The current capital environment sounds like the news we hear every morning lately about the economy:  “less bad is good” but we are still jobless. 
Digital Hollywood’s venture panel convenes 3-4 times each year, and I am honored to chair it every time during these past many years.  The audience and I get to learn the [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

Summary:  The Federal Trade Commission just issued regulations that, in essence, require bloggers (among others) to disclose any “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers.  No one should be surprised:  Restrictions on endorsements have been around for a very loooong time, consistent with the FTC principles of truth in advertising.    It remains to be seen exactly [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

DonorsChoose http://www.donorschoose.org  is a variation of micro-lending: micro-giving in which donations (not loans) are offered from individuals to very specific school projects that need funding. Their tagline is “An online charity connecting you to classrooms in need.”
The success of this venture is in the individual-to-community nature of the giving, and the ability for donors to [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

Kiva.org is an online peer-to-peer network that transacts loans as small as $25 from individuals to entrepreneurs around the world, and has recently opened its microloans to American businesses for start up and growth.
We may bemoan many of the new “creative financial services,” but some (not-so-new) models are found in the successful online micro-financing initiatives, [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

Should you brand your company? And, just what is branding? It’s a lot more than a logo.
Developing a brand requires the execution of a number of elements, all of which must be integrated into every marketing component. These components include the company’s logo, graphics, brand name, marketing communications, promotions, merchandising, sales strategies, product, service, and [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

The real creators of the National Parks are the entrepreneurs who followed their passions about protecting these wilderness places… millionaires, politicians and wandering students, the prominent and the unknown, those out for commercial gain and those dedicated to wilderness conservation. The idea and development of the Parks at the turn of the 20th century was [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

Early in my career as a consultant, a prospect said, “Yes, yes, I understand you offer strategy, but do you do anything?”  I immediately changed my tag line to active verbs and clear deliverables, all the while offering “strategy.”
A colleague of mine has agreed to create a training presentation for small business contractors.  I asked, [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

Summary: On September 24th (the first day of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh) the Pennsylvania State Police served a search warrant on a protester (a self-styled anarchist) on the grounds that his use of Twitter to inform other protesters of the location of riot police was a crime. A criminal complaint was later filed against [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

You know, now is a great time to make a big splash.  Bad economies that run everyone down need a spark of light and you can be it.  Is everyone around you bummed out?  Move on out into a new energy and shine.
All entrepreneurs know they must continuously market and network no matter how busy [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites

The current economy’s recovery is looking seriously “jobless.” This is leading professionals to consider creating a consulting practice while they stay on the job-hunt. Some even plan to keep some consulting on the side once they are employed. There is no job security anymore, and we are all free-agents whether we choose it or not.
Recently [...]

Save and Share:

Hide Sites