8 important lessons JLo taught me, which I have since included in my presentations (and sometimes also while ordering take-out and giving directions to tourists).
Read MoreIt's important to be passionate about your vision.
Advice for Small Town Startups 5/10 - Start Pitching Now
A pitch is the business equivalent of a Plenty of Fish profile. You want to present enough information to get a first date, preferably with someone who's not a complete nutjob. A short, clear overview is much better than a long, detailed breakdown. Make sure your last slide has contact information on it. Your pitch should invite people to ask questions.
Read MoreAdvice for Small Town Startups, 4/10 - Solve Communication Problems Early
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE AND ONLINE COMMUNICATION TOOLS ARE YOUR FRIEND
We use Jira and Confluence. We started out using Asana (this is a great tool for designers but not as good for integration with versioning software like Plastic.)
We don't have one person dedicated to keeping it in order, but once we have task management staff, I'm confident the system will run much more smoothly. As it is we now have a single central place where we are slowly putting daily tasks and projects and links to development tools.
Read MoreAdvice for Small Town Startups, 3/10 - Make Do With What You Have
REMEMBER THAT NECESSITY IS THE BABY MOMMA OF INVENTION - If you don't have what you need, find a way to use what you have.
In a small town, you learn to make do with what you have. A lot of our company's hardware and furniture originated from giveaways and pawn shops.
Read MoreAdvice For Small Town Startups, 2/10 - Make Friends Who Are Smarter Than You
If you can't get your friends at home and strangers you meet excited about what you're doing (even if they're just excited about the fact that you're doing something cool), you are going to have problems. If you're a total introvert, you need to find a person you trust who is good at this, and make them a co-founder.
Read MoreAdvice For Small Town Startups, 1/10 - Get Out Of Town
No matter what stage you're at, who you think your market is, or how much money you have, the very best investment of whatever resources and time you do have should be in getting out of your small town for at least a month and spending time in a city with an international market like New York, Toronto, Vancouver, or pretty much anywhere else.
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