I was recently interviewed on the role of sponsorships in events by SponsorsWin, an ongoing discussion, online roundtable and showcase for the new trend in online promotion: sponsorships instead of ads. In this interview, I discuss the role of sponsors, how to make sponsorships more effective and various other issues and solutions in the world of event sponsorships. Below is an excerpt of the interview:

“Sponsors pay a pretty important role in a number of facets. From an organizational standpoint, we run events under our name, Do It In Person, and our main sponsor for those events is American Airlines, who plays a huge role. First of all, they help us get from city to city to run our events through their sponsorship, and additionally, they give real credibility to our organization. If people see that your sponsor is Jack on the street, people don’t look at your event as a serious event, but when American Airlines is the sponsor, in people’s minds, that event just took a step up because there must be something there. On this corporate level, they’re great for giving our events some credibility.

On a smaller scale, on a per-event basis, sponsors add a lot of value in a number of different ways. We have a networking event coming up, and one of our sponsors is Uber. Uber is a transportation company that sends black cars on demand. They’re giving event attendees $20 off their first ride. This not only adds value to the event, but it’s something meaningful and relevant.”

You can read the full interview at http://sponsorswin.squidoo.com/case-studies/aron-schoenfeld-on-a-great-sponsor-by-providence

While networking events generally have a business angle to them, they really are no different than a singles mixer. Everyone in attendance is there looking to meet others to make connections and start some type of business relationship. The relationship starts at the event, there is a follow up “date” and if the business relationship progresses past the first meeting, the individuals can tell people that they met at that event. Obviously most networking events are not about finding the most attractive person or how many numbers you are going to get (for most people), but it is still about meeting and interacting with some great people that can help you find what you need for your business.

Like anything else that you do, first impressions will often make or break a meeting or conversation. And when being thrown into a room with 100+ other people to network, whether it be happy hour, speed dating or pitching format, that first thing you say will often determine whether or not the person you met will want to continue the conversation and if there will be a follow up email and meeting.  Some people are just naturally comfortable walking over to others and engaging in conversation. Others like to drift over and drift into an existing conversation and let the current discussion be the icebreaker. But no matter what you try and do, there will always be at least one instance where someone comes over or you are in a situation where it is just you and someone else.

Your icebreaker or “pickup line” at these events will often be the key to your success or failure at an event. Getting someone to want to engage and network is critical. Reading a name tag and saying “So what do you do for Microsoft” is usually not very engaging and seems like you have nothing better to offer than having them just tell you their story and you deciding if it can help you.

I recently posted on Gplus to get some expert feedback on what a quality icebreaker would be and received some great responses (you can see the answers here). What I found is that there are really two different approaches people take, the no nonsense approach and the engaging approach. The no nonsense approach is predicated on the fact that people that are there have limited time and are there for the same purpose, to meet people that can help them. They are more straightforward, tell people this is who they are and what they do and if its not a match immediately, move on to the next person. This will not build relationships but rather serves the purpose of the task and event at hand.  The more engaging approach is you asking the people something about themselves, often to make it easier to find something in common or at least have a conversation that can lead to some type of discussion, even if you can’t help each other. Some of the questions people suggested included, what is your biggest challenge now, what are you looking for so I can help you and tell me a bit about what you and your company do.

While these are both good approaches depending on what you need, I think that the icebreaker needs to be looked at in the context of a conversation. There needs to be a quick icebreaker, a quick 20-30 second pitch, the conversation and how to end the conversation to move on to other people (this is usually more awkward than the icebreaker).

• Quick intro – Have your 10 second pitch ready. This should include your name, company or product you are representing at the event and maybe one tidbit about you or the company that will peak someone’s interest and want to hear more about the company or you. My name is Aron Schoenfeld and I founded Do It In Person, a new startup aiming to make these events more relevant and meaningful for attendees like us. We are looking for feedback from people that attend events to make the platform better.

• Pitch – You should go into an event with two pitches, one about you and one about your company. The other person may ask about either one and you want to have something prepared in your head so that you can talk easily about the subject; be prepared so that when you talk, you sound fluid and loose and not sound like you are reading a script. Your company pitch should have the basic info, enough so that the user can understand it and a quit bit about where your company is such as we just launched or are launching in the summer. Your pitch should give people a quick description of you, your job title and what you do for the company. Both pitches need to give enough to make people want to know more and should also be in the context of the event, perhaps even adding what your purpose at the event is.

