algunos artículos para tener en cuenta

• La Argentina se mantiene entre los países con más emprendedores

• Start-up advice for entrepreneurs, from Y Combinator Startup School

• 6 steps to creating a super startup

• The Effort Effect

• The falling price of failure

• La factura electrónica ya es obligatoria

• Las personas son la base del crecimiento de las empresas

• 5 Quick Pointers On Startup Hiring

• Advice for entrepreneurs negotiating venture capital term sheets

• 5 Phrases You Never Want To Hear In A Presentation

• How much control should our users have?

• Don't ask employees to be passionate about the company!

• The "Dumbness of Crowds"

Software For Virtual Teams

Written by Alex Iskold and edited by Richard MacManus

It's 2007 and no longer do startup employees, or even those of medium-size and large companies, need to be located in the same place. Instead, more and more companies are going virtual. The answer to long commutes, inner city traffic, tapping into creative minds in other geographies and combating global warming is: a 'work from home' policy.

But in order for working from home to be effective, certain things need to be in place. The most critical is technology - a set of tools, along with the infrastructure, that can replace the traditional office. Using these tools it is possible for team members to connect, communicate and execute as effectively as a traditional company. So in this post, we look at software that makes virtual companies possible.

Communication Tools

Pick: Skype; cost: free. Alternatives: Gizmo, Jajah, Google Talk, more...

The first tool for a virtual company has to be one that replaces face-to-face communication. This is not an easy task, but Skype gets close. This popular software bundles the phone, traditional chat, conferencing and video conferenecing and works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is powerful to be able to chat and, when necessary, call a team mate. All Skype PC-to-PC calls are free and there are options such as SkypeOut (calling normal telephone numbers) and SkypeIn (gives you a phone number for anywhere in the world).

The next useful feature is the ability to transfer files. If you need to send a document or a screenshot, Skype can be faster than email and it is right there. Skype can also be used to conduct meetings. Typically, it would be used in conjunction with screen sharing software (more on that below). Finally, Skype supports video and works with any camera attached to your computer. This is neat, but think twice about what you are wearing before flipping that switch :-)

Presentation

Pick: GotoMeeting; $49 per month, Alternatives: WebEx, BudgetConferencing

Skype facilitates communication, but it does not allow sharing of screens. It is helpful to complement meetings with real-time screens, particularly if you are brainstorming, talking about design (for example) or simply want to get on the same page faster.

Our recommendation is a simple desktop sharing solution like GotoMeeting, because the features of the higher end services are rarely used and tend to be buggy. GoToMeeting has been around for a while and offers instant desktop sharing which 'just works'. It is written in Java and can run on many platforms. It takes a few minutes to learn the UI, but after that starting new meetings and inviting people is straightforward.

There are quite a few other companies that enable online meetings. One of the 'high end' solutions is WebEx, which has three core offerings - a meeting center, MeetMeNow plan, and pay per use. The meeting center is a comprehensive solution that supports various forms of sharing and interaction between participants. You can share presentations or a full screen, draw on a scratch pad, and chat with the meeting participants. The plans depend on the number of concurrent meeting participants and start at $75. Another alternative is MeetMeNow, which facilitates instant desktop sharing. The cost is $49 per month or $39 if you commit to a full year. Finally the pay per use solution offers exactly that, for 33c per minute per user. However in my experience, WebEx has not been as reliable as GoToMeeting.

Project Management

Pick: Basecamp; $29 per month. Alternatives: CentralDesktop, ActiveCollab (free, but you need to host it), TeamWorkLive, QuickBase

Project management is essential to the success of any project, let alone a virtual one. Execution requires planning, scheduling, division of tasks and tracking. Basecamp from 37signals is an excellent tool that encapsulates the essential elements of project management.

The Basecamp main screen presents a dashboard view of the upcoming milestones and latest activity. Each person can also get a view of his/her milestones and tasks. The tasks are modeled as todo lists and can be attached to the milestones, which are tied to a date. This is basically it in terms of tracking, but no one familiar with Microsoft Project is going to miss the Gantt charts here.

