Crowdsourcing done the Right Way

For many large projects, crowdsourcing is often a good option to get the work done on time. However, it also presents quite a lot of challenges, such as managing the amount and variety of people working under the project. So how do you pull off a successful venture?

Getting the right kind of people

One of the trickiest things about crowdsourcing is getting the right group for the job. Unlike regular employee searches, you don’t have the liberty of scrutinising the people who join your venture. After all there might be hundreds or thousands who sign up for the project.

As speaker Jan William Alphenaar shows in this presentation, you can save time by having a definite audience group in mind. Ask yourself all the pertinent questions with regards to your target crowd, such as where they can be found and what channels of communication (such as social media) they commonly use. Talking to this crowd and convincing them to sign up is all together another challenge. Your call to action must be clearly directed towards them so that they will immediately spot it among the host of posts that regularly come their way. Speaking in a language familiar to them helps a lot here. You also need to clearly state the nature of the work and what they can expect to gain from it to convince them that this is a worthwhile task to undertake.

Managing your people

Zach Shaw describes aptly the challenge of managing a crowdsourced group for any project:

"Seems easy enough on paper putting up a crowdsourcing campaign. But, it’s not like throwing open your guitar case on the sidewalk, it’s actually a lot of work."Before handing out the tasks that need to be done, test it to ensure that it can be easily grasped by your audience. Unlike the usual work process in many outsourcing projects, you won’t have time to review all of the incoming contributions just to see whether everyone has done it right. Thus, the process must be very clear cut the first time you hand it out. For automated procedures, like surveys for instance, it would be a good idea to test the system on a small group first before making it live.

Another important work to be taken care of is handling the submitted contributions. With the above-mentioned automated submissions you don’t have to worry, since the system you implement will do it for you. But with manual submissions it would be best for you to set up a more efficient means of handling and categorising them. For instance, it would be better for you to set up a different submission point for each task category, rather than having to browse through all of them finding category markers.

Know the legalities

As it is, crowdsourcing is still very much covered by pertinent labor and intellectual property laws. It is best that you familiarise yourself with these to avoid issues. You also need to consult with experts to determine if the method payment of services is secure for the benefit of your outsourced team.

Learn the ins and outs of crowdsourcing projects by contact UFOstart AG, the crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform ready to assist your venture. Get started now and check out how to start your venture and become an expert or investor in the world of startups. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter for daily updates. 

Who is this equity?

You’ve got a great niche idea and the business plan is done. You’ve lined up a crowdsourcing plan for start-up resources. The next step is identifying the people you will entrust with helping you to develop your new business.

As you form your initial compensation plan for new employees, don’t skip the step of creating an equity stock-option-plan for the people who will help your business succeed.

A powerful tool in building your start-up.

Forbes quotes PayPal founder Bill Harris as having said to entrepreneurs that stock options are “the most powerful tool at their disposal in building a successful business.” Harris believes that founders of startups need to seek out people who would want equity because, “You need people who are willing to take risks. And then you need to reward them.”

This is a win-win: your company doesn’t have any cash outlay and employes benefit from the stock’s rising prices while not having to worry about stock market dips. It’s a perfect employee incentive that usually kicks in after a year of employment. Better still, Harris says vesting in four years is the biggest opportunity: “By giving somebody four year options today and the company grows you’ve locked in today’s value for four years.”Harris’s bottom line is for the founder a stock option plan is the key to “recruit, retain and motivate.”

What type of plan is best?

The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) reports, “Broad-based options remain the norm in high-technology companies and have become more widely used in other industries as well. Larger, publicly traded companies such as Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Cisco now give stock options to most or all of their employees. Many non-high tech, closely held companies are joining the ranks as well.”

NCEO outlines the key options for broad-based employee ownership:

• An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)
• A type of tax-qualified employee benefit plan in which most or all of the assets are invested in stock of the employer
• A stock option plan which grants employees the right to buy company stock at a specified price during a specified period once the option has vested
• An employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) which gives employees the chance to buy stock, usually through payroll deductions over a 3- to 27-month "offering period"
• A several other forms of individual equity plans.

The Center adds, “options are still the currency of choice when it comes to attracting and retaining good employees; many high-tech workers won't take a job without options.”

And consider this caution….

NCEO wants to alert founders of startups to consider these points: “how much stock they are willing to make available, who will receive options, and how much employment will grow so that the right number of shares is granted each year.” If a founder grants numerous options too soon, future employees may be left without this incentive. However you approach your equity methods UFOstart AG is a crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform ready to assist your venture. Get started now and check out how to start your venture and become an expert or investor in the world of startups. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter for daily updates. 

