All these businesses and ‘partnerships’ brought me new lessons and today’s post reflects on the Big Lessons these business journeys have provided.

But first some distinctions:
Partnership: A business owned and run by two or more partners.
Joint venture: It is temporary in nature and is terminated as soon as the venture is completed.
Shareholders: An owner of shares in a company – usually a limited company and shareholdings need not be equal.

Selecting a Business Partner Wisely

Business Partnerships are not unlike marriages – the separation (the divorce) can be very painful. So just like choosing a life partner, choose your business partners carefully.

I am regularly amazed at just how casually people end up in business together.

Most people would not marry someone without some serious getting to know them time. Yet, I find people who have barely met going into business with each other – especially in today’s digital marketplace.

Is your potential partner a positive happy person? How do they react under pressure? Are they the kind of person who is vengeful and vindictive? Beware of anyone who boasts about getting ‘one over’ in a previous business dealing – because chances are one day it will be you that they will want to get ‘one over’.

OK they may have a skill or money that the business needs but if you can’t get on or respect each other it is going to be challenging for both of you.

Before reading this list I should say this is not Legal Advice – it is some key lessons from a personal perspective – hire and pay a professional for advice.

Additionally one thing I see a lot of is individuals referring to each other as partners – when no legal partnership agreement exists. Beware of this term – in some parts of the world if a true partnership exists you could be responsible for the debts of your partner.

OK, on to the main points:

1) 50% of something big, is better than 100% of nothing

You could argue that none of the businesses I created with partners would have ever happened, if I didn’t give up some ownership share and control.

2) It’s less stressful when you share responsibility.

This is especially good if say one of you is the writer / creative type and the other is say more technical.

3) Most people will choose what they want to do, not what is best.

This is a BIG one – all growing businesses have challenges – the road to the top is not a straight up arrow and there will be things that don’t go as planned. It is in those times that people often retreat into their comfort zone and do the things they like doing rather than the things that need doing. They fail to prioritize and if you don’t watch out the business will fail.

As Drew Houston (the founder of Dropbox) says:

“It’s OK to have growing pains, as long as you’re prioritizing correctly and working to address them. Every company looks messy from the inside,”

4) Greed at some point usually takes over.

Strangely the more successful the business is the more reluctant some partners can be to share. This is why it is essential everyone knows their roles / responsibilities. For example in some ‘deals’ one individual may have the idea and put up the cash and thereafter have very little ‘work’ involvement while the other partner would on the surface appear to be working harder and sooner or later may forget it was the other partner who put up the cash / had the idea. As I say. it is essential to have an agreement on different roles clear and out in the open from the start.

5) Sometimes you have to admit defeat.

Give it your best shot – know in your heart you did your best but if for whatever reason it is not working out sometimes it best to cut your loses and move on.

6) Don’t rush to make any decisions.

But on the other hand don’t take days and weeks over something – but in my experience ‘sleeping on it’ (taking 24hrs) over a major decision can often be the wisest choice. Whatever you do – don’t make big decisions when feeling angry.

7. Everything needs to be in writing

All the important stuff needs to be in writing – make it a habit to record all major discussions and outcomes of discussions. Should there be a misunderstanding later – you can always refer back.

8) Open communication is paramount.

I can’t help my business partners solve problems if they don’t tell me about them. I can forgive people messing up, what is not acceptable, is hiding from it. Tell your business partner everything.

As Marcus Lemonis, – the “business turnaround king” and star of CNBC’s prime time reality series The Profit is quoted:

“If you guys can’t communicate as business partners, you can’t be in business together. If you can’t tell him what’s wrong, then you shouldn’t be in business together”

9) Take responsibility

I am responsible. Sure… other people may cause problems, but I was the one who put myself in that situation.

10) Communicate on the phone and in person.

I hardly ever get anything achieved over email. You often end up playing email tag, resolving things slowly, waiting for replies. (But of course once something has been decided – confirm in writing / email)

One person I use to be in business with, would often ‘forget’ what he agreed to. Every time he ended up owing me money, he would make it a point that I had to prove that we ever had an agreement. Everything we ever did was done on a handshake, which admittedly was a silly thing to do, but I get excited about my ideas and just want to push forward with them quickly. Hopefully I’m done making this mistake.

What amused me about this example is, everything was in my name, the domain, hosting, merchant and so on. He only ever had a problem with our verbal agreements when he had any control over what we were doing. See number 4.

I never had a problem with anyone when business is conducted face to face. It’s when you allow them to hide away, they see the opportunity to be dishonest.

11. Crazy people can be hard to spot.

People will tell you what they think you want to hear. They will paint the picture that they are happy, smart, sane and willing to work there ass off. Never go into business with mean people. Never go into business with people who must always be right!

In conclusion – it is important to be realistic in all business relationships. Of course with good due diligence you minimize the chances of failure – but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

Our ability to handle failure and move on / start again is ultimately one of the most important success traits for an Entrepreneur.

I should also say Thank You to all my business partnerships – even the ones that didn’t work out. We are always learning..

And finally a great quote from John D. Rockefeller:

A friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business founded on friendship.

Read more: ‘24 Rules I Follow When Creating Successful Websites’

The post 11 Essential Lessons From Going Into Business With People appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Stanley Tang is a devout entrepreneur who’s been creating businesses since he was a kid.

We first interviewed him when he became a best selling author at 16. His latest project, DoorDash is a tech startup doing restaurant food delivery.

A Stanford graduate, he and three other students founded DoorDash because they wanted food delivery in areas where it wasn’t previously available. Their mission is to empower small business owners to offer delivery in an affordable and convenient way.

Currently restaurants from more than 30 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area are taking advantage of DoorDash. Not only are they creating a better customer service experience for patrons, but DoorDash adds additional income for restaurants and puts money in the pocket of it’s drivers, who currently make up to 20/hr.

Here’s why you should listen to Stanley:

• At age 14 he became an Amazon best selling author with his book eMillions.
• He’s pulled over $57 million in seed funding for DoorDash at the age of 22.
• Leverages the internet to help offline small business owners increase
  sales by offering a better customer experience.

Stanley Tang Interview – Founder of DoorDash

We interviewed you when you were 16 years old, having just released your first published book called eMillions. This was ambitious for a 16 year old. Now you are 22 and run DoorDash and have raised over $57,000,000 in funding. What gives you the courage, determination, ambition, faith, belief in yourself to be able to go from 1 ambitious project, to another?

I’ve been working on side projects my entire life – it’s just what I love doing as a hobby. Since eMillions, there’s been many side projects I worked on throughout college that didn’t pan out, including an online news reader, calendar app, group messaging app etc. 

Every endeavor I’ve undertaken, I’ve made a ton of mistakes and learned something new. The hope is that you don’t repeat the same mistakes and take those learnings onto your next project.

Digital vs Physical. Explain the transition, is physical as easy as possible? 

We’ve actually taken a lot of the learnings from software and brought it into the physical world.

At DoorDash, we’re building the on-demand delivery infrastructure for local cities. DoorDash is very much a software, technology company. We don’t actually own any physical infrastructure, such as cars, warehouses, gps etc. Instead, we build software and use mobile to create a platform that connects drivers who have excess time with merchants that want to offer deliveries.

Was it worth going to University? Looking back, would you still go?

Absolutely! That’s how I met my future co-founders of DoorDash, Andy and Tony. Especially Stanford, where I got exposed to so many different areas of the tech industry.

How do your friends react to your success? I remember when you were 16 telling us how you class mates were impressed that you were publishing a book. 6 years on, how do people react?

It’s not something that I bring up too much these days – that’s in the past. The only thing that matters is what I’m working on right now. In this case, it’s DoorDash.

