that's when you start learning," said Gerson.

Jack Erwin today

Jack Erwin – an amalgam of Nelson and Gerson's fathers' names – officially launched as an online-only store with an appointment-only showroom in October of 2013. A year and three collections later, the company has raised $9 million in Series B funding on top of $2.8 million in previous funding. The round was led by Brown Shoe Company, with additional investments from CrossLink Capital, Shasta Ventures, and FundersGuild. Previous investors included Prolific Venture Capital and Menlo Ventures.

Two months after their launch, Gerson and Nelson had sold out the 3,000 pairs of shoes they had made and in the next month and a half they had a waiting list of 4,000 customers. They say they're on track to take in "a few million in sales this year."

Gerson and Nelson say they are able to keep their prices competitive by selling direct to consumers and cutting middleman markups out of the equation. "The same shoe in the traditional wholesale model would be sold at a 2-2.5x markup to the retailer, like a Saks, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, who in turn would add an additional 2.5x markup, which would make that original pair -- one that cost $100 or so to make -- hit retail shelves for more than $500. We sell direct to you at a price that's closer to $195," the pair explained.

To that end, the shoes in the company's Foster, Wright and most recently released Sullivan collections range from $95 driving loafers to $220 wingtip combat boots. The majority of the products are priced in the $195 range. The pair says its aim is to have each collection and product be distinctive but also versatile and complementary with the others.

The shoes are manufactured in Spain from four different factories. The company now has a staff of six, including Gerson, Nelson and Guillaume, which takes in operations, design and development and customer service. Everyone who joins the Jack Erwin team starts in a customer service role.

Jack Erwin's appeal is in its simplicity, its founders say. Clothes change every season, but Gerson and Nelson think shoes can be a constant, and they want to be a brand that customers can latch onto. "It’s an ode to our parents and the clothes that they wore. Our parents never bought the most expensive clothes in the world, so it's like what our parents would wear at a price they would almost pay," Gerson said with a laugh.

Over time, the pair would like to explore the men's leather goods and accessories space, but don't foresee going into apparel. They say they are happy taking a slow and methodical approach, because, like the shoes they make, they want to be a brand that lasts.

So, jumping into a new industry and new company, did they ever want to just throw in the towel? Absolutely, but they said that relationships they had cultivated with people who were relying on them compelled them stick with it. "There are lots of times we could’ve stopped, thinking this makes no sense, and we're not shoe guys. But we said screw it, we’re doing this, we'll just keep pushing forward and figure it out," said Nelson.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

GAME CHANGERS: A Harvard Woman Is Disrupting The $55 Billion Beauty Industry With DIY 3D-Printed Makeup

Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Grace Choi, inventor of Mink.

In May, Grace Choi presented a startup at New York technology conference, TechCrunch Disrupt. Her idea seemed too good to be true.

Is this the Breakthrough that Finally Kills ‘Big Oil’ and Brings Solar Power to the World?

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The days of bulky, expensive solar panels that were heavy and required harsh chemicals to produce and a lot of labor to install may be coming to an end. Scientists in Australia have been able to produce the largest ever printed solar cells using a newly developed solar cell printer. Yes, they are printing solar cells.

The 55 Best Companies For Freelancers

EMMIE MARTIN

About a third of today's workforce do some form of freelancing.

The 9 to 5 workday isn't as common as it once was. Now, more and more people are becoming freelancers, which allows for flexible hours and the ability to work from home.

In fact, 53 million Americans — or 34% of today's workforce — holds a freelance job, according to a new report.

About 68% of those professionals said they freelance to earn extra cash, while the remaining 42% do it to have a flexible schedule.

In addition to the control and supplemental income freelancing offers, it can also add some excitement to one's career, says Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of FlexJobs, a service that specializes in helping connect people with flexible jobs.

"If you can get a steady stream of freelance jobs, it'll provide you with variety, whereas working in one traditional office job may only offer the same responsibilities day after day," Sutton Fell explains.

To provide an even better feel of the freelance landscape, Flexjobs compiled a list of the best companies for freelance work by analyzing how many freelance listings employers posted between August 2013 and August 2014.

For anyone hoping to gain more control over their career, or who just want to work from home, here are the 55 companies with the most freelance opportunities:

Monday, September 15, 2014

INNOVATION WORKSHOP

Starting a Consulting Business: The Emotional Pitfalls No One Talks About

BY JEFF HADEN @JEFF_HADEN

Starting a consulting business isn't easy -- and neither is dealing with the emotional pitfalls you will inevitably face. But it can be done.

BY DARREN DAHL

Digital detective. Health care disrupter. Purveyor of all things organic. These are just some of the most promising ground-floor opportunities in 2014.

Some entrepreneurs are drawn to the New New Thing; they hunger for a first-mover advantage. To them we say, best of luck. Others want to enter a promising industry early on, but with some evidence that the industry actually exists and has room for new players. To them we say, welcome.

BY JON BEEKMAN

You don't need to burn through your life savings to start a successful company.