A Way To Get Your Venture Funded: Be Ready With A Compelling Pitch For The Catchers

Investors and experts that are willing to support ventures wants to hear only the compelling pitches that don't take up a lot of their time. In order to pitch your idea successfully to get the funding that you need, you will need to show your passion for your idea, first and foremost. Once you can clearly define your idea then you should be able to ask for how much you want and how you will use it. It even helps to show statistics to illustrate the upward success of your idea(s). Envisioning how big your company will become is a successful thought to have, but you must make sense to convey your idea to others clearly.

The biggest mistake we make as business owners is getting so excited when discussing our idea. We begin to talk too long or give too much detail without getting to what is most important. If you are having difficulty explaining, try rehearsing it in front of a mirror, or present it to someone who knows nothing about you business. 

Practicing to communicate your message clearly before throwing it out on a platform can be the saviour of your idea. Investors will be quick to pick it up and experts may want to help you get it up off the ground from the start. However you approach your funding methods UFOstart AG is a crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform ready to assist with your venture.

Get started now and check out how to participate in crowdsourcing, and how to become an expert or investor in the world of startups. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter for daily updates. 

Innovative online tools for startup management

If you have ever helped someone realize their dreams – not just talk about their ideas, but actually implement them – then you know how remarkable the feeling is. The problem is so many people dive into projects that they are not passionate about, and don't know where to begin. The best way for a startup business to grow and be successful is for the idea to have passion behind it. It’s inevitable that when we talk about something we love, others will become interested and will want to give us a helping hand. Our passion and motivation behind our venture may even stimulate other people’s creative ventures which could in turn help them implement their own ideas.

Fortunately, there are innovative online tools for startup management that can assist a person with bringing their ideas to fruition. Forbes magazine list the Top 10 benefits of crowdfunding; therefore proving that a crowdfunding (and crowdsourcing) platform is where you will be the most successful. Where and how to begin is at UFOstart AG. With the help of UFOstart AG, those with creative minds who are looking to manage a successful startup can have their venture fully funded as a startup. Crowdfunding is almost like an auction: Present your idea to numerous investors at once. The added bonus, you could gain numerous investors instead of just one.

Fund and filter top deals as an investor. Become a part of something bigger and help other startups get off the ground by investing in them the same way you’ve been invested in. Turn your insight into equity and get involved as an expert. Similar to stock broker, you can become an expert in how a startup will succeed based on the trends in the current market.

Get started now and check out  UFOstart AG for assistance with crowdfunding, how to participate in crowdsourcing, and how to become an expert or investor in the world of startups. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. 

UFOstart AG: An Effective Mentorship

You no longer have to search endlessly for a solution to get your venture funded; there are experienced professionals who are ready to commit to partnership. Of course the need for business growth is an element of success. As an enterprise, we need to connect with the core of our ideas; and the key is through mentorship. For instance, a cook who desires to be a chef would most likely be mentored by one; or even someone who decides to own their own business mentored by a experienced entrepreneur - regardless if they are directly or indirectly mentored.

Start-ups should be completely organized especially when they are searching for ways to fund a venture. A mentor in the similar business can assist a business owner to improve their knowledge and experience, (if not as an acting network for their project); and make the project worth financing. If a start-up is ill-prepared an investor, supporter or even a loyal customer may walk-on by your great idea.

The next battle will be reaching a target audience. A stellar idea can go unnoticed if it is not
conveyed properly. A start-ups best bet is to find a loyal community and/or collaborate with supporters or global experts that can help your business grow. A crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform is just the arena for the innovator to grow effectively.

A mentor can guide you to get started. A business professional or an individual with an idea can connect immediately with UFOstart AG, to jump-start their start-up. A social platform will get you the social proof you need as an investor and help you find the industry experts you want to work with. Effective mentorship can be found at UFOstart AG.  

Join our first "Global Crowd Network" for Lean Startup funding! Connect with facebook on www.ufostart.com and calculate your Startup Value. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter!

The Spirit of Entrepreneurship: Five Famous Startup Founders

At UFOStart, we're on the cutting edge of helping startups arrange the funding and achieving the entrepreneurship skills they need to become tomorrow's Fortune 500 companies.

Speaking of those companies, many of them were once startups themselves. Here are five of today's most famous entrepreneurs. When we look at them, we're reminded of how a clever business idea, gumption and a willingness to work can reap rich rewards:

Steve Jobs famously started Apple computers in the garage of his parents' Los Altos, California, home in 1976. Although he was partnered with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in the early days of the company, it was Jobs who became the face and spirit of the company. Around the turn of this century, he began introducing the products that would revitalize the aging brand, like the iMac, iPhone, iPod and iTunes.