• Closing – This is always the most awkward part of the night just like at a singles event where you try and get the persons phone number and ask if you can take them out. The first and often most important part is to know when to end the conversation. Look for the classic signs like the person you are talking to looking at their watch or phone, looking around the room or getting fidgety. When these start to happen, you are losing their interest an it is often better to wrap up and schedule a call or meeting then to continue on. It may not even be because of you, but rather they want to meet a speaker or someone else at the event. A quick wrap up and asking them for a business card is always appropriate, as is asking them what the best way to reach them is – phone or email. Make sure to say how nice it was to meet them and try and remind them of something memorable about you that you can use to remind them who you are. I always like to write down a quick note about them on the card as well to help me remember or use in the email header to get their attention.

Networking is tough and not everyone knows what they are doing. But by attending an event, everyone is putting themselves out there so the least you can do is be prepared. View it as a great way to meet people and the business will come. Once you get it down pat, you will find that things just start happening because you are active in helping others along with yourself.

Note: This is the second of 3 posts on networking. Next week’s post will deal with post event follow-ups with new connections. Our first post was on How to Choose What Networking Event To Attend. 

On any given night in New York City, there are 3 to 4 events that seem to be appropriate for me to attend. I can only imagine that for others, the number is either about the same, or even greater. Over the past few years, sites like Meetup and Eventbrite have made it easier than ever before for people to create events. Regardless of the content, the goal for most attendees is to network and meet others that share their interests. The challenge is, with the cost of the events and the time commitment to attend, how do you pick the right event to attend so that you meet the right people.

Advertising is always deceptive, especially when it comes to events. Organizers claim to have groups of 11,000 members or show a list of attendees, many of which they added themselves. While this gives you a feel for the community or event, it doesn’t tell you what you really need to know: how meaningful and relevant is to you. Just like each event has a specific purpose, you should be going in with a specific purpose and a goal to achieve it. These goals can be as broad as meeting the most people to meeting a specific person. They could be focused on hearing a particular speaker or trying to learn about an industry. Based on these goals, which may vary from event to event, you will be able to get an idea of which events you should attend.

I recently posted on Gplus asking people what they look for when searching for an event to attend. A few people commented that it is based upon who is going to be there and recommendations from friends. While I agree with these wholeheartedly, my question is more about how do you evaluate the attendees or recommendations since no two people have the same goals. Unfortunately, you often have to find out the hard way that an event isn’t for you. But even then, making the best of it can turn it into a productive night.

Three of the things I think are essential to picking an event to attend are:

Price – I am always wary of free events for two reasons. The first is that everyone signs up but not everyone attends so you never know who will actually be there. Secondly, it doesn’t create a filter where someone who shouldn’t be attending says that they aren’t going to pay to go since it’s the wrong events. A small charge to get in, usually offset by food or drinks, goes a long way to ensuring a higher quality audience.

Community – Does this event tie back to a community. I am not referring to partners because every group offers to be a media partner for the free press, but rather does this group have a Meeetup page, LinkedIn group or Facebook page that you can look at and see what kind of people are associated with it and what type of discussions and messages the members are sharing. You will learn very quickly if it is a “can I help you” community or a “buy from me” community.

Organizer – Who is the organizer for the event and what is their motivation. Unfortunately, many organizers are motivated by one of two things, money and selling their product. By emailing the event organizer and asking them for more information about the event, who they are trying to attract and getting a sense of the purpose of the event, you will have a much clearer picture of the event than an invite can give you. A good organizer will also ask you about yourself and who they can introduce you to or how they can help you. That alone will make an event meaningful as you will know which people you need to meet. It also lets you know how well the organizer knows their community. Organizers such as Graham Lawlor of Ultra Light Startups, Gary Whitehill of Entrepreneur Week and #ROOTT and Aaron Price of the NJ Tech Meetup all do a great job at this and this is one of the main reasons their communities are growing so quickly.

Obviously, for each person there will be different things to look at and look for when choosing an event but I think these three really will allow you to filter the list of events down to a smaller number of quality events for you to choose from. At the end of the day, a good networker will make the best of each event and turn it into a successful night. I would love to hear your feedback and ideas on what is important to you when you choose an event. Feel free to comment or post it on Gplus.

