The other day I came across a short presentation on entrepreneurship by Larry Page, co-founder of Google. In the presentation Page discusses setting aggressive goals and quotes a rather catchy motto which I think is just brilliant: “Have a healthy disregard for the impossible”.

In this post I thought I’d discuss some of the benefits for entrepreneurs and startups to setting aggressive goals and creating deadlines. But first let me begin with a story from my own experience… (more…)

Being a netsetting entrepreneur is very much about motivating oneself. Unlike traditional employment there is no boss-figure watching over you, making sure you’ve done your job and giving you new tasks to do. That’s an extremely liberating feeling, but it also presents its own challenges. How do you stay on track? How do you keep yourself moving when you’re feeling lazy? And when things are going well, how do you push yourself to grow, to take risks and to be better?

Motivation is a rather complex subject so in this post I’m going to talk about just one motivation tool that I use, namely other people. Heroes, role models and rivals are three types of people that keep me focused.

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You’ve got an idea you’re certain is a winner, a plan to make money and the beginnings of what you are sure will be a future internet powerhouse. Inevitably while you sit crafting your plans you will start working out some figures for this new venture. So you start throwing around imaginary numbers. A certain number of people visit the site, so many sign up, another number purchase and then probably you do some calculations, a x b x c = You are going to be rich, rich, rich! (more…)

Since 37Signals famously built a business providing well made web apps for small business, there have been a host of great services launched in their mold. One of my favourites has always been a company called LessEverything. A small (but growing) team out of Florida, the guys at LessEverything have a deservedly successful app called LessAccounting that does just what it promises. Built on a freemium business model the app has been followed by LessTimeSpent and LessProjects along with a whole bunch of neat, quirky and fun side projects. I caught up with co-founder Allan Branch to talk about development, marketing and the business of web apps! (more…)

The world is rife with business opportunity, and nowhere more so than online. I often think of the web as something of a wild west frontier, awaiting anyone intrepid enough to stake out a claim. But to start an online venture you first need to have an idea of what you want to do. For many would-be entrepreneurs ideas are many and easy to come by, but not everyone feels this way.

Some time ago I met a very talented developer who was independent and industrious, more than capable of developing a brilliant web app. Despite wanting to start some sort of online business of his own, he was hamstrung, for he wasn’t sure what exactly to build. I remember being asked how I found so many different business ideas, and my on-the-spot reply went something like “uhm… they like, just pop into my head.” Not exactly a useful reply!

With a bit more thought and contemplation I’ve decided to catalogue some different methodologies for finding a business to get into. The post is split into five parts, each one detailing a different angle. (more…)