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Most folks think that building a product or packaging a great service is the hardest part of becoming a successful business owner. The thought is something along the lines of, “If we can just build the web site, or open the restaurant, or create the widget—then we are going
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Language is a useful and ubiquitous tool. Just as the words in this article are connecting with you (dear reader), words are ubiquitous. Words are all around us all the time, and are in many ways a tool that we take for granted — language always being available to connect with
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It was late, the streets deserted and traffic-less despite being the middle of downtown Denver, home to over 3 million people. Colorado’s 62 year old governor emerged from the stone-columned civic center alone – without fanfare, entourage, or escort, and quietly eased his lanky frame into the back seat of
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Understanding the needs of your customers, coworkers, sponsors, investors, and other important people in your business life is important. Central to this understanding is the idea of Creating Value. Creating Value is at the core of our professional lives, and is the foundation of our ability to prosper and achieve
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Being a startup founder is an exercise in a strange and almost inexplicable physics. We are taught not to believe in magic, but looking at how founders create and what happens when they do what they do, incredible and almost inexplicable things frequently happen. Recall the familiar shape of a
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The classic corporate business approach for devising a business strategy is to allow a vice president of the company to put forward a plan – complete with financial projections and a slide show; then throw money at it to see what will happen. The plan would then play out for several
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When was the last time that somebody honestly and directly criticized you or your business? If you have not gotten guidance, feedback, comments, suggestions, or outright criticism from somebody in the last 24 hours, then you may have a problem. Feedback, in its various forms, is the basis of good
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As an entrepreneur, I am intensely interested in how business operates - not just here in the US- but in other countries as well. As much as business is universal, the perspectives and problems faced in other countries can be unique, challenging, and widely varied. Having recently spent several weeks
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Digital media and technology are ubiquitous today, which means we are presented with an inexhaustible series of messages and opportunities to be entertained and informed. The resulting state of information intensity is generally considered to be a major benefit of living in our age, and to some extent even necessary
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The universal goal of management for companies and startups alike is to reach business objectives with the smallest possible investment of time and money. In a busy environment like a startup, managing the ongoing stream of tasks and goal setting is an art which requires judgement and careful discernment. In
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What does this scene look like from higher up? (Photo credit: Wikipedia) As entrepreneurs, we are always watching changes in our businesses and the marketplace, looking for an edge or insight to improve our performance. Through the day-to-day decisions and events that shape our experience, it is very easy to
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Ever notice that the people that need help the most are often the ones least likely to accept it? This certainly holds true in the world of advising and training entrepreneurs. One of the clearest markers of how long someone has been playing the entrepreneurship game is how open they