Martin Zwilling

LATEST ARTICLES ( 3466 )

• 5 Lessons From the Recession for Young Entrepreneurs

  

  Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Driven by the recent recession, smart entrepreneurs of all ages are jumping into the fray with new ideas, new recovery... Read more

  Posted on 04 April 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 7 Key Drivers to the Best Investor For Your Startup

  

  If your startup desperately needs an investor, you may not care if the investor is a so-called “angel” investor, or a venture capitalist (VC). The money is the... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 10 Sure Ways to Get Your Plan Trashed by Investors

  

  After struggling to create your business plan for months, every entrepreneur likes to think that their document is inspirational and will reach someone who is... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 5 Ways to See If Your Business Integrity is Showing

  

  As an entrepreneur, your personal integrity is critical for getting and keeping the support of investors and team members, and your company’s integrity is... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 10 Mental Toughness Fundamentals for Entrepreneurs

  

  In sports, mental toughness is defined as the ability to focus on and execute solutions, especially in the face of adversity. If anyone in business ever needed... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 10 Ways to Make Your Customer Experience Stand Out

  

  A while back, I wrote about the value of Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment, and using every opportunity to... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• 5 Dysfunctions That Make Your Startup Unfundable

  

  Every investor I know can tell you at least one story about a great startup team that failed, even though it was well-funded and staffed with qualified and smar... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Too Many Leaders Still Rely on Their ‘Golden Gut’

  

  I still know some entrepreneurs who boast of simply following their gut instincts, rather than listen to anyone or any data, to make strategic decisions. Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Ten High Risk Drivers Every Entrepreneur Faces

  

  You have probably heard plenty of times that being an entrepreneur is a risky business, and investors talk all the time about reducing the risk. Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Entitlements in Business Should Never Replace Merit

  

  Where did this pervasive sense of entitlement in our business culture come from? I’ve written about this before, but I was surprised again recently at a... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Customer Loyalty Can Be a Startup Competitive Edge

  

  You hear a lot of talk these days about the importance of customer satisfaction, but customer loyalty is the real win. A satisfied customer is necessary, but no... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• How to Make a Business Mentoring Relationship Work

  

  I’m a big fan of mentoring in business, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• How to Gauge Business Potential for Your Invention

  

  I’m often approached by people who claim to have invented the next big thing, and ask me how much it’s worth, or complain that they can’t find an investor who... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Investors Seek Entrepreneurs With Fire in the Belly

  

  I’ve noticed that some entrepreneurs seem to have no trouble attracting investors, while others with a great business plan struggle with it. Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Are You an Entrepreneur Who Can Make a Business Fly?

  

  After the idea, it’s all about execution. In fact, it’s not clear that even the idea is all that important. Most investors tell me that an A entrepreneur with... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Get a View From the Customer to Close Sales Faster

  

  All the experts these days are talking about the increasing need for customer focus and maximizing sales. Typically entrepreneurs and even professional sales... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Website Ads Are Not a Revenue Stream for Startups

  

  One of the biggest red flags I see in many Internet-related business plans today is advertising as the initial revenue stream, or a key part of it. Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• The Big Picture Trumps Technology Every Time

  

  The most successful entrepreneurs and executives I have seen are savvy business people first, and experts in their field second. Read more

  Posted on 10 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Entrepreneurs: Connect to Today’s Customer Network

  

  Every startup needs to understand that the customer paradigm has dramatically shifted over the past two years with pervasive social networks and smartphones. Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER

• Begin With a Job at a Startup, Then Start Your Own

  

  For those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of a new venture, but haven’t yet worked up the nerve to start your own, begin with a job at a startup. Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2012 BUSINESS, CAREER