What You Missed During ‘The Goal Standard Challenge’ Prep Week
Congrats!
You completed the first week of The Goal Standard Challenge, our five-week program to help you achieve your goals for 2017.
Have you set your goal for The Goal Standard Challenge?
You can sign up to our email newsletter on the content hub and join our Facebook Group page to get updates, real-time support and be surrounded by a strong community.
Here are some resources to get you started: Facebook Live Event, Wednesday, January 25 1 pm ET On Wednesday, high-performance coach Todd Herman did a Facebook Live to help us set an achievable goals for our business (or personal growth).
If you didn’t have a chance to see it, check it out at this link.
It can be found in our Facebook Group, a community for people like you looking to achieve a goal, or downloaded here.
Download his “Don’t Break the Chain” calendar and “Growth or Fixed Mindset” quiz can also be found on our Facebook Group or at this link.
Facebook Live Mini-Challenge, Thursday January 26 The staff at Entrepreneur put up a mini-challenge focused on setting S.M.A.R.T.
Facebook Live, Event, Friday, January 27 1 pm ET Having run several multi-million dollar companies and being a certified meditation teacher, Natalie MacNeil showed us how to clear our mental and physical clutter to get started on the right foot, along with the importance of having a weekly reflection time for our goal-achieving challenge.
The Goal Standard Challenge: Clearing the Clutter to Help Start You on the Right Foot
The Goal Standard Challenge: Clearing the Clutter to Help Start You on the Right Foot.
In a Facebook Live, strategist, author and producer Natalie MacNeil challenges us to clear our mental and physical clutter to start The Goal Standard Challenge on the right foot.
In the Live, MacNeil explains how to map out tiny tasks to meet your specific goals, and the importance of incorporating a weekly reflection time into your goal-setting game plan.
Check out her video here, and if you haven’t joined The Goal Standard Challenge, sign up below.
Also join our Facebook Group to get updates, real-time support and be part of a community full of achievers, just like you.
Here is the Weekly Reflection worksheet for week one.
Entrepreneur Startup Stories: Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway
Entrepreneur Startup Stories: Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway.
Jennifer Hyman is the entrepreneur and co-founder behind two well-respected ventures.
Her first, Rent the Runway, revolutionized the way women shop by giving them access to a nearly unlimited, rentable wardrobe.
Her latest, Project Entrepreneur, was founded as a means to support the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
In this video, Hyman shares how she successfully launched and grew her businesses.
Watch more videos from the folks at Toast Meets Jam on their YouTube channel here.
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![Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [23 January – 28 January]](http://briofinancial.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/funding-galore-startup-fundings-of-the-week-23-january-28-january-400x90.jpg)
Funding Galore: Startup Fundings Of The Week [23 January – 28 January]
NowFloats: NowFloats, a digital enabler of Small and Medium Businesses (SME) business presence raised $10 Mn in its Series B round of funding from Iron Pillar Capital and IIFL, along with existing investors Blume Ventures & Omidyar Network.
Khel Now: Mobile-based social networking platform for sports, Khel Now received $500K in funding from Thailand-based Indochine International Co. Ltd.
SmarterHi: IoT-based security services provider, SmarterHi Communications secured an undisclosed amount of funding from a Singapore-based investor for a minority stake.
The funding will be used to develop its R&D, sales, and marketing team.
99Games: Udupi-based gaming startup 99Games raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Japanese investment firm Dream Incubator, along with participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital and Ascent Capital.
Following the transaction, BCCL’s stake in Infibeam is likely to go up from the current 1.4% to around 2.2%.
99PerHour: On-demand hyperlocal services provider, 99PerHour secured Seed funding of $300K from a US-based angel investor, V Aanand R. The company plans to utilise these funds to expand its service categories from 18 to 100 across – utility, professional, and personnel services.
BookMyShow has already partnered with 4,000 screens across India.
The foundation plans to invest over $7.3 Mn(INR 50 Cr) to incubate and support over 100 non-profit startups through the programme over the next five years.
It will focus on early- and late-stage investments in the startup space and is called Rocket Internet Capital Partners (RICP) fund.
