Marketplace Tuesday! (June 05, 2018) Entrepreneur |
- Marketplace Tuesday! (June 05, 2018)
- Tai Lopez "Pay It Forward" is a COMPLETE SCAM
- Yesterday, my newly listed Amazon product blew up and I got 16 sales in one day!!!!
- What is THE MOST Important Thing on Your Site's Home/Landing Page(s)?
- The scammy and illegal way Tai Lopez grows his email list
- [Serious]Businessmen of Reddit, what it took to become what you are today, What kind of hurdles/challenges did you face? Was it worth it? Advice for people who want to start their own business?
- Chinese Manufacturer Not Answering Emails
- An Incubator Horror Story...When Unethical Leaders Steal Ideas to Help Their Favorite Portfolio Companies Succeed. Is It Time For Silicon Valley to Reassess Its Ethics?
- What I Learned From Selling Two Startups In 12 Months
- Anyone read Work Less, Make More by James Schramko
- Can I please get on interview with a entrepreneur
- Seller: Enticing Affiliates to promote my products!
- How should I go about using press/media to help promote?
- Legally starting an LLC
- Entreprenuer motivational quote site suggestions
- Post what you're good at and I'll tell you a business you should start
- Advice for an entrepreneur discord
- Want to launch a crypto exchange in Iran but Alone!!
- Please Help Me Save My Family's Business
- Best way to get product/idea validation?
- I am a Floridian looking to make a start up targeted toward retirees. What services do you think would be successful to such a market?
- How do I brainstorm?
- Should I bill through my Printer?
- A couple of geeks who sketched out some software could destroy Sears
- MfG Help! (paper towels... ish)
| Marketplace Tuesday! (June 05, 2018) Posted: 05 Jun 2018 06:06 AM PDT Please use this thread to post any Jobs that you're looking to fill (including interns), or services you're looking to render to other members. We do this to not overflow the subreddit with personal offerings (such logo design, SEO, etc) so please try to limit the offerings to this weekly thread. Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts. [link] [comments]  |
| Tai Lopez "Pay It Forward" is a COMPLETE SCAM Posted: 05 Jun 2018 12:14 PM PDT Those of you who follow Tai Lopez on instagram have probably seen him tagging people on his instagram stories saying he's sending them money as part of his "pay it forward" campaign. Well, about two weeks ago, I was one of those people he tagged. He said I had won $200 for signing up to his "Daily Mentor Email" and that his staff would contact me for delivery information. A week went by and no one had contacted me. So, I decided to contact the support on his website to follow up. I sent them an email explaining that he had posted on instagram that I won $200 from his "pay it forward" campaign, but that no one had contacted me. They responded asking for a screenshot of it (which btw, the post did not say I was required to take, so what if I didn't have one? but luckily I had taken one anyway). Here is the email where I respond to them and attach the screenshot: A day goes by and I didn't receive a response (they responded pretty quickly to the first email), so I follow up: They tell me they have not received the screenshot, which I clearly attached to the previous email (and which I was never told I was required to have in the first place when he posted that I won). So then I send the screenshot again: Again, they say they're not getting the screenshot. So this time, I decide to upload it to Google Drive and send them a link instead of attaching it to the email, this way they would have no excuse: 4 days go by and no response (every response I've received has been in less than 24 hours)… so I follow up again. They again claim they didn't receive the attachment: Why post publicly on Instagram that I won something if you're not going to follow thru with it? What a shady way of engaging your followers. If this is any indication of how he runs his business and his support then I would advise anyone to stay away. Nothing but lies and scams. [link] [comments]  |
| Yesterday, my newly listed Amazon product blew up and I got 16 sales in one day!!!! Posted: 04 Jun 2018 09:19 PM PDT Hey everyone! Regarding my Amazon product: TravelPakRx - your all in one complete travel medicine kit of over the counter medications. I'm 2 months and 1 day in on Amazon, I've been selling pretty steady, just a few units a day sometimes 3 or 4, but Yesterday, a Sunday, I woke up to 2 sales and every single hour or 2 I saw a new sale. I ended the day with a total of 16!!! That's more than I sold in the entire week before !! I'm So happy and excited to see where this product will take me. AMA! UPDATE: here is the link to my product - https://www.amazon.com/TravelPakRx-Different-Medications-Dramamine-Electrolytes/dp/B07BBV2H7N [link] [comments]  |
| What is THE MOST Important Thing on Your Site's Home/Landing Page(s)? Posted: 05 Jun 2018 10:33 AM PDT Some might say "Logo", or great photography, or even a Call To Action. And, while all of those things are important... you'd be wrong. The answer: VALUE PROPOSITION What is a "Value Proposition"? val·ue prop·o·si·tion - noun (in marketing) an innovation, service, or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers. Basically, it is a clear and concise statement used to summarize why a customer should purchase from you, and not your competitor. What makes a great Value Proposition?