These days, everyone knows Martha Stewart as a domestic icon. However, she was once a caterer with nearly no name recognition. After finding some success first as a model and then as a stockbroker, she founded a catering company in 1976. The venture was a quick success, and Stewart began writing about entertaining, decorating and other home and lifestyle hobbies that, at the time, had fallen out of fashion. Books, her namesake magazine, a television show and several lines of Martha Stewart-branded products followed. In 2010, the latest year for which statistics are available, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia had annual revenues of around $231 million.

The story of Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network." That movie certainly contained its Hollywood touches, but the gist of it is right: In just a matter of years, Zuckerberg turned a fledgling time-waster for college students into social media's largest company -- in fact, Facebook is largely responsible for the term 'social media' being coined. 

Elon Musk is known for his attention-grabbing stunts and business proposals, like his Hyperloop idea for high-speed personal transportation. The reason people listen to him, though, is that he has business savvy to match his maverick streak. He founded PayPal, which helped revolutionize e-commerce. And while his automobile company, Tesla Motors, isn't exactly Ford or General Motors, its pricey cars are esteemed by wealthy automobile fans.

In 1963, Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay as a door-to-door cosmetics sales company. Using her vast knowledge of beauty products and harnessing the social interconnectedness that marks female friendships, she turned her company into one of the beauty industry's largest firms. In 2011, its revenues were estimated to be around $2.9 billion.

If you're interested in learning more about the work we do with entrepreneurs and startups, feel free to contact us.

Win the last tickets for the first "Startup Night" in Berlin

Berlin is the new Berlin
Maybe you too have realised that Berlin is not only the capital of Germany but also the Startup Capital, to which all entrepreneurs are seemingly moving to in order to build new businesses.

This is why the Deutsche Telekom AG is starting  their first "Startup Night" in Berlin today for which they are currently promoting all over town. We think it’s a great idea and if you are in Berlin, we want you to go to the "Startup Night" - for free :-)

How to WIN!
Here´s your chance to get one of the 10 x 2 Tickets we still have (the event sold out yesterday btw). All you have to do is enter our contest by telling us WHY you want to attend the 1st "Startup Night". Send us an E-Mail with your answer to startupnight@ufostart.com.

What's the program?
The event starts today, Friday the 6st of September with a hackathon especially for programmers. This part of the event will go all night and ends with a award for the winners, chosen by a jury.

Conferences start on Saturday 7th September from 10am - 5pm including discussions with the future chief executive of the Telekom Timotheus Höttges and Werner Vogels (CTO, Amazon Web Services) who is talking to Jess Erickson (CEO, Berlin Geekettes), Carsten Kollmus (CEO, joiz TV) and Jan Beckers (CEO, Hitfox)  about the future collaboration between well-established firms and startups.

There will be more than 80 startups presenting their products and giving you helpful information about how to build a startup. After all that business- and startup-stuff, there will be an international performance on stage with talks, presentations and live music.

LET'S GET CRACKING
Gates for the event open at 6pm today,  so don’t waste any time and tell us here why we should send YOU to this great event.  

Eating Your Own Dog Food

"How a Company Builds Trust in its Product Through Internal Use"

It is no secret that the Linux community keeps a close watch on Microsoft. Even though the once-mighty OS giant from Redmond isn’t the force that it used to be, many still like to keep an eye out for Microsoft not “eating its own dog food” and using its tools and Windows operating system for its own business needs. 

After all, Microsoft’s tool suites and platforms have overwhelmingly been geared toward the B2B market, and so they should be ideal for the company’s own needs, right? However, as long as there has been Linux/Windows feuding, stories such as this, from 2003, that points out that Microsoft used Akamai’s Linux-based site acceleration service, typically generate waves in the tech blogosphere. Of course, the purpose of mentioning this is not to rip on Microsoft, but to demonstrate that it can be a source of embarrassment when a company does not trust its own tools, and even opts to use the tools of its competitor even when it is considered the leader in the problem domain. Not only does expressing the willingness to use a product internally build high confidence in it with the public, it also has other advantages: Historical Pattern of Successful Technologies 

One interesting trait of technologies that have succeeded with the larger public, such as programming languages, is that often they were developed for the use of their creators to solve internal problems.
A good example is C, developed in-house use at Bell Labs as a programming environment for Unix, as opposed to Ada, which was developed for a general market and never flourished as a language. 

