Forbes Column 2010: These Companies Are Built To Enjoy

Compelling opportunities for angel investors and entrepreneurs lie with companies like these. Read more in this week’s Forbes column, These Companies Are Built To Enjoy.

From Zero To One Hundred Million: TheLadders.com CEO Marc Cenedella (Part 2)

SM: Were you able to have the entrepreneurial finance role you had hoped for?

MC: I had some good experiences but overall, it was not what I wanted. I was there for two years and I realized that in private equity you are really just a finance guy. Private equity definitely has its function, it is important, and I am glad people do it. It is not what I was meant to do. >>>

Roundtable Recap: May 27 – Is The Venture Worth Your Time?

Today quite a variety of entrepreneurs presented their business ideas.  Several times I brought up how precious our time is and we need to treat it as such.  So many people become enamored with technology and the building of the product before they ever think to validate that this is a business service or product that a customer wants to pay for. I’ve seen too many entrepreneurs wasting precious years of their lives and sincerely try to discourage anyone from wasting his or her time on an idea that does not have legs based on concrete customer feedback. One of the entrepreneurs said he thinks of me as the Simon Cowell for entrepreneurs after listening to some recordings of previous roundtables.  I think my advice is only valuable if I’m being honest and direct.  Plus I don’t want to waste my precious time, either!
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May 27 Roundtable Recording

In case you missed this session, here is the recording:

Roundtable Starting In 30 Minutes

Today’s roundtable is starting in 30 minutes, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/8:30 p.m. IST. Click here to join.

From Zero To One Hundred Million: TheLadders.com CEO Marc Cenedella (Part 1)

Marc Cenedella is the cofounder and CEO of TheLadders.com. Founded in 2003, TheLadders.com is a premier online job board for jobs with salaries of more than $100,000. Prior to TheLadders.com, Cenedella worked as a senior vice president of finance and operations at HotJobs.com and was an associate vice president at The Riverside Company, a New York-based private equity firm. He graduated with a BA in political science from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

SM: Marc, let’s start at the beginning of your story. What is your background?

MC: I went to school at Yale, where I studied political science for my undergraduate degree. Coming out of school I had no idea what business was about. I knew I wanted to go into business, but I was not really sure what that would entail. I remember that I had to ask my uncle what the difference between sales and marketing was. >>>

Monetizing People Search: MyLife.com CEO Jeff Tinsley (Part 7)

SM: Why did you raise money?

JT: We wanted to do more of everything we were doing. We had so many product development tasks that we could not do them all. We also wanted to grow faster and thought that adding some funds to marketing would help. >>>

Next 1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs On Thursday

Sramana Mitra’s next free online 1M/1M strategy roundtable for entrepreneurs will be held this Thursday, May 27, 2010, starting at 8am PDT/11am EDT/8:30pm IST.  You can find more details and register here. Please join us and let other entrepreneurs know!