Inc.com

An entrepreneur can become an inhibitor to growth for a company passed the start-up phase. It may be time to disengage.

We're fascinated by the power of entrepreneurship. An individual entrepreneur, or an intrapreneur within a larger organization, is essential to jumpstarting business growth. An entrepreneur can take a start-up, a collection of products or services, or a fledgling team and create a growing business. We like to say that entrepreneurs create growth by grabbing the business by the neck and forcing it to grow.

But once the business reaches a critical level of sustainability, an entrepreneur can also become an inhibitor to growth. Entrepreneurs that have the foresight to step away from the business and redirect their efforts when the time is right can make sure that their business's early growth is sustainable.

Growth leadership is different than "grab by the neck" entrepreneurship, and can be more effective at growing an established business.

We mean "stepping away" figuratively. Instead of physically leaving the company, entrepreneurs who distance themselves emotionally and psychologically can have a wonderfully positive effect. This works best as a gradual process of handing over growth responsibilities to the next generation of leaders and positioning them to succeed at a different game.

Here are three things to remember as you build your business from an entrepreneurial "survivor" to a growth engine:

1. Delink your ego from the business.

Just as family businesses can be inhibited by prioritizing family harmony over business growth, entrepreneurial businesses can be inhibited by prioritizing the needs of the entrepreneurial CEO over the needs of the business. The first step is to stop thinking about your own reputation and happiness as tied to the business. Be willing to let the business live or die, shrink or grow, and focus or expand based on financial and strategic decisions, rather than your own biases.

2. Take a long vacation.

Test the business's independence by taking yourself off the grid for at least two months. Allow the business to adapt to your absence. One successful entrepreneur recently told us, "I knew I could pass the business to the next generation of leaders when I went to Arizona for two months. When I came back, the business had grown faster than when I was there, and they weren't happy to see me return."

3. Build it to sell.

You may not have a personal goal to sell your company, but to best position the business for growth, you must make it attractive to an outside party. If you refuse to consider a future sale, you will inherently guide the business toward your personal goals rather than the goals of the business. Building a business that's attractive to an outside party is, by definition, increasing its value. When an entrepreneur is open to this outcome, he or she will prioritize decisions that result in a bigger and more valuable business.

One of the most valuable things you can do for your business is to be willing to walk away. If you have grown the business sustainability, make a resolution to create your "walk away" plan this year. That will increase your chances of becoming a valuable CEO for the business for years to come.

Have you considered walking away from the business you built? Send us your thoughts and questions. We can be reached at karlandbill@avondalestrategicpartners.com.

One of the very hardest things you'll ever do as a business owner is terminate an employee. You need to think about all of these things.

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I am a small business owner (20 full-time employees). I have an employee whose skills were critical to us when she was hired in 2003, however, they have become largely irrelevant in our current business and are now used in less than 20 percent of her work on a weekly basis. Over the last few years, we have re-purposed her with a variety of administrative tasks which she did well. Further retraining in the skills we need is not possible due to the highly technical nature of our work.

On a purely economic basis, my decision should be an easy one. However, this employee also suffers from mental illness. I am aware of her illness. We have been accommodating in terms of her work environment and hours.

I need to let her go because a) we really need to free up the cash to hire the person we need, b) she's barely contributing, and c) her behavior lately has been distressing other employees. But I truly fear that if I terminate her she will finally go over the edge in bad ways I don't want to even contemplate. I wish I could offer her more, but at this point we would only be able to offer a month's severance and perhaps three months of healthcare. Do you have any other suggestions as to how we can make this a positive transition for both parties?

--Compassionate and fiscally responsible boss

Dear Compassionate Boss,

This is a very hard situation to be in. Almost every involuntary termination is heart-wrenching for a boss, but when you can see that it may not only cause the person financial difficulties, but in her case, it's that much harder.

There are two things you need to think about: Your company and your employee. While many people would think that the latter is more important than the former, you've got 19 other employees that rely on your business and if you want to remain compassionate, you have to think about their needs as well as this one employee's.

So first, here's how to protect your company:

Hire an employment attorney. This is going to cost you money, but the right attorney will save you money in the long run. This is not a job for your tax attorney, or the person who helped you incorporate. This is a job for a specialist. Employment law is complicated and you need help.

Be careful what you say. It's clear to me that you are terminating her because she lacks the skills for what you need. However, she also suffers from mental illness, which is (generally) covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The federal law goes into effect at 15 employees. It requires you to make reasonable accommodations (which you've done). It does not prevent you from terminating someone subject to the law. It just prevents you from terminating the person because of her disabilities. If you talk too much about her mental health problems, she may be begin to believe that is why the termination.

Severance and general releases are your friends. Your attorney will tell you this, but just to prepare you, both are important to the protection of your company. You say you can do one month salary and three months health insurance. Awesome. If you can stretch either, stretch it. The general release is a legal document which requires that she give up her rights to sue (in certain cases--not everything is waivable, see your attorney) in exchange for the severance. No signature=no severance.

The magic reason for termination: Position Elimination. You aren't firing her for performance. You aren't firing her for her mental health issues. You are firing her because her position is being eliminated. Before you notify her of her termination, have the new job description made and posted. Make sure it contains as few of her responsibilities as possible.

Now, to look out for your employee.

Severance (again!): This will help her live while she looks for a new job. This may be critical to her mental health.

Encourage her to apply for unemployment. Yes, your company takes a financial hit when a former employee applies for unemployment. Suck it up. She's earned it, and by your own account, she's done nothing wrong. She simply lacks the skills. Figure out how to apply and giver her the information.

Outplacement. It would be relatively inexpensive for you to arrange for her to meet with a career coach for 3 or 4 sessions. The coach will help her with her resume, her interview skills, and figuring out what type of job she'd be good at.

Recommendations. Tell her very clearly what you will say in a recommendation. She's worked for you for 10 years, so she'll need your recommendation. You must be honest, but try to be kind. And then live up to that when people call you.

It will not be easy, but sometimes the hard things have to be done by the boss. This is the part of owning a business that is very painful.

Take a cue from other businesses that have excellent customer service and learn to incorporate those strategies into your business.

I've been thinking a lot about our customer experience lately as we'll soon be making some sweeping changes to the way we do business at my online marketing company VerticalResponse. When I see other businesses that do a bang up job with their customer experience, I take copious notes of how we might incorporate it into the way we'll do things.

I'd like to focus on a company that originated in San Francisco called One Medical. If you can believe it, they're reinventing the dreaded doctor's office visit! I've broken it down into four customer experience touch points that make a difference for this business and that all of us might learn from.

1. Ease of Use, Right From the Start

You might hear about One Medical from a friend like me, and go to their friendly website where you might sign up and become a member, or log in. Then you see which physicians are available in a location, or a time slot that's convenient for you (Same day? Yup!) and you can make your appointment. Easy? You bet.

Lesson: Ask someone who doesn't know about your business how they feel about visiting your store or website. Is it the experience you want to portray?

