STRATiCOM

 

After six years of being frozen out of grant money allocated to small business innovation and research, venture investors hope the startups they back will finally be eligible again for federal funding.

The potential prize is a piece of more than $2 billion in Small Business Innovation Research funds from 11 federal agencies that has been blocked from companies that are majority owned by venture capitalists.
(July 17, 2009 - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal)

Small business owners are being crushed by rising health care costs, and feel left out of the current health care debate in Washington, according to a new report released by U.S. Public Interest Research Group on Tuesday.

The new report, The Small Business Dilemma, which surveyed hundreds of small business owners and managers across the country, makes clear that small business owners want and need health care reform.

 

Although plenty of businesses skipped Windows Vista, a significant number of corporations have no plans to quickly move to Windows 7, according to a new survey.

The survey, which received feedback from 1,000 IT administrators, found that nearly 60 percent have no current plan to adopt Windows 7. The survey, conducted by Quest Software's ScriptLogic unit, received the 1,000 responses from 20,000 surveys it distributed.
(July 12, 2009 - CNET News)

 

Robert Palmquist was looking for investors to help expand Speechgear, his small, local business. The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation was looking for innovative businesses with products "ahead of the curve."
(July 17, 2009 - Northfield News)

There's a good practical list of Five Common Business Models for Social Media Startups by Jun Loayza on Mashable. A good reminder that business models-how you get paid-are part of the game. All five will seem familiar: There's freemium (give a standard version free, charge for more users or more features), affiliate, subscription, virtual goods (add-ons to free games, like swords and shields and such), and the old standard, advertising.
(July 17, 2009 - Entrepreneur.com)

Startup ventures are exciting, dynamic, and risky.  They require a balance between luck, skill, and timing.  Of all the essential elements regarding startup businesses, there is one particular element that remains paramount: the team members.

For many "financially-deficient" (aka bootstrapped) startups, choosing the correct team members/founders may be the most important decision the young company faces.  Despite this truth, it is all too common for startups to constuct their team with insufficient or unsuitable candidates.  This type of behavior is not just harmful, it's potentially deadly for a young upstart business.
(July 19, 2009 - The Techsoomer Weblog)

The 7 P's of marketing a start-up business:  No longer can we rely on the status quo in starting a new business.  You've been taught or have read that there are 4 P's for marketing a business - Price, Promotion, Place and Product.  The 4 P's have helped many companies keep their marketing focused and targeted considering some of the most important components of selling their products and services successfully.  But now, times have changed.  With new social media networking trends and rapidly changing competitive environments, there is more to consider. Think about adding a few new concepts to the list: People, Passion and Personalization.
(July 20, 2009 - Houston Startup Business Examiner)