Making mistakes is normal and as Joseph Conrad said, “it’s only those who do nothing that make no mistakes.” Working with entrepreneurs and startups, I’ve learned you can’t avoid all mistakes. But you can avoid some. Here are the top 4 growth-stage startup marketing mistakes and how to avoid them. 1. You don’t have a fixed marketing budget. Just like your general budget planning, you should work with a detailed marketing plan....

It’s no wonder that entire businesses exist just to oversee the hiring process for third parties. But if you ever find yourself in the hiring management seat, here’s a look at the one moderately simple trick that can turn up the best candidate in the batch: the back channel reference. The Back Channel Reference The candidate will give you a list of formal references. But you know what to expect from them: A safe, boring list of reasons why you should hire their friend and/or former colleague....

Cosmetic company L’Oréal USA, held it’s Women in Digital NEXT Generation Awards where three beauty tech companies took home the win. The L’Oréal Women in Digital program has created a network of more than 2,000 female-operated companies. And previous winners have experienced tremendous business growth and have collectively raised over $300 million in funding. Here are the female founder winners: ShearShare Courtney Caldwell, cofounder and COO We are excited to see ShearShare the first on-demand salon and barbershop space rental app as they were the 2016 TechCo Startup of the Year winners, and went on to 500 Startups following the competition....

However, we heard today that while Huh will always remain committed to making the world happy, he’ll no longer be doing it at Cheezburger. He officially announced, via blog post, that he’ll be stepping down as CEO and handing off duties to current President and COO Scott Moore. Just so you know this move isn’t coming out of nowhere. Huh actually recommended this change to the board a few months ago and they’ve been preparing for it as they grow towards profitability....

Let’s be honest, unless you’re using a good password manager, there’s a good chance you aren’t following best practices for password security. After all, the average user has 100 accounts online and coming up with a long, unique password for each one is borderline impossible. Luckily, the tech world has begun instituting passwordless features that will enable users to ditch the passwords and start utilizing easier, more secure means of keeping their data safe....

Here’s the relevant info, from Digiday‘s recent Beat report. Another third (36 percent) say they’re putting in a “somewhat significant” investment. It’s not a massive shift, but it’s a clear indicator of the branding industry’s intentions. What It Means The move has been a long time coming. Citing a Glossy article, Digiday notes that editors are increasing creating stand-alone content solely for brands, rather than for an unaffiliated newsroom: As native branding is beginning to offer less and less of an effect, brands are realizing that they don’t need to rely on an established, trustworthy name....

Nokia’s recent resurgence has been driven by launching new devices such as the Nokia 2 and Nokia 6 smartphones, as well as reviving famous models from Nokia’s archives, such as the 3310 and 8110. HMD Global, the company that owns Nokia, announced earlier this week that it had raised $100m in funding from a variety of investment companies. This increased HMD Global’s market valuation to over $1bn – making it an elusive unicorn company....

One company decided to experiment with voice modifications to see how they would affect conquering gender hire bias. But the results of the experiment showed that gender inequality reached deeper than just voice tones. The Experiment Interviewing built voice modification software to help female candidates have a better chance of being hired for jobs, that would otherwise discriminate against them from their voices. But after keeping track of how this software was used by the site users, it became clear that tackling gender hire bias would involve more than just voice modification....

If you haven’t heard about it yet, Chatroulette is a simple concept where two webcams are connected randomly from a selection of users across the globe. What you find on your computer screen could shock you or just bore you but typically it won’t last long as the predominant behavior is to jump from one chat video camera to the next, like a Star Trek federation ship jumping into warp drive and landing in a new universe....

Following a high-profile custody battle involving Boston Children’s Hospital and Connecticut teenager Justina Pelletier’s parents, hacktivist group Anonymous decided to start a campaign in order to force the hospital to return the teenager to her parents. Martin Gottesfeld took up Anonymous’ mantle and co-ordinated a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack to shut down the hospital’s operations. What Happened? Back in 2014, Boston Children’s Hospital stirred-up a hornet’s nest of religious and right-wing political groups after it determined that Pelletier’s condition was psychiatric in nature and kept her at the hospital, arguing that her parents were interfering with her treatment....