In addition, Basecamp offers storage of files (unfortunately there is no way to tag files, which would be a great addition) and an interesting variation of a scratch pad called writeboard. The writeboard allows people to create text documents using very basic markup. You can bold things, create links and include images - without needing to learn HTML. The writeboards can be versioned, which is handy, but not essential.

There are a number of monthly plans, with various tradeoffs in the number of projects and storage space. For $24 per month you can create 15 projects and store 400MB of files. The maximum plan allows you to have unlimited number of projects and store 20GB of stuff for $149 per month. There are also a number of plans in between, for all tastes and needs.

Calendar

Pick: Google Calendar; Free. Alternatives: Yahoo! Calendar, 30Boxes, Kiko

Noticibly missing from Basecamp is the calendaring feature. Personally, I would like to see that as part of the project management solution - particularly a view of events and milestones. Fortunately, there are quite a few calendaring solutions that do a good job. The one that stands out from the crowd is Google Calendar.

The product has an intuitive Ajax-based UI that does a very good job of managing events. Two features that are essential for teams are shared calendars and support for multiple calendars. Multiple people can see and book events into the same calendar. Also, the user is able to maintain a set of calendars that is then merged into a single, aggregated view. So it is easy to combine business and personal events. Google calendar also integrates nicely with GMail and sends out email alerts for upcoming events.

Code Repository

Pick: CVSDude; $22 per month. Alternatives: SourceHosting, Version Host

If you are running a software development business, you need to have a source code version control system. While you could run such repository on your corporate computers or have your web hosting do it for you, it is even better to use one of the specialist online services - to make sure that things are done right.

Typically, you would use either CVS or Subversion version control systems. Each offer powerful ways to manage your code in a concurrent development environment. Hosting companies provide the turn key solutions which, in addition to the code management server, include a dashboard for managing developer accounts, and bug tracking systems. The setup is easy, particularly because most modern IDE have support for version control. The pricing varies based on the storage space and number of concurrent users.

Backup

Pick: ElephantDrive; $34.95 per month per person - discount. Alternatives: JungleDisk, Mozy

Whether it's our personal data or corporate information, it is always better to be safe than sorry. In our day and age no one can afford to waste even a single day due to data loss. Luckily there are now online backup solutions that can be deployed quickly and on a budget. ElephantDrive is one of the newcomers that offers a backup solution based on Amazon S3 storage. It comes with an intuitive user interface, that allows you to specify files and directories that you want to backup. After that it just works, quietly backing up your files to S3.

Since in a virtual company, computers are not likely to be networked - backup solutions need to be implemented for each computer. To support this use case, ElephantDrive offers special corporate discounts which can be obtained via email. There is however no common corporate directory view, something we are all used to. It would be nice to see this feature in the future, as it would be great for virtual teams.

Accounting / Payroll

Pick: QuickBooks; Cost Varies, $50 per month+, extra per employee. Alternatives: IntAcct, Keep More

Last, but certainly not least, is the category of accounting and payroll software. The problem is that financial matters are rather complicated. In addition to complex federal laws and regulations, there are state (and country!) specific nuances that can drive you crazy for hours. This is one area where getting a specialist - a bookkeeper - is definitely a good idea. The good news is that online services like QuickBooks are working hard to make things easier.

The packages range in price and functionality, depending on your needs. The basic package does not include payroll and direct deposit, which most people want. The full package has everything for around $90 per month, plus additional costs per employee. QuickBooks is complex, but it's comprehensive software. The online version seems to be easier to use then the offline one. It allows you to easily connect to all your bank and credit card accounts, issue invoices, make payments and keep track of consultants and employees.

Conclusion

It is truly amazing how far and how quickly virtual team technology has evolved. Just a few years ago virtual companies were very difficult to run, because of logistics and costs. However the tools that we have covered in this post, collectively, have opened the door to a new breed of companies - small, agile, virtual businesses. These companies exist because of this new wave of communication tools and substantially lower infrastructural costs.

