Bold Ventures

Sailthru uses big data in real time
Sailthru, a New York-based data firm, allows companies to respond to consumers' behavior and preferences in real time on the Internet. One example: the pop-up windows on some news sites that suggest other stories you might want to read. The company recently got $19 million in a Series B funding round, and CEO Neil Capel says the company will use that money to increase the size of its sales team, promote growth and hire more engineers. Business Insider (2/11)
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Leading the Pack

Why leaders need to keep learning
Leaders who are unable to learn new things are doomed, writes Dan Rockwell. They can keep learning by encouraging other people to ask tough questions and being willing to adapt. "You haven't learned till you change, regardless of what you know," Rockwell writes. Leadership Freak blog (2/10)
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Finance & Growth

How to evaluate an offer for your company
If someone has offered to buy your company, determine what your business is likely to be worth over the next few years. You should consider taking the deal if it will take your business several years to attain the value you are being offered, writes Mark MacLeod. The Huffington Post (2/8)
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The Whole Entrepreneur

Companies may have to abandon startup culture as they expand
Many startup founders prize the freedom they have to run their companies as they see fit, but they may need to make cultural adjustments as their companies grow. Company founders may be forced to abandon once-cherished ceremonies, set formal rules for employee behavior or create human resources departments to handle personnel issues. Reuters (2/11)
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Ideas for Innovators

6 situations in which innovation might be unwise
Innovation is a key part of business success, but it's not the right approach in every situation, writes Simon Hill, CEO and co-founder of Wazoku. It may be a good idea to maintain the status quo if your customers are wary of change, your company is in financial trouble or an old product is still generating significant sales, he writes. InnovationExcellence.com (2/10)
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Fortune from Failure

Get experience before launching your company
As a student at Harvard Business School, Mike McGlade started a social venture called Zoosa that was designed to help volunteers connect with one another. The business' eventual failure emphasizes the importance of ignoring your ego and learning about the market before launching your company, he writes. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network (2/11)
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SmartQuote

Failure is not necessarily a bad thing but it has consequences." -- Mike McGlade, chief revenue officer for FastPay, writing at the HBR Blog Network. Share: