Guest 
Contributed post by Adrienne Graham
The early days of starting a business can be a hard time for some entrepreneurs. In an ideal world, we all want to open our doors and welcome a flood of new eager clients ready open their checkbooks to do business with us. The reality is only a small percentage of new entrepreneurs are fortunate enough to start off with even the smallest roster of paying clients.
Contributed by Natalie MacNeil of She Takes On The World
I am a recovering control-addict. When I started my company I tactically planned my annual accomplishments, month-to-month goals, weekly milestones, and daily to-dos.
I wanted to know what was coming. No curveballs.
Contributed by Rob Emrich
There seems to be a misconception floating around in the startup ecosystem that entrepreneurship is synonymous with misery and painful uphill battles. And while it is true that entrepreneurship is a uniquely challenging road, I take issue with the claim that it has to be a gruelling and thankless one.
By Ken Seto, CEO & Co-Founder of Massive Damage Inc.
In all the talk I’ve heard about founder stress and burnout, one thing I’ve felt that hasn’t been covered all that well is the stress that the early team members at a startup often experience.
Founders have it rough and they definitely take the brunt of the stress at a startup, but they also stand to gain the most when things go well. It’s the rollercoaster lifestyle we’ve chosen for ourselves and the sacrifices we’ve willingly undertaken to chase our dreams. But in the early days, our teams are along for the dusk-til-dawn ride, and we need to remember to take care of them, too.
By Erin Blaskie, Founder & CEO of Erin Blaskie Inc.
CEOs are a special breed. See, entrepreneurs have a desire to live a life filled with passion and purpose, and many of us thrive on the feeling of being needed.
And while it’s exciting and satisfying to know that you are producing a product or offering a service that is in high demand, the downside is that someone always needs something from you. No matter how many hours you put in, or processes you put in place, someone will always need a piece of you. And over time, the weight of these needs and expectations can begin to feel crushing. Read More…
By Ellie Cachette, Founder and CEO of ConsumerBell
Half the battle of a start-up is simply getting started, but once you have an idea and a team, there comes another hurdle: finding the right product-market fit.
The quest to product-market fit or ‘PMF’ is often filled with false positives, failed features, and trying to figure out the fastest possible way to generate revenue.
But what does that look like in real life? How do you measure your path to PMF? How do you validate along the way? These are questions that I hear time and time again from entrepreneurs, so I thought it was high time to share the lessons that we learned (the hands-on way) at ConsumerBell on our journey to PMF.
Women have been dominating the headlines for the last weeks. From debates about women ‘leaning in’ in the workplace, to new research that shows that women are leaving their mark on the tech scene – women’s issues are having their time in the light.
So why all the fuss about the ladies? Because we are the next billion.
The next billion of consumers, the next billion of markets (the emerging markets), and the next billion of products. In short, women are poised to transform economies worldwide for generations to come.
Today, I want to talk to you about the innovators. The women changing the face of the tech startup industry right before our eyes. And I have one question to ask you…Are you ready for us?
As entrepreneurs, we’re told to ‘watch out for burnout’, as if it’s something lurking around the corner waiting to pounce.
We’re told to ‘keep an eye out for the signs’, but many of us don’t know what to look for. Partly because we’re too wrapped up in our businesses, but partly because too few of us are willing to share our own experiences with burnout.
This is my story of almost getting side-swiped by burnout, and coming out a stronger person on the other side.
It’s not HTML5, iOS development or CSS3. (Although, those are valuable skills). No, this is a skill that we are all born with, and something as old as time. Many of us use it, but few of us master it.
I’m talking about storytelling.
In an era where consumers are bombarded with unfathomable amounts of irrelevant information, success in business will be had by those who can master the art of the captivating story. Read More…
About the author: Paul De Joe is the founder at Ecquire, a workflow productivity tool that will add a day back to your week, an EIR at Fairbridge Venture Partners and a key player in three successful startups.
Not all advice is created equal. Sometimes there is a big gap between what we want to hear, and what we need to hear.
In fact, the best advice goes beyond questions about term sheets and viral marketing, and touches on something far more personal – your passion.
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