Why would anyone give you $17 million in funding? 

We’ve proven that our model worked in the Bay Area and we were looking to bring on additional funding to fuel our next stage of growth. Since our Series A, we’ve expanded from one to six cities now.

How many people did you have to ask for funding before Sequoia Capital invested in DoorDash?

We went through Y-Combinator in the summer of 2013 and raised a small seed round right afterwards. It wasn’t until April 2014 when we raised our Series A led by Sequoia.

What advice would you give other entrepreneurs trying to decide between getting funding and going it alone?

It’s more of a personal choice. You end up building two very different types of businesses. Going it alone gives you more of a “lifestyle” business. You have more freedom but it would also be difficult and slower to scale. On the other hand, if you raise funding (especially venture capital), all of a sudden, you have investors, board, employees and you’re forced to go big – that’s the only way investors are going to get a return. You raise funding if you want to accelerate growth.

How did you prove the concept of DoorDash could work? 

The idea actually originated from an experiment to see if there was consumer demand for delivery. We created a simple landing page that consisted of a few PDF menus, a phone number, and a title across the top that said: “Call this number if you want to order deliveries from these restaurants.” 

Obviously, when you called that number, nothing happened – it was just our personal cellphone number. At the time, all we wanted to see was if people would call this number. If we got enough phone calls, then maybe this was a project worth pursuing. That very night, we got a phone call from somebody who wanted delivery. We decided to fulfill that delivery ourselves. The next day, we got a few more phone calls. The day after that, we got even more phone calls. And it just snowballed from there.

It was only after we’ve proven that there’s demand did we actually build out the different functions properly. But in the beginning, it was all about doing things that don’t scale.

In a world where every great idea is copied, how do you stay ahead of your competition?

There’s so much stuff we need to fix internally – the last thing we’re worried about is competition.

What has been your biggest set back and what did you learn from it?

As a startup, we’re always resource constrained. There would be 100 important things to work on, but we only had the resources to pick one or two. I wouldn’t say there were any major setbacks, but more a series of tradeoffs we had to constantly make. And we had to live with the consequences. For example, working on driver products meant the consumer experience suffered.

6 Years ago you told us that the best advice you have ever received was to take action. This is the biggest thing that holds people back. All we hear is people with ideas and dreams, but very few take the action required to make their dreams a reality. How come you are different? Why do you think you take action and others don’t? 

I don’t think I’m that different. It’s just my passion for taking on side projects – most of them fail, but some will takeoff, like DoorDash. It’s something I would have done, even if I didn’t get paid.

The post Stanley Tang Interview – From Best Selling Author At 16 To A $57 Million Investment At 22 appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Sure there’s color theory, setting type, and maintaining grids, but there’s so much more to consider when the device changes.

To shed some light on the do’s and don’ts of mobile app design, Tomas Laurinavicius to lay out his best practices when designing for mobile devices.

Tomas is a freelance designer and the co-author of Mobile Design Book.

Enter Tomas:

In this article I would like to share some examples of great mobile app designs. Specifically, the elements that come together to make a great app.

Launch Screen

The launch screen will be seen by every single app user and will last for a couple of seconds, however it’s crucial to make a good first impression and set some expectations.

Use a background image that tells something about the app, make it clean and well-branded. Keep the size of your launch screen to a minimum to cut down on load time.

Hyperlapse from Instagram & Yummly

Empty States

When a user first downloads your app, they won’t have any data to see. This is called an empty screen.

At this point you need to explain the purpose of your app and guide them towards using your app for the first time. Otherwise they’ll leave confused and might never come back.

Airbnb & Flipboard

Login screens

Forget usernames. Use email address instead.

Make the login process easy by giving them the option to login with existing platforms. Depending on your audience, it may be Google, Facebook, or even LinkedIn.

SoundCloud & Foursquare

Activity Feeds

When designing an engaging and immersive activity feed, consider context and use gamification principles.

Provide essential data like date, time and location if appropriate. To make it more like a game, use numbers, call to action buttons, and little icons to make the interface more appealing.

Swarm by Foursquare & Behance

Signup Screens

If your sign up process is complex, users will leave.

Simplify it as much as possible. Include only the necessary information and even suggest using other networks that store user information like Facebook or Twitter.

Spotify & Cirqle

Checkout

Checkout is a tricky feature to design in mobile apps.

It has to present a lot of information at a glance and allow some guidance towards the next step. Prioritise the data and break it down into chunks that can be presented in groups.

For example shipping address and payment information can make up two groups, pricing and discounts another group and so on. Organise your process so you don’t overwhelm your customers.

Target & Keep Shopping

Comments

Comments are good for building community or simply to show other users that your app is worth joining.

When designing comments, readability and context (i.e. profile pictures, names, and dates) are the most important factors to provide a “live” looking app community ecosystem.

Path & Tripstr

Search

Search is an essential feature for user-generated-content and other data heavy apps.

Provide context and smart suggestions to improve user experience and delight the user. Adding relevant filtering options can significantly improve the search process and lead to customer happiness.

Inbox by Gmail & Lovely

Sharing

Sharing is an important feature for any app as it allows users to spread the word about your product.

Make it easy to share your app or content from it by adding obvious sharing icons and allowing quick sharing across different networks.

Spring & Jukely

Readability

Readability is tricky on small devices. It’s easy to make type too big or too small.

Focus on contrast, type size and line-height. Ensure that your type is optimally sized and is easily legible. Black text on a white background is good.

Readability™ & Feedly

Navigation

Navigation is extremely important for any kind of app.

Make it easy and understandable for different segments of your audience. Use simple copy so users are familiar with the navigation jargon from other apps. Utilize icons and negative space to give some context for your navigation and only include the necessary links.

Facebook & LinkedIn Connected

Settings

Settings screens are often overlooked because they’re not exciting, but it’ll be one of your most-used screens.

Use icons, separate different setting groups with dividers or negative space, and help users navigate quickly to decide what to do next. Also, provide quick options by using native toggle buttons so users can save taps.

Checkmark 2 & YPlan

Notifications

Notifications are the reason users keep coming back to your app.

Make these notifications obvious but not too annoying. People need to know what is going on but don’t want to be overwhelmed. Provide subtle color indicators and numbers to portray the things that are new.

Gogobot & Highlight

Messages

Messaging or chat functions are also a common feature. When designing a messaging system, it’s all about communication and context.

Optimise type size so users can read longer messages and include the date, time of posting, location and other information that’s relevant.

Messaging is all about multimedia nowadays. Provide users with an option to communicate adding photos, video, sounds, smileys and old school text.

Facebook Messenger & Path Talk

Profile

Many apps allow users to create an account and store stories or activities around that profile.

Whether it’s social media, shopping, or any other app, it’s crucial to make profile pages clear and appealing to users.

Emphasize user profile photo and their name. Also provide relevant information and stats so people can see how active or respectable the user is.

Frontback & Quora

Conclusion

As you can see from all the apps I’ve listed, there’s a lot to consider and master when designing a winning app.

While anyone can design an app, it’s important to hire a designer that has experience in the field and can apply all the knowledge and best practices.

Little things can make or break your app. Don’t risk your time and money by hiring someone who doesn’t understand the intricacies of designing an awesome app.

The post 30 Great Examples of Mobile App Design appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Three years later, he jumped into full-time “entrepreneurship” (aka unemployment) and that was when things really started to take off!

Whenever he’s not eating or sleeping, he’s replying to emails, messaging the team or thinking about his strategy. More recently, he’s even started dreaming about Car Throttle – I know right, what a freak!

