Business & Finance | Business

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from The Beatles

Here's what The Beatles can teach entrepreneurs about building successful businesses and unlocking new levels of innovation.

The one about “playfulness” is idiotic, childish, and typical of so many people today who don’t want to behave like actual adults. But, the other points are pretty decent.

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BREAKING: Elon Musk Launches $43 Billion Hostile Takeover of Twitter

Elon Musk has made a “best and final” offer to buy Twitter Inc., saying the company has extraordinary potential and he will unlock it.

Go Elon! I’m for ANYONE who will promote free speech.

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Small business owners can now apply for PPP loan forgiveness: Everything to know

Small business owners need to track the money they’ve spent and assemble documentation backing their claims. 

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Is This the End for Open Offices? Let's Remember Who Invented Them

It was more than 25 years ago, and they were calling it the office of the future.

Open offices are soul sucking, conformity inducing, fear factories. Cubicles are their close cousins and almost as detrimental to employees’ experience. Bring back private offices for as a benefit for those who work hard, do their jobs, and appreciate being treated as true adults.

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Covid-19 Relief Loans: Here Are the Fed's New Rules

Here's the latest guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program and economic injury disaster loans.

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10 Tools Your Startup Needs That Won't Cost You a Thing | Inc.

Some of the best tools for building your business come at no cost.

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9 Ways These People Make Money at Home With Nothing But Their Laptops

Here's how these individuals, including some who make more than six figures, earn their livings.

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San Diego matures as a tech hub

San Diego's status as a tech hub is becoming increasingly important, with a growing pool of engineers and a surge in VC investments.

One in three being millennials explains why the San Diego I loved has been replaced with cookie-cutter architecture, trendiness destruction of style all over the city, and an end to the laid back California vibe that San Diego always embodied better than any other California city. The tech children ruined San Francisco and Venice, why not San Diego?

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The End of Snap and Tesla – No Mercy / No Malice

Snap and Tesla were sold this week. They just don’t know it yet.

Business & Finance | Business

Why Networking Is a Complete Waste of Time. Here's What You Should Do Instead

People bond over common interests and experiences, not hors d'oeuvres.

I've been saying this for years. The people who go to networking events want something, they are not there to help you. I've never made an important connection at that type of event. There are much more efficient ways to make that happen!

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Silicon Valley Is Over, Says Silicon Valley

About a dozen venture capitalists recently took a bus tour through the Midwest, and a funny thing happened: They caught the heartland bug.

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Why Trump blocked Qualcomm-Broadcom: It's all about 5G

The unusual move underscores the importance of 5G. But what does an independent Qualcomm mean for the future of the technology?

This was the right thing to do and that should be obvious to everyone.

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Working at your desk could make your copywriting rubbish | The Drum

Copywriter Andrew Boulton on the dangers of only ever writing in the same place.

I was a copywriter for a long time pre-Moptu, and I say: YES! I can't count how many times I tried to explain to one of my bosses that forcing me to sit in a cubicle, with bad lighting, no privacy, lots of noise, and constant interruptions was NOT the way to get the best work out of me, which is what the were paying me for. But the usual corporate types are not the right audience for logic. So day after day, I sat in a cubicle, that felt more like storage for humans than a creative space because office politics dictate that was where I sat. It is foolish. When Moptu gets funded, and we eventually have our own marketing staff, the copywriter will NOT be forced to sit in a cubicle all day.

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Think You're Unemployable? You're Probably an Entrepreneur | Inc.com

Entrepreneurs overcome obstacles. That's what defines them.

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Why Are So Many Super Bowl Advertisers Playing the Nostalgia Card? – Adweek

There’s money in missing the past—even if the past really wasn’t so good.

Of course: I loved the Steven Tyler ad.

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Unless you have a patent or some proprietary technology, you’re gonna be in trouble.

A look at one of the nation's first classes for undergraduates on intellectual property.

For any investors out there: we own the Moptu IP!

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How to Get Out of a Meeting You Know Will Waste Your Time

Without offending anyone.

I worked in corporate environments for a very long time. Almost every jobI had involved multiple unnecessary, time wasting, meetings. After Moptu is funded, we’re opening offices, and we will be doing everything possible to minimize that type of time draining waste.

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In Silicon Valley, much-feared tax bill pays dividends for workers | VentureBeat

(Reuters) — The U.S. tax overhaul is a boon to Silicon Valley technology companies like Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc, which will enjoy big tax cuts and the chance to bring back billions of dollars from overseas at a reduced rate.