RFID T-shirts and Wristbands Tagging Attendees In thousands of warehouses and retail outlets around the word, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags help keep track of stock by emitting signals with embedded information about the items that bear them. This same technology is starting to allow exhibitioners at events to find out information about attendees without even having to speak to them. RFID could be used to tag bespoke event t-shirts, providing plentiful information about guests the same way RFID provides information about products in retail....

Every digital business has a network that requires a skilled individual to manage it. Part of understanding that is realizing that the Internet runs on networks – in fact, the Internet itself a massive network. All these networks need to be created and maintained in a secured environment. Here are some network security protocols that every business must know and adopt if they want the safety and security of client and personal data....

For those who are attempting to make a life for themselves after prison, the job hunt can be more than discouraging. But Theresa Hodge, a former inmate herself, saw opportunity in this struggle. Along with her daughter Laurin, she founded Mission: Launch, a startup and accelerator program for former prisoners who want to start their own businesses. The program, which is set to start it’s first round in early 2016, will last three months and will include group lessons and discussions on starting up a business....

Today, Hutch, an interior design and ecommerce app that helps you transform your space into the look you love in less than a month, has launched. Decorators, rejoice! Users begin by snapping a photo of the space in need of redecorating. Then choose a variety of themes curated by their designers with the latest trends, everything from Boho Chic to Urban Industrial. Hutch will then virtually redesign your room at no cost and give you a vision of your actual space before purchasing or rearranging any furniture within 24 hours....

The problem with reaching out to customers and potential customers via social media is that it’s a bit like trying to get attention in a crowded room. With thousands of companies constantly posting content on Facebook and Instagram, the competition gets pretty fierce. The best marketing efforts are efficient, reaching as many people as possible in a meaningful way. But impactful posts on social media are not quickly conceived nor easily acquired....

The Cloud One of the main trends we see in today’s technology is the utilization of The Cloud. Cloud technology is shaping the way for businesses throughout the world to reduce unnecessary spending on hardware and updates, while granting the ability for a business to run smoothly across a plethora of devices (computers, smartphones, tablets…etc.) Logistics In the world of freight, vehicle tracking technology is opening windows for companies to save large amounts of money, in addition to reducing a company’s carbon footprint – another growing trend in the business world....

With the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, companies are going to great lengths to understand human behavior. Between virtual assistants and platforms that predict our needs, humans barely have to lift a finger to get what they need done. One person who has seriously contributed to building out products that streamline our life is Eric Colson. At Innovate! and Celebrate 2016 in September, you’ll have the chance to hear him speak about everything from machine learning to shopping....

Unfortunately, there are some security risks that go along with outsourcing development, and even more risks when the software being developed will be accessible online. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to mitigate this. Ensure That Developers Test and Retest Input Fields Hackers really will try to find the easiest route to access your data, or wreak havoc on your systems. If the developers that you hire are not careful, they can provide that easy route through the input fields they provide to your users....

So, what’ve we go to look forward to this time, and more importantly, why should you care? WWDC was where, traditionally, developers got to see the features and improvements coming to Apple’s various operating systems. This was so they could get a heads-up on how to make their apps, services and products work with Apple’s new tech, and what new opportunities this would afford them and, consequently, us. However, in recent years it feels like it’s become less of a conference for developers and instead another opportunity for Apple to show off all its new stuff to Joe Public....

Until August 31st, developers can apply to receive the closed alpha export tool. It’s a very different update on the Windows app called Facebook Games Arcade, which began beta-testing earlier this year. Given the ubiquity of the Unity engine among game developers, the new desktop gaming platform could prove popular by quickly amassing a wide variety of games and users. Reports are calling the platform a Steam competitor. Since Steam has over 125 million monthly users, it’s clear that a combination of heavy hitters like Unity and Facebook would be needed to compete....