Browsing Tag
q&a
45 posts
It’s Essential to Have a Pitch for Every Niche, Says The Pitch Girl’s Laura Allen
Whether you’re pitching your business on “Shark Tank” or figuring out how to create an effective pitch during a pandemic, having an elevator pitch at the ready can help land new deals and make an impression. For two decades, Laura Allen, aka The Pitch Girl, has helped executives and entrepreneurs craft compelling pitches. In fact,...
In Order to Succeed in Entrepreneurship, Get Uncomfortable, Says Square Co-Founder
When glassblower and computer scientist Jim McKelvey teamed up with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to launch Square, a startup that enables small business owners to accept credit cards, payment industry insiders told them they were crazy. And when Amazon launched a product to compete with it, many predicted it would kill off Square. But over...
Creating Your Entrepreneurial Edge: How to Turn Adversity into Advantage
Harvard Business School professor Laura Huang spent a decade studying interpersonal relationships and implicit bias in entrepreneurship. The former investment banker and consultant noticed that it wasn’t always the hardest workers who got ahead. Often, it was those who had inherent advantages or figured out how to create advantages for themselves. That realization inspired Huang’s...
Meet Melody Godfred: The Entrepreneur and Philosopher Behind the Self Love Pinky Ring
Creating a company with purpose and passion that clearly speaks to its customers is many founders' goal. The ability to carry that message and entrench it into every element of your brand and business decision-making is not easy; we should applaud the founders who do it successfully. Meet Melody Godfred, the founder of Fred and...
Former NFL Player Kamerion Wimbley Tackles Entrepreneurship Post-Football Career
If you watched NFL football any time from 2006 through 2014, you've likely heard the name Kamerion Wimbley. Wimbley was a nine-year NFL veteran who played for the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans. He played his college ball for Florida State. Now, Wimbley is an established entrepreneur whose passion for business is easy...
How to Build Your Dream Life and Crush Your Business Goals in Just 90 Days
Twenty years ago, Teneshia Jackson Warner had a cushy project manager job at IBM. In 2003, Warner left that job to found EGAMI Group, a multicultural marketing and communications firm. With her unmatched tenacity and vision, Warner has since grown the firm into a multi-million-dollar business. In addition to her award-winning marketing work, Warner is...
Why Problem-First Thinking is the Solution Your Startup Needs
Many entrepreneurs focus first on building products and then finding a problem for their products to solve. That’s a mistake, according to Matt Wallaert, author of “Start at the End: How to Build Products that Create Change.” Wallaert is a behavioral scientist turned serial entrepreneur. He co-founded Churnless, a product consultancy that uses behavioral technology...
How This Baker Went From an Online Business to Opening a Storefront
Rachel Dunston is the talented entrepreneur behind Rachel Makes More Cake, a popular bakeshop in Clovis, California. Dunston began her business on Instagram, posting photos of her uniquely decorated cakes and taking orders for local pickup and delivery only. Recently, she’s made the shift from an exclusively online business to a brick-and-mortar storefront. Dunston shared...
Main Street Entrepreneurship is Thriving: Here’s Why
There’s no denying that venture-backed companies located in big cities tend to get noticed. But Michael Glauser, a business professor and consultant, realized that so-called “Main Street entrepreneurs,” or those businesses located in smaller towns that are a staple of their communities, represent a largely unsung segment of America’s landscape. Glauser biked 4,000 miles, from...
How Pitch-a-Kid Connects Curious Kids and Entrepreneurs
Several years ago, startup advisor and mentor Mike Millard was hard at work on a resource website for startups in Austin, Texas, where he and his family live. When Millard’s daughter, Audrey, expressed curiosity about the project, it inspired the father/daughter duo to launch Pitch-a-Kid. The organization allows entrepreneurs to hone their pitches with kid judges...
This Brand Loyalty Consultant Shares How to Build a Business Everyone Will Love
Kyle M.K. is a brand loyalty consultant who’s worked with major brands, including Uber, General Assembly, Walt Disney World Resort and the Ritz-Carlton. His book, “The Economics of Emotion: How to Build a Business Everyone Will Love,” was published earlier this year, which explores how consumers’ emotions impact their decisions, and how company leaders can...
How a Unique Approach to Cash Flow Has Helped This Architect Construct Her Business
Leslie Saul & Associates, Inc. is an architecture and interior design firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that primarily services the greater Boston and Miami areas. The business focuses on renovations including offices, restaurants, retail stores, senior living facilities, private homes, universities, churches, and synagogues, among many other building types. Founder, Leslie Saul, says that having...
Thought Leader Pat Flynn Shares the Keys to Attracting Superfans
Pat Flynn started an online business in 2008 after getting laid off from a job in architecture. Since then, he’s built Smart Passive Income into a thriving online community complete with a blog, podcast and online courses. The Smart Passive Income Podcast has been downloaded over 58 million times, and Flynn’s insights on online entrepreneurship...
How Business Consulting Can Prepare You for Entrepreneurship
While not all consultants are entrepreneurs, you can become an expert in your field by learning to hone your niche expertise the way, say, Neil Patel does, in order to create a powerhouse brand. A consultant, even a solo consultant, is running a business, and a business must be marketed. This year, long-time consultant, Elaine...
How Entrepreneurs Can Sharpen Their Strategic Thinking Skills
Do some people simply possess an innate ability to think strategically, or can such a skill be developed over time? According to executive and leadership coach, Greg Githens, it’s the latter. In Githens’ new book, “How to Think Strategically: Sharpen Your Mind, Develop Your Competency, Contribute to Success,” he shares practical advice on sparking strategic...
How This Former Attorney Used Savings to Fund Her New Business
It’s that time of year when special events abound – weddings, graduations, baby showers and bar mitzvahs. With those events comes a tedious but necessary obligation: thank you notes! Taryn Singer has created WithThanks, a business that lets busy people outsource the task of thank you notes following special events. Singer says WithThanks is a...
How This Entrepreneur Used Savings and Credit Cards to Get His Dream Off the Ground
Dylan Gallagher is the founder of Orange Sky Adventures and White Wolf Private Tours, two San Francisco-based travel companies that takes tourists on customized trips across the United States. Whether their budgets are modest or they desire luxury accommodations, Gallagher prides himself on providing customers with the ultimate hospitality and the most unique experiences the...
How This Dance Company Choreographs Cash Flow with Credit
Lindsey Dinneen is the owner of VidaDance Studio in Leawood, Kansas. With students ranging in age from 2 to 73, Dinneen’s company aims to bring the joy of dance into the lives of all members of her community. VidaDance offers ballet, jazz, tap, modern, hip-hop and dance fitness classes. In business for three years, Dinneen...
Serial Entrepreneur Michael Cloran on the Mistakes That Can Sink a Startup (and How to Avoid Them)
Over the course of several startups and acquisitions, Michael Cloran has observed how hidden errors can lead to what he calls “technical debt” and ultimately tank an otherwise promising business. After Cloran connected with business professors and angel investors Todd Saxton and M. Kim Saxton, the trio expanded the concept to include other types of...
How This Law Firm Bootstrapped its Way to Success
John Pascoe is the founder of the Pascoe Law Firm, a dual-practice law firm in the Houston area that specializes in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. Instead of keeping up with the “Joneses” of other large local law firms, Pascoe focuses on providing excellent customer service rather than outspending competitors. Starting out Why did you...