No, Social Media is not a fad and it is here to say. I am sure most of you have realized how businesses and startups are leveraging various social media tools to promote, engage customers, build relationships, to generate leads, for customer service, PR issues and so on.

So we do understand the importance of social media, and incorporating it into a web design. It is important to get the viewers attention to social media links and for that you need a good strategy and phenomenal design. To design good call-to-action social media icons you need to think about style, size, positioning and approach etc. You need the attention of your viewers without distracting them from the actual website content. Your social media icons should be easily locatable and recognizable.

Feel free to get in touch with us for inspiring Web 2.0 design social media icons

Here are a few social media icons for inspiration; 

ClinicYou – clinicyou.com is a Web 2.0 based application for clinicians and medical services. A web based practice management software with nothing to install. Its design perfectly suits the description of ‘Web 2.0 Design’.

1.Artistic attraction

The biggest advantage of web 2.0 design is that you get an opportunity to vent out your creativity in a very artistic way. It captures the audience attention easily and helps you keep them at your site for a long time. You can clearly see this on the ClinicYou.com homepage;

2.Content range

In Web 2.0 design, you can use larger fonts to decorate your webpage. Experimenting with new fonts is a basic change which has come with web 2.0. You can focus on vital key phrases with a larger font.

3.Effortless Navigation

Viewers of your site expect flawless navigation when they come to your website. Every Web 2.0 website demands that you keep the navigation system very easy for your users.

4.Design Capability

The best feature of Web 2.0 design is mainly the logo design capability. You can design significant large logos which is very important for brand promotion. This can easily capture the eyes of your viewers.

5.Use of Helpful icons

One can use impressive icons on the important areas of a website to draw attention of your viewers. Putting noticeable icons is again increasing design capability. The icons will automatically put visitors at your required area.

6.Number of columns reduced

The less the number of columns, the more is the clarity of a website. Infusing too many columns reduces the simplicity of the website. In Web 2.0 style, columns are kept minimal.

7.Simple Looking

The Web 2.0 concept has a lot of new features, so the design is kept simple and minimal for the users. You can achieve your objective only by keeping the design simple.

The Web Designing world is marching forward with an array of features. Web 2.0 designs are taking a step ahead with modernized features by capturing viewer concentration.

photo credit: cambodia4kidsorg

1.Communicate your Leverage Point

Let people know what you can do ‘differently’. Entrepreneurs should talk about their capital efficiency. Probably you are doing some work cheaper than others or you have access to a group of customers – think of any leverage point you have and flaunt it.

2.Communicate through a story

People find stories interesting and exciting. There was this problem and I thought this product would be perfect. Know more about the idea and your product and have a good story with it.

3.Accept that your Startup may have flaws

Every startup has one issue or the other in the early days and accept these issues. Don’t spend time convincing others why your startup is like this or like that. Spend that energy in explaining what your startup may grow up as.

4.Plan Small and Dream Big

In the early days you can’t be extravagant and you need to explain this to be funded properly.

We suggest you read this post at OnStartups for more insight to the topic  

Even though I know an idea is likely going to take more cash than the entrepreneur things, I prefer backing people that believe they can do it with little cash and try to do so.  As Josh said, learn to fail cheaper

photo credit: awezmaz

These points may come across as basic, but these are the small points one should keep in mind when launching a startup;

1.Start by thinking small and extend your thinking from there. Small and simple thinking will allow you to concentrate on what is important

2.Higher good coders/technical people in every department 3.Financial reward is good, but aspiring entrepreneurs should first look out for opportunities where thy can learn. Allow employees to take on projects even if they don’t have the qualifications.

4.Don’t manage profit, but cash flow. Money in and money out should be the only two financial yardsticks that matter.

5.Perfection is the enemy of success (incase of startups). Speed is better than perfection.

6.Sell, sell and sell. Selling to everyone including business world, employees and suppliers. Sell yourself, sell your product, have a sales professional in your team.

7.Start NOW. Don’t wait.

photo credit: Mzelle Biscotte

All of us know that face-to-face interactions though preferable, are not always possible. Therefore one goes for ‘email pitching’ – the written form of pitch.Investors are overloaded with a huge array of emails and to get their attention you should craft your email in such a way that you hold the interest of the reader.

Be sure that you make the same effort with an e-mail that you would in a face-to-face meeting. E-mail pitches should be formal and professional.

Below are some tips for writing a pitch letter via email;

1. Understand your audience and make sure you know who the recipient is

2. Include pictures and images to make it more visually attractive. Don’t forget file size limitations though

3. Have a signature with all possible information – email, Twitter account, Skype name etc.

4. Be precise in your emails. Emphasize on meeting up and follow up comments. 

For more insight to this matter, have a look at this post on RWW.

attachments like resumes and press releases are sometimes appropriate; you should give a quick introduction to yourself at the beginning of an email.

