April 16, 2011 | Comments
People make the same mistake all the time.
They try to mimic. You have to be yourself – be scarce.
Companies, Investors and people in general are looking for people who can’t be found in Linkedin or in Google ads.
If you are like all the others, you are wrong.
If people will work for you no matter what – you right.
Business people add value when they act and ship fast, not when they tell stories.
T A G G E D A S |
April 10, 2011 | Comments
Lately, I have seen some job postins for Business Development position for startup companies. Business development can be a tricky position and can be seen differently by many people. Wikipedia defines business development as “number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at attracting new customers and at penetrating existing markets. Techniques used include: intelligence gathering on customers and competitors, generating leads for possible sales, advising on, drafting and enforcing sales policies and processes, follow-up sales activity, formal proposal and presentation management and writing, pitch and presentation rehearsals, business model design, account planning and performance monitoring, proposition development and campaign development” . As you can seem business development is undefined. Mix of sales, marketing, management, customer service, business analyst and advertising.
If a startup looks for business development guy, it means they have no idea what they want. They probably want a guy to help them with all their sales, marketing and customer service initiatives. For larger and well-established companies, especially in the hi-tech industry, the term “business development” often refers to setting up and managing strategic relationships and partnerships with other, third-party companies. In the startup world, It’s just a “I can do all” guy.
T A G G E D A S |
April 23, 2010 | Comments
If you didn’t have goals yet, try to set a small one today. Over the last three years, I had one major goal – get into a top MBA program in the USA. Now that I have decided to join Babson’s MBA program this fall, I want to share “why Babson and why now.” The following ideas are only my own views. You should see the big picture and merge your own goals with your own perspective.
Financial Times ranks Babson’s MBA Entrepreneurship program #1 17 years in a row. When every MBA prospective student starts to look for an MBA school he has the general rank in his mind. Babson is not a top 10 school on other lists. There are many reasons for that: it’s a small school, and many students start new ventures after studies leading to low employment numbers. Babson’s MBA 2-year program probably never be listed in the Top 5, and I’m glad about that. When I looked for a biz school, I searched a biz school which would fit my goals (remember goals?) in the next 10 years. As I do want to work in small business or start my own new ventures, I’m drawn to the diversity that Babson provides, bringing together people from many industries and countries.
I’m living currently in Israel, so I’m going to move to Boston in the next few months. This will be a big change for me. As a someone who was born and grew up in Israel, moving to the USA is an amazing switch and a huge opportunity. I’m sure I will post a lot about my MBA journey, but I want to set goals and talk about them. I’m going to meet new people, experience a new culture, learn new language (Ok, maybe that’s not so new J). I’m drawing the plans for the next three years. Yes, three years is a lot of time, but that’s the way in which I will see the maximum results – by planning ahead of time my goals. Without a plan you don’t see results. Period.
Boston is really a great place for students. It has more than 50 universities. In addition to Babson’s programs, those of MIT and Harvard offer a great way to participate and interact in many events. I do like the way that many top MBA program around Boston organize events together. That way, students from Harvard can network with students from Babson and vice versa. Boston is a the twenty-first largest city in the USA. Being based in a big city will be a great opportunity for me and my family..
Babson does have some disadvantages, like Stanford and MIT. No college is perfect. The question is what you want to do in the next 10 years and How you MBA school can help you reach those goals.
Don’t worry that I didn’t talk about the great people whom I have met and plan to meet during my time in Boston. It will by privilege to talk about the amazing people in my future blog posts. This, to me, is the best time of my life. It’s the best time for me to grow and develop more businessexpertise. From now on, as things get exciting, and I hope to share my lessons with you.
Want to hear more?
subscribe to my blog or follow me on Twitter.
Photo credit fassina
April 16, 2010 | Comments
Amazon reviews are not reliable in my point of view, but many people are still taking them as a guarantee that a certain book is good. It’s funny to see many reviews conveniently posted on the same day / week, of that book’s launch date, suggesting that the reviewers are actually affiliates and inside marketers posing as book fans.
I would like to share my own tips now.
As avid reader of books, I see my great Kindle device as a great platform to find the best books. Why? Because many books not only suck but also waste shelf space. I’m using Kindle to weed out the sucky books and find the best titles. How do I find one? The rule of thumb is very simple. If I finish the half of book in one shot, that is a great book to finish, because I couldn’t put it down. If I start reading it and get bored to death, stop quickly. When I do find one, I order it in Amazon for reading it again in paper format.
There are too many books on every topic to select from. 99% are worthless. Few of them bring a real value by sharing a life experience and giving a great value for the readers. Many books have been written by successful but egotistical people who brag about their own success rather than share their own life lessons. Many other books will tell you how to be successful entrepreneur by a non-entrepreneur (the author). Only a few books really bring an amazing value to the reader.
Over the last few days, I have been reading the book Rework. I was wary in the first chapter like I am while reading any book, but then authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeir plucked amazing tips from obscurity and shared them with me, the reader, in a concise manner. The authors are very generous to share their own experience, and they have a lot. I really felt during reading the book, that somehow the authors were attentive to the market reactions from the first day of the company. Rework is a great example of the Customer Development concept by Steve Blank. If you’re not familiar with the innovative thinking of Steve Blank, make sure to bookmark my site–I will talk more about Steve Blank in future posts.
Photo credit babblingdweeb
Comments | Leave a comment