startups Archives - Page 15 of 18

Startup Founders Incentivize Teams with Equity

Tuesday, 09 December 2014 by Paul O'Brien

I’ve been pulled into an important question with a trouble degree of frequency lately; that is, “Why can’t I find, retain, and motivate my team?” Troubling, as not only does it reveal a problem entrepreneurs are having with talent but more so, because entrepreneurs even have to ask the question without knowing the answer. Why can’t

Published in Startups

2 Comments

How to Write an Effective Pitch email to Angel Investors

Monday, 01 December 2014 by Paul O'Brien

The challenge of raising capital will forever frustrate us as there is no right way to raise money; it takes time, perseverance, patience, and just the right fit. But, the litany of pitch consultants, books, incubators, and Angel networks seem to direct entrepreneurs in one consistent direction, and though few of those guides speak so bluntly

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Published in Raising Capital

9 Comments

What Startups Should Expect from a PR Agency

Monday, 20 October 2014 by Paul O'Brien

A couple years ago, Mark Cuban highlighted in his book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, quite clearly and famously, that “startups should never hire a PR firm.” Who am I to contest a man with a track record that makes my own impact on entrepreneurs look non-existent. But, given my work in

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Published in PR, Startups

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Entre to the Internet; Marketing for Startups

Thursday, 17 July 2014 by Paul O'Brien

Thanks to the incredible startup program at Houston’s Rice University, I’ve had a chance to update a popular, but out of date, post about Startup Marketing. In the process, I had a chance to meet the exceptional entrepreneurs in this year’s Owlspark program. While not too dissimilar from that startup marketing post, this update touches

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Published in Advertising, eCommerce, Insights / Research, Search, Social Media, Startups

2 Comments

Startup Advisors vs. Mentors

Tuesday, 01 July 2014 by Paul O'Brien

Words tossed about so frequently in startup communities, it is easy to conclude they mean the same thing; that it doesn’t matter what such people are called, as long as you have some, you’re in good shape. But is that really so? Over the years, I’ve come to notice that startup communities collect mentors as though they are

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Published in Startups

18 Comments

Raising Capital: The Perfect Startup Pitch

Tuesday, 06 May 2014 by Paul O'Brien

Having been a part of, easily, over 100 venture pitches, it’s hard not to put myself in the shoes of the venture capitalist; listening to entrepreneurs talk about their ventures as though I intend to invest more than I could possibly manage. The marketer in me, having listened to far more pitches than I’ve given,

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Published in Featured, Raising Capital, Startups

13 Comments

The Role of Ruby on Rails

Tuesday, 18 February 2014 by Paul O'Brien

Austin, Texas is a hotbed of mobile and traditional software development, startups, and Rails shops, and given my history in Silicon Valley, where Ruby on Rails has been the framework of choice for years, I wanted to find out from Lance Vaughn, CEO of CabForward, what makes Ruby on Rails in Austin. Why CabForward? The

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Published in Industry, Startups

1 Comment