400+ Resources To Make You Smarter & Faster

ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY GOD: 400+ Resources To Make You Smarter, Faster

Getting things done isn’t easy. In fact, it’s incredibly tough. In this article, we look at four ways to get through your work faster: running your life online, mastering RSS news feeds, aggregating your social networks and using keyboard shortcuts to save precious seconds.

Some real gems in here, especially in the shortcuts and “how to do things online” sections. Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of the page as well.

On funding a startup

Inc.com: Great Entrepreneurial Minds

A couple key insights in this Inc.com article on funding a startup. First, despite their glamorous appeal, VCs are a huge time drain for startups, and they could pull the plug at any time. Banks are pretty much the same, not to mention that you’re paying for that money w/ interest or equity in your company. So what to do?

However, there is one source of “funding” that I did encourage my cousin to explore more: vendors and suppliers. Since he was starting an e-commerce business, I recommended to my cousin to talk to his suppliers and try to partner with them to create a win-win scenario. For example, instead of pre-paying vendors or paying vendors on standard net 30 terms, what about placing a bigger order but asking for net 60 or net 90 terms? This would help with my cousin’s cash flow, and the vendor would make more money in the long run.

I’ve also heard advice from entrepreneurs who swear by one kind of bank financing (if your cash flow can support it): Credit Cards. Using a card to make your payments gains you a few key things — it’s “free money” if you can pay it off each month, you build credit with the bank should you need to go bigger, and if you find the right card, you can plug into cash rewards or frequent flyer miles, etc. and use that income to either re-invest in the business or to take a vacation (entrepreneurs get vacations, right?)!

Key message: Entrepreneurs need to make their money work for them at every step of the way, and trade on “other people’s money” whenever they can. Be it vendors, suppliers or credit cards, it’s key to use all the leverage you can to keep things rolling.