Have you got a project cooking that you think is a certifiable winner? Well, tell us about it, then! It’s no good basking in the glow of your own genius all by your lonesome. Each week day, Mashable features one startup that we think is truly stellar (take a look at our Spark of Genius channel for some examples of past coverage).
So what are we looking for? Basically, apps, websites, tools, software and programs that fit within one of our channels: social media, tech, entertainment, web video, mobile, etc. Specifically, you should stick to the following criteria. Your submission:
- Must be less than 3 years old
- Must never have received coverage on MashableMashable
.com before
- Must have something to showcase to our readers (active site/product)
- Be generating less than U.S. $1 million in annual revenue
Additionally, if the site is in private beta or alpha, please provide our editors with access information, and ideally invite codes for our readers.
If you have a genius venture that does, indeed, meet these criteria, please jet on over here to apply.
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HOW TO: Get Your Startup Featured on Mashable
Here’s The Real Reason Why Business Plan Competitions Are A Huge Waste Of Time
Here’s The Real Reason Why Business Plan Competitions Are A Huge Waste Of Time
Image: US Navy
Last week one of the schools I teach at invited me to judge a business plan contest. I suggested that they first might want to read my post on why business plans are a poor planning and execution tool for startups. They called back laughing and the invitation disappeared
At best I think business plan competitions are a waste of time. But until now I haven’t been able to articulate a framework of why or had a concrete suggestion of what to replace them with.
Now I do.
Business Plan Versus Business Models
Where did the idea that startups write business plans come from?
Steve Blank, as usual, with a well thought out post explaining why the focus of many competitions is really more of a dog and pony show than a constructive event.
A Lean Journey: Kanban for Personal Management
Kanban for Personal Management
About a month ago I came across a great concept called the Personal Kanban that I wanted to share. Taiichi Ohno created the first kanban to communicate with workers how much work needed to get done and how much got done. Kanban is a Japanese term meaning “sign” or “signboard”. A kanban does three main things:1. Shows us the work we have in progress2. Shows us all the work we haven’t gotten to yet3. Shows us how efficiently we workPersonal Kanban is a personal productivity tool based on these principles to create a simple way to visualize and control your work. There are only two real rules with Personal Kanban:
1. Visualize your work2. Limit your work-in-progress
I think pretty much anyone can use this method for controlling your workflow. I follow this method, and have done it both in physical notes on the wall and also using www.tasksee.com to do it. Either way, it is simple to understand what all you have on the table but also how much progress you are making. It generally forces you to break things down into bite-sized pieces.