Running a business is all-consuming, but Adnan Ebrahim wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s currently running one of the fastest-growing internet car communities…

And in just over a year, CarThrottle has grown from less than 100,000 unique visitors per month to over 2.5 million.

They’ve signed exclusive deals with YouTube, have been featured in TechCrunch, DailyMail and Bloomberg, and are even backed by London’s most prominent investors including Passion Capital.

Quick Fire Questions

Book Your Currently Reading?

The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz 

Best Business Purchase?

MacBook Pro Retina (for the 22 years prior, I was an adamant Windows fanboy!)

Favourite Business Resource?

The Car Throttle business bank account…

Biggest Inspiration? 

Elon Musk – a true risk-taker and visionary. And he loves cars, so he’s basically faultless.

Favourite Business Website?

In the early days (2006, when I started my first blog), I was mainly inspired by the “probloggers” who had managed to turn content creation into a full-time living. Two guys instantly come to mind – Darren Rowse and Yaro Starak – whose sites chronicled their rise.

After leaving University, there were definitely some tough times. Eliminating the fear of failure was the single most useful thing which encouraged me to keep going. I basically asked myself “What’s the worst that could happen?” When the answer wasn’t death, I knew I was worrying for no reason!

The Best Thing I Did For My Business

Without awesome investors (specifically Eileen Burbidge from Passion Capital who sits on our board), I wouldn’t have been able to hire my amazing team. Without my team, I wouldn’t have been able to create such a fast-growing brand. Both have been equally as important.

How I Make Money

Finding our target audience has been absolutely crucial to our success. We’ve created a brand that resonates with young, 18-34, male car enthusiasts, and we know exactly where to find them online. Advertisers are willing to pay more money to speak to this hard-to-reach demographic. Find your niche and know what you stand for.

How I Work

A typical working day starts late and finishes late. With our HQ in London, this allows us to miss the worst of the infamous rush hour, and means we’re still working when our American audience starts to wake up.

As a team we’re constantly communicating, whether it’s on Slack, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, calls or via good old face-to-face conversation. As the official “jack of all trades, master of bugger all” hat-wearer. I spend the day talking to advertisers, touching base with our investors, bug testing, reviewing unreleased YouTube videos, monitoring stats, and making sure the ship is sailing smoothly.

I’m much more removed from the content creation process now, which is great, because others in the team are far better at it than I am!

The Day I Realized I Made It

As the team will tell you, I never think we’ve made it. It’s just not who I am. I’m always looking for more, thinking of ways to be better, and striving to hit the next goal.

But breaking 100,000 subscribers on YouTube was an amazing feeling of vindication as was hitting 1 million unique visitors per month. Check out this great guide showing how to make your YouTube videos interactive.

I Would Have Been Successful Sooner If…

It took us a while to find our growth formula; using Facebook as a distribution tool. But “what ifs” don’t exist in life and I prefer to look forward, rather than backward!

Thanks to the rise of internet publications, there are a huge number of emerging car blogs and social media ‘gurus’. All are aiming to become the next TopGear. Whilst it’s great to dream big (we certainly do), the most successful new media brands have an edge and a different angle that help them attract a different kind of audience.

Creating The Next Car Brand For A New Breed Of Digital Natives

Given the industry we’re in, we have a lot of fun.

Whether it’s reviewing the latest cars, attending glamorous launches, creating awesome videos or developing products which are instantly used by millions of users, working for Car Throttle definitely has its perks. And we can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us!

The post Adnan Ebrahim – Creating Popular Brands For A New Breed Of Digital Natives appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

There’s been a lot of excitement leading up to the biggest Internet IPO since May 2012, when Facebook went public. That day was a nightmare for Zuckerberg and Co., as widespread demand caused glitches that left investors unsure whether or not their transaction went through. Facebook’s stock suffered, but has been skyrocketing for the last 12 months.

Will Twitter follow suit? Nobody knows for sure – but the financial world has been abuzz with speculation ever since Twitter’s IPO filing last month. The SEC filing revealed previously secret information, like exact revenue and growth numbers. Twitter excitement has reached a frenzied level in the last few days. Investor interest has spurred last minute price hikes up to $26 per share and it’s been reported that banks underwriting the IPO have received so much interest they’ve had to close their books.

All this for a company that hasn’t ever turned a profit? I get into the juicy details of Twitter’s highly anticipated IPO below.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Much Twitter Earns Per Tweet
• How Twitter’s value compares to Facebook and LinkedIn
• How Much Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Stands to Gain
• How Twitter’s IPO will be Different than Facebook’s
• Whether or Not to Invest

21 Things to Know as Twitter Goes Public

#1 Revenue is Real and Growing

Twitter revealed that they’ve already earned $422 million in the first nine months of 2013. That’s more than double their revenue from the same period the year before. They’re on pace to make over $600 dollars in 2013.

Twitter’s sales are projected to rise 53% next year to $950 million according to an estimate from the company’s bankers.

#2 But Twitter has Never Seen Profit

In 2011, Twitter lost $128.3 million dollars. In 2012, they cut that number down to $79.4 million. Since it’s inception in 2006, Twitter has lost a whopping $418.6 million.

The good news is that revenue growth is outpacing expenses by a factor of three. According to the Wall Street Journal, between 2010 and 2012 Twitter’s revenue rose 1,021% and expenses rose only 311.5%. Still, they aren’t expected to see a profit until 2015.

#3 Almost All that Money is Coming from Ads

“We generated 85% and 87% of our revenue from advertising in 2012 and the six months ended June 30, 2013, respectively.”

– Twitter, in IPO Filing

As of now, “substantially all” of those advertising dollars come from three sources: promoted tweets, promoted trends, and promoted accounts.

In the future, more of that money may come from inline advertisements. Twitter is also looking to boost their ad revenue in the coming years by becoming more visual and more mobile.

#4 75% of Active Twitter Users are Mobile

According to the IPO, three out of four Twitter accounts are accessed through a smart phone or tablet.

This bodes well for Twitter, given the rise of mobile web. According to Salon, global mobile advertising revenue nearly doubled from $5.3 billion to $8.9 billion from 2011 to 2012.

#5 But Only 65% of Ad Revenue comes from Mobile

Twitter makes less money from their mobile users and that’s something they’ll be looking to improve upon as they make a push for profitability in the coming years.

#6 Twitter has 230 Million Active Monthly Users

If Twitter’s users were a country, it would be the fifth most populous in the entire world – between Indonesia and Brazil.

#7 About 25% of Twitter Users are American

Twitter was founded in San Francisco, but today the vast majority of Twitter users live outside the States. 49.2 million Americans use the service compared to over 169 million internationally.

Of those international users, about 15 million live in the UK. With a population of about 63 million, that means almost one in every four people in the United Kingdom use Twitter. In the US, that figure is lower (about 1/6).

#8 They’re Sending 500,000,000 Tweets Each Day

That amounts to 5,787 tweets per second.

#9 For Every 1000 Tweets, Twitter earns about 75 cents

The numbers are higher in the US, where Twitter gets $2.17 per 1,000 tweets. Internationally, it’s a paltry $0.30 for 1,000 tweets.

This an important lesson in online business. All people are created equal, but some web visitors are worth more advertising dollars than others. Targeting an audience in the United States or other affluent nations will result in higher earnings per visitor.

#10 There are More Tweets than People

Since 2006, there have been over 300 billion tweets. That makes the world population of 7.12 billion people look pretty measly in comparison.

#11 Twitter is Growing Faster Internationally

According to Twitter’s IPO filing, they’re growing at a rate of 35% in the US and 47% globally. This trend is expected to continue, as global markets are significantly less saturated.