Note: This is the first of 3 posts on networking. Next week’s post will deal with how to effectively break the ice and approach people at an event and the last post will talk about post event follow ups with new connections. 

Networking is an essential function of any entrepreneur. It is one of the factors that make entrepreneurs not just people with ideas but part of a larger community that is always willing to help each other, make introductions and create partnerships. Investors realize this as well and are very active in the networking space either through attending events, participating by speaking or being on a panel at an event or even by sponsoring events. While networking events have evolved over the years, at the end of the day, most people are there to meet others and build their network.

As more and more groups pop up in a city via Meetup, LinkedIn, Facebook or their own websites, many of these organizers realize that they need to create events to bring their groups together so it is not just another social forum, but rather a real community. Over the last three years, we have seen an abundance of events popping up, to the point where many people stopped attending because they don’t know which events are meaningful for them. In New York City alone, there are probably three events a night seven days a week that would be worth going to.

It doesn’t stop there, even at the event, you find many people are there to meet a specific VC or investor, are service providers or just don’t know how to network. This diminishes the value of the event for other attendees and your time is valuable.

So how can people make their networking experience effective? Over the next few weeks I will be gathering feedback via Gplus.com on the three essential parts of networking and will post my thoughts along with some feedback from others. Below are the 3 items I feel are essential, hyperlinked to the discussion page.

• How do you pick the right networking event to go to?
• How do you break the ice when meeting someone at a networking event?
• How do you follow up with people you met to turn that connection into something of value?

While these items seem rather standard, I have found them to be real pain points for those who love networking. I would love to get feedback and thoughts on these areas so that my post is not just my view, but also the views of those that have these same pain points as they are networking.

There is a big misconception that entrepreneurs run around, hang out all the time, go to events around the country and don’t have any structure to their life. People think that the entrepreneurial lifestyle is doing what you want, when you want. While there is some truth to it in the sense that entrepreneurs are always on the go, hustling to make things happen; successful entrepreneurs will tell you that structure is an essential part of the success for your company.

Will Corrente, a successful entrepreneur from S. Florida, once told me that a good entrepreneur doesn’t need to pull all-nighters constantly or work 23-hour days. Yes, there will be long days when things have to get done, but with an organized plan, you can work 9-5 and be successful.  While most entrepreneurs say that they work 24/7, it is worth noting that they spend those hours caught up in the entrepreneurial lifestyle of running from event to event, constant meetings and various conferences, which causes them to have those crazy hours. But no matter how many events you attend or meetings you run to, creating structure in your business will not only help you manage and grow your company, but provide structure for your team.

Here are some tips that can help you give your startup structure even while you are running around being an entrepreneur:

• Set daily, weekly and monthly goals: It is very easy to get caught up in projects, ideas and meetings. By setting goals for yourself, you give yourself accountability and something to measure. A simple spreadsheet listing your tasks and giving them deadlines or breaking them down into daily, weekly and monthly tasks will allow you to know what you need to complete before you are done for the day. I have seen people keep this as a spreadsheet, a printout in a folder they always carry or in Google docs, where they can access it anytime. If you don’t accomplish a goal or task, it should roll over to the next period with a note as to why you weren’t able to accomplish it. This can be as sophisticated as you want and could include a priority rating system, color-coding or by area. But no matter what method you choose, use this list to ensure that you are accomplishing what you set out to.

• Use the cloud: Cloud computing is an incredible tool. Google docs, dropbox and now even Microsoft Office have created a platform that allows you to take your work with you wherever you go. By keeping your documents on the cloud, you can work on them anywhere and anytime, eliminating downtime or wasted time. I often see people working on documents through dropbox on their Ipad on the subway, which makes their travel time to the meetings more productive. While this may or may not be for you, it goes to show how using the cloud could help you turn downtime waiting for someone into an opportunity to get your work done so you don’t need to stay up all night.

•  An office or desk to work at: Have a place that you can call your office. Whether it is at home, a Starbucks or a co-working space, this will give you a sense of “working” and a refuge from all the distractions out there. When you are at that desk it is your time to work uninterrupted. A simple place that you can call your office will give you a boost in your productivity and allow you to focus on your tasks. It also lets people around you know that you are working and busy and that you should not be disturbed.

