A VC Speaks out to Entrepreneurs: What's most important!
In the spirit of our upcoming IBM Entrepreneur Week -- here is our Interview with Connie Wright, Principal Commonwealth Pacific Ventures. She dishes with us on keys for entrepreneurs!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cccns9dn4ys&feature=youtu.be]
Women Entrepreneur Day Sponsored by IBM!!! Feb 3 An Infographic
Women-led businesses receive only 13% of VC deals, and that’s up 20% YTY, according to Pitchbook, a venture-capital research firm. This is good momentum! And for me, this is means 2014 will continue to be a breakout year for women in technology too.
I’m also thrilled to help spark this breakout by hosting IBM Global Entrepreneur Week, February 3-7th. I’m honored to be the first woman to host this premier event. Register to join us!
http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/EntrepreneurWeek/registration/5787#
This one-of-a-kind event will feature virtual and in-person opportunities to learn from and network with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, academic leaders, IBM executives and IBM Business Partners. There’s no better place to connect with other female entrepreneurs and find out what it takes to build and maintain a successful startup … and there’s no better time to register!
Spread the word with all of your fellow female entrepreneurs using the promo below on all of your social networks. Then join us on February 3 during our Online Bash at 10:30 AM EST to hear from leading women on how to survive this competitive marketplace.
I hope to virtually see you there! Register NOW!
http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/EntrepreneurWeek/registration/5787#
Fluid at NRF! Check out their Watson Retail Solution!
At NRF, Ginni Rometty discussed the use of cognitive for Retailers. On the Main Event, she talked about an application that our IBM Partner Fluid has built to take advantage of this use of cognitive in the retail space. I had the great pleasure of meeting with them on Monday!
Fluid, which builds online shopping experiences for retail businesses to drive customer engagement and conversion, is developing the Fluid Expert Personal Shopper(sm) powered by IBM Watson. The app calls upon Watson's ability to understand the nuances of human language and uncover answers from Big Data. Consumers who use Fluid's app will interact with rich media and dialogue with Watson, as their newfound “cognitive, expert personal shopper.” The Fluid app incorporates the information users share and questions they ask to help them make smart, satisfying purchases by putting a knowledgeable sales associate in the hands of consumers, on demand!
On stage, she mentioned David Jones leveraging this new paradigm!
See how cognitive can assist Retail in this use of data in a cognitive way!
Answering some of your WATSON questions! Summary of Watson Announcements
Happy Monday! Yes I am at NRF today but see the breadth of questions coming in from IBM's announcements last week on Watson so I would like to summarize in a blog post!
With the introduction of the new Watson group comes a host of supporting activity including a new headquarters in Silicon Alley section of New York, over 2500 professionals staffing and over a Billion dollars in funding.
1. The IBM Watson Discovery Advisor will discover connections within Big Data to help organizations speed up research and bring new innovations to market.
2. IBM Watson Analytics will revolutionize how business users—from C-level to front-line—discover, visualize and share Big Data insights.
My favorite Infographic of the Week! What does Success look like for a Mobile App Startup!
I now get to manage IBM's Global Entrepreneur program. I love learning about the new start-up business models and that's why this Infographic made my top of the list for this week!
Fascinating facts:
- Top performers spent 14% of their time on marketing but did you know that less than 52% of start-ups save any money for Marketing?
- Did you know that 68% earned less than $5K on their first successful app?
Social Business Coffee Break: Interview with Janet Powers of Woman's Toolbox
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ZAh9fSUMA&feature=youtu.be]
Let's go fly a kite! The Social Flight!
This weekend I went to see "Saving Mr Banks" which is the story about how Disney received rights to the character of Mary Poppins! (It was a great movie!) My favorite part of the movie was how the song "Let's go fly a kite" came to be -- and it got me thinking about kites and social.
There's an old saying in China - "those who fly a kite can have a long life." Interesting --- kite flying on a regular basis can lead to longevity!
What does fly a kite mean in the Social Business world?
Get started --- and keep trying! You may not be able to get the kite up the first time. Keep going -- endure the failure! The same is true for Social. Starting is the hardest. You may experience some failure -- ensure through it and learn the ropes!
Practice! To fly a kite, you need to practice. My daughter and I tried multiple times at the beach and finally got the kite up! In Social, to really see results, you need to keep going and practice! Social requires learning the tools and the practices as well as your clients.
Fun! Yes, flying a kite is fun. It is relaxing. Social is the same. Keeping touch with your clients is fun --- not just the business side but the personal as well!
Beware of ghoulish cyber-attacks!
Happy Monday and the week of Halloween!
Today, we are going to talk about cyber-attacks and the best practices to try to avoid them. One of the top vulnerabilities is trust through social networking!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrciX3jKFp8&feature=youtu.be]