Category Archives: Startups

Newspapers’ Next Move In Expanding The Reach Of Digital Ads | Fast Company

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

From a piece in Fast Company about our efforts to recreate a dominant Shopping business with the newspaper and media industry.  We are just getting started but with over 225 newspapers now live and hundreds more committed, when we relaunch … Continue reading →

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Victor Belfor, Ben Smith: Backing A College Dropout Might Be Your Smartest Investment Strategy

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

  I recently invested in two companies whose founders either had little interest in school as students or who dropped out of grad school: MixRank and Influitive. Both management teams are driven, hard working and well prepared for the difficult road … Continue reading →

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The less discussed, other sinister plot at groupon. – surya says too much. – surya says too much.

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

For all the critics from the sidelines of any game, politics, business, investing, startups, parenting, charity, and even football.  Some people are hitting Groupon now. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the … Continue reading →

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Tony Scott, Ben Smith: So They’ve Offered You The CEO’s Job. Here’s What You Need To Know Before Jumping With Joy | peHUBpeHUB

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Tony Scott, Ben Smith: So They’ve Offered You The CEO’s Job. Here’s What You Need To Know Before Jumping With Joy So you’re in the running for the CEO’s job at a startup. Already a creeping sense of uncertainty has … Continue reading →

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Victor Belfor, Ben Smith: We’ll Trade 100 Employees For One A-Player | peHUB

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Mark Zuckerberg famously commented that a great engineer is worth a 100 average engineers (something every developer knows deep in her heart). He was talking about A-players, and in our opinion the worst thing any startup can do is accept … Continue reading →

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Maximilian Schroeck, Ben Smith: Unlocking Value From A Portfolio’s Walking Dead | | peHUBpeHUB

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

We have all seen it. A startup has initial success with an innovative business concept, an early product, a first or second round of capital and a spurt of revenue growth. Then suddenly, its momentum stalls. More than 50% of … Continue reading →

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Crash Dev: Top three reasons NOT to do a local + online startup (and what to do instead)

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

This piece by Devore is fascinating and correct.  Having looked at buying the Judy’s Book asset twice, I think they really were a great team with a solid execution, and it still did not work.   The fundamental issues of high cost to acquire customers, high customer churn, low monthly … Continue reading →

Posted in MerchantCircle, Startups | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Getting Shit Done The key to success in business is execution, whether you run a sprawling multinational or a 12-person startup. So measuring how your company stacks up against the best and brightest in your space is crucial. If you … Continue reading →

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV | 2 Comments

Tom Klaff, Ben Smith: A New Spin On Corporate Venture Capital; How Big Businesses Can Encourage Innovation | peHUB

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Corporate venture capital comes and goes in waves. In good times, money flows easily into startups. When times turn bad, most corporate investors disappear, and the waves they create crash violently on the shore. It doesn’t have to be this … Continue reading →

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peHUB » Doug Kilponen, Ben Smith: First They Ignore You, Then They Want To Buy You: Managing The Startup-Big Company Relationship

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Ben T. Smith, IV

Every entrepreneur has met them. Big company executives with big company swagger. They ignore you. They dismiss the business problem you spent your life solving. They think they can crush you. Then the tables turn. They push for strategic relationships. … Continue reading →

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