• Set a schedule: Everyone has a crazy schedule and entrepreneurs tend to be on the phone, meeting others and at events more than most people. Create a basic schedule for yourself so you have your meeting days, blocks of time for calls and your event nights. This will give you a chance to be more productive. Knowing that all of Tuesday is meetings and every day from 2-4 are phone calls; you can allot your time to your tasks more appropriately and be more productive in the time that you set for work. Sites like Tungle.me, which allow for you to set a schedule and people to request meetings work great.

These are just a few tips that can help create a sense of organization in a seemingly un-organized world. Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you need to be working 24/7, but rather it means that there is no one else holding you accountable for your work and time. Founding an organization, starting a team, and turning your ideas into reality means being a leader; In order to effectively lead you must begin with yourself. Making yourself accountable for your own goals will help grow your organization and instill structure and accountability in your team and their work as your startup grows into a real company.

One of the biggest challenges facing an entrepreneur, especially those first timers, is balancing their job that pays the bills with their desire to start a company or business. Unfortunately the reality is that starting a company costs money and bills need to be paid. This is why most people never actually get their idea beyond the idea stage. But for those who do, many need to continue in their nine to five job to support the development of their idea. The biggest question with this is not if you should do it, but how you can work both 9 to 5 and 5 to 9 and balance the two.

Starting a company is difficult. It requires a lot of research, dedication and hard work. Most people feel like they are married to their company, at least for the first few years. But when working at an office, it is very hard to keep that passion alive without causing any issues. Below are a few of the issues and suggestions for dealing with this.

Don’t bring your work to work – Most people have an initial reaction that they will bring the work from their startup to the other office and do it in their downtime. While this may be a great way to get work done and stay entertained, it is also a great way to get fired. Reality is that most startups don’t make it so you need to keep yourself in a position of being hirable. You need to use your time at your job to perform your job and use downtime like your lunch break or after hours to do your other work. For those that work better in that office environment, go in 1-2 hours early to work on your startup or idea before the workday starts.

Keep it on the down low – Many people get very excited with their startup and idea and have a hard time keeping it to themselves. It is very easy for someone to tell the co-worker they confide in. Everyone has that one co-worker to whom they bash their boss or complain how unfair the office is. People are always tempted to say that they have an idea that will be their way out of that office. People like to talk and often have another co-worker they chat with and confide in as well. As the saying goes, loose lips sink ships and all it takes is one person to let the word slip to a boss or human resources and you will find yourself working full time on your startup a lot sooner than you hoped for.

Don’t use company resources for your business – Your company’s supplies belong to your company, not your startup. Many people like to sneak mail into their company’s postage machine or take supplies home for personal use. This is not only unethical but can raise red flags. A company will tend to look the other way for a few personal letters but once you are using it for businesses, especially one that could potentially distract you from doing your job at 100% capacity, they will not look so kind on that. Additionally, resources are not just physical resources, but intellectual property as well. If you idea is in a similar space as the company you work for, be extra careful not to use proprietary research or data as you plan your company, as you will raise a lot of red flags, especially when you tell them that you are leaving to start your own company.

Establish milestones that will dictate when you quit you job or quit your idea – The easiest mistake to make when starting a business is quitting your job too soon and realizing after 4-5 months that your new startup is not ready for launch or not able to pay your bills. People save up money for a few months to allow them to leave work and have that “income” while they work on a startup and plan to have a salary or money from the startup after that to keep it going. What many people forget is that most of the money a startup makes in the first few months goes into development and other expenses like web hosting. Very rarely does a company have enough money in 3-4 months to have someone draw a salary. Founders must establish milestones that allow them to monitor when they are really ready to leave and have their company support them or find a co-founder who can handle the day to day. One specific instance I have seen recently is the 2 founders became roommates and one works full time so the other can quit their job and run the company full time. They work like a married couple, but after all, isn’t that what co-founders are?

It’s not easy being an entrepreneur while working at a 9 to 5 for someone else. It takes a lot of discipline to make sure that your dreams and vision don’t cloud your better judgment. Being out of a job with no money won’t get your startup going. But if you can find a way to balance the two jobs and use one as a means to support the other, you will head down a path that many other successful entrepreneurs have travelled.