 

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Option pool can be described as the amount of a startup’s common stock reserved for employees, directors, advisors, and consultants. The stock reserved is then issued to the aforementioned stakeholders. It is through a written plan a startup pre-authorizes the amount of the company’s common stock which will be issued by the administrator (usually the startup’s board of directors or a committee selected by the board). A startup, for example, can have 5,000,000 shares of common stock but only elect to authorize 2,000,000 shares.

A startup’s original option pool may not likely turn out to be the last option pool the startup creates. The size of the pool should be discussed at each round of funding and financing, since at that time, the startup might need more equity options to attract and motivate future hiring.

The confusing part of an option pool is how the option pool’s non-issued or unissued portion is treated.

We suggest you read this post for a detailed insight into Option Pool Shuffling

Summary: Don’t let your investors determine the size of the option pool for you. Use a hiring plan to justify a small option pool, increase your share price, and increase your effective valuation.

photo credit: C.P.Storm

A heated debate is taking place around Foursquare considering a sale to Yahoo. It is believed that Foursquare is in the midst of an aggressive courtship on behalf of Yahoo, who is willing to pay as much as $125 million for the year old startup. Some are freaking out asking Foursquare ‘not to sell’ and the gurus are speculating that Foursquare is trying to push its valuation higher than what Yahoo is offering. What Foursquare does, only time with tell, but this has definitely made me think about ‘exit strategies’ for startups and the importance of having one.

When you are starting up or as you form strategies and plans to grow your startup, you need to think about an exit strategy. Will you establish a lifestyle business that generates income without plans of selling it in the future, or will you build equity in a business that you will convert into cash? Depending on your goal, the business you choose and the way you decide to grow it should be aligned with the end-game objectives. The common exit strategies are; sale, mergers, IPO, buyout or liquidation of assets.

Some may not find laying too much importance of exit strategies as correct, arguing that you will never want to build something by always having a motive of leaving. But whether you want to move on to you next entrepreneurship venture or whether you stick to a business plan for a long time, it is important to have a succession plan in place for your startup.

We suggest you read this post at ReadWriteWeb for more information.

While the idea of an exit strategy might sound negative, crafting one can help you plan how to make the most out of a good situation, not simply escape a bad one

photo credit: nosha

I came across a great post written by Dharmesh Shah recently where he described the most luring categories startup founders are attracted to. Following is the list of applications he lists as the ‘most attractive’ for startups;

1.Project Management / Time Tracking / Bug Tracing – Neat Web 2.0 application development for better organizing and tracking. Basecamp anyone?

2.Social Networking Websites – Recognize your specialization or area of interest and launch a social networking website with that theme.

3.Social Voting/Reviews – Websites to rate or review food, restaurants, wines or anything.

4.Discussion Forums

5.Aggregation/Filter Websites – Applications to bookmark/filter excess information

6.Content Management – Mashable or TechCrunch

7.Dating and Match-Making

8.Music/Events Location Application

9.Video/Photo/Bookmarking/Sharing

10.Personal Information Management

Can startups be more innovative?

For any kind of design or development for the concepts mentioned above, feel free to get in touch with us at Vinfotech.

photo credit: jurvetson

There can be two cases when it comes to startups; first that the founder chooses to be the CEO and second is the case where the CEO is appointed by the founder.

In the second case, founders usually start their company and hire a CEO when things get going and handling everything by themselves becomes difficult. CEO’s do a lot of corporate navigation, formulate plans and strategies, basically with their experience they give a strategic outlook to the growth of a startup. Founders on the other hand, have a passion for their product which is a major driving force for a startup. Both are vital to the existence of any business, but when it comes to choosing between the both? What if for some reason either of them has to leave?

Of course, all businesses are different, and people may leave for different reasons. But VCs invest in founders as much as they do in ideas, so for a company to lose that passionate individual that the VCs initially trusted might send out bad signals. On the other hand a startup will lose direction if a CEO decided to quit.

If someone needs to go, who should leave? The CEO or founder?

There is an interesting read on the above topic at ReadWriteWeb

Regardless of the nature of the breakup, it got me thinking about the dichotomous relationship some startups have between founders and CEOs, and which, if either, is more expendable.

photo credit: rintakumpu

The whole idea of registering a business sounds more obligatory than important? If your answer to the question is yes, then its time to change your outlook and here is why:

The process of registration compels you to think about the basic issues that are included in your business plan. Don’t mistake the registration process to be a formal obligation and avoid rushing into it. Matters such as trademark disputes, legal snags, costly name changes or tax problems may come up later if you don’t take registering your startup seriously. Be inquisitive, work around it and give your 100 percent when it comes to registering any business.

A few points to keep in mind;

1. Beware of trademark issues – will somebody sue you for using that name? Check availability of domain names, consult registries etc.

2. Choose your structure – you need to declare your business/startup in form of an entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or limited liability company)

3. Obtain Tax ids

4. File registration/Permits – The government will keep a track of businesses and tax through this. You need to pay fee and fulfill certain jurisdiction procedures.

5. Some businesses have additional requirements like planning, regulatory agencies or professional agencies.

Try adding value to the venture buy researching all around the process.

For more detail on this matter, we suggest you visit this post