"Ever have to psych yourself up to go to work? If that’s the case more often than not, your job might not align with your personal motives, says Carter Cast, author of The Right (and Wrong) Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made and Unmade."
Pricing Lessons from Working with 30+ Seed and Series A B2B Startups
"Though he’s nearly seen it all, Tyler Gaffney [photo, left] still gets surprised when early-stage B2B startups tell him how they’ve determined their pricing. The common thread? Many tend to make pricing decisions largely in a vacuum and dangerously removed from a broader go-to-market strategy. This is a natural approach, because early-stage companies often lack the resources — the brand recognition, troves of customer data, pricing experts crunching scenarios, or runway to execute — but it can turn into a big problem, especially when you consider how pricing can play an instrumental role in going to market."
California Ruling Puts Pressure on Uber, Lyft, and Other Gig Economy Employers
"The California Supreme Court just changed the game in a big way for gig economy companies and the people who work for them."
5 Tips to Ensure Your Remote Employees Are Productive
According to Ari Zoldan (photo, left), "In a lot of ways, remote workers have helped companies expand their reach and bring on employees who have excellent skill sets but geographic restrictions. At the same time, working in remote teams presents its own challenges. It can be hard to organize meetings, stay on top of due dates, and navigate time zones. It takes a lot of trust, communication, and organization to run a successful remote team. In my experience, successful remote teams have a few things in common."
Lean Innovation Management — Making Corporate Innovation Work
"In the last five years “Lean Startup” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. But trying to find a unified theory of innovation that allows established companies to innovate internally with the speed and urgency of startups has eluded our grasp."
Your Brand Is Killing Your Business. Here’s What to Do about It
"If good brands don't communicate exactly what the company does up front, they quickly make themselves synonymous with those products or services. Geico, for example, immediately triggers the thought of "insurance." The brand is so strong, they've even tied a gecko to the notion of insurance."
"Weak brands, on the other hand, are forgettable and seemingly unrelated to the company's mission. If people you know are constantly asking "what is it you do again?" you have failed to establish a strong brand. Part of the problem here is disseminating your message, but you have to work the advertising to properly build your brand. Otherwise, it's just wasted dollars."
How Can You Tell a Great Leader When You See One? Look for This 1 Uncommon Sign
"To reach that state of loyalty where people trust you at your every word requires the daily act of exposing your values, beliefs, convictions, and morals to others in close quarters. When your actions are observed, and you know you can trust your own actions out in the open, your reputation is upheld. People never question your decisions or challenge you on an issue that opposes your character; they know where you stand."
How Jeff Bezos Solved an Early Challenge
"When Amazon first launched, it aimed to become nothing short of the world's largest bookstore."
"But first, it had to work out some kinks."
KFC Is the Most Popular Fast Food Chain in China – Here’s How It’s Different Than in America
"Key to KFC's success in the country has been catering its menu to local tastes."
What Exactly Does Passive Aggressive Mean?
"Here’s the skinny: individuals who are passive aggressive are hostile, but in a thinly disguised manner. They’ll let you know through little barbs and lapses that they’re angry with you, but they’ll never confront you directly. Instead, they demonstrate their defiance or resistance indirectly, or at least disguise it with a tightly clenched smile and a semi-growled, 'Have a nice day.'"