The UC Berkeley Entreprenuership Blog
On April 3, 2010, TEDxBerkeley is gathering world-leading thinkers, makers, and doers at UC Berkeley to discuss doing the unprecedented. The audience is composed of a diverse yet curated mix of 700 students, professors, and thought leaders from Berkeley and beyond for a stimulating day of presentations, discussions, entertainment and art that will spark new ideas and opportunities for all.
Join us for a discussion of important issues when incorporating a company. We will explore the decision-making process in forming the start-up, including timing, documents, and issues in determining the capital structure of the business organization. We will also provide an overview of the compensation and equity incentive structures available to founders to attract and retain new talent, including a discussion of the general mechanics of creating and issuing these awards and the legal and tax consequences in the execution of compensation and equity programs.
Launching a Start-up with $1000, presented by Alpha Epsilon Zeta Fraternity will empower students with the tools and knowledge to translate innovative ideas into profitable entrepreneurial ventures. This event will feature a diverse panel of distinguished experts including young entrepreneurs, VCs, and academics to provide multiple perspectives on the process of starting a successful business. Attendees will gain special insider tips and strategies for building startups and will learn about mistakes to avoid.
Anytime sales are low, it is the entrepreneur’s natural instinct to find creative ways to boost sales. When all else fails, small business owners are often faced with the choice of bearing the cost of decreased sales until consumer shopping picks up again, or cut prices to incentivize sales.
I recently wrote a guest post for Small Business Opportunities about the importance of focusing on one aspect of your business instead of trying to do everything for everyone all at once. The full post can be read here but I have pasted a short excerpt below.
“I think one problem area that a lot of [...]
An increasing number of social media websites are finding that the only real way to structure advertisements so that they have any significant ROI for sponsors is to integrate them into the social nature of the website itself. StumbleUpon did this through the use of “paid stumbles” where they charged $.05 a visitor from the StumbleUpon toolbar and Digg rolled out a similar program soon after showcasing “sponsored stories” amongst the other submissions on the home page.
My number one rule of networking: don’t sell. Or at least, don’t blatantly sell. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone approach a well known figure in the industry they have never met and the first thing they try to do is sell the established individual on a product or idea
Below I have a series of three very well created sports-related advertisements for Big Babol Gum. The ads artistically demonstrate the “chewiness” and “stretchability” of the gum. Of the three, I feel that the basketball one is the most effective. Which is your favorite?
Every week we like to showcase an idea in marketing or advertising which really stands out and sets itself apart from the competition as inspiration for our readers to develop effective advertisements and marketing campaigns. This week’s advertisement comes from the McCann Advertising Agency in Kenya for a brand of Nestle milk pro,moting how it is healthy for kids and how it makes them strong.
Dodge ran an advertisement during the Super Bowl this year which I have to say is one of the worst advertisements I have seen in a while. The advertisement makes fun of the man’s role in the marriage showing a series of miserable looking men and listing all the tedious things their wives force them to do. The advertisement ends by saying that because the husband has to do everything his wife tells him and is miserable, he gets to drive a Charger as his “last stand”.
AM Beat is a blog written by Aditya Mahesh, a young entrepreneur and freshman at UC Berkeley who runs ZapPrep, a college admissions consulting business. This blog covers marketing, technology, and finance.
