While reading through our daily entrepreneur news brief, I found an incredibly valuable website with hundreds of free articles on Management and Business. I think that one of the greatest take-aways from being an entrepreneur is the opportunity to learn. In fact, it is because we believe so much in learning and education that we have provided with Company Histories and the Sample Business Plans content for FREE.

I love reading blogs. I love reading quality content about entrepreneurship and angel investing. Hopefully FundingUniverse is continually feeding your thirst of valuable content. If not, we’d love to hear your suggestions on how to improve. I’d also love to hear about what other blogs you are currently reading so that I can add it to my Google RSS Reader.

Part of being an entrepreneur is being a risk taker. In essence, you are betting the farm that your target market will accept your idea. It can be scary and intimidating, yet an exhilarating experience. Sometimes taking the risk pays off and other times it doesn’t. I came across a great article, Top Entrepreneurs Say Take Risks, Follow Your Gut. Take the time to read this. It may encourage you to take strategic risks, risks which may lead your company to success.

I’ll join the others who are linking to the newest hotshot angel investor/entrepreneur to join the blogging community.

I first learned about Marc Andreessen when I read about his wild ride with Jim Clark and the gang that started Netscape during the dawn of the internet era. He’s one of very few OG’s in the internet scene and a great entrepreneur.

He started blogging about a month ago and, so far, he’s knocked it out of the park with some killer posts on the non-existent bubble, hiring management talent, working with large companies (using a Moby Dick metaphore!), the truth about VCs, and a gang of other good stuff. If you’re raising money, you should read every post he’s written so far. The posts are mega-long, but mega worth it.

Join us for this week’s FundingUniverse interactive weekly chat with an angel. Kala Marathi from the Houston Angel Network will give a brief presentation on raising capital from angels. After Kala’s presentation she will be available to answer your questions. Join us on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 9 am (PST) 12 pm (EST).

Click here to learn how to participate in this FREE chat.

• Best Business Blogs
  
  Pretty valuable. It’s hard to find good blogs because of how many there are.

How will you make your business successful? Without a huge marketing budget or enormous sales staff you can find success. Simplify and focus your efforts. Often, it is the small things you do that will have a tremendous impact on your business. In Malcolm Gladwell’s best selling book, Tipping Point, he elaborates on this point.

He says, “Merely by manipulating the size of a group, we can dramatically improve its receptivity to new ideas. By tinkering with the presentation of information, we can significantly improve its stickiness. Simply by finding and reaching those few special people who hold so much social power, we can shape the course of social epidemics. In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in just the right place – it can be tipped.”

This is a must read book.

In Al Golin’s book, Trust or Consequence, he says, “At the peak of the day trading, dot-com boom, people often invested in companies that seemed to be the next big thing, and little thought was given to these companies underlying principles. A lot of financial analysts and investors, however, were burned by unscrupulous companies. They witnessed enough high flying organizations go down in flames to start asking probing questions about values and beliefs…I tell this story because everyone knows a story like this one. Whether they’re thinking of joining or investing in a company, people have learned that there’s more to it than immediate financial windfalls. There’s a trend toward long-term investing, and in the long-term, trusted companies do the best.”

You may have been one of the investors who lost money in the dot-com boom. What are you doing differently now? How does trust play a role in the companies you decide to add to your portfolio?

Entrepreneurs: If you missed yesterday’s weekly chat with Brian Harris from Capstone Financial group, don’t worry. Here is a brief summary. Brian discussed factoring or accounts receivable financing. Accounts receivable financing uses your outstanding invoices to obtain up to 70 % advance on your total invoices.

Below are some benefits of this type of financing.

• Your employees get paid…happy employees!
• Your suppliers get paid on time…happy suppliers, plus you may get cash discounts!
• No more “nagging” customers to pay….improved customer relations!
• Less time with collections…more time marketing!
• You can say “Yes” to customers who demand credit terms.
• You can invest in income producing assets, people and equipment.
• Most important, cash flow is improved!

Listen to the webinar to learn about the necessary steps to set up your factoring account. Join us every week for the FREE FundingUniverse weekly chat with an angel.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a new game created by Disney and the Kauffman foundation. I praised the groups for instilling the excitement and importance of entrepreneurship at such an early age.

Anshul Samar, 13-year-old CEO of Elementeo,  recently participated in the TiECon07. Clearly, the next generation of entrepreneurs is getting younger and younger.

Anshul Samar is incredible. Anshul has the business savvy and confidence of men triple (or even quadruple) his age. Watch the video. Listen when he mentions some of the company goals for the upcoming year. You may see Anshul running a Fortune 500 company in the near future.

When you have a spare moment, take the time to read Tim Berry’s article on Entrepreneur.com about Building a Strategy Pyramid. This article is extremely beneficial because so many entrepreneurs often fail to follow through on the plans for the business. Try to think of ways you can strategically align your business to effectively reach your company goals. According to Mr. Berry, “Good business planning is nine parts implementation for every one part strategy.”