STARTUPS
Startups
are about ideas. Some work. Some don’t. Here are a few that clicked
Which startups are likely to make headlines next year? From personal image curating to social task-mastering, these seven companies generated plenty of buzz in 2011, but are set to take the spotlight in 2012.
Pawngo
Launched in June, Pawngo is best described as an online pawn shop: users can put up an item of value and receive relatively small loans. In less than six months, the Denver-based startup has already loaned more than $2 million.
TaskRabbit
Founded in 2008, San Franciscobased TaskRabbit, an online taskfor-pay platform, is growing leaps and bounds. In early December, it received $17.8 million in series B financing and plans to expand from five cities to 12 by next year.
BlackLocus
Ever wanted to keep a better eye on your competitors’ pricing strategy? BlackLocus, launched in 2010, is an online service which lets you do just that. In July, the Pittsburgh-based startup got a $2.5 million equity investment by venture capital firm DFJ Mercury.
Launched in 2010, this invite-only social discovery platform lets users connect through the images, pages, recipes, and whatever else they find on the Internet. Think of it as a personal online mood board. Though it has been around for over a year, it quadrupled its visitors since August, going from 1 million to over 4 million now in just four months.
Slice
Slice is a free online service that organises users’ online purchases. Still in beta, the service has generated a good amount of press, with positive reviews. It has now announced a new ‘Track with Friends’ feature, which lets users visually track gift packages.
Birchbox
Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp founded Birchbox, a $10-per-month subscription service that sends beauty samples to members, last year. Less than a year old, Birchbox currently has 45,000 users and 25 employees. The service has expanded to giving beauty advice, via their blog.
Expensify
This online service that streamlines expense reports has raised over $6.7 million in two investment rounds. Founded in 2008, the company today counts 90,000 organisations as customers and 650,000 individuals. The firm has expanded the service to phone apps.
SOURCE:Inc. magazine Eight Reasons Startups with Good Ideas Fail Having a good idea isn’t always enough to be successful. Here are eight reasons startups with good ideas often fail: 1
Give up
When it comes to business success stories, a common trend you’ll hear is that the founders never gave up. 2
Ideas Alone are Worthless
Ideas themselves aren’t worth much—it’s the people behind the ideas that matter, and how committed they are to executing their vision. 3
Overbuild
Too few startups focus on creating the minimum viable product, or MVP. Creating the MVP means developing a product that’s easy to understand. Don’t overbuild. 4
No plan for marketing
Most startup founders focus so much on their product that they neglect to develop a strategy or create a budget for marketing the product. 5
No mentors
While it’s often oka throw out criticism yo on’ find constructive, it can be even more damaging to neglect to take the advice of those who’ve come before you. 6
Cast a wide net
If your target audience is too vast, your idea isn’t going to last. The best startups locate their niche as well as a small target audience. 7
Wrong team
Another reason startups fail is because the founders bring in the wrong partners. Find partners who are on the same page as you. 8
Solving the Wrong Problem.
Many entrepreneurs often fail to see that the problem their idea aims to solve has a very small target audience.
Source: Forbes.com
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