Most startups, at least in their really early stages, do not have the infrastructure or even an office in which to build a team. It is often too early to go out and hire staff because much of the required work is research related and there is no money to pay employees. Research, social media postings and data entry generally don’t require much experience and can easily be outsourced on sites like Odesk.com or with services like NoonDalton. However we are seeing more and more people look for interns for their startup, specifically for social media.

One of the key reasons for this is that many students can’t find jobs and are desperate to do anything that gives them experience and may lead to a job. Another key reason is that there is such a push towards entrepreneurship that everyone wants to be part of the next Facebook. With this mindset, there is tremendous opportunity for companies and interns if done correctly.

Finding an intern is easier than it has ever been. There are incredible internship website such as Urban Interns that not only make it easy to find interns, but they allow you to get a feel for the interns’ schedule and talents and communicate with them in a formal yet informal nature. Additionally with the abundance of students looking for a job, a quick call to your alma matter or any local college campus will usually result in a lot of resumes being sent your way. The truth is, the hardest part of the intern process is being able to find the right one for your company. As many start-up don’t have a brick-and-mortar site, many interns work remotely; being able to keep them engaged is key since compensation, if any, is minimal.

Remembering back to my college days, everyone talked to friends or their parents friends about finding a job for a few hours a week just to have something to put on a resume. The description of the job and the tasks are taken by the career development office and beefed up to what “employers want to see.” Students are coached on how to interview and are told exactly what to do in response to each part of the interview from the handshake to the follow up letter.

So when I find an intern and want to “interview” them, I don’t ask for a resume or cover letter, I don’t do a formal meeting and don’t have a specific set of questions. College students have no idea what they want but they have an idea of what path they want their career to start on. I find the best way to interview and hire is by having a casual conversation, finding out what they like and don’t like doing. The most important thing is to make sure that they can be taught and are willing and able to learn and grow. Your job as an employer is to teach and guide the intern to help them with their future employment by you or elsewhere. The intern’s job is to find an employer that can teach them. Make the interview a conversation and make sure it works for everyone. Once you find someone you like, make sure to get him or her on board quickly and integrate them into your team.

It is fairly simple to offer an intern a job if it is a salaried position and the hours and pay are set. However, in many cases, if the internship is for credit or just for experience (no pay) there are certain steps that should be taken to protect both employers and intern from wasting each other’s time. Some of these issues that I have seen employers face include how to compensate your intern, delegating work, learning how to manage an intern remotely, and how to handle the end of the internship.

Most of the challenges that people have with interns is working with them remotely and around their college schedule. Employers often forget that the purpose of an intern is not just cheap labor, but for the student to learn and gain experience that will help them with their career. It is an easy trap to fall into to just send over research tasks that require minimum supervision, but if that is all the intern will do, be upfront about it. Key things that should be discussed upfront to ensure that the internship is effective are what is the schedule of the intern, how much time can they devote to work, a set day and time for a weekly call or Skype to discuss the work done and new tasks, a preferred method of communication (email or phone) and the best way to share the documents (Dropbox is an excellent way for all teams to collaborate). This will set the parameters to make the workflow effective.

Sites like Dropbox, basecamp or even just google docs, make it super simple for teams to work together, no matter where the team members are located. By creating a way to have interns work remotely, it not only gives you a wider net in which you can find a great intern but it allows you to potentially expand the reach of the company by leveraging your intern, their school and their friends/social media. But in order for it to work, both employer and intern must be serious about making it work. Keep the intern in the loop with other employees, company news and all updates and news via email to ensure that no matter where they are working from, they feel like part of the team. Using some of the steps mentioned above will allow you to make it work effectively.

The hardest part of the process of hiring an intern is how you will compensate them. There are many schools that allow students to obtain credit for their internship with no out-of-pocket expense for the employer. This is an ideal situation as everyone is receiving some benefit and the student is gaining not only experience, but college credit as well. However in cases where there is no credit involved, most startups have no money to offer the intern. What I have found is that in today’s economic climate, when there are no paying internships available, most students understand this and are willing to work for experience. In some cases they want to get paid but this can often be negotiated as a one-time stipend, off the books payment or through some other means. It is important to remember that despite the internship being beneficial to them, no one wants to work for free. If you can’t pay them, be upfront and discuss it with them so that you are all on the same page and no one has unrealistic expectations. Treat your intern as you would want an employee to treat you and most often everyone will be happy. And in the case that you can’t afford to pay them, make sure to do something special for them or get them a gift as a thank you. Something like a gift card or iPad goes a long way as a thank you for 4 months of hard work. They will appreciate it more than any paycheck because it is unexpected.