The REV Group (REVG) to Raise $250 Million in IPO
The REV Group (REVG) to Raise $250 Million in IPO.
REV Group (REVG) is planning to raise $250 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on Friday, January 27th.
The company will be issuing 12,500,000 shares at a price of $19.00-$21.00 per share.
In the last twelve months, REV Group generated $1.9 billion in revenue and $30.2 million in net income.
The company has a market-cap of $1.3 billion.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Baird acted as the underwriters for the IPO and BMO Capital Markets, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies, Wells Fargo Securities and Stifel were co-managers.
We serve a diversified customer base primarily in the United States through three segments: Fire & Emergency, Commercial and Recreation.
We provide customized vehicle solutions for applications including: essential needs (ambulances, fire apparatus, school buses, mobility vans and municipal transit buses), industrial and commercial (terminal trucks, cut-away buses and street sweepers) and consumer leisure (RVs and luxury buses).
Our brand portfolio consists of 26 well-established principal vehicle brands including many of the most recognizable names within our served markets.
The company is located at 111 East Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 2600, Milwaukee, WI 53202, US and can be reached via phone at (414) 290-0190 or on the web at https://www.revgroup.com.
The Secret to Outpacing Your Rival? Competitive Insights.
Competitive Insights..
When United Airlines announced its new “basic economy” class, the option was an obvious attempt to tap into a different market: budget airline passengers.
Only time will tell if the budget-friendly ticket option provides United some much-needed growth by allowing it to successfully compete with discount airlines.
The worst-case scenario: The option might cannibalize United’s own higher-priced fares.
The message for entrepreneurs in United’s move for entrepreneurs is this: We’re here to innovate, and the only way to do this is to let competitors push us.
But insights on your competition will do you no good until you know how to use them.
Some entrepreneurs view the competition as mortal enemies, but isn’t it more fun to play poker with friends than strangers?
When LinkedIn took off and cut into ZoomInfo’s market share, the latter company pivoted into sales, marketing and Jigsaw’s bread and butter: crowdsourcing.
If you see an opening a competitor might take, beat ’em to the punch.
And that’s not a battle any of us can win — even on a good day.
Seattle Week in Review: UW Gets $279M, Cow Sharing, Techstars & More
Seattle’s role as a capital for global health was highlighted again this week when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a historic grant to a key University of Washington population health effort.
And, check out the new Techstars Seattle cohort, a new partner at Voyager Capital, recognition for Modumetal, an armored vehicles deal for Kymeta, and the new world of alternative credentials in tech education.
The grant, which the UW says is the largest private donation it has ever received, is one of more than 250 from the Gates Foundation to the UW, totaling some $1.25 billion.
—Apana, a Bellingham, WA-based maker of technology for monitoring water use, raised $3.5 million in a Series A funding round, led by Kurita Water Industries.
Other investors include Cowles Company, based in Spokane, WA; Seattle-based cleantech angel investing group Element 8; and the Urban Innovation Fund of San Francisco.
Apana recently landed a marquee customer in Fetzer Vineyards, which expects to use the Apana smart water meters to find leaks faster and stop water waste before it gets out of control.
Incidentally, my family had a run-in with water meter technology recently.
—Redmond, WA-based metamaterials satellite antenna company Kymeta announced a deal to integrate its technology into civilian armored vehicles.
Benjamin Romano is editor of Xconomy Seattle.
Follow @bromano More from Xconomy Trending on Xconomy
REV Group shares rise 13% following initial public offering
REV Group shares rise 13% following initial public offering.
Shares of Milwaukee-based REV Group Inc.rose more than 13% Friday, a day after the company completed an initial public offering that raised $275 million.
The manufacturer of specialty vehicles is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol REVG.
The company priced its public offering at $22 a share, higher than the initial range of $19 to $21.
In trading Friday, the shares closed at $25, up $3.
REV Group launches IPO, closes 14% higher than priced in first trading day
REV Group launches IPO, closes 14% higher than priced in first trading day.
Shares for REV Group Inc. debuted on the New York Stock Exchange Friday in its $275 million initial public offering at a price of $22 per share, but shares never traded for less than $24.50 all day.