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How to Tell Your Digital Brand Story

Your brand has a story, and you need to tell it! Here’s how to tell a digital brand story that will connect with your audience and cut through the noise.

Some great advice about how to tell your story effectively by Juntae Delane.

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Is The New York Times vs. The Washington Post vs. Trump the Last Great Newspaper War? | Vanity Fair

Breaking story after story, two great American newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, are resurgent, with record readerships. One has greater global reach and fifth-generation family ownership; the other has Jeff Bezos as its deep-pockete

There is no way that this will be the "last great newspaper war" as long as newspapers exist as media entities. Personally, even though I am not a big fan of either paper, I am very happy to see newspapers thriving. The "old media" companies have a role to play in our society as a link to a time when journalism was much different than it is today. Hopefully both will start living up to that tradition at some point.

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Partech Ventures raises $450 million fund | TechCrunch

Partech Ventures has raised so many funds over the past couple of years that it’s hard to keep track of all of them. This time, the VC firm is closing the..

I am the co-founder of Moptwo. We are actively looking for funding and will be rolling out HUGE design/branding changes over the summer. So for any investors who see this: we are the ONLY social platform designed specifically to share/organize articles. Facebook revolves around graphics/videos, status updates and articles. In very different ways, Pinterest/Instagram took the graphic/video part of that pie, Twitter took status updates and Moptwo is for articles. Keep in mind that everything you see now was done with just two people. We have MILLIONS of article views with a marketing budget of effectively $0 and all of our IP is proprietary. Contact me (joshn@moptwo.com) if you want to know more. We have an exceptional deck that lays out our plans in detail!

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50 Years Later, Heinz Approves Don Draper’s ‘Pass the Heinz’ Ads and Is Actually Running Them – Adweek

Joint effort between David Miami and Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce

I LOVE this. The amazing thing is how well these ads work. When you see the real thing, you understand how brilliant the idea actually was.

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Snapchat IPO: Inside Snap Inc.'s company culture - Business Insider

Thursday night's filing of Snapchat's IPO papers was the largest data dump we've ever received from the company. Here's what we learned.

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Medium will try to save its media business with subscriptions

Medium will release a consumer subscription product in the next month

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A top VC firm just put together a striking presentation on what it was like for startups in 2016

First Round surveyed 700 startup founders to find out what it's like to run a startup in 2016.

We're certainly optimistic about Moptwo and will be rolling out HUGE design/branding/marketing changes next summer. So, for any investors who see this: we are the ONLY social platform designed specifically to share/organize links to information. The potential is enormous, we have a stellar team, and all of our IP is proprietary. Contact me (joshn@moptwo.com) if you want to know more. We have an exceptional deck that lays out our plans in detail!

From the article:

"Now that it's approaching the end of 2016, startups aren't quite as concerned as they used to be — and 9 out of 10 founders think the time is better than ever to a start a new company."

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Project Sand Hill: Google’s Unknown Campaign to Track the World’s Hottest Startups | WIRED

Google runs its own venture capital fund. But it also runs this weird thing called Project Sand Hill.

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Flipboard Will Soon Begin Selling Programmatic Mobile Ads

Flipboard is turning a new page and will begin selling programmatic display and native ads. The mobile app known for offering users a sampling of stories from around the web will offer ads through a private marketplace enabled by Rubicon Project beginning

Business & Finance | Business

Venture capital investments rebound for tech startups

company Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] and messaging app Snapchat boosted the quarter, raising a combined total of $4.8 billion, or nearly a third of total investments.

This is definitely great news! Hopefully Moptwo will benefit from the upswing in venture capital! If you're a VC and want to see our deck, please contact me: joshn@moptwo.com.

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The Workplace Of The Future: Brought To You By Art, Education, Travel, And Startups | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

For offices to be places that young people want to work, companies need to look outside the business world for design ideas.

Business & Finance | Business

No Venture Capital Needed, or Wanted - NYTimes.com

The business world is filled with starry-eyed entrepreneurs who hope that the blessings of angel investors and venture capitalists will transform their start-up dreams into companies with billion-dollar valuations.

We don't want to buck the trend! If you are a VC/Angel Moptwo has an excellent exec summary that I would be MORE than happy to send your way! Contact me: joshn@moptwo.com. We have a compelling case for the inherent value for Moptwo's future.

