What Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Valuations

Getting your first term sheet from a venture-capital firm is among the most exhilarating moments that you'll experience as an entrepreneur. It probably sits up there with the college acceptance letter in the pantheon of milestones.

Getting a call from an entrepreneur who has just received a term sheet is one of the highlights of my day. The excitement is palpable. But unlike the college acceptance letter, a venture term sheet can quickly be followed by the dread of trying to understand the gobbledy-gook that you've been presented with. To manage that inevitable angst, you'll quickly need to wrap your head around what matters a lot, what matters less and what doesn't really matter in a term sheet.

3 Reasons Why You Are Failing at Problem Solving

The line between success and failure is often thin. An important thing you can do to put yourself on the right side of that line is to maximize the quality of your knowledge, and use strong methods to solve problems.

Early Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers realized that the difficulty with their computer programs was that they had no real expertise in the areas in which they were solving problems, and so they had to rely on very general strategies, or weak methods of problem solving.

4 Ways You Are Driving Your Employees Crazy

You spend a great deal of time recruiting and training the best people possible. But are you driving them crazy without realizing it? It’s possible, says human resources consultant Roberta Matuson, founder of Matuson Consulting and author of Talent Magnetism: How to Build a Workplace that Attracts and Keeps the Best(Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2013). Just like few people will tell you if you have bad breath, employees aren’t generally eager to point out the error of these management ways, she says. So, check yourself for these bad behaviors.

5 Ways Mobile Messaging Can Boost Retail Sales

For retailers everywhere, the rules of engagement have changed. As smartphones, tablets and other mobile device proliferate, shopping has evolved from a discrete activity into a continuous and always-on process. Today, buying a product can happen at any time and anywhere, and it’s never more than an arm’s length away.

To make the most of this new reality, retailers must take a more active role in the customer journey and guide shoppers through each step of the process. The most effective way to do this is by creating a multi-channel messaging strategy, one that addresses specific customers needs, provides valuable content and nudges shoppers toward purchase.

Let’s examine five ways that leading retailers use mobile messaging to boost their sales:

Management Lessons From a Public Company Gone Private

My executive team and I recently led a management buyout of IgnitionOne, our marketing technology firm from Dentsu, the Japan-based, global holding company. While this type of ownership can offer both scale and resources, at the end of the day, we knew as an independent force we'd be able to better attract and retain talent, innovate product offering and more aggressively grow the business.

7 Leadership Lies You Need to Stop Believing

We live in an age that seeks quick fixes and easy answers. Sometimes leaders abdicate their thinking to others and accept "prevailing wisdom," which is often an oxymoron.

I grew up, like most, accepting many things at face value. It wasn't until I started giving important issues like leadership a second and third thought that I realized I'd been believing what turned out to be some serious leadership myths.

Here are seven leadership lies and why they simply aren't true:

Should You Open Your Own Online Store?

The economic recovery for most is much slower than the news would lead you to believe. Many people ask themselves, "How can I supplement my income so I can provide more for my family?" The perceived hot trend to accomplish this goal is doing business on the Internet---but it is not as easy as it looks. Before you go off and open an online store, you need to fully understand what online stores are all about.

Online stores are not much different than physical stores except you don't have to worry about paying the rent or having a lot of money tied up in inventory.

10 Questions to Ask if You Want to Create a Winning Business Plan

The stodgy business plan—that multipage printed document that entrepreneurs used to hand out at meetings with venture capitalists—has gone the way of the typewriter and Rolodex. These days, entrepreneurs are expected to lay out their strategies in slick Power Point presentations, complete with colorful pictures and informative charts.

7 Ways Exercising Can Make You a Better Entrepreneur

We all know fitness is important to our health, but did you know it can also be good for your business? Elizabeth Robinson, a Philadelphia-based personal trainer and creator of VitFit, a mobile app for customizable downloadable workouts and Dega Schembri, co-owner of City Fitness Gym in Washington D.C., say regular physical activity can make you a better entrepreneur.

Here are seven ways physical activity can improve the health of your business:

How Unconventional Majors Can Help You Thrive in Entrepreneurship

Ask David Dietz, the founder of sustainable fashion retailerModavanti, and he’ll tell you double-majoring in Arabic was one of the best things he ever did. “When you study Arabic, you have to be very disciplined and diligent about learning the grammar rules, practicing writing the script and, of course, reading,” says the Georgetown University graduate. “As a young entrepreneur starting a business, that sort of discipline is imperative.”

How to Capture a Trend-Setting Business Idea

Chasing trends can be disastrous in business. It's kind of like timing in the stock market. If you're not in at the bottom, you might, say, buy a lot of trendy inventory at high price points, only to unload it at a discount. And, as you know, buying high, then selling low is a quick way to get run out of business.

There are some instances, however, in which tapping into trends can be very profitable, especially if you are in an industry or category like fashion, entertainment or food where eventually, what was old becomes new again.

5 Reasons Why New Entrepreneurs Should Have Faith in Themselves

Starting a small business is always every person's private decision. Running the business is also because the person is willing to do so. The power of free will plays a very key role in all human endeavors.

Ultimate power lies within the person and it is she alone who has a good idea about the size of that power. To run a business, whatever direction it goes is entirely up to the entrepreneur. Whatever progress she can make in the business will have to depend on her first before anything or anyone else. 

You must have absolute faith in yourself and your abilities before you decide to become an entrepreneur. Here are some 5 reasons why new entrepreneurs should have faith in themselves.

Why You Shouldn't Send Your Business Plan to Investors

Most entrepreneurs think they can get funding simply by sending out their business plan. Unfortunately, this rarely works. Over the past 15 years, my company, Growthink, has developed thousands of business plans for entrepreneurs seeking funding.

But I always tell people not to send the plans to investors. He trick is not simply sending out a plan. It is finding the best way to leverage it.

Here's why:

The Wild and Crazy Career Paths of 5 Self-Made Billionaires (Infographic)

Virgin Empire founder Richard Branson’s first job was selling Christmas trees. NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s first job was selling garbage bags. Las Vegas Sands Corporation CEO Sheldon Adelson’s first job was selling newspapers. Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky’s first job was selling carpets. And Elon Musk, the founder of Telsa Motors and PayPal, started his working life writing video games.

From their humble beginnings, all of these self-made billionaires have changed course scores of times. The infographic below, generated by San Francisco-based startup organization Funders and Founders, shows just how many different businesses these legendary entrepreneurs launched.