If your launching a start-up consider these must have FREE toolsPhone Calls - Skype Chat - Skype, Google ChatFile Storage and Sharing - MyDropBoxBrainstorming - FreemindCollaboration - Google DocsMockups - Balsamiq MockupsMarketing - Twitter, Blogger, LinkedInCRM - ZohoEmail - Gmail (or paid Gmail Apps with your own domain)Funding - Business and Innovation Competitions
Knowledge
Tips to source developers from ELance
I recently spoke with Declan O'Sullivan from Bet-Tec (leading supplier of innovative and entertaining services to the betting industry) around his experiences using ELance (where companies find, hire, manage and pay contractors online). He described having mixed experiences "some good, some bad" and suggested using a developers 'reputation score' as your first filtering criteria.Declan went … Continue reading Tips to source developers from ELance
Questions to ask potential joiners to a start-up
The goal of this post is to help establish some key questions to ask up front to ensure that joiners to our start-up are a good fit.We have limited financial resources so need to use other incentives like restricted stock agreements, options, sweat equity etc... to ensure joiners are adequately motivated and rewarded. We have … Continue reading Questions to ask potential joiners to a start-up
The Green IT Perspective – Ethical Markets
I was recently referenced in an article by Ethical Markets. The article references how we suggest CIOs and IT professionals can make Green IT the core of an enterprise-wide sustainability program. http://www.ethicalmarkets.com/2009/04/08/the-green-it-perspective/
Shortcut for opening and saving files in windows
Have you ever wished that when you saved or opened files in windows that the 'shortcut' locations on the left of the window contained more than just 5 standard options (i.e. Desktop, My Documents, etc...). I finally invested some time with Google and I'm delighted to report that it is very easy to implement this … Continue reading Shortcut for opening and saving files in windows
Investment Royals: King Cash and Queen Knowledge
For the last 6 months I have been searching the DC market for good investment properties. I continue to see properties deflate in prce and think we have yet to hit the bottom (as an example; see one of the properties I visited today at the Sonata). Many may think that this is a crazy … Continue reading Investment Royals: King Cash and Queen Knowledge
NLP: Program your Communications
The lemon test is what first 'sold me' on the power of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) to improve communication skills. NLP also helps you recognise when others are trying to influence or control the outcome of a communication/interaction. Affective use of NLP can involve a lot or practice and study but sometimes just knowing the … Continue reading NLP: Program your Communications
Sell before you buy – Real Estate
In the movie 'Pirates of Silicon Valley' we see a young Bill Gates sell a multi million dollar contract to provide his disk operating software (DOS) to IBM. The resulting contract kick started his Microsoft empire. The 'slight' problem, that we discover after the meeting, was that Bill had no such product at the time. … Continue reading Sell before you buy – Real Estate
Time Management: The 4 D’s
Time management is a skill that you constantly have to work on. As soon as you think your on top of it and relax the Inbox and Task list will start to pile up again. Unfotunatley, I like most other people, operate in a very start/stop fashion where we let things build up until we … Continue reading Time Management: The 4 D’s
My Portfolio by Bank of America
Bank of America's 'My Portfolio' feature is a great (and free) tool to have a one stop view of all of your financial information... and a whole lot more!!I have used the portfolio feature for over a year to pull information from my HSBC, American Express, Chase, Vanguard 401K, Etrade, etc... accounts into one consolidated … Continue reading My Portfolio by Bank of America