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  • 5 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read Before Starting a Business | Entrepreneur

    5 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read Before Starting a Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    There is no one formula to become a successful entrepreneur, and there is certainly not a set path. Entrepreneurship is a journey that is full of immense opportunities but also immense challenges.

    My path to becoming a founder of a unicorn startup was a winding path. I was raised in Kentucky, in the heartland of America, by a single mother in a union household. My mother and grandparents, who helped raise me, encouraged me to read as much as I could from a young age. I was drawn to business and motivational books, which helped create a positive mindset and provided me with one of the first views into the basics of business.

    I was able to scale the first business I founded to unicorn status, a billion-dollar startup. Only 0.1% of companies reach this incredible milestone. The journey was extremely rewarding but filled with many challenges that take a toll on the entrepreneur. That is why you need to be in the right mindset when starting your journey, and as an entrepreneur, you should always look for ways to improve yourself and your business.

    Reading many books from a young age allowed me to self-teach the common principles that make people successful in business and helped me dream big when founding my company. Here are five books that inspired and prepared me for the wild ride of scaling a startup from a $10,000 line of credit to going public on the New York Stock Exchange.

    Related: 3 Books That Made Me 6 Figures That Aren’t About Business At All

    ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill

    First published in 1937, “Think and Grow Rich” is one of the most influential self-help books of all time. Andrew Carnegie commissioned the author, Napoleon Hill, who spent over 20 years studying successful individuals, including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, among others. The book outlines 13 principles that can help you achieve wealth and success, such as having a burning desire, having a positive mental attitude and taking massive action.

    The book provides valuable insights into the mindset of successful people and the principles they follow. This is the single most important book that shaped my outlook on success, and I encourage everyone to read Think and Grow Rich. Hill’s message is clear: success is attainable for anyone who is willing to follow these principles.

    ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’ by David J. Schwartz

    My mother always told me to “dream big because it is free.” If you are planning your future, it takes no more effort to dream big. This remains the number one piece of advice I give to aspiring entrepreneurs.

    David Schwartz, in The Magic of Thinking Big, teaches you how to think positively, set big goals and take action. It encourages you to believe in yourself and your abilities and to think outside the box. The book provides practical tips and strategies to help you overcome fear and doubt, build confidence and succeed.

    ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ by Norman Vincent Peale

    The author, Norman Vincent Peale, was a minister who believed that faith and positive thinking could help individuals overcome adversity and achieve their goals. Entrepreneurs are met with challenges at every turn when starting their endeavors, the book can help you overcome self-doubt and cut through any negativity to maintain a healthy outlook on life.

    Related: 4 Books for Entrepreneurs Seeking to Challenge the Status Quo

    ‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand

    “The Fountainhead” is a novel that explores the concept of individualism and the importance of following one’s own values and beliefs. The book’s protagonist, Howard Roark, is an architect who refuses to compromise his artistic vision, even in the face of opposition from society. Rand’s novel is a reminder that entrepreneurship requires courage and conviction.

    Mark Cuban famously said in a 2006 interview with C-Span, “I’ll pick it up when I need motivation, but then if I read too far I get too much motivation, and I get too jittery, so I have to put it down.”

    ‘The First Billion is the Hardest’ by T. Boone Pickens

    The First Billion is the Hardest is a memoir by T. Boone Pickens, an industry titan and one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs. The book provides insights into his business philosophy and the strategies he used to build his empire. Pickens shares his experiences and lessons learned, including his failures and successes.

    I was lucky enough to get to know the legendary Boone Pickens. He should serve as an inspiration to all entrepreneurs. He reinvented himself throughout his career and persevered no matter the challenge.

    Just as my own unique path led me to success, others can also find their own way forward, inspired by the wisdom of those who have gone through similar experiences. With the right mindset and a strong desire to learn, the world of entrepreneurship isn’t just a goal but a life-changing adventure.

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    Nate Morris

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  • Grasshopper adds to startup offerings | Bank Automation News

    Grasshopper adds to startup offerings | Bank Automation News

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    Grasshopper Bank is looking to expand its support of the innovation economy with the launch of a new operating account intended for venture-backed startups.  

    Accelerator Checking, launched today, is “really focused on the small business or venture startups’ needs of a really useful product for managing their day-to-day cash flow,” Grasshopper Bank Chief Digital Officer Chris Tremont told Bank Automation News on “The Buzz” podcast. 

    Accelerator Checking can be opened in less than 10 minutes, offers free domestic ACH and wire transfers, bill-pay and check-deposit services, and digital invoicing tools, according to a Grasshopper release.  

    The $700 million bank will continue to build out the operating account to include access to venture debt, corporate credit cards and startup insurance, Tremont said.  

    In addition to the digital banking product, the bank is offering startups access to its network of venture capitalists, he said. “We have a lot of connections in the VC community that are always looking to meet new startups from an investment standpoint, so we’re going to start to cultivate our network and make referrals.” 

    Since the banking crisis earlier this year, New York City-based Grasshopper has shifted its priorities to recognize that “every startup needs a good depository solution and a place for managing their money and their payment infrastructure,” Tremont said. 

    The bank was originally founded “to be working in the venture community and to be working with startups, so it’s not a brand-new segment for us,” he said. However, “the narrative has changed over the last six months since the banking crisis happened.”  

    Over the last 12 months, the bank has rebuilt its technology infrastructure to better support this [startup] client base, he said.  

    Listen as Grasshopper’s Tremont discusses the digital bank’s latest solution and its continued effort to support startup banking. 

    The following is a transcript generated by AI technology that has been lightly edited but still contains errors.

    Whitney McDonald 0:06
    Hello and welcome to The Buzz a bank automation news podcast. My name is Whitney McDonald and I’m the editor of bank automation News. Today is October 3 2023. Joining me to discuss grasshoppers latest innovation to launch accelerator checking is Chief Digital Officer at the bank, Chris Tremont. Throughout his career, he spent time at radius bank and Key Bank before joining grasshopper in 2021. He’s also been a speaker at past bank automation summits about his efforts at grasshopper. Chris, thanks for being here.Chris Tremont 0:38
    Hi, I’m Chris Tremont, Chief Digital Officer for grasshopper bank. I joined the company about two years ago. Prior to that I served in a similar capacity for 12 or 13 years at radius bank based out in Boston, a little bit about grasshopper bank. We’re a digital only bank headquartered in New York that’s focused on serving the business and innovation economy. And we do that 100% digitally across the United States. And we do it through a combination of really solid product, digital resources and really passionate people toWhitney McDonald 1:17
    Great, well, thanks so much for joining us for the buzz. I’d like to get right into your latest innovation that you’ve been working on at grasshopper called the accelerator checking, can you talk me through what you guys are solving for and what you’re announcing?

    Chris Tremont 1:32
    Sure, we’re really excited about this. And I think as as maybe a segue talk a little bit about where we’ve come over the last couple of years. So grasshopper itself was founded in 2019. So still young, by Banking Terms, only about four years old. A number of new folks joined the company about two years ago. And we kept the mission intact. And the mission of the company is to serve the was the business and innovation economy. And the way that started with me was really working with venture capital firms, private equity firms and the companies that they invest in. And so we’ve kept that mission intact. But we’ve kind of broaden the vision of who we’re serving. So we’re still working with that line of business with within the venture fund world. But we’ve layered in a couple of other areas that includes some new lending products like working in the SBA and commercial real estate space, as well as on the deposit gathering side working with fintechs through banking as a service, and a little bit more directly with small and medium sized businesses. So SMBs. And so we’ve spent really like the last 18 months or so layering in those new components. And as you can imagine, part of that was building out a new team, as well as new technology, infrastructure. And so where we started on the deposit gathering side was really working with within the small business community, and launching a digital checking account product for them. We’ve seen a lot of good success over the last 14 or 15 months since that’s been launched. And now today, we’re really excited for sort of the next iteration or the next segment that we’re going deeper into serving, leveraging our digital technology. And that’s working more with venture backed startups. And so the product itself, we’re calling the accelerator checking, but from a macro view, it’s much broader than that than just an operating account. But starting there, it’s really focused on the small business or the venture startups needs of a really useful product for managing their day to day cash flow, money in money out. So it starts with the product on the deposit side and making it really useful for the startup to manage their day to day business. I think taking another step back, what we did was we said, We got to make it really easy to get the account open. So you can apply for the account digitally from any device and get an account approved and funded and under 10 minutes. So we think that’s a really nice feature of the product. The product itself, like I mentioned, has a lot of useful features and integrations from a money movement standpoint, as you would imagine, wires and ACH things like that source and table stakes products. But then we also have integrations with companies like auto books for digital payables and receivables, which we think is a really powerful tool. We work with a company called MX to allow for some better budgeting and cash flow management tools. So just to give a flavor of Like what’s inside that digital banking product, coupled with this kind of what we call a marketplace or an ecosystem. So what we believe is grasshopper is really great at providing a solid digital banking experience and a really good operating and payment accounts. But there’s more to startups financial needs than just that. And so we’ve layered in some best of breed called financial technology players to help surround our offering and make it stronger. And so some of the things that we’ll roll out over time starting this week, include access to things like venture debt, corporate credit cards, we have a partnership with ramp doing that startup insurance is important. So that’s going to be in there. And then just through our work with with our various teams in the venture in the FinTech space, we have a lot of connections into the VC community that are always looking to meet new startups from an investment standpoint. So we’re going to start to kind of cultivate our network and make referrals on either end right with the startup that might be looking for funding. We’re going to make those intros to some friends of ours on on the VC side,

    Whitney McDonald 6:22
    setting up getting into that network and gaining those deposits. Can you maybe talk through the gap that you’re able to fill here? Of course, we know that everything happened in the spring, and startups are looking to kind of change where they’re where they’re banking?

    Chris Tremont 6:40
    Yeah, it certainly has been an interesting, six or seven months, I suppose in in the banking industry, for sure. And so for us, the timing is is unique in that it’s twofold. One is, yes, we’ve seen some of the financial services providers that have worked with the startup community for many years, some of them are now gone, right, or they’ve been absorbed into larger organizations. And we’ll see where, where that strategy goes for those companies down the road. So there is a bit of a gap. Certainly that’s opened up for, for the startup community. At the same time, I would say as to a previous comment, grasshopper was was founded this way to be working in the venture community and to be working with startups. So it’s not a brand new segment for us. I would say, though, that maybe the narrative has changed over the last six months since the banking crisis happened, where maybe the way we went at it, at the beginning was, it was more about leading with the loan, or the the lending or the debt solution. And venture debt can be hard. Like we’ve, we’ve learned that we knew it, but like we’ve seen seeing this play out over the last few months and, and so not every bank is able to do it. And there just aren’t that many places for a startup to go to find it. And so that’s kind of maybe where we started. And now the narrative has changed a little bit more around every startup needs a good depository solution and a place for managing their money and their their payment infrastructure and things like that. And so I think like the macro level, you know, the industry changes have caused a gap. And at the same time internally for us, we’ve kind of repositioned our offering to be leading with the Depository relationship versus the loan, and have taken the time over the last 12 plus months to rebuild our technology infrastructure to better support this client base. And so that’s why we’re coming out now. To say we’re sort of, you know, with a new product, and serving this market, though, it’s not brand new to us, but there’s certainly a need for it and an opportunity, and something that we’ve been working on for many months, kind of behind the scenes anyways. And so it’s coming together, we believe at a nice time to be serving this market.

