Entrepreneurial

Max Chafkin has a fantastic story in Inc magazine about how to structure an economy so as to encourage entrepreneurship, full employment, and general happiness and contentment, all while drastically reducing inequality. It's easy, in fact: all you need to do is become Norway.

There's loads of great stuff in this piece, and I'd encourage you to read the whole thing. But a few things stand out.

Chafkin starts with the tale of Wiggo Dalmo, an industrial mechanic with a high-school education who chafed under his bosses, set up his own shop, and is now running a $44 million company with 150 employees. That's the kind of story which should be common in the US but is in fact rare. But ask yourself: in the US, how much would such a person be paying in taxes? Dalmo paid $102,970 in personal taxes on his income and wealth last year, which is probably lower, not higher, than the CEO of a $44 million company would pay in taxes in the US.

The reason is that there's much less income inequality in Norway. With a strong social safety net, the downside to starting a company and failing is small. As a result, entrepreneurship isn't a lottery, so much as a lifestyle choice. If you succeed, you'll get to run a large and successful corporation. But you probably won't pay yourself a monster income.

Why not? Well, for one thing, you won't need to pay yourself a monster income, since things like healthcare and college education -- even through grad school, even outside the country -- are covered by the state. Another part of the reason is that income, in Norway, is a matter of public record. And then there's the fact that money which would otherwise be going to the top of the pyramid is instead going to the bottom, where it does much more good:

By Robert Cyran
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Is getting people to post goofy pictures of cats and bad English signage a better business than venture capital? Cheezburger Network, the profitable publisher of "I Can Has Cheezburger?" and other absurd websites, recently raised $30 million to expand its business. The fact that venture capitalists are skirmishing to fund oddball businesses that don't need their cash is a good illustration of the industry's problems.

Venture capital's best returns historically have come from the information technology industry -- in companies like Nvidia, Sun Microsystems and Oracle. The trouble is, traditional hot sectors like chip making, computer production, and traditional software have matured. And the hottest area of growth -- consumer Internet firms -- doesn't need much capital to thrive.

Wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk rose to celebrity status through non-traditional marketing, making a name for himself and his family’s New Jersey wine business on the Internet through his popular video blog, Wine Library TV.

A frequent speaker on brand building in the age of social media, Vaynerchuk is the recent author of “The Thank You Economy”, which addresses the way consumers are interacting in an increasingly transparent marketplace.

Here are his top-of-mind tips for marketing to the millennial generation.

1. Listen and don’t talk. That’s the biggest problem for everybody, especially with this demographic.

- Adam Hoeksema is the founder and CEO of ExecutivePlan and a contributor to Under30CEO. The opinions expressed are his own. -

Only one to four percent of angel investor applicants successfully raise angel investment, according to the Angel Capital Education Foundation. I suspect that part of the reason that the success rate is so low is because entrepreneurs are using the following ill-advised tactics to meet potential investors.

The Office Visit

So maybe you are located out in San Francisco, California and you hop on to California Venture Capital to locate a VC firm in your neighborhood.  It turns out that there are dozens of VC firms nearby so you throw on your best suit, stuff a pile of business cards in your pocket and follow your GPS to the front door of Sequoia Capital.  Obviously you will be stopped at the front desk unless you have an appointment.  Maybe you are good enough to sweet talk your way past the receptionist and you simply push your way in to introduce yourself to Mr. VC.  Venture capitalists might like ambitious entrepreneurs, but don’t fool yourself, this tactic is not ambitious, it is disrespectful and will certainly end in failure.

- Danita King is Principal and Founder of PR Noir and a contributor to Under30 CEO. The opinions expressed are her own. -

Now, it seems a bit antithetical for an owner of a PR firm to teach others the tricks of the PR trade. I thought, “Do I really want to give away the secrets to PR success?” But then I thought long and hard about what it means to be an entrepreneur and the sometimes financial roller coaster the thrill of sole proprietorship can bring. What if I had a different type of business? Would I be able to afford an expensive PR agency? Probably not. If I were making cut backs, would my PR expenses be one of the first things to go? Probably so. If I had to tackle PR on my own, would I appreciate and try to soak up any tips I could acquire? Heck yeah!