#12 Twitter’s Stock Ticker will be TWTR

Simple and to the point, this ticker is reminiscent of the company’s original name: twttr.

#13 Twitter’s IPO Values the Company at $18.3 Billion

That may seem like a lot for a company that’s never turned a profit – and it is. But it’s still about quite a bit less than the value of LinkedIn ($26 Billion) and Facebook ($120 billion).

#14 Demand for Twitter Stock has been High

“Banks underwriting the IPO told investors that the order book closed Tuesday morning, earlier than expected.” USA Today describes this as “a bullish sign.”

Initially, Twitter was going to be selling its shares at $17-$20. But after receiving a warm pre-IPO response from investors, that on Monday, November 4^th Twitter raised the price to $23-26 per share. Finally, the night before their market debut, Twitter settled on the high-end:  $26/share. That means they stand to raise about $2.1 billion from the sale.

#15 Twitter’s Selling Less of Itself than Facebook

Twitter’s IPO is the biggest Internet IPO since Facebook, but it’s still much smaller than it’s social media rival. Facebook sold 421 million shares at $38 each. Twitter is selling only 70 million shares.

Fewer public shares means that the IPO will not raise as much money, but it’s also safer and ensures a higher degree of control for the existing owners.

#16 Former CEO Williams Stands to Gain Over $1 Billion

Here are some notable Twitter stockholders:

• Evan Williams, Founder and Former CEO – holds 12%
• Peter Fenton, Board Member – holds 6.7%
• Jack Dorsey, Founder and Chairman – holds 4.9%
• Richard Costolo, Current CEO – holds 1.6%

Jack Dorsey ownership of Twitter will be worth well over a half billion dollars.

#17 Current CEO Richard Costolo’s Salary is Just $14,000

Don’t shed any tears for the guy: he made $11.5 million in 2012 and his stock is estimated to be worth about $200 million.

#18 Twitter will be Traded on NYSE

Nasdaq is “technology focused” stock exchange, home of Apple, Google, and Facebook. But Twitter decided to be listed with the larger New York Stock Exchange.

The New York Post’s Mark DeCambre attributes the move to NYSE’s long courtship of Twitter – along with the fact that NYSE has more Twitter follower’s than the Nasdaq.

But the biggest reason may have to do with Twitter’s biggest competitor. According to Reuters, “many analysts said the trading disruptions that occurred on Facebook’s Nasdaq debut likely played to NYSE’s favor.”

#19 And NYSE isn’t Taking Any Chances

On Saturday, October 26, 2013, NYSE performed an unprecedented system’s check in order to avoid any technical difficulties on opening day. Investors can rest easy knowing that the tests went well.

#20 It has been a Strong Year for IPO’s

Reuters reports that, “Both NYSE and Nasdaq have said 2013 is shaping up to be their best IPO year in more than half a decade.”

#21 It’s a Bull Market

The markets have been soaring in the last year, particularly for online companies. Facebook and LinkedIn have both doubled their share prices in the last year. Bloomberg says, “The climate for Web stocks is particularly hot, with the 77-member Bloomberg U.S. Internet Index trading near the highest valuation relative to the S&P 500 since 2007.”

In other words, the time is right for Twitter’s IPO.

Should You Invest in Twitter?

Anybody who tells you they know what’s going to happen with Twitter is either a liar or a psychic. Of course, that doesn’t stop analysts from chiming in. Predictions run the gamut, from the dire…1

“When you look at valuations and look at the lack of earnings and revenue, it seems to me much like the dot-com bubble. This market looks a little frothy and Twitter is the personification of a risky trade.”

– Matt McCormick, to Bloomberg

…to the exuberant…

“Our own view on management is very favorable given our observations of decisions they have made to date. We have a high degree of confidence that Twitter can continue producing sales growth for many quarters to come.”

– Matt Weiler, to Wall Street Journal

…and everything in between.

Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not you believe in Twitter. It’s valuation at over $10 Billion is based on assumptions that it will continue to grow and increase revenue for decades to come.

My Opinion:

I believe in Twitter and think that it’s a unique platform that’s well-managed and well-positioned to mature along with mobile. But I’m a low-risk investor and no matter how you slice it, Twitter is a high-risk stock. For that reason, I won’t be buying Twitter stock any time soon. That said, I bet Twitter’s opening day will go off without a hitch and its price will finish higher than $30.

A Message from Twitter to Investors

Included in the filing was this message for investors from founder Jack Dorsey:

Twitter was born on March 21, 2006, with just 24 characters.

We started with a simple idea: share what you’re doing, 140 characters at a time. People took that idea and strengthened it by using @names to have public conversations, #hashtags to organize movements, and Retweets to spread news around the world. Twitter represents a service shaped by the people, for the people.

The mission we serve as Twitter, Inc. is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers. Our business and revenue will always follow that mission in ways that improve–and do not detract from–a free and global conversation.

Thank you for supporting us through your Tweets, your business, and now, your potential ownership of this service we continue to build with you.

Yours,

@twitter

Jack’s also the founder of Square and a pretty interesting guy. If you want to learn more from the man behind Twitter, I’ve compiled 9 business lessons from his amazing life.

The post Twitter Goes Public: 21 Things You Should Know appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

You may know him as the serial entrepreneur founder of both Twitter and Square. But did you know Dorsey’s also a certified masseur who dabbled in fashion design?

With Twitter’s announcement that they’re looking to go public and Square getting picked up by Starbucks, Jack Dorsey’s two billion dollar companies are thriving. But Dorsey still takes the bus to work.

There’s a method behind this “unexpected” behavior. Everything Jack Dorsey does, from his never-changing morning routine to his insistence on having “an amazing haircut” is meticulously considered — and his habits and attitudes are the backbone for Dorsey’s continued success. Luckily for us, Dorsey’s come out into the spotlight a little bit in the last couple years and been more willing to share the life and business lessons behind his success.

Who is Jack Dorsey?

• born on November 19th, 1976; grew up in St. Louis, Missouri USA (age 40)
• founded Twitter in 2006;  CEO from 2006-2008
• developed Square in May 2010 (valued at $3.2 billion by 2012)
• second-largest shareholder in Twitter
• net worth estimated at 1.1 billion in March 2013

9 Life and Business Lessons from Jack Dorsey

#1  Play

“What really gets me energized is thinking about activity within a city.”

Jack Dorsey to Vanity Fair

Ever since he was a little boy, Jack Dorsey loved the hustle and bustle of city life. He spent hours sitting in front of his parents’ old police scanner, listening in as the ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars reported their movements. By the age of 14, Jack programmed an imaginary city on his family computer for the fun of it.

Ever since, Dorsey has been finding ways to turn his love for tracking city activity into a career. In In high school, Dorsey tried started a bicycle courier service with his brother but it wasn’t meant to be.” We quickly found out that St. Louis had no need for bicycle couriers at all,” Jack tells Techcrunch. By the time Dorsey way in college, he worked in NYC as a programmer for a company that managed dispatch centers for couriers.

Dorsey excelled thanks to his enthusiam for the subject matter:

“You have all these entities roaming about, and they’re all reporting what they’re doing in real time over a variety of different devices. We had couriers on CB radios, on PDAs, and on cell phones. We had taxis and emergency vehicles with GPS. They’re all reporting constantly where they are and what work they’re doing, and it’s all flowing into this one system that a dispatcher can view in real time on a map. That’s what’s going on in the city! I thought that abstraction was so cool that I wanted that same thing for my friends.”

Still in his early 20’s, Dorsey had followed his play not just to a rewarding career, but to his first billion dollar idea.

#2  Wait for Your Big Idea’s Time to Come

“Sometimes put the idea away. That idea will often emerge later.”

