Analytics/Analysis

GeekWire: Get Your Geek On!

This past week, I attended the 5^th GeekWire Summit and have a report for you. First, this is an interesting diverse crowd. You can’t pin it down to just one audience (e.g. a security conference has IT security professionals). Rather it was venture capitalists, start-up entrepreneurs, white collar professionals and technical geeks. The format was typically a single room format with a start-up or established executive speaking to the audience. I’d rank this a “roadmap” conference with high-level speeches. There was minimal technical content and no hands-on labs.

Start-ups Fueled by Yougins!

There is no age discrimination in the entrepreneurship community. It’s a line of reasoning that cuts both ways. You can be a 50+ year old white collar tech exec who is “yes sir-ed” through the back door in the tech community because of ageism but still have credibility as a start-up entrepreneur. Likewise, you can be a millennial in the new gig economy who embraces start-ups. It’s a big tent and there is room for all.

Recently GoDaddy released an extensive study on how millennials are fueling entrepreneurial growth.

Start-up Secret: Mining LinkedIn

If you are starting up a new technology-based entrepreneurial endeavor, you need to heed the wisdom of many before you. It’s about who you know. I can attest to that my relationships have yield more return on investment that my intellectual capabilities. Ultimately I made more money as a “rainmaker” than a hard core geek (although you need both as a technical professional – don’t get me wrong).

One of the secrets to my success is applying analytics to my data. In this case, the secret I want to share concerns mining your

LinkedIn’s Competitive Threat to MSPs

You knew it was coming. It arrived in my Inbox as a forwarded email from SMB Nation community member David Gerhart from Bend, OR. David is an IT consultant and he received a “lead” from LinkedIn’s new ProFinder service (which I consdier a start-up). LinkedIn has always had the underutilized asset of millions of details

Start-ups: Celebrating International Coworking Day!

This past week on Tuesday, it was International Coworking Day. This was a worldwide celebration for the coworking movement where entrepreneurs, artists and others “rent” a desk or office inside a cooperative workspace. I attended the BBQ at OfficeXpats,
a coworking space on Bainbridge Island. It ended up being a diet cheat day as I ate two cheeseburgers, had chips, deserts and a beverage (sorry!). Hat’s off to OfficeXpats owners Leslie Schneider and Jason Omens (pictured) for engaging the community with a party.

See Ya’ In Florida This Week!

It’s that time of year to attend the HOTTEST conference in the industry right now. And I literally mean the “hottest” as CompTIA’s ChannelCon event is held in the southern latitude in the month of August (this week humid Hollywood Florida). But it is also the one conference that unabashedly brings balance between attendees and vendors. By that, I

Start-up Nuggets

In 2016, the editorial mission of SMB Nation is to help you either start-over (e.g. pivot to Cloud and IoT) or start-up (become a technology pro and make the big $$$). Our approach as garnered acclaim as fresh, innovative and helpful. So here are a few start-up nuggets for your approval.

Happy 4th of July!

Many consider this one of the best weekends of the year. A Monday holiday makes for extended merriment. I noticed commerce transactions and business activity starting to slow this past Thursday, as if one foot out the door.

Original Brexit

When we hosted our weekly

Start-Up Pitch-Off Event Review

I never met a press pass I didn’t like. Such an award is a glitterati pass not open to all. I’ve done the US Open (last year at this time at Chambers Bay in the Seattle-area), an IoT conference, countless Microsoft Worldwide partner conferences (WCP) and many other events.