So, the entrepreneur (and not the publicist) in me is giving the green light on some DIY PR tips that will help your company get the publicity and exposure you want, so you can focus on what you do best — running your business efficiently and successfully.

– Chris Dixon is co-founder of Hunch and creator of Founder Collective, and an investor in many early-stage companies like Skype and Foursquare. Previously he co-founded Siteadvisor, which was acquired by McAfee. This blog originally appeared on cdixon.org. The views expressed are his own. –

People love to focus on horse races: NYC vs Silcon Valley, Facebook vs Twitter, IPO markets vs private exchanges, the valuation of some startup vs some other startup.

Like a lot of people in the tech industry, I’ve gotten inquiries recently on the meaning of Facebook’s “private” IPO with Goldman Sachs, whether VC valuations are indicative of a bubble, whether such-and-such startup is overvalued, and so on. These questions are all footnotes that will be forgotten in a few years.

A better hiring mood and a labor market overflowing with quality candidates could make CEOs complacent when it comes to retaining staff.

That would be a mistake according to Luke Vandermillen, vice president at advisory firm Principal Financial Group, who said employee turnover can be costly.

Citing estimates, Vandermillen said the one-time cost of replacing just one employee can be as much as 150 percent or more of their annual salary. Recruiting, hiring and training replacements for lost people add up and companies also suffer from lost productivity and intellectual capital, he added.

– Ryan Hanley is a Commercial Account Executive for the Guilderland Agency, Inc. and a contributor to Under30CEO. The opinions expressed are his own. -

Health insurance is expensive.  There is no way to get around that fact and anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something you don’t need.  Unfortunately for a young business, the burden of health insurance is even more important than that of a larger or more mature business, (in development, not demeanor).

A Case for Health Insurance

For an entrepreneur skimping on insurance, especially health insurance, is playing Russian Roulette with your future.  At no time in your business’s growth will the health and wellness of employees be more important than the start-up years.  Think about the set-back in growth if the founder of a 2nd year business became ill and had to miss a month.  A terrifying scenario for most young businesses. Now think about that same situation coupled with the stress of the same business founder coming straight out of pocket for all medical expenses.  I’ve seen this situation where money earmarked for business growth is diverted towards medical costs and it’s not pretty.

A woman dressed in the traditional Vietnamese "ao dai"costume serves tea to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (front R) during the opening ceremony of the 11th Party Congress in Hanoi January 12, 2011

Vietnam's ruling communists  opened an eight-day party congress on Wednesday with a candid  admission the fast-growing economy had become unstable, as  delegates began the process of reshuffling leaders and  charting new policies. 
   As leaders sang the national anthem to begin the  five-yearly event, streets in the chilly capital Hanoi were  festooned with red and yellow banners, some bearing the iconic  hammer and sickle. Propaganda posters bore the smiling  likeness of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh or of proud,  uniformed workers. 
   The economic backdrop is less festive. Inflation surged to  a 22-month high in December, the government is struggling to  bring down a hefty fiscal deficit, the currency has been  depreciating for three years and the trade deficit remains  stubbornly high.  

A Reuters Special Report takes a close look at Vietnam's new breed of captitalists, as the country of 90 million takes a page out of China's Communist Party playbook and promotes a more consumption-led economy. This is a development path divergent from that of its East Asian neighbours, whose economies became Tigers or Dragons (as the case may be) on the back of exports not consumers.

- Lisa Barone is co-founder and chief branding officer at Outspoken Media and a contributor to Small Business Trends. The opinions expressed are her own. -

So, what are your big Internet marketing plans for the New Year? Will you be investing more in social media? Will you start blogging? Will you take a more proactive stance with self-promotion? Whatever your online marketing plans, the end goal is likely to attract more people to your website in the hopes that the influx of new eyes will translate into new customers, new leads and new opportunities for your business. However, you won’t be able to do any of that if your Web site is turning people off, instead of turning them on.

Below are some very common reasons small and medium-sized business (SMB) websites fail to attract customers and how to avoid falling prey to them.