Jack Dorsey

Dorsey first had the idea for Twitter in 2000. But texting wasn’t big yet. The average American sent only 35 texts per month. Dorsey told Vanity Fair, “I quickly learned that… no one else had a mobile e-mail device, so the system was kind of useless.”

Jack decided to pursue a career in botanic illustration instead.

“Twitter in 2000 was something that was fun to play with but something I put on the shelf to play with for another day.”

Jack Dorsey

That day came in 2006. Americans were on the verge of sending more text messages per month than phone calls. Jack started Twitter in March 2006 and launched it by July. The time was right and Twitter exploded.

Tracking Twitter’s Growth:

2007:  400,000 tweets per 90 days

2008:  100 million tweets per 90 days

2009:  3rd-highest-ranked social networking site

2010:  50 million tweets per day

2011:  140 million tweets per day;  100 million active users

2012:  200 million active users

2013:  400 million tweets per day

#3  Be the Unexpected

“Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected.”

Jack Dorsey

Who saw Twitter coming in 2006? The list starts and ends with Jack Dorsey.

Look out for surprises and embrace the unexpected.

#4  Career Paths aren’t Always Straight Lines

“I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I actually wanted to be Bruce Lee.”

Jack Dorsey

Right before launching Twitter, Dorsey was in fashion school designing skirts. He’d already had serious stints as an illustrator and certified massage therapist.

So why did Dorsey settle on programming and entrepreneurship? He told Forbes, “those were the tools I needed to build what I wanted to build.”

Dorsey’s not done making career changes either. He hopes to one day be mayor of New York City. Jack says, “I have to move to New York first, but it is a goal. I think mayors are the ones to watch in the U.S. in terms of government innovation.”

#5  Look for Inspiration in Everyday Life

“Ideas can come from anyone and they can come anytime. We all have various directions that we want to take the company and sometimes those ideas come during a shower, sometimes they come when we’re walking, sometimes they come when we’re talking with other employees at the coffee store.”

Jack Dorsey, while talking to the Square staff

In high school, Jack worked as a barista at his mom’s coffee shop and saw how much the small business could have benefited from seamlessly accepting credit card payment. The same is true of another teenage job, working for glass artist (and eventual Square co-founder) Jim McKelvey. Dorsey told Fast Company that McKelvey, “lost a $2,000 sale because he couldn’t take credit cards.”

Within these observations were the seeds for Square — and today Dorsey continues to go out of his way to look for inspiration in everyday life. Jack commutes to work by public bus. The reason? It’s so he can observe how people are using their mobile devices firsthand and incorporate their behavior into his company policy at Square and Twitter.

#6  Embrace Routine

Dorsey starts every morning the same way:  he eats two hard-boiled eggs with soy sauce and a side of berries, then tweets about it (for his mom’s benefit).

Jack also has his weeks meticulously planned out, as he explained to Fast Company:

“All my days are themed. Monday is management. At Square we have a directional meeting, at Twitter we have our opcomm [operating committee] meeting. Tuesday is product, engineering, and design. Wednesday is marketing, growth, and communications. Thursday is partnership and developers. Friday is company and culture. It works in 24-hour blocks. On days beginning with T, I start at Twitter in the morning, then go to Square in the afternoon. Sundays are for strategy, and I do a lot of job interviews. Saturday is a day off.”

Dorsey links his rigid routine to his “discipline” and productivity.

#7 Don’t be a Jerk

Back in Twitter’s infancy, Dorsey kept a little personal blog. One day, he felt inspired to post 10 life lessons. The blog has since been deleted, but luckily Twitter employee Caroline Mizumoto printed the list out, stuck it on her refrigerator, and posted a picture on her Flickr.

Here are the ten life lessons straight from Jack Dorsey:

(1)  Don’t be a jerk

(2)  Don’t take anyone for granted

(3)  Enjoy the moment

(4)  Be honest, always

(5)  Be humble

(6)  Be kind

(7)  Respect people’s wishes

(8)  Allow endings

(9)  Fail openly

(10) Have an amazing haircut

Starting with “Don’t be a jerk,” an emphatic 6 out of Dorsey’s 10 life lessons involve treating your fellow human beings well.

#8  Have an Amazing Haircut

Dorsey once had disheveled hair and a facial piercing, but that all changed once he became the CEO of a fast-growing company. “I took my nose ring out after [Twitter’s] first round of financing,” says Dorsey.

Jack understood that investors would be judging Twitter’s future based on how he presented himself. Today, Jack keeps his hair trimmed and his suits fitted.

The way you take care of yourself says a lot about you to other people (fair or not). I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time I go out and get a haircut.

#9 Achieve Perfection through Simplicity

“Make every detail perfect, and limit the number of details to perfect.”

Jack Dorsey

140 characters. That’s all you get on Twitter.

Just like writing a haiku, there’s no room for unnecessary syllables – and Jack wouldn’t have it any other way. Dorsey loves to take a complex idea and begin removing “the conceptual debris… so you can just focus on what’s most important.”

“He’s always been a minimalist,” Ted Dorsey (Jack’s father) says. The elder Dorsey recalls his family moving into a new house and young Jack immediately choosing the smallest bedroom. But minimalism is more than just a character trait; it’s Dorsey’s business philosophy.

Jack can tell you what the companies mean to him in one word. For Twitter, that word is communication (“making that simple and easy”). For Square, it’s commerce. Though Dorsey says “it’s really complex to make something simple,” it’s worth it. Simpler things are easier to perfect and “If we can perfect one experience for one individual, we can scale to every single one of the 7 billion people now inhabiting this earth.”

How Twitter Boosted Income Diary

Income Diary’s success was built 140 characters at a time. When Michael Dunlop founded Income Diary in 2009, Twitter was growing at a “staggering” 1382%. Michael saw an opportunity and started a Twitter account for Income Diary. Soon Twitter was driving “100,000’s of visitors in a month” to Michael’s young blog.

If you enjoyed this article you should probably Tweet it, right? It’s what Jack Dorsey would want you to do.

The post “Be the Unexpected” + 8 Other Lessons from Jack Dorsey (Twitter and Square Founder) appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Now I realize Musk is a super hero. I’m not just saying that because Robert Downey, Jr. used Musk as real-life inspiration for Iron Man’s Tony Stark. I really think Elon has super powers:

• Musk can predict the future
• Musk has a super-human intellect
• Musk has the ability to work forever without stopping

He also has lots of high-tech gadgets, like his own rocket ships and a device with a holographic 3d interface. Elon Musk is a utility belt away from being able to take on super villains.

In all seriousness, Musk is one of the most influential entrepreneurs of the 21st century. If he keeps succeeding at this unprecedented rate, history will know him as the man who ushered in the age of electric cars, solar paneled homes, and private space travel. Below I’ve carefully compiled 15 lessons for business and startups from Elon Musk.

Who is Elon Musk?

• Elon Musk was born on June 28th, 1971 in South Africa.
• Musk moved to Canada in 1988 at the age of 17 to avoid service in the South African military.
• Musk earned undergraduate degrees in business and physics from The University of Pennsylvania.
• In 1995, Musk dropped out of Stanford University to found his first company.
• Musk is a twice-divorced father of five.
• Musk’s job is the CEO of Tesla Motors, the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, and the chairman of SolarCity. His 2013 salary is over $78 million.
• Musk’s net worth was estimated in September 2013 at $6.7 billion.
• Like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, Elon Musk has pledged to give all of his money to charity.

 Photo by Brian Solis, via Wikimedia Commons

Companies Started by Elon Musk:

• PayPal
• SolarCity
• SpaceX
• Tesla Motors
• Zip2

Musk is one of only two people ever to found three billion dollar companies.