REV Group (NYSE: REVG) is a Milwaukee-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts and services that’s competing for a multimillion-dollar contract to produce new vehicles for the U.S.
Postal Service.
REV Group CEO Tim Sullivan, previously CEO of the former Bucyrus International Inc. in South Milwaukee, has said that if the company wins the Postal Service contract, it would build the vehicles in Milwaukee.
REV Group sold more than 8.75 million shares of common stock Friday at prices that ranged from $24.50 to $25.81, according to Yahoo Finance.
Shares closed at $25.05 for the day, up 14 percent from its IPO price.
Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley and Milwaukee-based Baird are acting as joint lead book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering.
BMO Capital Markets Corp., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies LLC, Wells Fargo Securities LLC and Stifel are also acting as joint book-running managers.
David Schuyler is Digital Producer overseeing website content and also serves as a reporter covering the arts and nonprofit organizations for the Milwaukee Business Journal.
6 tips from SA startup pros on raising funding
6 tips from SA startup pros on raising funding.
Funding your startup is one of, if not the most crucial part of creating the company.
Start thinking about funding now “Most entrepreneurs don’t start raising funds early enough,” said Fraser.
Family, friends, and Angels Seed and early stage capital are important parts of a startup’s growth.
Raising it as late as possible is best.” Do your homework Fraser went on to say that entrepreneurs shouldn’t spam VCs for funding with emails and mailing lists.
Entrepreneurs need to do their homework on which VCs to approach and which funding stage they specialise in.
Know how much money you’re going to raise and what you’ll be doing with it.” Read more: Funding your startup: Ventureburn lists the SA investors that are delivering Be the best at what you do Wazen says that raising funding also requires a bit more than just research, and that entrepreneurs need to be at the top of their game.
“Build those networks before you need them,” says Fraser.
Long-term thinking Wazen says that when raising a funding round, entrepreneurs need to already be thinking of the next one and the one after that.
Entrepreneurs need to think about how much they need to raise now and how much they want to give away as well.
Pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank launches fintech challenge for African startups
Pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank launches fintech challenge for African startups.
Ecobank Transnational Inc, a pan-African banking conglomerate with banking operations in 36 African countries, has launched a fintech challenge for startups that is aimed to African entrepreneurs.
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge provides selected startups the benefit of getting tailored mentorship from leading industry experts, a funding of up to $500K to build their fintech solution, partnering with multi-national across 36 countries, gaining access to Africa’s biggest banking ecosystem, maximize the reach and visibility across pan-African space and showcase their idea at Ecobank’s Innovation Fair.
Proposals can fall into a broad view of fintech and can address one or more of the challenges including predictive analysis using big data, customer analysis, agency banking, blockchain technology solutions within banking, KYC technology, micro loan system, apps to work without internet connection, among others.
A total of 20 teams will be selected for the challenge that will take place at the global headquarters of Ecobank in Lomé, Togo.
Developers, programmers and fintech innovators all over Africa can submit their entries in one or more key areas of interest and win a chance up to $500,000 funding.
The deadline for the fintech challenge is on 14th April 2017.
7 Ways to Make Your Business More Socially Conscious
7 Ways to Make Your Business More Socially Conscious.
In short, becoming a more socially conscious business not only makes the world a better place, it also can help your business thrive.
Of course, saying that you want your business to give back to the community is one thing.
Actually becoming more socially responsible is another.
Certainly there are many way to be socially responsible.
You can find these talented and passionate individuals by advertising for CSR or socially entrepreneurial positions on like Skoll World Forum and Social Good Jobs.
According to research from Weber Shandwick’s Social Impact specialty group 44 percent of 216 executives from Fortune 200 companies had used crowdsourcing to gather ideas for the company’s social responsibility programming.
“Ask them what they want the company to take on to give back to the community.” “Then use those ideas to create a corporate social responsibility culture that is more inclusive, democratic and participatory.” 5.
Businesses can also work with charities.
When teaming-up with local businesses and charities you’re improving the local economy and entire community as a whole.