How do you write a strong Value Proposition?
As a potential customer, a GREAT Value Proposition should be able to, in 7 seconds or less:
Value Propositions aren't just the most important thing on your home or landing page. They are what makes your site pull your visitors further into that conversion funnel. Every Call To Action should have a value proposition tell your potential customer why they should click that button. [link] [comments]  |
| The scammy and illegal way Tai Lopez grows his email list Posted: 05 Jun 2018 02:11 PM PDT It doesn't stop with "Here in my garage" or even "nawlege". Even the method Tai uses to grow his email list is pretty scammy (and in fact, illegal)
Yes, that's right: just by contacting Tai, you get added to his email funnel. This grossly violates both the CAN-SPAM Act as well as the oft-spoken-of GDPR regulations. Watch out ;) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2018 05:35 AM PDT |
| Chinese Manufacturer Not Answering Emails Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:48 PM PDT I've been working on a new product for a while. I contacted a large well known Chinese CNC company to manufacture a sample piece and then I would order a larger quantity. I'm worried because I sent over the CAD files and 1.5k for tooling and sample costs, but I haven't gotten a response in 2 weeks. It's been 4 weeks total since I sent the money. I am patent pending in the United States, but that does jack-shit in China. I'm worried they're simply ignoring me and will sell my design themselves. Is there anything I can do? I'm pretty much on my last leg capital-wise. Should I just send an email once a week asking for an update? Not sure what I can do. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:10 PM PDT Imagine you're a grad student who's poured your heart and soul into an idea that could help change the world. You do the hard work of convincing your colleagues to work on it with you and to form a company. You hear about this great incubator who will help you get your idea to market with the promise of mentorship and a little bit of capital. All they ask is that you submit a pitch deck and fill out an application so they can see if you fit into their portfolio. You work hard to get the materials together and press, SUBMIT... Now you wait. On the back end, the incubator is reviewing your material and they see a great idea. This would be perfect for one of their current portfolio company who's been struggling to get their own technology off the ground. Now there are a few paths the incubator could take:
You get a phone call from the head of the incubator. He says he doesn't believe your idea is feasible based on your business plan. You're shocked! You've run this by other smart people at Stanford and they all said you should push through. You don't know whom to believe. Ultimately you need to get paid so you decide to take a regular job because you have a new baby on the way. You're crushed, but you ultimately believe the head of the incubator because he must be smart since he's running it. A few months go by and all of a sudden, you buddy hits you up with the news that one of the incubator's portfolio companies pivoted and is now doing your idea! How could this be? Someone was being unethical. Unfortunately, you don't have much recourse to fight it. If this story infuriates you, you're not alone. This actually happened to a group out of Stanford back in 2014. It's sad to know that this isn't a one-off incident. It's actually happened to some of my friends, but when pressed on why they don't bring it up in public, they tend to believe that their ship has sailed and that it's hopeless for them to try to fight. What a disgrace for all those who just want to build great things and share them with the world. That's why I believe founders need protection when entering into the world of incubators and accelerators. That's why I'm calling for a Universal Code of Ethics created by the tech community and publicly signed by all founders and institutions in the space. Why Bother?For every startup that makes it, there are thousands that fail. I used to believe that this was caused by free-market forces necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff as early as possible. However, after seeing how the sausage is actually made in the Valley, it's not that black and white. For a young founder, it's important to stay alive long enough to understand the process of building a company, establishing a network of high-integrity individuals to learn from, and raise just enough cash to start making your own money based on the merits of your hard work (not just raising money and calling yourself a business). Incubators help you do just that. That's why back in 2013 when I got into a digital health incubator, I was stoked. Who wouldn't be excited to have access to resources to increase my probability of success and give back a multiple on their investment in the process? I was pretty naive to think that. At the end of the day, we're all just people with our own personal incentives. Investors want a huge multiple on their investment and based on the Power Law, only one will make them smile. As much as incubators want to help every company, there aren't enough resources to do that. They have to focus on their "winner" in the portfolio to give the incubator the highest probability of a moonshot ROI. But as humans, this often leads to unethical practices. Here are a few I've seen and heard that happened to some of my founder friends:
