If you ever watch a youth soccer or basketball game, it is interesting to observe how the coaches choose to motivate the kids. Some coaches seem to focus on the positive, motivating them by pointing out what they have done right and cheering when they do something well. Other coaches seem to focus on the negative, yelling at kids […]

As an entrepreneur, you know effective communication is critical — whether that’s telling investors why your venture is worth funding or your target audience why they should buy your product. But without a doubt, open internal communication is the key to startup success. Companies that lack communication create problems that snowball into larger issues. Often, […]

Benefits Of Niche Marketing As a marketing consultant, I always emphasize to clients the importance of finding their niche. It may seem limiting and counterintuitive, but if you directly appeal to a niche segment of the market, you can work towards owning a whole slice. However, if you immediately try to appeal to a mass […]

There are highs and lows to the startup life. After all, ‘disrupting’ an entire industry often requires a lot of energy with very little sleep or pay. Everyone’s in search of the perfect work-life balance, but no matter how much we tap into apps like Captio during networking events or Mindfulness to stay zen, sometimes […]

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” My mother, in her thick Japanese accent, and my father, in his thick Indian accent, would repeat this on the daily. “After all, this is how the light bulb, reading glasses, and libraries came to exist, right?” When I think back on the businesses that I have helped start […]

Community exists somewhere in the stratosphere of product, customer service, marketing, and blowing people’s minds with unforgettable user experiences. Founders often do not fully grasp how community fits into the larger framework of what they’re building. Community is a cross between getting the word out (marketing), making people feel good (customer service, user experience), and […]

Over the last few years, we’ve seen and heard amazing startup success stories, which led many to think that launching and running a cutting-edge company isn’t such a big deal. The current economy is undergoing a slow process of recovery and starting a small business with high hopes can easily lead to dissatisfaction and disappointment. […]

Ever since I can remember, I was fascinated with entrepreneurship. I may not have known the term, but I was always looking for a way to improve things, build a business model around problems, and revolutionize the way things were being done. I am what some might call a “serial entrepreneur”. I started with a […]