4 Ways Personal Technology Outperforms Enterprise Software
4 Ways Personal Technology Outperforms Enterprise Software.
One study put the number at 60 million people by 2020 — nearly 40 percent of the workforce.
We also know numerous platforms exist today to connect freelancers with available work.
Personal technology has the user in mind.
But in many companies, it’s the only device an employee has to do his or her job.
Here again, personal technology outperforms enterprise technology.
“At home you can change the settings on all of your applications and devices to help you do your job most effectively,” Nolan says.
A large percentage of the workforce cannot even access job-critical information without the help of other employees.” Of course, enterprise software is designed to be big, which makes it difficult to be customizable on a user-by-user basis.
Personal technology already incorporates AI into numerous software products freelancers use to do their work.
An exodus of high-quality employees from the corporate world might get some attention.
The Complete Guide to Getting Started With Facebook Ads
In this post, we’ll share with you everything you need to know about Facebook Ads to get your campaigns up and running as well as all we’ve learned from our own experiences.
Let’s jump right in… How to set up a Facebook Ads campaign Step 1: Set some goals for your Facebook Ads Before you jump in and create any adverts, it’s important to first think about why you’re advertising and what you’re aiming to achieve.
Some more example goals could be: Increase traffic to my website from Facebook Increase attendance at my event Generate new leads Increase the reach of our content on Facebook Boost engagement for our Facebook Page Step 2: Head over to Facebook Ads Manager All of Facebook’s ad campaigns run through the Facebook Ads Manager tool, which you can access via a direct link at facebook.com/ads, or by clicking “Manage Ads” in the drop-down menu on your Facebook account, or by clicking any of the CTAs on your Facebook page.
Step 3: Choose your objective When you click to create a Facebook Ad, you’ll go to a page where you choose the objective for your campaign.
Example: Choosing an audience for a Buffer ad Facebook recommends narrowing your reach in a targeted way in order to maximize the impact of your ad.
Once you’ve selected your target audience, you next need to choose how much you’d like to spend on your ad.
Facebook currently offers five various formats for adverts: Carousel — Create an advert with two or more scrollable images or videos Single image — Create up to six variations of your advert using one image Single video — Create an advert with one video Slideshow — Create a looping video advert with up to 10 images Canvas — Tell a more immersive story by combining images and videos Note: The formats available to you will vary based on the objective you set for your advert during Step 3 a little earlier in this post.
Step 6: Choose your ad placements Advert placement defines where your advert is shown and with Facebook Ads, you’re able to choose which locations your advert will appear in.
However, if you want to select your own placements, Facebook recommend the following choices, broken out by campaign objective: Increase brand awareness campaigns (including Reach & Frequency buying) — Facebook and Instagram Boost your posts (including Reach & Frequency buying) — Facebook and Instagram Get video views (including Reach & Frequency buying) — Facebook and Instagram Get installs of your app — Facebook and Instagram Increase engagement in your app — Facebook Promote a product catalog — Facebook Increase conversions on your website — Facebook Send people to your website — Facebook For more on ad placements, check out this guide from Facebook.
Here are our results: Page likes — $0.57 per like Clicks to the Buffer for Business landing page — $4.01 per click Boosted post — $6.35 per additional 1,000 people reached When we view this in terms of how much $5 per day will buy you, these are the numbers: Page Likes — nine likes per day Clicks to the Buffer homepage — one per day Boosted post — 787 new people reached How does this jive with your experience on Facebook Ads?
UK’s startup awards set to fly its winners for a business trip
UK’s startup awards set to fly its winners for a business trip.
The week-long trip has been designed to give these winners an access to the thriving startup ecosystem of the country.
The companies who will be going to the UK are BendFlex Research and Development, Cashkumar, Get My Parking, Promethean Energy, QuizWorks, RepUp, Talocity Instasolutions, Greenlit India Opto Electronics, Planet Superheroes, andParatus Knowledge Ventures.
With India being the 3rd largest investor into the UK, these awards are designed to provide a platform to the winners to find their future investors, and exposing them to the benefits of globalising via the UK.
50% of India’s investment in the UK is concentrated in the tech sector, totalling £136 million.