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How to Become More Creative with Your Copywriting!

Great copywriting is essential to the success of any business. When it comes to marketing for startups, many things must be done correctly if the ultimate goal of creating conversions is going to be met.

Business & Finance | Business

Social Capital’s Newest Partners On How The Firm Works | TechCrunch

Ashley Carroll and Arjun Sethi never thought they’d be working as venture capitalists. Yet in the last year, both have landed at Social Capital, a Palo..

Moptwo is actively looking for funding. So if you are interested in investing in us, please contact me. joshn@moptwo.com

Business & Finance | Business

Here's the David Bowie 'Starman' Super Bowl Ad Everyone Will Be Talking About

Nice job, Audi.​

This is basically a perfect commercial. It hits every note perfectly. Plus: NASA, Bowie and fast cars.

Business & Finance | Business

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick personally helped design the new logo, and it shows | The Verge

Uber just rolled out a brand new icon for its app, logo for its company, and overall design refresh for its brand. You can argue about its quality down in the comments. Some will undoubtedly love...

I can relate to this. I did our logo.

What I don't get is his quote that "In the end, the team realized it didn't make sense for a company doing business in 65 countries to have its look defined by a single 40-year-old white guy in San Francisco."

Art is art and speaks to people in different ways and on its own merits. There is no homogeneous endemic logo design sense among 40 year old "white guys." I find the constant focus on race troubling. Good design is good design no matter who does it.

Business & Finance | Business

The 15 Most Popular Free Online Courses for Professionals

It's never too late to invest in your career. Fortunately, we live in a time where we all have access to an elite education at our fingertips, not to mention completely free of charge.

Business & Finance | Business

Facebook's Quest to Quash Boredom by Moving Beyond Friends | WIRED

The social networking giant that turned the media industry upside-down is now embracing old media to make sure you never look away.

The take away for me from this? "News Matters." We recognized that WAY before the "big guys" like Facebook. It's why we created a social site that is dedicated specifically to news. Facebook is great, but it will never be focused on just one thing. Moptwo is actively seeking early stage funding, so if you are interested, help us make our vision a reality and get in touch with me: joshn@moptwo.com.

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REI to Close Stores on Black Friday and Encourages Customers to Go Outside | TIME

REI has announced it’s going in the opposite direction of other retailers this year: the outdoor and athletic supply store will close its doors on Black Friday, giving employees the day off with pay.

GOOD for them!

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This reaction to a venture capitalist's rejection proves that some start-ups have lost their minds

It's probably easier now than ever to raise money for your start-up. One Silicon Valley investor even said he hears start-ups complaining when they can "only raise $1 million seed rounds."

Really? Because Moptwo IS looking for funding and we will not act this way. We definitely have NOT "lost our minds." We are adults, meaning that we would be grateful and appreciative. So...if you are interested in talking more, please contact me, I am the co-founder of Moptwo: joshn@moptwo.com.

Business & Finance | Business

Putting Millions In Startups' Pockets, AngelList Is Crushing It - Business Insider

AngelList, the service that works as a Match.com for startups and investors, is doing really well.

For the record, Moptwo is actively seeking investors. So if you are an Angel of a VC, you can reach me at joshn@mopto.com. We are on Angel List, although we haven't been extremely active on it. That said, is 8,000 introductions with only 400 deals really "doing really well"? How many startups are registered? I am assuming that it is far more than 8,000 companies.So the question is, what percentage of success does Angel List have in making investments happen for new businesses?

Business & Finance | Business

Don't Panic Over Black Monday Stock Market Volatility - US News

The #BlackMonday stock volatility doesn't mean much for the broader economy.

Bad new for stocks.

Business & Finance | Business

Apple Music snags 11 million trial users, but how many will pay to stay? - CNET

Yes, 11 million sounds like an impressive number, but Apple faces challenges in trying to achieve its reported goal of more than 100 million subscribers.

Business & Finance | Business

Start-ups ramp up the fun in fierce contest to retain talent - LA Times

The engineers at Venice start-up Zefr needed to unwind after completing a months-long project.

At Moptwo, we are planning a similar environment. So investors, please contact me directly if you are interested in helping us get there (joshn@moptwo.com). There will be, however, one major difference at our offices: cliches like "work hard, play hard" will be banned. It helps people's creative process to learn to express themselves without falling back on phrases like "thinking outside the box." Because, when you invoke that phrase (or similar phrases): you aren't.