I'd say these actions are pretty unethical. What bothers me more are the laundry list of failed companies with founders I know who had the best intentions to help society but lost that opportunity due to cutthroat people who stole their deal flow by pitching technology they didn't have. Look at the filthy stench Theranos left on digital health (and Silicon Valley as a whole). Or how about the way Facebook handled their Cambridge Analytica debacle. I get the sense that we're not looked at in high regard by the rest of the world right now... How about we use this time to set the tone going forward by expelling the bad habits and replace them with our new ethical principles. That's why I'm in favor of a community-generated Universal Code of Ethics for Silicon Valley. This code should be public and signed by all who want to play the Silicon Valley game. We should also institute a third party Ombudsman-type program that can sort out wrongs that have been committed and keep the system flowing with the best-intentioned people and technology rising to the top (preferably made up of diverse, highly experienced founders...The OGs). Forming Our Code of EthicsDefinition of Code of Ethics on Investopedia I don't remember hearing or seeing anything about ethics back in my incubator days. I tried my best to follow my own internal compass set by my parents and grandparents: follow the Golden Rule and don't be a dick. But relying on our own upbringing isn't a robust ethical training strategy. I've been to MBA schools and have sat in on their ethics class...all 15-minutes out of a two-year program taught by a teacher who doesn't want to be teaching it. Other disciples aren't any better. Ethics isn't a sexy topic to discuss. When I went searching for an established Code of Ethics for incubators, I went to arguably the top three in the space: Y Combinator, TechStars, and 500 Startups. Here's what I found when searching for "Code of Ethics," "Code of Conduct", and "Principles in Google for each of three incubators. Y Combinator Founding Principles Each one of them has their own approach, but why not standardize this across the board and set the precedent for all the other incubators playing in this space? For example, I like how Y Combinator focuses on the Founder. It helps set the tone for what each person coming in must abide by. In their founding Principles, they outline why they started and what they'll strive to achieve and it's publicly committed by the founding team. TechStars ups-the-ante even more with clear top-level principles followed up with granular statements to drive the points home. They also have each person in their community publically sign it for social proof and include a place to reach out if violations have taken place. Lastly, 500 Startups goes for the light option, which leaves more to the imagination, but at least they have a place to submit a violation. Are there first order ethical principles we can suss out and make a standard we can all publically agree on? With all of the "bad press" due to unethical technology companies, maybe this is the time we make a stand and as a community come together and outline what our new ethics should be. Hell, look at Wells Fargo's new campaign. They seriously blundered with their fake accounts scandal, but instead of hiding it they are "re-establishing" themselves. Maybe that's something we should do too. I envision one document broken into four subdivisions:
Starting Point --- Hopefully, You Can Help Make It Awesome!Founder's EthicsIntegrity
Empathy
Trust
Incubator EthicsTechStars truly nailed it out of the park with their Code of Conduct for incubators. I couldn't find much to improve, so I copy pasted it here so you can check it out. Props to you TechStars! The original can be found here. We give first.1. We help others whenever possible. We are all busy, but when the ask is sincere and realistic, we respond and help. We are respectful of each other's time and are clear and focused in our requests. 2. We deliberately create a virtuous cycle. We proactively work to give back to the ecosystem by giving first to others in our community with no specific expectations of return. 3. We appreciate the help of others. No one goes it alone --- startups are a team activity. We express our appreciation for the help of our customers, mentors, and others that make our success possible. We act with integrity.4. We are honest and transparent. If we say something either publicly or privately, then we believe that it is true. We do not intentionally omit important and relevant factual information in an effort to deceive others. We strive to be clear and transparent in our communications. 5. We protect sensitive information. When we are entrusted with sensitive, confidential or personal information we use appropriate measures to secure it. We respect requests for privacy and confidentiality. 6. We communicate with our investors. We will send an update on our business at least every six months and be responsive to their inquiries. 7. If we fail, we fail well. If we are going out of business, we will notify our customers and make their data available to them for at least 60 days. We will advise every one of our investors and provide the chance to discuss what went wrong in a live conversation. If we know the company is going to fail, we attempt to return as much capital to investors as possible. 8. We disclose known conflicts of interest early. We err on the side of too much disclosure. 9. We do not steal assets or content. We encourage and respect independent, innovating thinking. 