    Whitney McDonald 9:13
    Now, as you’ve kind of shifted that approach to gaining deposits and worked through this project, is this something that you something you guys have built in house or partnered on building the technology itself? Or is this something that was all a grasshopper initiative?

    Chris Tremont 9:30
    Yeah, we’re inside the company. We’re huge believers. If you think about a lot of times companies look at the buy build or partnership models, and we are strong believers in the partnership model. And so helping to build out our technology infrastructure, we consider a lot of the financial technology firms that we work with as partners of ours. And so we have a really, a really smart Are and dedicated and innovative product and data and engineering team inside the company that are kind of leading the strategy and helping to execute the vision. And then we partnered with some best of breed partners or companies out there to make this happen. And so to elaborate on that a little bit, like I mentioned earlier, we can open a startup depository account in 10 Minutes or Less without any paper, fully digital, well to be able to do that it takes our team, but we also partner with a company called mantle for the account opening. Behind the scenes, we work with a company called alloy for the decisioning on the consumer and the business itself and some other players that funnel into the aloe ecosystem to help make that approval decision. Once the accounts opened, we use a company called Narumi. For the online and mobile banking, user interface, they helped power that. And so that’s just a few examples of sort of this partnership model that we’ve used to build the technology to provide a really great digital banking experience for startups.

    Whitney McDonald 11:16
    Great. Yeah, I mean, a lot of those names that you just mentioned are something that that we’ve definitely covered in the past, ramp and mantle standout for sure. As you kind of launched this accelerator checking, you talk through kind of taking this different approach and to gaining deposits, kind of from a broader, bigger picture point of view, maybe we could just talk through the importance of financial institutions, gaining new deposits, looking for those new avenues to gain deposits and gain strength, getting those sticky deposits, maybe we could just talk through the importance of that that our audience can take away?

    Chris Tremont 11:55
    Yeah, that’s a great question. And a great, maybe issue or topic that was highlighted back in March as as we went through some of those issues. I think one topic it highlights is the importance of diversification. And in sort of how you’re building out your balance sheet, whether it’s loans, we’re talking about deposits today, so we can focus on that. But being diverse in or not single threaded or monoline in terms of who you serve, I believe is important. You know, every bank has a different strategy. But having some diversification there is something we as a company have always believed strongly in. So I think serving a wider audience is, is important. The second is you think about how rates have changed over the last 12 to 18 months. And certainly we could talk about maybe where we think they’re going over the next 1218 months as well, but

    Speaker 2 12:59
    at a much more elevated level now in September of 23, than where we were in February of 22. And I said this to folks along the way is, you know, for a while it was like deposit gathering wasn’t always this easy, you know, we had this time period where rates were low and deposits were flowing into banks, and they were sticking around and and we knew it wasn’t going to be that way all the time. And so I think outside of the diversification of the client base, having a strategy that’s probably a little bit less reliant on rate, though rate is important and is a larger part of the conversation, but really driven by relationship. And I That’s easy to say. But what I mean by that is sort of the you know, when you get into serving different clients segments, and what they’re looking for, some are less, you know, rate dependent, or rate demanding, and will move less, you know, when when rates change, or they’re chasing, chasing rate. And so I do think having a strategy, that is where you step back and say I’m gonna skate to where the puck is going in terms of serving growing client bases. In our case, we’ve said how do they want to interact with us? And we’ve said, digitally is the place we want to be. So like, how are you acquiring these customers? The products that you’re putting out there where rate is a component, but more about the relationship and helping in our case, let’s say it’s a business owner or a startup founder, really managing their cash and thinking through how am I getting paid? How am I paying my vendors? Do I have a banker I can call if I need to? Only if I need to, let’s say you know the self service model here

    Chris Tremont 14:59
    and Some other connections to within the industry, whether it be those VC referrals or access to other products, I think the point would be is providing more value than just talking about an interest rate is really important.

    Whitney McDonald 15:16
    On that know, kind of some self service options, how it works and what it presents? Could you maybe walk me through how a client or a startup would actually leverage accelerator checking?

    Speaker 2 15:30
    Sure. I mean, I think it starts with if you’re thinking about making a move, the ease of getting started with us, is unparalleled in the industry to say that you could open an account and be funded in less than 10 minutes, you know, I think is is fairly industry leading, we’re not the only ones that can do it, but like to get up and running fast. And to not have to walk into a bank branch with a lot of paperwork and spend the afternoon trying to get your account open, whether it’s a day or weeks, I don’t know. So I think getting up and running is important. And then from there, some of the tools that we’ve set up, like I mentioned, the ability to

    Chris Tremont 16:15
    set up invoices to get send out invoices to get paid, or using our bill payment services, like wire transfers, ACH bill pay, to pay vendors to pay employees, if you’ve got payroll, I mean, you could be up and running doing that in the first day with us. We are layering in some other technology to think about the financing side of things and the debt side of things through some partners as well. So if you’re actively seeking venture debt, or maybe you’re a company, a startup in the E commerce space, we’ve got some partnerships in the works, that will help maybe with some financing of receivables to improve cash flow in the short term.

    Speaker 2 17:03
    So there’s a couple of the ways connections into like we mentioned ramp, if you’re looking for a corporate credit card, the connection can be made there quite seamlessly. And actually the ramp transactions up here in the grasshopper experience. So it’s kind of this holistic approach. So I think like, broadly speaking, is like you can be up and running quickly. And you can leverage tools that

    Chris Tremont 17:29
    help you operate your business out of the gate right away.

    Whitney McDonald 17:34
    Now I know that you kind of gave a little bit of insight into something that you guys are working on. Anything else grasshopper has in the pipeline right now, either related to accelerator checking, or is this tool going to be something that you monitor and update often just kind of wondering for a little look ahead as to what grasshopper is working on?

    Chris Tremont 17:54
    Yeah, that’s a great question. And so we’re really excited to be focused here on this segment of working with with startups. And we’re going to continue to go deeper with the accelerator checking product, and the marketplace offerings that we have. So we hope to expand that out into services that startups need. This could be, you know, tax prep and accounting, things like that. So we’re gonna continue to improve on that experience. But I’d say more broadly, is, we’re a company that serves the business and innovation economy. So startups are one segment of it. Small and medium sized businesses are another large segment that we love, and we’ve been serving for a while. And there might be a couple other niches that we layer in down the road. But thinking about those two, and probably a third would be financial technology, or FinTech companies are three of the areas that we’re working on closely and continue to develop for. So I would call out. One is we’re working on our lending solutions in the small and medium sized business space. So that can be on and off balance sheet opportunities. So some referral opportunities or small medium sized businesses looking for a lending solution for us. We’re working on digitizing that process, more to come there probably in the next couple of months. And then we continue to be a big proponent of the FinTech banking as a service, embedded finance space. And so we’ve been a player in that for the last 12 or 18 months. We continue to work with our partner, Treasury prime and San Francisco to bring on quality fintechs that are looking to use our API’s and some really creative and innovative ways in the depository and payment space. So we’re going deeper, they’re getting pushed probably more around on real time payments and fed now, functionality, as you would imagine, in the FinTech world, so I think like that’s going to be our focus in that for that group over the next six to 12 months as well.

    Whitney McDonald 20:16
    You’ve been listening to the buzz, a bank automation news podcast, please follow us on LinkedIn. And as a reminder, you can rate this podcast on your platform of choice. Thank you for your time and be sure to visit us at Bank automation news.com For more automation news,

    Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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    Whitney McDonald

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  • Insider Secrets That Will Help You Build a Thriving Startup | Entrepreneur

    Insider Secrets That Will Help You Build a Thriving Startup | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Launching a startup is no small feat; it’s a thrilling ride but also a bumpy one, and it takes more than a bright idea to navigate it successfully. Securing funds, putting together a dream team, setting appropriate goals and managing the daily hustle are all part of the gig.

    Over the years, not just working with startups but also founding one myself, I’ve seen firsthand that there’s no one-size-fits-all process. However, having the right mindset and a few solid strategies can take you a long way, and these strategies work across the board as success is usually dependent on your approach and commitment.

    Related: 8 Practical Tips for Successfully Launching Your Startup

    Time and resources

    Mastering time and resource management is a critical element in the formula for startup success. My entrepreneurial journey taught me that trying to juggle all balls at once can often lead to dropping them all; it’s important to remember that not every task demands your direct input and many could be managed more efficiently by others.

    However, this isn’t merely about shifting tasks; it’s about empowering your team, enhancing their skills and freeing up your schedule to focus on pivotal aspects. As a founder, your prime responsibility should be steering the strategic course, envisioning your venture’s future and tracking progress. Operational tasks, while vital, can and should be delegated.

    Executive leadership

    Teaching and guiding require effort, and this is where fractional executives step in. They handle crucial business areas for specific projects or durations, adding much-needed agility to your startup’s dynamic pace. A fractional Chief Operations Officer (COO) can optimize operations, while a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) addresses talent issues, freeing you to strategize and drive results.

    It’s important to note that “fractional” doesn’t mean “disengaged.” In fact, these executives are deeply committed to your business’ success, providing expertise as needed. This gives you timely support without the commitment of a full-time role.

    Leveraging their rich knowledge, fractional executives can significantly elevate your operations and strategy. And before making any commitments, you have the opportunity to experience specific roles or individuals, which significantly reduces hiring risks. Also, their vast networks can introduce you to potential investors, partners, vendors and clients.

    I’ve personally witnessed fractional roles like COO, CHRO, CTO or CEO making significant positive impacts. The primary advantage? Cost-effectiveness. You receive top-tier expertise without the full-time executive cost.

    Funding

    One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen startups make is chasing funds without a solid plan on how to manage them. After all, money has a sneaky way of slipping if you’re not keeping a close eye on it. Bringing in a finance wiz, like a fractional Chief Financial Officer (CFO), right from the get-go, may be one of the best things you can do. An experienced Fractional COO can help attach numbers and dates to your goals, helping put investors’ minds at ease when making the decision to invest.

    You may be thinking, “But I can do all this myself,” and if so, that’s great! However, if you spend all of your time worrying about budgets and timelines, you will have a harder time finding the bandwidth to strategize and work toward your company’s growth potential.

    Bringing someone on board helps you understand your burn rate and project revenues and helps you align expenses with growth plans, almost effortlessly. They can establish a robust financial plan that builds investor trust — the key ingredient needed to secure and sustain funding long-term — while allowing you to focus on your product, service or market.

    Related: 8 Bulletproof Ways of Turning a Startup Into a Thriving Business

    Systems and processes

    As your startup scales, your operational volume will increase rapidly. The capability to manage this surge without a corresponding hike in complexity, risk and cost is crucial for viability. A seasoned pro like a COO, with a resume spanning across industries and companies, can use their sixth sense to avoid unnecessary risk, spot inefficiencies and create processes to optimize growth.

    A good COO establishes scalable systems and workflows that evolve with your startup, ensuring smooth and effective operations throughout multiple growth stages and eliminating the need for constant process reevaluation.

    Technology

    In the fast-paced startup world, leveraging technology can fuel growth. Incorporating AI and machine learning can streamline complex processes, provide valuable customer insights and enable trend analysis and prediction, giving your startup a competitive edge, faster.

    However, it’s crucial to remember that technology is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It should strategically align with your startup’s unique needs and overarching business strategy.

    Having a technology expert well-versed in the startup landscape, such as a fractional COO, CIO (Chief Information Officer) or CTO (Chief Technology Officer), can provide support tailored to your needs. They can implement suitable technologies, create growth plans and offer insights on tech options that complement your mission, preserving the human touch amid the automation race.

