Wisdom

A great list of ‘Be-wares’ – dead ends for startups to avoid – captured from the eloquent Ben Joffe: Funware (fun but no market) Easyware (anyone can make it) Sameware (similar to existing products) Solutionware (amazing technology that hasn’t yet found a problem it’s good at solving) Vaporware (can’t be made) Lameware (good intentions but…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC4HLEvAkfI As JFDI.Asia’s 2013B batch of start-ups emerge into the glare of public attention, they’re asking … how do I pull the spotlight in my direction? Anyone watching Singapore’s startup scene over the last few weeks can’t have failed to notice the impact that Y-combinator graduates Striking.ly have made in just a few weeks ……

When you launch anything new, at first people don’t know about it. They don’t care about it either. Three things can change all that and get you noticed, writes JFDI.Asia CEO Hugh Mason. 1. Know Your Audience You’re taking people on a mental journey from where they are now to where you want them to…

Common sense Smitty is both technical and goal driven. He’s an all-star products person. At today’s mentoring session, he kicked off with a talk to helped JFDI teams focus on two things: 1) create an emotional connection with customers, and 2) make hard decisions early on. Be funny Most startups were battling the online noise…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDUWtd3H88 When a young Christopher Columbus set out to raise a stash of cash to go sail the ocean blue, the challenges he faced fundraising were remarkably similar to today’s tech venturers, Meng Wong tells Hugh Mason Applications to the next JFDI.Asia Accelerator program close 31 July! Apply now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMFGa3lwwtM Startups have just a week or so left to apply to JFDI.Asia’s next accelerator program starting in August. Assuming, of course, that they know it’s happening … Lacking resources to splurge on traditional advertising, smaller organizations including JFDI.Asia have to make their own audience and pull people into the funnel that eventually leads to…

In the second of this two-part series, JFDI.Asia mentor Graham Lind explains to Hugh Mason how startups selling to bigger businesses can start to understand the psychology of customers with a very different culture and expectations. Part 1 of this series is here. Applications for the next JFDI.Asia accelerator program are open now and will…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vhl5VXBBQ4 Yesterday, JFDI.Asia accelerator manager Ray Wu took us behind the beard of mystery to sense the secrets of growth hacking. In the second thrilling episode of this short series, Ray reveals that the Facebook ads he posted are like totally awesomely crushing it. Quake with amazement as he shares the secret of how to…

In the first of this two-part series, JFDI.Asia mentor Graham Lind explains to Hugh Mason how startups selling to bigger businesses can start to understand the psychology of customers with a very different culture and expectations. Part 2 of this series is here. Applications for the next JFDI.Asia accelerator program are open now and will…

http://youtu.be/IxgJJvZXjLU Lean Startup Methodology will get you nowhere without an AIM, JFDI.Asia’s Meng Wong tells Hugh Mason. Domain expertise gives you an AIM, then the lean METHOD can help you apply an INSIGHT to break through and do something new. Puke Alert – this video contains totally groovy motion stabilization artefacts