010 : Getting Investor-Ready with Einas Ibrahim

Do you have an app or a business? Are you trying to find an investor? Do you really need an investor? Where can you even find an investor? What would you say to an interested investor? What’s the value of your company? How do you know the value of your company? What on earth are you doing with your life?

Einas Ibrahim of Talem Advisory is here to lead you through the darkness. She was a developer before getting into finance and then finally taking on the startup world. She works with early stage ventures and small businesses, providing strategic and financial advisory and getting them investor-ready. Basically, she’s pretty amazing.

On this episode, we discuss how to turn a product into an actual business, as well as explore the world of angel investing and venture capital. If you’re wondering what ABC’s Shark Tank looks like in the real world, here it is.

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009 : Speaking Tech, the required language of the future with Vinay Trivedi

Vinay headshot When you come from a non-technical background, listening to developers speak can sound a lot like FDJKFJ CJ KCDJK REJISJ KLSSJ K SKD.

Fortunately, my guest this week is here to help. Vinay Trivedi is the author of How to Speak Tech: The Non-Techie’s Guide to Technology Basics in Business. In this episode, we talk about specific things that non-technical people should learn in order to remain relevant in the workforce.

When you’re a novice, sometimes you don’t even know what questions you should be asking. Vinay helps lay a solid tech foundation so that you’ll be able to use where ever your learning takes you in the future. If you’re ready for developers to stop sounding like they’re speaking in tongue, it’s time to listen up.

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005 : Fostering good design when you’re artistically inept with Mike Blea

NNL Podcast I first met Mike Blea (of Michael Blea Design) when I worked at LAPTOP Magazine. He was part of the magazine’s design team, building the magazine’s layout, mocking up covers, and helping with graphics for web. We’ve remained friends even after both of us left that job, and Mike even helped me design the cover for 8 Things to Learn Before Making Your App.

I wanted to bring Mike on the show to have a fresh perspective on building products. I, personally, am completely design challenged — a glaringly apparent fact when looking at the first version of my first app Reader Tracker. I’ve learned a lot about the value of good design since then, and Mike has definitely helped me out along the way.

Mike gives some insights into the life of a professional designers and shares some tips for hiring a freelance designer of your own. If you work it right, you won’t end up spending a fortune.

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004 : Conquering the niche app and reaping the rewards with Massimo Biolcati

NNL Podcast Some entrepreneurs spend their entire lives trying to build the Next Big Thing, but there’s another much more successful group of business owners: lifestyle entrepreneurs. The best part about being in the latter group is that there is practically no luck involved, just skills that can be practiced and learned. Follow a fairly simple formula and you’ll find success.

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talked to Massimo, the creator of iReal Pro, an amazing music app that helps musicians practice and prepare for gigs. Massimo has been absolutely killing it with his niche app since 2008, and it doesn’t look like things are slowing down anytime soon.

I really respect Massimo because he had an idea for a useful app, taught himself how to code, and went on to build a product that absolutely dominates his niche. He shares his tactics for getting recurring revenue through in-app purchases, and why he has no fear of larger companies like Apple and Google.

If you want a reliable formula for creating income-generating apps, you’ll want to listen to this episode.

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002 : Getting press in a crowded marketplace with Daniel Howley

NNL Podcast LAPTOP Magazine’s Daniel Howley joins me to talk about the do’s and don’ts about pitching your product to the press. Tech journalists’ email inboxes are particularly full this time of year because of CES, an annual trade show that’s the main event for many companies in the technology industry.

But with lots of emails comes lots of inefficient emails. Did you know that out of 50 PR emails, Daniel only actually uses about five? If you’re a small startup or sole developer, you need to be one of those five emails in order to survive.

Daniel shares what it takes to get read and noticed, and these strategies can be applied immediately.

(Hint: It’s not as hard as you might think.) Continue reading →