2. Comfortable and Short Wait Time

Every One Medical location has nice, tasteful decor. There aren't a bunch of cheap chairs all facing each other, and no cheesy magazines from last month that an employee brought in. The waiting area is divided into comfortable sections and you get a warm and friendly greeting from someone sitting at a desk, not in back of a glass wall with a bunch of color-coded folders behind them. Plus, you always get seen on time. Waiting becomes a comfortable experience.

Lesson: Is your location set up to reflect your business? Are you edgy or subdued? Does your website reflect how you want your business portrayed? Does your team greet your visitors the way you want them to?

3. Friendly and Informational Visit

Each physician has a comfortable office with a laptop where they document your consultation directly into your account so you have a record of it. They put off a kind, approachable vibe, and never make you feel rushed. A rarity these days when most doctors have about 15 minutes tops, to spend with you.

Lesson: Are your salespeople dressed casually or suited up? How do you want them to speak to visitors whether they call in or come to your business? Is the interaction with your team and your business the way you want it to be? Send some people in and have them describe how they perceive what your biz is all about.

4. Quick Follow-up

One Medical physicians email your prescription directly to the pharmacy of your choice (no paper here) and they email you after your visit to find out how you're feeling.

What's more is you can email your physician anything you want to ask, at any time and expect to get an answer within a few hours!

Lesson: Are you thanking your customers for buying? What does your confirmation email say? Does it reflect your style, or is it too stuffy for how you want to sound? Are you set up to get back to customers quickly with chat, or a phone call, or do you even follow up?

Whether your business is online, offline, or both, take a note of everywhere a customer or a potential customer has to interact with you and form their quick opinion. Then make some changes like we are and give your customer experience a clean bill of health!

Did you enjoy this post? If so, sign up for the free VR Buzz weekly newsletter and check out the VerticalResponse Marketing Blog.

Up-to-the-minute updates were supposed to make you more efficient. What the heck happened?

An email, social media notification, or text comes and--bang!--you're on top of it. With the help of your smartphone, you're the master of all things happening at this moment. Or at least you try to be.

Except, as writer Matthew Ingram at GigaOM learned recently, a connectedness addiction isn't necessarily a good thing. His lesson is a good one for an entrepreneur or, frankly, anyone in the workforce: Sometimes less is more. Especially when you're talking about inherent distractions.

Ruled by Notifications

Ingram shifted from using an iPhone to an Android handset. His motivation was to get beyond Apple's carefully tended garden walls, but what he eventually noticed was a more subdued user experience, which was great for productivity.

Here's how he described keeping an iPhone at hand for three years:

Not only did certain apps (like Twitter) wake up the iPhone screen even when the device was sleeping to flash a message, but every icon for every app also had mini-notifications built in, so that I could see at a glance how many emails had come in since the last time I had checked, or how many Facebook messages, etc. Each icon had a little number next to it that wouldn't go away until I opened the app and dealt with the messages or updates (there are also banner updates that can be individually configured for different apps).

It was a way to stay on top of everything in the default mode, except he became obsessive about it. Count goes up on email? Check it. More tweets? Scan through them. Facebook activity? Get hopping. All that became a distraction for more important things he needed to do.

But this isn't really about smartphones or productivity. The ability to get real-time information on everything is a larger trend in business. Dashboards constantly give you the latest variations in metrics. Alerts come from hardware and applications all alerting you that one thing or another happened.

But it's a trap, very much like following the minute-by-minute movement of the stock market can be. There is a fair amount of variation that is normal. You can't possibly address all changes and shouldn't.

Managing the Minutia

Decades ago, W. Edwards Demining, one of the inventors of statistical quality control in manufacturing (the discipline that helped Japanese technology and automobile companies leapfrog U.S. competitors) created an experiment as a teaching tool. Someone would hold little pellets and try to drop them on a target on the floor below. The pellets would tend to group--until the person was told to adjust aim after every drop to hit the target. When that happened, the pellets scattered everywhere but the bull's eye.

The more avidly the people in this experiment tried to control their aim minute by minute, the more they undermined their ability to control anything. Similarly, the more you try to manage and monitor the minutiae of your business every day, the greater the chance that you'll actually lose control.

If you can loosen the reins a bit and see how the business is actually running, rather than trying to change it in minute by minute, you can eventually understand how the system works and improve it. Also, you reduce some unnecessary pressure on employees who otherwise can get burnt out and tire of constant tweaking.

That's the sneaky problem about real-time monitoring. Yes, it can help at times, but it can also start to feel like your business has decided to over-share on its own internal social network.

So, reconsider the real-time systems you think you need. Set significant and meaningful threshold levels at which point you know something requires action. Don't obsess over the minutiae of dashboards, as it's really the trends and longer-term performance of your business that is important. And, for heaven's sake, put away the smartphone and the tablet for a while. Sure, you'll be plugged into a virtual world of information, but at the expense of being detached from the real world of action that you inhabit.

Bill Peppler, managing partner at Orlando-based Kavaliro Staffing, says his company may have to tighten their belts.

Kavaliro Staffing / Orlando
Managing partner: Bill Peppler
2012 revenue: $20 million
Employees: 275
Benefits cost in 2012: An average of $1,800 per insured employee
Estimated costs in 2014: Unknown, though the company expects premiums to increase

This technical staffing firm is on "a rocket path of growth," says managing partner Bill Peppler, with both revenue and payroll soaring. (The company made the Inc. 5000 in 2011 and 2012; it also appeared on Inc.'s 2012 Hire Power list as a top job creator in its industry.) In December, the company opened an office in Tampa, and in January it acquired a Washington, D.C.-area staffing firm, taking on about 60 employees.

Benefits Today
"Offering health benefits is an important recruiting and retention tool in a competitive industry," says Peppler. About 100 employees get coverage through the company. Kavaliro offers three tiers of coverage through United Health, with project-based consultants eligible for a less-robust package than full-timers. The average premium for individual coverage is $368 a month; Kavaliro pays an average of $150 of that, or about 40 percent.

What's Next
"Our intention is to comply with whatever legislation comes down the pipe," says Peppler. To do so, it appears that Kavaliro's benefits plan will need some tweaking--notably, increasing the percentage of employee premium costs it is paying in order to meet the ACA's minimum value requirements (see "An Obamacare Glossary"). The law will also force Kavaliro--which relies heavily on contract employees who work remotely--to be extravigilant about monitoring contractors' hours, in order to avoid penalties for improperly counting workers. Premium costs are the great unknown. They went up about 7 percent in 2012. "We haven't been given guidance on what to expect," says Peppler. "We may need to tighten our belts strategically. Our focus is to keep up with growth and avoid issuing new costs to our clients."

These seven beliefs can help you to stay energized and focused while running a successful business.

Over the past 20 years running Formula, I have developed a crystallized plan to ensure that I maintain my health, sanity, and motivation while continuing to run a rapidly growing public relations agency. Though the following seven tips may seem obvious, most business owners will agree it is incredibly tough to stay energized when the pressure of running a business during a down economy is so great.