By August 2011, my first company had gone down in flames. We had a great team, raised over a million dollars and built some incredible technology. There was only one little problem. We started talking with customers after we'd built the product. Cue atomic fireball video. Oops.

Being a stubborn entrepreneur, it wasn't long before I wanted to go all-in and start another company. My wife, supportive as she is, was decidedly less enthusiastic about us spending our entire life savings on my next venture. We compromised, and I agreed to only spend $1,000 and start by "going out and getting real customers" for a crazy new idea called Man Crates. Turns out that's what I should have done the first time around.

Do Things Backwards

In the early stages of a startup, there's comfort in doing the things we know how to do--like looking for office space, setting up accounting software or starting to build our products. While doing these things feels like progress, unfortunately, it's the exact opposite--it's burning limited time and money on things that are completely unrelated to initially proving you may have a viable business.

With my new start-up, I decided to do things backwards. I started by figuring out if people wanted to buy what I was selling, what they'd pay, how I'd find them and how many of them there were. Anything that got in the way of that learning was just wasting resources and lowering my likelihood of success.

Sell It Before You Build It

With only $1,000 in my pocket, I couldn't carry significant inventory. So I was forced to sell a product before I had a product to sell. I cobbled together a website that was part template, part Photoshop, and part poorly written HTML. It wasn't pretty, but it'd work well enough to allow me to present the core selling proposition to potential customers--awesome gifts for men, packed into wooden crates, shipped with a crowbar.

I got up and running with a professional-sounding 1-800 number and some cheap product photos from a guy on Craigslist and started my first Google Ads campaign to drive strangers to my website. I wanted people to act, browse and buy as they normally would even though there wasn't anything behind the website except a guy working out of his apartment. It sounds crazy, but it worked: I found customer demand.

Feedback, the Breakfast of Champions

People started buying, despite how rough my website and products looked. I called every single early customer, thanked them for their business and in many cases, spent thirty minutes or more listening to why they needed what I was offering. The feedback from those early customers went straight into strengthening the products and service. I didn't waste time doing the wrong things, building the wrong product, or selling to the wrong people. I listened to the people paying me for my products and maniacally focused on better solving their problems.

Either Way, You Win

While it's true that getting real customers is just the first step towards building a real business, it's extremely dangerous to skip this step and assume people will buy when you're ready for themrather than the other way around. If you sell as early as possible and people buy, you win. Incorporate their feedback and keep selling. But if you sell early and people don't buy, you still win. In fact, you probably just saved yourself a million dollars.

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGES

1 Incredibly Simple Way to Stand Out From the Crowd

BY JESSICA STILLMAN @ENTRYLEVELREBEL

You'll be surprised by the research on how few of us keep this mind- and character-improving habit, and how much of an impact it can have.

These 10 Benefits Will Surely Encourage You To Believe Why Living Single Is Better

No wonder there is a vast wealth of research that shows the physical and mental benefits of coupledom, but living single has its own benefits. Living single means living a peaceful life. Being single rules and many of us would already agree on that. If not, here are 10 more valid reasons that would encourage you to live a happy single life:

1. Living single means living clean. Forget about coming home early to spend some time with your partner or stay grounded on a holiday.

BY LARRY KIM

These super-rich youths have a lot more going for them than dumb luck.

It's difficult to grasp the concept of one person being in control of a billion dollars--a billion dollars!--even in the later stages of a fantastic career. But someone in their thirties? Or even twenties? Crazy.

It's not though, and we can't write the world's youngest billionaires off as merely lucky or just born into the right family, either. Some of them definitely had a little of column A and a bit of column B, but you can lose a billion dollars as quickly as you can lose $100 if luck is all you have going for you.

No, these super-rich young people have a lot more going for them than dumb luck. There's much to be learned from the world's youngest billionaires:

BY JAYSON DEMERS @JAYSONDEMERS

There's no single secret to becoming a great leader, but looking to the habits of leaders past is a great way to gain insights about how leaders function.

Even outside their areas of expertise, charismatic leaders often demonstrate qualities of their own commitment to greatness. Here's a look at some of the secret eating habits of seven charismatic leaders:

1. Mark Zuckerberg ate only meat of animals he himself killed (in 2011, at least).In 2011, Zuckerberg disclosed that he was taking a personal challenge to eat only meat that came from animals he himself killed. Zuckerberg claimed the effort was to remind himself to be thankful for how readily available food is in the modern world, and to experience the significance of sustainable farming practices. While the effort was temporary, ending in 2012, Zuckerberg is still committed to eating healthfully and responsibly.

7 Things the Army Taught Me About Running a Company

Like all entrepreneurs, I know that success requires strategic thinking, risk-taking, and leadership skills. But unlike most people who start their own businesses, I was trained by the greatest institution on Earth: the United States Army, where I served as an intelligence officer.

Trading my uniforms for a pair of jeans and sneakers, then going to work for Amazon, Etsy and other leading technology companies, I realized just how applicable are the lessons I learned while in the service to the constant, joyful struggle of running a business.