    Networking and strategic partnerships

    Through my experiences, I’ve come to recognize something important: The most valuable opportunities and lessons often emerge when we least expect them, and only by keeping an open, adaptable and receptive mindset can we truly seize such opportunities.

    We can sometimes fall into the illusion of having all the solutions, but truth be told, we don’t, and it’s important to acknowledge our limitations. In fact, when we become immersed in our business bubble, we can develop blind spots that limit our ability to think outside the box and explore new possibilities. In comes networking.

    Networking goes beyond expanding your business connections — it can not only enhance existing strategies but also uncover innovative ideas, foster collaborations and ultimately drive your startup toward its next breakthrough in the most efficient way possible. So, I encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone, collect new perspectives and use your interactions to enhance the way you operate.

    There’s incredible strength in acknowledging that you shouldn’t do it all alone. In fact, the secret to a thriving startup lies in your ability to recognize and admit when you need assistance. So, surround yourself with experts who can contribute to your growth, and remind yourself that asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, but rather a cornerstone to success.

    Related: 5 Must-Haves for Entrepreneurs and Their Startups to be Successful

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    Adi Vaxman

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  • 5 Steps for Consistent Lean Operations | Entrepreneur

    5 Steps for Consistent Lean Operations | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Lean principles have proved incredibly effective for future-proofing organizations from wasting resources. Though the philosophy originated in manufacturing, its adaptability has made it essential for any modern business leader looking to eliminate resource waste, improve quality, reduce variations in customer service and increase productivity.

    Lean management principles can be applied to many essential parts of a company, including production, supply chain management, customer service and administrative processes — all to meet customer expectations while improving productivity consistently.

    Over 70% of lean implementations fail — so what are the critical differentiating factors for those who can succeed? If executed correctly, lean management improves both customer service and employee satisfaction while reducing overall costs via productivity gain continually.

    It’s easy for leaders to talk about optimizing processes, but a successful lean systematic approach requires a deep understanding of key customers’ critical needs and a well-integrated yet simple execution plan. Most importantly, it requires an energized community of employees dedicated to continuous improvement with unwavering support from the CEO and the executive team.

    These five steps are paramount for business leaders hoping to implement lean principles to deliver consistent results meaningfully.

    Related: How to Apply Lean Principles to Your Startup’s Productivity and Time Management

    1. Understand your key customers

    At the end of the day, business is about people. With all the pressure to innovate in today’s world, it can be all too easy to lose sight of what a company’s true customers actually want and need. Lean principles are centered around the “North Star” of any business: the pain points and opportunities within a company’s target audience.

    To eliminate excess and non-value-added activities, one must first identify those that best serve the customer’s needs and listen directly to customers to understand better how these desires are (or are not) being met. This concept is at the heart of the Lean pull system and just-in-time manufacturing, which urge companies to carry out work only when there is a demand for it rather than creating products based on forecasts.

    2. Diversify perspectives

    Lean principles seek to overcome four core challenges: drag (the resistance from sluggish markets or enterprise-wide misalignment of strategies); inertia (resistance to change, including functional siloes); friction (products or services not in sync with customer expectations); and waste (resulting from outdated KPIs, failure to evolve and disengaged leadership).

    Bringing key customer needs into a company can help align company practices, culture and products/services to combat these challenges quickly and effectively. Fresh eyes, especially those with a cross-functional team approach, are crucial for mapping out and augmenting processes within the company that deliver the right products and solutions to customers and can directly combat the static mindset of companies that may otherwise be resistant to necessary change.

    Related: 5 Reasons Not to Follow the Lean Startup Process for Your Next Idea

    3. Establish metrics for progress and success

    Knowing how to measure both progress and success helps businesses implement the lean philosophy as a long-term company strategy rather than just a project. These metrics/KPIs may take various forms — including visual tools or techniques that make information and work progress more visible, as transparency helps cross-functional teams monitor and manage work more effectively and in real-time.

    Moreover, all ideals related to progress and success must be fortified by direct engagement and leadership from the C-suite. Leaders must live the mindset expected of their employees; this can be done through a regular cadence of meetings where this commitment to constant adaptation and sustainable growth can be demonstrated and nurtured. High-potential employees are thoughtfully placed in Lean assignments throughout the company. Likewise, training on continuous improvement must be made regularly for all managers and employees, with rewards and compensation tied to the delivery of lean results.

    4. Organize collaborative, cross-functional teams to streamline processes

    If done right, lean management allows companies to achieve more with less instead of doing more with less. Establishing a smoother, uninterrupted flow of work or materials via the value stream will minimize delays, waste and bottlenecks. To achieve this level of synchronization, siloes must be broken down to make way for a holistic evaluation of all internal operations.

    With engaged participation from various functions, the sequence of activities and processes required to deliver the right product or service to the customer can be assessed and solidified. This holistic perspective is crucial for optimizing value streams, sharing best practices, regular checks and adjustments and future-forward planning. Collaboration across functions also allows for a holistic understanding of company obstacles, methodologies and goals so that employees across the business are aligned on a united, go-forward strategy.

    Related: 5 Ways Lean Teams Can Work Smarter and Get More Done

    5. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and respect

    Continuous improvement is not a fad; it is an ongoing and integral element of operations, depending entirely on the business’s human element. While various technologies are helping to modernize, restructure and simplify processes, we must not take for granted the human touch that is embedded into the nature of all work. Lean principles emphasize respecting and valuing individual employee contributions and engagement and building a culture of continuous improvement through human interaction.

    By encouraging employees to be involved in decision-making, training and support, leaders lay the foundation for a community of people who are personally connected to the customers and their teams and are personally invested in the company’s future.

    Likewise, by fostering a culture of teamwork, empowerment and accountability, leaders can recognize and harness underutilized employee skills for greater success — all of which have been proven to improve retention rates.

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    Jack Truong

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  • France, Germany pave the way to making weapons in Ukraine

    France, Germany pave the way to making weapons in Ukraine

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    PARIS — French and German defense companies are setting up local shops in Ukraine for arms maintenance — a first step toward manufacturing weapons in the country. 

    This week, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office gave the green light to a proposed joint venture between Rheinmetall, a German arms maker, and the Ukrainian Defense Industry, a Ukrainian state-owned defense group.

    France’s Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu traveled to Kyiv this week with about 20 French defense contractors — reportedly including Thales, MBDA, Nexter and Arquus — to facilitate partnerships with Ukrainian officials. 

    On Friday, the Ukrainian capital hosted the Defense Industries Forum, an arms fair attended by 165 defense companies from 26 countries.

    At the event, Ukrainian officials met directly with defense companies to sign contracts without going through Western governments, explore joint production opportunities and provide specific input about their needs on the ground in the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.

    The goal is to “boost co-production and cooperation to strengthen Ukraine and our partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier this week. 

    The arms fair is taking place as Western armies, especially in Europe, are reaching the limit of what they can give to Ukraine from their own stocks. For the past few months, Ukraine has sought to ramp up its own arms industry, in part because U.S. elections in 2024 could mean a return of Donald Trump as president. The former leader has hinted at not providing much support to Kyiv if he wins a second term.

    As Kyiv prepares for a long war, capitals such as Paris are seeking to shift from donations to contracts and cooperation with the private sector.

    French pivot

    In the past week, French officials have started to hammer home a new message: France can no longer sustain giving weapons to Ukraine and will instead plug Ukrainian officials into the country’s defense industry.

    According to a government report, France delivered €640.5 million worth of weapons to Ukraine in 2022, including 704 missile launchers and portable anti-tank rocket launchers, 562 12.7mm machine guns, 118 missiles and missile launchers, and 60 armored fighting vehicles for free. 

    “We can’t continue to take resources from our armed forces indefinitely, otherwise we’ll be damaging our own defense capabilities and the training levels of our troops,” Lecornu told French TV Sunday.

    Ukrainian servicemen ride on a T-64 tank during a military training exercise in Kyiv region | Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

    Creating bridges between Ukrainian officials and French companies will “create long-term solidity, a more contractual relationship for ammunition and maintenance,” he told lawmakers two days later.

    In Kyiv this week, French defense contractors did ink deals with Ukraine for artillery, armored vehicles, drones and mine clearance — including for cooperation in the war-torn country.

    According to Le Figaro, French firm Arquus signed a letter of intent Thursday to ensure the maintenance of armored personnel carriers on the ground, and could install a production facility in the future. Nexter CEO Nicolas Chamussy — the manufacturer of the Caesar self-propelled howitzer — also told the French outlet it was looking for a local partner to create a joint venture for maintenance. 

    French startup Vistory will build two 3D-printing factories to make spare parts, according to La Croix.  

    Germany, Sweden and UK

    France’s shift comes on the heels of similar plans with British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and the Swedish government. 

    In August, Kyiv and Stockholm signed a statement of intent to deepen cooperation “in production, operation, training, and servicing” of the Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) platform, manufactured by a Swedish branch of BAE Systems. A few days later, BAE Systems announced it would set up a local entity to ramp up production of 105mm light artillery guns.

    The German competition authority’s decision this week to green-light Rheinmetall’s joint venture with the Ukrainian Defense Industry — which will be based in Kyiv and operate exclusively in Ukraine — paves the way for a partnership designed to maintain and service military vehicles. It will also include “assembly, production and development of military vehicles.”

    Both parties also hope to eventually develop military systems jointly, “including for subsequent export from Ukraine.”

    Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger expressed a desire to manufacture the company’s next generation Panther tank in Ukraine — up to 400 per year. Although still a prototype, the new tank would be the successor of the company’s Leopard 2 main battle tank.

    Laura Kayali reported from Paris. Caleb Larson reported from Berlin.

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    Laura Kayali

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  • How To Grow Your Startup With Rapid Experimentation | Entrepreneur

    How To Grow Your Startup With Rapid Experimentation | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Many concepts get pounded into us from well before we’re entrepreneur cubs. One example is: “Money doesn’t grow on trees, so be careful with it.”

    Later in life, we learn about the wonders of leverage. In business school or elsewhere, we’re introduced to the seductive benefits of bringing on lenders and private equity partners to accelerate our dreams.

    If we need to be careful with our own money, we learn that we better be doubly careful with others’ money. We’re continuously answerable to them, and they can sink our business.

    When building Warrior Trading, I instead chose the self-funded route. I had been subject to anxiety attacks since I was young, and the last thing I needed was to skyrocket my anxiety by worrying about investors.

    There are two sides to having investors: their money does offer the potential to grow faster. But it also creates drag. Startups funded by investors can find it difficult to pivot and change course when needed. To me, self-funding has equaled freedom. Working within the constraints of my limited funds gave way to resourcefulness, creativity and innovation.

    Related: How Entrepreneurial Creativity Leads to Innovation

    Creating a culture of rapid experimentation

    In my startup, I created an engine of rapid experimentation to find products that matched demand in the active trading community. I had to be smart about where I invested my time and money, but I knew that quick experiments and quick decisions could lead to quick progress.

    The SaaS world has the concept of a minimum viable product. That implies a deliverable, an “alpha” or “beta” test that’s at least semi-packaged for others’ consumption. I take the concept further: When I start to develop a product, I want to see the most primitive product that performs at least one new function. You might call it “most primitive improvement.”

    I’ll caution that rapid prototyping is not for everyone. You need a team accustomed to bootstrapping and thrives under that pressure. Of course, there is no other option for the self-funded startup. So, it comes down to assembling the right team for your company.

