3 Key Tips For Attracting A Technical Co-Founder

via readwrite.com

In today's uber-connected digital world, software has become the backbone of innovation, and it plays a major role in virtually every business. From high tech to clean tech to healthcare to physical products, almost every business needs someone with at least some technical chops.

High-tech startups need technical co-founders more than just about anyone else. But with demand for technical talent at an all time high, your startup doesn't stand much of a chance of finding a first-class technical co-founder. Instead, you need to focus on attracting one.

The first step is getting into the right mindset: Stop right now with thinking you have the best idea and that this is all it takes. You may very well have the next game-changing idea, but that's missing the point. A technical co-founder wants to build your company with you, not for you...

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

BlackBerry's Million-Smartphone Mystery Partner Is Brightstar

via allthingsd.com

Who bought one million BlackBerry 10 devices?

We posed that question here earlier this month, following the announcement of the largest single handset purchase in BlackBerry’s history. And we answered it with a simple theory: An order so massive for new handsets running an unproven platform would never have been placed by a carrier. Only a big electronics distributor would take such a risk. One like Brightpoint, which has a long-standing relationship with BlackBerry, distributing its handsets throughout the world — particularly in emerging markets like Malaysia.

Turns out that theory was accurate. The order was placed by a wireless distributor, but not by Brightpoint. Research house Detwiler Fenton reports that the mysterious “established partner” responsible for the order was Brightpoint rival Brightstar. And sources familiar with the deal have confirmed this to AllThingsD, as well. “You’ve got the ‘Bright’ part right,” one source quipped. “But you’re a point off.”

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

YouTube shuts down its YouTube Create program for partner apps

via gigaom.com

YouTube is getting rid of a promotional platform that was meant to offer easy access to third-party video editing apps – and that step irks at least one of YouTube’s partners.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Where web designers find web developers

via pageplane.com

It seems to me that there is an ever-increasing chasm between the fields of web design and web development. (I'm using the terms here to distinguish between the design of a website [web design] and the programatic execution of the design [web development]).

And, thought I know many designers who dabble in development and developers who dabble in design, I don't know many who are experts at both disciplines. Even among the most talented developers, it is rare to find those familiar with more than a few platforms.

Posted via email from Inspiration

How to Run a Business With a Partner

via openforum.com

Having a business partner or co-founder can have its rewards and drawbacks. Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader, founders of Birch Coffee, the first green coffee shop in New York, have been business partners for years, and sat down with OPEN Forum to talk about their experience.

"I didn't expect him to jump in and help, but he sort of invited himself into it," Lyman says with a laugh. "It turned out to be the best business decision I ever made."

Though Lyman knows it's possible for people to run a successful business on their own, he can't imagine things differently. "There is so much that we do," he says. "Our business has turned into so much more; we have wholesale accounts, ice coffee jug accounts, a new store opening up on the Upper West Side soon. There are so many benefits to being able to work with someone. Sometimes I can't imagine having done everything without someone else."

Posted via email from Inspiration

Google Just Announced A Partnership Between Google+ And Flipboard

via businessinsider.com

Soon you'll be able to access your Google+ stream from Flipboard.

Bradley Horowitz, the VP who oversees product management for Google+, announced at Le Web in London that Google has partnered with Flipboard to add Google+ streams to the popular news reader app.

Google is opening up its Google+ API to give Flipboard users access to photos, videos, updates and more from the social network, all within the Flipboard app. So you'll be able to read and comment on Google+ posts without having to actually visit the website.

Horowitz didn't reveal an exact date for when users can expect to access their Google+ feed from within Flipboard's app, but it should come in the immediate future.

Posted via email from Inspiration

How To Make Money On YouTube

via businessinsider.com

YouTube recently announced that any existing user is now eligible to place ads on their videos. That means you can finally make some money by taking videos of your cat doing cute things.

Previously, you had to endure a lengthy process to become a YouTube partner. But now, pretty much anyone can place overlay or pre-roll ads on their videos. The bottomline is that as long as you own all the rights to your video and don't violate any of YouTube's guidelines, you can make money off of your videos.

Watch our step-by-step video guide below to learn how you can start making money off your YouTube videos...

Posted via email from Inspiration

Your Business Partner Must Pass These 3 Tests

via inc.com

When we decided to start writing a column for Inc.com, we knew exactly what our first piece would have to be about: Picking the right partner. There is nothing—and we mean nothing—more important to the success of your start-up than finding the right person to work with.

We've always loved Jim Collins's concept of "the bus." Basically, people who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. Only then do they figure out where to drive the bus.

As for us? Well, there were only going to be two of us on this bus. Everything was riding on our partnership working. Thankfully, is has worked beautifully. And we credit that to our partnership passing three very important tests.

Posted via email from Inspiration

How Strategic Partnerships Benefit Small Businesses

via openforum.com

Imagine your business reaping the benefits of an asset, product, expertise or service that you don’t currently have.

Sound crazy?