15 Business & Startup Lessons from Elon Musk

#1 Think Out of this World

“[Elon Musk] is very much the person who, when someone says it’s impossible, shrugs and says, ‘I think I can do it.”

Max Levchin, PayPal Co-Founder

Elon Musk isn’t here just to make companies; he’s here to make history.

His innovations in the auto industry have him being compared to Henry Ford and Jon Favreau famously interpreted Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) on Musk. The grandiosity of his goals haven’t escaped Elon:

“There was the advent of single-celled life, multicelled life, the development of plants, then animals. On this time scale, I’d put the extension of life to another planet slightly above the transition from life in the oceans to life on land.”

Elon Musk to Inc.

That’s right. Musk just put one of the items on his to-do list on the same scale as the development of sentient life. It’s plausible. SpaceX is seriously planning to be build a greenhouse and eventually a colony on Mars.

#2 Look for Opportunities in Emerging Industries

Musk only starts companies in emerging fields

In 1998, that emerging field was the Internet. Zip2 (and later PayPal) both succeeded thanks in large part to getting in on the ground floor of Internet boom.

Next, Musk identified three more emerging industries and got in on the ground floor on all three. SpaceX (space transportation), Tesla Motors (electric cars), and SolarCity (solar power) have all benefited from the high growth potential and low-competition that comes with being a pioneer.

# 3 The Quality of the Product Comes First

“I’d say stay very focused on the quality of the product.   People get really  wrapped up in all sorts of esoteric notions of how to manage etc., [but]  I think people should get much more focused on the product itself – how do you make the product incredibly compelling to a customer – just become maniacally focused on building it better.  I think people get distracted from that.”

Elon Musk, from Rock Solid Finance pioneer new territory.

#4 Be Prepared to Pivot

To pivot in business is to change direction while keeping one foot grounded where you started.

That’s exactly what Elon Musk did when he turned X.com (online bank) into PayPal (a global payment transfer provider). The change rendered X.com totally unrecognizable, but Musk was able to use much of its resources. Those resources included an innovative method of securely transferring money online through the recipients email address, which Musk had developed himself.

The pivot was a gargantuan success:  once PayPal became featured on Ebay, its use exploded.

#5 Embrace an Exit Plan

Can you imagine if Musk had stayed running PayPal? He’d still be rich and successful – but there would be no electric sports cars or rocket ships to his name. Thankfully, Musk long ago learned how to extricate himself from his own startups.

In 1995, Musk founded Zip2 (an online city guide) and in 1998 he sold it to Compaq for $307 million. Musk’s portion was $22 million. He was 28-years-old and free to do whatever he wanted.

That meant founding X.com. Again, Musk jumped ship after a couple of years, selling PayPal for to Ebay in 2002 for a cool $1.5 billion. For his trouble, Musk got $165 million in Ebay stock. Now Musk had enough personal capital to start the pair of truly extraordinary businesses that he still runs today.

When you start a business, you should have an end in mind. Michael Dunlop recently wrote about how to make your website your millionaire exit plan.

#6 Invest Earnings into New Businesses

Both times Musk cashed in a company for millions of dollars, he invested at least 45% of his earnings back into a brand new business within the calendar year.

• $10 million of the $22 million Musk made from the sale of Zip2 went to founding X.com (later PayPal).
• $100 million of the $165 million made from the sale of PayPal went to founding SpaceX.

Musk also invested heavily in Tesla Motors (33,076,212 shares) and SolarCity (20,724,991 shares). It’s the ownership of these three companies that constitutes the vast majority of Musk’s $6.7 estimated wealth.

#7 Hire Carefully, Fire Fast

Musk is known to be meticulous about building his staff:

“I think you definitely don’t want to grow too fast.   Make sure that every person you hire you really need to hire that person.”

Elon Musk

Elon has called hiring people his “biggest single challenge”:

“I have an exceptionally high standard for people that get hired, and especially for SpaceX.  We really aspire to hire quite literally the best people in the world at their job. Finding such people is so hard…  When we find them, we are generally able to attract them to the company… But the number one issue for me is finding superlatively talented people.  I think we’ve been fortunate to find some very, very talented people at SpaceX, but that is always the governor on growth.”

Elon Musk

He’s quick and unsentimental when it’s time to correct a hiring mistake:

“One lesson I learned [at PayPal] is to fire people faster.  That sounds awful, but I think if somebody is not working out, it’s best to part ways sooner rather than later.  It’s a mistake to try too hard to make something work that really couldn’t work.”

Elon Musk

#8 Be Your Own Happiest Customer

Musk loves the Tesla Model 6 so much, he’s going to drive in it across the USA next year with his five young sons. On September 5th, 2013, Musk announced via his Twitter:  “Just finalized the LA to NY family road trip route in Model S. 6 day, 3200 mile journey with only 9 hrs spent charging.”

This is more than just a great PR campaign to highlight all of Tesla’s new charging stations across the country. By putting himself behind the wheel of his company’s product for weeks on end, Musk will gain first-hand insight into how to improve Tesla’s premiere electric car.

In the case of SpaceX, Musk gets extra motivation for the company to succeed from his desire to one day be a SpaceX customer. The sooner the better:  “I don’t want to be doddering around up there, needing a quadruple bypass,” he says. His plan is to be a on a rocket to Mars by 2030, when he’ll be 61 years old.

Many great inventions and businesses start because their creator wanted the product for his/her own use. Income Diary founder Michael Dunlop’s PopUp Domination was originally developed for Michael’s own websites before he turned it into a public product.

#9 Make Failure an Option

“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”

Elon Musk

Good business decisions are often very safe. But great business decisions are almost always risky.

All of Musk’s business successes have come in emerging industries with a dubious history of turning a profit:  the Internet (in 1995), electric vehicles, space travel, and solar panels. Musk knew going in that there was a high risk of failure, but while he never planned on failing, he always had a contingency plan to allow for failure.

For instance, when Musk set about sending rockets into space, he knew that the first rocket likely wasn’t going to succeed. That’s why he invested enough money into SpaceX ($100 million) to “make failure an option” and allow for up to three launches.

Musk also sees failure as an important part of the creative process:  “If every time somebody comes up with an idea it has to be successful, you’re not gonna get people coming up with ideas.”

#10 Leadership Requires Putting Yourself Forward

Musk’s leadership was tested like never before on August 2, 2008. It was the day of SpaceX’s third launch attempt and the future of the company was on the line.

The Falcon 1 launch vehicle made it through the first and most most dangerous stage – the one where it actually breaks away from Earth’s gravitational pull. But the rocket faltered soon after and they lost communication. That was it:  mission failed

The 300+ SpaceX employees in attendance were heartbroken – and fearing for their very livelihoods – when Musk stepped up to speak to the crowd. Elon revealed that he had already secured further investment in SpaceX so they would be able to continue their mission in case of complications (again, making “failure an option”). At the climax of his speech, he told his employees not what they should do, but what he was going to do:  “For my part, I will never give up,” Musk said, “and I mean never.”

Dolly Singh recalls the crowd’s response:

“I think most of us would have followed him into the gates of hell carrying suntan oil after that. It was the most impressive display of leadership that I have ever witnessed. Within moments, the energy of the building went from despair and defeat to a massive buzz of determination as people began to focus on moving forward instead of looking back. This shift happened collectively, across all 300-plus people in a matter of not more than five seconds.”

SpaceX’s very next launch was a complete success. On September 28th, 2008 the Falcon 1 became the first privately built rocket to achieve earth orbit.

