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Pricing Strategies: How To Price Your Product Or Service – To Avoid Killing Your Business

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I’m a huge advocate of signing up as a customer for all your competitors’ services. By Erica Douglass (Co-Founder & CEO, Whoosh Traffic)

“How do I price my product?” another entrepreneur recently asked to an email list I’m on. “I’ve looked at our competitors, and I know how much it costs to produce what we offer. I think I know what my audience will pay. So – looking at all of that – what’s the best pricing strategy?“

Pricing questions are never the easiest questions to answer, but having worked with a lot of business owners helping them grow their businesses, I have some suggestions.

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One Month Left To Apply To Women 2.0 PITCH NYC 2012 Startup Competition

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Women-led startups with less than $1M in funding should apply to PITCH NYC by August 31, 2012. By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)

What's your big idea? Women 2.0 wants to hear about it.

Startups with at least one female founder and less than $1 million in funding are invited to apply for Women 2.0's fifth annual PITCH NYC Startup Competition. Fill out the online application, send in a paper napkin to Women 2.0 and film a 2-minute video pitch.

Prizes include $25k cash and a suite of startup-friendly services. PITCH Finalists have also talked about the intangible benefits at pitching and being present at Women 2.0 PITCH.

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XX In Health: Where Are The Women Decision-Makers And Leaders?

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“We’re providing a disservice to the economy by not catalyzing and supporting the economy of women that are out there.” - Lesa Michell, Kauffman Foundation By Blake Landau (Blogger, Artemis)

There are 150 million women in the United States, roughly 55% of the population. Considering that there are more women in the U.S. than men, it is curious that the individuals largely making the decisions about women’s bodies are not women.

Women compose a tiny slice of the top in healthcare. Women account for only 4% of healthcare organization CEOs and 18% of hospital CEOs. However women also account for 73% of medical and health services managers.

So where is the female executive influence in healthcare? Where are the female innovators and entrepreneurs in healthcare?

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Rock Health Kicks Off “XX In Health” Week

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The “XX in Health Initiative” aims to change the ratio among women leading healthcare. By Dana Rosenberg (Director of Business Development, Rock Health)

We hear startling statistics on the number of women in leadership positions all too often…

Women represent 19% of law firm partners. Women hold 17% of the seats in congress. Women comprise 11% of the investor community.

…and in the healthcare industry, the story doesn’t get any better. While women make up 73% of medical and health services managers, only 4% of healthcare CEOs are women. In 2012, 3 female CEOs managed to raise $2M or more, as compared with 73 of their male counterparts.

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Uncategorized1 min read
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Dear Marissa: Think Different. (Pink Is The New Purple)

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By narrowing its focus to women, Yahoo can beat the pants off its competitors. By Dave McClure (Founder & Partner, 500 Startups)

I’d like to write a different open letter to Marissa Mayer that plays to both her strengths, as well as those of Yahoo. It’s a bit off the wall, but if you think it thru with me, I bet you’ll agree with the strategy.

Yahoo has struggled for the last 6-7 years – with what it stands for, who’s running the show, how to keep its employees, how to compete with Google, and how to take advantage of its amazing assets in content, communications, and community around the world. The last really bold move Yahoo made was probably acquiring Flickr (aside from turning down the Microsoft acquisition

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Pooja Sankar Juggles Motherhood, Startup

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Pooja Sankar started working from home 5 days after giving birth to her son Arjun. By Ellen Lee (Contributing Writer, San Francisco Chronicle)

Three days after giving birth to her son, Pooja Sankar was already fielding phone calls from work. Sankar, founder and CEO of Palo Alto's Piazza, an online gathering place for college students and professors, has only picked up the pace since then.

That Yahoo picked Marissa Mayer, due with her first child this year, to be the Internet company's CEO has become the latest fodder in the working mom debate. Should she or shouldn't she? Can a woman "have it all?" And just how does a mother balance the needs of her children and her business?

