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Analyzing SEC Filings
A great way to polish your business plan or predict the strategic intent of key players is analyzing SEC filings. 10K reports present a yearly review of a company’s performance while 10Q filings go over quarterly performance. By law, public US corporations are required to disclose material information in a constant and timely fashion, so these reports are always interesting to read and contain good insights. SEC Live is a free tool that lets you…
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Less is More
Instead of trying to pack yet another feature into your app, why not refine and polish your product? Simplicity is an asset because it increases engagement and customer retention. Thinking in terms of excellence, in terms of quality and not quantity is a recipe for success. Simple products are more likely to fit into your customers’ lives. Focused products are cheaper to produce and cheaper to refine. Moreover, you can craft simple products that only…
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About Network Effects
So, your plan is to ship a series of features, have thousands install your app and hope for the best? I’m sorry, but you need a better plan, specifically something that doesn’t include the word “hope” in it. Network effects happen when your application is deliberately designed to support such effects. Network effects happen when a critical mass of users is constantly enriching your platform and, such enrichment can be monetized. Network effects translate into …
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Dear Linux, Please Go Back to School
You have a big problem dear Linux. You’re not discoverable. And that’s holding back an entire industry. In fact, it’s holding back our entire planet. Dear Linux, I am sick and can’t take it anymore. The five most common problems of Linux are drivers, interoperability, talent, fragmentation and legal issues. However theres another elephant in the room. Linux lacks intelligence. Spotlight, Siri, Google and Google Now are offering a natural language layer that simplifies usage…
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UX Makes All the Difference
“User experience” encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. – Jakob Nielsen From a technical standpoint, few issues carry more weight than user experience. UX creates a fluid dialog between users and computers that ultimately is store in our brain as the most important brand association pertaining to your firm. UX matters because it impacts both the perceived as well as the real value of your platform.…
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Clash of Giants: Apple vs Google
Google and Apple are chasing the same customers from seemingly orthogonal angles. Apple wants a design conscious, privacy guarding customer with a refined taste and a fat credit card. However, Google is content with just about everybody as long as they open up their lives to the borg. Free vs paid, open vs closed, client vs cloud, is there a clear winner? In the article, Google on Apple: The end is near, Mike Elgan argues…
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Love the Craft. Craft the Love
What is the key to success in building new things? Is it making the code run fast. It is proper financing, or maybe hiring the right people. At a technical level yes, those things matter tremendously. However, at a high level you should probably strive for a more general goal: crafting love. First you have to chose your craft, and make sure you love it. Only pursue fields you are passionate about. And only hire…
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Don’t Wait for Internationalization to Pursue the Hispanic Market
America is a multilingual country. With over 50 million Spanish-speaking citizens, and a wide presence in American culture it’s clear that America has a multilingual side. Now taught in most schools and present in American street names and culture, Spanish is becoming a new language for commerce all around the country. However, most businesses only translate their pages to Spanish when they seek to internationalize their operations. In this essay, I’ll explain the most fundamental…
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Can Startups Learn From Comparables?
A pivotal change is taking place in Startup land. Business stories and models are being open-sourced along with a plethora of metrics and financial data, courtesy of services such as CrunchBase, Tech in Asia and Mattermark. With these relatively new tools you can now benchmark your performance against that of the industry and other probably similar startups. If your project is pre-money you can also use Angel List and discover what people in your space…
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The Startup War Chest
A war chest is a metaphor for any collection of tools or money intended to be used in a challenging or dangerous situation. Historically, it referred to the chest located in the homes or barracks of soldiers, in which the soldier kept arms and armor. In the modern era, it more often refers to a collection of funds (or less occasionally special tools or equipment) intended to allow a person or organization to get through…