Photo by U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

#11  Be Driven to Work Hard

“If you don’t mind things being really hard and high risk, then starting a company is a good idea. Otherwise, it’s probably unwise. It will certainly stress you out. So I think you have to be pretty driven to make it happen. Otherwise, you will just make yourself miserable.”

– Elon Musk

Musk’s work ethic is legendary. “He is a machine,” says Dolly Singh, who worked under Musk as the head of talent acquisition at SpaceX.

Elon is said to regularly put in 100 hours of work week between Tesla and Space X – and he considers this the bedrock of his business success. When asked to give advice to entrepreneurs, Musk offered, “Just work like hell. If other people are putting 40 hour work weeks and you’re putting in 100 hour work weeks, even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”

To aspiring entrepreneurs, Musk doesn’t mince words:  if you’re lazy, don’t waste your time starting a business.

Photo by marcella bona via Compfight cc

#13 Know Your Limits

Musk may be the smartest and hardest working entrepreneur of the 21st century, but even has limits.

Back in 2006, Elon had an idea for a solar panel company. But he knew that if he started it, he would be overextended and unable to give everything necessary to SpaceX and Tesla. So he shared his idea with Peter and Lyndon Rive, who founded SolarCity in July of that year. Musk was the principle investor in the company and has served as chairman of the board since its inception – but he’s kept a safe enough distance so that it doesn’t eat up too much of his time and energy.

Solar isn’t the only industry he sees huge opportunity. Supersonic jets, hyperloops, and virtual reality interfaces have all earned his attention. He’s skimming the surface in these fields, but not diving in headfirst.

#14 Find Your Higher Purpose

Colonizing Mars is much more than a business decision. It’s about the future of the human species:

“I think it’s important that humanity become a multi-planet species. I think most people would agree that a future where we are a spacefaring civilization is inspiring and exciting compared with one where we are forever confined to Earth until some eventual extinction event. That’s really why I started SpaceX.

Elon Musk

Musk used to struggle with his purpose until he found out what really mattered for him. He described the realization:

“I always had an existential crisis, trying to figure out ‘what does it all mean?’ I came to the conclusion that if we can advance the knowledge of the world, if we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness, then, we’re better able to ask the right questions and become more enlightened. That’s the only way to move forward.”

Elon Musk

#15 Start Businesses that Align with Your Higher Purpose

Musk’s mission to “expand the scope and scale of consciousness” has had him looking beyond simple profit benchmarks to found businesses that are making a global impact for good. Every day when Musk goes to work, he knows he’s helping to reduce carbon emissions, produce renewable energy, and help save the human race in case of collision with an asteroid.

How’s that for motivation?

The first step to leaving a legacy is to answer Musk’s existential question for yourself:  “What does it all mean?” When your business is aligned with your purpose, you will work harder, smarter, and better to achieve your goals.

Inspired Yet?

If you want more lessons from legendary entrepreneurs, check out our articles on Richard Branson and Steve Jobs.

The post Elon Musk’s 15 Lessons for Your Startup Business appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

As it turns out, the history books are littered with product launches gone bad – some costing literally hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fortunately the bigger the disaster, the more we can learn from the experience. So let’s pick apart some of the biggest ever failed product launches to highlight not only the risks of launching a new product but also what we can learn from these shocking case studies.

IBM PCjr

Once upon a time IBM were the manufacturers of business computers in the form of their IBM PC. Buoyed by their success, and keen to expand their market reach even further, IBM decided to venture into the consumer market by offering a computer specifically designed for home users. Thus, the IBM PCjr was born.

The pre-launch excitement was palpable – it was the “Apple cult” of it’s day. Computer lovers weren’t just lining up ready to buy the new system months before it’s launch but they were even shunning equal machines released by IBMs competitors. The pressure was on.

Sadly, rather like many over-hyped product launches, the reality failed to live up to expectations. For one, the keyboard was so small and so ugly as to be virtually unusable. Indeed, as sales flagged IBM even swapped out the keyboard for a better one at huge expense but sales failed to recover.

However this didn’t address the two core issues that led to the IBM PCjr’s failure; firstly the machine cost almost double what similar machines were selling for with no obvious benefits.

Even worse, the limited processing power of the IBMjr meant that in many cases software, and even individual files, weren’t compatible between the IBM PC and the PCjr. This meant that anyone wanting to transfer information between the two machines – such as business owners who wanted to do some work from home – were setting themselves up for a fall.

Shortly after launch, when monthly sales were only in their thousands, IBM pulled the plug on their greatest product launch failure ever.

So what can we learn from IBM’s dismal failure with the PCjr? Firstly, if you’re going to sell a product, it must be worth the money you’re changing. Many brands over the years have shown that premium products will sell, but only when customers still consider them fair value.

Before launching any kind of product, market research is essential. Get your product into the hands of your potential customers and ask them for their thoughts. Do they like it? How can it be improved? How does it measure up to their expectations? And arguably most importantly of all (for IBM at least): what will customers willingly pay for your product?

New Coke

One of the classic product launch failures involves one of the most iconic and well-known brands in the world; namely the Coca Cola company. For years, Pepsi and Coca Cola had been fierce rivals for the title of “cola king” but what worried the Coca Cola company was that they seemed to be losing the battle. Pepsi’s sales continued to grow while their own faltered. Alarmed at dropping sales, Coke decided they need to take massive action.

Taste tests suggested that many customers preferred the sweeter taste of Pepsi over Coke so experts set about creating a “new Coke” that was more appealing than Pepsi’s offering. Researchers found customers largely in favour of New Coke and so in 1985 the product was officially launched.

The response was almost immediate. While some cola drinkers did indeed prefer New Coke over the old formula or even over Pepsi, there was a problem. A vocal customer base felt cheated that their beloved drink had been tampered with and started to boycott the new version. Sales dropped still further until, with a heavy heart, executives at Coke had to perform a “u-turn” and reintroduce the old formula.

The really interesting thing about the New Coke saga from an entrepreneurs perspective is that in theory the product should have been a winner. Coke poured huge amounts of time and money into their research and development and indeed on average people did prefer the new, sweeter beverage over the old one. So what really went wrong?

In essence, Coke forgot to consider one vital element – and that was their brand. Not the price, the appearance or the flavor of their drink but rather the feelings people had about the company. For many people, Coke was a part of their identity. They’d enjoyed it for years and rather like supporting a certain football team the Coke/Pepsi divide helped to define who they were as a person.

Indeed Coke’s branding was so strong that when they stopped producing the old formula, some die-hard enthusiasts even started importing it from overseas where New Coke had not yet been introduced. Their customers felt cheated and deceived. The brand had changed – and they didn’t like it.

So the biggest lesson that entrepreneurs can learn from the dismal failure of New Coke is the importance of really understanding your customers. By interacting with them through the enquiries they make and through surveys and social media, you’ll gain a better understanding of what works.

Try to gain an understanding of how your customers view you and what your brand traits are, so that you can live up to these expectations. Consistent branding works; it builds trust and makes customers feel comfortable. It’s how Ray Kroc grew McDonalds into one of the biggest companies in the world, because wherever you see the “yellow arches” you know exactly what you’re getting. Imagine walking into McDonalds to find it selling only vegeburgers and imagine how cheated you’d feel.

In other words choose a brand and stick to it, no matter what.

Tetris

“Tetris, a failure?” I hear you ask? Right now you’re probably remembering the Gameboy you lovingly owned years ago and the many happy hours you spent playing Tetris. So how could a game that has become such a part of popular culture be considered a dismal failure?

The reason to consider Tetris a product launch disaster concerns the secret battle between Nintendo and Atari. Before it hit the big time, every software manufacturer that encountered Tetris saw the games massive potential and wanted a piece of the action.