In addition, virtual companies consist of happier employees. These are people who do not need to spend time in traffic, people who save money on gas, people who conserve resources and, perhaps most significantly, people who spend more time with their family. So perhaps this simple, yet very profound, application of technology is the beginning of a new trend and the way we will mostly work and communicate in the future. Let us know what you think and please tell us what virtual office tools you use - and indeed whether you work from home or in a corporate environment.

¿Cuál es el número optimo de socios para un emprendimiento?

Hoy me encontré con este post, y con este estudio que me dejó pensando... me sobran 2 socios...

Se aceptan opiniones al respecto.

The topic of co-founders (how to find them, what skill-set they should have, how many you need, etc.) is a popular one amongst startups. It’s popular for good reason, it’s important.

I’ve given the topic of how many founders are needed for startups some thought. My personal opinion is at least two, but no more than three. Hence, the “2.09” number in the title of this article works (and there’s some basis for this, which I’ll explain later).

Indicadores Financieros del Resumen Ejecutivo (Glosario)

Les dejo un post con los indicadores financieros que tendria que tener el Resumen Ejecutivo segun Mariano Ruani (Co-Fundador y Director Ejecutivo del Club de Business Angels del IAE)

Como les comentaba por acá. Con el Resumen Ejecutivo se piden algunos indicadores financieros que le sirven al inversor para, en una rápida mirada, entender las características financieras de la inversión.

Como lo consultan frecuentemente y genera algunas confusiones aquí van las definiciones:

Ventas anuales en unidades y facturación: hasta acá entiendo que no hay problemas.

EBIT (Earning Before Interest an Taxes): Beneficio antes de impuestos e intereses. (en español BAII)

Flujo de Fondos (Cash Low): después de hacer las proyecciones, teniendo en cuenta el cash que entra y sale, al final del mes queda algo (o falta). Ese es el flujo de fondos. Es clave para la valuación del emprendimiento. Si bien hay varios métodos, en este tipo de proyectos, el descuento de flujo de fondos es el más utilizado.

Indicadores de Costos: % Costos variables/Costos Totales y % Costos Fijos/Costos Totales. En realidad se podría pedir uno ya que entre los dos deben sumar 100%.

¿Por que se piden estos indicadores?
Para entender la estructura de costos de la empresa.
Si la relación de costos fijos es muy alta quiere decir que se estará quemando dinero aunque no se generen ingresos. Si se atrasa la venta (lo que suele suceder) puede ser mortal. Si el valor es bajo muestra una estructura es más flexible para enfrentar desvíos en las proyecciones de ventas y crecimiento (es mas fácil alcanzar el punto de equilibrio). Se presta atención a la tendencia para ver si hay economías de escala.

Márgenes
% Margen Bruto/ Facturación Neta: El margen bruto es la diferencia entre los ingresos por venta y el costo de los productos vendidos. Cuanto mas alto el margen mas espacio para financiar la empresa.
% Beneficio Neto/Facturación Neta: Para saber, al final del día cual es el beneficio neto sobre ventas.

Indicadores de la Inversión
Monto de la inversión: la platita que están pidiendo.

Exposición máxima ($): Es el máximo valor negativo acumulado del flujo de fondos. Los proyectos requieren una inversión inicial para ponerse en funcionamiento. Sumado a esto, los primeros meses (¿pocos?) el negocio suele dar perdida, ya que el volumen de ventas todavía no llega a cubrir los costos fijos, o porque se esta poniendo a punto una planta o terminando de desarrollar un producto, etc., a lo que se puede sumar alguna inversión adicional. Entonces, la inversión inicial no necesariamente es la exposición máxima del proyecto. (volver a leer la primer oración)
Mes en que se produce la exposición máxima: Se explica solo, no? Es para saber en que momento se llega al punto crítico del proyecto, el de mayor riesgo.

Punto de Equilibrio: El punto de equilibrio es el punto en que las ventas cubren los costos. No hay ganancias ni pérdidas.
Mes en que se alcanza el punto de equilibrio operativo: Cuando dejamos de dar pérdidas?, cuanto antes mejor.

