May 23rd, 2008 | Tags: business plan, competition, event, investment, strategy, UW
At the awards dinner last night for the UW CIE Business Plan Competition, Blue Nile founder Mark Vadon shared some wisdom for the audience of entrepreneurs and judges. Whereas a quick summary doesn’t do justice to Mark’s engaging speaking style, here are the seven main points he covered.
- Your business plan is your playbook. repo the genetic opera free download The original plan for Blue Nile was not just a vehicle for securing investment, it actually gave a clear pathway to growth (which has been pretty accurate to date).
- Focus on the current need of your customers. This was a huge beacon for Blue Nile, which was formed to take the guesswork and embarassment out of the diamond buying process for guys. For an idea of how successful this online business has become in the marketplace, look at the recent ads on the sides of buses in Seattle where a brick-and-mortar competitor proclaims: “No, I’m not on the Interenet; I’m not that kind of diamond.”
- Maintain your Intellectual Honesty. Just another way of saying don’t fool yourself with your own grand ideas. This is where having good advisors can be invaluable.
- Have realistic goals.
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It took Blue Nile eight years to reach $319 million in sales in 2007. No hockey stick here.
- Surround yourself with great people. We hear this one all the time from successful business people … because it really is one of the most important keys to success.
- Get the smartest money you can. download aloha scooby doo dvdrip breathless divx movie online Again, entrepreneurs will tell you that not all money is equal. Investors with contacts and expertise will apply those to help you succeed.
- Don’t fear failure. According to Mark, “Your business may fail, but you will have succeeded in pursuing your dreams.”
Mark also had very good advice about hiring. He said he is less impressed by fancy resumes and instead looks for curiosity and passion.
Congratulations to Impel NeuroPharma, winner of the $25,000 grand prize in the competition.
May 22nd, 2008 | Tags: networking, social networking, startup
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Waggle Labs is a Seattle startup whose new product Pathable applies social networking components to conference organizers and attendees. Their simple three-step networking solution helps you maximize your investment (both time and money) in a conference:
- When you register before the conference, you create a personal profile and immediately begin using a special conference Web site to line up contacts and arrange meet-ups at the actual event.
- When you arrive, Pathable provides color-coded attendee badges with cool ways to start conversations with others.
- After the event, the same conference Web site lets you reach out to folks you didn’t have the chance to meet and to close the loop with your new contacts.
I met co-founder Shelly Farnham at BizJam Seattle 2008
where the Pathable badges were a big hit. It was fun to look for other attendees identified on my badge as most like me and most different than me (all created by Pathable’s algorithm using data from attendee profiles).
I met yesterday with CEO Jordan Schwartz poseidon dvdrip download cadillac records divx to learn more about the business and how we might use their technology for NWEN events. (Pathable is one of three startups presenting to a panel at the upcoming NWEN breakfast on August 8th.) The company is excited about showing their new iPhone and SMS interfaces which should drive increasing adoption of this new way to network at a conference. You could call it Face-to-Facebook.pollyanna free1776 movie download minoxidil propecia
May 7th, 2008 | Tags: award, business plan
Congratulations to Megan Murphy, CEO of Artocracy, who has been a great client. In 2005 I wrote the business plan for this “virtual art space connecting artists and patrons through the sale of affordable art.” Now her hard work has paid off with the site winning a coveted “People’s Voice” 2008 Webby Award
in the category of art-related web sites.
Affordable, digital art can be downloaded with prices ranging US $20-50 for individual prints. Artocracy artists receives 75% of what you pay for a print, with the remaining 25% used to maintain and upgrade the website. In this “art democracy,” the artist receives the money needed to continue creating original artwork at a significantly higher rate than other galleries pay. Great for the buyers, great for the artists. Again, congratulations Megan!