Seven lessons in particular stand out:

1. "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." This quip by Eisenhower is absolutely true. Few operations go according to plan but building a good plan forces you to think through constraints, resources and contingencies.

A good leader knows to plan. A great leader anticipates no plan will survive first contact with the enemy and knows just what to do about it. It's hard to train your mind for both the rigidity necessary to come up with good blueprints and the flexibility to improvise when plans fall apart but, on the battlefield or in the boardroom, it is crucial.

2. "Mission first, people always." The first time I heard this military adage I thought it was just another one of those feel-good sayings that had little to do with reality, but the more I experienced army and corporate life, the more I realized it is absolutely true. Accomplishing your missions and taking care of your team are one and the same. No victory ever is won single handedly. First-rate leaders treat glory as a communal reward to be shared and enjoyed by all.

3. "Drive on, private." When I was in basic training, there were some scenarios that were extremely demanding and offered no alternatives. I won’t gross you out with the details but imagine being as tired, dirty, itchy and dispirited as you’ve ever been. Imagine being willing to pay any price just for a 10-minute nap, a hot shower or a juicy burger but knowing that no comfort is to be had. There is no choice other than driving on, pulling through, getting past the hardship and persevering.

The cliché is true. Sometimes you can only grit your teeth and put one foot in front of the other. Starting a business is one of the times. There are fun and easy parts but the hard parts are many, lonely and testing. When they come along you have no choice but to close your eyes, grit your teeth and keep going.

4. Officers eat last. Anyone who has been in the U.S. military knows that when food is served, officers eat last. It's a way of showing your team that you're putting their needs above your own.

It’s a shame we’ve lost some of that spirit in the age of massive executive bonuses and other perks for corporate leaders. The leader who truly cares about the team is guaranteed to produce better results in the long run.

5. Lead from the front. Strong leaders lead by example, which means they take on all the same challenges as their team, if not more. In the army, this means being the first one to storm into the line of fire. At the office, this means working harder and longer, and being the first to take a hit if things go south for a spell.

The worst leaders make demands on their people that they themselves have no intention of following. The best ones make no demands but simply behave as they wish their employees would, too. It works every time.

6. The buck stops with you. Real leaders realize the great wisdom of that saying by Spiderman’s Uncle Ben: with great power comes great responsibility. They never blame others, even when others are to blame. They know that there’s always a time and a place for learning lessons, but that publicly, the only right thing to do is to stand up and own up to their decisions.

7. This isn’t about you. If you’re any good, you know that this isn’t about you. There’s a company of men depending on you with their lives, or a corporation of people who rely on you for employment. It’s about your team, the passion you share and how you put that passion to work making something great. Act accordingly. Ask your team more questions, listen intently to the answers and take their ideas and feelings into consideration.

Being in the army was a distinct privilege during a period of my life that made me who I am today. While everyone doesn’t need to join the ranks in order to run a company, my hope is that business leaders of all stripes will apply these ideas in their own endeavors. That’s something I can solute.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Poor Kids Of America Documentary

A Perfect Video On Growing Up Rich Vs Growing Up Poor

Everyone knows there exists an unfortunately significant chasm between Rich And Poor. But Can It Be Measured? This split screen video look at the lives of 2 different places showing the hard truth of poverty measures that so perfectly well. Nothing more to say.

Friday, September 12, 2014

This Superbly Awesome Nescafe Ad Is Something That Will Leave You Squirming For Words

Things Every Indian Miss About Those Good Old Days Of 90’s

India saw its days of transformation back in 90’s, the decade which is often considered as the threshold of the booming Indian economy. Here are some things from the India of 90’s that would surely make you miss those golden days:

1. Those were the days when 1 Rupee had some serious reputation in the neighbourhood.

Christian: You Are Salt and Light

Michael Youssef

Jesus said that we are "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world". Being salt and light is not optional. Jesus did not say you can be...or you have the potential to be...He said you are. Everyone who has trusted Christ for salvation and is born again is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Use This Strategy To Quickly Pay Off Debt, No Matter How Much You Owe

LEN PENZO, LEN PENZO DOT COM

Ready to take aim at your debt?

The most common reader question I get is this one: How can I pay off my credit card debt as quickly as possible?

I always pay my credit card balances in full at the end of every month. That being said, I know exactly how I'd handle it if I ever did find myself drowning in an ocean of red ink.

Taking a methodical pragmatic approach is the smartest way to free yourself from a life of indentured financial servitude. If you're serious about getting out of debt as quickly — and inexpensively — as possible, here's how:

10 of the Most Important Life Lessons I Learned from My 20s

Mark Manson

On my 20th birthday, I got drunk and peed on some old ladies' front lawn. A cop saw me and stopped me. Fortunately, I talked my way out of going to jail that night. I already had an arrest record, but he didn't bother to check. My 20s started out with a bang.

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Sunday, September 28, 2014

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