TIR del Proyecto: La TIR (Tasa Interna de Retorno, IRR en inglés) es la tasa que mide la rentabilidad en base al flujo de fondos del proyecto. Calcularla es fácil, una vez que hacen las proyecciones, obtienen un flujo de fondos. A ese flujo de fondos le aplican la formula TIR del Excel. (en la primera celda debe estar la inversión en negativo!!) (si no les da aprieten F1 ;-)

TIR para el “inversor”: Esta diferenciación es un punto importante y suele generar dudas. Cuando calculan la TIR del flujo de fondos están calculando la TIR del proyecto completo. Lo que sucede normalmente es que el inversor pone el 100% del capital y a cambio recibe una participación X en la empresa. Supongamos un 45%. Para calcular la TIR del inversor se debe armar un flujo especial con el 100% del capital y solo el 45% de las ganancias. Esta es la tasa que mirará el inversor y es más baja que la del proyecto total. A veces esto lleva a acuerdos de recuperación acelerada del capital u otros temas pero lo dejamos para más adelante.

Recupero de Fondos (o Periodo de Repago): es el tiempo que se toma para recuperar el capital. Cuanto menor mejor. En este caso nuevamente, si no hay algún arreglo especial, el recupero del inversor es mas largo que el del proyecto.

Best and Worst Decisions (de algunos entrepreneurs)

En cualquier momento sale la version del ABC de esta columna con emprendedores locales, y en español.

Si conocen a alguien que creen que puede ser interesante para esta columna, contactense el mail de El ABC (elabcdeemprender@gmail.com), asi empezamos a armar posts como este.

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John Battelle

John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author who has founded or co-founded businesses, magazines and websites. Formerly at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Battelle, is also a founder and Executive Producer of the Web 2.0 conference and “band manager” with BoingBoing.net. Previously, Battelle was founder, Chairman, and CEO of Standard Media International (SMI), publisher of The Industry Standard and TheStandard.com. Prior to founding The Standard, Battelle was a co-founding editor of Wired magazine and Wired Ventures. John is currently the founder and Chairman of Federated Media and blogs at John Battelle’s Searchblog.

1. Either keep control, or don’t act like you have it. This was the primary lesson of The Industry Standard. I felt like this was the first large scale business I built on my own, and I acted like it. But majority control was always squarely in the hands of the company who funded it. We fought, and I lost.
2. Don’t skimp on hiring. Ever. I’ve hired folks who had the right resume, but I knew in my gut were not right for the culture of the business. I thought the skills/resume overshadowed the ability to work together as a team. They never do.
3. Do it for love, not money. This is pretty careworn, but it’s very very true. I’ve never ever started anything for money. Some folks are really good at starting companies to make money, but I’m terrible at it. I suspect most entrepreneurs are like me.

1. 3a. But make sure what you are doing makes sense to others. Everything I’ve started or been part of starting, I’ve talked to key folks who would make or break the idea, and gotten their buy in and encouragement/help first. If folks who are critical to the idea are not interested, well….that’s a pretty good sign it isn’t going to fly. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea, but it probably means you’re not the person to do it.

4. Pick one constituency and stick to it. Very early on, we decided that FM would be “author driven”. We could have made the company “advertiser driven” but it struck me the core business had to do with the folks who produce the sites we work with. At Wired, it was all about the ideas. At the Standard, it was all about the journalism. One clear core driving force helps clarify decisions during the tough early years.
5. Don’t do something because you can. Do it because it’s good for the folks in #4.

Dick Costolo

Dick Costolo is CEO and cofounder of Feedburner, the leading provider of media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds. Previously, he cofounded and was CEO of Spyonit.com. Spyonit was sold to 724 Solutions in September 2000. Prior to Spyonit, Dick cofounded Burning Door Networked Media, a web design and development consulting company. Burning Door was acquired by Digital Knowledge Assets in October 1996. Dick blogs at Ask The Wizard.

