Here’s our weekly link roundup of small business buzz, musings and muchness. A curation of the best small business talk around the web.
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Microsoft announces Ventures for startups
Introducing the creation of Microsoft Ventures, a coordinated global effort that offers the tools, resources, expertise and routes to market by providing mentorship, technology guidance, seed funding, joint selling opportunities and other benefits. Yet Microsoft isn’t new to working with startups, since 2008, more than 75,000 startups from over 100 countries have received access to tools and resources through the BizSpark program. (Techday)
Small Business Credit Cards Are Slowly Becoming More User Friendly
Bank of America remains the most small business friendly major credit card issuer, according to CardHub.com’s 2013 Small Business Credit Card Report , which examines issuer policies relating to business-branded products in the post-CARD Act environment. (NASDAQ)
Many Entrepreneurs Over-Think or Under-Think Issues
Startups and entrepreneurs are drowning in the information overload, where the volume of data created is like a new Library of Congress every 15 minutes. That creates a huge gap between data and meaning, and makes quick decisions and action ever more difficult. (Business Insider)
Small business lobbyists raise concerns as immigration bill nears approval in Senate
The nation’s largest small-business lobbying group has suddenly inserted itself into the immigration reform debate, raising several concerns about legislation that is nearing approval in the Senate. Quiet on the issue to this point, the National Federation of Independent Business has sent a letter to Senate leaders, urging them to address several “red flags” for small business owners in the chamber’s nearly finalized immigration package. (The Washington Post)
Modern Entrepreneurs Cut Costs with Mobile Offices
In order to thrive, entrepreneurs need to stay determined, agile, and under budget. When you’re building a business from the ground-up, brick-and-mortar office space can be more of a barrier than a benefit. There are a lot of overhead costs to maintaining an office, and many entrepreneurs have found that they can do just fine without it. (PCWorld)
Steve Blank: The 6 Types of Startups
The reality is that while we have only one word for “startup,” there are six varieties: lifestyle, small business, scalable, buyable, social and inside a large company. The founders who start these are all “entrepreneurs.” But there are significant differences between the people, funding and strategies involved. Not understanding those differences can screw up your chance of success. (The Wall Street Journal)
The 10 Worst Traits of Even the Great Entrepreneurs
Does it really take a few flaws to make a great entrepreneur, or are the rest of us just confused about what a perfect business person is all about? In the past I’ve written about the positive attributes of great entrepreneurs, so this time I thought I would focus on the negatives that I see often, and I challenge you to find someone that has all the positives and none of the negatives. (Forbes)
7 financial terms every serious entrepreneur should know
There are brilliant technologists and business leaders in today’s tech world, but while startups have their own, great talents, we’re seeing one common weakness: lack of understanding elementary financial concepts. This impacts long term financial strategy as well as ability to negotiate and set up basic cost structures within the company. (VentureBeat)
Bloomberg Opens $75 Million Venture Capital Fund
Bloomberg L.P. announced today the creation of a $75 million venture capital fund called Bloomberg Beta. It says it will be run strictly for financial return rather than as a means of bringing new products and services to Bloomberg. The fund’s focus, says Roy Bahat, the head of Bloomberg Beta, is on “the next horizon for Bloomberg” in areas such as data technology, media distribution and human-computer interactions. (Terra)
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