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November 13, 2009

Bold Ventures

A business that passed the smile test
Jonah Staw and his friends initially laughed at the idea of a mismatched-clothing company for girls -- an emotional reaction that made him stop and think. "I knew it was a good idea because you can't not smile when you hear about it," he says. Sure enough, clothing marketed toward pre-teen nonconformists turned out to be a lucrative market, and retail sales at LittleMissMatched hit $32 million in 2008. BNET (11/10)

Inventors make a comeback
More "tinkerers" are choosing to work with real, physical objects than with computer code, experts say. Thanks to declining technology prices and "hackerspaces" offering shared tools and expertise, tinkerers can create affordable products -- and viable business models. Erik Kauppi is about to start shipping a $5,500 electric scooter he developed at a hobbyist workshop in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wall Street Journal (11/13)

Finance & Growth

Uncle Sam wants you (to take his money)
Government-affiliated entities doled out $2.3 billion to 65 promising startups in the third quarter, according to analysis from ChubbyBrain. The median investment was $1.1 million, and almost half the companies receiving funding were in the energy or health care sectors. Government money may come with fewer strings than venture capital: Uncle Sam took an equity stake in only 20% of the funded companies. FastCompany.com (11/12)

7 sticky Web site ideas
Engaged customers can help create a community on your Web site, but what sort of content gets busy users to stop and interact? Lisa Barone lists seven "sticky" items every entrepreneur should consider adding to their Web site, including widgets, polls and live video. Small Business Trends (11/12)

Think like a reporter to get media coverage
A feature story about your business is better than an ad because it represents an independent, third-party validation, Steve Strauss writes. He suggests four steps to get a reporter's attention: Develop a newsworthy angle, find a reporter whose work matches the idea, pitch the story informally via e-mail and make it easy for the reporter to follow up. USA TODAY (11/10)

Entrepreneurs' Lab

This week's quick fact
Almost half of early-stage entrepreneurs in Russia are motivated by a desire for additional income, while independence is the main reason for starting a new business for about 24% of them. --Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Russia 2008

The Whole Entrepreneur

Should you check a worker's emotional baggage?
Management aims to influence workers' minds, while leadership aims at their hearts, Clif Reichard writes. Managers tell employees to leave their emotional baggage at home, while leaders understand that every worker is a whole person, "heart and soul, mind and brain." Dedication and loyalty are matters of the heart, according to Reichard, and they're traits that customers tend to notice. HarvardBusiness.org/HBR Now blog (11/11)