1. The best decisions I’ve made have all been hiring decisions. When you really are feeling the pain of not having a certain kind of person in the company, it’s easy to hire the first interviewee that walks through the door, but it’s critically important when a company is getting started to make sure you’ve found somebody that everyone on the team thinks is the right person for the role. People always tell you to hire A players, but the person also has to be a great cultural fit with the team you’re assembling and with the kind of company you want to be.
2. I’ve made loads of mistakes so I’ll try to think of one with a good lesson for startups - one of the biggest mistakes I made in a previous company was accepting a high dollar contract once for something that wasn’t core to the vision of the business we were running at the time. While the revenue initially feels great, there’s nothing worse than pursuing a piece of business that isn’t core to the startup’s vision. Lesson learned - once you decide what it is you are going to do, don’t pursue efforts that distract from the vision. One of the hardest lessons an entrepreneur has to learn is what revenue to turn down. You can certainly decide to change the vision and zig when the market zags, but in a startup, everybody has to be working toward a very focused vision, and chasing down side projects can be a real distraction (and probably ends up costing a lot more in terms of long-term resources than you’d expect).

Paul Graham

Paul Graham is an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer. He is currently a partner in Y Combinator, an innovative venture firm specializing in funding early stage startups. He is also a cofounder of Startup School, which this year is on March 24, 2007 at Stanford. Previously, he co-developed Viaweb, the first web-based application, which was later acquired by Yahoo, and more recently he pioneered the Bayesian spam filter, which inspired most current spam filters.

1. The best decision I made was to make Viaweb web-based. There were no web-based applications then, so we weren’t sure such a thing would even be possible. Initially what drove us was our dislike of Windows. Writing a desktop application would have meant learning Windows, which we really didn’t want to do. Whereas servers were the same Unix machines we used every day. To make a web-based application, all we had to do was figure out how to let users drive our software by clicking on links on web pages. That was a lot less work than learning Windows.

Hmm, no, actually the best decision I made was to get two fabulously good programmers, Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell, to start the company with me.

2. The worst mistake I made, probably, was not being strong enough with investors. I now realize that investors like you to be assertive. It reassures them when founders take charge. But because our investors were so much older than us and had given us what seemed then unimaginably large sums of money, I felt I ought to defer to them. And yet I wasn’t prepared to do things their way in anything really important, like what the software should do or what our strategy should be. This inconsistency led to disputes that sucked up a lot of time and energy.
3. I realize that’s not really a decision. It was more something I didn’t do than something I did. But I think the worst mistakes startups make are mostly of that kind. Another big mistake I made was not to investigate IP agreements signed by people we hired. That nearly sank us later. But I didn’t decide not to; I just didn’t pay enough attention to it.

Ross Mayfield

Ross Mayfield is the CEO and co-founder of Socialtext, the first wiki company and leading provider of Enterprise 2.0 solutions. A noted blogger and industry expert, he is a serial and social entrepreneur. Mayfield has grown Socialtext to over 2,000 customers with Software-as-a-Service, Appliance and Open Source solutions.

1. Best Decision — To become an entrepreneur in the first place: I started my career in the non-profit sector, and then in the public sector, all in hopes of changing the world. I quickly realized that I could both have an impact and make a living in the private sector. And am lucky to now work on a company that produces social goods. Further, as a startup founder I believe you can quickly have a significant impact, possibly more than any other job. It is a roller coaster of risk. One day you can be beaming with pride to have created jobs and a fun place to work, and another you stress about meeting payroll and having folks be overtly human with one another.
2. Best Decision — Picking co-founders you trust: It is not an exaggerated saying, that you marry your business partners, especially co-founders in a startup. Some look to partner with the Geek Girl for her technical whizbangery or Phone Guy for the sweet talk and access to capital. While you want to work with people that are skilled, I’d say the primary qualifier is if you can trust your co-founder. If you have any hesitation, either work it out or walk away, quickly. I’m luck to work with great co-founders I can trust with my life. Beyond trust, I would also put startup experience beyond specific skills. Someone that has rode the roller coaster before is less likely to barf in your lap.
3. Biggest Mistake — Not taking bigger risks earlier: Maybe because in hindsight all risks are clear, but I always find myself regretting not taking bigger risks earlier. For example, open sourcing the Socialtext code was something we waited on until the company had strong footing. Partially because we thought there would be cannibalization, partially because we were understaffed to really engage with the community. But I believe if we bought this bullet earlier in the history of the company we would be reaping better rewards. As a planning exercise, now I always try to ask two questions: “How could we take more risk?” and “What risk can we take that creates the greatest amount of options?” I find there is always a way to do a little more, in particular by getting past instinct to control prevalent in so many entrepreneurs.