1. Carve out time to do the things that you love.

Make sure that you regularly find time to do the things you really love. If it’s reading, going to the movies, playing with your kids, or traveling, you need to make it a priority in your life. It allows you time to relax, reflect, and re-energize for the challenges ahead in the coming days.

2. Address issues early and immediately.

One of the main challenges that I hear from business owners is the stress levels they face knowing that the weight of the business rests on their shoulders. Thus, one of the best ways to minimize stress is to address issues early on. In many cases a small issue, when addressed early, will not become a bigger problem down the road. Also, this will eliminate the anxiety of knowing it needs to be addressed but hasn’t yet. When you face problems head on, you can move on to the more positive aspects of your business.

3. Hire good people and empower them.

The best organizations have a leader that hires smart people and allows them to do their jobs. It is fine to be a part of the process, but you are not helping yourself or the company when you are micro-managing the work. The stress of trying to do everyone’s job, plus your own, is not only challenging but frankly dumb. Employees want responsibility and autonomy, and you as a business owner should allow some latitude in both. This will ensure loyalty and longevity, which will eliminate the stress of having to replace them.

4. Focus on the big items that impact your business.

Someone once said, "Don’t sweat the small stuff." As a business owner, this is a very difficult thing to do because we want everything to be perfect. However, when you allow your team to focus on the smaller items so you can focus on the things that really impact the success of the company, you will find that the organization improves and the smaller issues stay small.

5. Develop personal relationships with the people you work with.

We all spend three-quarters of our life working. As such, I believe it’s important to have personal relationships with all levels of people you work with. When you can have fun at work with "friends" it helps to eliminate the stresses of the day, builds greater teamwork, ensures individuals feel like they are important, and makes you as the business owner more approachable.

6. Try not to work on the weekends.

This may sound silly and difficult for the many workaholics out there, but I truly believe that working seven days a week will not only contribute to a stressful life, but also shorten it. Everyone needs time to refresh, rejuvenate, and re-engage with people outside of work. Making time for you in your hectic work week will pay off when it comes time to get back into the game.

7. Work out.

Yes I know it is cliché, but I live this mantra probably better than most. When I am out running (yes, I’m a marathoner), I am able to relax and frankly solve many of the problems I face within my organization. I am confident that if all business owners spent 30-45 minutes a day building up a sweat, they would find greater energy and vitality to face the challenges within their business.

I certainly don’t expect that, if you follow the above simple tips, you will eliminate the stress that accompanies running a successful business. A certain amount of anxiety goes with the job. However, if you take the time to focus on what matters most, empower those around you to help carry some of load, and always contribute to your life outside the office, you will be better for it … and that alone will have a positive net effect on your business.

It's easy to lose focus when you can't turn down a business opportunity. Here's how Tony Hawk learned the value of sticking with what you know.

Tony Hawk knows that when you're hurtling down a halfpipe into an aerial spin, losing focus could get you seriously hurt. After co-founding a skateboard company in 1991, Hawk learned that distractions in the business world can be equally dangerous.

When we first started, I was doing all the marketing and all the promotional materials myself. I was OK at it, but I wasn't the most qualified person. Finally, one of our team members said, "Your ads aren't very good. You're better at skating. Why don't you let me take this over?"

So I took a step back from the business and focused on skating. I stopped being so involved in the day-to-day operations and became more of an adviser. The company was growing, and everything was working out pretty well. But all that changed when we started to move outside of the skate world.

A friend of mine persuaded us to sell his high-end denim line. It sounded like an awesome idea, but we had no idea about the clothing industry. It sucked up our profits for a good two years. After wasting a couple million dollars, we ended up selling the line to another company just to get out of debt.

Not long after that debacle, my partner, Per Welinder, told me he wanted to acquire a surfboard brand, too. After what we'd just been through, I didn't want to do it. I didn't know enough about surfing. Besides, this wasn't why I got into business. I got into it for skateboarding.

Per and I weren't seeing eye to eye, so I offered to buy him out. It took him about a year and a half, but he finally said yes. It was a relief, because I could finally do what was best for skaters again. I started licensing the brand and launched a new line of skateboards that were sold at a mass level in stores like Target and Walmart.

These days, it's easier for me to turn down opportunities that don't fit the brand. I have the confidence to say no.

Age when he turned pro: 14
Start-up capital: $80,000 of the co-founders' personal savings
Total video-game sales: More than $1 billion through a licensing agreement with Activision

A killer company name isn't just about finding something that sounds right. Here are six things to keep in mind.

What you call a new venture can very well turn out to be one of the most important decisions you will make in the early days of a company. The business name will dictate which Web domain you can register, your trademark, and how people identify what you do.

So while the R.E.M. approach might work on the rare occasion--the band reportedly opened a dictionary and picked the name at random--you're better off giving the name due diligence. Here are six things to keep in mind.

1. Watch out for sound-alikes.

Tarek Pertew, the co-founder of Wakefield (which provides info about great places to work), says to avoid a name that has too many alternate spellings. For example, you might want to call your new start-up Phaser, but he says too many people will think it is Fazer or Faser. They will type that domain into a browser and find the wrong brand.

2. Wait for the lightbulb moment.

To create BloomThink, the name of his social media firm, Billy Cripe grabbed blank sheets of paper and had family members write down interesting words. Eventually, his daughter put "bloom" and "think" together. Everyone at the table new it was the right name. "Start-ups should take some time saying the words out loud because they're going to be saying it a lot: on the phone, in face-to-face meetings, in presentations. You want your words to easily translate to the keyboard for accuracy and ease," he says.

3. Let your name tell a story.

Pertew says it is not always necessary for your company name to tell a story. Yet, it can help with branding and generate buzz. One example: the eyewear company Warby Parker is named after two characters from a long-lost Jack Kerouac journal. Pertew's company name is also a conversation starter: Wakefield is named after a character in a Tom Swift novel series from the 1900s that was inventive and prescient.

4. Make it personal.

Your company name is often an extension of your personality. Caroline Fielding was doodling on a sheet of paper one night, trying to think of a company name. She thought about three grandsons in the family: Dean, Bryan, and Steven. And, she thought about how her company, which makes an iPhone app called Bus Rage, is driven to succeed. She combined the three names to create Dryven. "The name is easier to remember [for customers] when there is a personal story behind it," she says.

5. Don't be too practical.

Some companies use a name that says exactly what is does, like Accounting101. That might be a mistake, says Aaron Frazin, the CEO of Charlie, an app that pulls info about your contacts before a meeting. Frazin played around with names like Socialize.it and Unclutter.it but ended up picking the name Charlie because it's a bit esoteric. "No one wants just a tool that says what it does; they want a name that represents something bigger than it does," he says.

6. Make sure you love it.

The process of picking a name can easily turn into a a huge headache. Chris Zepf, the CEO of Kingdom Ridge Capital, says he and a business partner spent hundreds of hours thinking of a name. They went through a laundry list of Greek gods, mountain ranges, and geographic locations but came up empty. He decided to pick a known quantity: the street he lives on, Kingdom Ridge. He now says the name resonates with him every time he hears it.