Soon many of the biggest names in the industry were battling it out for rights to produce and sell the game on their platform and two of the biggest rivals were Atari and Nintendo. In theory Atari won the race; they got approval to mass-produce the game long before Nintendo got to the table. But there was a problem; they were negotiating with the wrong person. Nintendo may have been late to the game but they rapidly identified the “go-to” guy and began negotiating in earnest.

The outcome was that Atari incorrectly thought they had won sole rights to the game when infact they had been beaten by Nintendo. As Atari had negotiated with a more junior person, the Nintendo deal won out after some unpleasant legal wrangling.

Unfortunately by the time Nintendo was finally crowned the victor, Atari had already manufactured vast supplies of the game to distribute. On losing the case Atari were then faced with an expensive and embarrassing obligation to dispose of all their Tetris game cartridges. In all, they recalled and destroyed over a quarter of a million games, a mistake that cost them millions of dollars.

So while Tetris may have been a major success for Nintendo it also represents a massive disaster for competitor Atari who failed to do their research properly and eventually missed out.

There are a number of points that we as entrepreneurs would do well to learn from this unfortunate saga. Firstly, try to identify the real authorities in your chosen business niche and build trust and rapport with them. Relationships are just as important as ever when it comes to growing a venture and having the right friends can make or break a business.

Secondly while entrepreneurs tend to be impatient, action-oriented individuals, it’s also important to have someone on staff who is well-grounded and will look at the finer details of a project. Whether you employ a staff member specifically or outsource as necessary, don’t underestimate the importance of the right counsel in the form of lawyers and accountants when you’re making important decisions in your business. One badly-checked piece of paper really can bring the roof down if you’re unlucky.

Dasani

Poor old Coca Cola. As if the New Coke fiasco weren’t enough of a mistake, the UK release of their bottled water product was an even greater disaster leading to possibly more bad press than any other major product launch in history.

By definition, most bottled water sold comes from natural springs where it is considered to be fresher, purer and more healthy than tap water. Many people also believe it tastes better too. All the major bottled water brands sold in Britain such as Evian and Buxton follow this most basic rule. However Coca Cola decided to do something different…

Upon the release of the Coke’s heavily-marketed Dasani water, consumers were outraged to discover that the water they were spending good money on hadn’t just bubbled up from an anchient aquifer but had instead come from a tap in London. No matter that Coca Cola claimed the tap water was put through a purification process and had trace minerals added to it – the fact is that bottled water is seen as natural and healthy while tap water and artificial processes aren’t.

In other words, the product was at odds with consumers from the very outset. Just like the New Coke scenario, the taste wasn’t what mattered. What counted was what consumers thought about the product – and that was over-poweringly negative.

With a PR crisis on their hands and customers feeling cheated and lied to the story just got worse; abnormally high levels of a cancer-causing agent was also identified in the water. As the mineral wasn’t present in the original water, Coke’s “purification” process must have been inadvertently adding it somehow.

Coke quickly withdrew hundreds of thousands of bottles and as consumer confidence sunk to an all time low, the drink was finally discontinued. Indeed, while Dasani is still sold in some countries, the negative publicity in the UK not only led to the product’s withdrawal here but also shelved the launch of the product in mainland Europe too.

There are two lessons here that we entrepreneurs need to keep in mind. The first of these relates to quality control. If Coke was properly testing their water then the harmful chemicals would have been noticed in advance. Never make assumptions about your product or business; instead try to experience it as a customer with fresh eyes and see what your own experience is.

Secondly, your customers aren’t stupid, so don’t treat them like it. The overwhelming response from customers about Dasani water was that they felt cheated and conned. They felt like Coke had tried to take advantage of them, and nobody likes to feel like that.

Remember that your customers are the lifeblood of your business and they should be treated with the utmost respect at all times. Think about how your product lives up to expectations and, like Apple or Dyson, find ways to exceed those expectations in every interaction. When you succeed, you’ll build massive trust and loyalty in your business that can explode your growth.

Premier Cigarettes

When the dangers of smoking cigarettes started to become public knowledge in the 1980’s, tobacco firm RJ Reynolds hit on a novel idea to grow their customer base; a cigarette that doesn’t give off smoke. The theory was that a smokeless cigarette would not only be more socially-acceptable but would also appear healthier to customers who were concerned about the risks of smoking.

Sadly, the reality was rather different. While the developers made good on their claims of a smokeless cigarette, the complicated process of making a tobacco that didn’t produce visible smoke had two major shortfalls. Firstly the cigarettes were virtually impossible to light and secondly customers found the taste repulsive.

For most customers, one packet was enough before they scurried back to their old cigarette brand. Shortly after it’s launch, the smokeless cigarette was withdrawn from sale, as RJ Reynolds flushed over $300 million of development costs down the drain.

The simple fact is that there’s no point in trying to run before you can walk. It’s doesn’t matter if a cigarette doesn’t produce smoke if the most basic elements aren’t there. If you can’t light a cigarette and it tastes vile then nobody will want it.

As an entrepreneur, remember the old adage that “form follows function”. Ensure your product does exactly what it says on the tin – smoothly and efficiently – before you start trying to add any gimmicks on top to try and make you unique.

Imagine if Popup Domination – the most popular WordPress plugin for building your mailing list – wouldn’t actually add subscribers to your autoresponder. It wouldn’t matter how fancy the popups looked or how easy it was to install – if the core functionality isn’t there then your product is going to fail.

And as a final point, try to keep your product development costs as low as possible. The more money you spend, the higher your risk is. While you may have grandiose ideas about a new piece of software, a mobile app or whatever else, try removing things from the project to see if you can save time and money on development costs without giving up the core purpose of the product.

Entrepreneurs have a saying: “fail fast and fail often”. The more products you release, the sooner you’ll find a winner. And when you land that “big catch” you’ll be in a perfect position to reinvest some of your profits into new features and really turn your product into a market leader.

Betamax

Many of us have heard the story of two competitors battling it out for dominance in the video cassette market. Strangely, while we all know that VHS was the ultimate winner, with Betamax dying a painful death, the most obvious question is why? After all, most people who tested both formats preferred Betamax citing it’s far higher quality as the reason for their preference. So if a “better” product lost out to an inferior one, what really happened, and what can we as entrepreneurs learn from the experience?

It turns out that Betamax had an Achilles heel that led to it’s downfall; namely the video tapes they made weren’t very long when compared to VHS which made putting a whole movie on a Betamax cassette almost impossible.

As a result of this shortfall, the major Hollywood studios opted to release their movies on the longer VHS format which helped it to almost instantly corner the market. While Betamax may have been a superior product, there simply weren’t enough videos worth watching and so, slowly, even die-hard Betamax aficionados found themselves admitting defeat and investing in VHS in order to enjoy their favourite films.

They say that “no man is an island” and this can be applied just as easily in business. A really smart way to get big fast is to piggyback off an already successful company. In many ways this is why Paypal has become such a big name because they set themselves up as the payment service for Ebay sellers. It’s also one reason that Buffer has become so big – by creating a simple solution to a problem that millions of existing Twitter users have. Piggybacking works, big time.

When you’re considering launching a product take a long, hard look at the market and your potential customers. Try to find related products and services that you can align yourself with and use their success to build your own business as break-neck speed.

So now it’s your turn. If you’ve ever launched a product of your own – whether it was a success or not – please leave a comment below and tell us what your experiences were and what your learned. We’d love to hear from you!

The post The 6 Most Disastrous Product Launches Ever – And What You Can Learn From Them appeared first on How To Make Money Online.