Chris Pirillo

Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Hardware Addict, Software Junkie, Book Author, Once TV Show Host, Technology Enthusiast, Shameless Self-Promoter, Tech Conference Coordinator, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Bootstrapper, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, Thicker Quicker Picker Upper. You can call Chris at 1.888.PIRILLO to leave questions for him to answer on his podcast. Chris blogs at Chris.Pirillo.Com

1. Bad Decision: Dealing with salespeople who didn’t have a clue what they were selling. A good salesperson (and there are apparently only two on the planet) will cost you a lot, but a bad salesperson will cost you even more. I loved them dearly, but love doesn’t pay the bills. Moral of the story: be cautious when it comes to yielding control of your business model.
2. Good Decision: Finding someone to help me facilitate various functions (keeping us on a publishing schedule, wrangling our content creators, etc.). Robert Glen Fogarty has been a godsend, and I wish I had found him years earlier. He’s talented beyond words, and has successfully alleviated my daily stress. Moral of the story: don’t be afraid to yield control to the right people.

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One ‘Bad Apple’ Really Can Kill the Company

Un post interesante que me encontre hoy

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One “bad apple” in a team of workers really can “spoil the entire barrel,” new business research shows.

Whether it’s an office bully, team slacker or a chronic pessimist, a single employee can seriously damage an entire company, according to William Felps and Terence Mitchell of the University of Washington Business School.

The researchers define a bad apple as a toxic teammate who shows one or all of three features: dodging their work, dumping some of their responsibilities on others; persistently expressing pessimism, irritability and general unhappiness; and bullying co-workers.

The bullies have specialties: making fun of someone, saying something hurtful, making inappropriate ethnic or religious remark, cursing at someone, playing mean pranks, acting rudely and publicly embarrassing someone.

Over the past 20 years or so, scientists have conducted numerous studies of the effects of negative behaviors at work, including discrimination, sexual harassment, violence and dishonest reporting. However, bad-apple behavior has been somewhat overlooked, Felps said.

“Almost all of us have either had the personal experience of working with someone who displayed bad apple behaviors or had a friend, coworker, or spouse who has shared such stories with us,” Felps and Mitchell wrote in a report of their research detailed in the current issue of Research in Organizational Behavior.

“When this process starts to unfold at work, it consumes inordinate amounts of time, psychological resources and emotional energy,” they added.

Team work?

Felps and Mitchell analyzed about two dozen published studies that focused on interactions among co-workers. Particularly, they examined research on smaller groups of five to 15 employees in manufacturing, fast food and university settings. Small teams require more member-to-member interactions and workers are more likely to respond to a teammate’s negative behavior.

In one study of 51 manufacturing teams, they found that teams with one bad apple were more likely to have conflict, poor communication and cooperation breakdowns. The outcome was inadequate performance

They found three typical responses to the trouble-making employee. In the first line of action, another worker asks the bad apple to change. If this is ineffective, as generally occurs when the team members have no seniority, the other employees will alienate the bad apple. Then, co-workers become frustrated, distracted and defensive.

Defensive responses, such as anger, social withdrawal and fear, can worsen the situation by cultivating lack of trust in team members and an overall negative atmospher.

You’re fired!

Co-workers typically don’t have the means to prevail over a thorn in the office. So what can the higher-ups do to keep problem workers in check?

"Managers at companies, particularly those in which employees often work in teams, should take special care when hiring new employees," Felps said

"This would include checking references and administering personality tests so that those who are really low on agreeableness, emotional stability or conscientiousness are screened out," he said

If a bad apple does slip through the selection cracks, he said, managers should place the individual in a less interactive position, or alternatively, fire the employee.

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Consulta - Expo

Entre todos los emprendedores que acceden a este sitio, ¿Hay alguno que se dedique exclusivamente a la exportación de bienes?
¡Saludos!
Luis Zemborain