A New Orleans angel investor weighs in on when entrepreneurs should resist the lure of bigger hubs in favor of homegrown networks

About a year ago, Inc. took a look at the buzzing New Orleans start-up scene, which many founders claimed offered a warmer support network for entrepreneurs than some better known locales where competition is more cut-throat.

But times change and companies grow from a sketch on a napkin to a small business in need of its first outside funding. And as they do, the bright lights of the likes of Silicon Valley become more alluring. Some New Orleans-based start-ups—probably much like fledgling companies in other less celebrated start-up cities—are pondering a move.

Clayton White—a New Orleans angel investor who also works with Simmons & White, a management consulting firm that advises NOLA start-ups—talks to local entrepreneurs regularly and has a few words of warning for founders with their eye on a westward bound U-Haul.

Think carefully before you make a move, he insists.

Should I Stay?

"For early-stage funding there's a couple of reasons to stay local," White told Inc. "The first is most angel groups invest in a very limited geographic area. For instance, we'll only invest in companies in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast. The reason being, if you're putting a half million dollars into a company, it's not a big enough investment to say, 'let's fly to Michigan once a quarter to see what they're doing and attend a board meeting.'"

Because of these practicalities, local angels are more likely to be interested in your company if it's physically nearby, insists White, and you're also more likely to find a means to connect with them. "Local entrepreneurs have local contacts. There's lots of local groups that facilitate networking, so it's fairly easy for them to get into this networking scene," he says.

Or Should I Go?

But just because White warns entrepreneurs not to be bedazzled by big-time start-up hubs, doesn't mean he feels that staying put is always the right option, especially if you're playing in a niche with a strong community clustered elsewhere.

"I run an angel group –South Coast Angel Fund—and I tell companies all the time that we may be a great funding source for them and we may not be. If all we can add is the money then we're really not a great source. We have to add resources to the company in the way of contacts, help with strategy, help with technology. If that business experience isn't available and it is available somewhere else then it's probably a good idea to go. If they just focus on the money, that's a mistake," he says.

The available support network, in other words, should be the make or break factor in any entrepreneur's decision, according to White. Your local connections can be incredibly valuable, so don't throw them away without careful thought, but if the right people to move your specific business forward are located across the country, it may, in fact, be time to pack that moving van.

Do you agree?

For start-ups, there's an efficient way to get a lot of attention for your limited time and money. Here's how to make great videos without killing yourself.

Video may be the latest social marketing frontier, but few of us have professional equipment--much less real studios in our offices. So we asked 14 successful founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council to share their tips for making your next business video. Their best answers are below.

1. Video is important, but don't forget the sound quality.

People want to watch your videos because they want to hear you speak--so make sure you have a camera that has a good microphone in order for your potential clients to clearly hear you without distracting noise. --Angela Pan, Angela B. Pan Photography

2. Be quick on the draw when something great happens.

I work with professional speakers, and they always ask me about video marketing. The easiest way to get started is to use your iPhone to record quick videos sharing your expertise. I've also found it useful for collecting video testimonials from customers who love your product. --Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

3. No talent or equipment? There's still a tool for you.

Video marketing is becoming accessible to everyone, and PowToon is an example of a tool that makes it easy to make video marketing for your business. Using templates and built in voice elements you can have a product demo, feature walk-through, or marketing pitch done without any equipment or talent at all. --Derek Shanahan, Playerize

4. Consider how you communicate the non-verbal (and how people will find your videos).

When uploading to YouTube, include a transcription of the audio and any vital visual cues that appear in the video. This, in addition to your tags, can be searched and help more people find your content. --Emily Eldridge Holdman, The Remarkables

5. Above all, be yourself.

Relatability and likability are two incredibly powerful forces, and so, regardless of budget, I think it's important to include a real representative from your company, speaking in plain English. If you're a start-up founder, channel your inner Dave Thomas (of Wendy's fame) and leverage the power of online video to speak to your audience and customers yourself. --Lauren Friese, TalentEgg

6. Leverage local resources.

Look to your local arts schools and colleges. There is so much young talent that would kill to work on a stipend or internship on an actual corporate project. Every start-up should offer creative internships for content creation. It is a win-win. --Azita Ardakani, Love Social

7. Do your keyword research

Video marketing is a powerful way to get into search results. Since YouTube is owned by Google, Google includes YouTube videos on the front page for many different searches. If you use the AdWords Keyword Tool to identify low-competition terms for your video (and possibly localize your title), you have the chance to get in front of customers with a video that took you a few minutes to make. --Brett Farmiloe, Markitors

8. Show, don't tell.

Jing is a free, easy way to get quality screen captures (both stills and video), which are a critical element of business videos and tutorials. --Robert J. Moore, RJMetrics

9. Maintain an editorial calendar.

When you're looking to incorporate video into your marketing efforts, don't dive in without a plan first. Before you launch your inaugural video, make sure you have an editorial calendar so you're prepared to create content consistently over time. Maintaining an editorial calendar for your video marketing will ensure your prospective customers get great content regularly. --Doreen Bloch, Poshly

10. Embrace what you have.

If you can't afford to have Quentin Tarantino direct your video, don't worry. There is a charm in having a basic, low-budget video. Use it to your advantage by keeping your video very uncomplicated, in both production cost and purpose. Make sure the video answers a question or shows your business as the solution to a problem. That's it. --Adam Stillman, Ditto Holdings

11. Mix it up with creative tools.

Animoto is a great online tool, which is super simple (and fun) to use. It enables you to mix (and remix) pro-looking videos using your own images, slides and video clips, along with their library of music clips. There's a free version, but even the premium options are an extremely good value and affordable. --Lea Woodward, Startup Training School

12. The one investment you really need to make...

No matter what camera you choose to use, buying an affordable lighting kit will make a huge difference in the quality of your videos. When I started "She Takes on the World TV," it was just me and a digital camera somewhere in my house. Investing just $200 in a lighting kit completely changed how my episodes looked, and as a result, they led to deeper engagement with my audience. --Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World

13. Add a personal touch.

Many direct-response video Internet marketers are using videos with handwritten drawings that tell a story. Those can easily cost five figures, but VideoScribe software allows you to create those same videos using vector images--for less than $50 per month. --Peter Nguyen, Literati Institute

14. Don't let technology restrict your creativity.

The first time I tried to shoot myself on video was not pretty, but it was profitable. I used a precursor to the Flip Camera, put it on a bar stool with some books stacked up to make a tripod and nailed some whiteboards into my wall. The result was a four-video product that still sells to this day. The point is not to let technology stop you, but rather create a story worth listening to. --Greg Rollett, The ProductPros

Whether you're looking to create the next Angry Birds, or you want to monetize your game, check out these innovative start-ups heading to Austin this year.