    Related: What I Wish I Knew Before Bootstrapping My Startup

    How rapid experimentation gives way to product iteration

    My team engages with developing new products by testing a thesis. We have a belief based on consumer behavior and looking at the marketplace that there is demand for a specific product. We begin the development of that product, but instead of keeping it hidden until it’s perfect, we put customers into beta testing as soon as it meets the standard of “most primitive improvement”.

    Here’s something really interesting. Every single time we’ve done this, we get feedback from beta testers that we didn’t expect. Whether it’s a common request for a feature we overlooked or an element we thought would be highly valued but is not being utilized at all, we can quickly take this feedback and roll it into the next release.

    I find this process especially exciting. One might even say, thrilling.

    The final product will often look and feel much different from our initial mockup, but that’s a good thing. We will have created a product that is an exact match for our target customer.

    Throughout my years in the investing space, I’ve seen companies backed by investors spend incredible sums of money building platforms that sadly completely missed the mark in terms of delivering what traders are really looking for. I believe this happens when development occurs in isolation from the intended users.

    But truth be told, rapid experimentation does not always lead to a success story.

    Rapid experimentation helped me pull the plug on a doomed project

    A few years ago, I wanted to see if it was worth starting a free service for traders similar to Twitch; in other words, a platform where people can easily stream their trading activity but where they’re in a tighter community of active traders. We got a few dozen people streaming at first, and they, in turn, had modest followings. But it didn’t take long for me to come to a difficult conclusion. Twitch and YouTube are successful because they attract a massive audience, attracting advertisers.

    My new platform was too niche. Even though it was free, our total available market was too small to bring in the advertising revenue we needed to keep that platform running. No amount of product iteration was going to change these dynamics, but the good news is that I was able to pull the plug while we were still in the early stages of development.

    I wrote off that project as a loss. But every loss is a lesson. There’s a saying in Silicon Valley: You don’t learn until you ship. I would expand on that to say: Ship fast. Fail fast. Ship again. Just like in trading, in business, we must be willing to take risks, but we must also cut losses quickly.

    A few takeaways:

    1. Think hard before seeking external funds for your venture. Self-funding doesn’t earn commissions for anyone, so you hear less about it, but it can potentially take substantial pressure off you.
    2. Focus on ROI, but also focus on ROT: Return on Time. Rapid experimentation, along with rapid decision-making, can not only save money but can gain you a first-mover advantage. You can be on version 4.0 — or be done with an unworkable experiment — before the competition has finished suiting up.
    3. Be proud of the money you raise and even prouder of what you rapidly ship. Many fortunes have been made with external capital, but even more great, young businesses have been snuffed out by the constraints and risk-aversion that the capital brought. By all means, do a round of high fives if you close a round of financing. But save your biggest celebrations for when you rapidly confirm your failed experiments and ship your newest winner.

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    Ross Cameron

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  • 3 Ways to Start Your Startup On The Right Foot | Entrepreneur

    3 Ways to Start Your Startup On The Right Foot | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This story originally appeared on Under30CEO.com

    You’ve got your great business idea, but how can you execute it? It’s easy to feel like passion and excitement are all you need to get a business off the ground. The rest will come together as you go along, right?

    Wrong. Unfortunately, inspiration and emotion do not make a successful business. The good news, though, is that if you’re willing to invest some time, effort, and resources, you can dramatically increase your chances of success.

    There are many easy-to-overlook factors that, when tended to properly, can give your startup a much higher chance of taking off. If you’re starting a business, here are three key areas to take into consideration as you prepare to get things up and running.

    Related: 2 Grammy-Nominated Musicians Share What They Consider the Greatest Assets to Any Startup

    1. Purposefully develop your leadership skills

    Focusing on your strengths is tempting as you look for ways to get a company off the ground. Maybe you’re good with money, have a creative eye, or a history in sales.

    These are all good things, but there’s one area that you have to be comfortable with more than anything else if you want your startup to get going on the right foot: leadership.

    One of the easiest business areas to underestimate is the demands and complexities of being an executive. CEOs and other members of the C-suite aren’t just responsible for making practical decisions in a startup. They also need to establish the heart and soul of your company.

    If you and your founding partners need help finding your footing as a founding team, take time to invest in developing your leadership skills. You can do this by finding mentors or reading books on leadership. You can also work with an executive coaching firm to guide you.

    If you’re launching a business, make cultivating leadership skills a priority.

    2. Keep your founding team lean

    As you look for ways to help your startup thrive, remember that you don’t want to inflate your staff with unnecessary hires. A lean, mean founding team is almost always the best recipe for success.

    As you consider hiring your initial staff members, don’t “follow your gut” or listen to third-party advice — and for goodness sake, don’t hire your family members or best friends because they need work.

    Related: This Startup Is Reinventing the Yellow School Bus. Here’s Its Playbook for Winning Over the Hardest Customers (Like Public Schools).

    Instead, invest in a thoughtful, targeted hiring process. Co-founder of Under30CEO, Matt Wilson, recommends a three-step system for choosing each member of your bootstrap staff. This includes:

    • A phone interview
    • An in-person interview
    • A group interview and reference check

    Wilson adds that once hired, you should still keep an eye on new employees. “One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned with regards to staffing is that things are not always as they seem during the interview,” he says, adding, “Behavior, work ethic and attitude can shift once a new employee clicks out of interview mode and into work mode.”

    The takeaway here? Build your team thoughtfully. Make each hire slowly and evaluate each team member as they settle in. Make sure everyone is buying into your startup culture, vision, and mission — and they’re contributing to your group efforts and pulling their own weight, too.

    3. Stay flexible and ready to adapt

    Finally, remember to stay flexible as your startup gets off the ground. This is commonly referred to as a “growth mindset.” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck coined the phrase as a way to differentiate from a “fixed mindset” — that is, a stagnant belief that your abilities, talents, and intelligence are inherent and unchangeable.

    In comparison, a growth mindset believes humans can grow and adapt to feedback.

    Related: Do This Simple Exercise to Unlock Your Potential, Says the Psychologist Who Coined the Phrase ‘Growth Mindset’

    While this is excellent self-help advice, it also applies to a startup mindset. As you build your business, remember to stay resilient, flexible, and ready to adapt to whatever circumstances arise as you go along.

    Pivots have saved many companies in the past. Sometimes these happen within the scope of a business, such as Netflix shifting from DVDs to streaming. At other times, it is a full-blown deviation. That’s how Slack was born from a failed gaming company.

    Whatever your startup’s initial goals may be, don’t be afraid to adjust them as you go along in the name of chasing success.

    So there you have it. Develop your leadership skills. Keep your founding team lean. Stay flexible and adapt when necessary. If you can master those three elements, you can give your startup the best chance of starting on the right foot.

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    Kimberly Zhang

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  • 2 Grammy-Nominated Musicians Share What They Consider the Greatest Assets to Any Startup | Entrepreneur

    2 Grammy-Nominated Musicians Share What They Consider the Greatest Assets to Any Startup | Entrepreneur

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    We recently had an amazing conversation about the skincare brand Mother Science with the power couple behind it, Mike Einziger and Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger. They are both massively successful musicians — Mike is the lead guitarist of Incubus, and Ann Marie is a Grammy-nominated violinist — and they both have a deep passion for business. We sat down with the couple and picked their brains on how they could create a successful skincare business in a highly saturated market.

    Their insights can easily be applied to any startup or aspiring entrepreneur looking for the next big idea. So here are four business lessons we learned from the brilliant minds behind Mother Science that you can use to your advantage.

    1. Passion over everything

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    Entrepreneur Staff

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  • 11 Effective Marketing Strategies to Help Streamline Your Startup | Entrepreneur

    11 Effective Marketing Strategies to Help Streamline Your Startup | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Starting a new business is an exhilarating journey filled with opportunities and challenges. As a new business owner or startup entrepreneur, wearing multiple hats is often the norm. Among these, the role of marketing is paramount, as it lays the foundation for brand recognition, customer engagement and business growth.

    Let’s explore some practical solutions for managing both the owner and marketing roles, including when to use contractors, and highlight the best websites to streamline marketing tasks.

    Related: 9 Marketing Strategies for Startups to Boost Growth and Visibility

    1. Understand your target audience

    Effective marketing begins with a deep understanding of your target audience. Define your ideal customer by considering demographics, preferences and pain points.

    Conduct thorough market research to identify trends, gaps and potential competitors. Creating detailed buyer personas helps you tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with the right audience and craft messages that address their specific needs.

    2. Create a solid brand identity

    A strong brand identity sets your business apart from the competition. Start by developing a unique value proposition that highlights what makes your products or services special.

    Design plays a pivotal role in brand identity, so invest in a memorable logo and visuals that align with your brand’s personality. Consistency is key — maintain a uniform brand voice and message across all communication channels.

    3. Develop a comprehensive marketing plan

    A well-structured marketing plan is your roadmap to success. Set clear goals and objectives that align with your business’s overall vision. Decide on the most effective marketing channels based on your target audience and industry.

    Allocate your budget wisely, considering both online and offline strategies. Remember that flexibility is essential — be prepared to adapt your plan as your business evolves.

    Related: How to Create a Successful Marketing Plan: 5 Steps

    4. Leverage digital marketing

    In today’s digital age, online presence is non-negotiable. A business website serves as your virtual storefront. Ensure it’s user-friendly, informative and optimized for search engines. Implement SEO techniques to improve your website’s visibility on search engine results pages.

    Engage your audience through content marketing, such as with blogs, videos and infographics that offer value and showcase your expertise. Social media platforms are invaluable tools for connecting with your audience and promoting your content.

    5. Analyze when to outsource vs. when to use in-house marketing

    As a startup owner, it’s tempting to handle all aspects of your business, including marketing. However, there comes a point when outsourcing becomes advantageous. Contractors or agencies bring specialized skills and insights to the table, saving you time and potentially yielding better results.

    Assess your strengths and weaknesses to determine which tasks are best outsourced. This allows you to focus on core business activities while experts manage your marketing efforts.

    6. Try cost-effective marketing tools and resources

    Numerous online tools and platforms can simplify your marketing tasks. Canva and Adobe Spark offer user-friendly interfaces for creating graphics and visuals without the need for design expertise.

    Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and Constant Contact facilitate personalized communication with your audience. Analytics tools such as Google Analytics help you monitor website traffic and track marketing performance, guiding data-driven decisions.

    Related: 9 Low-Budget Marketing Strategies Every Startup Can Afford

    7. Navigate social media platforms

    The choice of social media platforms depends on your target audience and the nature of your business. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn offer diverse opportunities to connect with potential customers.

    Develop a social media content calendar to maintain a consistent posting schedule. Engagement is key — respond promptly to comments, messages and feedback, fostering a loyal online community.

    8. Craft compelling content

    High-quality content is the heart of effective marketing. Content that educates, entertains or solves problems resonates with your audience. Develop engaging blog posts, informative videos and visually appealing infographics.

    Incorporate storytelling to create an emotional connection with your audience. Sharing your business’s journey, challenges and triumphs humanizes your brand and fosters authenticity.

    9. Measure and adapt

    In the fast-paced realm of startup marketing, metrics, and data serve as the compass that not only charts your course but also ensures you stay the course. Establishing relevant key performance indicators (KPIs), whether they’re focused on enhancing brand awareness, driving sales or fostering customer loyalty, is akin to plotting coordinates on a map toward success.

    The process doesn’t end there; it’s an ongoing expedition of interpretation and action. By immersing yourself in the wealth of data at your disposal, you unveil patterns and trends that illuminate the path forward.