10. We don't operate under the influence. Distributing, using or being under the influence of illegal drugs (defined by U.S. federal law) is not permitted while participating or engaging in any Techstars program or event. While alcohol may be provided at various Techstars social events, underage drinking is prohibited and we expect everyone to drink responsibly and in moderation. We treat others with respect.11. We commit to non-hostile, open, and welcoming workplaces. We commit that employees, partners, customers, and visitors feel accepted and free to express their opinions, concerns, and needs with an expectation that they will be heard and respected. We communicate professionally and appropriately at all times. 12. We don't tolerate illegal discrimination or harassment in any form. We will quickly fire employees who do this and train our employees to recognize and address bad behavior. We will ban or fire mentors, investors, employees, contractors, and others who discriminate or harass others. 13. We encourage diversity. We commit to seeking diverse perspectives and building inclusive work environments, which we believe leads to better companies. 14. We stand up for others. We appropriately intervene in situations when we witness violations of this Code and report violations. 15. We are reachable and responsive. We will enable standard forms of communication so that anyone doing business with us can have a reasonable expectation of receiving a response in a timely fashion. 16. We participate in both offline and online forums with respect. We don't cause or participate in flame wars online. We participate in respectful discourse in all forums. We do not comment anonymously or with false identities. 17. We respect our legal agreements. We do not attempt to circumvent their intentions. 18. We keep our promises. If we commit to do something, we do our best to do it. If we can't keep our promises for some reason then we strive to make it right in any way possible. 19. We do right by our customers. We strive to deliver products that delight our customers and seek to exceed their expectations. 20. We do not attack others electronically. We don't maliciously attack others using scripts, robots, or similar techniques. 21. We are not spammers. We do not send bulk unsolicited email nor do we scrape contact lists and abuse them. We don't harass prospective customers who have clearly said no to us and opted out of communications. 22. We work for the benefit of our companies. We always work for the benefit of our company, not for our own personal benefit. 23. We encourage professional development. As founders, we do everything we can to ensure the happiness and professional growth of our employees. 24. We avoid gossip. We don't share disparaging comments and rumors about others. We are constructive in our feedback and always provide it directly to the individual or company to which it pertains. Human Promise
Earth's Promise
Put It On the BlockchainFrom Aristotle to our Silicon Valley podcast friend Sam Harris, ethics have been and will always be discussed. I by no means have the intent to force you to live a certain way, but rather, I just want to start a discussion. Hopefully, we can turn this into a movement to help the current and future set of founders have the best shot of realizing their dreams and how those dreams will affect society and the planet. If you're on board with this, it'd be great if someone threw this up on github so people can start inputting their thoughts and desires. Maybe even Y Combinator, TechStars, 500 Startups, or another incubator could take the lead and help make this more than just an idea. Hopefully, we can create a lightweight Universal Code of Ethics that will be signed by each founder and used by each incubator. Heck, maybe different incubators will add their own special herbs and spices based on their needs. The sky's the limit. And since ethics aren't sexy, just throw it in the blockchain and make it immutable. Ethics just became sexy :). [link] [comments]  |
| What I Learned From Selling Two Startups In 12 Months Posted: 05 Jun 2018 04:35 AM PDT New post -- Entrepreneurs succeed by figuring out what they're doing wrong and making the right adjustments. But a lot of entrepreneurs don't realize they can learn just as much from their successes as from their failures. https://medium.com/@jproco/what-i-learned-from-selling-two-startups-in-12-months-97092bb37344 [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone read Work Less, Make More by James Schramko Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:29 AM PDT I saw that James Schramko was interviewed on the Smart Passive Income podcast promoting his new book. It sounds interesting, but not sure I can listen to the podcast or whether I can face another book on learning to serve your audience (sell info products to people who want to live the dream). Is it typical Pat Flynn fodder (selling shovels in a gold rush) or worth reading/listening to? Surely the guy makes good money online, so why risk all that with a crappy book? It must be good right....? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Can I please get on interview with a entrepreneur Posted: 05 Jun 2018 02:14 PM PDT I am doing a school project, and it requires me to interview an entrepreneur? [link] [comments]  |
| Seller: Enticing Affiliates to promote my products! Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:56 PM PDT Hey redditors! I am looking into my options to incentivize affiliates to link traffic to my website and/or Amazon products. For our website, I would be happy to offer a 10-15% referral reward, and provide a 10-15% discount code for their customers to use on non-clearance products. For Amazon, I'm not sure I can offer additional incentives for the affiliates due to how the program works, but I can absolutely provide promotion codes for their traffic. Here is a link to my website: https://www.haibeautyconcepts.com/ I am interested in all of your feedback on how to reach out to affiliates and get this off the ground. If anyone here is personally interested in being an affiliate, feel free to PM me. [link] [comments]  |