Once an internship period is completed, it is essential to have a meeting or call with the intern just like an exit interview for any employee. This exit interview serves a few purposes such as giving the intern feedback on their work and internship, giving them things to work on to help them to succeed in their next job, learning how they perceived you as a boss and what you can do better, and if they did a good job, gauging their interest in potentially working for you and your startup in the future. The first two items really focus on the intern and it is appropriate to give critical feedback. Many people try to sugar coat it since it is just an internship, but that is not helping them grow professionally and it ultimately is a disservice to the intern. The latter two points are essential for your professional growth. Just because you are the founder of a company, it does not qualify you to be a CEO and doesn’t make you a good leader. Taking feedback, even from your intern, will let you know the skills you need to be a better manager of your employees. Asking the intern if they would work for your company when they graduate allows you to get feedback on not only would they work for you and your team, but gives you an outsider’s perspective on where they think the company is headed. This should open a discussion about ideas, your business, etc… You will be amazed at what you can learn from an intern. Also make sure to provide a letter of recommendation or evaluation of the interns work so that they can use it in the future when looking for a job.

While much of the information in this post may seem to be common sense, many startups view interns as free labor and often confuse that term with “slave labor” as well. At the early stages of your company, treat an intern as you would any employee and not only will they work harder, they will become an essential part of your team that can grow with your company.

One theme that you will probably see recurring in all of my posts is the importance of building a cohesive team that compliments each other. Each company will have its own process for this such as attending “find a co-founder” events, asking your network, posting on entrepreneurial job boards or even just emailing people whose profiles match your needs on LinkedIn. But the big challenge for a startup is putting a team together or hiring staff with little to no capital. In the regular business world, hiring with no money is unheard of. But as all entrepreneurs can tell you, not only is it the norm in the entrepreneurial community, but an accepted practice.

The first step in the process is identifying your essential needs as a company. This may be your developer to build the website or a CEO type, both roles that will shape the vision of the company. Once you have moved beyond the essential parties, the ideas guy and the developer, it gets a bit tricky. There are many services that a startup will need in advance of or immediately after the launch which are essential to the company. These include legal work, marketing/PR and social media amongst others. The management team must decide what is worth bringing in house vs. hiring a company to do on a per project basis. I recently heard Justin Smith, VP at Zillow.com, talk about how having a marketing plan may be the most essential part of launching a startup. But it is up to the team to determine if they need a marketing person or they can hire a marketing firm for strategy.

Building a team around your needs as a company is essential to your success. If you don’t have any cash flow for 3 months, there is no need to hire an accountant. Additionally, many times you can find people that have multiple areas of expertise allowing you to save money. A web developer that also does graphic design may streamline the development process and save you money.

Once you have identified the talent that you need and want to hire, with little to no money, how do you pay them, especially when you are at the idea or development stage? There are quite a few options and this process is easier than you think.

1. The first and probably most popular practice is “hiring” or “obtaining” a co-founder. Most people start a company with an idea and then look to find a technical co-founder, who will be responsible for design and development of the site and actually building your product. They come in as a co-founder and get a piece of equity in the company and you work hand in hand with them to develop the product and strategy. In rare cases, I have seen people bring in non-technical co-founders for their expertise, but very often this can be accomplished through making them an advisor or board member, where you can gain their expertise without giving up any equity. It is also easier than ever to find a co-founder with many “find a co-founder” events popping up all over the place. I recently came across a new company founded by Jessica Alter called Founder Dating, which creates ways for people to meet their co-founders online and offline.

2. The second option relates more to non-founder positions where a startup may bring a service provider into the company as a partner. This makes sense in certain cases where the service provided is needed on a recurring basis. However, many entrepreneurs, in an effort to kick start their company, will make this offer without thinking of the long term effect on the company itself. Making an equity commitment to a service provider not only ties you to that provider but also dilutes your available equity, which may better be served to hire new employees. One thing to clear in advance of the commitment is that if they become an equity partner, it is not just for this job, but there is a written understanding of all the services that they will provide you and the duration of the commitment. Add a vesting schedule tied to this performance to cover your own ass as well.