    Regularly analyze the data to gain insights into what’s working and what needs improvement. Adapt your strategies based on these findings. Remember, marketing is a dynamic process that requires continuous optimization.

    10. Build great customer relationships

    Exceptional customer service is a cornerstone of successful startups. Delivering a positive experience builds trust and encourages customer loyalty. Actively seek feedback and suggestions from customers to improve your offerings.

    Implement loyalty programs and rewards to show appreciation for their support. Word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers can significantly impact your business’s growth.

    11. Scale up your marketing efforts — when you’re ready

    As your startup gains traction, consider expanding your marketing efforts. Explore new marketing channels and strategies that align with your growth goals.

    Hiring an in-house marketing team provides dedicated expertise, allowing you to handle more complex campaigns. However, ensure that you maintain a balance between marketing and other operational aspects to ensure sustainable growth.

    Related: 7 Ways To Scale Your Startup or Business

    Wrapping up

    Marketing your startup demands creativity, dedication and adaptability. By understanding your audience, building a strong brand identity and leveraging digital tools, you can effectively reach and engage potential customers.

    Consider outsourcing certain tasks to professionals, and make use of cost-effective resources available online. Through social media, compelling content and data-driven insights, you can craft meaningful connections and measure your progress.

    By prioritizing exceptional customer relationships and scaling your efforts strategically, your startup can achieve sustainable growth in a competitive business landscape. Embrace the journey of startup marketing with enthusiasm and an open mind, always ready to evolve with the changing needs of your business.

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    Mark W Lamplugh Jr

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  • 3 Essential Factors Your Startup Should Consider If You Want It to Bloom | Entrepreneur

    3 Essential Factors Your Startup Should Consider If You Want It to Bloom | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Venture capital funding has always been a complex and highly competitive landscape where startups and established businesses alike vie fiercely for investor attention and financial backing. And in recent times, this state of things has only grown progressively worse.

    Over the past two years, global markets have observed a continuous fall in venture capital funding. In Q1 2023, the figure reached $76 billion, less than half the amount recorded in 2022 ($162 billion). Funding into the fintech sector amounted to just $23 billion in the first half of 2023. At the same time, the number of funding rounds dropped by 64% compared to the same period in 2022.

    The investor sentiment is waning, and to survive in this grim climate, startups must be capable of rapidly adapting to changes and possess a sensible MVP capable of attracting investors and customers alike. These are the foundation upon which a business is built and from which it can improve based on evolving customer needs and emerging market trends.

    Let’s look at how companies can adapt their operations in a challenging environment where investors are becoming more cautious and their funding scarcer.

    Adapt your startup to the realities of the BANI world

    Before we get into the detailed recommendations on what parts of your business you should focus on when seeking investment opportunities, I believe it important to point your attention to a more overarching matter. Namely, the modern-day business landscape in which companies find themselves operating.

    In today’s rapidly changing global environment, any startup founder must know the BANI world and understand its nuances and rules. BANI stands for “Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear, and Incomprehensible,” representing the key characteristics of the current business environment.

    Today’s world is prone to sudden disruptions and shocks that can significantly impact businesses and their activities. As such, leaders must learn to anticipate potential risks and build resilience within their organizations. To maintain an efficient business in times of uncertainty and volatility, leaders need to monitor market dynamics constantly, understand the ongoing trends and adapt their strategies accordingly.

    In short, understanding the modern realities is essential for heads of startups to successfully steer their companies towards growth and secure investments from stakeholders who value adaptability and foresight. It is particularly important for startup founders, as such businesses already tend to start their journeys in a financially vulnerable position. Failing to acknowledge the aspects of the BANI world may leave them ill-prepared to face disruptions, competition, market shifts and other threats.

    By taking care to keep an eye on these complexities, on the other hand, founders can make more informed decisions and adjust their business strategies accordingly. This can build their organizations more resiliently and attract investments by showcasing their ability to thrive in a rapidly changing and challenging environment.

    Now that we have cleared up the BANI world issue, let’s take a closer look at the actions that startup founders can take when fundraising. Based on personal experience, I recommend focusing on three main aspects of your business when you’re planning to engage with promising investors.

    Related: How to Adapt in a Rapidly Changing Economy

    1. Grow your revenue rather than your turnover

    When the market is going through a boom, investors tend to look at how rapidly a company can grow and capture its share in the market. But in today’s business landscape, it is more important for them to understand that a company can endure and survive in harsh circumstances. And survive for a long time, at that. If you have the capacity to be profitable on top of that, then all the better for you.

    Make sure to demonstrate this fact openly and proudly, as it would make a lot of sense for investors to invest in you to drive this success further and get their share of the profit from it.

    Related: We Can’t Rely on Venture Capital Funding to Build a Just and Thriving Entrepreneurial Economy. Here’s What to Do Instead

    2. Pay attention to your company’s data and analytics

    Showcase figures that would indicate to investors that your business is viable and that they can invest in it safely. In my own company, for example, we demonstrated how much we managed to reduce costs while boosting revenue simultaneously. Things like that give investors the information that you can operate effectively, which worked to great effect for us.

    3. Show that you can make responsible financial decisions

    If investors are to put their money into your startup, it would put their minds at ease to know that you can invest said money competently and precisely. More specifically, under the current market conditions, pouring funds into things that yield a quick result is necessary. You are required to be able to adapt to market trends and make quick decisions that provide quantifiable outcomes.

    Fundamentally, the most important thing is to demonstrate a set of skills and tools that would indicate to investors that your business can maintain itself regardless of the outside conditions in a market filled with uncertainty.

    Related: How to Think Outside the Box and Craft a Values-Aligned Investment Offering

    Data-driven decisions give businesses the power to grow

    By staying updated on industry developments, customer preferences and the competitive landscape, businesses can identify opportunities and adapt their strategies to stay ahead of the curve. This requires strategic thinking, flexible problem-solving skills and a willingness to take calculated risks. It falls to the company leadership to monitor performance and make informed decisions that would enable their business to maintain a level of success attractive to investors.

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    Greg Waisman

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  • Why Your Favorite Hobby Shouldn’t Be Your Next Business Idea | Entrepreneur

    Why Your Favorite Hobby Shouldn’t Be Your Next Business Idea | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’re interested in franchise or business ownership and you’re in the beginning stages of researching what kind of business matches your entrepreneurial goals, the options available can be overwhelming. After all, 20% of new businesses fail in the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years and 65% during the first 10 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, franchises exist in nearly every service industry, and there are more than 3,000 registered franchise brands across the United States.

    Because franchise and business ownership can run the gamut in terms of products and services sold, it isn’t uncommon for candidates to consider hobbies that already interest them when producing ideas for a future company. However, it’s important to understand that sometimes, hobbies and businesses don’t mix well.

    For example, let’s consider a hypothetical business owner candidate. Let’s call him “Phil.” One of Phil’s favorite pastimes is to hit the green for a round of golf. Since golf is already a longstanding interest, Phil is inclined to consider a franchise that sells a variety of golfing products: clubs, balls, tees, clothing, etc. However, before long, Phil’s working hours are consumed with all things golf, and his work days are filled with balance sheets, sales reports and expenses for golf products. Suddenly, escaping to play a few holes on the weekend isn’t the break away from work it once was.

    When a favorite hobby becomes synonymous with work, you find yourself in a lose-lose situation. To avoid this overlap, examine the following three tips below for considering possible options.

    Related: Mark Cuban Says “Follow Your Passion” Is the Worst Career Advice You Can Get. Here’s Why.

    1. Separate your personal hobbies from your business

    Rarely can a person spend their leisure time and work time focused on the same thing. It’s basic Business 101 to diversify your investments, and a business is a large investment of your time, energy and money — so why would you keep all your eggs in one basket? Best practice: Separate your personal hobbies from your business.

    Like Phil, you probably have a hobby or interest that helps you unwind after a long week. However, for a business to maintain longevity, sustainability is the name of the game. So take a moment to consider your hobbies, and rather than focusing on the hobby itself, take a look at the services that support that hobby.

    If we take our friend Phil, rather than a golf store, maybe he selects a franchise of dry cleaning stores, hair salons or group fitness studios that service a community with fellow golf lovers. Another option might be a B2B franchise in which Phil doesn’t perform the services himself but is client-facing and responsible for relationship-building by taking prospective clients out to the green for an afternoon. Either of these options supports his entrepreneurial goals while maintaining his favorite pastime.

    2. Be passionate about owning your business, not passionate about the widget

    Being a business owner means having more control over your life in so many ways. The top motivators for an individual to become a business owner are autonomy, more flexibility, more purpose/meaning and financial security.

    These benefits of business ownership and their ability to support yourself, your family or other financial and non-financial obligations outweigh the appeal of selling a specific product or service.

    Building on the previous tip, a way to avoid misalignment between the product or service you are selling and the overall vision of the business is to focus on bird’s eye metrics of success. For example, owning a chain of cleaning stores might not be your dinner party small talk highlight that “golfing” might be, but who’s hosting the dinner?

    Prioritize long-term goals over what sounds cool to sell — a.k.a. be passionate about owning a business and all the benefits that come from that, rather than being passionate about a specific widget you sell.

    Related: Why You Should Stop Trying to ‘Find Your Passion’

    3. Your business should match a lasting market

    A common misconception about franchises in particular is that they are all centered around the fast-food industry. This makes sense: Everyone eats multiple times per day, hence a stable and recurring consumer base. However, any company that can benefit from proper branding, repeatable processes and continuing product or service evolvement is a candidate to be franchised. While it’s true that there are a number of successful restaurant-style franchises, there are so many other options that fall into the “service-based” franchise bucket.

    In today’s business world, particularly with a younger generation of consumers, experiences are valued over material items. To support these experiences, a number of non-flashy but necessary service industry tasks are essential. What is a service that you use on a recurring basis that is not centered around food? Clean clothes perhaps? Monthly haircuts? Consistent trips to the gym? Phil would agree.

    If there is a recurring customer need, then there is likely a franchise that is seeking to capitalize on that customer need.

    At the end of the day, hobbies are a great place to start for brainstorming purposes, but think outside the box and ask yourself: What tangential services support your hobby or other hobbies that are similar in nature? Before long, you’ll have a list of services, and, to bury the lead, I guarantee there will be multiple franchises for you to consider associated with those services.

    So remember these three key takeaways when considering business ownership: First, hobbies and business are best kept separate. Second, owning a successful business is the goal (not selling a specific product/service). Third, set yourself up for success by selecting a business that has a strong base of perpetually recurring customers.

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    David Busker

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  • 4 Changes New Companies Should Adopt in 2023 to Set Yourself Up for Success | Entrepreneur

    4 Changes New Companies Should Adopt in 2023 to Set Yourself Up for Success | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Any startup or newer business needs a strong focus on building an effective and productive team of employees. However, this remains somewhat difficult, as a job market favoriting candidates makes hiring new employees a costly and risk prone process. This is especially the case when considering the technology talent many new businesses need to execute the ideas at the core of their business hopes.

    With many startups suffering from a lack of capital, taking a different approach to finding talent serves to optimize their staffing spend. It helps these new businesses affect the organizational changes they need to achieve for a real chance of success. A mix of staff augmentation and strategic outsourcing ensures emerging businesses have access to the necessary talent in a cost-effective fashion.

    So let’s look more closely at these and other organizational changes new businesses need to consider for a better chance of success in 2023 and beyond. These ideas allow your emerging organization to stay nimble to take advantage of any new opportunities arriving on your doorstep. Leverage these insights to position your startup squarely on the path to success, providing a quick exit opportunity for your investors.