The dog days of Zynga may be over--which means there's ample room for new gaming start-ups to emerge. The market is ripe, too. By 2016, online and mobile gaming will rise to a $48 billion market, becoming 55 percent of the overall $83 billion video-game market, according to a report by Digi-Capital, a research firm that tracks the gaming industry. Investors are actively look to fund game companies, too. In 2012, venture capitalists poured $853 million into gaming companies.

This year, South By Southwest is embracing the gamer spirit with the SXSW Gaming Expo, a three-day affair taking place from March 8 through 10 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas, with more than 50 exhibitors. Here are a few companies worth checking out.

1. Corona Labs, empowering game developers all over the world

Corona Labs doesn't want to produce the next Angry Birds--it want you to. The start-up, founded in 2008 in Palo Alto, California, has created perhaps the world's most popular gaming and app development platform, the Corona SDK. More than 200,000 developers have used the platform to create apps, and some have gone on to major success, including the developers behind Bubble Ball, Blast Monkeys, Dabble, The Lost City, The Secret of Grisly Manor, and Cannon Cat. Created by Walter Luh, a serial entrepreneur and formerly the lead architect of the Adobe Flash Lite engineering team, Corona Labs has raised $2.5 million in seed investment, mostly from Merus Capital.

2. Kixeye, a powerhouse game-development studio

If you haven't heard of Kixeye--you should put this company directly in your sights. The independent game developer, founded in 2007, is known for mega-popular hits such as Backyard Monsters, which has more than 20 million activations. The online game company has also rolled out several other hits, including Desktop Defender, Battle Pirates and War Commander, which have shot down the competition. Since its launch six years ago, the company has raised over $19 million, primarily from Lightspeed Venture Partners, a Menlo Park-based VC firm. Kixeye will be hosting a happy hour on March 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

3. Green Throttle, smartphone gaming

The co-founder of Guitar Hero, Charles Huang, is turning the smartphone into a gaming console. With Green Throttle, Huang's newest start-up will let users connect their iPhone or Android to any screen in the room. It's also created a dedicated, X-Box-esque controller so that multiplayer players can join in. The controller connects to the phone's bluetooth, so there's no need for any additional wires. To take the game on-the-go as a single player, a user can simply detach their phone from the TV, and play the game directly on the phone's screem. The company is developing games itself, but also opening up the SDK to game developers, as well. The comapny is based in Santa Clara, California, and has raised a $6 million from Trinity Ventures and DCM.

4. Playhaven, for making your games make you money

For game developers, attracting new players to download a game--and keeping them playing--is a tough business. Playhaven gives game developers the tools to promote and tweak marketing promotions seamlessly across one platform. The start-up offers developers a suite of services, from internal cross-promotion, to game rewards, to interstitial ads, all with the intent of improving the value (and increasing revenue) of a game. The start-up, which has raised about $8 million, was founded in May 2010 and originated as a social network for gamers. It pivoted to its current model in September 2011.

5. Tista Games, a scrappy games start-up takes a novel approach

Compared to a gaming company such as Kixeye, Tista Games is fairly scrappy--but its appraoch to gaming is unique. "What we think is a more interesting model is the idea of a TV-show style game platform," founder Aunim Hossain told The Washington Post. "We will deliver an evolving story line of new-game content every week, hopefully to users waiting with bated breath. With our model, we can validate 'hit' games at 20 percent of the upfront cost of regular game developers because we can continuously test and improve." In other words, Tista Games wants to become the HBO of gaming. Launched by Hossain, a Harvard Business School-trained banker-turned-entrepreneur, in June 2011, the comapny is based in Washington, D.C. Catch them at the SXSW Accelerator demo on March 11 at 5 p.m.

What works today is the exact opposite of what worked a decade ago.

If you think of marketing as the same thing it was twenty (or even ten) years ago, you're basically screwed. The reason is simple. What works today is the opposite of what worked in the past.

The Old Rules

Here's are the rules for marketing that are taught in most business courses, and are common inside most companies (many of whom are struggling):

• Step 1. Create a product that has a broad appeal to a large number of consumers or buyers.
• Step 2. Reach as large an audience as possible with a message that appeals to many of those potential buyers.
• Step 3. Create a recognizable brand name that can be extended into additional product categories.

While it's true that companies following these rules have, in the past, been able to build strong brands like Sony and Coke, this type of "broadcast marketing" no longer works because:

The Internet and wealth of media outlets has fragmented consumers and buyers into ever smaller groups, each with its own characteristics and interests.

Messages that appeal to those consumers and buyer must be highly customized and specific in order to gain any attention.

The proliferation of brand and brand messages has become so overwhelming that consumer and buyers simply tune them out.

In other words, what worked for Coke ain't gonna work for you.

The New Rules

Here's what DOES work:

• Step 1. Create a product that addresses a very specific type of consumer and buyer.
• Step 2. Target your initial messaging at that audience in order to "convert" them into your advocates.
• Step 3. Have those advocates define your brand name and the future of your offerings.

Note that this is the exact opposite of what worked in the past.

Where the old rules were "broadcast" and used various forms of mass media, the new rules are "narrowcast" and use highly targeted media.

Where the old rules were all about reaching the masses, the new rules are all about reaching small groups of individuals.

Where the old rules left you in control of your brand and destiny, the new rules puts that control in the hands of your customers.

Ignore these new rules at your own peril.

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Scam artists hijacked the company's name to run a check-cashing scheme. So it decided to fight back.

The Backstory

Delta Market Research has never been the kind of company to seek the spotlight. Based in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, a small town halfway between Trenton, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, the company conducts market research and gauges consumer opinion for businesses in a variety of industries, including newspapers and theme parks. It's behind-the-scenes work done by a behind-the-scenes company.

"It's our job to make our clients look like heroes," says Bob Norman, Delta's executive vice president.

In November of last year, Norman was asked to temporarily take the helm of the company while Linda Celec, Delta's president, took a leave of absence to travel to Florida to help her father recuperate from open-heart surgery.

Things were running smoothly at the six-employee company until December 19, when Norman took a phone call from a check-cashing firm in North Carolina. The caller said that he had a customer trying to cash a check for $1,450 issued by Delta Market Research. After explaining to the caller that the check was not valid (the check said the company and its bank were based in St. Louis), Norman hung up and shrugged it off.

Soon after, however, another call followed. And another. By month's end, Norman had received nearly 200 phone calls from all over the country, all dealing with the same issue.

The Problem

"After the first few calls, it was clear something serious was going on," says Norman.

After doing some investigating, Norman discovered that someone had apparently mailed out at least two series of letters to consumers that included the check, an instruction letter, and a questionnaire. The letter, which was printed on letterhead using the Delta Market Research name (though not the company's actual logo), explained that the reader was chosen to conduct market research on Western Union. The reader was then instructed to deposit or cash the check, spend $150, keep $300, and call an 800 number listed on the letter, where he or she would learn to whom to wire the remaining $1,000.