3. The third option is used for companies that are in pre-launch and have some money in place. They hire employees at a set salary but they pay them only a percentage of that salary until funding is obtained. It works like a bridge loan in the sense that these employees see the vision, add value and want to be part of the bigger picture. They take anywhere from around 40-50% of the agreed upon salary and receive shares or options in return. They work and help the company obtain funding and once funded, they receive their agreed upon salary.

4. The last option is the hybrid. This is becoming a more popular option, where you pay a service provider a small percentage of the project and give them equity as well. KAYWEB Angels uses this model to invest in startups that need development. A big advantage to this is that not only are they covering their cost with your payments, but they are incentivized to be a bigger part of the overall project and help grow it into a big company from the earliest stage.

No matter what you choose, make sure that it is in the best interest of your company and you have written documentation regarding scope and payment terms before any money or equity changes hands. Protect yourself, your vision and your company.  Make sure you are thinking about the long term growth and success of your company and don’t get blinded by your immediate needs. Build towards the future and you will be primed for success.

Linsanity has taken over New York and slowly spread across the nation. Jeremy Lin has saved the Knicks, who had become a laughingstock, and the NBA, which never fully recovered from the lockout. His rise from last man on the bench to the savior of the Knicks is an extremely inspirational story and while everyone tries to paint this story as the American dream, there are a lot of real life lessons that can be learned from his story. Below are some of the ones that came to my mind.

Be prepared – You never know when your shot will come. You can get passed up, beat down and even sent packing, but all it takes is one call to get things started. But it is what you do in advance of that call that will often determine your success. As entrepreneurs, we are always one phone call away from something great happening. But we need to be prepared for that call. Have your elevator pitch perfected, work on your slide deck, and most importantly, have a plan to get people excited about your product and more importantly, yourself. Research your competition, know the industry and be able to take a call and give over the information needed at a moment’s notice. You never know when the opportunity will present itself. But as the saying goes, failure to prepare is preparing to fail. But now, once you have prepared, seize the day!

Seize the day – It is not every day that you get an opportunity that can change your career or business. Jeremy Lin was a guy who was passed over, passed around and was the 5^th choice for point guard for the Knicks. Various things all happened at the same time and he found himself as the starting point guard for the Knicks. It is a matter of him being in the right place at the right time and getting the opportunity of a lifetime, and he seized it. He worked hard to prepare for that moment and gave it all that he had and he has since turned that simple opportunity into a worldwide phenomenon. 

As entrepreneurs, we often find ourselves trying to connect with angel investors, VCs, media outlets like TechCrunch, Mashable and Tech Cocktail to get our name out. More often than not, you get told that the idea isn’t good, you will never get funding or just a simple “we aren’t interested.” But the opportunities will come, whether it is pitching at a pitch event or a chance to meet the right person at a networking event. It is how we prepare for that moment that will turn it into something that will make your idea a reality or get passed over again like in the past. Use that opportunity to create a buzz, the kind of buzz that makes people talk about how upset they are for passing you over. Once you get that traction going, it won’t stop until you give them a reason to.

Leadership and success are contagious – When you look at the New York Knicks over the last two weeks, everyone’s first thought is that Jeremy Lin saved their season. They should not have won 6 games in a row. When you have a leader like Jeremy Lin, everyone starts playing better and others start contributing in big ways.

Over the last year we have seen this phenomenon twice in sports, first with Tim Tebow and now with Jeremy Lin. People want to attribute it to god or religion or some outside power, but the reality is they are able to do what they do because of the position they are in. Both play positions that make them the leader of the team. They both call the plays, have the ball in their hands and are responsible for deciding where it will go, who to pass it to and maintaining the pace of the game and their team. In both cases, they lead by example and gave their team the belief that they can succeed, no matter who they play against. Their leadership skills single handedly picked up their team and made them believe. A good leader does that and makes his employees better just through the excitement he creates. That excitement leads to better meetings, better phone calls and more productivity. These factors make the average employee an above average employee. A good leader will take that and keep it going, whether through direct involvement, meetings or other means to continue to pick their employees up and put them in situations that will lead to success.