Lean Approach to Testing Testing is an expensive but necessary practice, and it often results in some duplicated effort and communication headaches. However, say that you are a VoIP telecommunications provider with large network and a globally distributed workforce. If you use that VoIP platform to connect your employees, you are essentially having your personnel double as field testers with no added costs to either the employees or the company. For a lean startup, dedicated test teams are often out of scope and budget, and therefore this approach can work as an alternative. On top of this, a startup that continues to use an internal technology even after it grows implicitely demonstrates the product's scalability.

How To Stay in Touch With the UFO While On Our Mission

Do you want to know more about how to establish a lean startup and how to involve the crowd? Are you interested in the development of entrepreneurship in Europe and the U.S.? Would you like to stay up to date with our product and business development? 



We tweet and post daily industry news. We blog about entrepreneurship advice for lean start ups. We are on air with our Live Community Hangouts, talking about the UFOstart development, on a weekly basis. There are many ways to stay connected and many more to get in touch:

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Want to stay up to date? Then follow, subscribe, like and stay in touch via the above channels!

-- Join our first "Global Crowd Network" for Lean Startup funding! Connect with facebook on www.ufostart.com and calculate your Startup Value. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter!

Our Intranet Solution: Combining Cloud-based Collaboration Tools

Source: company websites

In large, monolithic business environments, a software license can become make-or-break in terms of productivity.Just managing such licenses (how many clients they can be installed on, what versions they cover, the serial number, etc.) can actually become someone’s full-time job - not even taking into account the technical components of software management. 




Thankfully a cash-strapped startup these days does not have to take this kind of hit on productivity; almost every business need is served in the market by one or more online tools.

Need group chat and collaboration? Google Hangout. Office productivity suite? Google Apps. Storage? SkyDrive, Google Drive or iCloud. Large file transfers? Box. Code repository? Github. Accounting? Freshbooks. Legal matters? Lawpivot. Logo design? 99design. This is just a small selection of the many online solutions we implemented in our every day working life (Which Online Tools should every start up use? Check out our blog). The possibilites are seemingly endless, but selected tools combined in the right way are enough to get a minimal startup off the ground.

Of course, online applications are subject to outages, security risks, and sometimes vendor lock-in. However, most have scaled very well as they have taken on larger volumes of clients and have gone a long way to maintain availability SLAs that approach 100%.

One other potential problem with online applications is that they are sort of created in a vacuum – they are not inherently designed to play nice with each other or be easy to use in conjunction. While the old business intranet was loaded up with local solutions that IT professionals could customize and patch with scripts and in-house apps, bringing web applications together on an intranet is a fairly untested path.

We went out on the search for an intranet that will consolidate all of our tools and can:

• Search over all services: cue, google site search, elastic search
• Bookmarks/site of all services
• Activity stream of all updates: hipchat, yammer etc.
• Calendar events, birthdays..

Thanks to the comments we received we identified three powerful cloud services for our start up. Here's a synopsis of their pros and cons:

Meldium: Logging in and out of the various services needed to keep a business flowing with purely online applications can be a challenge. That’s where Meldium comes in:

Pros:

• Access management (account sharing without sharing username and password with the team)
• 500+ world class apps are supported, wide variety
• Secure via two factor authentication (!)

Cons

• Doesn’t provide member roles 
• Mobile version not yet available 
• Doesn’t provide advanced search for members

Busyflow: brings cloud-based productivity apps onto a single screen - for collaboration and synchronization purposes.

Pros:

• Invite colleagues to a certain workspace
• Superior dashboard for all feeds
• Distinguish between feed (read) and discussion (write)

Cons:

• Adding tasks isn't possible as a shared option (!)
• Doesn't connect Evernote
• Paid plan for more than 3 members per workspace - 5$ /month

Hojoki: Great collaboration home base with an integration of over 30 apps to manage productivity streams across platforms

Pros:

• Invite colleagues to a certain workspace
• Create / assign tasks
• Wide range of apps supported via API

Cons:

• Tasks only have 2 progress-options (open & done) and cannot be assigned to a group
• Doesn’t provide a superior feed for all workspaces
• Paid plan for more than 5 members per workspace - 5$ /month

We are now working with Meldium and Hojoki in our daily collaboration and see the added benefit of this combination to our online workspace! Do you have any further suggestions of online intranet solutions? Do you have questions about our experience with Hojoki or Meldium? We would love to hear from you in our comments below!

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Join our first "Global Crowd Network" for Lean Startup funding! Connect with facebook on www.ufostart.com and calculate your Startup Value. Interested in how you can leverage the power of the crowd for your startup? Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter!