Great Alternative Startup Websites

20 Comments

1. Pingback: Top 10 websites for entrepreneurs | The Hitchhiker's Guide to Entrepreneurship

2. I found WOW3 particularly interesting and see how it can be a useful tool for a startup to have guidance in constructing, as well as visualization of all aspects of their business model. It also acts as an efficient planning tool. The video –‘ Where good ideas come from’ by Steven Johnson stood out for me, it was very interesting as I felt that I was able to relate to the situation of having many different ideas and feeling as if I was waiting for a “eureka!” moment and actually getting nowhere, but in fact not realizing that this was a necessary stage in order to know whether: help was needed in the form of other people’s ideas/hunches, the combination of several ideas could be more successful or whether time and perseverance was key to the development of my idea.

3. I found WOW link 4 by Steve Johnson quite useful as he referred to an environmental perspective on how great ideas are usually formed after a small hunch has had time to incubate i.e. “good idea usually come from the collision of small hunches”. What I liked about this video was that it motivated me to become more creative about developing ideas. I liked the example of how the World Wide Web took ten years to fully develop.

   WOW link 5 was not useful to me as the page could not be found.

4. Many thanks for the feedback on the ‘Wows’. I ‘ll check the link and update it now. Best wishes – Peter

5. Although I enjoyed watching Steve Johnson’s video on ‘how great ideas come’, particularly due to the visual animations he used to explain his theory, I do not fully agree with the concept of “Eureka” moments rarely making a breakthrough into a sustainable idea. I do however agree that to build upon an idea it is necessary to collate and assemble with other small hunches. I liked the quote “the chance favours the connected” in explaining how the rise of the social media and access to information has enabled individuals to gauge a better chance of developing a successful idea”.

   I found Wow 8 link on creating a buzz and Netflix’s missed opportunity to do so very useful as it made me think about how I could link this to my business idea in terms of what I could do when marketing and promotion to create a buzz in a creative manner.

6. Thank you! Glad the work is helping you and I look forward to further feedback.

7. I found ‘WOW1’ very intriguing, especially the section reffering to Effectual reasoning and discovering there is indeed a ‘science to entrepreneurship’. I feel that Sara highlights some crucial errors in the social perception of what an entrepreneur is for example, entreprenurs are born or aquired through a phycologcal disorder. Further, I found Sarasvathy’s visual clarification of ‘effectual logic’ very concise in its description of quite a complex statement.

   I felt all four videos in ‘WOW 6’ were interesting and ‘Entrepreneurs can change the world – Grasshopper’ particually evoked some creativity, it almost seemed like it has broken down a creative barrier for me personally.

   Finally, I loved ‘WOW9’ arguabbly the most, in terms of help towards my personal entreprenurial development. All the books listed seem a great read, however, I think that ‘How They Started: How 30 good ideas became great businesses’ seems like the one I will start off with after reading a little into it.

   Thank you very much for this helpful post. For me personally it has helped me worlds!

8. Cheers Royce. Has to be the most comprehensive review of any of my posts. But did you see the YouTube band videos??

9. I looked at the different WoWs and found them all useful and interesting in their own ways (excl WoW5 which I have not signed up for)

   My favorite without a shadow of a doubt were the links included in Wow6. The visual aids to go with the commentary really helped me engage with what was being discussed. The first link helped me focus on what it actually takes to be an entrepreneur and a quote that really stood out to me was by T.S. Eliot ‘Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go’ ! The second link was really motivational in a sense of ignoring whatever doubts you have acquired in the process of ‘growing up’ and still having the determination of a child and seeing all challenges as reachable and obstacles that can be passed. And the bottom two were nicely added in for humor!

   Steven Johnson’s link seems to be a favorite amongst the comments as his visuals were quite fun and nice to look at. I for one found the illustrations a bit much to look at without getting distracted with the illustrations but when I took time to solely listen to what was being said he made really engaging points about hunches, the process of solid ideas being formed by two individuals’ hunches combining together and this idea of connectivity being a primary engine for creativity and a great network of ideas or ‘hunches’.

   All the links I seen have been great to look at as well as leading me to other interesting links. I like the way you have structured the links in a sort of sequential order for people with interest in entrepreneurship (I don’t know if this was intentional but it worked well ! Thanks for this blog!)

10. I’m totally stunned by ‘WOW3? I never such a tool existed and I think would be great for start-up businesses. It helps you plan and helps you see all the different aspects of your business model

    I found ‘WOW4? to give quite a good explanation as to where good ideas come from and I like the fact how he mentions it can take several years for the idea to become accessible and useful too you. Additionally I thought the video was delivered in such a creative way. Steven Johnson did an excellent job.

    ‘WOW9? was really interesting because all the books were written by successful entrepreneurs. Personally I think out of that list I would chose to read, The Entrepreneur’s Book of Checklists: 1000 Tips to Help You Start and Grow Your Business by Robert Ashton. I think Robert is a very fascinating person especially because he is a social entrepreneur this draws me towards him.

    I completely agree with you Peter on your statement related to ‘WOW10?. I’m particularly interested in the use of social media in a business aspect. I agree when you say that information gathered from such social media websites such as the ones you mentioned are invaluable. I think it’s amazing to have direct contact with customers, suppliers and employees via these social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. I think having live feedback and communicating with customers enables a business to keep up to date and better meet their customer’s needs.

11. I looked at WOW 1 first because it was written by a woman and I enjoy reading about entrepreneurial women as I find it motivating. I had heard of Effectuation but didn’t really know what it was. I think Sara Sarasvathy’s information was simple & easy to understand.
    I really liked the way she says ‘Effectuation is an idea with a purpose’. It sums the basic concept up for me. I have printed off the PDF’s on the link so that I can refer to them when my thinking becomes a little less focused and I get to the point where I feel like I’m working hard but not sure what my end goal is, whether to finish a small thing or as something towards the bigger picture. Great site.

    WOW 4, Steve Johnson’s video of ‘Where good ideas come from’ is one I’ve seen before and sent on to friends via Facebook. I think it explains a new way of thinking for creativity & innovation and how it’s important to use every tool and opportunity at your disposal to develop your ideas. I have seen it a few times and have referred back to it before, especially last year when working on creativity & Innovation.

    WOW 9 is a really useful list of information. As someone who still enjoys a good book as much as electronic media, I think for me personally, David Lester’s ‘How They Started, How 30 Good Ideas Became Great Businesses’ would be a great read, and something to dip into for a little inspiration now and again. Also I loved the Robert Ashton book ‘The Entrepreneurs Book Of Checklists, 1000 Tips To Help You Start & Grow Your Business.’ I’m sure this would be a valuable book again to dip into and provide inspiration if you feel as though you could be doing more with your ideas or need a fresh idea injection.

    Every WOW was great and an interesting view on the world of entrepreneurialism but the three above were my favourite.

12. With the common difficult of startup business in regards to business models, I feel Wow3 is an effective planning tool that simplifies the putting together of a business model, ensuring a clearer understanding.
    Wow4 is a very good video clip for those who are interested in a start up or have an idea, as it reassures that an idea can take years before evolving and being successful, Steven Johnson is extremely inspirational.
    Wow8 illustrates how important a buzz is in creating an interest, this is something I wish to implement in my business, as word of mouth is the cheapest form of marketing. Also Wow10 shows how social networks can be beneficial to a business, especially start ups, as it can be used as one of many platforms to reach out to potential customers.

    All the links in this blog are very useful and I recommend for potential entrepreneurs to visit a blog such as this, with various sources of information and inspiration.

13. Peter,

    To be honest I came across your website by accident. Hopefully, I have decided to look around and stay a little bit longer. Several websites were checked out by me – some of them before, therefore I would like to share my points with you.

    First of all, Seth Godin! His blog is full-bodied but a bit stocked with text. More convenient form of getting knowledge is to open one of his books. This abstract and applied notion shown in this book was worth noting. I interest myself in his ideas and views since I read his books called ‘the dip: The extraordinary benefits of knowing when to quit (and when to stick)’. You will be amazed, check it out!

    Secondly, PopcornMaker. How is it possible that this toll is not popular among video makers? The easiest way of creating videos I have ever seen. Simple to get started and finished the video. There is just one weakness, which make it somewhat useless. Some ‘events are juvenile. If you are looking for easy to use, powerful and free software to edit, create and convert films – the best choice is .

    Now it’s time for acknowledgment. ‘Best books for entrepreneurship’ , especially these positions written by Lester and Ashton seemed to be worth reading and deep studying, mostly because they have been recommended to me many times. Even Brian Tracy’s mentioned once or twice about ‘The Entrepreneur’s book of checklist, so why do not give it a go?

    Keep up your work!

14. The first thing I looked at was wow 3, I found it to be almost pointless. Why would I need to: ‘visualise my business model” by using software, this just overcomplicates starting a business. The video describes “Experiments, Results, Validations” this just overcomplicates everything. Personally I can’t see how this is a useful tool for a startup, you could spend more time on this than actually starting your business. A simple piece of paper would be adequate.

    Wow9: I checked out your: “Best Business Books for Entrepreneurs” on amazon. I have read all of those books in the past with the best by far being: “Anyone Can Do It: My Story” This is a great read and Is very though provoking. Duncan Bannatyne has a great style of writing and is a great read for anyone. There are many other brilliant books that could be added to your list my suggestion is: A Book About Innocent: Our Story and Some Things We’ve Learned.Telling the story of how innocent started this is the best business book out there ideal for getting motivation or leaning how to start your own business.

    Wow6: The greatest content of your blog is the video “Entrepreneurs can change the world” everyone can relate to this video and its a powerful motivation tool. Very thought provoking this video is great! Sorry but the other videos just weren’t anywhere near as good.

15. Firstly I looked at the Wow4 by Steve Johnson. His 4 min video refers where good ideas come from. This was very interesting one for me especially how to combine own piece of idea and others. As he mentioned that last 15 years, looking for piece of idea become much easier. It is good news for every entrepreneurs!!!!

    Then I looked at the Wow2 by Steve Blank. He mentioned how important to find new customers, and business model. As he said successful student who are taught correctly and who are using original technique.

    Next one was the Wow8 by Seth Godin. I red Seth’s blog, the topic was “Should you work for free?” His answer was that it depends on what you mean by work and by free. I admired that how good sense he has. It was definitely interest one.

    Lastly I saw Wow1’s video by Sara Sarasvathy. It was quite long video as this is only one negative point for me. However her presentation was very good. What she said is the expert entrepreneurs hate market research. End of the presentation she said that different views that make new possibility world. I strong agree it but looking at different view is the most difficult thing indeed.

16. The videos of WOW 6 are an incentive to becoming an entrepreneur. Although I did find the videos quite inspiring, I felt that the Entrepreneurs Rising video was used more as a marketing tool to draw visitors to the website. The Grasshopper video is more of a motivational video and portrays being entrepreneurial as problem free. Similar to the Entrepreneur’s Rising video, I believe the video is more geared towards drawing visitors to the Grasshopper website, rather than informing the viewer of the key truths about entrepreneurship. After saying this, I did enjoy watching the videos as they made me want to think more creatively, however I do feel this was among the intentions of the creator of the videos in order to draw more visitors to their websites.

    I also watched the video by Steve Blank in WOW 2. I found this interesting as he talks about how new businesses don’t necessarily start with just a business plan, but with all the planning beforehand and through more of a search process rather than the execution of the business model. I found this useful as I feel I can relate to what he is saying in my own personal business ventures.

    I also watched Steven Johnson’s video in WOW 4 as it was linked to what was said by Steve Blank. I found his explanation fun and easy to understand. The video has inspired me to try and combine my different business ideas in order to be more innovative and produce new and more sophisticated products and ideas. I particularly liked at the end of the video where it shows his ideas to be shaped as a light bulb.

    In WOW 8, I particularly liked Seth Godin’s point about the Superbowl in his post about ‘buzz’. I found his posts were more of an opinionated, informal approach to thinking and has certainly inspired me to think more creatively.

    What has really hit home with me on viewing these WOWs, is being inspired to think more creatively and has shown me how creativity can affect being an entrepreneur.

17. I wanted to make a few observation about those WoW’s starting from WoW 4 by Steve Johnson. What I wanted to point out is that although he is spotting some good points about Idea generations, creativity and innovations, he is actually not saying anything new! He is actually picking bits and pieces of common knowledge, or already discussed theories. For example when he is saying “borrow other people hunches and combine it with our hunches to create something new”, he is just retrieving “Edison’s laboratory” creative and innovative process. This is not necessarily bad, but is absolutely not innovative and this might be a non sense as his book is called “where good ideas comes from the natural history of innovation.

    On the other hand I have to say that I found really inspiring WoW 6, probably is nothing new again, but this time it does not pretend to be so and instead provides some good motivation and tips.

    And lastly WoW 3. I think having a tool Lean Launch Lab might be very useful! Of course everything what the program does can be done in a different way, but especially for people like me, quite chaotic, might be THE tool for their business!

18. Although finding most of the WOW links useful and inspiring, I thought the WOW4 ‘Be reassured and inspired’ video by Stephen Johnson most useful in contrast to what people are faced with in todays society. Stephen Johnson obviously understands the nature of Entrepreneurship quite clearly, which is why he hasn’t based the video about the steps you should take when starting a business or the problems you may be faced with etc. except he shows and explains the problem we all have of generating ideas and which of them to take forward and proceed with. He shows us that the use of social networking or any other types of sources for example can be seen distractive until you see and asses the bigger picture of how and why such small things can reassure our dreams and help with proceeding our ideas of innovation.

19. I enjoyed the WoW 4 video ‘be reassured and inspired’ by Steve Johnson as it was very visually pleasing and showed that most ideas took time to come to life. which I think is important to know as a lot of research has to go into a business before you have an idea of where you’ll be if you join the market.

    I found WoW 6 very interesting and they are all quite imaginative. I have seen the bottom link before but never really thought about it being innovative.
    WoW 5 will be good to help with questions that I or my connections can’t answer. I think Popcorn with be helpful when trying to advertise.
    However I found the WoW with the LeanLaunchLab the most useful. It has a wide range of tests and research it can preform and hopefully it will help me in the near future as I need a way to lay out what I have and need to do on my business.

    I enjoyed reading the blog and found some useful tips and information to remember.

20. I found Wow 2 by Steve Blank interesting. I think he presents a fresh and new way of writing a business plan. Business plans I have come across tend to be long winded and not very customer focused. I agree with his approach of customer development and then product execution. I hope this will get to be the standard way in the business world very soon.

    I also liked Wow 6- the three videos were inspirational. I liked the second one that says out of turbulence comes opportunity. In essence, being an entrepreneur is solving problems around us, overcoming obstacles and making the world a better place.

    Wow 9 is also a useful list of inspiring books too.

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