Success leads to more success – As leaders put their employees and co-workers in situations that allow them to excel, they are able to create a chain of successes and not just a one-day surge. A leader’s job is to help maintain this, but many times it happens on its own. Success is like an avalanche; it gets bigger and bigger as it goes down the mountain. One success motivates employees to go after the next one. It is an opportunity to sell clients on the past success and it keeps going as long as that motivation is in front of them. Human nature is to sit back and celebrate/enjoy a success for a day or two but most entrepreneurs use the success to work harder. Remember that the avalanche has to stop at a certain point because there is a bottom of the mountain but you can make that avalanche as big as you want on its way down. Ride the wave and watch it grow on its way down.

It’s all about the right fit – The argument over Jeremy Lin’s long term viability as a point guard really comes down to one main issue, does the coach’s system make him a great player or is he a great player regardless of the system. While he definitely is not a system guy, Lin is most likely this good because the system plays to his strengths, but at the same time, he is talented and good at what he does.
A CEO or salesman may be great in whatever field they work in, but hiring them without having them prove themselves first is dangerous. You need to make sure that the people on your team are the right fit for both your company/team and industry. A fashion designer may have built a huge brand but that may not translate to a technology company. Or you may hire a great manager for the company, but if their management style is very corporate and you believe in a more open environment, that won’t work either. You need to find people with talent that fits your system, only then will you truly excel.

Obviously, basketball and starting a company are very different. But out of every story, there are great lessons that can be learned and carried over to all aspects of a business and how you run the company. Each of us may have learned different lessons from the Jeremy Lin story and we would love to hear yours in the comments below. There are also some great lessons on Next Web, which is worth a read.

“Money you can lose many times, but you can only lose your reputation once.” – Mukesh Ambani

Your reputation and how others perceive you will play an important role in all of your business dealings. Whether it is for partnership opportunities, investments or just networking, your reputation will precede you and others will often have an expectation. Whether it is from social media, online background checks or asking around your circles, information is very easy to come by and will play a big part in determining whether or not you succeed.

Let’s be honest, before meeting someone for the first time, whether for a date or business meeting, most people Google and Facebook search the person they are going to meet. You want to know what they look like, see some of the more recent things that they have done, see their interests, all for the sake of “knowing” who you are about to meet. While there is nothing wrong with this, it makes it even more imperative for people to make sure their reputation is kept in check.

First impressions often make or break a relationship. When someone googles you, what do they see? Is it the picture of you with your family on vacation or the party of you drinking and smoking up at some party (yes, I have actually seen pictures like this). Will they see posts from you or articles using foul language cursing others out or will they see someone who adds insight to the things that matter to them. Will they see someone bashing a religious or political point of view or will they see someone who posts about issues that affect us, regardless of affiliation.

One great example is last year I was on a college campus for a campaign my company was working on and I met a few students who kept in touch with business and career questions. They followed me on social media sites and I followed their posts a bit to see how college students are using social media. One day, I saw someone post a picture of a nude woman and then a video with a porn clip that they were sharing with their friends in a humorous context. I had spoken to that person the night before and made some introductions for a summer internship. I quickly texted her and said that I believed her account was hacked, which she told me was not the case – the picture and video were part of an inside joke from a party she went to. I told her that my contacts will ask for her social media information and if she wanted a job, she should take the picture and video down right away.

Social media is your way to share your “voice” with others and everything you do and post reflects as your point of view. Whatever you post helps people perceive you, and more often than not, understand you better than when you are trying to sell yourself to them. If you bash Republicans for their policies and call them names, you better hope that you are not meeting a Republican because they will already believe that you don’t share similar ideas. If you post that the government is stupid for pulling out all of its troops and we should send in more troops, you better hope your meeting isn’t with someone who has a son in the army. Every piece of information you type goes to create the reputation that others will use in evaluating you. You need to ensure that all posts you are tagged in or tweets that mention you do not conflict with who you are and what you want your perceived to be. If they aren’t, un-tag yourself, report it as spam or even unfriend/unfollow and block that person. Losing a friend is a lot less harmful than losing your reputation.

Your reputation is not just defined by a business reputation, but rather how employees, co-workers and even family view you. How you manage that with the content you post online will help shape you and how others perceive you. By being careful and aware of what you are posting on social media and what others post about you,  you can continue to manage the perception that is being created of you.