| How should I go about using press/media to help promote? Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:54 PM PDT Does anyone have experience with reaching out to media outlets, bloggers, etc for a write up or interview? Are there any good resources to help find good fits in the more crowded areas (social media, podcasts, YouTube channels)? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:28 PM PDT I've always messed around with stuff as ideas for business, but I always just buy it with my personal money. Should I just start a business legally for legal implications? Taxes, etc. If I spend stuff on my business. Or I if I get into a car accident I could say I was out on business and be protected from harm? [link] [comments]  |
| Entreprenuer motivational quote site suggestions Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:18 PM PDT Hello everyone, I need suggestions on what I should add to make this site better. It's currently just run by me to motivate others, few affiliate links but no sales so far. What would you add to make it better? https://businessquotes.co/ [link] [comments]  |
| Post what you're good at and I'll tell you a business you should start Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:16 PM PDT |
| Advice for an entrepreneur discord Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:14 PM PDT So I just joined a discord centered around business and it's pretty small. I see potential as the founder certainly knows what he's doing and is laid back. My question is how would one help it grow & flourish? General social media advertising would be useful I guess. The link is https://discord.gg/xMYdPKY hope to see some of you all there! [link] [comments]  |
| Want to launch a crypto exchange in Iran but Alone!! Posted: 05 Jun 2018 01:05 PM PDT Hey guys. I want to launch a crypto exchange site in Iran and all from scratch and alone! I don't have any teammate or any money to invest just my pure talent!...I am not young even! (33)...I still got a nerdy character so I am gonna start studying how to generate a ethereum token? How to launch website? How to circle rules against cryptos in Iran? How to market without money?!.....I am crazy enough to do it My exchange plan will be the simplest one as we dont have any professional exchange in Iran. I try to do it as annonymous as I can... I will appreciate any help, advise, insults, compliments, guides,....at least follow me and my project to give me more energy & motivation All are welcome for now! 😉 [link] [comments]  |
| Please Help Me Save My Family's Business Posted: 05 Jun 2018 12:47 PM PDT Giving this a try... our family business made a deal with the devil (consumer equity company). They brought in their own head of sales, CFO, and President to help run the business. Fast forward four years and now my family doesn't have jobs, but all the people the devil brought on to our business still do despite it being their faults for causing so much debt. How do I find someone to buy back our company from the devil, and let my family run it ourselves like we should have done? [link] [comments]  |
| Best way to get product/idea validation? Posted: 05 Jun 2018 12:47 PM PDT Let's say I have an idea for a SaaS that already exists, but perhaps mine is more specialized and tailors to different kinds of customers (specifically business customers). What's the best way of validating my idea/service? I can obviously talk to business owners individually and get their opinions but this may inherently lead to biased responses and also the sample size would be too small. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2018 06:23 AM PDT I have considered making a grocery store and dietary advice service where we deliver food and council elders on diet needs that suite their health needs. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2018 12:09 PM PDT I spend an hour a day brainstorming on – how can I sell 3 homes per month? (I'm a realtor)… sometimes, I don't get any great ideas.. sometimes, the ideas I get are great. How can I improve on this? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I bill through my Printer? Posted: 05 Jun 2018 08:20 AM PDT I just started a design company on the side in NJ doing layout and design for print material. I have only 1-2 customers now (only been open for a week) and the printer I established a relationship with offered to have the billing go through him, then he would cut me a check and have me as a 1099. I'm super new to this and am not sure if it would make sense to do it that way. I already have all the paperwork and everything to bill my customers, am registered with an EIN and registered in NJ. Would there be benefits to doing the billing through him or just do it myself? [link] [comments]  |
| A couple of geeks who sketched out some software could destroy Sears Posted: 05 Jun 2018 11:59 AM PDT Just came across this on linked in Video I remember Amazon opening their book store, it's amazing how much has changed since then. [link] [comments]  |
| MfG Help! (paper towels... ish) Posted: 05 Jun 2018 11:53 AM PDT My idea involves paper towels mostly. I have been MfG myself thus far, and was wondering if different paper towel MfG can change the sizes, shape, layout, length etc. of the paper towels they produce? I guess I'm asking if I should go to a paper towel MfG with my prototype and see if they can replicate it? [link] [comments]  |
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