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Whole Foods CEO admits overcharging: 'Straight up, we made some mistakes'

A week after a New York City investigation found that Whole Foods Market Inc. stores were overcharging for pre-packaged products, the company's co-chief executives admitted pricing mistakes were made.

I have always preferred Trader Joe's. Whole Foods prices are ridiculous. Now we know, at least partially, why!

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VCs and startups are now paying attention to a vital thing they used to ignore

If a startup wants to get noticed, there's one new important thing they must pay attention to: How secure they are.

Business & Finance | Business

Google offered to buy social app Path for $100 million when it was 3 months old — but the founder turned it down

Path founder Dave Morin didn't expect to sell the company.

When (or if) to sell your start-up can be a very tricky question. That said $100 million after three months seems, in retrospect at least, like an amazing offer. For the record, if Google wants to acquire us for $100 million, call me...we would consider it very seriously.

Business & Finance | Business

7 Online Tools that Improve Your Business Writing

Business writing is different from other types of writing since it is more professional and will require business knowledge.

This is (part of) what I do for a living. Most of this advice is solid.

Business & Finance | Business

Future-proof your marketing tech career: Lessons from the MarTech Conference | VentureBeat | Marketing | by Erica Seidel

Guest Here are five capabilities that will help marketing technologists advance and get noticed.

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Logic Is the Enemy of a Successful Brand Name | Al Ries - Advertising Age

There's a method to the madness of a seemingly meaningless moniker. NutsOnline.com, according to a recent post in The New York Times, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a new name, Nuts.com...

Why do we call it Moptwo? There is an interesting story behind it. If you would like to know how it happened, please email me: joshn@moptwo.com. However, if you want to understand why we chose a name that is a completely new word instead of something like "permalinks.com," read this. I worked in marketing for several years and had the opportunity to be a key member of two re-branding teams at two different corporations (one was a $1 billion credit union with a lot of history and sentiment attached to its original name). The old model of a company name reflecting what you do is no longer necessary, common or even advantageous. That is particularly true in the tech sector. So that is why you are on a site at this exact moment called "Moptwo."

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MySpace – what went wrong: ‘The site was a massive spaghetti-ball mess’

Sean Percival on corporate interference, Punch The Monkey, and a failed attempt to buy Spotify: ‘They sure as hell were not selling to us...’

I liked it at the time. I think their biggest problem was the fact that they let the site expand way beyond being a simple social network-which was its strength (and it is hard to believe that it was still #1 as recently as 2009).. Like the article says, pick one thing and do it well. That's what we are trying to do with Moptwo.

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Stories (Not Ads) Help Brands Connect With Millennials | B2B Marketing Insider

Intuitively it makes sense: the sooner a consumer is hooked on your brand -- loyal to their core -- the greater the lifetime value of that relationship. Mo

This is partially why we built Moptwo around stories.

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9 Most Successful Shark Tank Businesses!

Entrepreneurs who land a spot on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank" get the chance of a lifetime: to showcase their products to more than 7 million viewers and pitch their businesses to a panel of potential investors....

I have to admit that I love this show. I have an MBA and I still learn new things all of the time when I watch it. Also, if any "Sharks" read this, Moptwo needs funding (I am the co-founder)!

Business & Finance | Business

Want To Be An Entrepreneur? First Read These 3 Decks, Says Guy Kawasaki

Many of us aspire to strike it out on our own and start an independent business. What do we really need to know before taking that big leap? Guy Kawasaki certainly knows a thing or two about launching your own business.

A friend sent me this and it may be invaluable if you're trying to get a startup off the ground. Having just begun the process myself, I can say that there is a huge learning curve, but also a lot of good resources and good people out there who can help. If your designing a pitch deck, or have designed a pitch deck, this article has some excellent advice. If you are an investor and interested in Moptwo, please contact me, I am the co-founder. joshn@moptwo.com

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The Power of an Unconventional Brand Name

Lolly Wolly Doodle founder Brandi Temple explains why you shouldn't think twice about choosing an eccentric company name.

See! I told you! Write me if you want to know why "Moptwo"! joshn@moptwo.com

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10 Tips to Help You Remain Sane While Running Your Business

Running your own business can be gratifying, but also stressful. Take this advice and take care of yourself.

Because it's not all fun and games ;-)