It wasn't exactly a sophisticated scam, and the good news is that the people who had gone to check-cashing establishments weren't out any money. What worried Norman was the untold number of people who might have actually deposited the check and wired their cash away. Because the check wasn't valid, anyone who wired his money to the scammers was going to lose his $1,000 and potentially blame Delta for the loss. Even worse, though, was the possibility that the company's name would be associated with the scam all over the Internet--something that would affect Delta's reputation and credibility with clients for years to come.

The Decision

After the first few calls came in, Norman and other Delta employees began contacting anyone they could think of, including their local police department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the state attorney general's office, the United States Post Office, and even Western Union. Unfortunately, each call ended in the same result: nothing. "My initial thought was that if we didn't start screaming about it, we could be considered complicit in this," says Norman. "But everyone kept telling me, 'You're not the victim here; what do you want us to do about it?'"

Norman even went so far as to call one of the 800 numbers that had been sent to the consumers. When a man's voice answered, Norman asked him, "Where are you?" The man replied that he was in the Bronx, New York. Norman hung up and called the New York City Police Department. The voice mail he left for the NYPD was never returned.

Although calls to the authorities proved fruitless, Norman's call to The Philadelphia Inquirer did not. Going public, he thought, was the best way to prove that Delta wasn't involved in the scam. He also hoped press attention might help spur authorities to step up their effort to catch the scammers. "Reaching out to the Inquirer was a calculated business decision," says Norman. The newspaper, which was a Delta client, eventually ran a story about the scam on January 8, 2013. Delta also posted a "Scam Alert!" message on its website encouraging anyone who received the letter to shred it immediately.

The Aftermath

As of mid-January, the deluge of calls slowed to a trickle. To date, only one call had come from someone who had actually deposited the check in his account. As far as Norman is aware, none of the scammers have been caught. But the good news is that an online search for Delta Market Research and scam yields mostly press reports portraying Delta as an innocent victim.

Throughout the incident, Norman was in daily contact with Linda Celec. Being out of the office during the whole fiasco was difficult, she says, but her team rose to the occasion. "I couldn't be happier with my staff for trying to protect the company's reputation and also trying to protect people from getting hurt," she says.

Despite the lull, Norman is still bracing for the worst, although he admits there is little the company can do other than deal with calls as they come in. He estimates that the company invested thousands of dollars' worth of lost time and productivity in fighting the scam. "We know there were at least two mailings and maybe a third," he says. "There could be people who deposited the checks and are only now learning they were scammed. If someone posts something against us on the Internet, how are you supposed to deal with that?"

***

The Experts Say...

Take the fight to them

Delta should consider hiring a forensics investigator who might be able to track the source of the crime. For a small company, the cost might start at about $5,000, but if Delta can find the perpetrators, it would have the option to seek an injunction in court and sue for damages from a claim of false advertising or unlawful business practices. The company should take the temperature of how the scam is working against it. If it shows up on only page 20 of a Google search, it might not be worth the expense of a lawsuit.

--Dominique Shelton
Partner at Edwards Wildman Palmer

Remain vigilant

The high call volume suggests that this is more than just a case of mistaken identity. I think going to the press first was a brilliant attempt to turn lemons into lemonade. The company didn't do anything wrong, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Delta is going to need to be aggressive and stay on top of things, repeating its message over and over for at least six months. The situation shouldn't affect business with Delta's existing customers, but the company may have a harder time landing new clients.

--Michael Fertik
Founder and CEO of Reputation.com

Launch a social-media campaign

Delta should create a personal statement from the company president that expresses concern for the scam victims and includes phone numbers for the FBI and local police. Then post it on any social-media outlets the company has. Delta should also be actively monitoring social-media postings for any negative comments about the company. If Delta finds any, they should be responded to immediately. Delta could also alert websites that monitor scams about the fraud.

--Jane Blume
Owner of Desert Sky Communications

The military hones its strategies with role-playing simulations. The technique can help your business, too--but you have to make it realistic.

Before the SEALs raided Osama bin Laden’s hideout, they worked for months on their strategy, studying satellite pictures of his compound, constructing a detailed model of the buildings and rehearsing exactly how the mission would unfold. A key part of the preparation was to have some participants play the role of the enemy--to simulate how the defenders would react, so the SEALs could remain one step ahead.

In our consulting business, we encourage clients to do simulations in their business strategizing. We call it war-gaming--because metaphorically, that’s what it is. It serves exactly the same purpose as for the SEALs.

For example, one client, a pediatric hospital, was grappling with how to respond to rapid consolidation in their metro area. Larger hospitals with adult patients were actively looking to merge or form strategic alliances. To prepare, the hospital CEO engaged his board in a simulation in which board members teamed up in roles as the market’s five major competitors. Each team was given wide latitude to explore possible alliances or mergers over the next two years. Thanks to the simulation, the executive team quickly realized that their most direct pediatric competitor would likely want to merge if certain adult hospital mergers were to occur. As it happened, one such major consolidation was announced just a week after the simulation. The CEO and board were aligned and ready to act. They quickly approached the other pediatric hospital about teaming up and seized an opportunity that might otherwise have been lost.

Five steps to a good simulation.

The key to a productive simulation is that the players submerge themselves deeply into the business realities and mindsets of each competitor. If not, the game will fail to yield strategic insights. War-games are as much about the preparation for the simulation as as about the performance of the simulation itself (remember garbage in = garbage out). To get this right, make sure you do the following well:

1. Study each main competitor. Examine their past actions, behavioral foot-print and mindsets. Try to involve people who used to work for the competition or know them well. All this homework should result in what we call a briefing book.

2. Know your opponents. Get into the mind of the top leaders by examining past decisions and quotes and commentary. Tap into your Board or leadership networks to gain inside feels for CEO and other executives of each rival (strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, fears, hopes, etc.)

3. Vary the simulations. First, outline the most likely industry dynamics and run that as simulation 1. Then throw in some key shifts in the environment or competitive scene for simulation 2. This iteration should challenge the status quo and truly foster new thinking compared to the simulation 1. Repeat with even more unusual scenarios depending on the complexity of the market or industry.

4. Keep decision logs. Capture all team decisions, alternatives considered, presumed competitor reactions, triggering events, etc. Also, note the confidence level of each team in role-playing their assigned competitor. Teams need to move quickly and align on multiple decisions in short periods of time. This in turn tests confidence, comfort level with the data, and team dynamics.

5. Hold dress rehearsals. Each team should meet in character a few times before the simulation day itself to review recent relevant events and become comfortable with each other. If you have to look up information about your competitor, about products, channels, finances etc, during the actual role playing session, the game bogs down and the value of the simulation is diminished. Wearing clothing characteristic of the simulated rival, assigning C-suite roles such as CEO, VP Marketing, and wearing name badges with titles are good ways to stimulate the teams. You can stop short of singing the company songs.

Old scripts can kill you.

Old ways of thinking in today’s “new normal” can be truly dangerous. The same old scripts, with the same old players, will not suffice. You need to think about unexpected events, black swans and unfamiliar choices. Are you prepared for these? Probably not, and this is why war-games can pay off big in business. A little bit of play-acting before major market shifts can prevent a lot of unproductive drama afterwards. So, get into your role, get other participants involved and let the war games begin.