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Not Just A Piece Of Paper: MBA Advice For Startuppers

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A little business savvy never hurts, in any startup. By Anagha Nadkarni (Co-Founder, Appguppy)

People seem to agree that you don’t need an MBA to be a successful entrepreneur. Broadly speaking, that’s true. However, the MBA I recently completed from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan has positively contributed to my company’s entrepreneurial success.

Getting an MBA doesn’t make you into an entrepreneur, but it can provide you with a solid foundation and experiences to make you a better entrepreneur. Here are some tips on choosing and managing your MBA program for entrepreneurial success.

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How To Keep Your Existing Customers Happy (Branding)

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Save $150 on the Udemy "Smarter Branding For Startups" online class on how to create a powerful brand - without spending a lot of money. By Brenda Bence (Instructor, Udemy)

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “Make new friends, but keep the old… one is silver and the other gold?” Well, when you’re running your own business, these “old friends” are your existing customers. Just how golden are they?

Studies show that it costs six to nine times as much to attract a new customer as it costs to keep an existing customer happy.

This concept can directly impact your bottom line. Think of this way: If you have $100 to spend on marketing, would you

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Interview With Tamara Abdel Jaber, Jordanian Woman CEO Who Founded And Runs High-Growth Business Palma

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My mentor taught me that Jordan is a small market. He encouraged me to go beyond our borders and focus on the region at large by looking at Egypt, Syria, West Bank, and all over. By Rania Anderson (Co-Founder, Women's Capital Connection)

Flashback to 10 years ago: A 26 year old entrepreneur begins her own business and technology consulting company. In the Middle East, IT is largely known as a male-dominated field, so what was she thinking? Who was this young woman asking to meet with high-profile companies? Their curiosity got the best of them; they just had to meet this anomaly for themselves.

Fast-forward to today: Tamara Abdel-Jaber is the CEO of her company, Palma, with 22 full-time employees and 150 contractors across the Middle East.

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LUMOback Funded On Kickstarter – The Benefit Of Being Open

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We have pre-orders of over $175,000, and counting (3 days to go on our campaign!) By Monisha Perkash (Co-Founder & CEO, LUMOback)

My startup LUMOback, a smart posture sensor, recently launched a campaign on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter. Our experiences thus far have reinforced my team’s deep belief in being open rather than stealthy.

More than anything else, Kickstarter has served as a great "test" and validation point for us. As passionate entrepreneurs, we become susceptible to drinking our own Kool-aid and thinking that what we’ve built is the best thing ever. Putting it out there on Kickstarter has been an opportunity for us to test market demand and

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How One Fateful Experiment Changed The Future Of My Company

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The demands for “PromoJam” promotions were quickly transitioning from a side-project to a full-time gig. By Amanda MacNaughton (Co-Founder & CMO, PromoJam)

One of the most important things to understand when starting or running a business is knowing when to pivot - you must be open to change. I learned this lesson early on when one fateful experiment changed the entire course of my company forever.

It was the summer of 2009. Facebook was quickly digging MySpace’s grave, the iPhone 3Gs had just invaded the market, and Twitter was becoming mainstream. My business partner (who also happens to be my brother) and I were busy developing a new social network that focused on content monetization and distribution.

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FoundersUncategorized0 min read
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Venture Capital Is A Great Place For Women – Give It A Chance

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Women VCs interviewed say despite the low numbers, the VC industry is a great place for women. By Grace Nasri (Managing Editor, FindTheBest)

The facts: Women make up just 6% of chief executives at the leading 100 tech companies. Women are launching companies at a rate 1.5 times higher than the national average, but they receive less than 10% of venture funding. Women make up only 9% of board members of Silicon Valley companies. At the leading 25 VC firms, only 8% of the investment professionals are women.

The opinions: The rationalizations as to why this is the case range from placing the onus on women for not majoring in quantitative fields and lacking the necessary skills needed to lead or invest

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Uncategorized1 min read