Helping Startups Accelerate Funding
More and more, I have entrepreneurs coming to me before a major competition, pitch event, or conference saying, “We only have _____ (fill in the blank with any single-digit number) minutes to present. How do we get it all in?” I also coach hundreds of accelerator demo days, and with each event they seem to […]
Co-working spaces are often treated today as a novelty, as a thoroughly modern solution to the changing needs of a workforce now more loyal to their laptops than any long-term employers. But the idea is actually as old as the public library. One of the world’s first and most famous libraries, in Alexandria, Egypt, […]
The Internet makes it easy to collaborate across borders. But despite the rise of remote work and virtual teams, founders still need to travel for business sometimes. For some, travel practically becomes the job. And while data and capital now flow virtually unrestricted across borders, physical border crossing have gotten no easier. That’s causing headaches for […]
For the 19th year in a row, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank, has ranked the city of Hong Kong the freest economy in the world. Singapore was a close second, however, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Switzerland was ranked fifth. The U.S., which has the world’s largest economy, was ranked 10th […]
In the war for talent, America can learn a lot from Chile THE world’s most valuable resource is talent. No country grows enough of it. Some, however, enjoy the colossal advantage of being able to import it. Rich, peaceful countries can attract clever immigrants. Unlike other useful imports, they cost the recipient country nothing. They […]
As America shuts out immigrant entrepreneurs, Chile welcomes them ONE by one they came to the stage and pitched their ideas to the crowd. There was the founder of Kwelia.com, which makes software that helps landlords mint more money from their properties. There was the co-founder of Chef Surfing, an online service for people looking […]
In the Sept. 29 issue of Orlando Business Journal, we had a story about the University of Central Florida’s incubator having formed an angel network with a dozen certified investors and $800 million in net worth. As part of that story, I spoke with Michael O’Donnell, an angel investor who’s heading the UCF Angel Network (he’s also a professor at […]
When Washington D.C. threatened to raise the price of an Uber cab by a few dollars, the online community staged a full-fledged panic attack. Yet it barely whispered a peep of discontent when Congress introduced a bill to alleviate the high-skilled immigrant crunch for tech companies. Yesterday’s defeat of the STEM Jobs Act, which would have added 55,000 […]
With VCs like Sequoia and Nexus Venturespouring money into India’s startup scene, it was only a matter of time before those focused on early-stage funding would follow. Today, GSF India, in partnership with some 30 other investors including Dave McClure’s 500 Startups,announced a new initiative called GSF Accelerator. Set to take off this October, GSF Accelerator will be mentoring and […]
In April 2012, President Obama and Congress passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in support of entrepreneurship and small business growth. The JOBS Act is designed to encourage small business and startup funding by easing federal regulations and allowing individuals to become investors. Since the passing of the JOBS Act, we’ve seen an increase in […]