Fortune 500 companies have been doing it for years. It’s known as a strategic partnership—a mutually beneficial contractual alliance between two businesses—and it can give entrepreneurs a competitive edge and help them increase the bottom line in innovative ways.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Spotify Just Announced A Global Partnership With Coca-Cola

via businessinsider.com

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek just announced a global strategic partnership with Coca-Cola at Ad Age's Digital Conference Wednesday morning.

"I can't reveal more details now," Ek said, "but I'm really excited about this."
A press conference is scheduled for noon.

Ek continued that this expands on Coke's history of integrating music in its campaigns.

Posted via email from Inspiration

YouTube opens Partner program to all: every creator in 20 countries can now monetize video

via theverge.com

YouTube's long been a good friend to video producers who create popular content. They become Partners, gain exclusive privileges, and can choose to run advertising on their videos for a cut of the resulting profit. Only now, YouTube has dropped that "popular" requirement, as detailed on the YouTube Creators blog. If you've got a single piece of qualifying content and are in one of 20 countries now enrolled in the program, you can choose to monetize it immediately and become a Partner on the spot.

Posted via email from Inspiration

4 Reasons Business Partnerships Fail

via inc.com

For a business to succeed, you may need to look to partnerships in order to grow. You may want to offer another service to your customers, or another business might want to offer your services to their customers because it’s not a core competency of theirs. Either way, stars need to align, customers need to be happy and both parties need to take it seriously if any partnership is going to succeed.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Facebook Has Microsoft As Ally To Take On Google

via businessinsider.com

Stocks are trading sideways as markets process reports on Greece reaching a debt deal. Shares of GOOG are all over the map as well. Investors continue to look for Android momentum in the smartphone and tablet markets worldwide; Motorola acquisition approval and integration; regaining ground in China; resurgence of Google TV and continued growth of YouTube; expansion of social network Google+; and progress in other newer initiatives (location-based services, mapping, gaming, daily deals, Google Wallet, Google Music, etc.). The stock trades at approximately 11.9x Enterprise Value / EBIT.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Partner vs. Solo Freelance Business

via designyourway.net

While many freelance designers start out as soloists in the world of freelance design, it seems that many are now ending up in partnerships. Of course, as with anything else in life, there are pros and cons for both partnering up and staying solo. If you’re debating between the two, here are some of the positive points of both sides to consider.

Posted via email from Inspiration

6 Steps To Finding The Perfect Business Partner

via openforum.com

So, you want to find a business partner to help you raise your baby, ahem...your business. Great! But make no mistake—this is one of the most important decisions you will make during the life of your company. Team up with the wrong partner and it may destroy your chances of finding even a modicum of success (and may leave you cursing entrepreneurship). On the other hand, if you find the right business partner, your company may experience growth worthy of the cover of a magazine!

Posted via email from Inspiration

eBay to announce PayPal Access, deepen ties with Facebook

via digitaltrends.com

At its X.commerce conference this week, eBay will likely unveil its PayPal Access platform, allowing sites to use PayPal as their login credentials. A deal with Facebook is also rumored.

It’s a rare occasion, but eBay has made the news. The online commerce site, one of the Web’s oldest and most stable, is holding its X.commerce conference in San Francisco Oct 12-14. The company is set to announce a new PayPal service called “PayPal Access” and possibly a partnership with Facebook at the conference, Reuters and Bloomberg report.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Steve Wozniak on Steve Jobs

via engadget.com

Steve Jobs was the man most often associated with Apple, but another Steve played a big part in the formation of the company, and Mr. Wozniak has some kind words about his friend and former business partner. Well said, Woz.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Nintendo and Dreamworks partner for 3D video on the 3DS

via digitaltrends.com

Nintendo and DreamWorks Animation SKG have entered into a partnership to deliver 3D content in the form of animated movies to the portable 3DS gaming system. To begin the joint venture, Dreamworks will be providing two animated shorts for the 3DS related to the upcoming Halloween holiday. Titled “Night of the Living Carrots”, the first features characters from the 2009 Dreamworks animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens and is available for download on the system as of today. The second clip is called “The Pig Who Cried Werewolf” which will be available later in the month and features the three German little pigs characters from the Shrek films.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Yahoo, ABC partner for news alliance

via money.cnn.com

Yahoo and ABC News are teaming up to share news content, reporting resources and original videos.
The "alliance," announced Monday on "Good Morning America" and at a press conference in New York City, is expected to reach 100 million people per month. Both GMA anchors and executives at the events called the deal "game-changing" several times.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Microsoft, Samsung deepen smartphone partnership with patent deal

via theglobeandmail.com

Microsoft and Samsung Electronics have agreed to cross-license each other's patent portfolios, with Microsoft getting royalties for the mobile phones and tablets Samsung sells that run the Android operating system.

Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that they also will work together to develop and market Microsoft's Windows Phone software. The deal, which is likely to help Microsoft gain more exposure for the Windows Phone, comes a year and a half after the company signed a similar deal with HTC, which was also reached without filing lawsuits.

Posted via email from Inspiration