by Doug Richard
What better way to start to start an article than by quoting a man I loathe?
“. . . as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” — Donald Rumsfeld, February 12, 2002
The thing is. He’s right....
By Doug Richard
Let’s first re-cap the argument to date. Last week during the Budget Festival, Lord Mandelson was on a side stage promoting his idea of a credit adjudicator. This novel idea is to create a completely new judicial system to review unfair loan denials by banks to small businesses.
This is a remedy to the asserted problem that banks are secretly tightening credit requirements or in other ways screwing around with small businesses: setting new fees for current loan holders,...
Money does not behave as we want it to. Nor for that matter do people. We are always disappointed when people act solely in their self-interest. Smart people in smart ways, and other people in less smart ways. Sometimes people help others. But in large people help themselves and those they care for.
It should come as no surprise then that CEO’s over pay themselves, or for that matter that politicians seek to use their influence after they’ve left political office...
If you’re reading this blog then the chances are you’re also a Twitterer, but definitely not a twit! It’s also likely that you’re as passionate about education as we are. Whilst our focus here at School for Startups is on teaching entrepreneurialism and business skills, there are people all over the world who are denied the basic right to any sort of education at all. There are 72 million children around the world who don’t have the opportunity to go...
Yesterday, Doug wrote a revealing post about “What Businesses Will Be Worrying About Next Year“. After a flurry of tweeting activity and interest, we thought we would follow up with an exclusive video from our S4Stv archive entitled “Product Marketing on the Internet“.
In the clip below, Doug explains how your product or service can serve as the marketing for itself.
...I was sitting in a development meeting at a small company that I mentor last week. The CEO, who was the “sales” guy on the team, and the other founder, who was the “tech” guy on the team were arguing about the development schedule and what features should be included in release one.
Actually, they were arguing about when to ship, meaning what they were arguing about was what features would not make it into release one. Behind us on the...
Ship Early, Ship Little, Ship Fast. This article explores why startup companies should focus on creating products with a small feature set that is completely integrated with the outside world.
Mango studio is a strategic digital agency that specialise in leisure management systems for the activity and experience industry. The studio has developed the best innovative technology specifically for activity centres in the UK. This includes developing mobile applications that interact with BBC big screens and online web experiences that allow thrill seeking customers to book their activity or adventure at ease.
Mango Studio started from very small beginnings and has progressed to its current position through the sheer hard work...
On Purpose is a new leadership programme for the next generation of high-flyers who will use the power of business to make a difference in the world. Today’s talent are tomorrow’s leaders who will help solve society’s biggest problems. We believe that if we find the most inspiring people, provide them with the right experience and give them world-class training, then great things will happen.
Bubble & Balm was one of the first companies in the UK to offer Fairtrade certified bath and body products. Our range is also natural and we use recycled packaging. The company is a for profit social enterprise. Our aspiration is to become a household beauty brand.
