WebStartupBlog

As we all know, the pursuit of graduate education can be expensive, time consuming and put a strain on relationships with family and friends. Common thinking has been that this is the short term price that you pay for long term rewards in the form of increased opportunities, salaries and big promotions. However, as this article in BusinessWeek points out, fewer than one third of those in the highest executive ranks hold an MBA.

Take a look at this compelling list of entrepreneurs assembled by InsideCRM that have made their fortunes without MBA credentials.

Any Intellectual Property Attorney will caution you that your business plan and the concepts that make it up are worth protecting from the get go.

Sometimes the energy that consumes a startup can be contagious. Often, friends or acquaintances band together with unique talents and a great idea. They spend late nights together developing the concepts and engineering the finest details with youthful exuberance and team unity - all using their individual strenghts with the common goal of developing the next big startup. 

Enter the old cliche “All is fair in love, war and business“…

Whether due to naivety, lack of business experience or unyielding trust for their business partners; some entrepeneurs find their business concepts and plans highjacked - sometimes when its too late. As noted in this New York Times article, this situation recently evolved into litigation involving the Internet powerhouse Facebook.com and the founders of the related social networking site ConnectU.

As the story goes, Mark Zuckerberg was brought into a concept developed by ConnectU founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Zuckerberg’s role was to develop what was originally a Harvard University social network and be compensated based on the success of the site. Zuckerberg later dropped out of the project after registering the domain TheFacebook.com which later became Facebook.com. Facebook has since went on to achieve monumental sucess while ConnectU has had limited results from their endeavor.

This particular lawsuit brings to light the criticality of protecting one’s Intellectual Property throughout the startup process. Business plans and concepts are to be protected like sacred scrolls. Where applicable these ideas should be protected via trademarks and copyrights. When sharing information with potential partners and investors, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements need to be formalized among parties. Without such legal formalities in place, an entrepeneur leaves him/herself vulnerable to concept highjacking.

A great list of online applications that any small startup can put to use.

Read full article …

Check out this article from CNet that discusses recent trends and which way the outsourcing market is heading.

Read full article …

There is a new resource available for web entrepeneurs. SiteHedge.com recently launched its new site that allows Sellers to list their web properties as being available for sale, seeking venture capital, seeking business partners as well as seeking trade opportunities. The site will also prove a valuable resource for investors looking to search

 For Sellers, it is currently free to add a site with a basic listing. Featured listings, bolding and other options can be purchased at very modest prices. Investors are free to register, peruse, contact and perform any other site functions. There are no commissions on sales or other transactions through the site.

What I like the most about this site is the ability to drill down to a given category and then sort your search list by key factors such as Asking Price, Traffic and Income. As we know, there are other competitors in these area, but most of the competition features a “forum” format that make it difficult to search and filter potential winners. Additionally, the site features an ever-expanding Resource area that has some valuable nuggets of information for both Sellers and Investors.

 Overall the site is a good resource due to the fact one can research or perform transactions free of cost. Currently listings are a bit sparse as the site is brand new. I expect this to change as the word gets out and traffic increases.

The story of Catherine Cook, who came up with the idea for MyYearbook.com while she was just a Sophomore in High School. The site has been live for less than two years and boasts monthly traffic of more than 3 million visitors. Catherine got some startup help from venture capitalists and her brother Geoff, a web entrepeneur in his own right…

Read the full article …