    Related: 4 Ways Leaders Can Navigate Change and Find the Hidden Opportunities

    Leveraging staff augmentation to maintain a startup’s talent pipeline

    Any new business needs a robust talent pipeline providing the flexibility to thrive in its earliest stages. We already mentioned the expensive and risk-prone aspects of sourcing permanent employees in the current job market. A startup might spend an inordinate amount of time and resources trying to hire a permanent candidate, only to fail, with all those sunk expenses as a result.

    However, adopting a staff augmentation approach provides talent from a development agency to quickly meet an acute skills gap or other talent shortage. It also remains a great way for startups to access the critical technology professionals they need to complete the technical product or service central to their growth potential. When considering this strategy, find a digital agency or staffing services firm able to provide a full team. It helps foster collaboration with your organization compared to contracting individuals.

    Add outsourced expertise to your organization

    Somewhat related to that point, in addition to using staff augmentation as a talent strategy, you might also consider outsourcing certain leadership and other managerial expertise to your organization. Many high-level consultants with experience in the same industry sector as your startup are willing to work with new businesses. It offers the critical know-how to help any new business devise a strategy to achieve its short-term and long-term goals.

    Once again, this type of “on-demand” staffing lets businesses add expertise at significant cost savings compared to making permanent hires. A startup conserves its limited capital by not having to pay benefits and salaries to a host of new employees. When the current project finishes, those contract workers simply move on to their next gig, while a startup’s staffing spend returns to normal.

    Data-driven decision-making helps startups gain a measure of wisdom

    Any startup benefits when focusing on tangible insights derived from data for their decision-making processes. It makes a difference in a variety of functional areas but holds special importance when considering market research when vetting a potential target market for a new business’s first product or service. Developing any digital product — typically a software app or similar platform — without any market insights results in a startup flying blind.

    Of course, data beyond market research also matters throughout the process of developing any software product. Any thorough testing process generates a massive amount of valuable data offering insights into the user experience — this helps inform the project team on what features to include and modify before the app goes live. Beyond that, never skimp on data analysis throughout a business’s history. Data remains the lifeblood of any successful company, after all.

    Related: What Stops Organizational Change From Sticking, And How to Change That

    Ensure your software projects follow an iterative approach

    One important organizational change relates to the methodology new businesses use for their software projects. Following an iterative software methodology, like agile or lean startup, provides many benefits to startups and emerging organizations. This approach ensures any bugs or design mistakes are caught early in the development process when more inexpensive to fix. Finding a critical bug right before going live might result in the failure of the startup.

    Lean Startup leverages a concept known as the minimum viable product (MVP). It’s essentially a prototype developed in short cycles that include sharply defined stages for testing, analyzing the data from those test results as highlighted above, and applying the lessons learned to a new version of the app. It keeps business stakeholders and the project team in close communication throughout the initiative, ensuring nothing gets lost in the fray.

    In the end, improve your chances of a successful startup by adopting these organizational changes. Leveraging staff augmentation at startup launch provides the critical talent it needs in the most cost-effective manner. Additionally, adopting an iterative data-driven software development approach reduces expenses while resulting in an app with a better chance of making an impact on the market.

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    Andrew Amann

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  • 5 Ways Startups Can Increase Their Visibility | Entrepreneur

    5 Ways Startups Can Increase Their Visibility | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    During the recent pandemic, many startups had to rethink their business models. In some cases, this meant refocusing on their core business and determining how well they served customer needs. In other cases, startups had to change their business models completely to succeed.

    Now that the world is back to normal, I recommend that startups place a new urgency behind becoming more visible and keeping their momentum going. Methods to do so include attending or speaking at events, competing in startup competitions and establishing new customer or partner relationships. Taking advantage of such opportunities will help startups emerge stronger than ever before from the pandemic.

    1. Target the right events

    Around the world, I see event organizers switching from virtual events to hosting in-person events. I recommend that startups take advantage of this opportunity to increase their visibility. Startups can research which events are the most relevant based on event themes and the typical attendee profile. At technology and business events, attendees often include corporate executives, other startups, potential partners and customers and investors. Most events publish in-depth profiles of their attendees, so startups can study these ahead of time and determine which events are the best fit.

    Before any event, take advantage of event websites and apps to see who is attending. This allows you to reach out to set up networking meetings ahead of time. Journalists often attend business and technology events, so there’s a good chance that startups can meet them and ideally set up press interviews.

    Related: 5 Ways to Make Journalists Actually Want to Publish Your Brand’s Stories

    2. Compete to promote your startup

    I also recommend that startups consider competing in startup competitions to raise the visibility of the business and its founders. Even if you don’t win, you get to pitch your business, fine-tune your elevator pitch and network with attendees – including other competitors, judges, investors and journalists.

    Typical opportunities include:

    • Business plan competitions are offered by MBA programs, which offer startups with a connection to the school to present their business plans and compete to win.
    • Pitch competitions are offered by leading technology events around the world, such as Collision, Web Summit, Startup Grind and The Next Web. Startups who compete typically take the stage to pitch their ideas in front of the event audience.
    • Startup competitions allow startups to compete on a local, regional, national or international basis. At the Startup World Cup, for example, startups compete at 70+ regional competitions worldwide. The grand finale winner earns a $1 million investment prize.

    Related: 8 Business Titans Reveal the Best Social Media Tactics to Promote Your Company

    3. Build new relationships

    While virtual meetings have their place, there’s nothing like meeting in person to build genuine, long-term relationships. Forbes Insights reports that 85% of people reported building stronger, more meaningful business relationships with people they’ve met face-to-face. When I attend events and competitions, I often meet influential people from different walks of life that I would otherwise not meet. Startups should take advantage of such opportunities and either ask for introductions or just introduce themselves. My business relationships with partners, startups, portfolio companies and journalists started with a casual introduction and in-person meeting.

    4. Publish thought leadership content

    Another good way startups can increase their visibility is by publishing thought leadership content. I often advise startup founders to write about what they know – whether about new technologies, business trends or leadership advice. This allows the author to establish themselves as an expert in one or more topics. The press might notice such content, and it often opens the door to new business relationships.

    Research shows that thought leadership works. In fact, 88 % of decision-makers surveyed by Edelman and LinkedIn think that thought leadership effectively improves their perceptions of an organization. Business-to-business decision-makers said that high-quality thought leadership strengthens a company’s reputation and positively impacts requests for proposal invitations, wins, pricing and cross-selling that occurs post-sale.

    Writing thought leadership content can take different forms. The most straightforward method is to write an article on LinkedIn, populate social media or use a self-publishing channel. Experts can also submit their articles to local, regional or national publications that accept contributed content. Doing so will help a startup founder share his or her expertise without generating news, which is typically required to get press coverage. Thought leadership content goes beyond articles. On the technical side, startup founders — or other experts, including chief technology articles — can publish technical articles or research findings. On the creative side, entrepreneurs can create short-form videos that demonstrate their expertise while entertaining the audience.

    Related: So You Want to Be a Thought Leader? Here are 5 Steps to Take

    5. Continue your momentum

    Now that it’s possible to meet people in person and attend live events, I recommend that startups work hard to increase their visibility and maintain their business momentum. Don’t sit back and hope that business will come to you. Put yourself out there and take advantage of opportunities to attend events, network, compete and build new relationships. Each can help startups grow more quickly, enabling them to capitalize on their innovative ideas and ultimately make the world a better place.

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    Anis Uzzaman

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  • France bets big on open-source AI

    France bets big on open-source AI

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    France has a dream: to make a name for itself in the surging global artificial intelligence industry. 

    France also has a problem: It’s right in the heart of the EU, currently known more for regulating AI than for encouraging it.

    To carve out a spot in that tricky landscape, French leaders are now hoping to foster one particular segment of the industry, called open-source AI.

    “Open-source” computer code — publicly posted to be used and repurposed by anyone — straddles the line between the public interest and a private-sector product. Sometimes developed by universities, sometimes by companies, open-source AI systems are now playing a growing role in the industry. For example, Meta’s powerful LLaMA2, an AI model released in July, is open-source.

    In June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced new funding for an open “digital commons” for French-made generative AI projects, a €40 million investment intended to attract significantly more capital from private investors. “On croit dans l’open-source,” Macron stressed in his speech at VivaTech, France’s top tech conference: “We believe in open-source.”

    A matter of national pride

    There’s a bit of pride involved as well: Officials see it as a way to take on the overwhelming power of U.S.-based firms in the AI industry.

    “We don’t want to live in a world with two or three or four monopolies and to have to negotiate the rights to innovate. So open-source can be a very important answer,” said Henri Verdier, the French ambassador for digital affairs and the country’s top tech diplomat.

    France’s open-source focus comes as part of a hard push toward developing a domestic, francophone AI industry. At the same event, Macron said France would invest €500 million in creating AI “champions” — market and research leaders in the emerging technology.

    One of its existing champions is an open-source AI firm. In June, Paris-based startup Mistral.ai — whose French founders hail from U.S. tech giants including Meta and Alphabet’s Deepmind — raised a whopping €105 million in funding by promising to create an open-source competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The firm’s backers include Cedric O, the former digital minister for Macron’s government.

    Alexandre Zapolsky, a co-founder of French tech firm Linagora who, ahead of Macron’s set-piece announcement, had co-written a newspaper column calling on France to foster its open-source AI ecosystem, saw Macron’s speech as a major signal to investors, as well as his own administration.

    “Our president endorsed open-source AI — and became a promoter of it — while speaking in front of over 2,000 of France’s top technology entrepreneurs and investors,” Zapolsky said. “And his message has been heard by all the layers of the French government.”

    Following the speech, Zapolsky’s co-founder Michel-Marie Maudet launched OpenLLM France, a collective of developers and researchers collaborating via messaging platform Discord to build open-source Al. 

    France has some academic strengths to build on. It has also been pitching itself as the best place in Europe to train power-intensive advanced AI models because its nuclear power plants offer cheap and abundant electricity. Irene Solaiman, policy director for leading open-source AI provider Hugging Face, said that France was “exceptional in the EU in having labs that develop high-quality language models.”

    Some of the top minds in this field are already French nationals — including Meta’s Chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun — but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to attract talent in an extremely competitive industry. “The U.S. has a lot going for it. Like, it has really stellar academic institutions that work on a lot of the research that’s relevant to the field. It has a lot of cloud [computing] providers,” Solaiman said.

    A Continent-wide opportunity

    In embracing open-source, France is hoping to take advantage of an EU loophole that might offer a friendly regulatory lane for open-source systems. The bloc is currently finalizing its Artificial Intelligence Act, which would ban some AI uses and create obligations for those deemed risky.

    The European Parliament, in its version of the AI Act, exempted open-source AI systems from following the strict compliance rules imposed by the law. Kai Zenner, chief policy assistant to Axel Voss, an influential German member of the European Parliament, says that EU governments support this approach, which suggests “chances are quite high” it will make it to the final version of the law. (The AI Act’s final text, expected to pass in late 2023, is currently being negotiated by representatives of European governments and the European Parliament.)

    Europe’s Parliament sees open-source as an AI opportunity not just for France, but for the whole Continent. “We completely agree with the French assumption: We see open-source AI as a big chance,” Zenner said. “If Europe really wants to catch up with the United States and China in AI, then without drawing on models or data sets from the open-source community, we would never have a chance.”

