Read more about the article Stop Wasting Our Time With Boring Presentations

Stop Wasting Our Time With Boring Presentations

I have both given and sat through many presentations over the years. Prior to committing to the web full-time in the late 90’s I was an investment banker and financial adviser to both private companies and state and local governments. I have been a member of Tech Coast Angels, a SoCal investment group and have sat through more presentations than I care to remember. I’ll let you in on a secret.   Most presentations S-U-C-K.  The audience is sitting around, twiddling their thumbs and counting the minutes until the presentation ends.   I’ll let you in on another secret.  Almost everyone in the audience WANTS to be blown away.  They are looking for the presentation team to hit a home run.  To make an impact.  To tell them something they don’t already know. To pitch an idea which so unique and clever that they can’t wait to hear more.

I’m not going to give my thoughts here on what I think makes for a good and clear idea that works and is fundable.  That’s for another post.  Rather I want to discuss why I believe most presentations fail. (more…)

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Read more about the article What Constitutes a Great Idea for a Web-based Business?

What Constitutes a Great Idea for a Web-based Business?

What Constitutes a Great Idea for a Web-based Business? It has to be unique, right? The market must be huge! There needs to be a great way to monetize the idea so investors can earn back their investment in 3-5 years. The business should fall in a sector where there are many well-capitalized firms to potentially buy it. Of course, the hot ideas need to be in alternative energy. Isn’t that what everyone is talking about?

So which of the above do I think are the most and least important? (more…)

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The Most Expensive Spreadsheet Ever Written?

Way back in the mid-1980's when I was an investment banking associate for Dillon Read it was my job to run the analysis for all of our bond transactions.  Many of these deals were several hundred million dollars each.  I was trusted to develop the spreadsheets which were the basis for computing all of the particulars on many of the deals. 

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Dropbox – a Rare Software Utility that Just Works!

Dropbox.com

Dropbox is a backup and synchronization tool that combines a web-interface with a local client.  Sounds a bit geeky, but in a nutshell this is an almost perfect piece of software that everyone can benefit from.   I’ve been using Dropbox for a few months now and am extremely impressed.  It’s become a critical piece of my daily arsenal right up there with Google, Firefox and WordPress.

Dropbox can be downloaded for free at getdropbox.com.  It works with both Windows and Mac computers and will install a “DROPBOX” folder in your MY DOCUMENTS directory under Windows or under PLACES on a Mac.  Once installed, any file you save in this directory will be automatically backed up behind the scenes to a folder on the web under your account.  Sounds fairly basic?  Well, here’s where the fun begins.  You can install Dropbox on several computers you own such as your office computer, your laptop, your home computer, etc.  These computers can be both Mac and Windows systems. It doesn’t matter. All files in your Dropbox folder will be replicated and synchronized on ALL computers and that’s just the start. (more…)

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How to Have Homes in Beverly Hills, New York City and San Francisco

Black sand beach at Wainapanapa, in Maui. Phot...
Image via Wikipedia

Why stop with these three cities?  What about Maui, Miami Beach, Pebble Beach?  You can live everywhere and anywhere all at once.  Sounds too good to be true?  Well, it’s not if you know a little secret.

Take a look at susansworkreview.com.  Notice anything odd? Look more closely in the right column ‘about me’ section. Still don’t see it? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Susan is living in the very town where you are sitting right now. Am I right? I know this because her website tells me that she’s living right down the street from me, and it also says she’s down the street from you.
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