New Year’s Resolutions for Entrepreneurs

Over at TechCocktail, Zach Davis has compiled 22 New Year’s Resolutions from entrepreneurs.

Put a higher value on your time. My resolution: I realize this may sound harsh, but my resolution is to FINALLY stop taking meetings where I share my expertise and ideas and am not compensated for doing so. Why this is important for entrepreneurs: There are several reasons why this is a must including that it devalues your offerings, cheats your existing clients and customers who are paying for such a benefit and takes up valuable time that could have been spent on more pressing activities.

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Startup Cities to Watch in 2014

Over at Upstart Business Journal, Laura Baverman writes that many nations are championing entrepreneurship as a way to solve economic woes and reduce poverty. She lists five cities where big moves could come in 2014.

Chile has been aggressively targeting startups inside and outside of its borders since it launched Startup Chile in 2010, and in 2013 was South America’s most innovative country on the Global Innovation Index. More than 600 entrepreneurs from around the world have been through the six-month accelerator, about 40 percent staying in the nation, and they’ve raised more than $20 million. But that’s peanuts compared to Silicon Valley, and according to a May 2013 Huffington Post story, some have argued not enough for the government to continue running it. In the mix in 2014 too, is a reinstated president (Michelle Bachelet, who served 2006-2010), who hasn’t yet weighed in on the program. In either case, leaders say innovation, R&D, and entrepreneurship are important for a country torn by poverty and economic inequality as well as the after-effects of a massive 2010 earthquake and conservative policies that benefitted the rich most. We’re anxious to see the next generation of Chilean innovation in 2014.

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Aurora Project to Enable Lucid Dreaming

The Aurora project on Kickstarter got our attention this week. The device is a smart headband that plays personalized lights and sounds to help you have lucid dreams.

Lucid dreams are about more than just entertainment; they can also improve waking life. Research shows that those who lucid dream regularly experience fewer nightmares and lower levels of stress and anxiety. Visualizing activities during dreams actually improves performance of those activities in waking life. The Aurora can help you nail that upcoming presentation, hit the game-winning shot or ask your future spouse out on your first date! We spend one third of our lives asleep. Why not make the most of that time? People from all walks of life, such as Salvador Dali, Stephen King, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla looked to their dreams for inspiration.

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One-Wheeled RYNO Bike is Straight out of Anime

Startups like RYNO Motors are stepping up to make science fiction into reality.

Based on a Japanese anime video game, the RYNO, is a multiple use, self-balancing, one wheel electric “microcycle” (similar to a scooter), designed for urban dwellers who want the ease of commuting by bike but with the style of a motorcycle. The RYNO can travel up to 10 miles before it needs to be recharged. Because the RYNO is small and compact, it is easy to park and store. The battery simply slides out and charges in approximately four to six hours.

So, how much and when? The company has starting taking deposits of $150 for a limited amount of handcrafted RYNOs, for delivery in the fall of 2014. They’re built right here in Portland, and a RYNO back will set you back $5295.

The Jeff Bezos Regret Minimization Framework for Building Your Startup

Over at Forbes, Jeff Tyler writes that budding Entrepreneurs should consider what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos calls the Regret Minimization Framework.

Bezos weighed the pros and cons over and over again. And finally, he came to a realization that made the decision to pursue his startup idea “incredibly easy.” He called it the regret minimization framework, in which he imagined himself as an 80-year-old man looking back at his life. Foremost, as an elderly man, he knew that his life’s regrets, more so than anything, would keep him tossing and turning late into the night. At the same time, he strongly believed that the 80-year-old Jeff Bezos would not regret having tried building a startup that had a chance to make real impact — even if it most likely ended in failure. What would deeply haunt him would be the regret of having watched the opportunity pass him by.

In what may be their best ad ever, Harley Davidson applied the Regret Minimization Framework in their marketing for great effect.

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