Co-authored with Toomas Truumees, partner in Decisions Strategies International and seasoned war-gamer.

After disappointing fourth quarter earnings--and a very rocky post-IPO road--Groupon's board ousted founder and CEO Andrew Mason.

Well, it finally happened. Groupon's board ousted CEO Andrew Mason on Thursday.

"After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding--I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention," wrote Mason in a farewell letter to Groupon employees.

Since going public in 2011, the daily deals company has struggled to cope with disappointing earnings and investors' skepticism.

Mason's resignation letter--part love note and part apology--didn't contain any of the finger-pointing or inuendos typical of high-profile firings. Instead, Mason addressed Groupon's failings in the past year and his accountability as a leader.

"As CEO, I am accountable," he declared. "You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I'm getting in the way of that."

Groupon's stock dropped 20 percent after the company released its fourth quarter earnings. The company's stock has gained 10 percent--and counting--since the announcement of Mason's departure.

In a press release, Groupon's Chairman Eric Lefkofsky thanked Mason for his leadership and creativity at Groupon, adding: "As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history."

Eric Lefkofsky has been named interim CEO, along with vice chairman Ted Leonsis.

"For those who are concerned about me, please don't be," Mason wrote. "I love Groupon, and I'm terribly proud of what we've created. I'm OK with having failed at this part of the journey."

And he offered the company one final piece of advice:

Have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what's best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness--don't waste the opportunity!

Read Andrew Mason's complete resignation letter here.

Meet the Y Combinator alum who's aiming to bring what he learned in Silicon Valley to farms across the country.

Farming isn't the sexiest industry in the world, but it's one none of us can live without. And to the start-up community, it's a huge space primed for disruption.

That's according to Jesse Vollmar, CEO and co-founder of FarmLogs, a mobile app and online platform that helps crop farmers manage their operations data to increase profitability. Essentially it lets farmers quickly forecast and measure profits, track expenses, and more efficiently schedule operations.

With a mobile app in hand out in the field, users can input notes about critical data such as what variety of seed they're planting and at what depth. FarmLogs uses GPS to detect and record which fields they're in and tracks weather data at that point in time, correlating it to the relevant field.

"At the end of the year what they have is essentially an analytics platform for their farm that helps them understand where the performance is coming from on the farm and what that looks like is different levels of aggregation of the data," Vollmar says.

He says FarmLogs has a clear and friendly interface for a reason--the family farm he grew up on in Michigan tried to use the most popular, albeit difficult-to-use, desktop software for farmers at the time, Farm Works. It wasn't ideal because the data had to be backed up and protected and only one person had access to it at a time. Even worse, not only did they pay to install it, two family members had to invest in training to figure out how to use it.

FarmLogs, of course, keeps user data in the cloud so they can access it with a mobile device or with a browser at any time.

Why Farming Is Ripe for Better Technology

But what's really cool, Vollmar says, is the data side of what FarmLogs is doing.

"We're bringing this industry online and all the data that's trapped offline right now becomes available--in aggregate and anonymously--[so] we're able to learn from this agricultural production information in ways that we've never been able to before," he says. "We're opening new doors in exploration of the data itself in being able to drive new efficiencies in farming, which is going to be incredibly important as the population is growing."

For other start-ups who have domain expertise in farming, this is a good thing.

"It's exciting to see there are old, established industries that have room for disruption and the room for innovation is massive in the farming industry," Vollmar says.

As for FarmLogs' traction, it's still too early to say--the Y Combinator alum just closed a $1 million seed funding round last month and is using it to build out its team, which is now at seven employees. That said, Vollmar points out that FarmLogs already has users on six continents (there's not much farming in Antarctica, he points out).

The Market

In the U.S., FarmLogs is being used by farmers of all sizes growing crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat.

"A common misperception is that here in the U.S. we have these gigantic corporations that have gobbled up farming. That's not true at all," he says. "The American farm is a business that has been turned over in the family year after year. Yes, some of them are getting larger and there are more efficient operations but they're still run and owned by just a handful of people."

In addition to pointing out the family farm is not dead, Vollmar says it's interesting to see how agriculture looks different in other parts of the world: In China, the average size farm is less than two acres but in the Ukraine you'll find mega farms that can span 100,000 acres.

And while FarmLogs got its start in a well known Silicon Valley seed accelerator, the decision to locate the company back in his home state of Michigan was strategic.

"Ann Arbor is a pretty good balance of both having a technology and start-up culture and access to talent from the University of Michigan. We're also within a day's drive of anywhere in the Corn Belt," Vollmar says. "And Michigan itself is extremely agriculturally diverse so we've been able to stay close to our customers and interface with them much more effectively from there."

Trade shows can either be a sinkhole for your money, or a great way to uncover new customers. Find out fast.

In the wholesale world, one of the best ways to help new customers find you is by attending industry specific trade shows. For smaller companies, the expense of doing so can seem very high--and even more so if you do not get the results you hope for. I wrote in a previous post about how to get the most out of your company's presence during a show. But once a show is over, how do you determine if it is worth going back, especially if your first appearance fell short?

Here are a few guidelines that have been useful for me:

1. Evaluate the show, not who or what you bring to it.

The only way to determine whether a trade show is the right venue for your business is, first and foremost, to remove all other variables. If you send staff members who have not been trained to make the most of the contacts they meet while at the booth, it may be your team that is cutting your chances for success rather than the show itself. The same risk arises if you do not carefully plan the merchandise you show. When I want my company to try out a new trade show, I usually attend the show myself. I know I will work the convention for all it's worth, and can evaluate accurately whether the customer base, the show ambience, and the timing are the right mix for us.

2. Consider how seasonality and show venue may influence your success rate.

Oftentimes the same trade show is put on several times a year, in different cities. In the accessories industry, the important shows are usually those that happen early in the year, when customers are buying for the whole year in fashion. At the later shows, they are traditionally planning for the following year, rather than making purchases. For this reason, for one of the shows my company attends, I send people to both the spring and fall events, even though actual order-writing at the fall show is significantly less. I want to be there in the fall to make sure our products are considered for the following year. Conversely, I found that it's really not profitable to go to the spring event of another trade show because not enough buying or planning happens there. You may need to show up at all the events that are part of a given trade show to determine which shows are really worth your time and money. If one event turns out significantly less business, pull the plug on the low-performing show as soon as possible--it won't get any better.

3. Always go to the same show twice before making a definitive call.

You may have a great product and you might be at the right show, but depending on the size of the show and the scouting habits of the customers attending it, if your business is the new kid on the block, you may not get the visibility and business you are after the first time. Customers often go to a show with an idea of which companies they want to see. Trade show appearances are like advertising. The first time you show, you get noticed. The second time you show, you get shopped. If you go to the same show twice and you still don't get the results you want, it's not the right show for you.