    Industry skepticism

    Industry leaders, though, aren’t so sure the EU law will give them enough running room. The proposed exemption does not apply when open-source AI is used for commercial purposes, which would likely discourage investors and startups in the space. Members of the open-source AI ecosystem — including Github and Hugging Face — have asked European policymakers for more clarity on what constitutes commercial activity when it comes to making open-source AI components available to the public.  

    They also worry that so-called foundation models — the big software engines powering generative AI tools such as ChatGPT — would separately have to abide by a set of obligations under the EU law whether they’re open-source or not. This worries tech giants as much as it does open-source startups.

    “The latest amendments from the European Parliament — they seem to impose potentially some pretty complex and potentially somewhat unworkable conditions on open-sourcing large language models altogether,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs. 

    For France and other European Union economies, it feels like a big piece of the future is at stake. Despite being home to world-class universities and talent, European leaders have spent decades watching their countries fail to capitalize on various waves of tech innovation, with the riches going to giants in the U.S. and China. The EU, meanwhile, has established itself more as a technology rulemaker than as a creator and exporter. Policymakers now are determined not to let the same thing happen with AI.

    Cedric O, the former French digital minister turned Mistral.ai’s shareholder and adviser, says that Europe has one other advantage when it comes to developing open-source AI. Unlike the U.S., it lacks powerful corporate actors lobbying against the open-source model on security grounds. 

    “Europe has the ability to be part of the AI race,” O said. “I would say that — regardless of the fact that its AI is open-source or not — Europe has to do whatever it can to be part of the game.”

    Laura Kayali contributed reporting.

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    Mohar Chatterjee and Gian Volpicelli

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  • The Middle East is Emerging as a Serious Hotspot — Here’s What Entrepreneurs Worldwide Can Learn | Entrepreneur

    The Middle East is Emerging as a Serious Hotspot — Here’s What Entrepreneurs Worldwide Can Learn | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Over the last decade, the Middle East has undergone a profound transformation. Traditionally viewed as an oil-rich region, the Middle East has been diversifying its economies, creating an entrepreneurial landscape ripe with opportunity. The region’s dynamic economies, bolstered by ambitious economic diversification and innovation plans, have created a favorable environment for global entrepreneurs.

    With its expansive Vision 2030 economic reform plan, Saudi Arabia has been leading this transformation. Still, the entrepreneurial wave is being felt across the region — from the United Arab Emirates to Qatar, Bahrain and beyond.

    Related: Entrepreneur Middle East

    Diverse economies foster entrepreneurship

    Countries across the Middle East are showing increased commitment to fostering entrepreneurship as they seek to diversify their economies beyond oil. Governments are investing heavily in infrastructure and establishing regulatory frameworks that are conducive to business, creating a fertile ground for startups and SMEs.

    For instance, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan aims to foster a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. To achieve these goals, the kingdom promotes sectors like tourism, entertainment and technology, providing ample opportunities for entrepreneurs. Likewise, the United Arab Emirates Vision 2021 aims to make the UAE among the best countries in the world by the Golden Jubilee of the Union, and it recognizes entrepreneurship as a key driver of competitiveness and growth.

    Related: The Changing Face Of Business In The Middle East

    The strategic advantage of location

    In today’s globalized economy, the Middle East’s strategic geographic position cannot be underestimated. The region serves as a bridge between the East and West, providing businesses easy access to markets in Africa, Asia and Europe. The region’s extensive logistical and transportation networks further enhance its attractiveness as a hub for international business.

    Investing in innovation

    The Middle East’s commitment to innovation is mirrored in its vibrant investment scene. Sovereign wealth funds, private investors, and venture capitalists actively invest in promising ventures, providing the financial fuel that startups need to scale and thrive. For instance, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been actively investing in tech companies and startups domestically and internationally, providing the necessary capital for growth.

    At the same time, governments are backing initiatives such as startup incubators and accelerators, offering new businesses resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities to navigate the entrepreneurial landscape.

    The advantage of a tech-savvy population

    One of the Middle East’s greatest assets is its young, tech-savvy population. With one of the world’s highest smartphone penetration and internet usage rates, the region’s consumers are eager for innovative products and services. This creates lucrative opportunities, particularly in the digital and e-commerce sectors, which are experiencing explosive growth.

    Overcoming challenges and obstacles

    Despite the significant potential, the Middle East’s entrepreneurial scene is not without its challenges. Entrepreneurs often cite regulatory complexities, bureaucratic red tape, and the need for more robust intellectual property rights as hurdles to business. However, governments are showing a commitment to addressing these issues, and the business environment is improving year by year.

    Moreover, the region is also grappling with the need to develop a culture of entrepreneurship and risk-taking, a shift from the traditional preference for stable government jobs. However, the tides are changing, and the growing success of startups in the region inspires a new generation of entrepreneurs.

    The Middle East, with its strategic location, vibrant economies, supportive government initiatives and untapped market potential, presents a compelling opportunity for global entrepreneurs. With the right insight, cultural understanding and innovative solutions, the region offers rewarding opportunities for those willing to navigate its unique landscape.

    As governments continue to foster entrepreneurship, and with increasing global interest in the region, the Middle East is emerging as a hotspot for global startups and a region worth considering for entrepreneurs looking to expand their horizons.

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    Henri Al Helaly

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  • Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, set to begin human trials | CNN Business

    Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, set to begin human trials | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Elon Musk’s controversial biotechnology startup Neuralink opened up recruitment for its first human clinical trial Tuesday, according to a company blog.

    After receiving approval from an independent review board, Neuralink is set to begin offering brain implants to paralysis patients as part of the PRIME Study, the company said. PRIME, short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface, is being carried out to evaluate both the safety and functionality of the implant.

    Trial patients will have a chip surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, will then record and send brain signals to an app, with the initial goal being “to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” the company wrote.

    Those with quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may qualify for the six-year-long study – 18 months of at-home and clinic visits followed by follow-up visits over five years. Interested people can sign up in the patient registry on Neuralink’s website.

    Musk has been working on Neuralink’s goal of using implants to connect the human brain to a computer for five years, but the company so far has only tested on animals. The company also faced scrutiny after a monkey died in project testing in 2022 as part of efforts to get the animal to play Pong, one of the first video games.

    In May, Neuralink tweeted that it had received FDA clearance for human clinical trials, with the approval acknowledged by the agency in a statement. The opening of human trials also comes over a month after the brain chip startup raised $280 million in a fundraising round led by Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based VC firm established by Peter Thiel, the controversial billionaire who was also a co-founder at PayPal.

    “We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company wrote at the time on X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

    Musk has forecast human trials at the startup at least four times since 2019, yet the company didn’t seek FDA approval until 2022. At that time, the agency rejected the bid, according to a March Reuters report, citing safety concerns about parts of the implant migrating to other parts of the brain and possible brain tissue damage when the devices are removed. Musk said at a December recruiting event that Neuralink has submitted “most” of its paperwork to the US Food and Drug Administration and could begin testing on humans within six months.

    But employees told Reuters in December that the company is rushing to market, resulting in careless animal deaths and a federal investigation.

    Neuralink did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    Before Neuralink’s brain implants hit the broader market, they’ll need regulatory approval. The FDA put out a paper in 2021 mapping out the agency’s initial thoughts on brain-computer interface devices, noting the field is “progressing rapidly.”

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  • 26-year-old tech CEO found dead in Baltimore with signs of blunt-force trauma | CNN Business

    26-year-old tech CEO found dead in Baltimore with signs of blunt-force trauma | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    The Baltimore Police Department has announced an arrest warrant for a suspect wanted for the murder of Pava LaPere, the 26-year-old CEO of startup EcoMap Technologies, who was found dead in a downtown Baltimore apartment Monday with signs of blunt-force trauma to her head.

    Police are looking for 32-year-old Jason Dean Billingsley, Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said during a news conference Tuesday.

    Officers responded to a call for service at an apartment complex in the 300 block of West Franklin Street at around 11:34 a.m. Monday, according to Baltimore police. Upon arriving, the officers found LaPere with severe injuries to her head. Police have not released any further information on her death.

    The medical examiner’s office took possession of the body, and an examination is pending, police said.

    Billingsley is wanted for first-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment and additional charges. He should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.

    “This individual will kill and he will rape. He will do anything he can to cause harm,” Worley warned.

    Baltimore police said they do not believe LaPere and Billingsley knew each other.

    The police did not say how they identified Billingsley as a suspect.

    In a message to Billingsley, Worley urged him to turn himself in. “We will find you, so I would ask you to turn yourself in to any officer, any police station,” he said.

    EcoMap was founded by LaPere and Sherrod Davis while LaPere was a 21-year-old college student at Johns Hopkins, according to EcoMap’s website. With just over 30 employees, the startup is part of the artificial intelligence wave. It sells AI tools, including a customizable chatbot, that aim to make clients’ information easier to access and customer communications more seamless, the company says.

    The company confirmed LaPere’s passing to CNN.

    “With profound sadness and shock, EcoMap announces the tragic and untimely passing of our beloved Founder and CEO, Pava LaPere,” EcoMap said in a statement. “The circumstances surrounding Pava’s death are deeply distressing, and our deepest condolences are with her family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly devastating time.”

    In August, the company said it had reached nearly $8 million in financing.

    Earlier this year, LaPere was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the social impact category.

    “Pava was not only the visionary force behind EcoMap but was also a deeply compassionate and dedicated leader. Her untiring commitment to our company, to Baltimore, to amplifying the critical work of ecosystems across the country, and to building a deeply inclusive culture as a leader, friend, and partner set a standard for leadership, and her legacy will live on through the work we continue to do,” the company said.

    The CEO of Baltimore-based company Fearless, Delali Dzirasa, served as a mentor to LaPere and remembers her as being a determined leader who was highly regarded across the community.

    “There is no person on planet Earth that could tell Pava that she couldn’t do something,” Dzirasa said. “Even though she was a force, she always made space for other people,” he told CNN.

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  • Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, raises $280 million from Peter Thiel’s VC fund | CNN Business

    Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, raises $280 million from Peter Thiel’s VC fund | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Elon Musk’s biotechnology startup Neuralink raised $280 million in a fundraising round, the company announced Monday via X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

    The Series D round was led by Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based VC firm established by Peter Thiel, the controversial billionaire who was also a cofounder at PayPal.

    “We’re extremely excited about this next chapter at Neuralink,” the company wrote.

    The brain chip startup wants to use implants to connect your brain to a computer, a goal Musk has been working on for five years. The company so far has only tested on animals and faced scrutiny after a monkey died in project testing in 2022 as part of efforts to get the animal to play Pong, a computer game.

    Macaque monkeys have been used in testing by Neuralink as the company has been developing Bluetooth-enabled implantable chips — inserted into the monkey’s brains — that ​the company says can communicate with computers via a small receiver.

    The funding news comes months after Musk announced the company was moving towards human trials. The billionaire said at a December recruiting event that Neuralink has submitted “most” of its paperwork to the US Food and Drug Administration and could begin testing on humans within six months.

    But employees have said the company is rushing to market, resulting in careless animal deaths and a federal investigation, according to a December report by Reuters.

    Before Neuralink’s brain implants are mass-produced and hit the broader market, they’ll need regulatory approval. The FDA put out a paper in 2021 mapping out the agency’s initial thoughts on brain-computer interface devices, noting the field is “progressing rapidly.”

    A tweet by Neuralink Monday announced they were hiring and invited those interested to “join in on engineering challenges to restore vision and mobility.”