However, the two winners of the Dev Tech awards are the first recipient of the award which was launched last year in September 2016.
The winners of both awards were announced at the India – UK TECH Summit, inaugurated by the British and the Indian Prime Ministers in November 2016.
“The Indian start-up ecosystem has witnessed a significant growth in the last few years, strengthening its position as the third largest ecosystem in the world.
DIT partnered with this Indian hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship with IAN to build the start-up bridge between India and UK.
This brings the best of both countries together and helps create a global footprint for companies,” said IAN cofounder and director, Saurabh Srivastava in a statement.
6 Characteristics of an Innovative Leader
6 Characteristics of an Innovative Leader.
Neither did the other leaders on her team, because only those who’ve lived their personal brands openly and genuinely and understand their value propositions have taken the steps to break free from their leadership identity crises.
These leadership identity crises are real, severe and have created dysfunction both within the teams those leaders lead and how consumers are identifying with the company and/or its brands and services.
Companies may say all the right things in their PowerPoint presentations, like “We want a more personal engagement for our brand with consumers” or “We want to create competitive advantage through diversity and inclusion” without understanding what those words mean.
To stop playing it safe, leaders must stop clinging to the hidden agendas and maneuvering that cause their employees and customers to distrust their intentions.
We use the six characteristics of the innovation mentality: See opportunity in everything.
We must be passionate in our pursuits to explore endless possibilities, anticipate the unexpected so change is welcomed, embrace an entrepreneurial spirit to make things better, create stronger alignment and build momentum.
They enable you to do this as you reinvent or course-correct for any situation you encounter in 21st-century workplaces and marketplaces.
The six characteristics of the innovation mentality tests your ability to authentically lead and own your leadership identity and the deep responsibility associated with it.
Because that’s what the six characteristics of the innovation mentality solve for: leadership that continuously and consistently touches the people it serves in the workplace and marketplace and builds trust, and relationships that add value to all our careers, experiences and lives it influences.
This Company Has Produced a Fully Autonomous Digital Marketer For You
This Company Has Produced a Fully Autonomous Digital Marketer For You.
AI may be eating software but some are reluctant to trust fully automated AI solutions.
The fully autonomous intelligence platform work continuously to analyze data, synthesize key insights, and execute marketing campaigns while you sit back and allow your brand to flourish.
It’s time to supercharge your marketing team with AI and Albert.
Albert is the only artificial intelligence marketing platform that runs fully autonomous digital marketing campaigns for brands and retailers, from start to finish.
In October 2016, Harley-Davidson announced that it credits 40% of its New York City sales to Albert.
For years, I kept thinking, “Why is digital so manual?” “Why are humans handling data tasks?” “Why isn’t technology dealing with technology?” I found it absurd that top brands’ digital teams were manually gathering and analyzing data, and then “optimizing” their digital campaigns based on the insights they generated themselves.
In the coming years, we’ll see more artificial intelligence platforms that can execute holistic, multi-step marketing and business processes.
We’ll have a greater ability to measure the overall effect of complex business processes: As AI steps in to convert multi-step business processes into single holistic processes—specifically in sales and marketing—we’ll see new opportunities for holistic program measurement, as well.
This solves massive problem for U.S. businesses and brands.
Forget Your Product: Start Selling ‘Solutions’ Instead
Along those lines, consider how 2016 had its share of the shady sales practices that dog the business world.
All departments — from marketing to research and development to customer service — have to work with sales to create true value for customers.
The difference a solution can make At first, the difference between selling a product and selling a solution may not be apparent — after all, aren’t most products created to solve problems?
But most products are designed as one-size-fits-all solutions.
Selling a solution requires that companies fundamentally change how they do business: Instead of pushing products, they must create genuine connections with other people.
Here are four steps that will help smooth out that transition, turning a company stuck in the past into one ready for the future.
Make sure that every lead coming from marketing is properly qualified.
This enables the rep to offer a new perspective — and can lead to more business from thankful customers.
As such, any silos or archaic compensation strategies that impede solution selling should be rendered obsolete.
Sales success hinges on marketing’s ability to generate enough qualified leads.