4. Track all show sales carefully.

Not all contacts you meet buy on the spot. Make sure you consider post-show sales to show contacts when you are determining whether it was worth it for your company to exhibit at a particular show. If the show allowed you to meet a contact that generated great business later, you need to be able to track that contact and those dollars back to the origin, and take them into account when deciding whether a show was a valuable way to build your business. I've been to shows where little business happened at our booth, but follow-up netted great customers who were happy they found us on the show floor.

The key to being successful at a show is to do your homework before signing up, make your presence the best it can be, give the show a real chance to work for you, and then carefully weigh the costs against the business you do there.

A new study shows that Baby Boomers take more risks and have more entrepreneurial spirit than Millennials.

Baby Boomers and Generation X (ages 30-49) outmatch Millennials when it comes to entrepreneurial appetite, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by Monster.com and Millennial Branding, found that 45 percent of Boomers and 41 percent of Gen X members call themselves entrepreneurs—compared to only 33 percent of Millennials (ages 18 to 29), a group more often associated with start-ups.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said Dan Schwabel, founder of Millennial Branding and upcoming author of Promote Yourself. “We’ve seen so many previous research reports and articles that show that Millennials or Gen-Y’ers are the entrepreneurial generation. And then we do this study and it actually shows that they’re the least.”

The survey also revealed that Boomers and Gen X members are more willing to take risks than their younger counterparts. Of the 2,828 survey participants, 28 percent of Millennials labeled themselves as high-risk takers, while 40 percent of Gen X and 43 percent of Boomers felt the same.

Schwabel had several ideas about why Boomers are more self-assured about their entrepreneurial side, citing their experience, their networks, and how much money they have.

“All those things really position them to start a business over somebody that’s in debt, has student loans, or might not be able to get a job,” he explained. “Although you would think that Millennials are really tech-savvy, well that’s one thing, but Boomers have so much money, they can hire someone who is tech-savvy.”

According to a new report, total investment dollars went down last year, but the number of deals and exits soared.

You've undoubtedly heard of big data. The idea is to take massive amounts of information--much larger than the typical entrepreneur has dumped into a database or spreadsheet--and find the hidden trends and insights they can help illuminate. Although I've argued that, for most young companies, big data is a trend to avoid, at least in terms of putting tons of attention into massive data sets if you haven't come to grips with more prosaic types of analysis, there is at least one major exception. If you have a tech firm that can let other companies more easily handle big data, now's a good time to look for VC funding.

Venture capital investment in big data has gotten, well, big, according to a report from law firm Orrick and research firm CB Insights. Over the last five years, VCs have put about $5 billion into big data-related businesses, and there was almost 20 percent year-over-year growth between 2011 and 2012 in the number of deals--from 132 to 164. Top deal makers in 2012 were SV Angel, Sequoia Capital, IA Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and First Round Capital.

However, even as deal count rose, the money count didn't. VCs may have put roughly $1.4 billion into big data startups in 2012, but in 2011 the total was higher by about $100 million. That could indicate a few things:

• VCs are spreading their bets because it's still unclear who the big winners might eventually be.
• There is a turnover in companies, making the average age of the investment properties--and the amount of money they're likely to get, as a result--lower.
• VC firms are negotiating terms more effectively, or entrepreneurs have been less effective on that front.
• A mix in the types of start-ups--more emphasis on analytics (48 percent of deals), which can start smaller and then scale up with third-party cloud services, and less on infrastructure to run big data projects, which would mean manufacturing costs--could mean that start-ups simply need less, on the average.
• Because these start-ups are in the B2B field, there is a greater chance of them creating revenue, and so they need less to sustain them while waiting to find how to monetize traffic and users.

And for the would-be funded, California was the top state for deals, which could have more to do with the amount of experience out there with these technologies (think Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Twitter, to mention a few) than with some preference for sunshine and citrus fruit.

However, VC exits from big data hit 20 last year, versus 14 in 2011 and 4 in 2010. If you are in the business, or want to get into it, be advised that the industry maturity level may be trending up, which could make life harder in the future for start-ups.

Heading to China isn't right for every company--and even if it is for yours, it won't be easy. Here are three things to remember.

It's the most populous nation on Earth, potentially its biggest market, America's chief creditor, and the maker of most of our goods. It's like the Mount Everest of business, a new pinnacle to be conquered "because it is there."

Expanding into China presents a huge temptation for businesses large and small, and has led to heartache for some that gave in to that temptation. At one time or other you've probably wondered: Is my business ready for China?

That was the question facing Panjiva, the B2B online marketplace whose name is a play on the Earth's ancient single continent. The answer was yes. "We made the decision to open an office in China at the end of 2010," says Josh Green, the company's founder. "We had an office up and running by the end of 2011, and today we have 18 people there, a third of our company's head count."

It's an investment that's paid off. "From nothing at the end of 2011, we've grown sales so that in the fourth quarter of 2012, 30 percent of new sales came from our China office," Green says.

Nevertheless, he says, expanding into China isn't right for every company. And even if it is right for yours, it won't be as easy as you think. To make it work, you'll need what he calls "The 3 Ps":

Purpose

What's your purpose in expanding into China? "Because it's there" really isn't good enough. For Panjiva, purpose was a no-brainer: The company's mission is to connect buyers and sellers, and many of those sellers are in China.

But, Green warns, "Purpose flows both ways. There needs to be a rationale for why your company wants to go to China, but also a rationale for why customers in China will want to buy from you. There needs to be a reason why you'd have a shot at successfully competing in China because it is a very competitive marketplace."

Person

"A new company in a new geography needs one person to be the driving force behind it," Green says. This is especially true in China. "You need a person with very specific skills who can lead the charge, and finding that person either inside or outside your organization can be a challenge."

The ideal liaison has Chinese language skills, Green says. It should be someone who can navigate any legal and regulatory challenges that might arise, and someone who can be an ambassador for your company and its culture, and also help convey some of the Chinese culture back to your company. "There's no question that you're going to be looking for someone with a skill set that's really difficult to find. That process will take time," Green says.

In Panjiva's case, the right person is Bob Gates, who comes from Texas, and reputedly speaks Mandarin with a Texan accent, and who had experience setting up a company in China prior to Panjiva. Though Green was certain from their first encounter that Gates would be a great representative for his company in China, it took many months before Gates was persuaded to sign on.

Patience

"Everything in the world of start-ups takes longer than you would like," Green says. "That is never more true than when opening in a new geography, China in particular."

Have the patience to work through the legal issues, the patience to hire the right local staff to carry your company's message forward and especially the patience to listen to the local market. "No matter what you think you're going to be selling, chances are high that you're wrong in some respect. The market will teach you what it's interested in, and it will differ in subtle or maybe big ways from what you expected. Have the patience to experiment, and experiment again."

It's well worth the extra effort, he adds. "I can tell you that when I hop off the plane in Shanghai and walk into the Panjiva office and see a team of incredibly talented people working hard to build their piece of a global business--it's a very rewarding feeling."