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  • 4 Key Indicators It’s Time for You to Hire Your First Employee | Entrepreneur

    4 Key Indicators It’s Time for You to Hire Your First Employee | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Recognizing when to transition from a solopreneur to a team leader by hiring employees is crucial for sustainable growth. Most of my time with Strategic Advisor Board (SAB) is spent consulting new business owners reaching this pivotal point in scaling. Many business owners know they need help with maintaining their workload and deliverables, but they’re afraid of having enough resources to bring on employees and still be profitable.

    Let’s explore the key indicators I teach new business owners that signal the need for expansion and practical insights on navigating the transition efficiently and effectively.

    Related: 6 Signs It’s Time to Hire Employees for Your Startup

    1. Overwhelming workload and burnout

    As a solopreneur, you are tasked to fulfill every need and request of your business, I was there at one point myself when I started. From operations to marketing, and customer service to administration — it’s all you. This is a time of 60-hour work weeks and zero personal time; all work and no play. Your partner tells you they don’t recognize you anymore and your kids complain about all the soccer games and recitals you have missed. Your friends may even wonder if you are alive anymore.

    Many of my clients feel hopeless and as though they just created their own 9 to 5 (or 9 to 9) instead of an actual business. Hiring employees can help distribute tasks more effectively, reduce stress and improve your work-life balance. By delegating responsibilities, you’ll have more time and energy to focus on strategic initiatives and higher-value activities that drive growth.

    2. Declining productivity and quality

    Maintaining high productivity and delivering exceptional quality can be challenging for solopreneurs juggling multiple responsibilities. When you notice a decline in your output or struggle to meet customer expectations consistently, it’s a sign you need to bring in outside help. It often looks like missed deadlines, subpar projects being sent out the door and struggling to bring in new clients because you don’t have enough time to bring on more business and still get everything done. This decline may be due to being spread too thin, lacking a specialized skill or simply running out of time to deliver high-quality work.

    Bringing in skilled employees can not only enhance productivity but also streamline processes and ensure your products or services maintain high standards. When it’s time to bring in help, I understand it can be scary to hire a full-time employee. That’s why I tell my clients it may be easier to ease into the hiring process with a part-time employee or contractor.

    Related: Hiring Your First Employee? 5 Things You Need to Know.

    3. Limited time for strategic growth

    A comprehensive growth strategy becomes crucial as your business matures. If you cannot dedicate sufficient time to plan for the future and you spend more time working in your business rather than on it, you need additional resources. One effective way to optimize your business is by hiring employees to manage daily operational tasks. This would enable you to devote more time and attention to strategic initiatives like exploring new market opportunities, developing partnerships or expanding into new product lines or services.

    By prioritizing strategic growth, you can fully unleash your business’s potential and stay ahead of the competition. I always focus my efforts on how best to create smaller inputs in my companies that provide far larger outputs in terms of revenue generation. This also allows you to allocate more funds to reducing tactical tasks and workloads on your end and delegate appropriately.

    4. Increased customer demand

    A growing customer base is a positive sign of business success, but it can also strain your capacity as a solopreneur. If you find yourself consistently overwhelmed by customer demand or are forced to turn away potential clients, it’s a strong indicator that you’re ready for expansion. Hiring employees allows you to scale your operations to meet customer expectations. You can deliver prompt and efficient service with a team, maintain high customer satisfaction and capitalize on new business opportunities.

    Additionally, as you grow your customer base, having employees who can focus on customer relationship management becomes vital, ensuring each client receives the attention they deserve. The increase in customer demand also stresses fulfillment and leads to an imbalance in the growth and scale of the company. Putting the right people in the key seats that support fulfillment will relieve this strain. This is a lesson I learned by practical application a decade ago.

    Related: 4 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Consider Before Hiring Their First, or Next, Employee.

    Requiring new diverse skillsets

    Early on when I work with clients, I suggest they take a personal time inventory or a “time study.” First, look into where your skills aren’t at the highest level they could be, and then find out what you’re spending way too much time doing on a weekly basis. If you’re not strong in marketing or you’re spending way too much time balancing your books, consider finding an employee that brings these skills to the table. This will establish a more varied and capable team, enabling your business to progress in further growth.

    If you’re a small business owner, expanding from solopreneurship to having employees is a crucial step toward growth and sustainability. You can identify signs such as reduced productivity, insufficient time for strategic growth, increased customer demand and excessive workload to decide when to diversify your skillsets by hiring employees.

    Establishing a strong team of members who share your business’s values and mission is crucial for achieving sustained success. Skilled individuals can lead to discovering new prospects and driving your business forward, and by having more hands on deck and more minds problem solving, no doubt your business will head towards growth. Creating the right dynamic team is and will always be a challenge. Take your time and interview many people to fill key roles before actually hiring them. Ensuring you have the right people in the right seats on the bus will be critical to your success in being able to scale your company from a solo operation to a full-grown business.

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    Jason Miller

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  • I Believe, Therefore I Can — How to Build the Self-Efficacy You Need to Start Your Own Business | Entrepreneur

    I Believe, Therefore I Can — How to Build the Self-Efficacy You Need to Start Your Own Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Why do you think so many people don’t own their own business? It’s hard, there are challenges, and this fact is undeniable. You may even be thinking to yourself that these challenges are ones only certain people can tackle. You know, the kinds of people who excelled all through high school and had the confidence to jump into anything head first. But what if I told you that the only thing that separates you from them is yourself? Ah, that’s obvious, you might be thinking. But let me challenge this notion a bit more. It isn’t you as a person, it’s your beliefs — those ideas in your head of what you can and cannot do.

    The only thing which differentiates that guy in high school who became captain of the football team and you is the fact he believed he could do it. That is all there is to it. The good news? You can do whatever you want, and it is completely in your control. Let me introduce the concept of self-efficacy.

    Related: Using the Power of Self-Belief to Create Success

    Self-efficacy: Your beliefs about you

    Let’s do a thought experiment together. Think of something uncomfortable to you. It might be getting back into the gym after some time. Or it could even be something like going out on a date. What makes it uncomfortable? Is it the activity itself? Actually, it’s your belief about what you can and cannot do. If you believed that you would be able to go back to the gym on day one and nail it, you would probably go.

    We all have beliefs about ourselves — some helpful and others that aren’t as helpful. This is called self-efficacy: your beliefs about your ability to do a certain task. When you don’t think you can do it, the task seems more daunting, and you put it off. It might even make you develop even more unhelpful beliefs about yourself because you now feel bad about your belief you can’t do it! But what if we flipped this notion on its head, and instead of thinking we can’t, we start thinking we can? This leads to challenging those beliefs you have about yourself.

    Beliefs are not truths — You define your truth

    Okay, another thought experiment. Think of a task you have perfected. Something you can do so well now which you couldn’t before. Even something as simple as the fact you can ride a bike would fall into this category. Let’s go back in time to the version of you who just started to learn how to ride a bike. What would they say? “I’m not very good at this” or “This is too hard” or any variation of these statements. But you did it, right? I guarantee 100% you have conquered something like this in your life.

    What does this mean? Your thoughts are not the truth, and the thoughts you have about yourself may not be the truth either. You have thought many unhelpful things of yourself throughout your life, which without your awareness, you have proven wrong. This awareness helps us realize that all the things we think about ourselves are indeed not facts. And it allows us some space to challenge these thoughts.

    Related: 5 Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt as an Entrepreneur

    Put your thoughts to the test — You’re in control

    So, you have identified that you have thoughts about yourself, some helpful and some unhelpful. You also know now that those unhelpful thoughts are not always true because you have proven it to yourself. So, how do we get you to challenge your present thoughts about yourself on what you want to do now? Here is a step-by-step approach on how to turn your self-beliefs around:

    Step 1. Identify the thought

    You can’t work on something when you don’t know it’s there. And I know, it’s uncomfortable to admit to yourself that you don’t think you’re smart enough or strong enough or whatever quality it is to start your own business. Don’t worry about this step, though. Remember: Your thoughts are not truths. When you say to yourself, “I realize I am thinking I am not good enough to start my own business,” also say to yourself, “It’s my thought, but it is not the truth.” You just need to know you’re thinking it to begin to tell that thought, “You’re wrong, I know I can.”

    Step 2. Externalize yourself from the thought

    Remember how your thoughts are not the truth about you? Guess what? They aren’t even you. We have thousands of thoughts come into our heads every day from all different sources. Maybe someone said something negative to you, and you contemplated it. It’s just a thought, it’s not you. Now you need to take that thought and give it a name. It just needs to have a label. You could call it anything. When you label something, you see it not as yourself. And then you can start to see it for what it really is. This is called externalizing — this is when you say my thoughts are not me, they are a thing I experience.

    Step 3. Challenge that thought

    Get that thought now, call it by its label, and analyze it. What validity does it really hold? Let’s say, for example, you have a thought that you’re not smart enough to start your own business, and this thought is called Not Smart. You are now going to tell Not Smart how not smart it is. What does Not Smart tell you? It might be telling you, “You don’t have the intelligence to do this.”

    “Okay, Not Smart, how do you know?” It might say back to you, “Well you remember how in your first job you got the least amount of sales in the team?” And you say, “So what?”

    Not Smart might say back, “Yeah, well how do you think you’re going to start a business then?” You just say back to Not Smart, “That’s true, that did happen, but why does one mistake mean I am going to make mistakes forever?”

    Keep challenging it! Keep saying back, “I haven’t even done anything like that since then, and it made me grow, and now I actually have so many skills to do what I want.” Or say back, “Okay, I don’t have the answers, so what? I can learn them. What’s stopping me?”

    The truth is that Not Smart or any of these thoughts are actually your mind trying to protect you. Your mind has a good ability to detect threats from the past and project them into your future to try and do what it seems to think is keeping you safe. If you did get the lowest sales in your first job, your mind will say, “Okay we need to avoid anything with business because this hurt you before, and I don’t want you to hurt again.” What you need to tell your mind is that “It’s okay, it’s not going to hurt me. This is actually what is going to bring me the most happiness in the end.”

    Step 4. Create a new narrative, and assign a new meaning

    It’s not enough to just tell Not Smart that it’s wrong — you’ve got to give it a whole new story to rewrite the old one. And this story needs to be exactly what you want it to be. Let’s give it a go together.

    So, Not Smart told you that you’re not intelligent enough to run your own business, and you proved to it that its logic is actually flawed and that you do have the intelligence. What you need to do here is create a new story on this narrative. It could go something like this: “I haven’t always been number one in my sales roles, but that is why I am going to prove to myself and everyone else that I can be successful and run my own business. I’m going to make sure I get the knowledge on how to do it because it’s accessible to anyone. I am going to use my previous failure to be my driving energy to succeed.”

    And there you go, you now have yourself a new narrative. Write it down. You need to have this written down, and you need to go back to it whenever Not Smart comes back up again. Go back to your new narrative, and feel your narrative in your body through your emotions. This is your new story now, and soon enough, it will become your new belief.

    Related: Believe in Yourself and Entrepreneurial Success Will Follow

    Just to end on a thought-provoking note, do you know the story about Beethoven? One of the most famous classical composers of all time was actually deaf. But he still composed. He didn’t just compose, either — he wrote his most famous piece of music at this time. What if he believed he couldn’t do it? Or what if he thought, “What’s the point?” Even without hearing, he still became one of the greatest composers in history.

    Now it’s time for you to make your own history and start that business you have been dreaming of. Trust me when I say this, and I really mean it when I do: There is nothing stopping you but those funny little beliefs you have about yourself. Make your own story, and rewrite your future. You’ve got this.

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    Mikey Lucas

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