5 Startup Stories of the Day - 22 October 2012
1) Survival of the fittest: Failure in the startup world
3) 10 common UX mistakes startups make... and how to avoid them
A positive user experience can transform your business. Here Laurence McCahill, co-founder of Spook Studio, comes up with 10 essential tips to put you on the right track for a better customer experience
‘How can I improve the user experience of my website/app?’ A frequently asked question and one that doesn’t have a standard response. Thankfully there are some steps you can follow to ensure that a customer’s experience of your product is a positive one. Here I’ll be highlighting some common mistakes we regularly come across that can easily be avoided.
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Remember eToys, the online toy retailer that was predicted to out-sell Toys R Us stock? Google Labs was the technology titan’s ‘playground’ venture that never truly even let go of the monkey bars? Or how about Zune, the portable music player aimed at breaking down sales of Apple’s now-ubiquitous iPod? (Author’s note: I had a Zune. It broke in two months.)
These startup companies, along with billions of other would-be game changers in the technology and retail industries, became flops within the span of five years — and faster than you can say ‘stock valuation’. Ideas for launching new companies, and the overly optimistic founders behind them, are a dime a dozen in this era of fast-growing knowledge. As the ability to share on social networks becomes second nature, so do small teams hoping to strike the kind of landmine Mark Zuckerberg first unearthed – or at least tap into it. More on that later.
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These startup companies, along with billions of other would-be game changers in the technology and retail industries, became flops within the span of five years — and faster than you can say ‘stock valuation’. Ideas for launching new companies, and the overly optimistic founders behind them, are a dime a dozen in this era of fast-growing knowledge. As the ability to share on social networks becomes second nature, so do small teams hoping to strike the kind of landmine Mark Zuckerberg first unearthed – or at least tap into it. More on that later.
Read More
Facebook didn’t guess that users wanted to share photos. It learned it, Mark Zuckerberg explained in his talk at Y Combinator Startup School. “We really listened to what our users wanted, both qualitatively listening to the words they say, and quantitatively looking at behavior that they take.” Users didn’t necessarily say they wanted photos, but were uploading new profile pics every day.
So Facebook built out photo sharing, it exploded with popularity, and proved that sometimes the data can reveal what users want before they even know it.
That wasn’t the last time Facebook would put turn this practice into product. Hundreds of thousands protested the news feed, but engagement was up, Facebook stuck it out, and news feed became one of the site’s most popular features.
So Facebook built out photo sharing, it exploded with popularity, and proved that sometimes the data can reveal what users want before they even know it.
That wasn’t the last time Facebook would put turn this practice into product. Hundreds of thousands protested the news feed, but engagement was up, Facebook stuck it out, and news feed became one of the site’s most popular features.
A positive user experience can transform your business. Here Laurence McCahill, co-founder of Spook Studio, comes up with 10 essential tips to put you on the right track for a better customer experience
‘How can I improve the user experience of my website/app?’ A frequently asked question and one that doesn’t have a standard response. Thankfully there are some steps you can follow to ensure that a customer’s experience of your product is a positive one. Here I’ll be highlighting some common mistakes we regularly come across that can easily be avoided.
Read More
No shocker here: One of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs and small business owners is finding the funds necessary to launch – and eventually grow – their businesses. If you’re reading this, you’re likely looking right now.
There have never been more funding choices to consider for prospective entrepreneurs.
As a social entrepreneur for more than four decades as well as an angel investor and venture capitalist, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of business funding myself and have learned the hard way what investors are looking for before committing to fund.
My friend’s Jon Crawford and Matt Galligan both wrote about the topic of Work/Life balance this week and I thought I would continue their conversation with my perspective.
To call it a balance implies two sides of a scale where too much weight on one side, tips the other. To struggle for balance is to struggle for equal attention to things at odds with each other. How I choose to run my life is to strive not for balance, but for harmony. I embrace that my personal and work lives coexist in the same 24 hours of each day. My founder brain doesn’t shut off and neither does my personal brain. When two things vibrate at opposing frequencies, their forces can be devastating. When they vibrate together, it’s peaceful. When in harmony, both my personal and work lives are vibrating vigorously, but without fighting each other.
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